ca. 1860, [carte de visite portrait of a “Monkey Fish of Japan", one of many of such specimens created during the 18th and 19th centuries. This particular “merman" was later purchased by P.T. Barnum and shown at the Chinese and Japanese Warehouse on Regent Street in London], Gush and Fergusson
An investigation by St George's University and Horniman Museum in London has finally revealed how mermen and mermaid relics (sometimes referred to as monkey fish) may have been made.
They are thought to have been made by fishermen in Japan and East Asia and were bought by sailors as good luck charms or by circus entertainers to display as curiosities.
Early 20th Century scientists were baffled by the specimens, with some claiming them to be mummified mermaids.
They were later believed to be made from the head and body of a monkey sewn on to the tail of a fish, giving rise to the term "monkey fish".
It was not until March 2011 that an X-ray of the Horniman merman (affectionately known as Herman), revealed that the monkey half was in fact made from papier mache.
Using a combination of CT scans, microscopy, X-radiography and 3D printing, the research team have finally managed to piece together exactly how Herman was made.
Dr James Moffatt, a physiology lecturer at St George's University in London, explains the process.
Why Not Hand Over a ‘Shelter’ to Hermit Crabs? (2010)
Artist’s statement:
"In this piece I gave hermit crabs shelters that I had made for them, and if they liked my shelters, I got them to use them as their shell. I overheard that the land of the former French Embassy in Japan had been French until October 2009; that it was to become Japanese for the following fifty years, and then be returned to France. This concept made me think of hermit crabs, which change their shells.
The same piece of land is peacefully transferred from one country to the other. These kinds of things take place without our being aware of it. On the other hand, similar events are not unrelated to us as individuals. For example acquiring nationality, moving, and migration. The hermit crabs wearing the shelters I built for them, which imitate the architecture of various countries, appeared to be crossing various national borders. Though the body of the hermit crab is the same, according to the shell it is wearing, its appearance changes completely. It’s as if they were asking, ‘Who are you?’"
1. conformity to reality or actuality 2. an enduring or necessary ethical or religious or aesthetic truth
The word verity has appeared in 12 New York Times articles in the past year, including on Aug. 19 in the book review “Here if You Need Me” by William Giraldi:
There are two species of novelist: one writes as if the world is a known locale that requires dutiful reporting, the other as if the world has yet to be made. The former enjoys the complacency of the au courant and the lassitude of at-hand language, while the latter believes with Thoreau that ”this world is but canvas to our imaginations,” that the only worthy assertion of imagination occurs by way of linguistic originality wed to intellect and emotional verity. You close ”Don Quixote” and ”Tristram Shandy,” ”Middlemarch” and ”Augie March,” and the cosmos takes on a coruscated import it rather lacked before, an ”eternal and irrepressible freshness,” in Pound’s apt phrase. His definition of literature is among the best we have: ”Language charged with meaning.” How charged was the last novel you read?
6 Q’s About the News | On the Cover of Rolling Stone
In “CVS and Walgreens Ban an Issue of Rolling Stone,” Noam Cohen writes about criticism that the latest cover of the magazine glamorizes the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.
WHO is on the latest cover of Rolling Stone magazine?
WHY did the chain stores CVS and Walgreens say this week that they would not sell it?
WHAT has being on the cover of Rolling Stone long been a sign of?
WHEN did the Boston bombings occur?
WHERE did Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino send a letter to object to the cover?
WHAT is the Rolling Stone article about?
HOW did the magazine defend its cover?
For Higher-Order Thinking:
HOW do you feel about this cover? Do you agree with Rolling Stone that it helps young people understand some of the “complexities” of who this young man is, or do you agree with those who say it “glorifies” him? WHAT do you think Rolling Stone could have put on its cover instead? WHAT do you think about what this Massachusetts State Police sergeant did in response?
"Photographers look for beauty in unexpected places. And in parts of Tanzania — a society that gravely mistreats albinos — photojournalist Jacquelyn Martin set out to show how beautiful she thinks they are.
Tanzanians with albinism endure a particularly cruel fate. Not only do they suffer from sun sensitivity and vision problems, but they are also hunted by witch doctors who believe their body parts can be used for magic.
Since 2006, more than 71 albinos have been killed in Tanzania so their bodies could be made into potions."They go through daily prejudice and hardship," Martin says on the phone. “People around them don’t think of them as humans."
Tanzania — which is thought to be the birthplace of the genetic mutation — has one of the highest rates of albinism in the world. Albinos account for nearly 1 in every 1,400 people, compared to about 1 in 20,000 worldwide. And because of social discrimination, albinos tend to marry each other, thereby passing their genes to their children.
Martin worked with a translator to interview her subjects and take their portraits. In some cases, it was the first time they had ever had their photo taken.
"In society, they are reviled, so they really responded to being treated with dignity and being photographed in a respectful, humanitarian manner," she says."I really think there is something special in this collection of portraits where their inner beauty shines through," she adds. “We would talk about their experiences … and they would laugh and love that they were in the pictures."The Kabanga center and others like it protect people with albinism but also isolate them. Martin plans to give prints to every person she photographed."Because they are not treated like humans, because they are not treated with respect, I hope they have a little something that helps them reflect on the beauty in themselves — to help them going forward."
there is a farmer and he has chickens but they don't lay any eggs so he called a physicist to help , the physicist then does some calculations and he said i have a solution but it only works with spherical chickens in a vacuum
/The Astronaut Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center.
The three greatest disasters to hit NASA’s space exploration program all happened over the course of six days between January 27 and February 1, on three different years.
On January 27, 1967, a launch pad fire took the lives of Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. The three astronauts were in the spacecraft during a test firing of the rockets on the launch pad when a flash fire enveloped the command module. Despite the tragedy, the Apollo program went on to put the first man on the moon on July 20, 1969.
On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger broke up 73 seconds after launch, killing all seven astronauts on board: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik. Due to low temperatures in Florida the morning of the accident, the O-ring seals in the solid rocket boosters became frozen and lost their flexibility. High temperature gas was able to escape the seals, resulting in the destruction of the vehicle.
The next spaceflight tragedy occurred on February 1, 2003, when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry. Seven crew members, Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, and Laurel Clark, lost their lives when the shuttle’s thermal protection system failed over Texas twenty minutes before its scheduled landing in Florida.
Two Americans, astronauts of Apollo 11, steered their fragile four-legged lunar module safely and smoothly to the historic landing yesterday at 4:17:40 P.M., Eastern daylight time.
Neil A. Armstrong, the 38-year-old civilian commander, radioed to earth and the mission control room here:
"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."
The first men to reach the moon--Mr. Armstrong and his co-pilot, Col. Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. of the Air Force--brought their ship to rest on a level, rock-strewn plain near the southwestern shore of the arid Sea of Tranquility.
About six and a half hours later, Mr. Armstrong opened the landing craft's hatch, stepped slowly down the ladder and declared as he planted the first human footprint on the lunar crust:
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
His first step on the moon came at 10:56:20 P.M., as a television camera outside the craft transmitted his every move to an awed and excited audience of hundreds of millions of people on earth.
Tentative Steps Test Soil
Mr. Armstrong's initial steps were tentative tests of the lunar soil's firmness and of his ability to move about easily in his bulky white spacesuit and backpacks and under the influence of lunar gravity, which is one-sixth that of the earth.
"The surface is fine and powdery," the astronaut reported. "I can pick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers like powdered charcoal to the sole and sides of my boots. I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch. But I can see the footprints of my boots in the treads in the fine sandy particles.
After 19 minutes of Mr. Armstrong's testing, Colonel Aldrin joined him outside the craft.
The two men got busy setting up another television camera out from the lunar module, planting an American flag into the ground, scooping up soil and rock samples, deploying scientific experiments and hopping and loping about in a demonstration of their lunar agility.
They found walking and working on the moon less taxing than had been forecast. Mr. Armstrong once reported he was "very comfortable."
And people back on earth found the black-and-white television pictures of the bug- shaped lunar module and the men tramping about it so sharp and clear as to seem unreal, more like a toy and toy-like figures than human beings on the most daring and far- reaching expedition thus far undertaken.
Nixon Telephones Congratulations
During one break in the astronauts' work, President Nixon congratulated them from the White House in what, he said, "certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made."
"Because of what you have done," the President told the astronauts, "the heavens have become a part of man's world. And as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility it required us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to earth.
"For one priceless moment in the whole history of man all the people on this earth are truly one--one in their pride in what you have done and one in our prayers that you will return safely to earth."
Mr. Armstrong replied:
"Thank you Mr. President. It's a great honor and privilege for us to be here representing not only the United States but men of peace of all nations, men with interests and a curiosity and men with a vision for the future."
For forty-odd years, the flags have been exposed to the full fury of the Moon's environment – alternating 14 days of searing sunlight and 100° C heat with 14 days of numbing-cold -150° C darkness. But even more damaging is the intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the pure unfiltered sunlight on the cloth (modal) from which the Apollo flags were made. Even on Earth, the colors of a cloth flag flown in bright sunlight for many years will eventually fade and need to be replaced. So it is likely that these symbols of American achievement have been rendered blank, bleached white by the UV radiation of unfiltered sunlight on the lunar surface. Some of them may even have begun to physically disintegrate under the intense flux.
Take the orbits of any two planets and draw a line between the two planet positions every few days. Because the inner planet orbits faster than the outer planet, interesting patterns evolve. Each planetary pairing has its own unique dance rhythm. For example, the Earth-Venus dance returns to the original starting position after eight Earth years. Eight Earth years equals thirteen Venus years.
Note that 8 and 13 are members of the Fibonacci number series.
Earth: 8 years * 365.256 days/year = 2,922.05 days
Venus: 13 years * 224.701 days/year = 2,921.11 days (ie. 99.9%)
Watching the Earth-Venus dance for eight years creates this beautiful five-petal flower with the Sun at the center.
Pearl Harbor survivor Houston James of Dallas is overcome with emotion as he embraces Marine Staff Sgt. Mark Graunke Jr. during the Dallas Veterans Day Commemoration at Dallas City Hall in 2005. Sgt Graunke, who was a member of a Marine ordnance-disposal team, lost a hand, leg, and eye while defusing a bomb in Iraq in July of 2004.
Sharbat Gula (born ca. 1972) is an Afghan woman who was the subject of a famous photograph by journalist Steve McCurry. Gula was living as a refugee in Pakistan during the time of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan when she was photographe
British novelist Jane Austen will become the face of the new 10 pound note, who is the Egyptian icon you think should be on Egypt’s banknotes?
Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, in England. Her novels, including Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, are considered literary classics, bridging the gap between romance and realism.
"The Rothko Chapel is a non-denominational chapel in Houston, Texas. The interior serves not only as a chapel, but also as a major work of modern art.
On its walls are fourteen black but color-hued paintings by Mark Rothko.
‘The Rothko Chapel…became the world’s first broadly ecumenical center, a holy place open to all religions and belonging to none. It became a center for international cultural, religious, and philosophical exchanges, for colloquia and performances. And it became a place of private prayer for individuals of all faiths.’
In 1964 Rothko was commissioned to create a meditative space filled with his paintings. The works are site-specific, one of the requirements of the program.
As Rothko was given creative license on the design of the structure, he clashed with the project’s original architect over the plans for the chapel. The plans went through several revisions and architects.
Ultimately he did not live to see the chapel’s completion in 1971.
After a long struggle with depression, Rothko committed suicide in his New York studio on February 25, 1970."
المنتظر نزوله نهاية شهر يونيو الحالى جلاكسى s4 Active جهاز يدعم الجيل الثالث والرابع ومواصفاته كالتالى يأتى بدعم لشبكات الجيل الثالث بكافة انواعها GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 وشبكات الجيل الرابع LTE 800 / 850 /900/ 1800 / 2100 / 2600 - LTE 700 MHz Class 17 / 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 - SGH-I537 حاصل على شهادة وبراءة أختراع IP67 ضد الغبار ومقاومة للماء بل يتحمل ضغط ماء لعمق 1 متر ولمدة30 دقيقة الحجم مناسب جدا مقارنة باحجام s3 فئة نوت1 ونوت 2 نوع شاشة العرض TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colorsو1080*1920 بيكسل -مالتى تاتش (تصغير الشاشة وتكبيرها السبابة والابهام
ذاكرة اضافية 16 جيجا ودعم أضافة ميمورى حتى 32 جيجا
الكاميرا:8ميجا
الخاصية الجديدة:Simultaneous HD
بالاضافة الى touch focus, face and smile detection,
صيغة تصوير الفيديو:1080p@30fps
صيغة تصوير الكاميرا الامامية:2ميجا
نظام التشغيل:اندرويد جيلى بين 4.2.2
نوع المعالج:Quad-core 1.9 GHz Krait 300
يحتوى 6 أنواع من الحساسات كالتالى Accelerometer, gyro,
Mass Suicide at Jonestown: Drinking Poisoned Punch Back in Jonestown, Jones ordered everyone to assemble at the pavilion. Once everyone was assembled, Jones spoke to his congregation. He was in a panic and seemed agitated. He was upset that some of his members had left. He acted like things had to happen in a hurry.
He told the congregation that there was to be an attack on Ryan's group. He also told them that because of the attack, Jonestown wasn't safe. Jones was sure that the U.S. government would react strongly to the attack on Ryan's group. "[W]hen they start parachuting out of the air, they'll shoot some of our innocent babies," Jones told them.
Jones told his congregation that the only way out was to commit the "revolutionary act" of suicide. One woman spoke up against the idea, but after Jones offered reasons why there was no hope in other options, the crowd spoke out against her.
When it was announced that Ryan was dead, Jones became more urgent and more heated. Jones urged the congregation to commit suicide by saying, "If these people land out here, they'll torture some of our children here. They'll torture our people, they'll torture our seniors. We cannot have this."
Jones told everyone to hurry. Large kettles filled with grape flavored Flavor-Aid (not Kool-Aid), cyanide, and Valium were placed in the open-sided pavilion.
Babies and children were brought up first. Syringes were used to pour the poisoned juice into their mouths. Mothers then drank some of the poisoned punch.
Next went other members. Some members were already dead before others got their drinks. If anyone wasn't cooperative, there were guards with guns and crossbows to encourage them. It took approximately five minutes for each person to die.
On that day, November 18, 1978, 912 people died from drinking the poison, 276 of whom were children. Jones died from a single gunshot wound to the head, but it is unclear whether or not he did this himself.
Only a handful or so people survived, either by escaping into the jungle or hiding somewhere in the compound. In total 918 people died, either at the airport or at the Jonestown compound.
صوره لأكبر حادث انتحار جماعي في العالم ... ولكن وراء الصوره حكايه
واحد اقنع مجموعة ناس انّه " نبي " عمل جماعه وسمّاها " معبد الشعب " والناس صدّقوه واتباعه بقوا كتير جدا , الناس حاولت تقنع اتباعه ان الراجل ده دجّال ولكن مفيش فايده , الناس يقولولهم ده كذاب وملوش علاقه بربنا ولكن مفيش فايده ..
في يوم من الايام سنة 1978 الراجل جمّع اتباعه في قريه صغيّره وقالهم كلّهم يجيبوا ولادهم الصغيرين معاهم وقالّهم ده سم اشربوه كلّكم بس شرّبوا اولادكم الصغيرين الاول ... مات الاولاد الصغيرين الاول وبعد كده الكبار شربوا السم ومات في الموضوع ده 920 واحد ودي صورتهم ... اسم الحادثه للي عاوز يقرا عنها : Jonestown Massacre ودا فيديو :
Gun accident victim who had most extensive face transplant in history learns to speak again as he reveals he no longer spends his life in hiding
Richard Lee Norris, 37, spent years hiding behind a mask and only shopping at night after sustaining horrific injuries in 1997
Had jawbones, teeth, tongue, muscles and nerves replaced during 36-hour operation at University of Maryland involving 150 doctors and nurses
After a gun accident took off half his face, Richard Lee Norris spent 15 years living as a recluse. Horribly disfigured, he hid indoors. When he ventured out, it was behind a baseball cap and surgical mask. He didn’t pursue a career and never married.
Now, seven months after undergoing the most extensive face transplant in history, 37-year-old Norris is finally coming out of hiding.
Thanks to a combination of potent medications and dogged determination, Norris is healing faster than anyone expected, according to his doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center, where his transplant was performed.
Scroll down for video
Second chance at life: Richard Lee Norris, 37, is now able to go out after years of living as a recluse following his full face transplant
Extensive injuries: After a gun accident in 1997, Norris spent his life as a recluse at his Virginia home until his face transplant in March (right)
‘We as doctors do the operation, but the rest is up to you as the patient,’ said Eduardo Rodriguez, a dentist and surgeon at UMMC. ‘You have to carry the ball.’
Mr Norris, Rodriguez says, took the ball and ran with it.
By the time Norris, from Hillsville, Virginia, was selected as a transplant candidate in 2005, he had already undergone more than a dozen operations attempting to give him functional use of his mouth.
Despite the numerous surgeries, certain facial features – such as his lips, nose and the front of his tongue – were beyond repair.
Handsome: How Mr Norris looked prior to his devastating gun accident in 1997′
‘After several attempts at reconstruction, it became apparent it wasn’t going to work,’ Norris, who declined to be interviewed in person, said in a written statement.
‘The face transplant was one of my very few options left.’
The 36-hour operation was completed in March and involved more than 150 doctors, nurses and UMMC staff members.
‘Everything from the scalp to the mid-line of my neck was replaced, including the jaw bones, teeth, part of my tongue, muscles, and nerves’ said Norris, who has retained his eyesight through the gun accident and the subsequent surgeries.
The days immediately following the transplant were promising.
Norris was taken off his postoperative ventilator, and within the first week he was able to shave his face and brush his teeth.
When Norris saw his new face in a mirror for the first time, he wrote: ‘The only thing I could do was hug Dr. Rodriguez.’
He spent the first two months following the surgery in the hospital. The goal at that time, Rodriguez said, was to reduce inflammation and stymie the risk of rejection through high doses of immuno-suppressing drugs.
In May, Norris was discharged but instructed to remain in the Baltimore area, where he could meet with his transplant team as well as a psychologist, a social worker, and speech and physical therapists multiple times each week.
Finally, Norris was allowed to return home to Hillsville, in southwest Virginia, where he does his speech therapy ‘homework’ and meets with his local physician.
He returns to Baltimore once or twice a month for checkups with Rodriguez and other doctors.
Watch video here:
‘I have been doing very well regaining my speech back,’ Norris said. ‘Each day it improves a little more.’
There was, however, one hiccup in the recovery process: the much-feared rejection.
As with any transplant, there was a possibility that Norris’s body would reject his new face. In this case, the rejection was mild and treatable, Rodriguez said.
‘When people hear ”rejection,” they think, ”Oh, my God, the face is going to melt off,”’ Rodriguez said.
‘That’s not the case at all. The skin got a little bit swollen and there was a little bit of redness. On a scale of 1 to 10,” with 10 being the worst-case scenario, “this was a Grade 1 rejection.’
Still, Norris is not in the clear. He continues to run the risk of rejection and he will have to take medications for the rest of his life.
Rebuilding process: Mr Norris’s skull after his accident (left) and as surgeons began to piece it back together (right)
Remarkable: After a 36-hour operation, doctors had reconstructed the lower half of Mr Norris’s face
Rodriguez said that one of the most common questions he is asked is: ‘How is Richard dealing with having a new face?’
Dr Rodriguez said: ‘We always think that there is going to be a facial identity crisis. That’s the worry of people with normal faces. We think how we’d feel if this happened to us.
‘But for people with disfigurements — these people have lived lives concealed from society. That’s a very different and difficult recovery.’
Before the transplant, Norris rarely left his home. In addition to wearing a surgical mask and baseball cap on his infrequent trips out in public, he did his shopping at night so he wouldn’t have to face the stares of as many people.
‘I am now able to walk past people and no one even gives me a second look,’ he wrote.
After years of going out of his way to avoid people, Norris is surprisingly comfortable socializing now, Rodriguez said. ‘Everybody (at the hospital) knows him. He’s such an animated guy.’
While Norris’s results are ‘extraordinary,’ Rodriguez said the full recovery will take more time.
There’s the challenge of teaching Norris, who has not eaten or spoken properly for 15 years, to use his fully functional face.
The teeth plus the tongue is a lot to get used to when someone has gone so long without them, Rodriguez said. Additionally, minor surgery is planned for the soft tissue of his face, such as the eyelids where there is extra skin.
But more than anything else, there is a looming question. Even with immuno-suppressing drugs, doctors say they have no idea how long the transplant will last. There is an expectation that they will have to repair or replace the transplant eventually.
Dr Rodriguez looks with hope to earlier face transplants. The world’s first full face transplant took place in Spain in 2010 and is aging well two years later. The first partial transplant was done in France in 2005, and Rodriguez said its longevity is promising.
‘I’d like to hit that 10-year mark with Richard,’ he said. ‘Of course, we can’t promise anything, but 10 years would be great.’
In the meantime, Norris said he is excited to fish, golf and spend time with his family and friends.
‘My friends have moved on with their lives, starting families and careers,’ he said. ‘I can now start working on the life given back to me.’
![Photo: Mass Suicide at Jonestown: Drinking Poisoned Punch
Back in Jonestown, Jones ordered everyone to assemble at the pavilion. Once everyone was assembled, Jones spoke to his congregation. He was in a panic and seemed agitated. He was upset that some of his members had left. He acted like things had to happen in a hurry.
He told the congregation that there was to be an attack on Ryan's group. He also told them that because of the attack, Jonestown wasn't safe. Jones was sure that the U.S. government would react strongly to the attack on Ryan's group. "[W]hen they start parachuting out of the air, they'll shoot some of our innocent babies," Jones told them.
Jones told his congregation that the only way out was to commit the "revolutionary act" of suicide. One woman spoke up against the idea, but after Jones offered reasons why there was no hope in other options, the crowd spoke out against her.
When it was announced that Ryan was dead, Jones became more urgent and more heated. Jones urged the congregation to commit suicide by saying, "If these people land out here, they'll torture some of our children here. They'll torture our people, they'll torture our seniors. We cannot have this."
Jones told everyone to hurry. Large kettles filled with grape flavored Flavor-Aid (not Kool-Aid), cyanide, and Valium were placed in the open-sided pavilion.
Babies and children were brought up first. Syringes were used to pour the poisoned juice into their mouths. Mothers then drank some of the poisoned punch.
Next went other members. Some members were already dead before others got their drinks. If anyone wasn't cooperative, there were guards with guns and crossbows to encourage them. It took approximately five minutes for each person to die.
On that day, November 18, 1978, 912 people died from drinking the poison, 276 of whom were children. Jones died from a single gunshot wound to the head, but it is unclear whether or not he did this himself.
Only a handful or so people survived, either by escaping into the jungle or hiding somewhere in the compound. In total 918 people died, either at the airport or at the Jonestown compound.
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaJle5GARWs&feature=youtu.be](https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/p480x480/943618_688322074528019_1086063067_n.jpg)
