The Devil’s Swimming Pool

On By A.P.In WaterfallsLeave a comment

Victoria Falls is a waterfall in southern Africa situated between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The falls are 108 meters high and 1,708 meters wide – the largest curtain of water in the world. The falls drop between 90m and 107m into the Zambezi Gorge, wiht an average of 550,000 cubic metres of water plummeting over the edge every minute.

Interestingly there is a spot known as the “Devil’s Swimming Pool”. During the months of September to December, people can swim as close as possible to the edge of the falls without falling over.

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu5nlu4IBN8&feature=related]

Crossing your arms confuses the brain and relieves pain.

On By A.P.In Pain, The BrainLeave a comment

If your hand hurts, simply cross your arms to confuse your brain and reduce the perceived pain intensity. 

Researchers believe this happens because of conflicting information between two of the brain’s maps: the one for your body and the one for external space.

Since the left hand typically performs actions on the left side of space (and the right hand performs on the right side), these two maps work together to create powerful impulses in response to stimuli. When the arms are crossed, however, the two maps are mismatched and information processing becomes weaker — resulting in less pain.

http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/05/22/crossing-arms-confuses-brain-but-relieves-hand-pain/26390.html

Shark Jumps Over Surfer

On By A.P.In Sharks, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Orlando Sentinel photographer Jacob Langston was out in the waters of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, making a video of a surfer when another surfer exclaimed, “Dude! Did you see that?!”

Langston’s focus was on his subject in the foreground of his camera — so he didn’t initially see the four-foot spinner shark jumping over another surfer in the water.

It wasn’t until he got back in the office and was editing his video that he realized he had captured the awesome moment in the background.

Lunch With Warren Buffet

On By A.P.In Wealth and PowerLeave a comment

The bidding for the annual power lunch with Warren Buffet ended with a new record in New York with a final bid of $2,626,411 – just $100 higher from the previous year.

The winner, along with seven other guests of his/her choice, will have the opportunity to spend lunch with the “Oracle of Omaha” at the Smith & Wollensky steak house in New York CityRead more: http://technorati.com/business/article/winner-of-power-lunch-with-warren/#ixzz1PJQx9OMJ

Oxycodone

On By A.P.In Health, OxycodoneLeave a comment

Abuse of oxycodone, a prescription opioid painkiller, is an epidemic responsible for millions of overdoses and at least 11,000 deaths annually.

 A pharmaceutical form of heroin, the drug is now a top seller, with 100 million prescriptions written over the past 15 years – the equivalent of 1 bottle of pills for every 3 Americans.

Read about it here:  http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/why-its-so-hard-win-war-against-us-oxycodone-epidemic

Enceladus Could Support Life

On By A.P.In Enceladus, Origins of Life, Science, Space and TimeLeave a comment

Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus is emerging as the most habitable spot beyond Earth in the Solar System for life as we know it.

“It has liquid water, organic carbon, nitrogen [in the form of ammonia], and an energy source,” says Chris McKay, an astrobiologist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. Besides Earth, he says, “there is no other environment in the Solar System where we can make all those claims.”

NASA is planning to send probes to Enceladus to search for life.

The fastest way to get a mission there is via a gravity boost from Jupiter, which would cut the journey time from ten years to as little as seven.

The next Jupiter-assist window hits its peak in 2015-17, and then slams shut until the 2030s.

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/06/saturns-enceladus-moves-to-top-of-most-likely-to-have-life-list.html

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/24/scientists-saturn-moon-could-support-life/?&hpt=hp_c2

Bear in Metuchen

On By A.P.In BearsLeave a comment

 

A black bear that was perched high in a tree in Metuchen most of the day has come down to the ground and is now on the run, according to the homeowner whose backyard served as a temporary home to the bear.

The young black bear was stretched out on tree branch about 75 feet above the ground in a backyard on West Chestnut Avenue until a few minutes ago, causing quite a stir in the quiet residential neighborhood.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/06/black_bear_in_metuchen_out_of.html

 

Gliese 581d

On By A.P.In Space and TimeLeave a comment

Astronomers in France say a rocky planet orbiting a star that’s one of our closest galactic neighbors may have all the ingredients to make us earthlings feel right at home.

The planet Gliese 581d, orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581 about 20 light years from Earth, could support oceans, clouds and rainfall with a greenhouse effect that would moderate its temperatures, the team of scientists from the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace in Paris says in a study published this month in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/18/scientists-oceans-clouds-rain-possible-on-distant-planet/?hpt=C2

Will we soon be able to CHAT with the dolphins?

On By A.P.In Animal Communication, DolphinsLeave a comment

This summer, it’s possible that we’ll be able to communicate directly with dolphins through a new device called the Cetacean Hearing and Telemetry, or CHAT, interface.

 CHAT is an iPhone-sized device with two hydrophones attached and a unique one-handed keyboard called a twiddler, which, when combined, is designed to be worn around a diver’s neck while swimming with wild dolphins.

Inside this box is a processor that contains a complex algorithm or pattern detector that might be able to learn to identify the fundamental units of dolphin acoustic communication.

This could enable humans to decode dolphin-speak and then reply.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/whats-that-you-say-flipper-experts-develop-tools-to-talk-to-dolphins-2294834.html