Clipmarks | Deepti's stuff collection

Elephant seals join fight against climate change

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:27:20 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Elephant seals swimming under Antarctic ice and fitted with special sensors are providing scientists with crucial data on ice formation, ocean currents and climate change

The seals swimming under winter sea ice have overcome a "blind-spot" for scientists by allowing them to calculate how fast sea ice forms during winter

The elephant seals have provided scientists with a 30-fold increase in data recorded in parts of the Southern Ocean, said the study by a team of French, Australian, U.S. and British scientists and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

The experiment involved 85 seals with sensors attached to their heads

Between 2004 and 2005, the seals swam up to 65 kilometers (40 miles) a day, supplying scientists with 16,500 ice profiles. The seals dived to a depth of more than 500 meters (1,500 feet) on average and to a maximum depth of nearly 2 km (a mile)

Tags: climate change, study, seals

Egypt to test fetuses for Tutankhamun family tree

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:32:43 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Egyptian scientists are doing DNA tests on stillborn children found in the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun in the hope of identifying their mother and grandmother, who may be the powerful queen Nefertiti

Archaeologists assume they are the children of the teenage pharaoh but their mother has not been identified

Many scholars believe their mother to be Ankhesenamun, the boy king's only known wife. Ankhesenamun is the daughter of Nefertiti, renowned for her beauty

The DNA tests and computerized tomography (CT) scans, to be performed at Cairo University, should be finished by December, Hawass said

Egypt has been trying to check the identity of all its royal mummies using DNA and CT scans. Tutankhamun's was one of the first mummies to be examined with the technology in 2005

Tags: egypt, mummy, tests, dna, tutankhamun, pharaoh

I'm more evolved than you are

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:23:41 GMT

clipped by: Brace4impact
clipper's remarks: Sarcasm helps the progression of humanity. Remember this when (not if) I get on your nerves with sarcasm.

Clip Source: www.asylum.com

A University of California scientist recently discovered that the ability to use and understand sarcasm happens on the right side of the brain and served a purpose in the evolution of human beings

Because evolutionary biologists maintain that sociability has made humans successful as a species, this would seem to indicate that sarcasm is actually an evolutionary survival skill.

Though that may be true, we think early man probably had a better chance of surviving a saber-tooth tiger attack with brute strength, than with a smart-ass remark about the animal's dental work.

Tags: sarcasm, smart-ass, saber-tooth

Car gifted by Hitler to Nepal king awaits new home

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:40:35 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: I didn't know they were friends.....

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

A car gifted by Adolf Hitler to a Nepali king is likely to be displayed in a palace museum after the Himalayan nation abolished the 239-year-old monarchy and the ousted King Gyanendra quit the palace

Officials said a 1939 Mercedes Benz presented by the Nazi leader to King Tribhuvan, Gyanendra's grandfather, is now rusting at Nepal's main Narayanhiti palace grounds

It has lain there for more than three years after an engineering college in Kathmandu, which was using it to train mechanics, said it did not have enough money and spare parts to restore the antique car

a senior bureaucrat preparing an inventory of the property and other valuables of Gyanendra, which will be in possession of the government, said the vintage car should be displayed at the

Narayanhiti Palace Museum

Tribhuvan used the car when the Kathmandu valley had no other motor transport

after his death in the 1950s, the car gathered dust in the premises of the Thapathali Engineering Campus

Tags: nepal, car, king, hitler, gift, museum, palace

Global Database of Quotas for Women

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 05:19:39 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: Obstacles to women's political participation exist throughout the world in prevailing social and economic regimes, as well as in existing political structures. In 2005, the representation of women reached nearly 16 percent globally. Although this total has increased in recent years, the minimal progress globally means that the ideal of parity remains a long way off. Given the slow rate at which the representation of women is increasing, various methods -- such as electoral quotas -- have been proposed or implemented to address the present gender imbalance in decision-making. Consequently, governments and political parties have experimented with different types of quotas.

As the debate about the use of quotas as a tool to increase the political participation of women gains momentum, International IDEA and Stockholm University are collaborating on a research project leading to the production of a comparative knowledge and resources on their implementation and impact.

Clip Source: www.quotaproject.org

Afghanistan

27.3%

Australia

24.7%

Canada

20.8%

China

20.3%

Denmark

37.4%

France

18.5%

Germany

31.8%

India

8.1%

Iraq

25.5%

Lebanon

4.7%

Mauritania

17.9%

Pakistan

21.3%

Philippines

20.4%

South Africa

32.8%

Sweden

47.3%

Switzerland

29.5%

United Kingdom

19.8%

Sri Lanka

4.9%

Spain

36.3%

Senegal

22.0%

Rwanda

48.8%

Argentina

35.0%

Bangladesh

2.0%

Belgium

36.7%

Burundi

30.5%

Costa Rica

38.6%

Egypt

2.0%

Guyana

30.8%

Iceland

31.7%

Norway

37.9%

Tanzania, United Republic of

30.4%

Total # countries with constitutional, electoral or political party quotas:	97
Average level of representation for women countries with quotas:	19.8%

Tags: countries, women, representation, government, quota, global, database

Singlism and Matrimania

Thu, 29 May 2008 12:33:39 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: I've noticed this, but wasn't aware there was a name to it.....interesting article; the author points out a few instances too

Clip Source: blogs.psychologytoday.com

One of the most tenacious myths about single people is that they are miserable and lonely, and suffer from ill-health and low self-esteem because, after all, they "don't have anyone." All that is pure nonsense - that's why I get to call these notions myths rather than realities

In many ways, though, it is understandable that people THINK singles are miserable. Singlism (the stereotyping and stigmatizing of people who are single) and matrimania (the over-the-top hyping of marriage and coupling) are the wallpaper of contemporary

life.

in its level of intensity, vitriol, and destructiveness, the discrimination faced by people who are single is not on a par with that faced by the targets of, say, racism or heterosexism

Unlike the better-known isms, however, singlism is often practiced without apology or even awareness

Also, although singlism is not likely to be as scathing as racism, the steady drip, drip, drip of it could drive single people over the edge

if they were not so amazingly resilient

Tags: discrimination, singles, marriage, people, society, couples

Conflicts using child soldiers drops - report

Wed, 21 May 2008 13:34:00 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: The 2008 Child Soldiers Global Report documents military recruitment and use of child soldiers in 197 countries including their release and reintegration into society.

It covers the period from April 2004 to October 2007 and considers anyone below the age of 18 in a government or non-government armed group a child soldier, whether or not an armed conflict exists.

Clip Source: www.gulfnews.com

The number of conflicts in which child soldiers were involved dropped sharply from 27 in 2004 to 17 at the end of 2007, according to a report on Tuesday by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers

despite the decline, the report said tens of thousands of children remain in the ranks of militias and other armed groups in at least 24 countries

the number of governments that use children to fight fell only slightly from 10 in 2001-2004 to nine in 2004-2007

Myanmar

forcibly recruit boys under the age of 18 and contain thousands of children, some as young as 11 years old

Children also took part in hostilities in government forces in Chad, Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Yemen, it said

Israel's Defence Forces used Palestinian children as human shields on several occasions and a few British under-18s were deployed to Iraq up until mid-2005

Tags: soldiers, child, conflicts, world, report

Rushdie favourite for best Booker Prize winner award

Mon, 12 May 2008 12:42:53 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.gulfnews.com

Salman Rushdie is the favourite to win the Best of the Booker prize after his novel "Midnight's Children" was shortlisted on Monday for the "greatest of the greatest" award

Six books chosen from the 41 winners of the highly-regarded Booker Prize are up for the award

The Best of the Booker award is to celebrate the prize's 40th anniversary

The second favourite to win is South African-born author JM Coetzee

"Disgrace", which won the 1999 Booker

South African author Nadine Gordimer is shortlisted for "The Conservationist" (1974), while Australian author Peter Carey is nominated for "Oscar and Lucinda" (1988), the first of his two Booker prize winners

"The Ghost Road", by British writer Pat Barker, a winner in 1995, is also on the shortlist

the oldest is "The Siege of Krishnapur" by the late British author JG Farrell, which won the Booker in 1973

A total of 41 books have won the prize since it was launched in 1969, because the award was shared in 1974 and 1992

Tags: booker, prize, award, rushdie, best, books, writers, authors

one student and two teachers...school??

Wed, 07 May 2008 07:22:19 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.gulfnews.com

A primary village school in Himachal Pradesh has just one student and two teachers

So when the Class 5 student of Hamirpur district's Dhariyana government primary school, some 180 km from here, decides not to attend school, the premises are locked up and the two teachers, along with other staff, are forced to call it a day and go home

Villagers say the school was opened some 15 years ago and had many students to start with but, over the years, local residents began sending their children to nearby private schools

The school has no students from Class 1 to Class 4

Ironically, the school falls in Mewa, the home constituency of state Education Minister I.D. Dhiman, but the parents feel the private schools offer a better education

Tags: school, uttar pradesh, education, india, teachers, student, private schools

Women Officers in India Seek Permanent Commissions in Military

Mon, 05 May 2008 05:03:35 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.feminist.org

The Ministry of Defense in India is considering proposals to give permanent commissions to women officers in non-combat roles. The Indo-Asian News Service reports that in the armed forces in India, women are only eligible for permanent commissions in the medical, nursing, and dental services. Women are allowed to serve 14 years in uniform, but, because they do not have permanent commissions, do not receive pensions after their service

Defense Minister A. K. Antony told the Times of India, "It's a commitment we all must honor and endeavor to achieve this objective on priority...It's high time women officers were given their due."

Currently only 2.5 to 7 percent of officers in the branches of the Indian armed forces are women.

Tags: women, india, army, pensions, permanent, defense

Vikings acquitted in 100-year-old murder mystery

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:48:18 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: The discovery of the ornate Oseberg oak longboat in south Norway, with a curling prow and the bodies of two women, was one of the archaeological sensations of the early 20th century

The old woman suffered from Morgagni's syndrome, a hormonal disturbance that gave her a man-like appearance with a beard and a thick-set body

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Tests of the bones of two Viking women found in a buried longboat have dispelled 100-year-old suspicions that one was a maid sacrificed to accompany her queen into the afterlife, experts said on Friday

The bones indicated that a broken collarbone on the younger woman had been healing for several weeks -- meaning the break was not part of a ritual execution as suspected since the 22-metre (72 ft) long Oseberg ship was found in 1904

The fracture could have been caused by stumbling

the older Oseberg woman

had cancer

the skeletons were exhumed last year to see if modern technology could discover more about them than when they were re-buried in 1948

The studies also indicated both women were of high rank -- their diets were largely of meat when most Vikings lived off fish. The teeth of the younger woman showed she used a metal toothpick, a rare 9th century luxury

Historians have

suspected that one of the two was Queen Aasa, mother of Halfdan the Black

father of

Harald Fairhair

first king of

Norway

Tags: viking, norway, history, find, research

'No Horn Day' in mumbai resonably successful

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:44:55 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.gulfnews.com

Mumbai: Asking motorists to refrain from honking seemed almost impossible just a day earlier, but the No Horn Day observed across this metropolis on Monday actually got an overwhelming support from road users

Harish Baijal, Deputy Commissioner, Traffic Police

added that the Traffic Police registered 4,800 cases against those who honked unnecessarily and those who did not observe the silence zones - within 100 metres of hospitals, schools, colleges and courts where no honking is allowed

Estimated I.Q. of Famous People

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:19:18 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: interesting

Clip Source: aceviper.net

Estimated I.Q. of Famous People

Tags: iq, famous, personalities, people

Teacher designs tip-proof chair

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:27:41 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.gulfnews.com

A British teacher has designed a school chair that is physically impossible to tip backwards in the hopes of getting pupils to sit still, prevent dangerous accidents and give teachers a quieter life

Tom Wates quit his teaching post in London to design the "Max" chair

The chair provides more support in the lower back, forcing children to sit up straight and its rear two legs are slightly splayed outwards, preventing any tilting

The ergonomic chair costs just Â£15 (about Dh107), and before it has even been properly launched Wates' company has already received orders for 1,500 chairs from 18 schools

"The reason I went into it was because of the irritation of children leaning back," Tom Wates said

"You would get into the flow of the lesson, the kid would fall off the chair, everyone would laugh and you would have to start again," the former maths and physical education instructor said

Tags: class, teacher, ergonomic, chair, students, fall, london

Man returns from the dead, suspected of fraud

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:27:54 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

A Hungarian man who was reported dead by his wife in 2001 has been detained in the Czech Republic and is suspected of fraud

the man's wife said he had drowned while windsurfing on holiday in Greece

His body was never found and a Hungarian court declared him legally dead in 2003

The man had taken out several life insurance policies in 2000, worth more than 200 million forints ($1.15 million), and he also bought travel insurance before going to Greece

Last year, the man was detained by Czech police who handed him over to Hungary. He told Hungarian police that after the "accident" he had swum to shore where a friend gave him clothes and forged documents

He fled to Crete, Italy and finally to the Czech Republic

His wife is being questioned by police as an accomplice. She is also suspected of polyandry after she remarried in 2005 even though she knew her husband was still alive, police said

She had been unable to cash in the insurance policies, they added

Tags: hungary, death, fraud, man, wife, greece, czech republic, insurance