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Thursday, August 27, 2015

ORIGIN OF THE FLOOD MYTH


Most cultures around the world possess a mythology which describes the origins and customs of its people. They stories typically include the emergence of gods, the creation of humans, and the establishment of codes and laws.
These myths often establish models of behaviour, explaining how to live a spiritual and enriching life. This is typically exemplified by a hero’s journey, whereby their survival and ascension depends on the way in which they conduct themselves.
One myth which perfectly epitomises this heroic journey is that of a culture hero who manages to survive a great flood. It is a tale that can be found all around the world, from Sub-Saharan Africa to the island of Hawaii. What makes this myth so compelling is that the plot is almost identical the world over.
Typically it includes a sky god becoming angry with his human creations who have become troublesome and wicked. As an act of punishment, he sends a great flood upon his people, wiping out nearly all life on earth.
Typically, another friendly god selects one mortal, or a group of humans for survival. He sees great virtue in them, and tells them to make a boat, take refuge in a cave, or to hold onto a tree. Very often, the survivors end up on top of a mountain, where the flood waters were unable reach.
These culture hero/s then go on to repopulate the earth (e.g. Noah from the old testament, Gilgamesh from Babylon, Manu from Hinduism, Loralola and Kalola from the Andaman islands, etc).
But just how old is this myth? Some claim it was based on the following events:
The Burckle Impact:- a meteorite may have struck the Indian ocean around 5000 years ago, flooding the lands of Africa, India and the Middle East.
The Black Sea Deluge:- As the last Ice Age came to an end, masses of ice-water from glaciers began to flood into the Black Sea, displacing all the people who lived around its shores.
The Younger Dryas Impact:- A series of meteorites struck the Earth 13,000 years ago, causing a huge swell of flood water to consume the lands. The majority of these impacts hit the Americas, killing off much of the mega-fauna that once roamed its lands.
All these theories offer evidence of a catastrophic flood. However, they all fail to explain how the same flood myth can be found in several Stone Age cultures that have lived, isolated and undisturbed from Eurasia and the Americas for tens of thousands of years.
Two prime examples are Australia and the Andaman islands, which were curt off from the rest of the world for millennia. Genetic testing has proved these indigenous people are the direct decedents of humanities first migration out of Africa, which took place 60,000 – 90,000 years ago.
Isolated from the rest of the world, they had avoided the advent of agriculture, metal smithing and writing. Yet when their myths were studied, they provided stories about an angry god sending a great flood upon the world, whereby only a few people survived to help repopulate the Earth.
What this tells us is that the flood Myth is ancient, and dates back at least to the Middle Palaeolithic era. It is possible this story can be traced back further, to Africa, where humanities journey first began. A story that defines all people, of all races, that is as old as humanity itself.

3D-printed robotic hand wins 2015 UK James Dyson Award


A 3D-printed bionic hand designed byprosthetics startup Open Bionics is the recipient of the 2015 UK James Dyson Award for design engineering innovation.
The Open Bionics hand is designed to be cheaper and faster to produce than many of the prosthetics currently available for amputees, which can cost between £3,000 and £60,000.
Taking just 40 hours to 3D-print, the robotic hand is built from custom pieces designed to fit amputees' limbs precisely.
Wearers can be fitted with the bionic hand less than two days after being scanned – a stark contrast with many other options which can take weeks or months.
The hand is printed in four lightweight parts, made from flexible plastic material that makes it more resistant to damage incurred by falls or through daily use.
Electromyographic sensors – which detect muscle movement – are attached to the skin and used to control the hand by flexing their muscles, wearers can choose whether to open and close the hand or grip objects.
The hand's "smart" fingers have also been designed to sense when they are in contact with an object to prevent wearers from accidentally crushing objects they're holding.
The designer intends to add new components that will further replicate the structure of a biological hand by mimicking bones and ligaments.
Open Bionics intends to make the hands available for purchase by the second half of 2016 for less than £1,000. The hand will also be open source to encourage users to customise and share their own designs.

The Great Dictator


Written, produced, scored, directed and also starring (in a dual role no less) by the great Charles Chaplin, The Great Dictator is a 1940 political satire and a clear transitional film between his most famous earlier silent comedies and his later films which contained more overt social commentary.
The film follows the story of a Jewish barber (Chaplin) in the fictional nation of Tomania. During WWI the barber saves the life of pilot Schultz (Reginald Gardiner) but loses his memory in the process as the result of a concussion. Twenty years later, the barber escapes hospital (still not having recovered his memory) and instinctively heads back to his old shop in the ghetto, not aware of the fact that the country is now in the hands of dictator Adenoid Hynkel (Chaplin) under whose command the Jews are being prosecuted and who looks like a spitting image of the barber. After a slapstick altercation with some of Hynkel's goons, the barber and Schultz, now a high-ranking officer in Hynkel's army who objects against the treatment of the Jewish people by the regime, are jailed. The two manage to escape and try to make it to the border but when Hynkel, dressed in regular gear during a duck hunt, is mistakenly arrested instead of the barber, the barber is forced to take his Hynkel's place during a huge rally, leading to perhaps one of the most famous speeches ever delivered in cinema.
An incredible work of prescient satire, The Great Dictator was Charles Chaplin's first venture into talkies (although it still contains various lengthy silent sequences) and one of the first movies to take on Nazi Germany, Hitler and Mussolini head on. Chaplin later stated that had he known the extent of the horrors which would be occurring under the Nazi regime (the film was written even before Germany invaded Poland), he would not have made the movie so we might consider ourselves lucky. Chaplin shines in his double role (and kills particularly it as Hynkel) whilst Paulette Goddard plays the love interest and Jack Oakie goes completely over the top as Italian fascist leader Napolini (ie Mussolini). Highlights include Hynkel playing with a huge air filled globe and the film's final speech, pleading for peace, tolerance and compassion. The Great Dictator was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Film, Actor and Screenplay, and won Chaplin a Best Actor Award from the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, which he refused to accept. A genuine masterpiece.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Company in Canada gets U.S. patent for space elevator (Height of Engineering):a new era of space travel.


While Nasa is busy testing its biggest ever rocket in the hope it will propel mankind to Mars, one company is planning a rather different approach to usher in a new era of space travel.
Canadian space firm Thoth has outlined plans for an elevator to space, potentially saving huge amounts of fuel and money that form part of the vast cost of launching rockets into orbit.
The company has been granted a US patent to build a freestanding tower, reaching 12 miles (20 km) above the planet's surface.
The space tower would be more than 20 times the height of Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.
President and chief executive of Thoth Caroline Roberts claims the space tower will also include self-landing rocket technologies to herald a new era of space transportation.
Referring to the powered landing system being developed by Space X, she said: 'Landing on a barge at sea level is a great demonstration, but landing at 12 miles (20 km) above sea level will make space flight more like taking a passenger jet.'
As well as tourism, the elevator could also be used for wind-energy generation and communications.
How many of you think that this construction is really possible?

ஈழத்து படைப்பாளி மாதவனை வாழ்த்துவோம்



சமீப காலமாக நான் சந்திக்கும் நபர்கள் பெருமை தொனிக்க சொல்வது , நான் ரியல் எஸ்டேட் பிசினஸ் செய்றேன் . அல்லது short film பண்றேன் . இப்படி சொல்பவர்களுக்கு என் பதிலாக "ஓ " என்று சொல்லி கடந்து போய் விடுவேன் . அதேபோல் என் சமீபத்திய இலங்கை பயணத்தில் மாதவன் என்ற ஒரு ஈழ இளைஞனை சந்தித்தேன் . அவரை எனக்கு அறிமுகம் செய்து வைத்த வசந்தம் வானொலியின் செபஸ்டின் கூறியது , " "திறமைசாலி , குறும்பட இயக்குனர் "என்று . மாதவனிடம் குறும்படத்தில் "என்ன எதிர்காலம் இருக்கிறது ? என்று கேட்டேன் . அவர் இதுவரை 8 குறும்படங்களை இயக்கி உள்ளதாகவும் , முதலில் சிரமமாக இருந்தது என்னுடைய "அப்பால் " என்ற குறும்படத்திற்கு பிறகு இரு மிகபெரிய நிறுவனங்கள் அவருக்கு தயாரிப்பு முதலை கொடுக்க முன்வருவதாகவும் அதனால் இப்பொழுது சர்வ தேச தர வரிசை குறும்படங்களை தான் இயக்கி வருவதாகவும் குறிப்பிட்டார் .வியப்பாக இருந்தது . அவருடைய "அப்பால்" பார்த்தேன் . நான் இரண்டு மணி நேரம் சொன்ன நர்த்தகி திரைப்பட கதையை சில நிமிடங்களில் அழகுற சொல்லியிருக்கிறார் . நேர்த்தியான ஒளிப்பதிவு , அருமையான கருத்தாக்கம் .. எத்தனை வலிகள் , வேதனைகள் ,இருண்டு கிடக்கும் வாழ்க்கையில் எங்காவது வெளிச்சம் தெரிகிறதா என்று தேடும் வாழ்வின் இடையில் இப்படியொரு அருமையான சிந்தனைகளுடன், சாதிக்கும் வெறியுடன் ஓடிக்கொண்டு இருக்கும் இந்த ஈழத்து இளைஞன் மேல் எனக்கு மிகப்பெரிய மரியாதை ஏற்பட்டது . செயல்வீரர்கள் என்றும் இல்லை என்று சொல்லாது இருப்பதிலேயே தங்கள் சாதனைகளை புரிவார்கள் . ஈழத்தில் தமிழ் திரையுலகு அத்தனை வலுவாக இல்லை . ஆனால் அதன் செம்மைபடுத்தும் முயற்சியில் முதல் கல்லை வைப்பவர் மாதவனாக இருப்பார் என்பதில் சந்தேகமேயில்லை . மாதவன் என்னிடம் ஒரு வேண்டுகோள் வைத்தார். "இலங்கையில் உங்கள் நர்த்தகி திரைப்படம் பார்த்தேன் . அது என்னை மிகவும் பாதித்தது . உங்களுடன் பணிபுரிய வேண்டும் என்று ஆவல் பிறந்தது . எனக்கு உங்கள் அடுத்த திரைப்படத்தில் பணிபுரிய வாய்ப்பு கொடுப்பீர்களா என்று . பல ஆர்வமுள்ள இளைர்கள் இப்படி என்னிடம் கேட்பதுண்டு . அவர்களுக்கு என் புன்னகையை தான் பதிலாக கொடுப்பேன் . இன்று அப்பால் பார்த்ததும் முடிவு செய்து விட்டேன் . மாதவன் என் அடுத்த திரைப்படத்தில் உதவியாளராக பணிபுரிவார் .வாழ்த்துக்கள் மாதவன்


ஜி விஜயபத்மா எழுத்தாளர் இயக்குனர்

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

World's Best Children's Films

Live Action / or Mixed
  • A Christmas Story
  • A Boy Ten Feet Tall
  • The Bad News Bears
  • Babe
  • Black Stallion, The
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (animated/live mix)
  • The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T
  • Mary Poppins (animated/live action mix)
  • My Dog Skip
  • Peter Pan (2002, animated/live action mix)
Animated
  • 101 Dalmations (animated)
  • Beauty and the Beast (animated)
  • Cars (computer animated)
  • Finding Nemo (computer animated)
  • Hoppity Goes to Town (animated)
  • Lady and the Tramp (animated)
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (animated)
  • Silly Symphonies (Walt Disney's, animated)
  • Toy Story 1 (computer animated)
  • The Triplets of Belleville (animated)
  • Wall-E (computer animated)*
  • Wallace and Gromit: 3 Amazing Adventures (clay-mation)
Snow White was the first full-length animated feature film in 1938. Wallace and Gromit are Nick Park's Oscar winning short films (Wallace is his dad, Gromit the dog is himself). He's also responsible for Chicken Run, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Flushed Away, full-length animation films. He won Oscars for the shorts Creature Comforts, The Wrong Trousers (incredible), A Close Shave and the full-length Were-Rabbit. A Boy Ten Feel Tall features a terrific supporting performance by Edward G. Robinson in his last film. It's hard to believe he never received an Oscar® nomination; this would have been a good chance to right that wrong. The Triplets of Belleville, though animated, is really going to be understood and enjoyed more by adults; it's 'old school' animation, hand-drawn frame by frame, and even parodies old b&w cartoons in the beginning. It won many awards for animated film, and had the bad timing of being released the same year as Oscar®-winner Finding Nemo. Babe, Beauty, Nemo, and Poppins were all nominated for Best Picture. Babe is my favorite children's film and favorite animal film; let's also throw in favorite Australian film!
thanks http://worldsbestfilms.blogspot.com/

சனீஸ்வரர் போற்றி...





ஓம் அருளுங்கால் இனியனே போற்றி
ஓம் அண்டியோர்க்காவலனே போற்றி
ஓம் அலிக்கிரகமே போற்றி
ஓம் அடர்த்தியிலா கிரகமே போற்றி
ஓம் அனுஷத்ததிபதியே போற்றி
ஓம் அன்னதானப் பிரியனே போற்றி
ஓம் அசுப கிரகமே போற்றி
ஓம் ஆட்டுவிப்பவனே போற்றி
ஓம் ஆயுட்காரகனே போற்றி
ஓம் ஆதியூரில் அருள்பவனே போற்றி

ஓம் ஆணவமழிப்பவனே போற்றி
ஓம் இருவாகனனே போற்றி
ஓம் இளைத்த தேகனே போற்றி
ஓம் இரும்புத் தேரனே போற்றி
ஓம் இரும்பு உலோகனே போற்றி
ஓம் ஈடிலானே போற்றி
ஓம் ஈசுவரனானவனே போற்றி
ஓம் உக்கிரனே போற்றி
ஓம் உத்திரட்டாதி நாதனே போற்றி
ஓம் உபகிரகமுளானே போற்றி

ஓம் எமன் அதிதேவதையனே போற்றி
ஓம் எள் விரும்பியே போற்றி
ஓம் எவர்க்கும் அஞ்சானே போற்றி
ஓம் எண்பரித் தேரனே போற்றி
ஓம் ஏழாம் கிரகனே போற்றி
ஓம் கரு மெய்யனே போற்றி
ஓம் கலி புருஷனே போற்றி
ஓம் கழுகு வாகனனே போற்றி
ஓம் கருங்குவளை மலரனே போற்றி
ஓம் கரிய ஆடையனே போற்றி

ஓம் கருஞ்சந்தனப் பிரியனே போற்றி
ஓம் கருங்கொடியனே போற்றி
ஓம் கருநிறக் குடையனே போற்றி
ஓம் கண்ணொன்றிலானே போற்றி
ஓம் காகமேறியவனே போற்றி
ஓம் காசியில் பூசித்தவனே போற்றி
ஓம் காரியே போற்றி
ஓம் காற்றுக் கிரகமே போற்றி
ஓம் குளிர்க் கோளே போற்றி
ஓம் கும்பராசி அதிபதியே போற்றி

ஓம் குச்சனூர்த் தேவனே போற்றி
ஓம் குளிகன் தந்தையே போற்றி
ஓம் குறுவடிவனே போற்றி
ஓம் கொள்ளிக்காட்டில் அருள்பவனே போற்றி
ஓம் கைப்புச்சுவையனே போற்றி
ஓம் சடையனே போற்றி
ஓம் சமரிலானே போற்றி
ஓம் சனிவிரதப் பிரியனே போற்றி
ஓம் சனிவார நாயகனே போற்றி
ஓம் சாயை புத்ரனே போற்றி

ஓம் சுடரோன் சேயே போற்றி
ஓம் சூரனே போற்றி
ஓம் சூலாயுதனே போற்றி
ஓம் சூர்ய சத்ருவே போற்றி
ஓம் சுக்ர நண்பனே போற்றி
ஓம் சிவனடியானே போற்றி
ஓம் சிவபக்தர்க்கடியானே போற்றி
ஓம் சீற்றனே போற்றி
ஓம் செயலறச் செய்பவனே போற்றி
ஓம் தமோகணனே போற்றி

ஓம் தண்டாயுதனே போற்றி
ஓம் தசரதனுக்கருளியவனே போற்றி
ஓம் தனிக்கோயிலுளானே போற்றி
ஓம் தீபப் பிரியனே போற்றி
ஓம் திருநள்ளாற்றுத் தேவனே போற்றி
ஓம் துலாராசியிலுச்சனே போற்றி
ஓம் துயரளித்தருள்வோனே போற்றி
ஓம் தைரியனே போற்றி
ஓம் தொலை கிரகமே போற்றி
ஓம் நம்பிக்கிரங்கியவனே போற்றி

ஓம் நளனைச் சோதித்தவனே போற்றி
ஓம் நீலவண்ணப் பிரியனே போற்றி
ஓம் நீண்டகாலச் சுழலோனே போற்றி
ஓம் பத்தொன்பதாண்டாள்பவனே போற்றி
ஓம் பயங்கரனே போற்றி
ஓம் பக்கச் சுழலோனே போற்றி
ஓம் பத்மபீடனே போற்றி
ஓம் பத்திரை சோதரனே போற்றி
ஓம் பிணிமுகனே போற்றி
ஓம் பிரபலனே போற்றி

ஓம் பீடிப்பவனே போற்றி
ஓம் ப்ரஜாபதி ப்ரத்யதி தேவதையனே போற்றி
ஓம் புஷ்பப்பிரியனே போற்றி
ஓம் புதன்மித்ரனே போற்றி
ஓம் பூசத் ததிபதியே போற்றி
ஓம் பேதமிலானே போற்றி
ஓம் பைய நடப்பவனே போற்றி
ஓம் போற்றப்படுபவனே போற்றி
ஓம் மகரத்தாள்பவனே போற்றி
ஓம் மாங்கல்ய காரகனே போற்றி

ஓம் மதிப்பகையே போற்றி
ஓம் மநு சோதரனே போற்றி
ஓம் முடவனே போற்றி
ஓம் முதுமுகனே போற்றி
ஓம் மும்முறை பீடிப்பவனே போற்றி
ஓம் மூபத்தாண்டில் சுற்றுபவனே போற்றி
ஓம் மேல் திசையனே போற்றி
ஓம் மேற்கு நோக்கனே போற்றி
ஓம் யமுனை சோதரனே போற்றி
ஓம் யமனுடன் பிறந்தோனே போற்றி

ஓம் வன்னி சமித்தனே போற்றி
ஓம் வலிப்பு தீர்ப்பவனே போற்றி
ஓம் வக்கரிப்பவனே போற்றி
ஓம் வளை மூன்றுளானே போற்றி
ஓம் வில்லேந்தியவனே போற்றி
ஓம் வில்வப்பிரியனே போற்றி
ஓம் ஸ்ரம் பீஜ மந்திரனே போற்றி
ஓம் சனீச்வரனே போற்றி

"பிராம்பணன் " கோவிலில் அழகோவியமாக இராமாயணக் காட்சி

சீதாபிராட்டியை இராவணன் புஷ்பக விமானத்தில் கவர்ந்து செல்லும் காட்சியும் அதை ஜடாயு என்ற கழுகு தடுப்பதையும் இதனால் கோபம் கொண்ட இராவணன் ஜடாயுவின் இறக்கையை வெட்டி வீழ்த்தும் இராமாயணக் காட்சியானது தத்ரூபமாக இந்தோனேசியாவின் ஜாவா பகுதியிலிருக்கும் உலகப் பிரசத்தி பெற்ற "பிராம்பணன் " கோவிலில் அழகோவியமாக சிலையில் காட்சிப்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது. ஆனால் உண்மையில் சீதையை இராவணன் கடத்தினானா அல்லது மற்ற மதத்தினர் அவதூறு கூறுவதை போல் சீதையின் அனுமதியோடு தான் இராவணன் சீதையை கவர்ந்து சென்றானா என்ற ஆன்மீக ரகசியத்தை இந்த ஆன்மீக வீடியோ தெளிவு படுத்துகிறது.

சுவாமி விவேகானந்தர் சகோதரி நிவேதிதா


12 Essential B&W Crime Classics from the 50s & 60s


Touchez Pas Au Grisbi (Jacques Becker 1954)
Rififi (Jules Dassin 1955)
The Killing (Stanley Kubrick 1956)

Bob Le Flambeur (Jean-Pierre Melville 1956)
Classe Tous Risques (Claude Sautet 1960)
Pigs And Battleships (Shôhei Imamura 1961)
Blast Of Silence (Allen Baron 1961)
Le Doulos (Jean-Pierre Melville 1962)
Pale Flower (Masahiro Shinoda 1964)
Le Deuxieme Souffle (Jean-Pierre Melville 1966)
A Colt Is My Passport (Takashi Nomura 1967)
Branded To Kill (Seijun Suzuki 1967)

Very ancient and rare image of Lord Balaji.Om Namo Venkatesaya.


The CASE for TEACHING IGNORANCE


IN the mid-1980s, a University of Arizona surgery professor, Marlys H. Witte, proposed teaching a class entitled “Introduction to Medical and Other Ignorance.” Her idea was not well received; at one foundation, an official told her he would rather resign than support a class on ignorance.
Dr. Witte was urged to alter the name of the course, but she wouldn’t budge. Far too often, she believed, teachers fail to emphasize how much about a given topic is unknown. Eventually, the American Medical Association funded the class, which students would fondly remember as “Ignorance 101.”
In case some who have read our posts here haven’t noted that we very much are dedicated to pointing out the vast areas of ignorance which surround the few islands of knowledge, this article from the Times is totally on point.
Being aware of what you don’t know, we add, is much harder than being aware of what you do know. In neuroscience we dwell on an island, surrounded by a vast ocean who extent we don’t even glimmer. Perhaps many of us are afraid to set out on that ocean of uncertainty and radical questions for fear like those before Columbus, that they might fall off the edge of the earth.
http://www.nytimes.com/…/the-case-for-teaching-ignorance.ht…
In 2006, a Columbia University neuroscientist, Stuart J. Firestein, began teaching a course on scientific ignorance after realizing, to his horror, that many of his students might have believed that we understand nearly everything about the brain. (He suspected that a 1,414-page textbook may have been culpable.)
As he argued in his 2012 book “Ignorance: How It Drives Science,” many scientific facts simply aren’t solid and immutable, but are instead destined to be vigorously challenged and revised by successive generations. Discovery is not the neat and linear process many students imagine, but usually involves, in Dr. Firestein’s phrasing, “feeling around in dark rooms, bumping into unidentifiable things, looking for barely perceptible phantoms.”
Presenting ignorance as less extensive than it is, knowledge as more solid and more stable, and discovery as neater also leads students to misunderstand the interplay between answers and questions.
Michael Smithson, a social scientist at Australian National University who co-taught an online course on ignorance this summer, uses this analogy: The larger the island of knowledge grows, the longer the shoreline — where knowledge meets ignorance — extends. The more we know, the more we can ask. Questions don’t give way to answers so much as the two proliferate together. Answers breed questions.
However, we must note that answers don’t always breed questions….sometimes the reward in the answers is so great that we cling to models which helped us and failed to ask the broader deeper questions…..surely answers can lead to the recognition of the need to ask more questions…but they don’t always. In neuroscience many of those doing the most brilliant and diligent research are rattling around inside a cage created by the answers of the past…and not realizing that new questions must be asked.
Those of us who engage in scientists are merely mortal creatures and not “minds” observing any sort of “objective reality”. We only proceed by means of models and metaphors that guide our thought ( those of us who are not angels…really on such devices for our minds to work. Once we find a model to work somewhat (as for example the nineteenth century model of the atom, patterned after our solar system) we cling to it. The problem is we learn to live within the bounds of that model…and so rarely come to realize all the questions that remain …not only unanswered….but unasked.
It is not easy to realize what those questions might be however, until we free ourselves from the model/metaphor which has given us our answers. Newtonian physics gave us a wealth of answers…and yet all the questions…the hypotheses…..the proofs …or relativity physics did not even arise. Since the questions asked by Einstein were not possible within the confines of the established paradigm And why would one not be more interested in digging around in the turf of the island of knowledge? It took an Einstein to follow the path of Columbus….and realize what was unknown…and thus ask those questions.
The borderland between known and unknown is also where we strive against our preconceptions to acknowledge and investigate anomalous data, a struggle Thomas S. Kuhn described in his 1962 classic, “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.”
This, for us , is one of the truly seminal books of our times and every scientist should be forced to read that as part of his or her education. Kuhn said, memorably, that ‘new paradigms often only succeed old established paradigms, when those who were educated in the old paradigms reach their demise…either through retirement or death.
So for us the issue of realizing our ignorance and asking new questions is intrinsically involved with our realization of the ephemeral, destined to be surpassed nature of our way of speaking about things in neuroscience….and to grasp just how we might break out of the model/metaphor in which we are unwittingly entrapped. We have posted a wonderful shot tale from the dervish Nasrudin on this point already…but it bears repeating:
A man was walking home late one night when he saw the Mulla Nasrudin searching under a street light on hands and knees for something on the ground. "Mulla, what have you lost?" he asked.
"The key to my house," Nasrudin said.
"I'll help you look," the man said.
Soon, both men were down on their knees, looking for the key.
After a number of minutes, the man asked, "Where exactly did you drop it?"
Nasrudin waved his arm back toward the darkness. "Over there, in my house."
The first man jumped up. "Then why are you looking for it here?"
"Because there is more light here than inside my house
The study of ignorance — or agnotology, a term popularized by Robert N. Proctor, a historian of science at Stanford — is in its infancy. This emerging field of inquiry is fragmented because of its relative novelty and cross-disciplinary nature

சங்கப் பெண்பாற் புலவர்களைப் பற்றி

ஒரு பெண் காதல் வயப்பட்டிருக்கிறாள் என்பதை அதற்குத் தொடர்புடைய ஆணிடம் சொல்லிவிடுவதற்கும் வெளிப்படுத்துவதற்குமான வழிமுறைகள் நிகழ்காலத்தில் எளிமைப்பட்டிருப்பதாக நினைத்துக்கொண்டிருக்கிறோம் . ஆனால் இன்றும் கூட ஒரு பெண் தன்னுடைய காதலை சக மனிதர்களிடம் சொல்ல இயலாத நிலை தான் இருக்கிறது . காதலை மட்டுமல்ல தன்னுடைய கோபம் , இயலாமை , துயரம் ,கனவு மற்றும் அவளின் முறையீடுகள் இவற்றை தன்னுடைய சக மனிதர்களிடம் அவள் பகிர்ந்து கொள்வதை விடவும் இயற்கையிடமே அவள் அதிகம் பகிர்ந்திருக்கிறாள் .
நிலத்தின் தன்மையும் அதன்மேல் வாழுகிற மக்களின் மனமும் கூட இன்றைக்கு மாறியிருக்கிறது . எனவே இயற்கையும் கூட அவளைக் கைவிட்டுவிட்டதாக நினைக்கிறாள் . இவ்வாறு நிலமும் அதன் பண்புகளும் திரிபடைந்திருக்கும் நிகழ்காலத்தில் தன்னுடைய துயரையும் மகிழ்வையும் பெண் யாரிடம் சொல்வாள் ? இன்றைய பெண்களின் கண்ணீரும் அவளின் துயரமும் அவளுடைய சொல்லும் இயற்கையிடமும் சேராமல் உரியவரிடமும் சேர்ப்பிக்க இயலாமல் நான்கு சுவர்களுக்குள் மோதி அதற்குள்ளேயே எதிரொலித்து அடங்குகிறது .



Sakthi Jothi

Monday, August 24, 2015

New technology could reduce wind energy costs.



(Read complete to learn about one of the major problem of wind turbines you may not be aware of.)
Engineers from the University of Sheffield have developed a novel technique to predict when bearings inside wind turbines will fail which could make wind energy cheaper. The method, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society A and developed by Mechanical Engineering research student Wenqu Chen, uses ultrasonic waves to measure the load transmitted through a ball bearing in a wind turbine. The stress on wind turbine is recorded and then engineers can forecast its remaining service life.
When a bearing is subject to a load, its thickness is reduced by a very small amount due to elastic deformation, and the speed of sound is affected by the stress level in the material. Both these effects change the time of flight of an ultrasound wave through a bearing.
The new method is the only way to directly measure the transmitted load through the rolling bearing components. It uses a custom-built piezoelectric sensor mounted in the bearing to measure the time of flight and determine the load. This sensor is less expensive and significantly smaller than currently available, making it suitable for smaller turbines. It can also provide a better prediction of the maintenance needed, saving money in servicing. Professor Rob Dwyer-Joyce, co-author of the paper and Director of the Leonardo Centre for Tribology at the University of Sheffield says: "This technique can be used to prevent unexpected bearing failures, which are a common problem in wind turbines. By removing the risk of a loss of production and the need for unplanned maintenance, it can help to reduce the cost of wind energy and make it much more economically competitive."
The new technology has been validated in the lab and is currently being tested at the Barnesmore wind farm in Donegal, Ireland by the company, Ricardo. It is hoped it will be used in the future inside monitoring systems for other turbines.

Sai Baba Meditation Chants - OM Sai Ram Sai Ram OM Sai Shyam OM Sai Shya...

Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) ::


Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) is a term given to various heart conditions including a Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction) and Unstable Angina. These conditions are due to there being a reduced amount of blood flowing to a part of the heart. Various treatments are given and these usually depend on the type of ACS. Treatments help to ease the pain, improve the blood flow and to prevent any future complications.
Myocardial Infarction : 
If you have a myocardial infarction, a coronary artery or one of its smaller branches is suddenly blocked. The part of the heart muscle supplied by this artery loses its blood (and oxygen) supply. This part of the heart muscle is at risk of dying unless the blockage is quickly undone. (The word infarction means death of some tissue due to a blocked artery which stops blood from getting past.) In addition to being known as a heart attack, a myocardial infarction is sometimes called a coronary thrombosis.

Unstable angina :
Unstable angina occurs when the blood clot causes a reduced blood flow, but not a total blockage. This means that the heart muscle supplied by the affected artery does not die (infarct).
Causes
Acute coronary syndrome is most often a complication of plaque buildup in the arteries in your heart (coronary atherosclerosis) These plaques, made up of fatty deposits, cause the arteries to narrow and make it more difficult for blood to flow through them.
Eventually, this buildup means that your heart can't pump enough oxygen-rich blood to the rest of your body, causing chest pain (angina) or a heart attack. Most cases of acute coronary syndrome occur when the surface of the plaque buildup in your heart arteries ruptures and causes a blood clot to form. The combination of the plaque buildup and the blood clot dramatically limits the amount of blood flowing to your heart muscle. If the blood flow is severely limited, a heart attack will occur.
Various other uncommon conditions can also block a coronary artery. For example :
- Inflammation of the coronary arteries (rare).
- A stab wound to the heart.
- A blood clot forming elsewhere in the body (for example, in a heart chamber) and travelling to a coronary artery where it gets stuck.
- Taking cocaine, which can cause a coronary artery to go into spasm.
- Complications from heart surgery.
Sign & Symptoms
1. The most common symptom of a ACS is having severe Chest Pain. The pain often feels like a heavy pressure on your chest. The pain may also travel up into your jaw and down your left arm, or down both arms.
2. Nausea / Vomiting
3. Shortness of Breath (dyspnea)
4. Sudden, heavy sweating (diaphoresis)
5. Feel sick and feel faint
6. Abdominal Pain
7. Pain similar to heartburn
8. Clammy skin
9. Lightheadedness
10. Dizziness or fainting
See More >>>>>
http://healthmedicalinfohmi.blogspot.com/…/acute-coronary-s…

Copper clusters capture and convert carbon dioxide to make fuel


Capture and convert—this is the motto of carbon dioxide reduction, a process that stops the greenhouse gas before it escapes from chimneys and power plants into the atmosphere and instead turns it into a useful product.
One possible end product is methanol, a liquid fuel and the focus of a recent study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. The chemical reactions that make methanol from carbon dioxide rely on a catalyst to speed up the conversion, and Argonne scientists identified a new material that could fill this role. With its unique structure, this catalyst can capture and convert carbon dioxide in a way that ultimately saves energy.
They call it a copper tetramer.
It consists of small clusters of four copper atoms each, supported on a thin film of aluminum oxide. These catalysts work by binding to carbon dioxide molecules, orienting them in a way that is ideal for chemical reactions. The structure of the copper tetramer is such that most of its binding sites are open, which means it can attach more strongly to carbon dioxide and can better accelerate the conversion.
The current industrial process to reduce carbon dioxide to methanol uses a catalyst of copper, zinc oxide andaluminum oxide. A number of its binding sites are occupied merely in holding the compound together, which limits how many atoms can catch and hold carbon dioxide.
"With our catalyst, there is no inside," said Stefan Vajda, senior chemist at Argonne and the Institute for Molecular Engineering and co-author on the paper. "All four copper atoms are participating because with only a few of them in the cluster, they are all exposed and able to bind."
To compensate for a catalyst with fewer binding sites, the current method of reduction creates high-pressure conditions to facilitate stronger bonds with carbon dioxide molecules. But compressing gas into a high-pressure mixture takes a lot of energy.
The benefit of enhanced binding is that the new catalyst requires lower pressure and less energy to produce the same amount of methanol.
Carbon dioxide emissions are an ongoing environmental problem, and according to the authors, it's important that research identifies optimal ways to deal with the waste.
"We're interested in finding new catalytic reactions that will be more efficient than the current catalysts, especially in terms of saving energy," said Larry Curtiss, an Argonne Distinguished Fellow who co-authored this paper.
Copper tetramers could allow us to capture and convert carbon dioxide on a larger scale—reducing an environmental threat and creating a useful product like methanol that can be transported and burned for fuel.
Of course the catalyst still has a long journey ahead from the lab to industry.
Potential obstacles include instability and figuring out how to manufacture mass quantities. There's a chance that copper tetramers may decompose when put to use in an industrial setting, so ensuring long-term durability is a critical step for future research, Curtiss said. And while the scientists needed only nanograms of the material for this study, that number would have to be multiplied dramatically for industrial purposes.
Meanwhile, the researchers are interested in searching for other catalysts that might even outperform their copper tetramer.
These catalysts can be varied in size, composition and support material, which results in a list of more than 2,000 potential combinations, Vajda said.

The importance of right philosophy

It once happened, on a certain day, a bull and a pheasant were grazing on the field. The bull was grazing on the grass, the pheasant was picking ticks off the bull; they are partners, you know?
Then the pheasant looked at a huge tree which was at the edge of the field, and very nostalgically said, "Alas, there was a time when I could fly to the top most branch of the tree, but today I do not have the strength even to fly to the first branch of the tree"
The bull very nonchalantly said, "That's no problem! Eat a little bit of my dung every day, you will see, within a fortnight's time you will reach the top of the tree."
The pheasant said, "Oh, come off it! How is that possible?"
The bull replied, "Really, please try and see. The whole humanity is on it, you could try, too."
Very hesitantly, the pheasant started pecking at the dung, and lo, on the very first day it reached the first branch of the tree. In a fortnight's time, it reached the topmost branch of the tree. It just went and sat on the topmost branch and just enjoyed the scenery. The old farmer saw a fat old pheasant on the top of the tree. He took out his shotgun and shot him off the tree. So the moral of the story is: even bullshit can get you to the top, but never lets you stay there.
So if you are seeking a life of fulfilment, joy, peace and well being within yourself, don't try to fool yourself in some way. You must do the right thing, otherwise it won't work.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

Friday, August 21, 2015

Movies For Business Lessons

Break out the popcorn, get comfy on the couch and watch these movies to get inspired and enlightened:

1. Deli Man

deli-man-movie-poster
Image credit: Deli Man | Cohen Media Group
This fun documentary chronicles the rise of delis in the U.S. during the 1930s. The filmmakers interview many deli owners, including star Ziggy Gruber, a third-generation deli man and owner of Kenny & Ziggy’s, a tremendously successful authentic New York-style deli in Houston.

Gruber is charismatic and inspiring, and the movie shows how much he cares about his business and customers. He is energetic, obsessed with high quality, and loves what he does and the deli industry as a whole. He is very focused on delivering top-notch quality in every dish and every customer-service interaction.
He is also hands-on and brings warmth and love to his customers, and importantly, his employees, by engaging with them and showing he cares. Overall, the movie illustrates the importance of passion and heart in business and shows that those who find their passion will find success.

2. Woman in Gold

the-woman-in-gold-movie-poster
Image credit: Women in Gold | BBC Films (UK) | The Weinstein Company (US)
Woman in Gold tells the story of an elderly Jewish woman who 50 years later tries to reclaim artwork taken from her family by the Nazis. She begins a long and difficult legal battle with the Austrian government to get her family’s paintings back.  
The movie depicts the struggle between knowing when to give up and knowing when to persevere. This balance is one the hardest elements entrepreneurs need to master.
Don’t be afraid to fail -- if a business isn’t a winner, discard it and move on. On the other hand, giving up too early can ruin real chances for success, which often only come after tremendous trials and tribulations. Certain fights can last for decades, just as the main character’s fight for justice did.

3. The Wolf of Wall Street

the-wolf-of-wall-street-movie-poster
Image credit: The Wolf on Wall Street | Paramount Home Entertainment
The Wolf of Wall Street details the decadence and depravity of real-life stockbroker, Jordan Belfort. From crazy office parties to reckless drug use, the film depicts the flashy and shady side of business.
Greed, hedonism and fraud may be tempting for some, but for all will eventually lead to failure. There are no shortcuts to succeeding in business and life. Take the time to grow a credible business built on solid values and ethics.

4. Boyhood

boyhood-movie-poster
Image credit: Boyhood | Paramount Home Entertainment
Boyhood not only attracted tremendous attention and acclaim after its release, but also way before, because it was a true purple cow that stood out in the industry. The movie chronicles the childhood of a young boy, and is the first to use the same actor as he aged over a 12-year period.
“If you've seen one cow, you've seen them all. But what if one of the cows were purple?” writes Seth Godin in his book, Purple Cow. “Make a purple cow. Get people's permission to find out what they really want.”
Purple cows have the power to capture attention and start conversations. Be remarkable, be different and get the attention of industry peers and consumers alike.

5. The Queen

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Image credit: The Queen | Miramax
The Queen depicts how the British royal family reacted and publicly responded to the death of Princess Diana. Although she was urged to make an official statement and expression of grief, Queen Elizabeth II was stubborn in considering the death a private family matter.
Her strategy was a public-relations disaster, and the media and British people were outraged at the Queen’s seemingly cold composure. As more and more people displayed their grief at Buckingham and Kensington Palaces, the Queen finally took the advice of the prime minister, made a public statement about the death, and visited the palaces to acknowledge flowers and gifts the public has left.
The movie shows that no matter how powerful a person is, they still need to listen to others and take advice during times of crisis. Brand image can make or break a business, and during a crisis, that image is tested. Listen to what the public is saying, consider advice from trusted peers and let go of stubbornness and outdated traditions.
Thanks http://www.entrepreneur.com/

How blood vessels help in the peripheral nerve regeneration


The peripheral nervous system has remarkable regenerative capacities in that it can repair a fully cut nerve. This requires Schwann cells to migrate collectively to guide regrowing axons across a ‘bridge’ of new tissue, which forms to reconnect a severed nerve.
Researchers show that blood vessels direct the migrating cords of Schwann cells. This multicellular process is initiated by hypoxia, selectively sensed by macrophages within the bridge, which via VEGF-A secretion induce a polarized vasculature that relieves the hypoxia.
Schwann cells then use the blood vessels as “tracks” to cross the bridge taking regrowing axons with them. Importantly, disrupting the organization of the newly formed blood vessels in vivo, either by inhibiting the angiogenic signal or by re-orienting them, compromises Schwann cell directionality resulting in defective nerve repair.
This study provides important insights into how the choreography of multiple cell-types is required for the regeneration of an adult tissue.
http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(15)00898-3

A Surprise Source of Life’s Code




Emerging data suggests the seemingly impossible — that mysterious new genes arise from “junk” DNA.
Genes, like people, have families — lineages that stretch back through time, all the way to a founding member. That ancestor multiplied and spread, morphing a bit with each new iteration.
For most of the last 40 years, scientists thought that this was the primary way new genes were born — they simply arose from copies of existing genes. The old version went on doing its job, and the new copy became free to evolve novel functions.
Certain genes, however, seem to defy that origin story. They have no known relatives, and they bear no resemblance to any other gene. They’re the molecular equivalent of a mysterious beast discovered in the depths of a remote rainforest, a biological enigma seemingly unrelated to anything else on earth.
The mystery of where these orphan genes came from has puzzled scientists for decades. But in the past few years, a once-heretical explanation has quickly gained momentum — that many of these orphans arose out of so-called junk DNA, or non-coding DNA, the mysterious stretches of DNA between genes. “Genetic function somehow springs into existence,” said David Begun, a biologist at the University of California, Davis.
This metamorphosis was once considered to be impossible, but a growing number of examples in organisms ranging from yeast and flies to mice and humans has convinced most of the field that these de novo genes exist. Some scientists say they may even be common. Just last month, research presented at the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution in Vienna identified 600 potentially new human genes. “The existence of de novo genes was supposed to be a rare thing,” said Mar Albà, an evolutionary biologist at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute in Barcelona, who presented the research. “But people have started seeing it more and more.”
Researchers are beginning to understand that de novo genes seem to make up a significant part of the genome, yet scientists have little idea of how many there are or what they do. What’s more, mutations in these genes can trigger catastrophic failures. “It seems like these novel genes are often the most important ones,” said Erich Bornberg-Bauer, a bioinformatician at the University of Münster in Germany.
The Orphan Chase
The standard gene duplication model explains many of the thousands of known gene families, but it has limitations. It implies that most gene innovation would have occurred very early in life’s history. According to this model, the earliest biological molecules 3.5 billion years ago would have created a set of genetic building blocks. Each new iteration of life would then be limited to tweaking those building blocks.
Yet if life’s toolkit is so limited, how could evolution generate the vast menagerie we see on Earth today? “If new parts only come from old parts, we would not be able to explain fundamental changes in development,” Bornberg-Bauer said.
The first evidence that a strict duplication model might not suffice came in the 1990s, when DNA sequencing technologies took hold. Researchers analyzing the yeast genome found that a third of the organism’s genes had no similarity to known genes in other organisms. At the time, many scientists assumed that these orphans belonged to families that just hadn’t been discovered yet. But that assumption hasn’t proven true. Over the last decade, scientists sequenced DNA from thousands of diverse organisms, yet many orphan genes still defy classification. Their origins remain a mystery.
In 2006, Begun found some of the first evidence that genes could indeed pop into existence from noncoding DNA. He compared gene sequences from the standard laboratory fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, with other closely related fruit fly species. The different flies share the vast majority of their genomes. But Begun and collaborators found several genes that were present in only one or two species and not others, suggesting that these genes weren’t the progeny of existing ancestors. Begun proposed instead that random sequences of junk DNA in the fruit fly genome could mutate into functioning genes.
Yet creating a gene from a random DNA sequence appears as likely as dumping a jar of Scrabble tiles onto the floor and expecting the letters to spell out a coherent sentence. The junk DNA must accumulate mutations that allow it to be read by the cell or converted into RNA, as well as regulatory components that signify when and where the gene should be active. And like a sentence, the gene must have a beginning and an end — short codes that signal its start and end.
In addition, the RNA or protein produced by the gene must be useful. Newly born genes could prove toxic, producing harmful proteins like those that clump together in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. “Proteins have a strong tendency to misfold and cause havoc,” said Joanna Masel, a biologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson. “It’s hard to see how to get a new protein out of random sequence when you expect random sequences to cause so much trouble.” Masel is studying ways that evolution might work around this problem.
Another challenge for Begun’s hypothesis was that it’s very difficult to distinguish a true de novo gene from one that has changed drastically from its ancestors. (The difficulty of identifying true de novo genes remains a source of contention in the field.)
Ten years ago, Diethard Tautz, a biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, was one of many researchers who were skeptical of Begun’s idea. Tautz had found alternative explanations for orphan genes. Some mystery genes had evolved very quickly, rendering their ancestry unrecognizable. Other genes were created by reshuffling fragments of existing genes.
Then his team came across the Pldi gene, which they named after the German soccer player Lukas Podolski. The sequence is present in mice, rats and humans. In the latter two species, it remains silent, which means it’s not converted into RNA or protein. The DNA is active or transcribed into RNA only in mice, where it appears to be important — mice without it have slower sperm and smaller testicles.
The researchers were able to trace the series of mutations that converted the silent piece of noncoding DNA into an active gene. That work showed that the new gene is truly de novo and ruled out the alternative — that it belonged to an existing gene family and simply evolved beyond recognition. “That’s when I thought, OK, it must be possible,” Tautz said.
A Wave of New Genes
Scientists have now catalogued a number of clear examples of de novo genes: A gene in yeast that determines whether it will reproduce sexually or asexually, a gene in flies and other two-winged insects that became essential for flight, and some genes found only in humans whose function remains tantalizingly unclear.
At the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution conference last month, Albà and collaborators identified hundreds of putative de novo genes in humans and chimps — ten-fold more than previous studies — using powerful new techniques for analyzing RNA. Of the 600 human-specific genes that Albà’s team found, 80 percent are entirely new, having never been identified before.
Unfortunately, deciphering the function of de novo genes is far more difficult than identifying them. But at least some of them aren’t doing the genetic equivalent of twiddling their thumbs. Evidence suggests that a portion of de novo genes quickly become essential. About 20 percent of new genes in fruit flies appear to be required for survival. And many others show signs of natural selection, evidence that they are doing something useful for the organism.
In humans, at least one de novo gene is active in the brain, leading some scientists to speculate such genes may have helped drive the brain’s evolution. Others are linked to cancer when mutated, suggesting they have an important function in the cell. “The fact that being misregulated can have such devastating consequences implies that the normal function is important or powerful,” said Aoife McLysaght, a geneticist at Trinity College in Dublin who identified the first human de novo genes.
Promiscuous Proteins
De novo genes are also part of a larger shift, a change in our conception of what proteins look like and how they work. De novo genes are often short, and they produce small proteins. Rather than folding into a precise structure — the conventional notion of how a protein behaves — de novo proteins have a more disordered architecture. That makes them a bit floppy, allowing the protein to bind to a broader array of molecules. In biochemistry parlance, these young proteins are promiscuous.
Scientists don’t yet know a lot about how these shorter proteins behave, largely because standard screening technologies tend to ignore them. Most methods for detecting genes and their corresponding proteins pick out long sequences with some similarity to existing genes. “It’s easy to miss these,” Begun said.
That’s starting to change. As scientists recognize the importance of shorter proteins, they are implementing new gene discovery technologies. As a result, the number of de novo genes might explode. “We don’t know what things shorter genes do,” Masel said. “We have a lot to learn about their role in biology.”
Scientists also want to understand how de novo genes get incorporated into the complex network of reactions that drive the cell, a particularly puzzling problem. It’s as if a bicycle spontaneously grew a new part and rapidly incorporated it into its machinery, even though the bike was working fine without it. “The question is fascinating but completely unknown,” Begun said.
A human-specific gene called ESRG illustrates this mystery particularly well. Some of the sequence is found in monkeys and other primates. But it is only active in humans, where it is essential for maintaining the earliest embryonic stem cells. And yet monkeys and chimps are perfectly good at making embryonic stem cells without it. “It’s a human-specific gene performing a function that must predate the gene, because other organisms have these stem cells as well,” McLysaght said.
“How does novel gene become functional? How does it get incorporated into actual cellular processes?” McLysaght said. “To me, that’s the most important question at the moment.”
https://www.quantamagazine.org/20150818-a-surprise-source-…/