Clipmarks |

Iran's stunning wooden village

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:02:56 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: deputy-dog.com

Tags: iran

Kurt Vonnegut: How to Write with Style

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:43:24 GMT

clipped by: maquser
clipper's remarks: Thanks, Kurt!

Clip Source: literature.sdsu.edu

How to Write With Style

by Kurt Vonnegut

The most damning revelation you can make about yourself is that you do not know what is interesting and what is not. Don't you yourself like or dislike writers mainly for what they choose to show you or make you think about? Did you ever admire an emptyheaded writer for his or her mastery of the language? No.

So your own winning style must begin with ideas in your head.

In Sum:

1. Find a subject you care about

2. Do not ramble, though

3. Keep it simple

4. Have guts to cut

5. Sound like yourself

6. Say what you mean

7. Pity the readers

Tags: reference, writing, creative writing, instruction, help, useful, language

Sex Is Good For You

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:56:40 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "When people feel deeply close while merely holding hands, they are having sex. When people display caring for each other through hugs, caresses, and kissing, they are also having sex. When connecting people in a crowded room wink at each other in their own secret way, they are communicating sex to each other; such non-contact sex can be excitedly arousing and emotionally fulfilling. And, of course, during sexual union when the sky seems to open so a lightning bolt can strike the couple--while fireworks ignite and the earth stops spinning-- this is sex, too."

Emotional intimacy is so important and the first step is to allow yourself to be vulnerable with someone is taking the time to build that intimacy with others. One of the primary reasons I've always felt close to women is because of emotional intimacy. The whole package of love, companionship and sex can be so appealing, and I think that is one of the reasons men are attracted to women.

Clip Source: www.selfhelpmagazine.com

Scientific evidence is accumulating support what many of us have suspected all along: good sex not only adds great enjoyment to our lives, but it also actually improves our health and may even contribute to our longevity.

Does this mean that to live longer or be more healthy we just need to DO IT more often or better? Of course not! Sex is a much broader concept that genital connecting or having an orgasm. Psychologist and author Gina Ogden, Ph.D. notes in her book, "Women Who Love Sex", that sex has everything to do with openness, connection to and bonding with a partner, feelings about what is happening to us, and memories. For those who love it, sex permeates their lives and is not merely a specialized, time-intensive, physical activity that takes place under the covers--as quickly as possible.

For women, according to Dr.Ogden, it has more to do with feelings of connectedness in their relationships: "Heart to heart, soul to soul, even mind to mind."

"Untouchable" boy caned to death by teacher for writing a love poem

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:56:46 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

UNA: A 16-year-old Dalit boy died after he was thrashed in front of other students by an upper caste teacher in a rural higher secondary school of this Himachal district for writing a verse in appreciation of an upper caste girl.

Surjit Singh was beaten up on Tuesday by a teacher in the Nangal Kalan Government High school in public, said the Dalit sarpanch of the village Gyan Kaur. His two classmates said, "When the teacher came to know about the Surjit's love poem, he caned him till he almost dropped dead."

That was not the end of his ordeal; he was again beaten up by the family members of the girl the next day, Wednesday. Surjit was later found semi-conscious and taken to the hospital but succumbed to injuries.

Local leaders have sought an inquiry into the incident as the police appear to be siding with the upper caste girl's family and the teacher.

Tags: india, discrimination

How dumb are we?

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:21:36 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: Though I tend to agree to the general proposition here, it might be that we witness the arising of a different kind of intelligence, that adapts to the information explosion. Perhaps knowledge is not equated with understanding, and books are not the nexus of intelligence anymore? Perhaps nowadays we need to learn more about the future than we learn about the past?

Clip Source: weirdandinteresting.blogspot.com

In the four minutes it probably takes to read this review, you will have logged exactly half the time the average 15- to 24-year-old now spends reading each day.

That is, if you even bother to finish.

Such is the kind of recklessly distracted impatience that makes Mark Bauerlein fear for his country. "As of 2008," the 49-year-old professor of English at Emory University writes in "The Dumbest Generation," "the intellectual future of the United States looks dim."

The way Bauerlein sees it, something new and disastrous has happened to America's youth with the arrival of the instant gratification go-go-go digital age.

The result is, essentially, a collective loss of context and history, a neglect of "enduring ideas and conflicts."

Survey after painstakingly recounted survey reveals what most of us already suspect: that America's youth know virtually nothing about history and politics. And no wonder. They have developed a "brazen disregard of books and reading."

Tags: education, intelligence, internet, information age

Facing the Freshwater Crisis

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:53:31 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: As demand for freshwater soars, planetary supplies are becoming unpredictable. Existing technologies could avert a global water crisis, but they must be implemented soon

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

Key Concepts

Global freshwater resources are threatened by rising demands from many quarters. Growing populations need ever more water for drinking, hygiene, sanitation, food production and industry. Climate change, meanwhile, is expected to contribute to droughts.

Policymakers need to figure out how to supply water without degrading the natural ecosystems that provide it.

Existing low-tech approaches can help prevent scarcity, as can ways to boost supplies, such as improved methods to desalinate water.

But governments at all levels need to start setting policies and making investments in infrastructure for water conservation now.

Scientists expect water scarcity to become more common in large part because the world’s population is rising and many people are getting richer (thus expanding demand)

Because lack of access to water can lead to starvation, disease, political instability and even armed conflict, failure to take action can have broad and grave consequences.

Tags: freshwater, crisis

Older athlets participating in the Olympics - What's the secret?

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:16:02 GMT

clipped by: Fast T friend

Clip Source: www.nationalpost.com

Revered for their athleticism, discipline and determination, some of the athletes bound for the Beijing Olympics are also being challenged by a single variable over which they have no control: age.

"I think we are starting to see more women now because the first wave of women who have been playing sports since childhood is now entering middle-age, and the endorsement and other opportunities are now there for women," Dr. Joyner said.

Athletes today also have the added benefit of knowing that they can delay the impact of ageing by maintaining a high level of activity over many years.

The tailoring of training regimens to individual athletes has also been invaluable in allowing older athletes to acknowledge the toll that ageing takes on even highly-conditioned bodies.

"What people don't understand is that athletes who get to this level are not normal. Obviously they are not physically normal, but psychologically and emotionally, these people are about as competitive as they come,"

Tags: olympics, sport, age, mind, body, abilities

500 Billion Tons of Prehistoric Organic Matter May Massively Accelerate ‘Global Warming’

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:28:07 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: While some dismiss the 52-year-old as an alarmist crank, his theory is steadily gaining credibility in the scientific community. "There's quite a bit of truth in it," Julian Murton, member of the International Permafrost Association, told Reuters. "The methane and carbon dioxide levels will increase as a result of permafrost degradation."

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

For thousands of years animal waste, and other organic matter left behind on the Arctic tundra, have been sealed off from the environment by permafrost.

Now climate change is melting the permafrost and freeing mass quantities of prehistoric “ooze” from its state of suspended animation.

Russian scientist, Sergei Zimov, has been studying climate change in Russia's Arctic for 30 years now. He is worried that as this organic matter becomes exposed to the air it will drastically accelerate global warming predictions even beyond some of the most pessimistic forecasts.

"This will lead to a type of global warming which will be impossible to stop,"

microbes that have been dormant for thousands of years will spring back into action. They’ll begin once again to emit carbon dioxide and methane gas as a by-product.

"Permafrost areas hold 500 billion tons of carbon, which can fast turn into greenhouse gases

Tags: climate change, global warming, greenhouse gas

Evolutionary Game Theory And The Mathematics Of Altruism

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:02:00 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: A fascinating example of cooperation we have right here at CM

Clip Source: www.scientificblogging.com

Why do humans cooperate in things as diverse as environment conservation or the creation of fairer societies, even when they don’t receive anything in exchange or, worst, they might even be penalized?

This is a question that has puzzled academics Why do humans cooperate in things as diverse as environment conservation or the creation of fairer societies, even when they don’t receive anything in exchange or, worst, they might even be penalized? This is a question that has puzzled academics for centuries, especially since in evolution the basis for the “survival of the fittest” is, after all, selfishness.

But in an article just published in the journal Nature, three Portuguese theoretical physicists developed a mathematical model capable of providing a way out from this conundrum through the introduction of social diversity

the act of cooperation may depend on one’s social context/ranking

when social diversity was taken into account

the numbers of those cooperating increased

Tags: evolutionary, game theory, mathematics, altruism

Environmental Engineers Use Algae To Capture Carbon Dioxide

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:56:03 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Engineers have designed a simple, sustainable and natural carbon sequestration solution using algae.

A team at Ohio University created a photo bioreactor that uses photosynthesis to grow algae, passing carbon dioxide over large membranes, placed vertically to save space.

The carbon dioxide produced by the algae is harvested by dissolving into the surrounding water. The algae can be harvested and made into biodiesel fuel and feed for animals.

A reactor with 1.25 million square meters of algae screens could be up and running by 2010.

The latest international report says carbon dioxide responsible for 60 percent of the greenhouse gases.

Now engineers say a simple, sustainable and natural solution may come from algae.

"If this sort of technology can be developed, it can be deployed anywhere there's sunlight,"

Tags: global warming, environment