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The rival to the Bible

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:53:01 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

What is probably the oldest known Bible is being digitised, reuniting its scattered parts for the first time since its discovery 160 years ago. It is markedly different from its modern equivalent. What's left out?

The world's oldest surviving Bible is in bits.

For 1,500 years, the Codex Sinaiticus lay undisturbed in a Sinai monastery, until it was found - or stolen, as the monks say - in 1844 and split between Egypt, Russia, Germany and Britain.

Now these different parts are to be united online and, from next July, anyone, anywhere in the world with internet access will be able to view the complete text and read a translation.

For those who believe the Bible is the inerrant, unaltered word of God, there will be some very uncomfortable questions to answer. It shows there have been thousands of alterations to today's bible.

The Codex, probably the oldest Bible we have, also has books which are missing from the Authorised Version that most Christians are familiar with today

Tags: old stuff

Different nesting options :)

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:33:36 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

A nest of a Bullock's oriole that is made up almost entirely of plastic. Many birds use any available items to build their homes, but some synthetic fibers can be harmful to chicks.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

This nest from an African tailorbird was collected in Tanzania in 1961. The birds use their bills as needles to sew the nest together.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The nest of a banded wren, surrounded by one-inch thorns. At the time the nest was collected, the thorns were full of ants.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The nest of a Say's phoebe, built in a hurricane lamp. This species often reuses the nests of other perching birds as its own.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

A nest built in a can by a Bewick's wren that was collected near Los Angeles in 1918.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

These nests are typical of those created out of mud by cliff swallows.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The nest of a Costa's hummingbird, resting on a cactus.

Tags: birds, nests

Women Test Limits

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:08:02 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "Now, women are taking courses run by nongovernmental organizations, getting educated and learning ways to improve their family incomes. Most important, the women have won over the men, she said.

“Their minds have changed,” Najiba said. “They want to share decisions, not too far, but they want to give us some share.”

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

BAMIAN, Afghanistan — Far away from the Taliban insurgency, in this most peaceful corner of Afghanistan, a quiet revolution is gaining pace.

Women are driving cars — a rarity in Afghanistan — working in public offices and police stations, and sitting on local councils. There is even a female governor, the first and only one in Afghanistan.

In a country with low rankings on many indicators of social progress, women and girls are the most disadvantaged.

More than 80 percent of Afghan women are illiterate. Women’s life expectancy is only 45 years, lower than that of men, mostly because of the very high rates of death during pregnancy.

The cult of war left women particularly vulnerable. For years now they have been the victims of abduction and rape.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The quiet work being done by women on the councils and in other jobs has helped turn things around for many in Bamian.

Our "Digital Shadow" -a Mind-Bending Prediction

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:31:39 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: In terms of numbers, the figures are staggering. The size of the digital universe for
2007 reached 281 billion gigabytes, or, 281 exabytes. This works out to be about 45GB of digital information per person on the planet. And, considering the lack of information for some of the third world countries, one can only imagine how much those of us reading this article will have under their belts.

Furthermore, the amount of information about us that is generated automatically on a pretty much daily basis outweighs the total volume of information that we create about ourselves. Naturally this has large security implications that the IT sector will have to address more and more as time passes.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

"We discovered that only about half of your digital footprint is related to your individual actions—taking pictures, sending e-mails, or making digital voice calls. The other half is what we call the 'digital shadow'—information about you—names in financial records, names on mailing lists, web surfing histories or images taken of you by security cameras in airports or urban centers. For the first time your digital shadow is larger than the digital information you actively create about yourself."

IDC senior vice president, John Gantz

A recent study conducted by IDC and sponsored by the information management giant EMC, has provided a look in to the growth of our digital information, as well as a mind bending prediction for the future.

Using a complex mathematical formula, the study was able to estimate the size of the “digital universe.” In other words, they were able to tally up the total volume of digital information that is both created and replicated globally.

Tags: internet

Print What You Like - a cool tool

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:18:21 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: This can be a real help to those of us who print a lot from the web.

Clip Source: www.printwhatyoulike.com

Ever print a webpage only to find your printout is full of ads, empty space and other junk you don't want? PrintWhatYouLike is a free webpage editor that gives you control of how webpages look when printed.

Format any webpage for printing in seconds - no more pasting into Word

Save money and the environment by reducing your paper and ink usage

Make printed web pages more readable by removing ads, widgets and other distractions

Fix broken pages that don't print correctly

Tags: web, internet, internet tools, utilities

Female Fighters: We Won't Stand for Male Dominance

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:13:03 GMT

clipped by: dulios
clipper's remarks:

Back in 1998, the fighters say, their now-jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan declared the group "a women's party." It was initially difficult to accept, says Karim, a 42-year-old male member of the PKK.

Today, the PKK's ideology revolves around a belief that global crises and injustice are a result of millennia of male-dominated rule. Here, the women run their own assaults and have their own command structure. All tasks are shared, both on and off the battlefield. Discipline is paramount to survival, they say, and weapons are always clean and never out of reach.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Female fighters: We won't stand for male dominance

QANDIL MOUNTAINS, Iraq (CNN) -- The women line the mountainside, locked hand in hand in their green battle fatigues, and begin dancing. It's a victory dance, they say, that is routine after raids across the border on Turkish troops.

"We want a natural life, a society that revolves around women -- one where women and men are equal, a society without pressure, without inequality, where all differences between people are eliminated," says Rengin, the head of a female battalion of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

"Women grow up enslaved by society. The minute you are born as a girl, society inhibits you," she says. "We've gone to war with that. If I am a woman, I need to be known by the strength of my womanhood, to get respect. Those are my rights. And it was hard for the men to accept this." See photos of women with guns in mountain enclave »

Tags: women, war, pkk, turkey, ocalan

Forecasts for the 25 Years...

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:03:18 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: From the page:
"A Crisis or an Opportunity? What Makes the Difference?

The critical difference is whether you are prepared. If you’re aware of possible developments… if you see changes coming… you can take action and prepare yourself. In a rapidly changing world, new opportunities are emerging everywhere. If you get an advance notice of these possible changes, you can be ready. You can ride these waves of change to benefit your career, your business, your family and your investments."

Why not changing ourselves as well? it seems as if all that will come should not affect us on deep levels, but why?
part of preparation is accepting the changing of human that may come.

Clip Source: www.wfs.org

Forecasts for the
Next 25 Years

Forecast #1: The world will have a billion millionaires by 2025.

Forecast #2: Fashion will go wired as technologies and tastes converge to revolutionize the textile industry.

color-changing or perfume-emitting jeans

Forecast #3: The threat of another cold war with China, Russia, or both could replace terrorism as the chief foreign-policy concern of the United States.

Forecast #4: Counterfeiting of currency will proliferate, driving the move toward a cashless society.

Forecast #5: The earth is on the verge of a significant extinction event.

Nanotechnology Breakthroughs of the Next 15 Years

Forecast #6: Water will be in the twenty-first century what oil was in the twentieth century.

Forecast #7: World population by 2050 may grow larger than previously expected, due in part to healthier, longer-living people.

Forecast #8: The number of Africans imperiled by floods will grow 70-fold by 2080.

Two to five years from now:

medical diagnostics on a single computer chip.

Tags: future, prediction

Layers of Red Cliffs on Mars (Photo)

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:22:07 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: Beautiful photo

Clip Source: antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov

Explanation: How did these layers of red cliffs form on Mars? No one is sure. The northern ice cap on Mars is nearly divided into two by a huge division named Chasma Boreale. No similar formation occurs on Earth. Pictured above, several dusty layers leading into this deep chasm are visible. Cliff faces, mostly facing left but still partly visible from above, appear dramatically red. The light areas are likely water ice. The above image spans about one kilometer near the north of Mars, and the elevation drop from right to left is over a kilometer. One hypothesis relates the formation of Chasma Boreale to underlying volcanic activity.

Tags: photos, nasa, mars

Some pics of the Ig nobel prizes :)

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:44:04 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks:

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Ig Nobel Prizes

Ig Nobel last year for their research of sword swallowing

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Physics

heaps of hair, or string, will inevitably tangle

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Peace

adopting the principle that plants have dignity

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Nutrition

food tastes better if it sounds better. So, the crispier, the tastier

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Biology

fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than fleas that live on cats

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Archaeology

detailing the ability of armadillos to move artifacts up, down, and even laterally by several yards at archaeological dig sites.

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Medicine

people felt better when they took more expensive fake medicines than cheaper fake medicines.

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Chemistry

Diet Coke's effectiveness as a spermicide.

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Economics

exotic dancers make more money when they are at peak of their fertility cycles.

"some lap dancers have scheduled shifts based on this research."

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Cognitive Science

slime molds can do more than just feed on microorganisms in decaying vegetable matter; they can also solve puzzles.

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Literature

A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations

Tags: nobel prizes

"Tnnel of Love" -beautiful !

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:18:22 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: "My desire as an artist is to create compelling images of beauty and power that serve to promote our conscious evolution as human beings".Mark Henson

Clip Source: beinart.org

Art has the magical power to give provoke emotional as well as intellectual thinking

My desire as an artist is to create compelling images of beauty and power that serve to promote our conscious evolution as human beings.

I have discovered that the more intensely personal my vision is, the more universal its appeal

My wish is to tap into the divine source of being, to consciousness, to spirit, and to bring into visual awareness some images of the knowledge revealed

To this end I like explore themes of Awakening Consciousness, Divine Sexuality, Political Realities and Living in Harmony with Nature.

Mark Henson

Intelligent Computers Put To The Test

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:05:51 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: It could also raise profound questions about whether a computer has the potential to be 'conscious' - and if humans should have the 'right' to switch it off.

>>> I haven't seen humans having too much problem in 'shutting off' each other. What does it say about consciousness ?

Clip Source: neuronion.blogspot.com

Can machines think? That was the question posed by the great mathematician Alan Turing. Half a century later six computers are about to converse with human interrogators in an experiment that will attempt to prove that the answer is yes.

In the 'Turing test' a machine seeks to fool judges into believing that it could be human. The test is performed by conducting a text-based conversation on any subject. If the computer's responses are indistinguishable from those of a human, it has passed the Turing test and can be said to be 'thinking'.

But at 9am next Sunday, six computer programs - 'artificial conversational entities' - will answer questions posed by human volunteers at the University of Reading in a bid to become the first recognised 'thinking' machine.

If any program succeeds, it is likely to be hailed as the most significant breakthrough in artificial intelligence since the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Tags: artificial intelligence, turing test

Don't Stress! Bacterial Cell's 'Crisis Command Center' Revealed

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:17:22 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: If a bacteria cell finds itself in a dangerous situation - for example, if the temperature or saltiness of the bacteria's environment reach dangerous levels which threaten the survival of the bacteria -a warning signal from the cell's surface is transmitted into the cell.

Using cutting edge electron microscopy imaging techniques the authors of the new research observed that the stressosomes receive this warning signal, and in response several proteins called RSBT break away from the large stressosome. This breakaway triggers a cascade of signals within the cell which results in over 150 proteins being produced - proteins which enable the cell to adapt, react and survive in its new environment.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

A bacteria cell's 'crisis command centre' has been observed for the first time swinging into action to protect the cell from external stress and danger, according to new research published in Science.

The research team behind today's study says that finding out exactly how bacteria respond and adapt to stresses and dangers is important because it will further their understanding of the basic survival mechanisms of some of the most resilient, hardy organisms on Earth.

The crisis command centre in certain bacteria cells is a large molecule, dubbed a 'stressosome' by the scientists behind today's research. These cells have around 20 stressosomes floating around inside them, and although scientists knew they played an important role in the cell's response to stressful situations, the complexities of this process had not been fully understood until now.

Tags: molecular biology, bacteriology

The brain parasite that influences human culture

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:04:07 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: Spread by cats

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

We like to think that we are masters of our own fates. The thought that others might be instead controlling our actions makes us uneasy. We rail against nanny states, we react badly to media hype and we are appalled at the idea of brainwashing. But words and images are not the only things that can affect our brains and thoughts. Other animals - parasites - can do this too. According to research by Kevin Lafferty from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a common brain parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, could be influencing human culture across the globe.

spread by cats

in another animal, it travels to the brain and changes the host's behaviour to maximise its chances of ending up in a cat

For rodents, this means being eaten

infected individuals are less fearful of cats

Humans

tend to show long-term personality changes that are small but statistically significant

higher level of neuroticism

To establish the true direction of causality

need to find out how the parasite manipulates the mind

Scientists create solar cells with a twist.

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:53:18 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: I suppose it won't be hard to have the power to at least power a Laptop. Perhaps a Solar powered tent for camping. We are finding new ways to transform energy into media we can use, and it, with the open information on the web is only bound to improve dramatically

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Julie Steenhuysen

US researchers have found a way to make efficient silicon-based solar cells that are flexible enough to be rolled around a pencil and transparent enough to be used to tint windows on buildings or cars.

The finding, published in the journal Nature Materials, offers a new way to process conventional silicon by slicing the brittle wafers into ultrathin bits and carefully transferring them onto a flexible surface.

"We can make it thin enough that we can put it on plastic to make a rollable system. You can make it grey in the form of a film that could be added to architectural glass," says Professor John Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who led the research.

"It opens up spaces on the fronts of buildings as opportunities for solar energy."

Solar cells, which convert solar energy into electricity, are in high demand because of higher oil prices and concerns over climate change.

Rogers says his technology uses conventional single crystal silicon.

Too many calories send the brain off kilter

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:40:08 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: The researchers report that that increased activity of the IKKß/NF-?B pathway can be divorced from obesity itself -- infusions of either glucose or fat into the brains of mice alone led to this inflammatory brain reaction.

Further studies revealed that this activity in the brain leads to insulin and leptin resistance. Insulin lowers blood sugar by causing cells of the body to take it up from the bloodstream. Leptin is a fat hormone important for appetite control.

Moreover, the researchers found that treatments preventing the activity of IKKß/NF-?B in the animals' brains protected them from obesity.

Clip Source: www.brainmysteries.com

An overload of calories throws critical portions of the brain out of whack, reveals a study in the October 3rd issue of the journal Cell

That response in the brain's hypothalamus-the "headquarters" for maintaining energy balance-can happen even in the absence of any weight gain, according to the new studies in mice.

The brain response involves a molecular player, called IKKß/NF-?B, which is known to drive metabolic inflammation in other body tissues. The discovery suggests that treatments designed to block this pathway in the brain might fight the ever-increasing spread of obesity and related diseases, including diabetes and heart disease.

He speculates it may have been an important element for innate immunity, the body's first line of defense against pathogenic invaders, at some time in the distant past.

In today's society, this pathway is mobilized by a different environmental challenge-overnutrition

Tags: brain, metabolism, obesity