Strange things to know

Sun determines human longevity

2007-12-23T06:47:00.000-08:00

The Sun is dynamical system and although solar cycles occur every 8-14years{ averaging 11.1 years), the researchers show that 28% of these cycles exhibit chaotic features and irregularly release up to 300% more ultraviolet radiation than usual. These chaotic solar cycles create an environment mutagenic to DNA that must be largely avoided in order to pass uncorrupted genes to the next generation. This requirement determines the limits of fertility, e.g., menarche and menopause in humans, and sets longevity to ≈100 years.It is due to teratogenic effect of chaotic solar radiation

New solar cycle about to begin!!!!

2007-12-20T03:15:00.000-08:00

The solar physics community is abuzz this week. No, there haven't been any great eruptions or solar storms. The source of the excitement is a modest knot of magnetism that popped over the sun's eastern limb on Dec. 11th, pictured below in a pair of images from the orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).According to scientists this is sign of a new solar cycle.

Solar cycles generally happen in 11 years interval.Last solar cycle started in 1996 it was the 23rd as known. 24th solar cycle about to begin in 2007. Those solar cycles have effect on the human made powergrids and satellites. It may have impact on telecommunication and air traffic.

Solar system is uneven:New find

2007-12-14T05:19:00.000-08:00

Recent observation from images by Voyager-2 space craft shows that our solar system is asymmetrical likely due to disturbances in the interstellar magnetic field.

Researchers have long suspected the solar system was bent, but never had direct evidence until now, said Voyager mission scientist Edward Stone of the California Institute of Technology.

Scientists believe the unevenness is caused by the interstellar magnetic field that is pitched at an angle to the plane of the Milky Way. Our solar system would have been spherical if there were no disturbances in the interstellar magnetic field. The nuclear-powered Voyager spacecraft, launched in 1977, are hurtling toward an uncharted region of space where the sun's influence wanes. Voyager-1 is the most distant man made object.

Nine foot spitting cobra found in Kenya

2007-12-09T04:42:00.000-08:00

Written by:Robert Roy Britt

spitting cobra refers to any one of several species of cobras that have the ability to spit or eject venom from their mouth when defending themselves against predators. The spit venom is harmless to intact skin. However, it can cause permanent blindness if introduced to the eye and left untreated (causing chemosis and corneal swelling)

Despite their name, these snakes do not actually spit their venom. They rather spray the venom, using muscular contractions upon the venom glands.

A new species of spitting cobra, discovered in Kenya, is some 9 feet long.

The finding “reinforces the obvious—that there have to be many other unreported species but hundreds are being lost as their habitats disappear under the continued mismanagement of our planet,” said Kenyan environmentalist Richard Leakey in a story on MSNBC.

Mother nature cries for divorce

2007-12-06T03:01:00.000-08:00

Divorce can be bad for the environment. In countries around the world divorce rates have been rising, and each time a family dissolves the result is two new households.

"A married household actually uses resources more efficiently than a divorced household," said Jianguo Liu, an ecologist at Michigan State University who was researching about ecology and social science.
More households means more use of land, water and energy, three critical resources. Households with fewer people are simply not as efficient as those with more people sharing. A household uses the same amount of heat or air conditioning whether there are two or four people living there. A refrigerator used the same power whether there is one person home or several. Two people living apart run two dishwashers, instead of just one.

The United States, for example, had 16.5 million households headed by a divorced person in 2005 and just over 60 million households headed by a married person.

It is not just the case of USA. Taking consideration of whole world billions of dollar of money extra cost due to divorce. Extra garbage also produced due to increase in house hold.

Fighting obesity by electricity

2007-11-28T05:16:00.000-08:00

The majority of mankind is now concerned over the increasing trend of obesity not only to the children but also to the adult.

Medical professionals are trying many ways to curb the disease. Many are successful and many are not.Now doctors at Mayo clinic are working with a company called ENTEROMEDICS on the VBLOC{Vagal blocking for obesity control}. VBLOC is insertwd laproscopically and uses electricity to use the vagus nerve,which connects the brain and the stomach. It prevents the stomach from increasing the size when someone eats. It satisfy the human with less food. The device turns on and off during the day,and shuts off for a period at night. An international study of 30 people has shown promising results and a larger final-phase trial is planned. It is uncler how much one will loose fat using this device!! But the researchers predict a 15 to 20 percent

Moon of earth is a rare cosmic phenomena

2007-11-22T05:45:00.000-08:00

According to scientists the moon was created when an object as big as the planet Mars smacked into the Earth billions of years ago. Debris were splited and started to move in orbit of earth,later they consolidated to form the moon.

The Astrophysical Journal reports that just 5-10% of planetary systems in the Universe have moons created this way. Huge dusts were created in this collision and later consolidated. But this type of collision occur rarely because huge dusts are not seen around the stars. The age of moon is calculated equal to that of our sun.

Fish inside water is not hurt by lightning

2007-11-14T04:24:00.000-08:00

Lightening does electrocute fish if they are close enough to the strike.
However,a charge that strikes water tends to dissipate rapidly along the surface,giving natural protection to under water animals. Another reason we don't see waves of dead fish after an electrical storm is that lightning rarely hits bodies of water.

Fish have an involuntary muscular reaction to a mild stream of electricity. Those orient themselves towards the positive side of the field,though some start swimming the opposite way. They are also less conductive than human or water,if the water is salty or muddy.

But it is dangerous for human in water when there is an electrical storm.

Earth's Inner Temperature Taken: It's Hot!

2007-08-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

Scientists have measured the temperature of inner ward of earth using advanced instruments and new methods and they have found out that few thousands of miles below the earth the temperature reached 66000 degree Fahrenheit.

The finding is published in the Journal "science" which helps geologists understand how heat is transferred through planet's interior, which drives all the geological processes like earthquakes and volcanoes, and Earth's magnetic field.

Robert van der Hilst of MIT and his colleagues examined earthquake generated seismic waves in real time. These seismic waves are generated thousands of miles beneath the earth's surface, their speed depend on the material through which they travels and the existing temperature and pressure. Scientists have calculated the approximate temperature of mantle and core transition as 6500 degree and inner core 9000 degree almost equal to the surface temperature of sun.

The new temperature measurements will also helps geoscientists better understand the magnetic field of earth which protects us from cosmic rays and solar storms.

We know the Earth’s magnetic field is generated and maintained in the liquid outer core of the Earth where you basically have rapid flow of metallic iron,” van der Hilst said. Since iron is charged, the swirling iron mix sets up an electric field that gives rise to Earth’s magnetic field.

With advance of science and technology everybody should hope one day there will be affordable means to tap this tremendous energy for the benefit of the mankind.

New Neutron Star Found

2007-08-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

Neutron stars are the collapsed cores of some massive stars. They pack roughly the mass of our Sun into a region the size of a city. We'll talk about neutron star evolution in a bit, but let's say you take your run of the mill mature neutron star, which has recovered from its birth trauma. What is its structure like? First, the typical mass of a neutron star is about 1.4 solar masses, and the radius is probably about 10 km.

A new neutron star was found out recently by the astronomers. It is the eighth known neutron star ever. Peculiar thing is that it is very nearer to our planet earth.The object has been nicknamed Calvera, after the villain in the 1960s western film The Magnificent Seven. Other seven stars were collectively known as magnificent seven. Neutron stars are formed due to supernova explosion. Stars exhaust the nuclear fuel.

This explosion blows off the outer layers of the star, forming a supernova remnant. The central region of the star collapses under gravity, causing protons and electrons to combine to form neutrons - hence the name "neutron star".

Details of the study, by a team of American and Canadian researchers, will appear in the Astrophysical Journal.

Top 10 Useless Limbs (and Other Vestigial Organs)

2007-08-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

1-The Wings on Flightless Birds 6-Wisdom Teeth in Humans

2-Hind Leg Bones in Whales 7-The Sexual Organs of Dandelions

3-Erector Pili and Body Hair 8-Fake Sex in Virgin Whiptail Lizards (Vestigial Behavior)

4-The Human Tailbone (Coccyx) 9-Male Breast Tissue and Nipples

5-The Blind Fish Astyanax Mexicanus 10-The Human Appendix

Darwin has told all those in his book Origin of Species

Natural Disasters: Top 10 U.S. Threats

2007-08-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

1- Pacific Northwest Megathrust Earthquake

2-New York Hurricane

3-Asteroid Impact

4-Los Angeles Tsunami

5-Supervolcano

6-Midwest Earthquake

7-Heat Waves- Heat Wave kills more U.S citizens than any other natural disaster.

8-East Coast Tsunami

9-Gulf Coast Tsunami

10-Total Destruction of Earth

These Natural Disasters are not only threat to United States

But to the whole world at large. The humanity should be

consious enough to prevent these mishappenings and

save his country and planet

Top ten unexplained phenomena

2007-08-17T05:22:00.000-07:00

1- The Body/Mind Connection--- Medical science has failed to prove

2-Psychic powers and ESP(EXtrasensory perception)- science has failed in this case

3-Near-Death Experiences and Life After Death- There is no clue

4-UFO- Unidentified flying objects- No prove

5-Ghosts-They exists

6-Mysterious Disappearances- This has happened in past

7-Intuition- Seers say that exists

8-Bigfoot-this was found in snowy region,enquired but no clue

9-The Taos Hum- No clue

10-Dï¿½jï¿½ vu- A French word means already seen like an impression but not proved

Star with a comet tail

2007-08-17T02:36:00.000-07:00

Astronomers have discovered something they've never seen before: a star with a tail like a comet. Even more amazing is the fact that the newfound tail is attached to one of the most popular stars in the sky, a red giant named Mira. Amateur and professional astronomers have been watching Mira for 400 years and only recently has a NASA space telescope spotted its massive tail. The name Mira is from a latin word "wonderful"

Astronomers say Mira's tail offers a unique opportunity to study how stars like our sun die and ultimately seed new solar systems.This tail consists of carbon,oxygen and other elements as scientists believe.

The fact that Mira's tail only glows with ultraviolet light might explain why other telescopes have missed it except GALEX,the telescope that scan ultraviolet activities in sky