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I just watched a movie entitled “ My Name is Khan” directed by Karan Johar, Starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. Its not a new movie but for those who haven’t watch it I strongly recommend that you do so. It is a very inspiring story that makes us rethink who we really are and purpose of religion’s existence which is to create love and unity.
The story is about Ridzan Khan, who is a muslim man from India that moved to San Francisco to live with his brother and sister-in-law. He is born with Aspergers Syndrome. It was there that he fall in love with Mandira who is a divorced mom with a son. They got married and started a happy family. But everything changed after the 9/11 attack on the world trade centre which cause the death of their son due to the conflict between the two world great religion. The inspiring story then goes on where Ridzan Khan finds his way throughout America to meet the President of the United States to deliver 1 message.
What touches me is that it brings us to see the true nature of man where we were all born to love one another and that religion exist to bring about peace and unity. A Great Teacher once said :
How long can we stand without electricity? Take this challenge!!! Take this 1 hour to get detached from electricity. Spend it with your family, with friends, and don’t forget mother earth as well. Take this opportunity to listen to the songs of the crickets at nite.. feel the cold breeze of the nite.. or chat with Mr.Moon.. Have fun!!!
Gems come in different colours and shapes and are unique in their own way just like the potentials and talents in each and everyone of us. Education is what makes these beneficial to mankind. So have we found the gems in us? Have we found the gems in our children so that it can be refined and show its fullest potential?
Photos: Paula Alvarado.It is all about creativity. I’ve seen a temple in Batu Maung, Penang using beer bottles to decorate their walls and fences but what i’m showing you now is a Restaurant in Argentina that uses recycled wine bottles for decorations of their restaurant.
Ginger Restaurant had recovered more than 5,000 wine bottles from trash to improve the acoustics of its salon.
Diego Valentin, an engineer who owns the place, explained that the idea to build this lower ceiling (there is an actual ceiling above it) came before opening the restaurant last year. They built a metal net that could hold the bottles, and began filling it when they started pilling up in the restaurant.
According to Valentin, the problem with sound in the salon was the bouncing of the sound waves, and the curved shape of the bottles helps 'break' them.
As there is more space above the net, the sound continues its way up, improving the quality of acoustics in the salon, which is now used for events.
Besides the 5,000 bottles that make the ceiling (around 3,000 in the ground level and 1,500 in the upper level), the place has a neat arrangement of bottles in different shades of green, amber and transparent in the walls.
It also has a nice installation for the menu at the door, with lit bottle bases and cork caps.
Photo courtesy Urshuz. In promotional material, Urshuz touts the fact that "2 Uppers + 2 Soles = 4 Options."
The first modern electric car to really catch the attention of enthusiasts was Tesla's Roadster. It now looks like the folks at Nissan want to capture some of that glitzy mojo for themselves.
Esflow concept, which is anchored to the electric underpinnings of the Leaf, bears a striking resemblance to its gas-powered 370Z stablemate, with perhaps a touch of the old BMW M Couple in its hatchback-like rear haunches and sloped roofline. Up front, a long and wide hood give way to a sharply raked windscreen. Front and rear bumper overhangs are minimal, with the large wheels pushed to the extremities of the car. Although Nissan has not as yet released interior photos, one exterior shot reveals racing style seating more typically found on a Ferrari F430 Challenge Stradale, indicating the sporting intent of this electric steed.
Nissan reports that the lithium-ion batteries powering twin rear motors combine for a zero to 60 mph time somewhere around 4 seconds, impressive considering the Tesla astounded with its 3.9 second blast to 60. The Esflow's range is around 150 miles to the charge. That's roughly a third more than what the Leaf is expected to provide, though a bit less than the range of a $100,000 Tesla. The Esflow is rounded out by the usual high-tech car accouterments, from LED lighting and interior LCD screens to an ultra-low profile all-aluminum chassis with an integrated roll bar system. Serious boy-racer stuff for the dawning of an electric-car age. About the only thing this Nissan may need is a better name. Esflow is just one letter too close to E-slow.
One of the most closely guarded trade secrets in the history of commerce may be a secret no more: the radio show "This American Life" thinks it has found the exact recipe for the world's most popular soft drink in a 1979 newspaper article.
According to the show's host, Ira Glass, the drink's secret flavoring component, which was created by pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886, is something called "Merchandise 7X." The show's staff recently stumbled across the February 8, 1979 edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which published an article on page 28 about a leather-bound notebook that once belonged to Pemberton's best friend, another pharmacist in the Atlanta area named R. R. Evans. The notebook contained a number of pharmacological recipes--but the main entry, for students of commercial history, was what's believed to be the exact recipe for the soft drink: all of the ingredients listed with the exact amounts needed to whip up a batch.
Coke, for its part, denies that the security of its secret formula has been breached. "Many third parties, including 'This American Life,' have tried to crack our secret formula," company spokeswoman Kerry Tressler said. "Try as they might, they've been unsuccessful." Coke's archive director Philip Mooney told "This American Life" that the recipe may well have been a "precursor" to the prized formula, but probably wasn't the version that "went to market."
So what's the secret to making Coke? Well, here's what was written in the notebook:
The recipe:
Fluid extract of Coca: 3 drams USP
Citric acid: 3 oz
Caffeine: 1 oz
Sugar: 30 (unclear quantity)
Water: 2.5 gal
Lime juice: 2 pints, 1 quart
Vanilla: 1 oz
Caramel: 1.5 oz or more for color
The secret 7X flavor (use 2 oz of flavor to 5 gals syrup):
Alcohol: 8 oz
Orange oil: 20 drops
Lemon oil: 30 drops
Nutmeg oil: 10 drops
Coriander: 5 drops
Neroli: 10 drops
Cinnamon: 10 drops
Pemberton had reportedly hit upon the formula for Coke in an attempt to overcome the addiction to morphine he contracted after the Civil War, so it's perhaps not surprising that, in addition to alcohol, the drink originally contained Coca leaves laced with cocaine. After Atlanta passed a local prohibition ordinance in the 1890s, the company took the booze out of the formula, and the company has used cocaine-free coca leaves since 1904.
When the beverage debuted in Atlanta-area pharmacies owned by friends of Pemberton, marketers pronounced it "a shot in the arm"-- while Pemberton himself hailed it as a cure for cure pain, impotence and headaches. In our more enlightened age, of course, we know that Coke "adds life"--together with a dollop or two of neroli and nutmeg oil.
Some species, like the hazel dormouse, both hibernate and estivate, or enter a similar stage of dormancy, depending on the weather and other conditions. This means that in any given year, a dormouse can spend most of the time sleeping.
Western Diamondback Snake
It is not just mammals that hibernate.Western diamondback rattlesnakes have been known to enter states of hibernation in the summer, after finding cool caves to rest in.
Bats
Most species of bats hibernate—or at least enter a state of torpor—during the winter months.
Though some rouse when warm weather causes insects to spawn, many spend six months or more in a state of complete hibernation.
"White Nose Syndrome" is caused by a fungal infection and once a cave is infected, it spreads rapidly through the sleeping population.
Most species of bats hibernate—or at least enter a state of torpor—during the winter months.
Fat-Tailed Lemur
Until 2004, it was thought that no primates or tropical mammals hibernated.
The discovery of the fat-tailed lemur in June of that year changed these assumptions. Research showed that this lemur spends up to seven months of the year hibernating in tree holes.
Bear
Interestingly, the animal most famous for hibernation, the bear, doesn't truly hibernate.
Instead, it enters a "winter sleep" state characterized by only a slightly slowed metabolism and stable body temperature.
Photo credit: iStockphoto
European Hedgehog
One animal that truly hibernates is the European hedgehog. Though hibernation periods among animals vary from a few days to a few weeks, most settle down during winter, when normal food supplies are limited.
The danger, researchers have said, is that such environmental changes will cause animals to rise from hibernation before sufficient snow has melted, leaving them stranded in a food-less habitat in an already calorie-depleted condition.
Hibernation, simply, is a state of inactivity in animals. It is typically characterized by a drop in metabolic activity—a physical slowing of the body—in addition to lower body temperature and slower breathing.
Photo credit: Martin Ruegner/Getty Images
By David DeFranza, Washington, DC
on February 15, 2011
Article taken from treehuggers.com
Is the economy beating you up? It’s time to get creative. Next time you have an ache or pain, forget about a costly trip to the drugstore and test-drive some of your grandmother’s remedies instead. It’ll save money and be gentler on your body and the environment. Recessionistas (and gents), welcome to the DIY medicine cabinet.
1. Stop Bleeding
You’d think it would burn, but a sprinkle of cayenne pepper on a cut will quickly stop the bleeding and actually relieve the pain.
2. Toothache
There’s nothing so bad as the shooting pain of a toothache. You don’t want to ignore a tooth problem, because an infection that close to your brain can be extremely dangerous if it spreads. But in order to reduce swelling and pain while you wait for a dentist appointment, try putting a few drops of clove oil on your tooth and gums, and bite down on a smashed piece of garlic (which has excellent antibacterial properties). This has always worked for me.
3. Rashes and Allergies
Prescription and OTC antihistamines can cause some serious side effects. Before you head for the strong stuff, try green tea, which contains compounds with antihistamine properties. You’ll need to drink 2-3 cups a day to get the full effect.
4. Athlete’s Foot
It’s a foot fungus, and it stinks. Air those piggies, then soak them in salty water, wash them with garlic juice, or soak them with diluted white or apple cider vinegar. All of these things will help kill the fungus.
But you have to be persistent, consistent, and diligent: No matter what treatment you use, do it a few times a day and stick with it until at least a week after you think the symptoms are gone! Fungus excels at hiding out and coming back when you least expect it.
5. Acne and Sensitive Skin
First, you really have to look at your lifestyle, because imbalances in your health can show up in your skin. But in the meantime, wash your face with oatmeal. It’s a gentle exfoliant and draws out oil and impurities.
6. Ear Infections
Ear infections can become quite serious and cause permanent damage, so please see a doctor if your ear ache has become severe. But if you feel like your infection is mild and at the beginning stages, put a few drops of garlic oil or white vinegar into your ear canal and lay down on the opposite side to let those drops do their work. Garlic and vinegar create an environment that won’t support the bacteria causing the infection. Repeat a few times a day until the symptoms disappear. (If your symptoms last longer than a few days, you should definitely see a doctor!)
7. Sore Muscles and Bruises
After a hard afternoon of rowing with a friend, I resigned myself to a few days of burning muscles and soreness. But my friend saved the day with a tube of arnica cream. He rubbed it on my shoulders and voila, instant relief and absolutely no aches the next day. The humble arnica flower makes an incredible cream that no medicine cabinet should be without. Use it immediately to speed up the healing of bruises, sprains, sore muscles, and other general aches.
8. Flatulence
Some foods, like beans and raw veggies, are more likely to cause gas, but if you find flatulence to be too common of an occurrence, try taking a digestive enzymewith your meals. You can find these at any health food store. In the meantime, make use of digestive spices such as ginger, anise, peppermint, coriander, and dill. You can make tea with these ingredients or incorporate them into your food.
9. Dandruff
Have you looked at the ingredients in dandruff shampoo? It seems like they contain almost everything in the Toxic Ingredients You Must Avoid list. Better to try something natural first before resorting to chemicals. Many people swear by rubbing aloe vera gel onto the scalp (leave it on for 20 minutes than rinse it out). This will certainly help with dry, itchy scalp.
Another remedy is a rinse with apple cider vinegar. Try these remedies a few times before deciding if they work for you. Even dandruff shampoo requires regular use to see results, so give the natural stuff a chance!
10. Headache and Migraine
Try rubbing peppermint or lavender oil on your temples and the base of your neck; sniffing these oils may also help.
Rub a fresh cut lemon or lime on your forehead. Feverfew is a good herbal remedy for headaches.
Have a little caffeine by way of green tea, and don’t forget to use an ice pack for 20 minutes to dull the throbbing.
11. Indigestion and Heartburn
It almost goes without saying – but consider why you’re getting heartburn in the first place. Did you overeat? Too much grease or spicy food? Eating late at night? Scout out the cause and try to stop this before it happens. Then, put down the antacids.
The belching, bloat, and heartburn caused by indigestion come about because you don’t have enough stomach acid to do the job right. A spoonful or two of apple cider vinegar will help break down the excess food that is causing you trouble and bring your stomach back to balance.
12. Constipation
First, drink more water and eat more fruit and salads. You’re backed up for a reason and taking lots of laxatives is not the answer. Meanwhile, drinking a few teaspoons of olive oil mixed with a bit of orange or (diluted) lemon juice can help things get moving.
Another surefire remedy is 1/4 teaspoon of epsom salts drunk in 1/2 a glass of water. Sometimes calorie restriction or avoidance of healthy fats (such as the good fats found in fish, nuts, and avocados) can worsen constipation.
And though it’s counterintuitive, some people relieve their constipation by actually cutting back on grain consumption! True, grains contain fiber, but some people don’t digest grains very well. Other causes of constipation include stress, depression, inactivity, and nutritional deficiencies. If your constipation is chronic, it may be a sign of a more serious problem, so please seek medical advice and adjust your lifestyle.
13. Sore Throat
Sore, scratchy throats are usually a sign of a cold or flu coming on, so you don’t want to ignore this symptom, but you can relieve the pain by gargling with warm salt water a few times a day and then drinking a soothing honey-lemon tea.
14. Burns
So you bumped up against the stove again? Ouch. Rinse first with cold water, but then immediately apply aloe vera gel to the burn.
For those of us who don’t have aloe in the house, slice a potato and rub its cool, soothing juices all over the burn.
And honey, with its antibacterial properties, is also good topical ointment. If you can catch the burn immediately, mustard is also reportedly a great salve.
15. Nausea
The classic cure for nausea or carsickness is ginger tea or candied ginger. You can chew on the stuff raw, if you like, but it’s so spicy and strong it might just make you feel worse.
Sniffing real peppermint or lavender oil can also help.
