Why Budgeting and Financial Forecasts are Important
In any business, it is vital to have as much information as possible to determine the best opportunities for the future of your business. Using budgets and creating financial forecasts can help aid your decision making and can even predict future revenue and expenses.
Forecasting is a planning tool that helps business owners better predict what could possibly happen in the future. It relies on data from the past and present and analysis of trends in the market. Forecasting involves a lot of guesswork, so it’s best to make sure you can back it up with as much data as possible. It also helps with planning next steps, can help you understand what needs to be done to grow, and can help create accurate budgets.
Why do I need Financial Forecasting?
- Helps to create a clear path to achieve goals.
- Creates trust and confidence in raising funds.
- Tells you what resources you need and when you need them.
Budgeting is important in any business, but especially in small businesses. Small businesses often operate on a shoestring budget and being even a little off could have devastating effects on the business. Budgets help organize finances including debts and expenditures.
Benefits of Budgeting
Budgeting can benefit your business in a number of ways. Including:
- Potential to attract investors
- Ability to set sales goals
- Chance to open lines of credit
- Ability to make decisions about salaries, bonuses, benefits and overhead operating expenses
- Easier tax preparation.
Dangers of not budgeting
There are risks to not budgeting.
- Businesses aren’t in position to expand.
- Can’t take advantage of investment opportunities.
- Can’t make long-term commitments to suppliers or customers.
- Could potentially lose existing business if the unforeseen happens.
- Denial of operating loans.
- Can’t purchase equipment.
- Can’t bid on government contracts.


Plant tissue culture technology has been widely used in large scale plant multiplication. In addition to being a research tool, plant tissue culture technology has important industrial significance in plant propagation, disease elimination, plant improvement, and secondary metabolite production. Depending on the inherent potential of a single plant cell to express the full genome by cell division, namely cellular totipotency, plant tissues and organs can be grown in artificial media in an aseptic and controlled environment. Plant tissue culture medium contains all the nutrients needed for normal plant growth and development. The main components of the medium are macronutrients, micronutrients, vitamins, growth regulators, carbon sources, other organic components, and gelling agents.
Plant growth regulators (PGRs), also called as plant growth hormones, play a crucial role in determining the developmental pathways of plant cells and tissues in culture media. There are five types of plant hormones, namely auxin, gibberellin (GA), cytokinin, abscisic acid (ABA) and ethylene, of which auxin, cytokinin and GA are the most commonly used. The type and concentration of hormones chosen depends largely on the type of plant, the tissue or organ being cultured, and the purpose of the research. Auxin and cytokinin are widely used in plant tissue culture, and their content in media determines the type of culture established or regenerated. High concentrations of auxin generally promote root formation, while high concentrations of cytokinin promote shoot regeneration. The balance of auxin and cytokinin leads to the formation of undifferentiated cell masses (callus). GAs are added to plant tissue culture media and usually diminish or prevent the formation of roots, shoots, or somatic erabryos, although the opposite has been observed. In addition, GAs have numerous interactions with other hormones. For example, GA-induced a-amylase activity is antagonized by ABA.
Amerigo Scientific offers high quality and general reagents for plant culture, such as gelling agents, growth regulators, and transformation selective agents.
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Minecraft was renamed Five times before it was officially Launched. Minecraft was almost called Cave Game.
Minecraft was Developed using Java and few other latest Programming Software to support the Game’s demand for Movements and Logical coding series.
Minecraft is Categorized as an Educational digital tool. It aim is to allow players to Create something out of Blocks like Making a sub-urban village, amusement park, zoo etc. anything or anyplace the user Desires to.
There are few Minecraft players notice that sometime, instead of Minecraft as a Window header title as most Game application, It only displays ‘Game’.
Although the First version of Minecraft was built in a mere Six days, It wasn’t until two Years later that the Game was deemed complete.
Markus Alexej Persson also known as Notch created Minecraft in hopes to Develop a better 3D game. Minecraft seems to be an Extension of the Prior game – the RubyDung.
Minecraft is a Collection of all Concept of Notch’s previous Developed game.
A lot of Youtuber earns a lot of Money by playing Minecraft. By simply playing Minecraft and uploading the Recorded video can Gain a lot of views and YouTube channel support from other Minecraft fans.
Creators included a Minecraft language which is the Endermen language. It is just an English language spoken Backwards.
A School in Sweden has required Minecraft as part of their Mandatory topic in one of the School Curriculum.
The Codes for the Creeper’s height and crumpled like figures are just lazy Trial and error codes of Developers that eventually Turned out perfectly as Minecraft’s horrendous Monster mob.
Minecraft named Ghosts from Nether (a place from Minecraft) as Ghasts. The Voice from these ghasts are recordings from Real life cats.
One normal Block in Minecraft is equivalent to One meter.
Minecraft was programed with the same concept as Lego blocks, the company has also Produced the first Minecraft LEGO figure and toys.
Minecraft’s success is Credited to Positive response from Previous players and Continually recommends it to others.
Markus Sold The Company To Microsoft For $2.5 billion.
In an Incredible feat, Denmark has been totally Recreated in Minecraft by Simon Kokkendorf and Thorbjorn Nielsen. They even Pulled public data about roads and buildings to get Everything right.


Native to Australia the Many-flowered Mat-rush is present in Queensland.
They are perennial plants with rhizomes (underground stems).
New plants grow along the rhizomes leading to the formation of small clumps.
The strap-like leaves are around 30 to 60 (25 to 90) cm long and 2 to 4 mm wide.
The blade can be flat or semi-circular as the edges roll under.
The round (pointed) tip has no teeth and the edges are slightly rough but have no definite teeth.
The white, brown or purplish basal sheath has smooth or very slightly frayed edges.
Inflorescences are on a leafless stalk or scape that is shorter than the flower-bearing midrib or rachis.
The unisexual flowers are on separate plants.
The pointed cluster bracts at the base of the inflorescence may be obvious.
Those at the base of any branches are usually smaller than the flowers.
Where there is a pedicel (flower stalk) the outer bract is at its base and the inner bract (bracteole) is on it.
With no pedicel they are both immediately under the flower.
Flowers have 3 purplish outer tepals and 3 yellow inner ones.
Male inflorescences, shorter than the leaves are almost always branched.
The whorls of branches, up to 5 or 6 cm long hold clusters of flowers along them.
The flowers are on pedicels up to 12 mm long with bracts as above.
The purplish outer and yellow inner tepals are around 3 mm long.
There are 6 fertile stamens and a rudimentary ovary.
The unbranched female inflorescences around 30 cm high are shorter than the males.
The clusters of flowers are arranged in whorls around the midrib.
Flowers, with no pedicel are around 4 mm long with yellow and purplish tepals.
The ovary has 3 locules and a style with 3 stigmas.
There are 6 very small infertile staminodes.
The fruit are spherical or 3-angled loculicidal capsules around 6 mm long with wrinkles.
Usually only 1 of the 3 ovules develops into a dark wrinkled seed.


“The site reveals the existence of unique monumental architectures, probably defensive. This demonstrates a rise in Neolithic social tensions,” said Dr. Ard.
These formidable defenses might have fallen short, though, as all the structures at Le Peu appear to have burned destroyed approximately 4400 BC. That destruction, nonetheless, aided in the site’s preservation.
Dr. Ard and his team are therefore optimistic that further research at Le Peu will continue to shed light on the lives of individuals whose only known contributions to human history are memorials. It already indicates the gigantic scale, unheard of in prehistoric Atlantic society, of their residential sites.
The earliest monumentality in Western Europe is associated with megalithic structures, but where did the builders of these monuments live? Here, the authors focus on west-central France, one of the earliest centres of megalithic building in Atlantic Europe, commencing in the mid fifth millennium BC. They report on an enclosure at Le Peu (Charente), dated to the Middle Neolithic (c. 4400 BC), and defined by a ditch with two ‘crab claw’ entrances and a double timber palisade flanked by two timber structures—possibly defensive bastions. Inside, timber buildings—currently the earliest known in the region—were possibly home to the builders of the nearby Tusson long mounds.


With the rising degree of car production and its corresponding worldwide stocks based on the fast industrialization in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, plus the growing call for in Eastern Europe, the percentage of textiles in a motor car is growing in response to greater stringent comfort and safety needs in industrialized nations just like the USA, Japan, and Western Europe.
Automobile textiles, which are non-apparel textiles, are widely utilized in cars, trains, buses, planes, and marine automobiles. Hence, the time period automobile fabric manner all form of fabric components e.G. Fibers, filaments, yarns and the cloth utilized in motors.
It is projected that nearly forty-five square meters of fabric cloth are applied in a vehicle for interior trim (seating location, headlines, aspect panel, carpet, and trunk). According to a survey, the percentage of fabric in a motor car quantities to two percent of the overall weight of a car. Apart from this, visible textile components disposing of hidden additives, including tires and composites, hoses and filters; the quantity to ten-eleven kg in step with the vehicle in absolute terms. Industrial textiles are largely utilized in motors and systems along with vehicles, buses, trains, air crafts, and marine motors. In-vehicle fabric industry, four sorts of fabrics are used, namely:
The airbag and seat belts used as protection measures are one of the modern varieties of textiles in automobiles and have an ability market for technical textiles that have significant scope for increase and improvement. Because of presidency law and customer hobby, the programs have been extraordinarily successful over the past ten to 15 years.
In the closing decade, airbags or inflatable restraints have acquired noteworthy importance as a safeguard for the motive force and the passengers in case of a twist of fate. Initially, the bags had been made for a head-on collision, but now, there are many other protection gadgets like aspect impact bags, knee bolsters, facet curtains, and so forth, to be had for safety in any crash. Because frontal collisions are a major cause of accidental deaths,
Airbags are being provided as a general product in vehicles using legislation, which has given the fast increment of airbags business inside the remaining decade. NHTSA and HHS file that airbag systems have performed a vital position in saving heaps of lives since 1985. In 2002 alone, a 20 according to cent reduction in fatalities resulting from deadly collisions has been determined because of the airbag device.


Reading time: 3 min.
When someone’s successful in life it is magnified: it receives attention from friends, media, and the person likes talking about it. Failure gets much less attention: it’s hidden and boring, although sometimes failures create a media frenzy. As a result of these effects, we are exposed much more often to success than is representative for how often it really occurs. More formally written: the proportion of signals of success to signals of failure is larger than the proportion of actual success to actual failure. This generates a sort of selection bias where we infer the proportion of success to failure from the proportion of the signals to each other. The sample of signals is not representative of the population which is filled with many more failures than successes. A good representation is the figure below, where red dots are failures, and green dots are success (of course reality is much more fine-grained, with partial successes and partial failures).
An implication is something often talked about: a fear of failure. When you believe failure is uncommon, it’s much harder to stomach. I would say that it is not irrational to have a fear of failure. After all, some failures are pretty bad, such as injury, death, or the loss of a loved one. There are good evolutionary reasons to be more sensitive to losses than to gains. But most failures aren’t as bad as we feel they are going to be. Currently our fear of failure is excessive: it’s a phobia. Realizing that failure is common, even ubiquitous, is a good antidote to this phobia.
Why is this important? Because an excessive fear of failure is harmful to ourselves and to society. An effective way to reduce failure is to try less, and when we as a society try less, we create less, we improve we world less, and we help each other less. So let’s not forget that failure is a normal part of trying to achieve anything.


It is well known that using a cellphone while driving is a dangerous feat. In 2018, distracted driving took the lives of 2,841 and injured 400,000 people, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In an attempt to reduce the dangers of distracted driving, you may have turned to using hands-free devices. Although hands-free cellphones enable you to keep your hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the road, they may not be as safe as you may think.
A study released by AAA found that hands-free cellphones act as a significant distraction to motorists. In the study, researchers asked participants to engage in several tasks while driving a vehicle set up with monitoring equipment, as well as a simulator. These activities included the following:
- Listening to the radio
- Listening to an audio book
- Talking with a passenger in the vehicle
- Talking using a hand-held cellphone
- Talking using a hands-free cellphone
- Using voice-activated technology to compose an email
During this time, researchers measured participants’ eye movement, response time, brain activity and heart rate to determine the amount of cognitive distraction they experienced. The results found that the difference in the amount of distraction produced by the hands-free and hand-held cellphones was minimal.
Cognitive distraction occurs when the brain attempts to focus on two complex tasks simultaneously. While you may think you are able to concentrate on two activities, such as driving and maintaining a conversation with another person, your focus is actually bouncing back and forth between one task and the other. This leaves a period where your brain is not focused on driving at all. If a hazard occurs during this time, such as an object in the road, bad weather conditions or another driver, you may be unable to stop and react in time to avoid a catastrophic collision.


Bitcoin has achieved a benchmark of 500 Million transactions since its inception in January 2009.
The total historical transaction of Bitcoin, according to an analytics site Satoshi has been crossed 500 Million benchmarks.
In its journey of around 11 years, Bitcoin has passed through different phases. After establishing it as the first blockchain-based transaction system by Satoshi Nakamoto, the first bitcoin transaction had taken place on 12th January 2019. The first Bitcoins were sent as a test between the developer of this projects and it initiated the mining blocks.
After a few months, the first Bitcoin exchange against the dollar was established by New Liberty Standard with an initial rate of 2300.03 BTC equal to 1 Dollar. In comparison to today’s price, Bitcoin had very less value, also it was not considered as an asset. However, this marked it uses as a commercial asset and kicked off the financial journey of Bitcoin.
On May 22, 2010, the Bitcoin was used for the first-ever time to buy physical goods. A Pizza was bought during this commercial transaction for 10,000 Bitcoins.
The Bitcoin has traveled a long way since its inception and made incredible development. Its value as an asset increased 838,000,000 percent that is more than the increment in the worth of any asset so far. This unreal growth has sparked debate among governments and financial experts about its use in the real world. Furthermore, Bitcoin has laid the foundation for the development of cryptocurrencies in the future and the many startups utilizing the blockchain technology and crypto exchanges are the result of Bitcoin. Along with its development in price, the Bitcoin also offered an entire alternate payment system challenging the existing traditional banking process and fiat currency transactions. The financial impact of Bitcoin transactions on the world trade is also noticeable. In 2019 alone, the cryptocurrencies have been traded with market capitalizations of worth $221 Billion. This enormous investment indicates its continued pace in development and utilization in solving real-world issues.
The Bitcoin transaction surpassing 500 Million is another milestone achieved in its long journey, and it illustrates the potential of Bitcoin despite its drastic decrease in price due to different government sanctions. The constant ongoing trade in cryptocurrency reflects the faith of people in evolving blockchain technology and its future in adoption as a medium of payment system and versatile use.
John is working as a professional news editor at GetIgnite. He is accustomed to finding daily reports. Therefore, this keen working and addiction towards his work, it helps him to find good news.


Cloaking has turned into a subject of great interest for scientists in the past decade, most likely because of its military potential. We’ve seen some exciting prototypes developed, from optical invisibility cloaks to temporal cloaks, and now French scientists at the University of Aix-Marseille have added a new member to the cloaking family, one that renders heat invisible.
Whereas cloaking research so far was concerned with manipulating wave trajectories, like electromagnetic, sound, elastodynamic or hydrodynamic waves, the French researchers, lead by Sebastien Guenneau at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), focused on the physical phenomenon of diffusion, rather than wave propagation.
“Our key goal with this research was to control the way heat diffuses in a manner similar to those that have already been achieved for waves, such as lightwaves or sound waves, by using the tools of transformation optics,” Guenneau said.
The researchers devised a mathematical model which proves a set of concentric rings, each made out of different materials of varying diffusion coefficients, can cloak heat. Arranging the materials, the heat was found to flow centrally, so that heat diffuses around an invisibility region, which is protected from heat. Thus, an infrared camera wouldn’t be able to pick up the object since there is no temperature difference between that region and the ambient.
“Heat isn’t a wave — it simply diffuses from hot to cold regions,” he said. “The mathematics and physics at play are much different. For instance, a wave can travel long distances with little attenuation, whereas temperature usually diffuses over smaller distances.”
Thermal cloaking of man-sized objects wasn’t attempted yet, though. Instead, the researchers focused on micro-sized objects for which their mathematical model was conceived. However, this is in the size range of most electronic components, where thermal cloaking might have a tremendous impact by improving cooling. Also, the ability to concentrate heat could prove useful to the solar industry. Of course, scaling the model to larger sized objects will be attempted in the future.
The findings were reported in the journal Optics Express.


- Reforestation using the Miyawaki method seeks to restore nature to its original state with results that can be seen in around six years.
- Miyawaki works around three concepts: trees should be native, several species should be randomly planted, and the materials for the seedlings and the soil should be organic.
- The method is suitable for urban areas, which gives it a significant capacity to connect human beings with nature, with benefits for the health and well-being of the population.
- Different from other reforestation methods that may seek a financial return, like agroforestry, the motivation of the Miyawaki method is purely ecological.
Japan enacted legislation Friday aimed at protecting and promoting the culture of the Ainu ethnic minority through financial assistance, while at the same time stipulating for the first time that they are an “indigenous” people.
The Ainu people have long been repressed by a forced-assimilation policy which has resulted in significant income and education gaps.
The Yomiuri ShimbunThe Japanese government intends to propose that Japan and Russia mutually abandon rights to compensation and other claims over the four northern islands during negotiations on a peace treaty, according to sources close to the bilateral talks.
Um projeto que unia o Governo de Moçambique, a Agência Japonesa de Cooperação Internacional (Jica, em inglês) e a Agência Brasileira de Cooperação (ABC – vinculada ao Ministério das Relações Exteriores) foi enfrentado pelas organizações de camponeses dos três países, a ponto de ser deixado de lado tanto pelo Brasil quanto pelo Japão.
Date: August 28th 2016
Source: Japan Times
The land ministry plans to draft a multilateral framework that could help developing nations in Asia make better use of their land through careful planning, government sources said.


A shrug is an outer garment made of knit fabric or a flowy and/or clingy fabric covering the shoulder, back and top of the arms, and with a center front opening; It falls open in the center front revealing the clothes inside.
It is usually without any fastener, but sometimes it may have a single tie with strings on one point, usually at the top.
A shrug is a beautiful way to add interest to an ensemble. Sleeveless clothes can be changed into a sleeved version by the addition of a shrug. If made with a winter ready fabric a shrug can give you enough warmth. Usually lightweight fabrics are used for a shrug but hand knitted/crocheted shrugs are also popular.
You can make shrugs from a rectangular piece of fabric, it is that easy.
A shrug can be cut as one piece – front, back and sleeves can be one piece ; or as seperate as any other garment. Cocoon shrug is this type of shrug which is just one piece. A Cocoon shrug is made from a rectangular piece of fabric joined at the edges to make holes for sleeves.
A Sweater shrug is a waist/hip length shrug made of sweater knit fabric.
Related posts : How to sew a blanket coat; How to sew a shrug from scarves; How to make a bolero ; What is a bolero; What is a vest ; Clothing types and names
Updated on October 16, 2022 by Sarina Tariq


Polyvinyl chloride is made from acetylene gas and hydrogen chloride, and then polymerized. Has higher mechanical strength and better corrosion resistance. It can be used to make exhaust gas detoxification towers and gas-liquid conveying pipes in chemical and textile industries, and can also replace other corrosion-resistant materials to make storage tanks, centrifugal pumps, ventilators and joints.
When the plasticizer is added in an amount of 30% to 40%, soft polyvinyl chloride is produced, which has high elongation, soft products, and has good corrosion resistance and electrical insulation properties.
It is often made into films for use in Industrial packaging, agricultural seedlings, daily raincoats, tablecloths, etc. can also be used to make acid- and alkali-resistant hoses, cable sheaths, insulation layers, etc. The density of pure polyvinyl chloride is 1.4g / cm3. The density of polyvinyl chloride plastic parts with plasticizers and fillers is generally 1.15-2.00g / cm3. Rigid PVC has better tensile, bending, compression and impact resistance, and can be used alone as a structural material. Soft polyvinyl chloride has increased flexibility, elongation at break, and cold resistance, but decreases brittleness, hardness, and tensile strength. Polyvinyl chloride has good electrical insulation properties, and can be used as a low-frequency insulation material, and its chemical stability is also good.
Due to the poor thermal stability of polyvinyl chloride, heating for a long time will cause decomposition and release HCL gas, which will change the color of polyvinyl chloride, so its application range is relatively narrow, and the operating temperature is generally between -15 to 55 degrees.


For this assignment, you are welcome to collaborate with your partner. This assignment is to make an augmented reality clock, with moving hands. The clock hands should be registered to one of the Vuforia “Mars” image targets. Make two clock hands by scaling Unity’s “cube” primitives. You should have a short “hour” hand and a long “minute” hand. The hands should rotate about the center of the image target, like a normal analog clock (see image below).
Attach a (single) script to each hand, that rotates the hand by changing the rotation property of its transform. Note that the hand should rotate about its end, and not its middle.
Note that you can use the same script for each hand, and simply change the rotation speed using a public variable.
Also, when you hit a key on the keyboard (such as the letter “R”), reset the clock hands to the 12:00 position. To sense a key press, you can use the method you used in the “Roll-a-Ball” tutorial, or an easier method is to use the Unity function “GetKey”.
Capture a short video showing your clock hands in motion. You should speed up the clock hands so they don’t take so long to go around! For example, have the hour hand make a full rotation in one minute rather than 60 minutes. Of course, the minute hand should go 12 times faster than the hour hand.
Each person should upload a short video showing the operation of the clock, and also the script that you attach to the clock hands.


Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance company in Hartford, Connecticut. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his Collected Poems in 1955. Stevens's first period of writing begins with the 1923 publication of Harmonium, followed by a slightly revised and amended second edition in 1930. His second period occurred in the 11 years immediately preceding the publication of his Transport to Summer, when Stevens had written three volumes of poems including Ideas of Order, The Man with the Blue Guitar, and Parts of a World, along with Transport to Summer. His third and final period began with the publication of The Auroras of Autumn in the early 1950s, followed by the release of his Collected Poems in 1954, a year before his death. Stevens's best-known poems include "The Auroras of Autumn", "Anecdote of the Jar", "Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock", "The Emperor of Ice-Cream", "The Idea of Order at Key West", "Sunday Morning", "The Snow Man", and "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird".
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Happy World Teachers' Day! This is our favorite October holiday (sorry, Halloween), but we know this special occasion can get lost in the shuffle with all of the new social-media friendly holidays. When UNESCO established the date as October 5th back in 1994, we can't imagine they anticipated it would eventually share a month with "National Kale Day," "Name Your Car Day," and "World Pasta Day."On their website, UNESCO suggests some ways to get involved: "Everyone can help by celebrating the profession, by generating awareness about teacher issues, by ensuring that teacher respect is part of the natural order of things."Keeping that in mind, we're celebrating this year by sharing some teacher quotes from DonorsChoose.org educators that show just how much teachers care about each and every one of their students. We've picked five, but we could easily have shared 1,000 of these. To everyone working in the classroom to make the world a better place: thank you!
"Students love to imagine, explore, build, and create. As a teacher, we create opportunities for them to bring their imaginations to life." – Ms. Semana gives us a glimpse inside the mind of a kindergarten student. | Project: Craft Supplies
"All students are creative, and deserve the ability to let that creativity flourish in all its elemental beauty." – Mr. Edwards shows us the power of music as an educational tool. | Project: Music for Manzanita!
"Educators are preparing students for a world of technology that doesn't even exist yet." – Mrs. Neidhardt highlights the importance of tech in the classroom. | Project: Makerspace Madness! Creating a Makerspace in The Classroom
"Igniting a passion for learning at a young age will stick with these students forever." – Mr. Schafer points out the impact a teacher can have during a student's formative years. | Project: Organizing Our Research!
"I want my students to be as excited to learn as I am to teach them." – Mrs. Rivera teaches us why learning should be fun. | Project: Calling All Readers!
We'll leave you with one more quote, a daily inspiration to the DonorsChoose.org team.
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. " – Nelson Mandela


It’s Monday, April 5, and cities have nurtured a bicycling boom during the pandemic.
It’s a chicken-and-egg question: Does building bicycle infrastructure encourage cycling, or does increased demand from cyclists drive the construction of infrastructure? According to a new study of 106 European cities, the former has been true during the COVID-19 pandemic. In cities that added biking infrastructure, biking rates went up 11 to 48 percent compared to cities that did not. And biking didn’t just increase on streets with new or better lanes — it also increased on surrounding streets throughout the cities.
To maintain social distancing and decrease the likelihood of COVID-19 exposure on public transit, public health officials in many countries have encouraged cycling as an alternative. Many cities widened walking and biking paths, blocked off streets to cars, set up pop-up bike lanes, or reduced the driving speed limit to enable safer biking.
Cycling is a great way to decrease emissions from the transportation sector, which is the biggest source of greenhouse gases in the United States. Increased bike usage is also linked with reduced mortality thanks to the decreased air pollution and regular exercise it enables.
Whether the increase in biking will continue once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted is uncertain, but there’s some research indicating that once people find an alternative way of commuting, they stick with it. The cycling surge may be here to stay.
A large wastewater pond in the Tampa Bay region of Florida sprang a leak last week, sparking the evacuation of more than 300 nearby homes due to fears that a larger breach would send a flood of toxic water into residential areas. The pond stores water contaminated with phosphorus and nitrogen from an old phosphate plant.
Monsoon season brought flash floods and mudslides to eastern Indonesia and East Timor on Sunday, submerging neighborhoods and killing more than 100 people. Deforestation has increased the risk of such disasters by uprooting soil, which can then turn into flows of mud during heavy rains.
A new, sweeping study of the meat and dairy industry found that top U.S. livestock and dairy producers have insufficient or nonexistent plans to reduce their emissions, and that industry lobby groups have spent millions trying to block climate and environmental regulations. Animal agriculture is responsible for more than 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but industry groups have funded research downplaying the connection between agriculture and climate change.


In what is claimed to be the worlds first, a Scottish distillery has linked up with a spin-out company from a University in Edinburgh to create fuel from whisky ‘left overs’. The butanol produced after feeding these “leftovers” with bacteria can be used to fuel vehicles.
More than 90% of the stuff that comes out of a whisky distillery is not whisky. It is leftovers like draff and pot ales – both produced in the early stages of the process.
The distiller, Tullibardine has the capacity to provide 6,500 metric tons of draff (what’s left of the grain after fermentation) and 2 million liters of pot ale (residue from the still), by-products that are currently spread on agricultural fields, turned into animal feed or discharged into the sea, all at cost.
The technology isn’t new. The idea of converting a range of fuels found in plant materials to produce butanol goes back a century, and was scaled up to make acetone for explosives in World War I. The technology died out in the 1960s because of competition from petrochemicals. If we can get this right in Scotland, we can adapt it anywhere. India makes whisky, Japan makes whisky, Ireland makes whisky. A lot of the waste ends up in the sea. – Martin Tangney of Celtic Renewables
The spin-out company, Celtic Renewables, and Tullibardine will, together, apply the process to thousands of tonnes of the distillery’s leftovers. The distiller spends around Rs. 2 crores ($ 400,000) to dispose of its by-products each year.


The vehicle-mounted electronic refrigerator has a simple structure. In order to connect P-type semiconductors, N-type semiconductors, copper plates, and copper wires into a loop, the copper plates and wires only play a conductive role. The loop is powered by 12V DC. After the current is turned on, one contact becomes cold ( inside the refrigerator), and another connector dissipates heat (the radiator behind the refrigerator).
This refrigerator has a simple structure, few parts, and is easy to maintain: no mechanical transmission parts, no wear, no noise, long life: no refrigerant refrigeration (both compression and absorption types are required), and it is absolutely environmentally friendly.
Now there are energy storage board cooling passive car refrigerators on the market that do not consume electricity, and of course, they will not dissipate heat in the car, reducing the heat source in the car. Before use, you only need to put the ice bag in the refrigerator into the household refrigerator to fully freeze, and then put the ice bag into the car refrigerator for cooling. This passive refrigerator avoids the noise generated when the compressor is working, but the energy storage board Refrigeration passive vehicle-mounted refrigerators must be placed in the refrigerator freezer to freeze and charge the energy storage board before use, so it cannot be left out of the refrigerator for too long, and it is not very convenient to use.
At present, two types of vehicle-mounted refrigerators, refrigerated and refrigerated, have been launched in China according to market demand. Customers can purchase passive mobile refrigerators with both freezing and refrigerating functions by purchasing different energy storage.


More Beaver Dams = More Salmon
Turns out that beaver dams are good for salmon. Some folks say, beaver dams taught the salmon to jump!
Ecosystem experiment reveals benefits of natural and simulated beaver dams to a threatened population of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
- Nicolaas Bouwes,
- Nicholas Weber, Chris E. Jordan,W. Carl Saunders,
- Ian A. Tattam,
- Carol Volk,
- Joseph M. Wheaton &
- Michael M. Pollock
Scientific Reports volume 6, Article number: 28581 (2016) Bouwes, N., Weber, N., Jordan, C. et al. Ecosystem experiment reveals benefits of natural and simulated beaver dams to a threatened population of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Sci Rep6, 28581 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep28581
Beavers and Fish Fact Sheet
“This fact sheet outlines the general relationship between beavers and fish, along with addressing some of the common misconceptions about how beavers impact fish, including that they increase water temperature, increase sediment accumulation on spawning gravels, and create barriers to fish movement.
Beavers are significantly reduced in numbers or absent from much of their historic range and habitat in Alberta due to trapping, and habitat loss, both historic and present. Prior to the 1700’s beavers were abundant in Alberta and lived harmoniously with fish, having evolved together. The beavers that exist on the landscape today are a benefit to fish species, just as they are a benefit to many other wild species.”
It is concluded that beaver are of substantial benefit to trout .Richard Gard author of EFFECTS OF BEAVER ON TROUT IN SAGEHEN CREEK,
CALIFORNIA published in The Journal of Wildlife Management.


The Problem with Calorie-Counting
Calorie-counting has been a popular method of weight management for many years. It involves keeping track of the number of calories consumed through food and drinks, and limiting calorie intake in order to achieve weight loss. However, this method of weight management has some drawbacks that people should be aware of before embarking on it.
Firstly, calorie-counting is not an exact science. The calorie content of foods can vary depending on how they are cooked, processed, and stored. For example, a raw apple and a baked apple may have different calorie counts, as the process of baking can break down some of the apple’s fibers and increase its calorie density. This means that people who rely on calorie-counting alone may not be accurately tracking their calorie intake.
Secondly, calorie-counting can become an obsessive and stressful activity. Keeping track of every calorie consumed can be time-consuming and mentally exhausting, and it can lead to an unhealthy preoccupation with food. This can result in anxiety, negative body image, and disordered eating patterns.
Thirdly, calorie-counting does not necessarily promote healthy eating patterns. It may encourage people to focus solely on calorie intake and ignore the nutrient density of the foods they are consuming. For example, a person may choose to eat a low-calorie processed snack over a nutrient-dense piece of fruit, simply because it has fewer calories. This can lead to nutrient deficiencies and other health problems.
Instead of relying solely on calorie-counting, people should focus on establishing and maintaining healthy eating patterns. This involves consuming a variety of nutrient-dense foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. It also involves being mindful of portion sizes and avoiding processed and high-sugar foods.
In summary, while calorie-counting may seem like a quick and easy way to achieve weight loss, it has some significant drawbacks. It is not an exact science, can become an obsession, and does not necessarily promote healthy eating patterns. Instead, focusing on establishing and maintaining healthy eating patterns is a more sustainable approach to weight management.


https://www.turacogames.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/turaco-baker.jpg 176 250 turacogame https://www.turacogames.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Turacogames-300x135.png turacogame2018-06-18 03:57:342022-04-12 10:56:14Butterfly Life Cycle, Science Spelling Game for Kids
Butterfly Life Cycle, Science Spelling Game for Kids
This science spelling game helps to reinforce knowledge of the life cycle of a butterfly. It is suitable for primary school first and second grade learners.
- Key Science Facts
- Egg – A butterfly begins life as an egg.
- Larva – The larva hatches from an egg.
- Larva is also called caterpillar.
- The caterpillar sheds its skin many times as it grows.
- At a resting stage, the caterpillar turns into a pupa or chrysalis.
- Game: The Turaco Baker Game is a time-limited game of drag and drop spelling.
Children learn about the butterfly life cycle during primary grades. Key concepts of this learning include: The stages or life cycle of butterflies and moths is called metamorphosis. A butterfly begins life as an egg. The larva hatches from an egg. Larva is also called caterpillar. The plural of larva is larvae. The caterpillar sheds its skin many times as it grows. This process of losing its skin is called molting. At a resting stage, the caterpillar turns into a pupa or chrysalis. From the pupa, an adult butterfly emerges and flies around. In many cases students are able to actually watch the life cycle of a butterfly in their classroom! In Butterfly Life Cycle game, students are given choice to drag and drop to complete sentences based on information about the life cycle of a butterfly. This is an excellent review for information already learned or experiencing first hand in the classroom. After each question, a colorful kangaroo is playing with a boomerang. If a correct answer is given, the kangaroo is able to catch the boomerang. If an incorrect answer is given, the boomerang, will hit the kangaroo in the head. Read Less


by Staff writer
Cancer is a class of diseases in which abnormal cells multiply and divide uncontrollably in the body. These abnormal cells form malignant growths called tumors.
Throat cancer refers to cancer that occurs in the larynx, the vocal cords, and other parts of the throat, such as the tonsils and oropharynx.
As with many cancers, the risk of developing throat cancer increases with age, with most sufferers being over the age of 65.
Men are two to three times more likely than women to develop throat cancer in their lifetime.
Throat cancer is relatively uncommon when compared to other cancers. The American National Cancer Institute estimates that 1.1 percent of adults will be diagnosed with throat cancer within their lifetime
Common symptoms of throat cancer include: difficulty swallowing, changes in voice, sore throat, unexplainable weight loss, swelling of the jaw, throat or neck and chronic cough.
These 5 lifestyle habits increase your risk of developing throat cancer:
1. Not eating enough fruits and vegetables
A diet low in fruits and vegetables can increase the likelihood of developing throat cancer.
The use of cigarettes, pipes and cigars all increase the likelihood of developing throat cancer.
3. Drinking alcohol
Excessive use of alcohol also increases your throat cancer risks.
4. Oral sex
New research has found that HPV infection is responsible for rising rates of throat cancer. Most people get HPV through oral sex.
Contracting the epstein-barr virus (EBV) increases the likelihood of developing throat cancer.
EBV is transmitted mainly through the saliva secreted in the mouth during kissing or sharing items that can pass saliva to other individuals (for example, cups, spoons, straws, and other utensils).
These are just risk factors. Having a risk factor does not mean that you will get cancer. Also, not having risk factors doesn’t mean that you will not get cancer.
This website is intended for informational purposes only. DNB Stories is not intended to provide diagnosis, treatment or professional medical advice.
Please consult with a physician or an appropriate healthcare professional regarding any medical or health-related concerns you may have.


Frankenstein Revisited learning resource
Frankenstein Revisited learning resources
Key Stages: KS4, Post 16
Subjects: English Literature
About these resources
Resources to support the study of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein at GCSE and A Level including talks by academics, short films, and a bookable workshop on Science and Frankenstein from the History of Science Museum.
Situating Frankenstein lecturehttps://www.youtube.com/embed/_xFr7x_5m_4?rel=0
This 30-minute talk by Dr Will Bowers explores the narrative structure, literary and cultural context, and geographical symbolism of Frankenstein.
Making machines podcast
This 65-minute webinar features Professor Sharon Ruston and Professor Ursula Martin exploring the boundary between human and machine through the writings of Mary Shelley and Ada Lovelace held in the Bodleian Libraries. Using the notebooks of Sir Humphry Davy, an influence on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and the surviving manuscripts of the novel itself, Professor Sharon Ruston considers Shelley’s thought-process in writing, and how far the Creature might be thought of as crossing a boundary between automaton and man (02:18 – 33:57).
- Electricity and Frankenstein video
A short film from the History of Science Museum demonstrating early electrical investigations and the power of lightning.
- Mary Shelley Timeline (3Mb)
Printable poster summarising the main events of Mary Shelley’s eventful and tragic early life and their influence on her best-known novel.
- Frankenstein reading list
A selected list of useful external resources to deepen your appreciation of Frankenstein in its wider cultural and critical context.
Online workshop: Science and Frankenstein
A bookable online workshop from the History of Science Museum exploring the scientific background and inspiration behind Shelley’s novel with stories and objects from the museum’s collections.
For enquiries, please email: email@example.com.
Lead image: Portrait miniature of Mary Wolstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851), Bodleian Library Shelley relics (d)


B1 – Intermediate Italian
B1 Italian Lessons and Practice – Intermediate Italian
B1 is intermediate Italian, consisting of practical language for work, school, and travel – learn more.
B1 - Intermediate Italian • travel Italian
Demonstrative pronouns (this one, that one, the one[s], these, those) refer to a previously-mentioned noun in a sentence. Italian demonstrative pronouns are more complicated than their English counterparts, because there are two different sets and because they must agree in gender and number with the noun they replace.
agreement • B1 - Intermediate Italian • demonstratives • gender • plurals
Emozioni, di Lucio Battisti
FluentU – Italian Videos
Italian learners are always looking for new sources of Italian listening practice, and FluentU is one of the best. This subscription site offers videos for all levels of Italian, enhanced with quizzes, spaced repetition, and other tools to help you practice what you know and learn at your own pace.
A1 - Beginning Italian • A2 - Low-Intermediate Italian • B1 - Intermediate Italian • B2 - Upper-Intermediate Italian • C1 - Advanced Italian • C2 - Near-Native Italian
abbreviations • B1 - Intermediate Italian • spelling
Lucio Battisti: Biography
Natale, di Francesco de Gregori
News in Slow Italian
A1 - Beginning Italian • A2 - Low-Intermediate Italian • B1 - Intermediate Italian • B2 - Upper-Intermediate Italian • C1 - Advanced Italian
Saga Baldoria – Read my review
Learn Italian while following the adventures of Anna Baldoria as she is forced to choose between her promising medical career in Milan and her grandmother’s hotel in Rome. The humorous videos and comics are suitable for post-beginners aged 15 and up, and include a variety of accents as well as slang.
A2 - Low-Intermediate Italian • B1 - Intermediate Italian • B2 - Upper-Intermediate Italian • C1 - Advanced Italian


Museum lecture tells of hero war horses and dogs of World War I
World War I was the last war in which horses were utilized for constant resupply, movement of heavy weaponry and the transport of troops. It was also the first war in which military dogs were mobilized on a massive, organized scale.
These largely forgotten heroes of World War I made great sacrifices for the war effort. Of the estimated 1 million horses and mules – some of which came from Nevada – that were transported to Europe for the war, only 200 came home.
Dogs were used in a variety of roles including sentry, scout, explosive detection, communication, search-and-rescue, ratters and mascot.
The stories of these war horses and war dogs are inspiring and heartwarming. They are also the subject of this month’s Frances Humphrey Lecture Series encore presentation at the Nevada State Museum – “Forgotten Heroes of World War I: War Horses and War Dogs.”
The event is Saturday, Nov. 17 from 2 to 3 p.m. in the museum’s South Gallery. The cost is $8 for adults; free for museum members and children 17 and younger. Seating is limited and attendees are encouraged to reserve their seats online at https://www.nvculture.org/nevadastatemuseumcarsoncity/events/
Lecturer Bob Nylen, the museum’s curator of history, has been actively involved in researching, writing and lecturing about Nevada’s rich history for more than 30 years.
The Nevada State Museum opens at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 17 is also the date of the museum’s annual Autumn Book signing. It runs from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and features 16 local authors with their books to sell and sign.
For more information on the book signing call Charmain Philips at (775) 687-4810 ext. 244.


Highlanders' Museum **
Region: Inverness, Loch Ness & Nairn
The Highlanders’ Museum is home to the largest number of military artefacts outside London. The Highlanders are the descendants of four famous Scottish Regiments originally raised from the Clans and communities of the Highlands and Islands in the late 1700’s. The Highlanders Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland today incorporates the world-famous names of the Seaforth Highlanders, The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders and the Queen’s Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons). The Museum represents all these famous Regiments except for The Gordon Highlanders who have their own museum in Aberdeen.
The Museum tells the story of the Highland Regiments from just after the Battle of Culloden up to the present day.
The museum, located in the former Lieutenant Governor’s house in Fort George, includes works depicting military scenes by a variety of artists and covering the period from 1778 to the present day.
- War scenes paintings;
- Regimental Flags.
More in-depth information?
Even more information?
Found a mistake or maybe have something to add? Do let me know!


The European Space Agency finally seems to have pinpointed why its Schiaparelli lander experienced a fatal crash landing on the surface of Mars on October 19. As previously suspected by some experts, a computer glitch seems to have caused a navigation error that caused Schiaparelli to prematurely shut off its thrusters and activate on-ground systems.
In short, a sensor failure led Schiaparelli to believe it was closer to the ground than it really was. The parachute was ejected and braking thrusters turned off while the spacecraft was still over two miles in altitude during descent. Schiaparelli thought it was already on land.
It was all thanks to an error in the instrument that measured the spacecraft’s spin. In “When merged into the navigation system,” ESA wrote in a news release, “the erroneous information generated an estimated altitude that was negative that is, below ground level. This in turn successively triggered a premature release of the parachute … and a brief firing of the braking thrusters.”
The crash is a major setback of the agency’s ExoMars mission — launched in collaboration with Russian space agency Roscomos. Schiaparelli was tasked with testing out a new spacecraft landing system and measuring the surface wind speeds on the Red Planet. Needless to say, none of that will be happening.
However, all is not lost for ExoMars. The other half of the mission — the Trace Gas Orbiter, tasked with looking for biosignatures that could indicate signs of past or present Martian life — successfully inserted itself into Mars’ orbit. And ESA and Roscomos are still full-speeds-ahead on plans to send a rover to the planet in 2020, which will continue the search for signs of life and collect more data about the geology and composition of the Martian surface.
“ExoMars is extremely important for European science and exploration,” said Roberto Battiston, president of Italy’s ASI space agency. “Together with all the participating states in the program, we will work towards the successful completion of the second ExoMars mission.”


Discovery promising for millions at risk from antibiotic resistance
An international team of researchers from have discovered how bacteria share antibiotic-resistance genes.
It is known that 700,000 people die annually from antibiotic resistant infections, yet the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria (‘superbugs’) could lead to around 10 million deaths globally by 2050.
Professor Timothy Walsh – newly appointed Professor of Medical Microbiology in the Department of Zoology - explains, “This study investigates how plasmids (circular pieces of bacterial DNA that can carry multiple antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes) move between bacteria via a ‘DNA syringe’. This study further explores how this syringe is controlled; and therefore by manipulating that control component we can, potentially, disrupt the spread of AMR plasmids.”
In this study, published last month in Nature Microbiology, researchers examined plasmids (self-replicating DNA molecules) which are one of the major drivers for the rapid spread of antibiotic resistance genes between bacteria.
Professor Mark Schembri of the University of Queensland said: “The diminishing pool of effective antibiotics makes these infections a major threat to human health, so it’s critical we understand the exact mechanics of how antibiotic resistance spreads between different bacteria”.
Many plasmids carry 10 to 15 antibiotic resistance-causing genes, and when they transfer from one bacterial cell to another, two important things happen. Firstly, the plasmid is copied so that it is retained by both the donor and recipient cell. Secondly, all antibiotic resistance genes are transferred together, meaning that resistance to multiple antibiotics can be transferred and acquired simultaneously.
The study used a powerful genetic screening system to identify all of the components required for the transfer of an important type of antibiotic resistance plasmid from one bacterial cell to another. By doing this they discovered genes encoding a ‘syringe’ component, which is a mechanism through which plasmid DNA is mobilised, as well as a novel controlling element essential for regulation of the transfer process.
The team also investigated the crystal structure of this controlling element, and revealed how it binds to DNA and activates transcription of other genes involved in the transfer.
Preventing the transfer of plasmids between bacteria has been a major challenge in reducing the spread of antibiotic resistance genes. By looking at the molecular mechanics, we can start to develop effective solutions for stopping these genes in their tracks, potentially saving millions of lives globally.


A classic start of the school year is Kinder Friendly All About Me Ideas. We love to focus on learning about our students and allow them to learn about us. What a great start to building relationships in the classroom! Let me share with you some of our Kinder Friendly All About Me Ideas.
All About Me Reader
First, we use this fun “all about me” reader to have the students learn about themselves as well as for peers to learn about each other. Students can practice writing their names and the letters in their names. They can also work on more topics like eye color, hair color, and even their favorite color.
Then, what a fun way to talk about themselves and review concepts you are teaching like address and phone number. And yes, even color sight words!
How much fun is this All About Me Reader? You can grab it here right now!
All About Me Rainbow
This year, I really needed to add some fun elements to my All About Me week. Nothing speaks “Kindergarten” like art!
First, I made a puffy cloud for our names. Next, I made simple prompts for my students to trace. Why trace? This time of year, we are working on speaking in complete sentences and handwriting in general. Your students could come up with their own sentences if they are ready. Filling out these sentences were done in small groups and it took 2 days.
Next, we glued the strips down behind our name clouds. You can see how CUTE they look! I printed each prompt on a different piece of Astro bright copy paper like this pack here.
Finally, one important tip is to glue them on the opposite side that you write on. Check out this green strip. It was glued wrong, so we flipped it around allowing us to see what we wrote.
Color Words Activities$5.00
Brown Bear Mini BundleProduct on sale
Perfect Community Helpers Activities and Centers$6.00
Here is another student’s rainbow! You can see we practice numbers, colors, and a few other fun topics I thought my little learners would love to share.
I love this rainbow and can’t wait to do it with my kiddos!


Request a printed catalogue. We'll mail you a printed catalogue from one of our publishers.
Not sure where to start? Take the Placement Test
Building directly on Math K, Saxon Math 1 establishes a solid understanding of basic math concepts and teaches your child:
This Complete Kit includes the spiralbound Teacher's Manual, Student Workbooks, cardstock Fact Cards, and the student Meeting Book.
The Teacher's Manual contains daily lessons which include preclass preparation instructions, a list of materials, and the entire scripted leson. Scripted lessons provide you with language and questioning strategies designed to help your child understand the mathematical concepts taught. Includes master sheets for lesson activities and handwriting practice.
The Meeting Book is used by the student to practice skills related to time, temperature, money, counting, patterning, and problem solving.
The Student Workbooks include written practice pages, masters, and fact cards.
IMPORTANT: Manipulatives are required.. The Manipulate Kit is a separate purchase and covers all four primary math programs (K-3). Math K-3 Manipulative Kit
|Format||Spiralbound Teacher's Manual, Softcover Meeting Book, 2 Softcover Workbooks, Cardstock Fact Cards|
The Learning House Inc. is a family owned business providing educational resources to schools, home schools, and parents across Canada. In 1994 Harold and Louise House felt led by the Lord to start a business.
Copyright 2023 The Learning House Inc.


Machine studying algorithms are fashions based mostly on mathematical computations that may routinely be taught from enter knowledge and supply predictions or selections, with out requiring express directions. The varied classes of machine studying algorithms embody supervised studying, unsupervised studying, reinforcement studying, and deep studying. A number of the broadly used and fashionable machine studying algorithms embody:
Assist Vector Machines (SVM)
Okay-Nearest Neighbors (KNN)
Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN)
Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN)
In case you are involved in studying machine studying, there are a lot of on-line programs and sources accessible. Some fashionable on-line platforms for studying machine studying are Coursera, Udacity, edX, and DataCamp. Some fashionable machine studying programs are:
Machine Studying by Andrew Ng on Coursera
Introduction to Machine Studying with TensorFlow on Udacity
The Coursera specialization referred to as “Utilized Information Science with Python” is concentrated on educating sensible expertise within the area of knowledge science.
Machine Studying A-Z on Udemy
The Udemy course titled “Information Science and Machine Studying Bootcamp with R” gives a complete studying expertise on knowledge science and machine studying utilizing the R programming language.
These programs provide a complete introduction to machine studying, masking subjects akin to supervised and unsupervised studying, neural networks, deep studying, and extra. They usually embody hands-on programming workout routines and initiatives that can assist you apply the ideas you be taught.


Aberdyfi Castle is a castle located near Glandyfi, Ceredigion, in mid Wales. All that now remains is the motte, which is referred to as Domen Las (meaning “green mound” in Welsh).
It was founded by the Lord Rhys, Rhys ap Gruffydd in 1156, in response to a threat to his lands from the north from Owain Gwynedd, who had assembled an army to march on Ceredigion. Rhys “raised a ditch to give battle”, according to Brut y Tywysogion, or the ‘Chronicles of the Princes’.
The threat did not arrive but an earthwork castle was built on the site. A motte was constructed at the end of a low ridge running across marshy ground, surrounded on two sides by the confluence of the Dyfi and Einion rivers. The mound is still around 20 feet high with a diameter at the top of about 30 feet and it was surrounded by a deep ditch.
Roger de Clare, a Norman lord, attacked and captured the castle in about 1158. However, the Lord Rhys recaptured the castle. Llywelyn the Last held an assembly at Aberdyfi Castle in 1216 where he granted Welsh land in south Wales to other princes in return for their homage.


There currently are less than 2,000 operational satellites in orbit. In the next few years, SpaceX and other launch services are going to be deploying tens of thousands of new satellites. What does this portend for the problem of space junk?
The short answer is that it is hard to know for sure.
The good news is that space is big, including even near-earth orbit. There is a lot of room for a lot of satellites. If you think, for example, about the number of boats the oceans can accommodate, and then realize that space is much, much larger, it gives an idea that there is a lot of room to work with. The odds of a collision are low.
All new satellites need to have launch approvals and also decommissioning plans (typically involving falling back into the atmosphere and burning up). SpaceX and OneWeb, for example, have committed to one year deorbiting plans for satellites at end of life.
We’re also pretty good at tracking larger pieces of space junk and identifying potential problems. The International Space Station is periodically moved in order to minimize chances of collision. Around 20,000 man-made objects are currently tracked in space (although they need to be big enough to track — estimates assume many millions of smaller items are also in orbit).
The concerning problem is that one collision can lead to the creation of lots more space junk, which in turn could collide into other satellites. Computer models show that a chain reaction of this sort is possible (the “Kessler Syndrome”). This also isn’t hypothetical: at least five satellite collisions have resulted in increased space debris. Both the International Space Station and the Mir Space Station have sustained damage from collisions with space debris. Space crowding is particular acute at the poles: many satellites maintain polar orbits (in order to have complete coverage of the earth), which means the orbits all cross at the poles.
Some scientists argue we are already in the early stages of the Kessler Syndrome.
So on the issue of space debris, most scientists cautiously believe we are OK if we are prudent. But there are definitely unknowns, and definitely risks.


Central Valley School District strives to offer students programs and opportunities to enable them to graduate college and career ready.
Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR)
Each year, New York state schools must evaluate the performance of their principals and teachers using a process called the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR). Learn more about APPR.
Next Generation Learning Standards
Common Core Standards have been developed to provide a clear outline of what a student should learn to graduate college and career ready. Learn more about Next Gen Learning Standards.
New York State School Report Card (Accountability Report)
The New York State Report Card is an important part of the Board of Regents’ effort to raise learning standards for all students. It provides information to the public on school/district enrollment and staff, student performance, and other measures of school and district performance. Knowledge gained from the report card on a school’s or district’s strengths and weaknesses can be used to improve instruction and services to students.
District/School Education Improvement Plans
Central Valley CSD has developed a series of plans to improve the academic performance of specific groups of students. Those plans are listed below:
Assessments—State and Local
The New York State Education Department requires all public school districts to administer state tests in English language arts, math and science to all students in grades 3-8. High school students in New York State are required to pass five Regents exams in order to graduate – in English, math, U.S. history & government, global history and one science subject area.
In addition, school districts administer other assessments to measure student progress, both from year-to-year and throughout the year.
Alaine K. Canestrari, Assistant Superintendent
111 Frederick St.
Ilion, NY 13357


Even if you don’t know the dolly zoom or “Vertigo effect” or “Jaws effect” by any of its many names, you’ll recognize it when you see it. As those nicknames suggest, it was first popularized by Alfred Hitchcock when he used it to simulate the dizzy feeling of Vertigo. Perhaps the most famous use comes from Jaws, in which it’s used to show Martin Brody’s reaction when he first sees the shark on the attack.
As with those two examples, it’s often used to suggest psychological distress—the feeling that the walls are closing in on the main character. In Brian De Palma’s Body Double, in which the hero suffers from claustrophobia, this is literally the case. When the effect is reversed, it can be use to simulate the opposite feeling: The sense that the floor is dropping out from under you.
This video—set, appropriately, to Bernard Herrmann’s theme for Vertigo—doesn’t show every example of the effect’s use (it leaves out, for example, the dramatic dolly zoom featured in Josie and the Pussycats), but it captures the most famous examples, spanning almost five decades.
How does the dolly zoom work? In short, the cameraman moves the camera forward (such as on a dolly) at the same pace they zoom out, or vice versa. When pulled off successfully, this has the effect of keeping the subject of the shot in place while distorting the perspective of everything around him or her. It’s an old effect and shouldn’t be overused, but as this compilation suggests, it probably won’t be leaving us anytime soon. (Via @edgarwright and Indiewire.)


Recently I began my big New Government project in US History. My culminating project is a student presentation of a government style (that they find or create) that would be a good fit for the new US nation following the Revolutionary War.
Before the culmination, I had to get the students to think about the fundamentals – what a government is, what governments do, what US citizens wanted in a government at that time, etc. This year, to make the fundamentals more engaging, I decided to make them a little more relevant for students. For instance, where I spend time trying to get students to think about what style of government the citizens of the new USA would be interested in, I decided to connect it to the concept of dating. Students had to imagine that the new USA (free from the tyranny of King George III) was now “single and ready to mingle!!!”
Rather than creating a boring chart or paragraph about the USA exploring government styles, I had the students create Tinder profiles for the USA. Note: I did not have the students create real Tinder profiles. Instead, they went into Google Docs or Google Drawings and create a mock profile. First, the students had to brainstorm what the new USA was all about – who were these people? What were their characteristics?
Once we had that list, students then considered what these newly free Americans would want in a style of government. In practical terms, the students had to come up with an image that represented America – much like Tinder clients did. This was funny – Google searches for images that represent the USA are a hoot! There are some pretty funny people online.
Next, the students had to write the dating profile. This was a summary of the ideas they explored earlier – who are these Americans and what style of government were they looking for?
The results were spectacular! Students found some really iconic images and wrote some very engaging profiles.
Next time you are doing the same-old, same-old, think of new ways to connect to your students and connect them to learning.


65th Regiment Song Book
Good people all of each degree,
both high and low, draw near,
And listen with attention to these few lines you'll hear,
Concerning gallant soldiers, some killed and wounded sore,
Far from their native country in that great India War.
There's some from north and some
from south and some from east and west,
But none can tell which of their sons are thought upon the best
When they are in a foreign land where cannons loudly roar,
And fighting for old England in the great India War.
The cruelties have been practised
would cause your hearts to bleed,
Enough to melt a heart of stone their sufferings to read;
Some mothers cry, 'My darling son will never return no more,
The daring foe has laid him low in the great India War.'
What must a mother's feelings be
such shocking news to hear,
The tortures by those mutineers would cause a briny tear;
And many widows yet will weep upon old England's shore
For husbands that will not return from the great India War.
We read the deeds of Boney and
brave Nelson on the main,
Where many gallant Englishmen on land and sea were slain;
Yes, many battles were fought in ancient days of yore,
But cruelties were never known like the great India War.
Some thousands that left England
where first they drew their breath,
How sad to tell, in battle fell, and yielded unto death,
At Lucknow and Delhi and taking of Cawnpore,
For years to come will history relate the India War.
How many bold commanders, I'm
sorry for to say,
All through the climate and disease now in their graves do lay;
That valiant General Havelock, too, fell for to rise no more,
We firmly hope is now at rest from the great India War.
Distress throughout the country I believe it does
I wish the war was at an end that we could live in peace,
And men for labour better paid as they have been before,
And soldiers too that fought so true in the great India War.
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Besides the joy of being outdoors and picking up rocks (Who doesn’t LOVE this?), these are the outcomes you can expect from this activity:
There you have it. One simple activity that your students will love. You’ll be supporting classroom culture development, executive function development and getting your students excited to learn about what makes the rocks look so different.
One last thing: You don’t have to limit this to rocks. You can do this with leaves and needles (only the ones already on the ground), tree bark, fungi (through photos, please), or even animals or evidence of their presence. After all, kids love Scat!
www.fossilicious.com has rocks, fossils, curriculum and field test kits for classroom geology, earth science, and cosmic education studies. Check them out here: http://www.fossilicious.com/educational-materials/
Do me a favor, please. When you do this activity, take a moment to let me know how it goes by writing me, Claudia Mann, at firstname.lastname@example.org. Then invite your friends to view this post and join the fun at www.inspired learning-Montessori-education.com


I have found that when I am designing a marionette it is important to keep three very important principals in mind – Movement, Balance and Weight. This post will address the first principal.
Movement – Understanding the body’s range of movement to create a realistic character.
If the character is human-like, the range of movement that the human body can achieve must be understood and taken into consideration. For example, the limitations of the elbow and knee joints – our elbows and knees only bend in one direction but our arms and legs have a full range of motion, and our heads don’t turn completely around.
Designing your marionette’s joints with these features in mind will not only make its movements realistic but will also make manipulating the puppet much easier. Arms and legs will react normally when a string is tightened or loosened. Ideally, elbow and knee joints should have stops to keep them from hyper extending. If your building material is rigid, making the joints meet at 45 degree angles can help. You can also control hyper-extension by making sure the strings are just long enough to remain taught when the limbs are at rest.
Movement is also governed by the costumes that you design for your characters. It isn’t quite like dressing a doll. Dolls do not move so their clothes do not have to accommodate motion. A marionette’s clothing must have ease built in much like our own clothing. Ease must be added in the shoulder and thigh areas in particular so that your puppet can raise its arms and legs, sit, kneel and bend over to bow after a wonderful performance. The clothing and head coverings must not obstruct the movement of the strings if the puppet is going to be manipulated easily.
Here is a little hint I learned many years ago from a doll costumer: Use paper towels to design costume patterns. Sheets from a roll work best. The pattern pieces can be sewn together and fitted on the character and adjusted pretty much like fabric. The best part is that the patterns that don’t work out well can be used to clean up your studio : )
Next post – Balance


(June 15, 2015) Many products, including food supplements, cosmetics and biodiesel, are made from substances derived from microalgae. A fully automated pilot plant operated by Fraunhofer in Leuna is capable of producing microalgae on pilot scale. The concentration of algae in its reactors is five times higher than in conventional closed reactors. The researchers who designed the plant will be exhibiting it at the ACHEMA 2015 show in Frankfurt am Main from June 15 to 19 (Hall 9.2, Booth D64).
Microalgae are highly versatile organisms. Some strains, for instance, produce large quantities of omega-3 fatty acids that have important health-giving properties, and are therefore used in the composition of food supplements. Many ingredients in cosmetic products are also derived from algae, such as the red pigment astaxanthin which is extracted from the algal strain Haematococcus pluvialis. Other strains of microalgae produce oils or starch that can be used to manufacture biodiesel, ethanol or biogas. But the microalgae from which all of these products are derived are grown almost exclusively by American, Israeli or Asian companies – there are only few commercial production facilities in Europe. In Asia, the aquatic organisms are mainly cultivated in open ponds. But the quantity of algae that can be harvested from these ponds is limited because they need light to grow, and sunlight rarely penetrates beyond the first few inches deep in the water body. Finally, there is the constant risk that the algae might be contaminated by other microorganisms.


Phylum: Magnoliophyta - Class: Equisetopsida - Order: Fabales - Family: Fabaceae
This perennial evergreen shrub was introduced from California to Britain in the 1700s, and it has since become popular as a municipal planting on roadside verges and banks. Once established it easily self-seeds in dry and frost-free locations.
This evergreen shrub grows to a height of 2 m. It has greyy-green palmate leaves each with 5 to12 oval leaflets 2 to 6cm long, The flowers, which form racemes 10 to 30cm in length, are usually yellow but occasionally they are white with a mauve tinge.
Tree Lupin is particularly common on southern and western coasts around the UK, and it has colonised coastal habitats in many other parts of Eurpe as well as Australia, New Zealand and parts of Asia and South America.
The Tree Lupin, more accurately but less frequently referred to as the Bush Lupin, is particularly common on the light, sandy soils of the coastal strip of south and west Wales.
Tree Lupins bloom from May to August and are generally at their best from mid June to the end of July.
The Tree Lupin plants shown on this page were photographed on the West Wales coast in July.
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Any donations over and above the essential running costs will help support the conservation work of Plantlife, the Rivers Trust and charitable botanic gardens - as do author royalties and publisher proceeds from books by Pat and Sue.


Fighting Like a Guerrilla The Indian Army and Counterinsurgency
This book deals with two significant issues: the peculiar and paradoxical question of why regular armies, better suited to fighting conventional high-intensity wars, adopt inappropriate measures when fighting guerilla wars; and the evolution of the Indian army’s counterinsurgency doctrine over the last decade. In addition, the book also includes the first detailed analysis of the trajectory of the army’s counterinsurgency doctrine, arguing that while it was consolidated only over the last decade, the essential elements of the doctrine may in fact be traced back to the army’s first confrontation with the Naga guerillas in the 1950s. It outlines the three essential elements that make up the Indian army’s counterinsurgency doctrine:
- that there are no military solutions to an insurgency;
- that military force can only help to reduce levels of violence to enable political solutions; and
- that there should be limited use of military force.
Rajagopalan argues that international circumstances — particularly the need to counter conventional military threats from Pakistan and China — led to a counterinsurgency doctrine that had a strong conventional war bias. This bias also conditioned the organisational culture of the Indian army.
1. The Puzzle: Conventional Armies and Guerrilla Wars 2. Guerrilla Wars and International Political Theory 3. Taming the Tigers: The IPKF in Sri Lanka 4. Evolution of the Indian Army’s Counterinsurgency Doctrine 5. Assessing the Explanations


Have you noticed plants in your gardens escaping and spreading into other parts of your garden or neighbourhood? You can help stop this spread by removing these invasive plants wherever you see them and planting better alternatives that benefit the garden’s diversity and reduce the possibility of weedy plants invading.
Check the health of plants before bringing them into your garden or you may spread diseases like Myrtle rust, which is now prevalent on the Fraser Coast. For further details about this rust, contact your local nursery, Council or DPI&F.
Brazilian Cherry (Eugenia uniflora)
Origin: South America
Dispersal: Spread by birds, small mammals and water.
Location: Found in older style gardens along foreshore and riverside areas. Often used as an ornamental garden plant.
Description: A medium shrub, with dense rounded habit. Grows 3-6m tall. Oval leaves, with pointed tips and red new growth. Succulent ribbed orange/red fruits. Forms dense stands outcompeting native plants.
Control: Control with registered herbicide like glyphosate. Cut and paste stumps within 20 seconds.
Glory lily (Gloriosa superba L.)
Environmental Weed Declared under Local Law No. 3 (2010) for Fraser Island ONLY.
Origin: Africa and Asia.
Dispersal: Spread in garden refuse and by birds.
Location: Found in bushland, coastal habitats and gardens. Tolerates nutrient-poor soils.
Description: Perennial herb with climbing stems with tendrils at the tips. The narrow shiny green leaves die off in winter, reshooting from long-lived underground tubers. Flowering occurs in October to May. The yellow, orange and red flowers have turned back petals that expose the stamens.
Control: Control by collecting and destroying seedpods, and digging out and bagging small patches ensuring tubers are removed completely. Chemical control in December and then February using glyphosate and water at 1:50(20mL/L) + Metsulfuron methyl at 1.5g/10L water (with surfactant).
Before using any herbicide, always read the label carefully and apply strictly in accordance with direction on the label.


Jun 21, 2022By: Ashima Sharda Mahindra, Times Now Digital
When the food remains undigested in your stomach, it reaches the colon, where it feeds friendly gut bacteria, leading to various health benefits. Certain types of fiber may also promote weight loss, lower blood sugar levels, and fight constipation
If you don’t consume the recommended fiber grams per day, the body starts to give out signs. Our gut changes the way it functions. It could even make a difference between weight loss or none, and longer life or not.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends consuming about 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories you consume daily. This means roughly 24 grams of fiber for women and 38 grams for men should be included in your daily diet.
The best way to consume fiber is by eating seasonal fruits and vegetables. Apples, avocadoes, strawberries, peas, kale, and tomatoes are tasty as well as full of the goodness of fiber.
Being an affordable food, lentils are super nutritious, very high in protein, and loaded with many important other nutrients as well. Lentils eating with rice or as soup helps fill the stomach as well as the body’s daily fiber need.
It is one of the world’s most delicious foods and is loved by all. Apart from being high in nutrients, it is also packed with antioxidants and of course, fiber. Just make sure to choose dark chocolate with a cocoa content of 70–95 per cent or higher.
Your favourite daily breakfast apart from being one of the healthiest grains is also rich in fiber, called beta-glucan which helps to regulate blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Apart from that, oats are also loaded with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
This root vegetable is high in various nutrients that help in keeping the gut and stomach healthy.Folate, iron, copper, manganese, and potassium, along with inorganic nitrates help in blood pressure regulation. The fiber in beetroot helps in solving digestive issues as well.
Doctors believe consuming too much fiber can also cause digestive issues like gas, and intestinal blockages. Overdoing it also doesn’t help.
Thanks For Reading!


Guangling, a small county in the northern China province of Shanxi, has found worldwide fame as a cradle of paper-cutting, a popular folk art in China.
The county -- located in Datong City, a major coal production base -- sells one million paper-cuttings a year, half of which go to overseas markets in Europe, the United States and Southeast Asia, according to an official with the local government.
As the traditional lunar New Year draws near, paper-cutters in the county are having booming business "painting" vivid scenes of the holiday season and in particular, the monkey that will be the star of the coming year according to the Chinese birth sign system featuring 12 animals.
"Our artists have to finish thousands of pieces a day," said Gao Qinghong, a customer coordinator with the local paper-cutting center dedicated to promoting the traditional art form to home and overseas markets.
The center has set up a branch office in downtown Shanghai, where it is selling 1,000 pieces of paper-cuttings a day, priced between three to 1,000 yuan.
Traditional paper-cuttings in Guangling County have been applauded by domestic and international customers for their fine craftsmanship and rich diversity. In the hands of local artists, a piece of paper can be turned into a wide variety of patterns -- landscapes, flowers, birds, animals and human figures.
Some paper-cuttings depict characters and scenes from classics well known to Chinese readers: "A Dream of Red Mansions", "The Pilgrimage to the West", "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Outlaws of the Marsh".
Paper-cuttings are also called "window design" and are usually four or five inches square. Scissoring a story-telling picture or an amusing figure from paper has long been a popular pastime for women in north China. Their paper-cuttings often highlight festive occasions, weddings and birthdays.
It is still unknown when paper-cutting began in China and ancient pieces are rarely found because paper is hard to preserve. But traditional paper-cutting in Shanxi Province is believed to have a history of 600 years at least.
China has vowed to preserve its distinctive paper-cutting technology and some other folk arts as its intangible cultural heritage.
(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2004)


Beaded Cuff Bracelet
This beaded cuff bracelet consists of 24 rows of beads strung together with gold thread that form alternating bands of gold, lapis lazuli and carnelian.
These testify to the place of the toilet in the life of the wealthy classes of the ancient Egyptian society. Similarly, both men and women have a strong taste for jewelry, whether it is modest or expensive.
It was usual for jewels placed among the wraps of the mummy to be made specially for the burial, whereas those jewels placed in caskets were ornaments that the deceased had used during earthly life; this distinction is not always easy to make, however, as those jewels worn habitually could also be adapted to funerary use.
Jewelry production during the New Kingdom is attested by several sets of grave goods including that of Queen Ahhotep and the famous treasure of Tutankhamun; the works of gold and silver found in the necropolis of Tanis, on the other hand, are evidence of the technical and artistic skills of the jewelers during the Third Intermediate Period.
Temples too held large quantities of precious objects donated as votive offerings, for instance, the finds at Tell Basta (Bubastis) and the jewels from the Roman Period discovered at Dush (known as Kysis).
Jewels had mainly a protective function. Precise magical and symbolic characteristics were attributed to stones and precious metals so that the design and choice however, that reached the highest level of skill was the cutting and setting of semi-precious stones.
The jewelers used very simple tools: a precious metal was melted in a terracotta crucible placed over the brazier and the heat increased by a stream of air blown through a rush reed fitted with a clay tip.
The metal was then either poured into molds or hammered into sheets using smoothed stone tools. Sheets of gold were embossed and chased to produce well detailed designs and low reliefs.
Ornaments were made for the various parts of the body for men and women. Both wore diadems, hair-bands, earrings, simple chains with pendants, large collars with strings of beads, pectorals, bracelets, rings, and belts, though anklets were only worn by women.
New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1550-1292 BC. Now in the Louvre. N 1959


Adolescent Mindfulness Interventions: A Meta-Analysis of the Effects on Anxiety and Depression
Date of Award
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Regular and repeated adolescent stress can lead to debilitating conditions such as chronic anxiety and/or depression and both conditions have consequences that impact the present, and the future, of those experiencing clinical anxiety or depression. Anxiety impacts about 20% of the population, and it is the most common mental illness in the United States while an estimated 2.2 million (9.1%) adolescents ages 12-17 in the U.S. had at least one major depressive episode in the past year. Standard treatments for these conditions include combined psychotherapy and medication; however, few medications are approved for adolescent use and have side effects. Alternative therapies are being studied and a therapy style that has seen positive results are mindfulness-based interventions that include the main component of mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness-based treatments have increased, and research into mindfulness has expanded for adolescent populations however, a combined effect had not been determined for anxiety and depression. Through meta-analysis of 13 included studies a small to medium effect size for both adolescent anxiety (g = 0.36) and depression (g = 0.32). Moderator analysis indicates that certain MBIs (ACT and DBT) show greater effect sizes for either anxiety or depression. The results are encouraging but more research in the area of MBIs is needed to determine their viability and cost effectiveness as treatment option for adolescent anxiety and depression. Particular attention should be paid to mindfulness’ application in schools for wide spread instruction and benefits derived by the adolescent participants experiencing stress.
Volkomer, Mary M., "Adolescent Mindfulness Interventions: A Meta-Analysis of the Effects on Anxiety and Depression" (2015). Education Doctoral. Paper 255.
Please note that the Recommended Citation provides general citation information and may not be appropriate for your discipline. To receive help in creating a citation based on your discipline, please visit http://libguides.sjfc.edu/citations.


About Managing the Quality of Environmental Data at EPA Region 3
Environmental information or data is defined as any measurements or information that describe environmental processes, location, or conditions; ecological or health effects and consequences; or the performance of environmental technology. For EPA Region 3, environmental information also includes data compiled from other sources such as data bases or literature or produced from models.
If your project involves environmental data, as defined here, you need QA.
The Quality System PIE
P = Planning - Development of sampling network design, generation of appropriate data quality indicators, selection of measurement and analytical methodologies, standard operating procedures
I = Implementation - Just do what you planned!
E = Evaluation - Use of review, audit and assessment tools to determine whether environmental data operations comply with EPA Quality Assurance Policy
Quality Assurance Staff Expertise
- QA document preparation and review (e.g., Quality Management Plans, Quality Assurance Project Plans, Sampling Plans, etc.);
- Expert assistance on QA/QC policies, procedures, and requirements;
- Quality system and technical assessments of laboratory and field activities (e.g., audits);
- Assistance with environmental project planning;
- Review/advice on quality requirements for contracts, grants, and interagency agreements;
- Selection of laboratory and field analytical methods;
- Data validation and usability;
- Data interpretation and assessment; and
- Training in all of the above


Source: NASA Langley Research Center
As NASA closes the chapter on the Space Shuttle Program, a new era of exploration vehicles is beginning to take off.
Testing began this month at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., in the new Hydro Impact Basin to certify the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) for water landings. The Orion MPCV will carry astronauts into space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and ensure safe re-entry and landing.
Engineers have dropped a 22,000-pound MPCV mockup into the basin. The test item is similar in size and shape to MPCV, but is more rigid so it can withstand multiple drops. Each test has a different drop velocity to represent the MPCV's possible entry conditions during water landings.
The last of three drop tests to verify the new facility is scheduled for the end of this month.
Testing will resume in September with a slightly modified test article that is more representative of the actual MPCV.
The new Hydro Impact Basin is 115 long, 90 feet wide and 20 feet deep. It is located at the west end of Langley's historic Landing and Impact Research Facility, or Gantry, where Apollo astronauts trained for moon walks.
For images and video of the tests, visit:
To follow the progress of the Orion MPCV on social networking sites,


Children have a natural drive for independence and control from a very young age, especially when it comes to eating. By allowing your child to self-feed and participate as fully as possible in their meal, you create valuable opportunities for children to be exposed to a variety of foods and practice essential skills. Provide your child with the right tools:
- Get your child involved in mealtime preparation in any way possible. (Helping cook the food, or set the table) this increases their comfort level with a variety of foods, prepares them for what foods they will be presented with during the meal.
- Allow your child to make choices between foods whenever possible. Make sure that you will be happy with whatever choice your child decides upon (e.g. offer the choice of broccoli vs. green beans but not broccoli vs. cookies).
- Avoid sippy cups. Use straw cups or open cups instead. Babies as young as six months can begin to use straw cups. Sippy cups can create an open-bite and a tongue thrust swallowing pattern in some children, which adversely affects articulation and dentition.
- After age 18 months, try to avoid feeding your child as much as possible. Developmentally, children at this age are ready to be fully independent eaters.
- It’s OK to get messy! The sensory experience of getting messy can foster greater exposure to and acceptance of foods. Allow your child to attempt self-feeding as much as possible, even it means making a mess.
Chatterboxes offers quality Speech-Language & Occupational Therapy in Boston, MA. We also offer flexible service options for your family. Call us today at 617-969-8255 or visit us at 121 Mt Vernon St, Boston, MA 02108.


Author: Karam Singh Raju
Publisher: Guru Nanak Dev University
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8177700545
A Comparative Study: Ethical Perceptions of World Religions-(Hinduism, Buddhism, (Christianity, Islam and Sikhism) deals with an extremely important aspect of religion viz. Ethics. Probably this is the first written book, written so far, on this subject.
The book present correct interpretation of religion and comprehensive description of the holy scriptures of these religions. The book states truly that religion is the finest means for the civilization of man. The author is right in holding that religion teaches mutual love, peace, harmony and devotion to God.
Misunderstood religion creates mutual hate and division of humanity and consequent alienation of the man from God. The book also deals with difficult but most important topics like Concept of Sin, Social Equality, Universal Brotherhood, Status of Woman, Pride, Altruism, Justice and Courage.
MAJOR RELIGIONS AND THEIR SCRIPTURES
The Source of Ethics
Conduct of True Mind (Comparative Study)
CONCEPT OF SIN
Status of Woman
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE MEASURES (HINDUISM)
THEORY OF ACTION
Liberty Vs Determinism


While driving while under the influence or operating a vehicle while distracted will never gain acceptance, driving while drowsy, if not sleeping, could be the restful wave of the future.
The advent of fully autonomous vehicles is practically upon consumers. With the driving done for them, nodding off seems like a safe proposition. However, until that time comes, drivers must be content to remain well rested and avoid putting them, their passengers, and others sharing the road at risk.
Panasonic believes that they have an immediate, pre-self-driving car solution to keep sleep-deprived drivers from nodding off: Artificial intelligence.
The Japanese multinational electronics corporation has developed an in-car system that monitors and detects any one of what they cite as the five levels of drowsiness:
- Not drowsy
- Slightly drowsy
- Very drowsy
- Seriously drowsy
A combination of a camera and sensors monitor the driver and measures blinking features, facial expressions, bodily heat loss, and illuminance. It then combines that information with the in-vehicle environment, processing all data with AI and making a judgment on the drowsiness level of the driver.
Panasonic claims that the accuracy of the system allows it to detect the shallowest of drowsiness well before the driver can perceive it. The device also predicts transitions where the driver may become drowsier.
Drivers usually grow tired when they are too warm and operating their car with dimmer lighting. The system then reacts and adjusts the driver’s environment using a thermal sensation that keeps them comfortably awake. Using and changing the airflow and general temperature while adjusting the brightness can counteract oncoming drowsiness.
Limitations exist in governing the body’s reaction to temperature and light. For drivers who are already tired and be at drowsiness levels that make them immune to environmental changes, a loud alarm combined with a command to rest will sound.
Panasonic’s system is unique in its predictive ability to determine a driver’s state. The system runs silently without drivers noticing the monitoring. The goal is for them to simply feel more awake and prevent serious motor vehicle accidents.
Following testing in October, the Japanese company hopes to have the system in new vehicles by next year.