Day: November 4, 2013

Curiositys, Living, Media&CultureLeave a comment

5 Surprising Things You Didn’t Know About Dogs

Fernando Kaskais

While most of the country has had a hot streak or two this summer, those weren’t officially “dog days” unless they occurred in late July or August — at least in the Northern Hemisphere. That’s because the term “dog days” refers to a period when Sirius — the “dog star,” part of the constellation Canis Major — rises and falls with the sun. The ancient Romans marked these days from July 23-24 to August 23-24, noting that they were typically the hottest days of the year. Eventually, the phrase “dog days” came to mean any hot streak in the summer. … Continue reading 5 Surprising Things You Didn’t Know About Dogs

Curiositys, Health, Science, TechnologyLeave a comment

Forget your jumper, this thermoelectric wristband can heat or cool your entire body

Fernando Kaskais

A wrist-mounted heat-sink reacts to ambient and skin temperatures, pumping out “thermal pulses” to maintain overall body temperature Heating and cooling buildings is an expensive business. Recent rises in energy prices in the UK mean that the average cost of keeping our homes warm is around £610 annually (up from £360 in 2008) whilst in the US they have the opposite problem with air conditioning accounting for a massive 16.5 per cent of the country’s entire energy bill. A team of scientists and engineers from MIT have attempted to tackle this problem by asking one simple and radical question: what … Continue reading Forget your jumper, this thermoelectric wristband can heat or cool your entire body

Activism, Bizarre, Curiositys, Globalization, Media&Culture, PoliticsLeave a comment

Mexico to tackle obesity with taxes on junk food and sugary drinks

Fernando Kaskais

President calls for hour of exercise per day and a ‘change of culture’ as Mexico has higher rates of adult obesity than the US Mexico has become the standard bearer in the global fight against obesity, after parliamentarians passed a law imposing significant new taxes on junk food and sugary drinks. The vote by congress is a triumph for the anti-obesity crusade of President Enrique Peña Nieto, who will now sign the measures into law. As the legislation was passed, he called for a “change of culture” in his country, including the incorporation of at least an hour of exercise … Continue reading Mexico to tackle obesity with taxes on junk food and sugary drinks

Bizarre, Curiositys, Health, Living, Media&Culture, ScienceLeave a comment

Facial Changes Caused by Smoking: A Comparison between Smoking and Nonsmoking Identical Twins

Fernando Kaskais

Some individuals appear older than their actual age. The main causes of this accelerated senescence are often unclear. Through studies on twins, our group and others have identified some of the factors that contribute to premature aging. These include sun exposure, smoking, drinking, weight loss after age 40, weight gain before age 40, and being on antidepressant medications.1 Other studies have also shown repeatedly that smoking is an independent lifestyle factor associated with facial aging,2–4 and there are molecular mechanisms of tobacco on dermal fibroblasts. However, there has been a relative paucity of publications that include facial analysis of smokers … Continue reading Facial Changes Caused by Smoking: A Comparison between Smoking and Nonsmoking Identical Twins

Conspiracy, Living, Media&Culture, Politics, TerrorismLeave a comment

Russia’s Female Suicide Bombers: Well-Organized and Hard to Stop

Fernando Kaskais

MOSCOW, October 24 (Nabi Abdullaev, RIA Novosti) – Investigators say that moments after Naida Asiyalova, a wan 30-year-old from Russia’s violence-plagued republic of Dagestan, boarded a public bus one afternoon this week in the city of Volgograd, the bomb she was carrying exploded, claiming six lives. The apparent attack serves as another reminder of the grim effectiveness of female suicide bombers, who have taken part in 20 attacks claiming at least 780 lives across Russia since June 2000, or an average of 60 lives a year. Even without including the death tolls from two major attacks involving explosive-bearing female militants … Continue reading Russia’s Female Suicide Bombers: Well-Organized and Hard to Stop

Bizarre, Living, Politics, RacismLeave a comment

Two Injured in Attack on St. Petersburg LGBT Gathering

Fernando Kaskais

Two masked men broke into a party at an LGBT organization in St. Petersburg on Sunday, shooting participants in the face with air guns and injuring at least one man. The Sunday night party was hosted by LaSky, a group that provides free HIV testing and counseling for gay men, to discuss an “anti-hate march” that had gathered some 150 people in downtown St. Petersburg the previous day, Interfax reported. Participants in the rally carried banners that said “Russia without pogroms” and called for an end to ethnic, gender, and religious discrimination. The rally was organized by the Democratic St. … Continue reading Two Injured in Attack on St. Petersburg LGBT Gathering

Big Brother, Curiositys, Globalization, Planet, Politics, RacismLeave a comment

Russia’s March Toward Ruin

Fernando Kaskais

The Russian March, a yearly demonstration of Russian nationalist groups, was held Monday in Moscow and in 100 other cities across the country. Never before has this march been held amid so much xenophobia and intolerance in Russian society. Never before have members of the ruling elite, including members of the State Duma and the Kremlin, so publicly and openly made anti-­migrant and xenophobic statements. Not surprisingly, 40 percent of Russians now say they support holding the Russian March, according to a recent poll by the Levada Center. The Moscow mayoral election campaign in August put the issue of illegal … Continue reading Russia’s March Toward Ruin

Curiositys, Matrix, Media&Culture, Photography, TechnologyLeave a comment

What Will Your Camera Look Like in 2020?

Fernando Kaskais

Mobile devices with ever-improving image quality may be on track to supplant even the most high-end DSLRs and mirrorless system cameras. For consumers, it’s possible that a device like Google Glass, always capturing the world around you, could usurp everything else, just as the smartphone has already made the classic point-and-shoot obsolete. Imagine the year 2020: Augmented reality glasses like Google Glass are everywhere. Cars are connected and, in some cases, driverless. Your smartphone is less a phone than a command center uniting the various nodes of your technological self — watch, glasses, wallet and car alike. But what about … Continue reading What Will Your Camera Look Like in 2020?

Bizarre, Conspiracy, Mafia, Manipulation, Politics, ZionismLeave a comment

Israel Buys the US Congress: Sabotaging the US-Iran Peace Negotiations

Fernando Kaskais

“Pro-Israel Policy groups such as AIPAC work with unlimited funding to divert US policy in the region ( Middle East )” Jack Straw, Member of Parliament and former Foreign Secretary of the British Labor Party “The United States should drop a nuclear bomb on Iran to spur the country to end its nuclear program” Sheldon Adelson, biggest donor to the Republican Party and major fundraiser for pro-Israel political action committees, speech at Yeshiva University, New York City, October 22, 2013. Introduction The question of war or peace with Iran rests with the policies adopted by the White House and the … Continue reading Israel Buys the US Congress: Sabotaging the US-Iran Peace Negotiations