Earth's Atmosphere Came from Outer Space

[click to view larger image]

A new study finds the gases which formed the Earth's atmosphere as well as its oceans did not come from inside the Earth but from comets and meteorites hitting Earth during the Late Heavy Bombardment period. A research team tested volcanic gases to uncover the new evidence. They found a clear meteorite signature in volcanic gases which could not have contributed in any significant way to the Earth's atmosphere. Therefore the atmosphere and oceans must have come from somewhere else, possibly from a late bombardment of gas and water rich materials similar to comets.

According to the theory of the Late Heavy Bombardment, the inner solar system was pounded by a sudden rain of solar system debris only 700 million years after it formed, which likely had monumental effects on the nascent Earth. So far, the evidence for this event comes primarily from the dating of lunar samples, which indicates that most impact melt rocks formed in this very narrow interval of time. But this new research on the origin of Earth's atmosphere may lend credence to this theory as well. Until now, no one has had instruments capable of looking for these subtle signatures in samples from inside the Earth.

Source: universetoday

--
Sam

Curiosity - The Key to Discovery

[click to view larger image]

Curiosity is an emotion related to natural behaviour such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in human and many animal species. The term can also be used to denote the behavior itself being caused by the emotion of curiosity. As this emotion represents a drive to know new things, curiosity is the fuel of science and all other disciplines of human study.

Curiosity is common to human beings at all ages from infancy to old age, and is easy to observe in many other animal species. These include apes, cats, fish, reptiles, and insects; as well as many others. Many aspects of exploration are shared among all beings, as all known terrestrial beings share similar aspects: limited size and a need to seek out food sources.

Strong curiosity is the main motivation of many scientists. In fact, in its development as wonder or admiration, it is generally curiosity that makes a human being want to become an expert in a field of knowledge. Though humans are sometimes considered particularly curious, they sometimes seem to miss the obvious when compared to other animals. What seems to happen is that human curiosity about curiosity itself (i.e. meta-curiosity or meta-interest), combined with the ability to think in an abstract way, lead to mimesis, fantasy and imagination - eventually leading to an especially human way of thinking ("human reason"), which is abstract and self aware, or conscious. Some people have the feeling of curiosity to know what is after death.

To be curious, all it takes to start is imagination and curiosity. If you've got these qualities, along with persistence, you've got what it takes to consider a career in science-perhaps an award winning career. That wonderful world of the future, now only in your imagination can become real. If you act on your curiosity, you can help make it happen!

--

Sam

Why Should We Hire You

[click to view larger image]

When it comes to job interviews, there are several questions that are not exactly related to the work, but are one of the major reasons why your job interview does not have the results that are in your best interests. One such question is the question “Why should we hire you?” Basically, this question is one of the master strokes during an interview.

For one, the interview question “Give us reasons to hire you” or “What can you bring to our company” is something that differentiates the best candidates from the other, good candidates.

This question is more often a surprise question to most individuals who are not as experienced in the process of the job interview. Also, this question works as a divider between the people who are looking for a job just casually and the people who are really seeking a job. While answering this question, remember that the answer should not come across to be egotistic or be completely unrealistic. You should focus on providing reasons to hire you over someone else in the best way you can.

The following are some points to consider:

1. One of the best ways to answer this question is to make a short list of all your advantages that would point out the positive aspects that you have for the new job position.

2. One of the points that you can raise is the similarity of the job profile you are aiming in the company basis to the job profile you enjoyed in the previous job.

3. You can also take the interviewer’s attention towards your key skills and strengths, name – quick learning, excellent communication skills, etc

4. In addition, your professional ambitions should be made clear – the motivation and dedication that you have for the profession and the opening position.

5. Make sure that your answers do not come out to be too much about yourself or even can be translated into bragging.

6. The body language when you answer the question is important too. For example, your body language should make it clear that you have thought about the answer and given a carefully worded answer, instead of coming up with a made up, dummy answer.

7. The last sentence, a phrase that can be used is, The job is tailored to my (or- I will bring my) experience, knowledge base and abilities and I believe I can maximize my skills for the benefit of the company.

Source: job-interview-site

--
Sam

Rainbow at Night

[click to view larger image]

We have all seen rainbows during the day but what about rainbows at night? They are elusive, but powerful to see. Yes "Moonbows" are rainbows created by light from the Moon. Conditions have to be just right, and there are only a small number of places in the world where they regularly materialize, such as Victoria Falls on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe as seen above, Cumberland Falls in Kentucky, Yosemite Falls in California, and Waimea on Hawaii. Because they are so faint, moonbows are difficult to see with the naked eye (they usually appear just white). But with long-exposure photography, all the colors of moonbows can be seen.

Moonbows are rare because moonlight is not very bright. A bright moon near to full is needed, it must be raining opposite the moon, the sky must be dark and the moon must be less than 42º high. Put all these together and you do not get to see a moonbow very often! To the unaided eye they usually appear, as in the small image, without color because their light is not bright enough to activate the cone color receptors in our eyes. Colors have been reported and might be seen when the moon is bright.

--
Sam

Intelligent Economy

[click to view larger image]

It is the month of August, on the shores of the Black Sea. It is raining, and the little town looks totally deserted. It is tough times, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.

Suddenly, a rich tourist comes to town. He enters the only hotel, lays a 100 Euro note on the reception counter, and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to choose one. The hotel proprietor takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the pig grower. The pig grower takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the supplier of his feed and fuel. The supplier of feed and fuel takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his debt to the town's prostitute that in these hard times, gave her services on credit. The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her debt with the 100 Euro note to the hotel proprietor to pay for the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there.

The hotel proprietor then lays the 100 Euro note back on the counter so that the rich tourist will not suspect anything.

At that moment, the tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms, and takes his 100 Euro note, after saying that he did not like any of the rooms, and leaves town.

No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now without debt, and looks to the future with a lot of optimism.

Source: Sivakumar

--
Sam

Artificial Brain By 2019

[click to view larger image]

A leading scientist has claimed that an Artificial Brain could be built within a decade.

Henry Makram, director of research group the Blue Brain Project, has already created parts of a fully functioning rat brain and hopes to build a human one in the next 10 years. He told the TED Global conference in Oxford that a synthetic Human Brain would be of particular use finding treatments for mental illnesses, reports the BBC.

“It is not impossible to build a human brain and we can do it in 10 years. And if we do succeed, we will send a hologram to TED to talk,” he said. The Blue Brain Project, launched in 2005, aims to engineer a brain from laboratory data, with a software model of “tens of thousands of neurons” reconstructing the brain’s circuitry and processes.

“It’s a new brain,” he explained. “The mammals needed it because they had to cope with parenthood, social interactions complex cognitive functions. “It was so successful an evolution from mouse to man it expanded about a thousand fold in terms of the numbers of units to produce this almost frightening organ.”

Source: health.taragana.net

--
Sam

Thinking Out of Box

[click to view larger image]

Try to answer the following questions!

Question(A):

You are driving along in your car on a wild, stormy night, it's raining heavily, when suddenly you pass by a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for a bus.

1. Old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
2. An old friend who once saved your life.
3. perfect partner you have been dreaming about.

Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing very well that there could only be one passenger in your car?

This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once actually used as part of a job application.

1. You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you should save her first.
2. You could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this would be the perfect chance to pay him back.
3. However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again.

The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming up with his answer. Guess what was his answer?

Answer(A):

"I would give the car keys to my Old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams."

Question(B):

Interviewer (To a student Girl candidate) - One morning you woke up & found that you were pregnant, what will you do?

Answer(B):

"I will be very excited and take an off to celebrate with my husband."

Normally an unmarried girl will be shocked to hear this, but why should one think it in the wrong way!

Question(C):

The interviewer asked the candidate "This is your last question of the interview. Please tell me the exact position of the center of this table where u have kept your files."

Answer(C):

Candidate confidently put one of his finger at some point at the table and told that this was the central point at the table.

Interviewer asked how did u get to know that this being the central point of this table. He answers quickly that, "sir you are not likely to ask any more question, as it was the last question that u promised to ask!

The candidate was selected because of his presence of mind with humor.

Thinking outside the box means coming up with creative ways to solve problems, new ways to look at things.

How can you do it? First you have to understand what the "box" is. Then you can look at how to get outside of it. The "box" is the normal way of looking at things, doing things, and all the assumptions that almost everyone involved is making. Your best way to start thinking out of the box then, is to identify and challenge all the assumptions that make up the thinking inside the box.

• Willingness to take new perspectives to day-to-day work.
• Openness to do different things and to do things differently.
• Focusing on the value of finding new ideas and acting on them.
• Striving to create value in new ways.
• Listening to others.
• Supporting and respecting others when they come up with new ideas.

тнιηк συтѕι∂є тнє вσχ!

--
Sam

Go Green Save Trees

[click to view larger image]

σвנє¢тѕ ιη тнє мιяяσя αяє ¢ℓσѕєя тнαη тнєу αρρєαя

We the inhabitants on earth, have reached that stage where we need to redesign and reconsider our lifestyles for further survival on this planet. If we want the generations to look forward to a healthy and green earth, then we really have to change ourselves at the earliest.

The forest has drastically depleted over a period of time owing to the human needs and activities. One contributing factor towards this is the paper industry.

Worldwide more than 300 million metric tons of paper and paperboard is produced every year. Of the total global wood harvest for industrial use. 42 per cent goes into paper making and it is expected to reach 50 per cent in the next fifty years. In every country they have paper mills producing different varieties of paper. On an average each one of us uses 700 pounds of paper products every year. For the production of paper special kind of tree plantations are made called as the managed timberlands.

These managed timberlands comprises of the special kind of trees, which are required for the pulp and paper manufacturing like the softwood tress (pine, fir etc). It means the diverse natural forests have been replaced by these managed plantations (like fast growing conifers), which has a direct impact on the biodiversity of the whole forest. Designing of the managed timberlands for pulp generation means the loss of valuable wildlife habitats, poor soil quality and ecosystem. They have 90 per cent fewer species than the natural forests. The managed timberlands often use chemical herbicides and pesticides in order to ensure fast production rates, causing acute environmental pollution.

Paper can be made from a variety of other materials like cotton, hemp, grass and even elephant dung but unfortunately in most parts of the world it is made by sacrificing the trees only. Paper products are the largest ingredients at a waste disposal sites. Pulp and paper production industry is the third largest producer of air and water pollutants, waste products and the gases responsible for climatic changes (green house gases). Pulp and paper production is the largest industrial consumer of energy, water and forest resources.

Huge water consumption involved in paper making process can lead to reduced water levels, required for fish and other aquatic flora and fauna along with alterations in the water temperature. Air discharges of the pulp industry include certain hormone disrupting and carcinogenic chemicals like the polyclinic aromatic hydrocarbons. About one fifth of the contents of household dustbins consist of paper and card, of which half is newspapers and magazines. Industrial nations with 20 per cent of the world's population consume 87 per cent of the world's writing and printing papers.

In front of all these facts and figures, now the question is what can we do to turn the situation into our favour.

There are many things that can be done like recycling of the paper, avoiding wastage of the paper or the development of non-tree based paper production methodologies etc.

But one much simpler and easier way to cut down the use of paper is to emphasise on the use of soft copies of the information and data rather than the hard (printed) form. With almost each and every sector of the world being computerised and connected through the Internet, all forms of organisations should give stress on using the soft data thereby avoiding the use of printed matter.

Source: merinews

--
Sam

The Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy may collide In about 3 billion years

[click to view larger image]

If mankind can stick it out on Earth for another two billion years, our descendants may witness quite a show in the night sky. Researchers estimate that the Milky Way will collide with its nearest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, at around that time—well before the sun collapses into a white dwarf, perhaps destroying the Earth in the process. This close encounter of the galactic kind could easily kick our solar system to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, and there is a small chance we might even take up residence in Andromeda.

Astronomers simulated the collision by estimating the relative speed between the two galaxies and the amount of gas and dark matter in the intervening space, which exerts a drag on their motions. Andromeda is currently 2.3 million light-years from our galaxy. Researchers know that the two neighbors are approaching each other at 120 kilometers per second, but they are far less certain of Andromeda's sideways speed. If moving fast enough to the side, it would miss us entirely.

Taking their cue from the latest models of the galaxies' structures, Andromeda would first graze the Milky Way two billion years from now, they report in a paper submitted to the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The two galactic cores would orbit each other for another three billion years before merging.

During that time, the stars making up the two spiral galaxies would slowly coalesce into a more elliptical combo galaxy, "Milkomeda" (or the Andromedy Way, if you prefer). Although most of the stars would be too sparsely spaced to bump together, one galaxy's gravity would jostle the other stars.

The fate of the sun, which is expected to last at least until the simulated merger, would depend on where it was in its 24,000 light-year-wide orbit around the galactic core. The researchers estimate that by the time the cores had fused, the solar system would have a 50 percent chance of being swept to a wispy tail extending from Milkomeda, three times further out from galactic center than it is now. There is 3 percent chance of the sun being nudged into orbit around Andromeda when the two galaxies first collide. Of course, they note, different assumptions for the simulation would likely result in different outcomes.

Wonderful Album: How Small We Are [Dont Miss]

Source: ScientificAmerican

--
Sam

Remember Your A B C 's

[click to view larger image]

Avoid negative sources, people, places, things and habits

Believe in yourself

Consider things from every angle

Don't give up and don't give in

Enjoy life today, yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come

Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them and enjoy their riches

Give more than you planned to

Hang on to your dreams

Ignore those who try to discourage you

Just do it

Keep trying to matter how hard it seems, it will get easier

Love yourself first and most

Make it happen

Never lie, cheat or steal, always strike a fair deal

Open your eyes and see things as they really are

Practice makes perfect

Quitters never win and winners never quit

Read, study and learn about everything important in your life

Stop procrastinating

Take control of your own destiny

Understand yourself in order to better understand others

Visualize it

Want it more than anything

Xcellerate your efforts

You are unique of all God's creations, nothing can replace you

Zero in on your target and go for it!

Source: Wanda Hope Carter

--
Sam

Validate XML against XSD in C

The XML documents can reference schema documents that specify how the XML documents should be structured. The rules for validating the XML document is specified in the schema which use the extension .xsd For more information about W3C XML Schema click here

In this Tutorial I'll show how to use libxml2 to Validate XML documents.

Libxml2 is the XML C parser and toolkit developed for the Gnome project (but usable outside of the Gnome platform), it is free software available under the MIT License. XML itself is a meta language to design markup languages, i.e. text language where semantic and structure are added to the content using extra "markup" information enclosed between angle brackets. HTML is the most well-known markup language. Though the library is written in C a variety of language bindings make it available in other environments.

Libxml2 is known to be very portable, the library should build and work without serious troubles on a variety of systems (Linux, Unix, Windows, CygWin, MacOS, MacOS X, RISC Os, OS/2, VMS, QNX, MVS, ...)

Sample program in C to validate xml against xsd using libxml2

Environment & Settings:
* Install libxml2 2.6.32 binary [Installed by default in most of the Linux].

* Install libxml2-dev 2.6.32 package.

* IDE Eclipse CDT [GCC Compiler]

* Right click the project --> Properties --> C/C++ Build --> Settings

select Tool Settings --> GCC C Linker --> Libraries
Add "xml2"(without quotes) in Libraries

select GCC C Compiler --> Directories --> Include Paths
Add "/usr/include/libxml2" (without quotes)

* This sample program uses test.xml and test.xsd

Code: xmlvalidation.c

/*
============================================================================
Name        : xmlvalidation.c
============================================================================
*/
#define LIBXML_SCHEMAS_ENABLED
#include <libxml/xmlschemastypes.h>

int main()
{
xmlDocPtr doc;
xmlSchemaPtr schema = NULL;
xmlSchemaParserCtxtPtr ctxt;
char *XMLFileName = "test.xml";
char *XSDFileName = "test.xsd";

xmlLineNumbersDefault(1);

ctxt = xmlSchemaNewParserCtxt(XSDFileName);

xmlSchemaSetParserErrors(ctxt, (xmlSchemaValidityErrorFunc) fprintf, (xmlSchemaValidityWarningFunc) fprintf, stderr);
schema = xmlSchemaParse(ctxt);
xmlSchemaFreeParserCtxt(ctxt);
//xmlSchemaDump(stdout, schema); //To print schema dump

doc = xmlReadFile(XMLFileName, NULL, 0);

if (doc == NULL)
{
fprintf(stderr, "Could not parse %s\n", XMLFileName);
}
else
{
xmlSchemaValidCtxtPtr ctxt;
int ret;

ctxt = xmlSchemaNewValidCtxt(schema);
xmlSchemaSetValidErrors(ctxt, (xmlSchemaValidityErrorFunc) fprintf, (xmlSchemaValidityWarningFunc) fprintf, stderr);
ret = xmlSchemaValidateDoc(ctxt, doc);
if (ret == 0)
{
printf("%s validates\n", XMLFileName);
}
else if (ret > 0)
{
printf("%s fails to validate\n", XMLFileName);
}
else
{
printf("%s validation generated an internal error\n", XMLFileName);
}
xmlSchemaFreeValidCtxt(ctxt);
xmlFreeDoc(doc);
}

// free the resource
if(schema != NULL)
xmlSchemaFree(schema);

xmlSchemaCleanupTypes();
xmlCleanupParser();
xmlMemoryDump();

return(0);
}

FYI
you can also validate XML against XSD using the following command in linux.

xmllint --noout --schema test.xsd test.xml

--
Sam

What Makes The Difference?

[click to view larger image]

Ever heard the story of the giant ship engine that failed?

The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away.

The engine was fixed!

A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

”What?!” the owners exclaimed.

“He hardly did anything!”

So they wrote the old man a note saying, “Please send us an itemized bill”

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer ……………………. $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap ………………………. $ 9998.00

Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life makes all the difference.

Source: Inspirational

--
Sam

Print Online Pages | Easy Print | Custom Online Pages Print

[click to view larger image]

Ever reading a or online news article and want to print it out, but don’t want the sidebar and other graphics to waste your ink? A lot of sites aren’t particularly print friendly and perhaps don’t make this process as easy as it could be.

Enter PrintFriendly, a new site that simply lets you enter the URL of a webpage and get a printable version: just the content and inline images, in a very readable font. If you want, you can go one step further and remove the images from the post. You can also download the content as a PDF. Neat!

It doesn’t work perfectly: sites that have in-text widgets don’t convert particularly well. PrintFriendly could compensate for these issues by allowing you to edit the document before printing. Nonetheless, it’s a handy tool to have at your fingertips should you ever need a quick printout without wasting ink.

Source: http://www.printfriendly.com/

--
Sam

Broad Mind

[click to view larger image]

Once an unhappy young man came to an old master and told he was very sad and asked for a solution.

The old Master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. “How does it taste?” the Master asked. “Awful,” spat the apprentice.

The Master chuckled and then asked the young man to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake.

The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and when the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”

As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the Master asked, “How does it taste?” “Good!” remarked the apprentice.

“Do you taste the salt?” asked the Master. “No,” said the young man. The Master sat beside this troubled young man, took his hands, and said,

The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount we taste the ‘pain’ depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things..

Stop being a glass. Become a lake

Broader Mindset will solve most of the problems we face. So don’t allow problem to grow broader than your mind.

Source: Inspirational

--
Sam

Astronomers Compile Most Detailed Map of Nearby Universe

[click to view larger image]

A new detailed map of the nearby Universe reveals not only where local galaxies are currently, but where they are heading, how fast and why. “It’s like taking a snapshot of wildebeest on the African plain,” said Dr. Heath Jones of the Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO), lead scientist for the Six-Degree Field Galaxy Survey (6dFGS), the most detailed survey of nearby galaxies to date. “We can tell which waterholes they’re heading to, and how fast they’re traveling.” it has recorded the positions of more than 110,000 galaxies over more than 80% of the Southern sky, out to about two thousand million light-years from Earth, Galaxies are tugged around by each other’s gravity.

By measuring the galaxies’ movements, the researchers were able to map the gravitational forces at work in the local Universe, and so show how matter, both seen and unseen, is distributed. Giant superclusters of galaxies are huge concentrations of mass, but they can’t be weighed accurately by looking at their light alone.

“Light can be obscured, but you can’t hide gravity,” said Dr. Jones.

The survey shows strings and clusters of nearby galaxies on large scales in unprecedented detail, and has revealed more than 500 voids—”empty” areas of space with no galaxies. The special aspect of this survey is that it will let the researchers disentangle two causes of galaxy movements. As well as being pulled on by gravity, galaxies also ride along with the overall expansion of the Universe. For about 10% of their galaxies, the 6dFGS researchers will tease apart these two velocity components: the one associated with the Universe’s expansion, and the one representing a galaxy’s individual, “peculiar”, motion.

Source: Universe Today

--
Sam

God Exists

[click to view larger image]

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said, “I don’t believe that God exists.”

“Why do you say that?” asked the customer.

“Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn’t exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can’t imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things.”

The customer thought for a moment, but didn’t respond because he didn’t want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.

Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber, “You know what? Barbers do not exist.”

“How can you say that?” asked the surprised barber. “I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!”

“No!” the customer exclaimed. “Barbers don’t exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside.”

“Ah, but barbers DO exist! That’s what happens when people do not come to me.”

“Exactly!” affirmed the customer. “That’s the point! God, too, DOES exist! That’s what happens when people do not go to Him and don’t look to Him for help. That’s why there’s so much pain and suffering in the world.”

Source: Fr Eugene Lobo SJ

--
Sam

How To Be Successful

[click to view larger image]

Every day, we fight the fight.
Every day we play the game.
Every day we expect good things.
Every day we want to do our best.
So what's the secret? Where's the answer?

Well here it is. There isn't one.

No matter how long you live, all you can do is improve upon the mistakes and reap the success. That's it.

That's your job. So instead of searching for the magic waters, live for now. Wake up with that smile, that energy, that goal, and strive on. It might not happen or work today, so what. Guess what, it probably didn't for the next person either.

So you take what you have, and try again. Because every day is another chance, another opportunity. There will always be a next time. Remember that.

"Can't" is an excuse and giving up is not an option. So get out of your comfort zone and get something done. Nobody can make you do it but YOU! Not this quote, or anything else you read. It's you.

So find that personal motivation. Make it happen. Because the magic potion is somewhere very few people look, with-in you.

"I'm not in competition with anybody but myself. My goal is to beat my last performance." - Celine Dion

Source: Curt Bachman

--
Sam

Warp Drives Probably Impossible

[click to view larger image]

Just when I was getting excited about the possibility of traveling to distant worlds, scientists have uncovered a deep flaw with faster-than-light-speed travel. There appears to be a quantum limit on how fast an object can travel through space-time, regardless of whether we are able to create a bubble in space-time or not. We have no clue about how to generate enough energy to create a “bubble” in space-time.

This idea was first put on a scientific grounding Michael from the University of Mexico in 1994, but before that was only popularized by science fiction universes such as Star Trek. However, to create this bubble we need some form of exotic matter fuel some hypothetical energy generator to output 10⁴⁵ Joules.

If a advanced human race could generate this much energy, we would be masters of our Universe.


[click to view larger image]

According to new research on the subject, quantum physics has something to say about our dreams of zipping through space-time faster than it. What’s more, Hawking radiation would most likely cook anything inside this theoretical space-time bubble anyway. The Universe does not want us to travel faster than the speed of light.

In short, Hawking radiation (usually associated with the radiation of energy and therefore loss of mass of evaporating black holes) will be generated, irradiating the occupants of the bubble to unimaginably high temperatures. The Hawking radiation will be generated as horizons will form at the front and rear of the bubble. Remember those big numbers physicists aren’t afraid of? Hawking radiation is predicted to roast anything inside the bubble to a possible 10³⁰K (the maximum possible temperature, the Planck temperature, is 10³²K).

Source: UniverseToday

--
Sam

World's Worst Password 123456

[click to view larger image]

'123456' is the most common world's worst password by people on the Internet. Names of fast cars, even ncc1701 - the ship number for Star Trek's Starship Enterprise, have made it to the list of top 500 worst passwords of all time.

Compiled by whatsmypass.com, the list features passwords most commonly used by Internet users. And topping the list of the most common password is "123456", "dragon", followed by "password" in third place. Other popular password choices were first names, repeated letters and numbers, pop-culture references. Even batman, bond007 and cocacola made it to the list.

The website said that almost one out of nine people use at least one of the passwords mentioned on the list, and one out of every 50 people use one from the top 20. In fact, a study commissioned by digital communications agency @www found that an average adult had as many as 15 passwords to remember. But 61 per cent of people used the same passwords for as many different accounts as possible in order to make life easier.

Source: Yahoo

--
Sam

Excellence

A German once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same idol?" "No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage." The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. "Where is the damage?" he asked. "There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said the sculptor, still busy with his work. "Where are you going to install the idol?"

The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high. "If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked. The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I will know it."

The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else appreciates it or not. "Excellence" is a drive from inside, not outside. Excellence is not for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction and efficiency.

--
Sam

Six Keys To Success

1. Attitude
Bloom where you are planted. You have a choice to get back up after temporary set backs. Attitude is a small thing that makes a big difference!

2. Direction
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there. Write your short term goals down on paper. I have discovered and continue to discover that putting your dreams and goals down on paper lock in or focus your belief that they can be achieved -- even if you have to take a course correction in achieving your goals. Success comes in cans, failure comes in can'ts.

3. Values
Explore what is important to you. Maybe it is family, friends, your spirituality or working hard at any given task. I can assure you that your priorities will change as you grow older. Very important that you value yourself and treat yourself like the valuable gift from God that you are.

4. Interests
Birds of a feather flock together. This is to say that if you are hanging around winners or others with a "can do" mind-set, you'll likely adapt to this same kind of thinking. Remember -- "SUCCESS LEAVES CLUES!

5. Commitment
Feelings may change, commitments do not. "Success is getting up one more time than you fall." I have often wanted to give up, and then I must think to myself about what the consequences of giving up will be. Generally, this is more than enough of a motivation to make us stick to the task at hand even if we don't feel like it. When the task is achieved, Whow! -- IT FEELS GREAT!

6. Encouragement:
Be an encourager and comforter to friends that are feeling discouraged. I promise that you will not regret this as you will be encouraged by one, if not many, when you are feeling down. Encouragement and love are contagious qualities that can change the minds of the most stubborn and "hard-to-get-along-with" people you know. I have seen it happen over and over again.

Source: motivateus

--
Sam

Live Space Feed | ISS | International Space Station live

Live streaming video is now available every day of the week from the International Space Station. The video will show views of Earth and the exterior structure of the station, as seen from cameras mounted outside the ISS, and other times, activities going on inside the station. If you regularly watch NASA TV online, just go to the same website, and now there's another choice of channels. Just click on the "Live Space Station Video" tab to enjoy. The Earth views will usually be seen during what is the crew off-duty or sleep periods, usually from about 6 pm to 6 am GMT. During times when the crew is awake and working, selected video will be available, accompanied by audio of communications between Mission Control and the astronauts.



During times when the shuttle is docked to the station, the stream will include video and audio of those activities. Whenever video isn't available, a graphical world map will be shown that depicts the station’s location in orbit above the Earth using real-time telemetry sent to Mission Control from the station.

Since the station orbits the Earth once every 90 minutes, it sees a sunrise or a sunset every 45 minutes. When the station is in darkness, external camera video may appear black, but also may provide great views of city lights below.

The streaming video is being webcast as part of NASA's celebration of the 10th anniversary of the space station in orbit.

Source: NASA

Track Other Satellites Live [Not Video]

Spot ISS from your country

--
Sam

Google Phone Search

Google Phone Search is now available in India. Search includes [Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore] cities as of now. Now you can dial a Toll Free number 1-800-41-999-999 from any phone in India to voice search for local businesses, movie show times, flight status and get the results free via SMS.

The great thing about this service is that its completely free of charge, and helps you find the information you need, right when you need it the most. Since the local business information used by Google Phone Search is sourced from Local Search, its a good idea to add your local business to Google Local Business Centre.

Google Phone Search is still in its pilot stage. The search initially included Hyderabad and Delhi, and has now been expanded to include Mumbai and Bangalore in India. Its will be soon available for Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad. The information is available only in English, Hindi and Telugu languages.

Google is using the speech recognition technology, in case when it fails to recognize you, they transfer your call to a local operator after 2 recognition failures so that they assist you with your query. If you get stuck, press ‘9’ to talk to an operator available from 8 am to 12 midnight everyday.

Next time you need to find a local business in any of these cities, simply dial 1-800-41-999-999 from any landline or mobile phone, and check it works.

Source: http://labs.google.co.in/phonesearch/

--
Sam

How Small We Are

[click to view larger image]

An amazing picture of comparison of the earth size with the known biggest stars & planets in our Milky way Galaxy. The thing that I like the most is that, you can get a feeling of size and scale in the universe, look at how tiny the earth looks and imagine how tiny we are!!!

If you’ve ever had trouble grasping the true sizes involved in astronomy and the size of earth compared to other planets and stars, as you will see here the scales involved are mind blowing.

The VV Cephei is an eclipsing binary star system located in the constellation Cepheus, approximately 3,000 light years from Earth. It is 3rd largest star found in our galaxy.

[click to view larger image]

VY Canis Majoris (VY CMa) is a red hyper giant star located in the constellation Canis Major. It is 2nd largest known star in our galaxy and also one of the most luminous known. It is located about 4,900 light years away from Earth.

WOH G64 is a red super giant in the Large Magellanic Cloud. With 2000 times the radius of the Sun, it is the largest known star in our galaxy.

Here is the List of Largest Known Stars


[click & zoom to view larger image]

These are the findings within a small part in our Milky way galaxy. Our technology and research has reached only a fraction of % in our galaxy. There is yet to discover more.

The center of our Milky Way galaxy is 26000 light years away from us. Even If you travel at the speed of light it will take thousands of years to reach the center of our galaxy. Like our Milky Way galaxy there are Billions of galaxies!!!

Its unimaginable to think the size of the universe holding billions of galaxies. We can only think on how wonderful and supernatural the God's creation is.

Wonderful Album: How Small We Are [Dont Miss]
 

Related: Milky Way Could Have Billions of Earths

--
Sam

10 Important Things For Life

10 Most Important Things

1. LOVE
The Special Feeling That Makes You Feel All Warm And Wonderful.

2. RESPECT
Treating Others As Well As You Would Like To Be Treated.

3. APPRECIATION
To Be Grateful For All The Good Things Life Has To Offer.

4. HAPPINESS
The Full Enjoyment Of Each Moment. A Smiling Face.

5. FORGIVENESS
The Ability To Let Things Be Without Anger.

6. SHARING
The Joy Of Giving Without Thought Of Receiving.

7. HONESTY
The Quality Of Always Telling The Truth.

8. INTEGRITY
The Purity Of Doing What's Right, No Matter What.

9. COMPASSION
The Essence Of Feeling Another's Pain, While Easing Their Hurt.

10. PEACE
The Reward For Living The 10 Most Important Things.

Source: motivateus

--
Sam

Invisible Threats [Dark Comets]

The biggest threat to our little blue planet may turn out to be something that we don't see/detect an approaching deadly comet . Yes, "Dark Comets" are invisible and very hard to detect.

"Dark Comets" are formed when an active comet's reflective water ice has evaporated away, leaving behind an organic crust that only reflects a small fraction of light. Astronomers have previously spotted comets heading towards earth just days before they passed. In 1983 a comet called IRAS-Araki-Alcock passed at a distance of just 5 million kilometres, the closest of any comet for 200 years, but it was noticed just a fortnight beforehand.

A composite of images from NASA's Deep Space 1 spacecraft shows features of comet Borrelly's nucleus, dust jets escaping the nucleus and the cloud-like coma of dust and gases surrounding the nucleus.

Hazardous comets and asteroids are monitored by various space agencies under an umbrella effort known as Spaceguard. UK-based astronomers Bill Napier claim that many comets could be going undetected.

He warns that some of these comets may still be zipping around the solar system. Other observations support their case. The rate that bright comets enter the solar system implies there should be around 3000 dark comets buzzing around, and yet only 25 are known.

Source: Newscientist

--
Sam

The Milky Way Could have Billions of Earths

[click to view larger image]

With the upcoming launch in March 5th 2009 of the Kepler mission to find extrasolar planets, there is quite a lot of buzz about the possibility of finding habitable planets outside of our Solar System. Kepler will be the first satellite telescope with the capability to find Earth-size and smaller planets. At the most recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Chicago, Dr. Alan Boss is quoted by numerous media outlets as saying that there could be billions of Earth-like planets in the Milky Way alone, and that we may find an Earth-like planet orbiting a large proportion of the stars in the Universe.

"There are something like a few dozen solar-type stars within something like 30 light years of the sun, and I would think that a good number of those — perhaps half of them would have Earth-like planets. So, I think there's a very good chance that we'll find some Earth-like planets within 10, 20, or 30 light years of the Sun," Dr. Boss said in an AAAS podcast interview.

Dr. Boss is an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution of Washington Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, and is the author of The Crowded Universe, a book on the likelihood of finding life and habitable planets outside of our Solar System.

This sort of postulation about the existence of extraterrestrial life (and intelligence) falls under the paradigm of the Drake Equation, named after the astronomer Frank Drake. The Drake Equation incorporates all of the variables one should take into account when trying to calculate the number of technologically advanced civilizations elsewhere in the Universe. Depending on what numbers you put into the equation, the answer ranges from zero to trillions. There is wide speculation about the existence of life elsewhere in the Universe.

The speculation by Dr. Boss and others will be put to the test later this year when the Kepler satellite gets up and running. Set to launch on March 5th 2009, the Kepler mission will utilize a 0.95 meter telescope to view one section of the sky containing over 100,000 stars for the entirety of the mission, which will last at least 3.5 years.

The Milky Way From Earth

[click to view larger image]

If you look up into the night sky on a very clear night, in an area with very little light pollution, you will see a band of stars splashed across the sky. That band is the Milky Way, the spiral galaxy in which our Solar System lies, and where almost every object you can see with your naked eye calls home.

The Solar System is inside the disk of the Milky Way, and orbits in one of the spiral arms at 26,000 light years from the center of the galaxy. We can't see the spiral structure of the galaxy from our planet because we are inside the disk and have no means of taking images from above or below the galaxy. Images of the Milky Way's spiral structure are created from computer modeling based on information from stars as they orbit the galaxy.

Much of the Milky Way is invisible to us because we have to look through the plane of its disk - a lot of the Milky Way is on the other side of the galaxy, and there is so much dust and so many bright stars closer to us that we can't see the stars behind all of this matter. Of the 5,000 to 8,000 stars in the Milky Way visible to the human eye from Earth, one can usually only see about 2,500 at a time. In fact, the few thousand stars we can see of the Milky Way with our naked eye are only about 0.000003% of the 200-400 billion stars that inhabit the spiral.

Source: BBC
NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html

--
Sam