If you don’t know GOD, don’t make stupid remarks!A young Canadian paratrooper was taking some collegecourses between assignments. He had completed 3 tours of duty in Afghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was an avowed
atheist and a member of the Canadian Civil Liberties
Association (CCLA).
One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated,“GOD, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform…I’ll give you exactly 15 min.”The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop.Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed,“Here I am GOD, I am still waiting.”It got down to the last couple of minutes when the soldiergot out of his chair, went up to the professor,
and cold-cocked him; knocking him clean off the platform.
The professor was down & out cold.The young soldier went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students were shocked and stunned, andsat there looking on in silence.
The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken,looked at the soldier and asked,
“What in the world is the matter with you? Why did you do that?”
The young soldier stood up and calmly replied,
“GOD was too busy today protecting soldiers, who are protecting your rightto say stupid shit and act like an idiot. So He sent me.”
SOURCE::::: input from a friend of mine…Natarajan
The classroom erupted in cheers!
Education
Image of the Day….A Fantastic View From ISS.. ” !!!
European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti took this photograph from the International Space Station and posted it to social media on Jan. 30, 2015. Cristoforetti wrote, “A spectacular flyover of the Gulf of Aden and the Horn of Africa. #HelloEarth”
Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Samantha Cristoforetti
SOURCE:::: www. nasa.gov.
Natarajan
A ” Village ” with a Difference …
At first glance, the village of Hogeweyk in the Dutch town of Weesp looks like an ordinary place. There are shops and residences, parks and restaurants, and even a theater. There are only 152 people living here, though, and you might notice that all of them are elderly. The younger people here are actually staff–nurses, doctors, and specialists–who work around the clock.
The village is actually a pioneering step in the future of elder and dementia care. Each of the 152 residents are eldery folks living with severe Alzheimer’s and/or dementia, and need nursing home facilities. However, instead of confining them to a depressing room in an institution-like setting, the residents Hogeweyk enjoy complete freedom as well as privacy and autonomy.
And it seems to be working. According to a study, the patients at Hogeweyk are more active and need less medication than patients elsewhere.
Residences come in a few different styles, and can be chosen on what makes the patient happiest, or is most like their home life.
The grocery store allows residents to shop and cook as they would normally, but more importantly, it allows them to continue making their own choices and functioning as adults.
The apartments provide comfort and a sense of dignity to the patients, while the 250-person staff is on hand to ensure care and safety. You can find the staff posing as everyday people in the town, as clerks, cashiers, and store attendees. The only thing the village lacks is money, because finances are difficult for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s. Everything is included in the payment plan.
The staff dresses in regular street clothes rather than a clinical-looking uniform to help residents feel comfortable. The residents, like the woman on the right, do their own shopping with assistance, as needed, from the staff.
The staff is careful to balance residents’ comfort with honesty. They’ll never lie about where they are, or that Hogeweyk is a care facility, but they keep things friendly and informal to make residents feel at ease. They’ll also never correct anyone who might mix up their memories.
Hogeweyk includes restaurants, a bar, gardens, and a theater so residents can enjoy activities and socializing while getting care.
A layout of Hogeweyk. The white areas are buildings.
Hogeweyk opened in 2009 and has been successful in its treatment plan. Despite its fancy appearance, the cost is actually comparable to other, more traditional care facilities in the Netherlands. And more importantly, it gives people living with dementia and Alzheimer’s a chance to live out their lives in a pleasant, safe, and happy environment.
SOURCE:::::www.viralnova.com
Natarajan
Why We Do Not Feel the Earth Spin …?
Why can’t we feel Earth’s spin?
We can’t feel Earth’s rotation or spin because we’re all moving with it, at the same constant speed.
Earth spins on its axis once in every 24-hour day. At Earth’s equator, the speed of Earth’s spin is about 1,000 miles per hour (1,600 kph). The day-night has carried you around in a grand circle under the stars every day of your life, and yet you don’t feel Earth spinning. Why not? It’s because you and everything else – including Earth’s oceans and atmosphere – are spinning along with the Earth at the same constant speed.
Think about riding in a car or flying in a plane. As long as the ride is going smoothly, you can almost convince yourself you’re not moving. A jumbo jet flies at about 500 miles per hour (about 800 km per hour), or about half as fast as the Earth spins at its equator. But, while you’re riding on that jet, if you close your eyes, you don’t feel like you’re moving at all. And when the flight attendant comes by and pours coffee into your cup, the coffee doesn’t fly to the back of the plane. That’s because the coffee, the cup and you are all moving at the same rate as the plane.
Now think about what would happen if the car or plane wasn’t moving at a constant rate, but instead speeding up and slowing down. Then, when the flight attendant poured your coffee … look out!
If you’re drinking coffee in a steadily moving car or airplane, no problem. But if the car or plane speeds up or slows down, your coffee sloshes and maybe spills. Likewise, as long as Earth spins steadily, we can’t feel it move. Image by H.C. Mayer and R. Krechetnikov, via Science.
Likewise, Earth is moving at a fixed rate, and we’re all moving along with it, and that’s why we don’t feel Earth’s spin. If Earth’s spin were suddenly to speed up or slow down, you would definitely feel it.
The constant spin of the Earth had our ancestors pretty confused about the true nature of the cosmos. They noticed that the stars, and the sun and the moon, all appeared to move above the Earth. Because they couldn’t feel Earth move, they logically interpreted this observation to mean that Earth was stationary and “the heavens” moved above us.
With the notable exception of the early Greek scientist Aristarchus, who first proposed a heliocentric (sun-centered) model of the universe hundreds of years B.C.E., the world’s great thinkers upheld the geocentric (Earth-centered) idea of the cosmos for many centuries.
It wasn’t until the 16th Century that the heliocentric model of Copernicus began to be discussed and understood. While not without errors, Copernicus’ model eventually convinced the world that Earth spun on its axis beneath the stars … and also moved in orbit around the sun.
Sky wheeling around Polaris, the North Star.
A time exposure of the northern sky, revealing the apparent motion of all the stars around Polaris. In fact, this apparent motion is due to Earth’s spin. Image via Shutterstock
Bottom line: Why don’t we feel Earth rotating, or spinning, on its axis? It’s because Earth spins steadily – and moves at a constant rate in orbit around the sun – carrying you as a passenger right along with it.
SOURCE::::www.earthskynews.org
Natarajan
Gen Next … or Gen Lost … ?
One of the biggest treats when we were children was being taken to India Gate on a cool summer evening or a not-too-severe winter one and let loose to play in the lawns.
We invariably got a bright coloured balloon, a Kwality ice cream of our choice and, if we had been particularly good, one of the incredibly innovative local toys priced at Rs 5 at most being sold by hawkers (incidentally, these are great even today) — stuff that was never available in the big shops.
On Diwali, as a special treat, we were often driven around and down from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate to admire, with “oohs” and “aahs”, the illuminated buildings all the way, including the circular Parliament House.
I still remember how these lights were missing the year Indira Gandhi was assassinated.
The Shankarlal Music Festival, Kamani and Shriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra’s Ramlila were also a part and parcel of growing up for us.
We were regularly “subjected” (back then, it felt like that) to Bhimsen Joshi, Alarmel Valli, Pandit Jasraj and Hariprasad Chaurasia — whether it bored us or not.
Then, whenever we had some aunts, uncles or relatives visiting (which was alarmingly often back then), we’d be bundled off to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra Fort.
I remember feeling quite involved in the lives of the various Mughal kings as guides in Agra held forth in their broken English on tales from their past — some imagined and some real, I suspect.
I even recall wanting to meet Akbar after having gone repeatedly to his stunning Fatehpur Sikri and Salim Chishti’s dargah – something in the way he had built these monuments made me feel he was worth meeting.
Needless to add that Red fort, Old Fort (and boating there), Qutub Minar and so on were all old hat for us — I had seen the sound and light show so many times that I could tell you what was coming next.
The Ramlila’s main high drama bits (when Ram breaks the bow and Parshuram is furious or the fight Jatayu puts up to save Sita from Ravan), dialogues and songs are still firmly etched in my memory.
Well, I happened to be at a lunch recently where I found seven children (in the age group of 9 to 15) and on impulse I asked them something about Barack Obama, the Republic Day and then India Gate.
I was a bit surprised to learn that only two of them could clearly tell me where India Gate is (only one knew why it exists).
A few seemed to recall having driven past it sometime.
Two looked almost totally blank and muttered that they had heard of it, they knew it was in Delhi, yes, but they couldn’t quite be sure who had built it — or why.
They vaguely remembered reading about it in their textbooks.
None had been there for an ice cream at all.
Lodi Garden and Nehru Park sounded “familiar” to a couple of them; one said he was sure his father went jogging to one of these regularly.
Intrigued, I asked about Agra.
All of them perked up and mentioned the Taj Mahal, although only three had seen it.
Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri and Salim Chishti’s dargah drew a total blank.
None of them had seen the Red Fort or the Old Fort (of course the sound and light show was unheard of), although school day trips had taken five of them to Qutub Minar.
Needless to add that none was exasperatingly familiar — as we used to be — with any of the well-known classical singers and dancers I mentioned and I mentioned quite a few.
I refer to Delhi and Gurgaon but speak to parents in any city and you will realise how little time and effort is going into making children aware of their own country, culture and heritage.
Even the festivals we (I speak of people like us, which, of course, represents a miniscule part of Indian society) celebrate today — Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Halloween — are largely borrowed.
I don’t know what we as parents are thinking of but how are we allowing an entire generation to grow up with no clear sense of identity and no knowledge of their incredibly rich cultural heritage – something we have to be proud in a country where there is a lot not to be proud of?
Can India be reduced only to malls, Bollywood and cricket?
Are we content to allow our children to relate to Eminem, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga but have absolutely no knowledge of any Indian artist barring, say, the Shah Rukh Khans of the world?
Can American sitcoms be the answer?
And have we collectively ever stopped to think: if these children grow up not knowing where they are coming from, how will they ever know where they are going?
SOURCE::::: Anjuli Bharghava in http://www.rediff.com
Natarajan
Amazing Facts About Our Eyes….
Message For the Day…” When You are Ready to Receive the Teachings of a Guru …”
You have worked very hard in your life discharging worldly duties and come to Prasanthi Nilayam, seeking rest for the body and peace for the mind. That being so, it might look strange if you were asked to undertake some kind of work here also. In the olden days the Guru would collect his disciples in the forest and give them different types of work, sometimes for 10 to 12 years. This was done with a purpose. One important object of work is purification of the Chittha (heart). Once the heart is purified one is ready to receive the teachings of the Guru.Therefore in earlier times the disciples were given work in the beginning so that they slowly get purified. Only when the teacher was satisfied regarding the student’s ripeness for receiving spiritual instruction, would he start teaching Brahma Vidya (the supreme knowledge).
Meet Tanishq …9 year old Child Prodigy…Already a Student in American River College , California !!!
Lets congratulate Tanishq for making India proud with his super intelligence. He took entire America by surprise when he was tested for extraordinary intelligence and scored 99.9 percentile. At 7, he gave lectures to students who were twice of his age. Today, he is only 9 and already completed one third of the credits needed for a college degree at the American River College in Sacramento, California. Tanishq is born to mother Dr Taji and father Bijou Abraham, speaks his mother tongue Malayalam at home and wants to become a scientist.
We wish you a bright future ahead, Tanishq!!! Tanishq attracted intense media attention after he joined the Mensa programme for gifted children at the age of four-and-half years. He was recently featured on the premiere episode of Prodigies, a new bi-weekly YouTube series showcasing the youngest and brightest as they challenge themselves to reach new heights. I like particle physics, anti-matter, the fate of the universe and the Big Bang, he said in the video. It got a quarter million hits and lots of media publicity, both good and bad, according to his mother Dr Taji Abraham, a doctor of veterinary medicine. His father Bijou Abraham is a software professional.
In the last two years since Tanishq started to attend college, he finished two subjects each semester. More subjects are not allowed. He has already completed astronomy, geology, and biotechnology. He sits with students twice his age and earns straight As in all subjects. He topped the class in astronomy and geology. Of the 60 units needed for an associate degree, he has completed 24 so far.
Initially the students thought I am the student and Tanishq came with me, Taji said. When they knew that Tanishq was the student, they were surprised and curious. When some of the videos not fit for children to watch are shown in classes, she will ask him to close his eyes. Tanishq tapes the lectures as he is not good at writing by hand. He told India Abroad that while writing essays was most difficult, typing is no problem.
The media is not always kind, Taji said. A recent New York Times article criticised her, asking why she was letting him take on such an academic load. Others said that children ought not to be in college. We dont mind the criticism, Taji said. We are parents and we should take care of our children. We know their needs. He is happy going to college and studying there.The parents saw their childrens special skills when they were about two-and-a-half years old.
At age 4.5, Tanishq was tested, and he scored in the 99.9 percentile on the standardised intelligence test and was inducted into Mensa — an organisation for people with an IQ of 148 and above, or in the top two per cent of the population. Hes a real asset, Professor Stephen Sterling, Tanishqs physical geology instructor, was quoted as saying. Hes the top student. The students love him and look up to him because they respect him (as they would) a peer.
According to Dr Paulo Alfonso, another professor who taught astronomy and who is also in the video, He ended up in the class being the student with the highest grade. How many people at the age of seven or eight can discuss the expansion of the universe? He is different in a positive way. Tanishq is at the middle school level though he and his sister have been home-schooled. Their parents teach them and once a month the charter school officials come and check the status. The children do not want to go to school with other children.
They tried it earlier, but found that neither other students nor teachers were kind to them. Home-schooling has not affected their social skills, Taji said, adding that she spends all her time with the children. Both children know Hindi and watch Hindi movies frequently. To their surprise, Tanishq knows his mother tongue, Malayalam, though they have not taught him nor use it frequently at home. Tanishq wants to be many things, though the preference is for being a scientist, discovering something big.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
1. At age of 2, Tanishq could count from 1-100
2. At age of 4-1/2 he scored in the 99.9 percentile on the standardized intelligence test and inducted into Mensa
3. Skipped first grade to perform 4th and 5th grade math
4. Admitted to American River College at age of 8 – youngest student ever at school
5. Occasionally gives guest lectures to college classmates Performs in the San Francisco Boys Chorus
6. Sang the National Anthem at the San Francisco Giants and Oakland As games
7. Sister Tiara, 6, is in MENSA too scoring in the 98.8 percentile
SOURCE:::: http://www.mastegg.com
Natarajan
Image of the Day… Rare triple transit of Jupiter’s moons…!!!
The images were taken with NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 on January 23, 2015.
Hubble captures these moons in great clarity they can also be seen here on Earth with a small telescope or even a decent pair of binoculars.
The images on the left shows the Hubble observation at the beginning of the event. On the left is the moon Callisto and on the right, Io. The shadows from Europa, which cannot be seen in the image, Callisto, and Io are strung out from left to right. The images on the right shows the end of the event, approximately 42 minutes later. Europa has entered the frame at lower left with slower moving Callisto above and to the right of it. Meanwhile Io — which orbits significantly closer to Jupiter and so appears to move much more quickly — is approaching the eastern limb of the planet. Whilst Callisto’s shadow seems hardly to have moved Io’s has set over the planet’s eastern edge and Europa’s has risen further in the west. Image via NASA/ESA
Jupiter’s four largest moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, known as the Galiliean moons, after the 17th century scientist Galileo Galilei, who discovered them. Their complete orbits around Jupiter range from two to 17 days in duration. The moons can commonly be seentransiting the face of Jupiter and casting shadows onto its layers of cloud. But seeing three of them transiting the face of Jupiter at the same time is rare, occurring only once or twice a decade.
Missing from sequence of images is the Galilean moon Ganymede which was outside Hubble’s field of view.
The moons of Jupiter have very distinctive colors. The smooth icy surface of Europa is yellow-white, the volcanic sulphur surface of Io is orange and the surface of Callisto, which is one of the oldest and most cratered surfaces known in the solar system, is a brownish color.
Bottom line: New images taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope on January 23, 2015 capture a rare occurrence as three of Jupiter’s largest moons – Europa, Callisto and Io – parade across the giant planet’s banded face.
SOURCE::::: http://www.earthskynews.org
Natarajan
Are Crows the Ultimate Problem Solvers ….?
Bird brain eh?Crows are known to be very smart birds. Some first nation people called the Crow “the great Joker.”The Pacific Nations included the head of a crow on their totems……..This crow is using its Bird Brain…This is beyond good………this is stunning.Watch this crow work out the puzzle.Please turn sound on!
SOURCE::::: http://www.funstuffpeoplesendme.wordpress.com and http://www.youTube.com
Natarajan
Take off with Natarajan 