Clipmarks | Infancy Clips

From Dream to Reality: Aviation in the Modern World

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:42:49 GMT

clipped by: woodhard

For centuries, man has dreamed of flying. As he watched an eagle soaring hundreds of feet over the mountain tops, or a homing pigeon preparing to land, he imagined how it must be to take to the air. As early as in ancient Greek times-illustrated in the myth of Daedalus and Icarus humans pondered the possibility of flight and emancipation from the bounds of earth. Flight meant freedom. Freedom from the bounds of the Earth.

Nevertheless, until the early 20th century, no form of reliable, powered flight had been achieved. Then in a short one hundred years, aviation technology was transformed from the often unreliable wooden, cloth-covered biplanes to supersonic jets and international airliners. What was it that provoked such rapid progress?

In the years between 1903 and the First World War, aviation was in its infancy.

Several events during the 20th century boosted the development of aviation.

The development of civilian uses for aviation progressed rapidly after the First World War.

Tags: aviation

do animals feel greif?

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:12:25 GMT

clipped by: silvanaraihane
clipper's remarks: according to my dog, they do! you should see the way she reacts if I leave her for more then my working day!

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Do animals feel grief?

Photographs of Gana, an 11-year-old gorilla in Munster Zoo, holding the lifeless body of her three-month-old infant, are doing the rounds of the world's media. The pictures have prompted headlines such as "Heartbreaking" and "A Mother's Grief". Gana certainly looks inconsolable at the loss of her child. But is she? Are we too quick to project human feelings onto animals, particularly our closest ape relatives?

But, as anyone who has been watching Richard Dawkins' Channel 4 series The Genius of Darwin will recall, evolution favours any species with strong enough parental instincts to see their young through infancy. Animals invest time, energy and genetic material into their young, just as we do, and they naturally want them to survive. Is it too much of a stretch to imagine that they would also feel loss when their young die?

Was J.C a ball player ?-)

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:54:08 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: nice anecdote

Clip Source: www.theage.com.au

Messiah caught on a wet wicket?

IT IS possible that cricket, a game venerated all over the Commonwealth, is older than currently thought.

In fact, Jesus may have played the game (or a similar bat-and-ball combination) as a child, according to an ancient Armenian manuscript.

Dr Abraham Terian, recently a visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as Fulbright Distinguished Chair in the Humanities, points to a rare manuscript as his source.

He notes that in the Armenian Gospel of the Infancy, translated into Armenian in the 6th century from a much older lost Syriac original, a passage tells of Jesus playing what may well be the precursor of cricket, with a club and ball.

Dr Terian discovered the manuscript more than a decade ago at the Saint James Armenian Monastery in the Old City of Jerusalem.

story of the nine-year-old Jesus playing a form of cricket with the boys at the seashore, is that he would go on playing the game on water, over the sea waves

echoes allusions

Tags: religion, christianity, jesus, ball game

Taking our wealth for granted

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 06:00:46 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: article.nationalreview.com

We’ve all witnessed the tendency to take a boon for granted. Being accustomed to a provision naturally leads the human heart to consider that provision an entitlement. Hence the not-infrequent lawsuits from prison inmates cruelly denied their rights to cable TV or apple brown betty for desert.

Capitalism is the greatest system ever created for alleviating general human misery, and yet it breeds ingratitude.

People ask, “Why is there poverty in the world?” It’s a silly question. Poverty is the default human condition. It is the factory preset of this mortal coil. As individuals and as a species, we are born naked and penniless, bereft of skills or possessions. Likewise, in his civilizational infancy man was poor, in every sense. He lived in ignorance, filth, hunger, and pain, and he died very young, either by violence or disease.

The interesting question isn’t “Why is there poverty?” It’s “Why is there wealth?” Or: “Why is there prosperity here but not there?”

Impossible Experiments (1)

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:15:29 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: Continue on the second part of this clip.

Clip Source: blogs.psychologytoday.com

What psychology experiment would you love to carry out if neither ethics nor practical reality stood in your way? For the August issue of Psychology Today, I asked several PT bloggers this question and printed four responses.

Musical Storks

I would collect all newborn babies and randomly reassign them to new parents. I'm confident that we will confirm the 50-0-50 rule: Adult personality is roughly 50% genetic, 0% how they are raised by their parents, and 50% socialization outside the family by peers and friends

Universal Grammar

I would entirely determine the sentences and words children are presented with during their infancy and childhood. For instance, you could entirely deprive children of examples of some linguistic constructions.

Then see whether children develop a normal linguistic competence. If so, that would be very strong evidence that we possess a dedicated cognitive mechanism to help us acquire language

Tags: psychology

New Depression Treatments

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:15:57 GMT

clipped by: ClipDawn
clipper's remarks: There are lots of research into ways to cure depression and there is no 3 minute cure for depression or even free depression treatment, although some do cure depression naturally but the majority, by following prescribed treatment plans for depression.

Clip Source: www.dawnpugh.com

New Depression Treatments

There are lots of research into ways to cure depression and there is no 3 minute cure for depression or even free depression treatment, although some do cure depression naturally but the majority, by following prescribed treatment plans for depression.

Please do not rush out to your Doctors and request a prescription as the long term effects are still not known. This drug is still very much in it’s infancy.

Tags: 3 minute cure for depression, cure depression naturally, free depression treatment, treatment plans for depression, ways to cure depression

Social Dimensions of Climate Change

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:26:13 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo

Clip Source: web.worldbank.org

The issue of climate change has thrust itself into the forefront of global debate. However, while the natural science of climate change is increasingly certain on what will happen to earth’s climate, the debate on the likely social consequences of climate change for human society is still in its infancy.

How will people’s lives and livelihoods change as a result of climate change?
What are the likely consequences for different groups of people within society, for example, indigenous peoples or fishing communities?
For those already confronting war, crime, hunger, disease or insecure livelihoods, how will they manage additional threats stemming from climate change?
Will insecurity worsen and for whom?
What policies should be put in place to help people cope?

Tags: climate change, global warming, society

Gay Brains Structured Like Those Of The Opposite Sex

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:59:23 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: But then those of us who are "different" knew this all along. It's also interesting to note this from the article:

"The regions involved in phobia, anxiety and depression overlap with the pattern we see from the amygdala," says Savic.

This is significant, she says, and fits with data showing that women are three times as likely as men to suffer from mood disorders or depression. Gay men have higher rates of depression too, she says, but it's difficult to know whether this is down to biology, homophobia or simply feelings of being "different".

HA! Those of us who are gay or bisexual have PLENTY to be depressed about living in a society that refuses to accept us.

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

Brain scans have provided the most compelling evidence yet that being gay or straight is a biologically fixed trait.

The scans reveal that in gay people, key structures of the brain governing emotion, mood, anxiety and aggressiveness resemble those in straight people of the opposite sex.

The differences are likely to have been forged in the womb or in early infancy, says Ivanka Savic, who conducted the study at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

Previous studies have also shown differences in brain architecture and activity between gay and straight people, but most relied on people's responses to sexuality driven cues that could have been learned, such as rating the attractiveness of male or female faces.

To get round this, Savic and her colleague, Per Lindström, chose to measure brain parameters likely to have been fixed at birth.

Tags: thank, u, god, for, making, me, that, way

Gay brains structured like those of the opposite sex

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:49:38 GMT

clipped by: iskandar

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Gay brains structured like those of the opposite sex

Brain scans have provided the most compelling evidence yet that being gay or straight is a biologically fixed trait.

The scans reveal that in gay people, key structures of the brain governing emotion, mood, anxiety and aggressiveness resemble those in straight people of the opposite sex.

The differences are likely to have been forged in the womb or in early infancy, says Ivanka Savic, who conducted the study at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

"This is the most robust measure so far of cerebral differences between homosexual and heterosexual subjects," she says.

To get round this, Savic and her colleague, Per Lindström, chose to measure brain parameters likely to have been fixed at birth.

The results showed that straight men had asymmetric brains, with the right hemisphere slightly larger – and the gay women also had this asymmetry. Gay men, meanwhile, had symmetrical brains like those of straight women.

Tags: research, brain, gay

"I'll breastfeed till they're EIGHT!"

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:39:03 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Stella Onions doesn't worry about people staring.

Whether sitting outside a cafe or walking round the park, whenever she breastfeeds her two children, she ignores the women gawping and men brazenly pointing her out to their friends.

But such reactions are hardly surprising; the babes sucking at this middle-aged mother's breasts are toddlers aged five and three years old.

Josephine has said she doesn't want to stop till adulthood. She really enjoys it and has actually told me she won't stop until she gets married.

She often says: "I never want to stop my mummy milk."

'Zac loves it, too - he says it's yummy and sweet.'

Now Stella has begun a campaign to normalise breastfeeding, so that it becomes as acceptable elsewhere as it is in her home. She says the benefits must be appreciated.

Even the most liberal of mothers find the sight of other babies sucking beyond infancy disconcerting, let alone their own.

Tags: children, health, family, breastfeeding

Religion

Fri, 30 May 2008 16:48:20 GMT

clipped by: abhiator
clipper's remarks: Religion

Clip Source: content2.clipmarks.com

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. Lucius Annaeus Seneca,
Roman philosopher and statesman 4 BC – AD 65

There are two classes of men:
intelligent men without religion,
and religious men without intelligence.
Abu Ala Al-Ma'arri,
Arab philosopher 973 - 1057 AD

"As people become more intelligent
they care less for preachers and more for teachers."

Robert Green Ingersoll,
American politician and lecturer (1833-1899)

"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand."

The first requisite of the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion.
Karl Marx

Religion is against women's right and freedom. In all societies women are oppressed by all religions. Taslima Nasrin

Religion belonged to the infancy of humanity.
Now that humanity had come of age,
it should be left behind.
Sigmund Freud

Tags: religion

Atheist quotes

Fri, 30 May 2008 16:11:09 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: From a Norwegian site in English. I recommend browsing the source itself. A rich content with some interesting articles and documents.

Clip Source: www.bandoli.no

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. Lucius Annaeus Seneca,
Roman philosopher and statesman 4 BC – AD 65

There are two classes of men:
intelligent men without religion,
and religious men without intelligence.
Abu Ala Al-Ma'arri,
Arab philosopher 973 - 1057 AD

"As people become more intelligent
they care less for preachers and more for teachers."
Robert Green Ingersoll,
American politician and lecturer (1833-1899)

"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand."
Mark Twain

The first requisite of the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion.
Karl Marx

Religion is against women's right and freedom. In all societies women are oppressed by all religions. Taslima Nasrin

Religion belonged to the infancy of humanity.
Now that humanity had come of age,
it should be left behind.
Sigmund Freud

Tags: religion, atheism, agnosticism, quotes, wisdom

May 26, 1908: Mideast Oil Discovered — There Will Be Blood

Mon, 26 May 2008 09:53:47 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.wired.com

1908: A British company strikes oil in Persia (now Iran). It's the first big petroleum find in the Middle East, and it sets off a wave of exploration, extraction and exploitation that will change the region's -- and the world's -- history.

Englishman William D'Arcy had obtained a license to explore for oil in Persia in 1901. He sent explorer George Reynolds, who searched fruitlessly for seven years.

Why all the fuss? The automobile was in its infancy, and few people could foresee its future. How did an investor expect to get rich off an oil strike? Well -- and we really do mean well -- you could run an electric-power plant with oil, you could run factory machinery on oil and, perhaps most importantly, the world's powerful navies were converting their ships from coal to oil. Almost anything that had run on coal -- especially coal that heated water to create steam -- could run on oil.

Tags: oil, mideast, history

Exploding star caught in the act

Thu, 22 May 2008 07:21:26 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: Astronomers for years have been wondering if they'd ever see a 'live' supernova. They're few, quick, and you have to be looking in the right place at the right time. Seems they were. One of those things that may not happen again in our lifetimes - but you never know.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Astronomers around the world have witnessed one of the mightiest yet most elusive sights in the universe, an exploding supernova in real time.

Captured: just as it exploded

Many in the astronomical community are rating it as a 'once-in-a-lifetime' observation and hope information collected during the event will enable them to better spot other supernovae in their infancy.

The supernova explosion, which was spotted on 9 January 2008, has been reported today in the journal Nature.

The Swift spacecraft caught a bright X-ray burst from an exploding star (left). A few days later, SN 2008D appeared in visible light (right).

"For years, we have dreamed of seeing a star just as it was exploding," says Dr Alicia Soderberg of Princeton University in New Jersey,

"We were in the right place, at the right time, with the right telescope ... and witnessed history."

"It's a really lucky chain of events. It was all over in a matter of minutes," says Soderberg.

Cool video: 20 years of cellphones in 3 minutes

Tue, 20 May 2008 20:32:50 GMT

clipped by: Elizabeth Woyke
clipper's remarks: A fun morphing video that covers the history of cellphones and touches on the industry's future. Trivia includes the first cellphone to have a "vibrate" function (Motorola's StarTAC) and the first phone to feature a camera (a Sharp model for the Japanese market). Click through for the video--for some reason, it wouldn't embed in the clip.

Clip Source: www.mobilemag.com

Video: The History of Cell Phones in Three Minutes

It's hard to believe that cell phones have already been around for over 20 years. We've gone from the huge Zack Morris with minimal functionality to remarkably small handhelds that are more powerful than some computers. In the video below, we witness the evolution of the mobile phone from its infancy right up to the most modern of cell phones.

Highlighted in the video are such milestones as the first phone with an internal antenna, the first ever clamshell style mobile phone, the first phone with an integrated camera, and a handset that many say is the most feature-rich mobile phone to date. I found the video to be a little too focused on Motorola and Nokia, but considering that those two have largely been leading the charge, that only makes sense.