How Our Brain WorksWe know that our brain is what makes us tick. It stores our memories, controls our bodily functions, creates ideas that change the world and lets us fly on the wings on imagination whenever we want. This is why it’s imperative that we keep our brain in good health! These tips and trivia bits will help you understand your brain better and keep it in good condition. |
| 1. Living in a violent home affects a child in the same way combat affects a soldier.
Forgetting things (to an extent) is a sign of a healthy brain. Deleting unneeded information allows the brain to retain elasticity!
If you’re stuck in a constant state of stress, your brain ages and becomes weaker prematurely…
According to current research, dieting can cause the brain to eat itself…
If your brain doesn’t get oxygen for 5-10 minutes, it will suffer permanent damage.
Scientific research proved that when a person gets even a modicum of power, it will affect their brain’s works and will reduce their ability to have empathy.
Brain freeze is a real thing, its scientific name is: “Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia”
Both sides of the brain work in tandem. The concept of “left/right brain” is a myth.
Want to relax? When you smell chocolate, your brain releases theta waves which relaxes you
Did you know that your tongue is not the only part of your body with taste buds? Your brain has them as-well (and so does your stomach, intestines, pancreas, anus, testicles and lungs).
Drinking alcohol doesn’t erase your memories – instead, it prevents your brain from creating new ones.
When you’re rejected, your brain interprets it in the same way it does physical pain..
Your brain doesn’t stop developing until you are in your late 40’s, so it’s important to keep it active.
The effects of sleep deprivation on the brain slows your reactions and causes you to suffer from impaired judgment.
So keep that brain of yours working, get enough sleep and sniff some chocolate and you’ll be happier and healthier…….
Source…….www.ba-bamail.com Natarajan |
Art
Message For the Day…” God is the Cosmic Director and all of us are Mere Actors…”
You pray to God for trivial worldly things. Distinguish clearly between earthly happiness and divine bliss. Ask for selfless love, which you do not have, but He has in plenty. Pray for love, peace and bliss. God is the embodiment of bliss; His love is supreme without a parallel. He knows what is good for you and will give it. He is a witness to all your thoughts, words and actions. Therefore surrender wholeheartedly unto Him, and lead an ideal life. You are all embodiments of the Divine. So love all and never hurt anyone. If you harm anyone, you are harming the Divine. Love is as vital for a human as fire is vital for a lump of coal to sparkle. Get rid of all your weaknesses by concentrating on Divine Love, as grace is ever flowing and confers the greatest strength. God is the Cosmic Director and all humans are mere actors. So perform your role to please Him!
Few Accidental Discoveries that Changed the world….
In many ways, modernity can be viewed as little more than the the product of centuries of dumb luck. As you are about to see, some of the world’s most significant milestones were the result of nothing more than happy accidents.
Accidental Discoveries: Penicillin
Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming changed modern medicine and saved countless lives by not being a very tidy man. Fleming left for vacation in 1928, failing to clean up his lab beforehand. When he returned, he noticed that some of his Petri dishes had developed mold that prevented bacteria to grow on them.
Correctly guessing that the mold had antibacterial properties, Fleming went to work on identifying the culture – Penicillium notatum. From that, the scientist was able to extract penicillin and revolutionize the world of antibiotics.
It should be noted that it took another decade before other scientists found a way to create a stable strain of penicillin that could be mass-produced. Likewise, Fleming wasn’t the first person to see the potential of moldy cultures. Other prominent scientists such as Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister also realized that certain molds could inhibit bacteria growth, not to mention the fact that moldy bread was a traditional infection remedy since ancient times.
The Big Bang Theory
We aren’t actually talking about the discovery of the Big Bang theory itself, but rather of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), or the radiation that the Big Bang left behind. George Gamow predicted its existence in the 1940s but it wasn’t until 1964 that two radio astronomers, Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias, discovered it completely by chance.
For their work, Wilson and Penzias won the Nobel Prize in 1978 Source: One Minute Astronomer
Penzias and Wilson were working at Bell Labs in New Jersey and experimenting with a state-of-the-art horn antenna when they picked up some weird interference. At first, they thought this was due to something way less exciting than the CMB – pigeons. However, once they cleared the nest, they noticed that the interference remained. It could only be CMB.
And thus the two astronomers discovered the first compelling evidence for the veracity of the Big Bang theory. At that time, the origins of the universe were in even hotter debate than today, with camps divided primarily by those who believed in an expanding universe (first put forward by Belgian priest/scientist Georges Lemaitre and later supported by Russian physicist George Gamow) or steady-state theory, the idea of a universe that always was and always will be. The discovery of the CMB tipped the scales in the Big Bang’s favor.
X-Rays
In 1895, German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen was doing some simple experiments with a cathode ray tube. At one point, he noticed that the tube was lighting a piece of fluorescent cardboard in the room even though there was a screen between them. Röntgen unsuccessfully tried to block the rays and eventually thought of sticking his hand in front of the tube, revealing the bones inside it. He had just discovered X-rays.
To be fair, others were aware of the effects of X-rays before Röntgen, but he was the one to study them systematically. He also gave them their name, even though they were referred to as Röntgen rays for decades following his discovery.
Röntgen went to work on improving the imaging process by replacing the screen with a photographic plate so the images would be clearer. The first medical x-ray ever taken was of his wife’s hand, which Röntgen presented to the scientific community. Pretty soon x-ray technology became an international medicinal staple.
Radioactivity
One happy accident often leads to another. That was the case with French scientist Henri Becquerel, who, after being inspired by Röntgen’s work, started researching phosphorescence in 1896. Becquerel thought that phosphorescence was responsible for the x-ray effect so he tried exposing some photographic plates to phosphorescent salts in order to confirm it.
None of the materials used ended up having an effect, save for one: uranium salts. And even still, that discovery was made completely by chance. Becquerel considered sunlight to be essential to the experiment, and it was cloudy on the day he planned to test the uranium salts. Becquerel stuck everything in a drawer and waited to experiment another day, only to find days later that the uranium salts caused the photographic plate to blacken in spite of the darkness.
Becquerel had wrapped the plates in paper so they were never in direct contact with the uranium salts, which meant that some unknown form of radiation capable of passing through solid objects was responsible for this event, not phosphorescence. Becquerel had stumbled upon radioactive decay or, as more know it, radioactivity.
Wearable Pacemaker
With over 350 patents to his name, it’s a wonder that Wilson Greatbatch is not a household name. But of all his innovations, the wearable pacemaker is undoubtedly the most highly acclaimed.
In 1956, Greatbatch was an electrical engineer working to build a heart rhythm-recording device. In a serendipitous moment of inattention, he reached into a box of spare parts for a resistor, but grabbed the wrong size. Greatbatch realized this after installing it, but he also noticed that the completed circuit produced an electric pulse at a speed of 1.8 times per second.
That’s roughly as fast as the heart beats, something Greatbatch immediately picked up on. He realized that the electrical stimuli could be used to assist a weak heart and went to work on shrinking down his device. In 1958 he successfully inserted a pacemaker into a dog, but it was left to a Minneapolis medical company to develop wearable pacemaker for humans that same year.
Source…..www.all-that-is-interesting.com
Natarajan
” அந்த வீணையை என்னிடம் கொடு…நான் வாசிக்கலாம் இல்லையா …” ?
ஒரு சமயம், மகாபெரியவர் மகாராஷ்டிர மாநிலம் சதாராவில் தங்கி இருந்தார். ஒரு அரசமரத்தின் கீழ் இளைப்பாறிய அவர், மரத்தின் வேரில் தலையை வைத்துப் படுத்துக் கொள்வார். முன்னால் திரை போட்டிருக்கும்.
பக்தர்களுக்கு தரிசனம் கொடுக்கும் சமயத்தில் மட்டும், திரையை விலக்குவார்கள்.
அன்று, சென்னையில் இருந்து வீணை வித்வான் ஒருவர் பெரியவரைத் தரிசிக்க நண்பருடன் வந்திருந்தார். பெரியவரைத் தரிசனம் செய்த அவர், அவரது அனுமதி பெற்று, வீணையை எடுத்து வாசிக்க ஆரம்பித்தார். பக்தர்கள் எல்லாரும் அந்த இசைமழையில் நனைந்து கொண்டிருந்தனர். வாசித்து முடித்ததும், வீணையை உறையில் இட தயாரானார் வித்வான்.
பெரியவர் அவரிடம், “”அந்த வீணையை என்னிடம் கொடு. நான் அதை வாசிக்கலாம் இல்லையா?” என்று கேட்டார்.
பெரியவர் வீணை வாசிக்கப் போகிறாரா என்று எல்லாருக்கும் திகைப்பு. வித்வான் உட்பட..! ஆனால், எதற்காக வாசிக்க இருக்கிறார் என்பது மட்டும் யாருக்கும் புரியவில்லை.
வீணையைக் கையில் வாங்கிய பெரியவர் சுருதி கூட்டி, வித்வானிடம் காட்டினார். “”நான் சுருதி கூட்டியிருப்பது சரியா இருக்கான்னு பாரு,” என்றார்.
வித்வானும், “”சரியா இருக்கு” என்று சொல்ல, பெரியவர் வீணை வாசிக்க ஆரம்பித்து விட்டார்.
சில நிமிடங்கள் தான் ஆகியிருக்கும்! வித்வான் பெரியவரின் பாதங்களில் விழுந்தார். கன்னத்தில் போட்டுக் கொண்டு, “”பெரியவா! என்னை மன்னிக்கணும்! என்னை மன்னிக்கணும்! தப்பு பண்ணிட்டேன்! தப்பு பண்ணிட்டேன்,” என்று திரும்பத் திரும்பச் சொல்லிக் கொண்டே கதறி அழ ஆரம்பித்து விட்டார்.
பெரியவர் வாசித்து முடித்தார். பின் வீணையை அவரிடம் திருப்பிக்கொடுத்து, “”வித்யா கர்வம் ஒருவனுக்கு கூடாது. கவனமாக இரு,” என்று சொல்லி ஆசிர்வாதமும் செய்தார். வித்வானுடன் வந்த நண்பருக்கு என்ன நடக்கிறதென்றே புரியவில்லை.
பின் நண்பர் வித்வானிடம்,”” இங்கே என்ன நடந்தது? நீ தப்பு பண்ணிட்டதா கதறி அழுதே! பெரியவர் வித்யாகர்வம் கூடாது என்றார். அப்படி என்ன தான் இங்கு தவறு நடந்தது?” என்றார்.
வித்வான் திகைப்பு கலையாமல் பதில் சொல்ல ஆரம்பித்தார்.
“”கைலாய மலையைத் தூக்க முயன்ற ராவணனின் கைகள் மலையின் அடியில் சிக்கிக் கொண்டன. அப்போது, அவன் சாமகானம் இசைத்து சிவனை மகிழ்வித்து விடுதலை பெற்றான் இல்லையா! அதுபோல, நானும் இங்கே சாமகானம் வாசிக்க துவங்கினேன். ஆனால், திடீரென எப்படி வாசிப்பது என்று மறந்து போய்விட்டது. இது யாருக்கு தெரியப்போகிறது என, ஏதோ ஒன்றை வாசித்து நிறைவு செய்து விட்டேன். பெரியவர் இதைக் கண்டுபிடித்து விட்டார். என்னிடம் வீணையை வாங்கி, அந்தப் பகுதியை சரியாக வாசித்து நிறைவு செய்து விட்டார். பெரியவர் ஸர்வக்ஞர் (எல்லாம் அறிந்தவர்). அவருக்கு எல்லாம் தெரியும் என்பது எனக்கு தெரியாமல் போச்சே! அபச்சாரம் பண்ணிட்டேனே! அதனால் தான் அவரிடம் மன்னிப்பு கேட்டேன்,” என்றார்.
நமக்கு தெரிந்ததைச் செய்ய வேண்டும். தெரியாத விஷயங்களைத் தெளிவாகக் கற்றுக் கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்ற பாடத்தை இதன் மூலம் வாழும் தெய்வமான மகாபெரியவர் நமக்கு இதன்மூலம் உணர்த்தியிருக்கிறார்.
Source…..www.periva.proboards.com
natarajan
Image of the Day….FireFlies over Sky…!!!
Fireflies are back, upstate New York
Photo and report from an EarthSky friend who regularly watches for them.
Here’s the first firefly photo we’ve seen so far this year. Matt Pollock in the town of Brunswick in upstate New York posted it at EarthSky Facebook this week (May 27, 2015). He wrote:
Each year as part of my planned outings I include the return of the fireflies. It seems they have come early this year and in great abundance. Last night it never dropped much below 70 degrees F and hot nights in deep grass is their favorite breeding time and place. Typically, the females climb up on the tips of the grass and signal to the males who search around in roving packs from above. I think I learned something interesting last night. When its windy, The males fly low when going upwind, then climb rapidly and let the wind cast them over the grass tops as they search for their mates. If they see one flashing, they drop like a meteor then hover (often in groups) and signal to the ladies below.
I set up my camera low to the ground, just above the grass tops and ran a time lapse. Each time the camera took a picture, the green LED would flash a few times indicating it was taking another photograph. At one point, I think a group saw this and decided to check it out. As I sat in the grass a few feet away, a cluster of them upwind from the setup suddenly rose and dive bombed the camera. Some of them actually came within inches of the lens.
I had the Fstop set for F/2.8 and focused at infinity at a focal length of 24mm with the hopes of catching the core of the Milky Way so the depth of field was fairly narrow and and field of view fairly wide. As can be seen they came in close enough to be pretty blurry and large considering that even something close to the lens is smaller than normal.
As is often the case, the cloud cover prevented any capture of galactic core, but for a brief interval you could see Sagittarius and the “Teapot” asterism which looked almost like lightning bolts coming out of its center. Next time I will pick the midpoint for focus but overall I am pleased with what I got. I thoroughly enjoyed being out there and watching the annual show and will be looking for more of them until the fields are cut and they move on again until next year.
By the way, fireflies have an organic compound in their abdomens called luciferin. As air rushes into the abdomen, a chemical reaction gives off the firefly’s familiar glow. Read more: Why do fireflies light up?
Bottom line: First firefly photo we’ve seen this year, from Matt Pollock in upstate New York.
Source….www.earthsky.org
Natarajan
image of the Day… Sunset Sequence in Mars…!!!
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover recorded this sequence of views of the sun setting at the close of the mission’s 956th Martian day, or sol (April 15, 2015), from the rover’s location in Gale Crater.
The four images shown in sequence here were taken over a span of 6 minutes, 51 seconds.
This was the first sunset observed in color by Curiosity. The images come from the left-eye camera of the rover’s Mast Camera (Mastcam). The color has been calibrated and white-balanced to remove camera artifacts. Mastcam sees color very similarly to what human eyes see, although it is actually a little less sensitive to blue than people are.
Dust in the Martian atmosphere has fine particles that permit blue light to penetrate the atmosphere more efficiently than longer-wavelength colors. That causes the blue colors in the mixed light coming from the sun to stay closer to sun’s part of the sky, compared to the wider scattering of yellow and red colors. The effect is most pronounced near sunset, when light from the sun passes through a longer path in the atmosphere than it does at mid-day.
Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates the rover’s Mastcam. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project’s Curiosity rover. For more information about Curiosity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Texas A&M Univ.
Source……www.nasa.gov
Leaf People…Branch People….and Root People….
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A beautiful analogy
I have this tree analogy when
I think of people in my life, be it friends , family, acquaintances, employees, co-workers, whomever… They are all placed inside what I call my tree test.
It goes like this:
LEAF PEOPLE
Some people come into your life and they are like leaves on a tree. They are only there for a season. You can’t depend on them or count on them because they are weak and only there to give you shade. Like leaves, they are there to take what they need and as soon as it gets cold or a wind blows in your life they are gone. You can’t be angry at them, it’s just who they are.
BRANCH PEOPLE
There are some people who come into your life and they are like branches on a tree. They are stronger than leaves, but you have to be careful with them. They will stick around through most seasons, but if you go through a storm or two in your life it’s possible that you could lose them. Most times they break away when it’s tough. Although they are stronger than leaves, you have to test them out before you run out there and put all your weight on them. In most cases they can’t handle too much weight. But again, you can’t be mad with them, it’s just who they are.
ROOT PEOPLE
If you can find some people in your life who are like the roots of a tree then you have found something special. Like the roots of a tree, they are hard to find because they are not trying to be seen. Their only job is to hold you up and help you live a strong and healthy life. If you thrive, they are happy. They stay low key and don’t let the world know that they are there. And if you go through an awful storm they will hold you up. Their job is to hold you up, come what may, and to nourish you, feed you and water you.
If you can find some people in your life who are like the roots of a tree then you have found something special. Like the roots of a tree, they are hard to find because they are not trying to be seen. Their only job is to hold you up and help you live a strong and healthy life. If you thrive, they are happy. They stay low key and don’t let the world know that they are there. And if you go through an awful storm they will hold you up. Their job is to hold you up, come what may, and to nourish you, feed you and water you.
Source……input from a friend of mine
Natarajan
How to Clean the Uncleanable ….?
Handy Tips for Cleaning the Uncleanable
There are spots and objects in your home that you’re sure you won’t be able to clean, but you’d be surprised to discover that cleaning them is a cinch! Here are 10 tips that will make your cleaning easier and more bearable:
| Inside of your purse
This one was a pet peeve of mine. I don’t like pouring the content out, and even that doesn’t always work. What I discovered that if you use a lint roller on the inside of the purse – it’ll catch almost everything. |
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| 2. Stop drawers from being messy
Digging through my drawers used to be annoying, I ended up moving most of my clothes, ruining the order I worked hard to maintain, trying to find one shirt. The solution to this problem is simple enough; stack your folded shirts vertically! That way, you see all the shirts and getting them out is also easier. |
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| 3. Stubborn pet hair on the carpet
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My dog is a shedder. She loves lying on the carpet, but when she gets up, the carpet looks likeit’s changing color. Using a broom is not very effective at removing that stubborn fur. What I found out is that using a squeegee works much better than anything else! The rubber blade lifts the fur quickly and efficiently.” These Guys were offered to act in a Big Film …” See What happens next …?
India’s first superstar Prank, Where is an opportunity for everyone to become a superstar !. But Do you really want to become that Superstar ???? Check out the video !!
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How can you say no to a film which releases on silver screen along with films starring Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachhan, Aamir Khan etc. These guys went around the street offering people an audition for a very popular role, and people couldn’t help but show interest in what they were saying. After they had their full attention, they revealed something unexpected which took people by surprise.
PrankBaaz has come up with a very innovative way to spread a social messages because no one listens when you directly tell them to not do anything. I’m frankly impressed with the idea. I’m sure you will be too.
Well done PrankBaaz! 
Source…..www.storypick.com
Natarajan
29 Indian-Americans among 43 Semifinalists @ National Spelling Bee competition …
Indian-Americans have dominated most of the prestigious spelling awards in the United States for several years now, and this year is no different. Out of 49 semi finalists of the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, 25 are of the Indian origin dominating another prestigious annual event.
The semi finals which are scheduled on Friday will have all 49 contestants competing for a place in the finals of 88th Scripps National Spelling Bee.
14 years old Gokul Venkatachalam who finished third in 2014 is performing fairly well this year and is one of the best contenders for the prize. Another good contender is 13 years old Vanya Shivashankar, who is making a fifth appearance in the Spelling Bee. Vanya’s elder sister Kavya won the 2009 Championship. Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe were the joint winners in 2014.
The National Spelling Bee has been going on since 1925. It started with 9 contestants and this year it received participation from all 50 states. This year’s winner will be awarded with a cash prize of $ 35,000.
News Source: The Hindu
Source….www.storypick.com
natarajan
Take off with Natarajan 