Matthew Eng, a doctoral student in the laboratory of University of Notre Dame’s Professor of Biological Sciences David Severson and Director of the Eck Institute for Global Health, is the recipient of a Grants-in-aid-of-research (GIAR) given by the Sigma Xi Research Society. His grant titled, “Deciphering host factors for dengue infection in Aedes aegypti mosquito,” was funded as one of only 17% of applicants. Dengue is the most common mosquito-borne viral disease in the world, with no available vaccines or drug treatments. Mosquito control remains the primary disease control mechanism.
Eng states, “I was lucky enough to have received the funding and am excited to start unraveling the reasons for why certain mosquitoes are better vectors for dengue than others.” Previous studies in the Severson Lab have shown that a group of genes in the mosquito Aedes aegypti associated with cell death were upregulated in a dengue resistant mosquito strain. As part of the Severson Lab, Eng took on the challenge of determining the exact roles these genes play in preventing infection by the virus.
Severson noted that, “as it often happens in science, when he knocked down expression of a caspase gene known to be critical to the cell death response, to our surprise the infection rate by the virus actually went down instead of the anticipated increase.” Since then, Eng’s research has focused on his finding that this caspase gene also impacts autophagy, a recycling mechanism in cells; it appears that dengue virus may depend on activation of autophagy to successfully infect mosquito cells. Eng has made excellent progress and the Sigma Xi funding will facilitate these efforts.
The Eck Institute for Global Health recognizes health as a fundamental human right and endeavors to promote research, training, and service to advance health standards for all people, especially people in low-and middle-income countries, who are disproportionately impacted by preventable diseases.


At the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, arts education focuses on individual artistry and community-building, giving students the foundation for a sustainable, fulfilling artistic practice. The robust arts program emphasizes technical skill and creative expression, developing students who feel confident in their work. Art is undeniably one of the most exhilarating classes for young students, and at Ethical Culture, Visual Arts Teacher Kate Eady constantly encourages her students to inspire one another. This spring, Eady’s students across all grades embarked on a journey into the world of ceramics, delving into remarkable projects that allowed their imaginations to flourish.
In the newly-renovated art classroom overlooking Central Park, the 4th Grade students skillfully molded sculptures that bore a striking resemblance to foods inspired by their favorite meals and cultural backgrounds, from perfectly rolled sushi to overflowing plates of pasta and meatballs. Meanwhile, the imaginative minds of the 2nd Graders took flight as they crafted cups uniquely shaped like animals, demonstrating their budding artistic experimentation.
First, students begin by brainstorming their ideas and then translating them into drawings in their sketchbooks. Next, Eady explained the many techniques of working with clay — from pinching, slabbing, and coiling to the “scratch and attach” method — and ensured students applied three layers of glaze to get the most vibrant colors. Over the course of these projects, the students discovered the joy of self-expression and the immense power of art to ignite their imaginations.
From an octopus and a deer to an elephant and make-believe monsters, the 2nd Grade students’ projects exhibited their burgeoning artistic talents and imbued everyday objects — like a cup! — with a touch of magic.
In one of Eady’s 5th Grade classes, students were in the final stages of creating houses out of clay. Eady provided the students with photos of different structures to inspire their creations. One student was etching outlines of bricks on what looked like a replica of the Taj Mahal, while another student finished painting a treehouse!
The ceramics project at Ethical Culture has transformed the hallways into a vibrant oasis of creativity and cultural appreciation. We are so thankful for teachers like Eady, who go above and beyond to foster and nurture their creative forms of expression.


The Tragic Muse: Art and Emotion, 1700-1900
Art is often appreciated for its ability to delight our eyes and refresh our minds. But it can also serve as a powerful vehicle for exploring darker emotions, such as fear, sadness, and grief. And while these themes have an artistic history dating back to the ancients, the ways in which they have been represented in art has changed dramatically over time.
Published to coincide with the Smart Museum of Art's exhibition The Tragic Muse, the publication draws on the work of several distinguished scholars to examine the richly varied representation of tragedy in the European artistic tradition over the course of two centuries. This catalogue is generously illustrated with full-color reproductions of all the works contained in the exhibition, and the fascinating contributions offer new insights into the approaches taken by the visual arts, as well as literature and drama, in expressing and eliciting strong emotions.
By Anne Leonard, with contributions by Joyce Suechun Cheng, Glenn W. Most, Erin Nerstad, Sarah Nooter, and Thomas Pavel.
128 pages, 75 color plates 8 x 11"
Purchase this catalogue
Available for $30 online from the University of Chicago Press or in person at the Smart Museum Shop.


Literacy and numeracy priorities
Literacy and numeracy form the foundations students need for deep learning across the curriculum and the development of skills essential to everyday life.
From 2022, a focus on five priorities for improving literacy and numeracy will ensure all NSW public schools have access to the support they need to give students every opportunity to achieve their best.
The five priorities for improving literacy and numeracy which are based on strong evidence and research, identify the most important levers to improve student outcomes.
There is a whole school and system approach to literacy and numeracy achievement from preschool to Year 12.
School leadership is focussed on improving student literacy and numeracy.
All teachers use effective practices to improve student literacy and numeracy outcomes through curriculum.
Schools and systems use data to inform literacy and numeracy improvement.
Families are supported as partners in their children’s literacy and numeracy development.
The five priorities build on the department’s previous NSW Literacy and Numeracy Strategy and ensure literacy and numeracy are understood as integral to effective curriculum delivery and improved learning outcomes.
NSW public schools will be supported through specialist roles in primary and secondary literacy and numeracy who will deliver professional learning and expert guidance. These roles will provide another layer of support for schools to implement new curriculum being introduced from 2022.
Find out more
- Visit the Literacy and numeracy priorities web page for department staff (staff only)
- Join the Literacy NSW and Numeracy NSW statewide staffrooms (staff only)
- Read the media release


How can someone with aquagenic urticaria be saved?
How can people with aquagenic urticaria be saved? If these people that suffer from this disease were immersed in water would most likely die.
This disease can be traced back before 500 B.C. Although a very low percentage of the population has this disease, one would think that the total number of people who have had this disease would be surprisingly high in the last 2000 years.
This is not an attempt to find a loophole in God's word but a sincere question. How can these poor people that suffer from this disease ever be saved?
Aquagenic urticaria is a rare problem. Only 100 cases were known in the world in 2011. People who have this problem develop hives when they touch water. No one knows if it is caused by the water itself or some chemical in the water. Once the body dries, the symptoms disappear in 20 to 30 minutes.
Obviously, people need to contact water in order to survive, so people with aquagenic urticaria take antihistamines when they know they will be in contact with water to limit their reaction. This means that someone wanting to be baptized would need to take antihistamines prior to their immersion. They might break out in a rash, but they certainly would not die from a brief dunking. If they have a severe reaction, the use of an epi-pen would allow them to continue breathing.
Thus, while it is a difficult situation, it is not impossible to baptize someone with this extremely rare problem.


Corporate governance refers to a company’s system of rules and processes that govern just how it is maintained. The center helping principles of corporate governance are the rights and tasks of investors, management plus the board. Business governance techniques are designed to promote long-term value creation by ensuring that each stakeholders include a tone and a way to participate in the company’s decisionmaking and strategies.
Shareholders’ key direct stake in a corporation is their ownership of share, which gives them the right to elect representatives (directors) to represent all of them in making decisions that affect the company’s fiscal performance and growth potential. Shareholders likewise expect owners and managers to act seeing that stewards of their financial commitment by controlling short-term and long-term using of the company’s resources and by fostering a great ethical lifestyle.
Ultimately, a company’s standing and economic success depend on the willingness to communicate transparently with all stakeholders. This means writing accurate, clear and easy-to-understand advice about the business, which includes bad news precisely as it happens.
In the current climate, a public company’s reputation is definitely vulnerable to attacks from many sources, with a of them possibly leading to legal action. For instance , plaintiffs’ legal professionals are drawn to any issue in the company’s stock selling price or return, and would file a lawsuit within several hours. This is a tremendous risk that needs to be factored in simply by any aboard looking at a major deal.
An effective panel www.dailyboardroom.com/how-board-portals-improve-corporate-governance/ composition allows your board to focus on key issues, with the review, nominating/corporate governance and reimbursement committees dealing with specific functions. However , no single committee composition or trademark responsibility is appropriate for each and every company.


Elemental analysis can be applied in the medical field to investigate the causes of disease. In patients with some pulmonary diseases, elements can be found in the exogenous dust deposited in the lungs and are also accumulated through the loss of cell homeostasis. Diseases induced by inhalation of dust typically affect the lungs. Although there are many pulmonary diseases induced by dust inhalation, it is often difficult to clarify the exact cause. In-air microparticle induced X-ray emission (in-air micro-PIXE) analysis is a method of elemental analysis that employs a proton ion-beam to directly measure the content of elements and their distribution in frozen sections or paraffin sections of tissue. We constantly inhale particles while breathing, but most of us do not develop pulmonary disease. Because in-air micro-PIXE analysis can determine the two-dimensional localization and content of particles in tissue, we can clarify the relationship between inhaled particles and diseases based on such analysis and the immunohistochemical expression of disease-related proteins. Elemental analysis methods like in-air micro-PIXE analysis may be useful for making precise diagnosis amd assesing disease progression to overcome threat such as occupational or environmental exposure.
Keywords: Elemental analysis, in-air micro-PIXE, PIXE, iron, silica, asbestos, interstitial pneumonia, pulmonary fibrosis, COPD, CPFE, pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, lung cancer, occupational exposure, environmental exposure


Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a technique capable of identifying each component in a mixture because of its intrinsically narrow spectral bands. In a clinical setting, the identification of bacteria from its initial culture by collecting the colonies on the culture plate significantly decreases the analysis time and the cost. The identification of bacteria from their mixtures is attempted using SERS. A simple mixing procedure of bacterial samples and concentrated colloidal suspension is proven to be mostly satisfactory for the generation of the reproducible SERS spectra that can be used for bacterial identification. The mixture of three different but related bacterial species Shigella sonnei, Proteus vulgaris, and Erwinia amylovara and three Escherichia coli strains (BFK13, BHK7, DH5 α) are used as model systems to test the feasibility of the approach. The results indicate that it is possible to identify the composition of a bacterial mixture. This approach can easilybe utilized for thebacteria originating from the same source with similar growth profiles.
|Original language||English (US)|
|Number of pages||6|
|Journal||Journal of Raman Spectroscopy|
|State||Published - May 2010|
- Silver nanoparticles
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Materials Science(all)


PennDOT Data Highlights Safety Benefits of firstname.lastname@example.org September 23, 2022 0 COMMENTS
The latest data compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation indicates that motor vehicle fatalities, injuries, and crashes decreased overall after the installation of 36 roundabouts at 33 intersections statewide.
[Above photo by PennDOT]
PennDOT based its analysis on at least three years of crash data from roundabouts on state routes at intersections that were previously stop or signal controlled. The agency said its analysis indicated that roundabouts reduced suspected serious injuries by 76 percent and reduced suspected minor injuries by 22 percent, with the total number of crashes decreasing by 9 percent.
In addition to those 36 roundabouts, PennDOT said it has built 38 additional roundabouts on state routes, with 16 more under construction and 15 in final design.
PennDOT noted that it usually builds roundabouts to address intersections with safety issues, but also constructs them to improve traffic flow as well as other reasons, such as traffic calming and to facilitate pedestrian mobility.
Although roundabouts are safer and typically more efficient than traditional signalized intersections, the agency stressed that they may not always be the best option due to topography or other reasons, such as property impacts, capacity issues, and proximity to other intersections.
The agency added that the Pennsylvania State Transportation Innovation Council or STIC recently recognized roundabouts as an “innovation” that is being commonly used in traffic intersection construction.
“We continue to see that Pennsylvania’s roundabouts save lives and reduce crash severity,” said PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian in a statement.
“While they aren’t the right option in every intersection, we’re pleased that they help to make our roadways safer,” she noted.
In July 2020, the Transportation Research Board unveiled a National Cooperative Highway Program analysis of roundabout intersections that found while improved safety is their main benefit they may also be a less expensive option as well as a way to make better use of space at roadway intersections.
That NCHRP report – entitled Design Guidance for High-Speed to Low-Speed Transitions Zones for Rural Highways – also found that roundabout intersections, particularly those with only one lane in each direction, reduce the complex decisions drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists must make in navigating traffic, leading to fewer crashes and less severity of injuries when crashes do happen.


Rock Testing | Environmental XPRT
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The recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision on the Chilean-Peruvian maritime boundary dispute closed one chapter of a trilateral territorial dispute that has festered among Chile, Peru and Bolivia for more than a century. But while Chile and Peru mend fences, similar progress between Chile and Bolivia has not materialized. Less than a decade ago, geopolitical tensions surrounding the dispute played a part in blocking Bolivia from participating in a clear market solution to Chile’s natural gas crisis. Today, that dynamic has deteriorated for Bolivia: The region’s shifting energy market realities have removed what leverage Bolivia had in its negotiations with Chile, making a bilateral territorial settlement less likely.
Last week, the International Court of Justice in The Hague handed down its decision delineating the maritime boundary between Chile and Peru. The boundary dispute is a legacy of the War of the Pacific, fought among Chile, Peru and Bolivia from 1879 to 1893 over control of the lucrative mineral deposits in the Atacama Desert. The war ended in the Treaty of Ancon, which gave Chile control of Peru’s Arica province as well as Bolivia’s Litoral department, effectively removing Bolivia’s only coastline.
If the ICJ’s most recent decision is implemented, as the two sides have indicated will be the case, it will be the latest of many steps that have deepened cooperation between Chile and Peru in the past two decades. Most notably, in 2011 the two countries joined Colombia and Mexico to form the Pacific Alliance. This regional association, which now includes 26 observer nations, aims to promote greater economic integration among its members, including the free movement of goods, services, capital and people.


Road accidents are the leading cause of death among young people, while thousands of lives are lost every year on the streets of Europe, with the main causes being speeding and alcohol consumption.
The European Parliament is therefore taking even tougher measures to reduce road accidents, with the legal framework expected to become even stricter for those who defy the dangers of the most dangerous habit of thousands of drivers – to stay behind the wheel. alcohol. The numbers are indisputable witnesses. At European level, one in four deaths on asphalt is due to drunk driving.
From next July, according to today's front page article of the newspaper NEA, all new models that will gain type approval in European Union member states must have the alcoholometer in their basic equipment. This device will be available as a built-in system in all new-future cars and its role will be to detect if the driver has consumed large amounts of alcohol.
It will lock the engine
In particular, when the driver enters the car and before starting the vehicle with the key, the breathalyzer will require the driver to blow into the special mouth of a respirator to determine whether he has used alcohol and whether he is able to drive, according to and with the limits that apply in each country. If the driver is found to have consumed more alcohol than required by law, then the engine will not start and the car will be parked.
Alcohol Interlock comes in the wake of a sad survey that found that although more than 30,000 drivers in Europe have been disqualified for excessive alcohol consumption, more than 30% (around 10,000) continue to drive without a license.
In fact, in 2024, alcohol tracking systems will be mandatory for all new cars sold in EU Member States.
Every year more than 20,000 people are lost on the streets of Europe, with 25% of deaths due to driving under the influence of alcohol. For this reason, even the elimination of alcohol limits is considered and consequently the closing of the “windows” to those who continue to drive having consumed even a minimal. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania, however, have already set a zero threshold. In the case of Cyprus, a driver is considered under the influence of intoxication when alcohol in excess of 22μg% is detected.


International Journal of Energy for a Clean Environment, vol.23, no.1, pp.85-96, 2022 (Scopus)
The fossil-fueled public transportation which circulates at inner-city routes is an important focus area for carbon dioxide (CO2) emission researches. As the number of vehicles in the fleets and the cumulative distances covered by these fleets are considerably high, the understanding of effects such as cruising speeds, auxiliary loads, operating planning, and bus stop location choosing becomes more important on CO2 emissions. The European Commission has already set a framework to regulate pollutant emissions and is underway to monitor and regulate CO2 emissions with the use of the Vehicle Energy Calculation Tool (VECTO). VECTO is a vehicle simulation tool developed for the certification and monitoring of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles. Trucks are already certified using VECTO since 2019, while work is ongoing for extending the tool and methodology to buses and coaches. In this context, a route in one of the longest bus transport systems − Istanbul Metrobus Rapid Bus Transport System − is modeled in VECTO environment. The model is validated with real driving fuel consumption and CO2 emission results of the buses. The obtained results showed a difference in the range of 1-5%. Further analyses indicated that VECTO could be used for assessing on-road CO2 emissions of conventional buses and assist urban transportation planning and potentially for other regulatory purposes in Turkey as well.


- AQA, Edexcel
Last updated 6 Nov 2018
The concept of intersectionality serves to highlight how various biological, social, religious and cultural categorisations interact with one another.
This enables us to recognise the multidimensional character of injustice against women (particularly black women and working-class women). Intersectionality therefore seeks to identify a system of oppression that takes us beyond the traditional feminist conception of male oppression.
Rather than identifying patriarchy, with its attachment to singular means of social differentiation; intersectionality takes a more nuanced perspective. The obvious consequence is that black and working-class women’s experiences of patriarchy are fundamentally different from that experienced by white, middle-class women.
Intersectionality is an important aspect in terms of comprehending contemporary feminism – principally in the context of the fourth-wave of feminism. It is a particularly appealing concept to those who do not wish to identify themselves as a feminist due to the ideological baggage associated with the term. It also reminds us that progress towards female emancipation has thus far been skewed towards white, middle-class women.
The leading proponent of intersectionality is bell hooks (the pen name of Gloria Watkins). She employs the term intersectionality to advance our traditional (and somewhat limited) understanding of social oppression.
In her book ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’ bell hooks outlined the historical impact of sexism and racism on black women and demonstrates how it serves to devalue black womanhood. She also analyses the role played by the media and within education in the construction of a white-supremacist-capitalist-patriarchy.
Ultimately, bell hooks concludes that systems of oppression perpetuate themselves over time and that intersectionality is characterised by the mutual relationship between race, capitalism and gender.


Support at home
There are many comprehension texts available for children at a reasonable price that ensure they understand and can explain what they have read.
A resource that I have found useful for this in the past is CGP comprehension.
These are available from Amazon (among other sites) and provide short texts and questions for each one. They are published aimed at specific year groups, however, if your child needs a boost in reading, it may be advisable to start with materials for Year 3/4/5 and work up to Year 6.
How do you rate your spelling skills? Do you think you could do with some extra practice?
Have a go at Doorway Speller and see if you can master each level.
Click on the link above and enter the site to practice some of those tricky spelling patterns.
Some of the first levels maybe a bit easy for Year 6. Try starting C (First-Second Level) and see how you go. Be sure to update me on your progress!
Throughout all of our learning at school we encourage children to use positive habits of mind. These are key strategies that children can adopt to help them build confidence and resilience in their learning journey. Although rewarding, learning something new can be a frustrating and difficult experience. To see how we support children to reach their learning goals, have a look at the attached document which outlines each habit of mind. By following these we hope children will have a happy and rewarding time at school.


Wireless charging with no cables to connect is convenient and allows the product to be encased completely. This benefit is enormous for wearable and medical devices that might get wet, need to be cleaned, or are implanted. By embedding a battery and with the wireless charging logic, the product is placed on a wireless charging pad and is fully protected.
When we do a design we check all of the items on the checklist, and even more. Often we need to use our engineering judgment on the tradeoff between size, cost, testability, and manufacturability of the product.
- What size and type of battery?
- What is the appropriate battery lifetime?
- What is the maximum current draw? (also determines battery size)
- How fast to charge?
- Does it have overcharge protection?
- Does it have thermal protection?
- Does it meet regulatory requirements and standard compliance?
- What is the efficiency?
- Select parts to minimize power drain
- What subsystems can be powered down?
- How do you detect thermal problems?
- Does the firmware to keep subsystems powered down as much as possible?
- Does it meet regulatory requirements at system level?
- Can the application use a commonly available charging pad? Avoid designing this part if possible to save time and money.
- Are there special mechanical or current requirements?
- Charging times: How fast to charge?
- What is the distance between the charger and the device?
- What is the coil and ferrite sizing?
- Are there any special materials requirements?
- How is coil alignment done?
- How is charger/device detection done?
- Standards compliance: which standards apply?
- Is there an audible or visual signal to indicate the device has been placed correctly on the charger, or does it have a receptacle which makes incorrect placement difficult?


These symptoms can be seen in various conditions, including certain forms of epilepsy, depression, and other mental health conditions. Anxiety may accompany frightening symptoms or may be related to an underlying anxiety disorder. The symptoms may be related to specific situations or may be relatively constant. If you are troubled by these or similar symptoms, seek the advice of a doctor or mental health practitioner.
While the list below can be considered as a guide to educate yourself about these conditions, this is not a substitute for a diagnosis from a health care provider. There are many other medical conditions that also can be associated with your symptoms and signs. Here are a number of those from MedicineNet:
Botox, the brand name of a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, blocks signals from the nerves to the muscles. When Botox is injected into a muscle, it can no longer contract, causing the wrinkle to soften. Botox injections last from four to six months. Bruising is the most common side effect.
Epilepsy is a brain disorder in which the person has seizures. There are two kinds of seizures, focal and generalized. There are many causes of epilepsy. Treatment of epilepsy (seizures) depends upon the cause and type of seizures experienced.
Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. The principal types of depression are major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disease (also called manic-depressive disease).
Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension and fear characterized by symptoms such as trouble concentrating, headaches, sleep problems, and irritability. Anxiety disorders are serious medical illnesses that affect approximately 19 million American adults. Treatment for anxiety may incorporate medications and psychotherapy.
At MedicineNet, we believe it is important to take charge of your health through measures such as a living healthy lifestyle, practicing preventative medicine, following a nutrition plan, and getting regular exercise. Understanding your symptoms and signs and educating yourself about health conditions are also a part of living your healthiest life. The links above will provide you with more detailed information on these medical conditions to help you inform yourself about the causes and available treatments for these conditions.
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The Texas tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri) occurs in the southern portion of Texas and the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas. Currently it is listed as Threatened by the state of Texas and the country of Mexico. Most published studies have focused on Texas tortoise ecology, demography, behavior, and habitat connectivity. Presently, there is concern that road mortalities contribute to Texas tortoise population decline, yet there has been limited research on Texas tortoise interactions with roads. In Cameron County, Texas, road mortality surveys have been conducted for a broad range of species since 2015. This county has undergone extensive development in conjunction with an increasing human population and over 120 Texas tortoise road mortalities have been recorded along two state highways and two farm to market roads since monitoring began. Two of these roads were improved with wildlife crossing structures, fencing, and other mitigation features specifically aimed at preventing road mortalities of federally endangered ocelots (Leopardus pardalis), but mitigation may impact the Texas tortoise as well. The mitigation features on these two roads were monitored with wildlife cameras, which have captured over 100 tortoise interactions since 2018. Although tortoises have been documented using crossing structures, research is needed to determine if there are hotspot locations of tortoise road mortalities, and if so, where such hotspots are in relation to road mitigation features. By combining the existing road mortality and camera survey datasets, we can improve our understanding of Texas tortoise interactions with roads and potentially contribute to their conservation.


The first community of Christians, touched by the Risen Lord and his Gospel, "was of one heart and one mind" and "had everything in common" (Acts 4: 32).
The stories in the Acts of the Apostles speak of the faith in the Lord that had an impact on the relationship among Christians. They became one community sharing life and things together. It's about their communion with the Lord and also with one another.
Helmut Koester, professor of New Testament Studies and Ecclesiastical History at Harvard Divinity School, believes that Christianity appealed to people in the ancient world for two main reasons: first, it formed a new community with promises of a future free from sickness, poverty, and isolation; second, in the Christian community, people were equal with other members, and they were to care for everyone.
The Christian faith and way of living quickly spread beyond Christian communities, shaping their culture and society. Hospitals, health and social services were established wherever the Christian faith was proclaimed.
Institutions of education from elementary schools to universities, were also founded by Christians. Even in countries where Christianity is a tiny minority, Christian heath and education institutions are influential, attracting Christians and non-Christians alike.
Despite the perception today that Christianity has lost its appeal and become irrelevant, the Christian faith and way of life can still inspire. Certainly Pope Francis through his simple, humble lifestyle and care for the poor has caught the attention of the world. Mission trips also attract young adults, giving them opportunities "to work alongside (religious) sisters and see their joy and see the true return on the investment of giving up yourself in service to others," said Rachel Harkins Ullmann, executive director of the GIVEN Institute. "You see men and women religious, they're in the jungle and they don't have air conditioning and they're happy. They eat rice and beans everyday and they're happy."
We are called to respond to the needs of people in our midst, in our own community or neighborhood. Many parishes do it through their outreach ministry, attending to people in need with compassion and care, respecting their dignity. What is important is not just giving food or support, but to encounter them with respect and be ready to enriched by them.
A parish can support many groups geared toward support in different ways, from Food Pantry to Respect Life, Bereavement, Consolation.
(More details to follow)


Annie’s Project: Making financial classes for women more rewarding
Annie’s Project is a risk management program for farm and ranch women. It aims to make its financial classes more engaging and welcoming while delivering valuable skills for handling money. Emily Adams, an agriculture and natural resources educator with Ohio State University Extension Service, runs Annie’s Project and a follow-up financial education program for women called Moving Beyond The Basics. Because the women’s financial education classes are designed to be hands-on rather than a series of lectures, Money Habitudes aligns well with the larger objectives of the Annie’s Project program.
Using Money Habitudes as part of the Moving Beyond Basics curriculum has:
- Made for a fun, engaging and hands-on first activity to get participants involved in the classes.
- Broken down the wall for women to talk about finances.
- Allowed for easier sharing and talking among participants.
- Helped participants understand their own financial habits and attitudes.
- Allowed women to gain insight into how to talk confidently about money and farm finances with others involved in the business who may think differently about.
How They Use Money Habitudes
- Moving Beyond the Basics – Farm Financial Education for Women is a supplemental program to Annie’s Project risk management curriculum that focuses on finances and recordkeeping.
- Adams uses the Money Habitudes cards as a one-hour activity during the first topic on financial habits and attitudes.
- Each participant gets a deck of Money Habitudes cards to sort and interpret their money personality results. Participants with the same money personality are grouped together, based on their dominant Money Habitudes types, to answer group questions.
- After working with the Money Habitudes cards, the first night’s class covers financial recordkeeping practices and vocabulary, as well as how financial statements work together.
- Participants can borrow the cards and do them at home with other people after the first class.
- Later classes build on the first night. These cover balance sheets, accrual adjustments to income statements, cash flow estimation, electronic recordkeeping, standard financial ratios and benchmarks.


Reflective glass might strengthened or standard glass that includes
This intelligent covering is applied during the manufacturing cycle to fortify the amount of warmth reflected by the glass. It can retain and mirror the hurtful UV and infrared beams of the sun, yet permits regular light to go through . It additionally forestalls exorbitant sun oriented glare. Reflective glass accompanies a few advantages, as examined beneath.
Ideal Daylight and Glare Management
Reflective glass windows in auxiliary plans can improve daylighting conditions. they will divert regular light to limit the zones that get solid sunlight based glare. In addition, the diffused light is conveyed over the space , offering more brilliant inside. Also, at an identical time, it forestalls exorbitant warmth increase to remain the insides cooler.
On account of its mirror-like appearance, intelligent glass hinders perceivability on one side. Thus, one can’t check out the covered side however can check out the inverse .
Reflective glass forestalls extreme warmth gain and sun powered glare, bringing down the amount of varieties inside the inside temperatures. Therefore, you get a cushty and comfortable vibe without relying on AC or warming units. You can keep up ideal indoor temperature while keeping your vitality utilization at low and saving money on the vitality costs once you get intelligent glass windows introduced.


The Centre for Remote Sensing at the Institute of Geosciences is an Institutional Research Laboratory of UFMG that conducts research in analysis and modeling of environmental systems, including their applications in the design and evaluation of public policies.
ABOUT OUR WORK
Our research consists of environmental modeling, in particular the development of models to simulate changes in land use and cover, agricultural and forest rents, urban dynamics, forest fire, fluvial regime and carbon balance. The applications of these models involve the valuation of ecosystem services, development of sustainable supply chains, territorial planning and the design of public policies, as well as ex-ante evaluation of the impact of these policies (see publications). Other important products of our research are the software DINAMICA EGO, a platform for environmental modeling, and mappia.earth, a set of tools for building interactive map servers.
Access the summary of activities developed at the Centre for Remote Sensing:
Jornal Nacional reports about “Gold Bulletin”(Boletim do Ouro) published by CSR researchers.
Jornal Hoje interviews CSR researchers about a new report of the balance of the forest code.
Colégio Loyola covers the seminar Solving the Climate Crisis promoted by Climate Science in partnership with CSR and PPGAMSA.


Diabetes affects millions of Americans, and if you think you can't get it yourself, you're completely wrong.
If you don’t have diabetes, it may seem like a problem that other people have that you don’t need to worry about. After all, it’s not contagious. But even if you don’t have diabetes, you may be on course for getting it and not even realize it.
Most people buy into the myth that people with type 2 diabetes essentially “brought it on themselves,” but that’s simply not true a lot of the time. While lifestyle factors like physical activity play into it, so does genetics. So if diabetes runs in your family, it may not take much for you to get it yourself.
Also, don’t think that if you avoid eating too much sugar you’re safe. Type 2 diabetes happens when the body is unable to use insulin, and eventually is unable to produce insulin, and eating sugar doesn’t have anything to do with that.
Many people think that once they get diabetes, they can get rid of it through healthy diet and exercise. While that will certainly help, Type 2 diabetes can’t be permanently cured. Even with blood glucose at levels that are close to normal, diabetes will constantly be a risk throughout your life.
Don’t judge diabetic people who eat sweets. There is not such thing as a “diabetes diet.” Everyone who has the disease is different.
“Diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose levels are above normal,” the CDC states on its website. “Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use for energy. The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugar to build up in your blood.”
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Natural Resource-Based Food Supply Chain in Development of the Masela Block
This study aims to examine the supply chain for food needs based on the natural resources of the Tanimbar Islands in the face of Masela Block development The availability of components for distributors, cooperatives / Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDES), farmer producers, home industries, inter-island traders, supermarkets/markets / retail and the Regional Investment Coordinating Board (BKPMD) has not yet become the main component of the supply chain system for meeting food needs principal The study was conducted with a qualitative approach, using a sample area of sub-districts and villages by "purposive sampling". The data were analyzed descriptively, and to determine the model and strategy of sustainable supply chain development, a SWOT analysis was used This paper provides a theoretical contribution to the concept of developing and utilizing distributor components through a potential study of each element. The results showed that for food needs in facing the Masela Block, it is predicted that by 2035 there will be a surplus or deficit in certain food commodities. The production facilities, transportation, and post-harvest processing services group can support businesses in agriculture, livestock and fisheries. Meanwhile, those who can supply staple food are transportation, warehousing, sales services, and labour services. The distributors, cooperatives / Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDES), farmer producers, home industries, inter-island traders, supermarkets/markets / retail and the Regional Investment Coordinating Board (BKPMD) are the main components of the ideal supply chain system for basic food needs. Local governments must further improve their ability to build distributor networks and have a sustainable and public accountability system or public accountability by prioritizing public service standards Researchers can then develop research studies to find operational mechanisms for the relationship between components and a formal accountability model in realizing component governance that benefits local actors and local governments. This research has had an impact on innovation in structuring the supply chain for sustainable staple food needs. The government must be able to encourage changes in chain management and the dominant control over supply chains in the regions Future research should focus on managing the ideal supply chain for sustainable staple food to face the Masela Block project by developing mutually beneficial business partnerships, from upstream to downstream.


Aralkum desert is currently the youngest desert in the world, its age is about 60 years. Drying out of the Aral Sea dates back to the 1960s, and from that time the new desert Aralkum began to be formed. It got its name by merging the words "Aral" and "kum", which means "sand", that is, literally "Aral sand". Nowadays, the desert area is about 38,000 square kilometers and this figure is constantly growing. Sandstone storms, which carry the remnants of salts over long distances, are a fairly frequent phenomenon in this desert.
Grinded arid territory caused the disappearance of more than 200 species of plants and animals, making it almost completely empty. Only shrubs of saxaul grow on the surface of the former seabed. The desert has another quite explicable name - Akkum, that is, the "white desert". So it is called because of the large amount of white salt cover over its entire coast.
In the sands of the new desert Aralkum scientists and archaeologists have found the remains of one of the oldest medieval fortifications with a mausoleum which age exceeds 6 centuries. Remains of burials and various workshops were found nearby, where a variety of ceramic products were manufactured. With the help of this finding, scientists were able to more accurately determine the life and customs of local residents of those times, and also found that their death was caused by an unexpected flood from which people could not be saved.
Who knows how many stories like that this vast seabed contains and what events took place over many centuries before the formation of the Aral Lake. We can only guess and hope that once the turquoise fishing sea regains its former shape, it will be filled with water and will rustle with its former ringing surfs.


Plastic cups are an essential item in our daily lives, used for everything from drinks at parties to takeout food containers. But have you ever wondered how these cups are made? Well, wonder no more!
In this blog post, LITAI MACHINERY will explore the working principle of a plastic cup making machine and learn about the fascinating process that transforms raw materials into finished products. So buckle up and get ready to dive deep into the world of manufacturing!
The plastic cup thermoforming machine is the latest product developed by LITAI, the sheet feeding and stretching parts are driven by servo motors. Machine produces disposable products, such as plastic cup, bowl, lid, and box through the workflow of sheet feeding, sheet heating, forming, cutting and blowing, widely used and suitable for most of the customer requested.
The plastic cup making machine is a kind of thermoforming machine, which uses thermoplastic materials such as polystyrene, polypropylene and polyethylene. It can be made into various shapes of products by heating and then cooling. The working principle of the plastic cup making machine is very simple. First, the operator will input the material parameters into the computer control system according to the product requirements, and then the system will automatically adjust the size of the mold according to these parameters. After that, the material will be heated until it becomes soft and then put into the mold. Finally, when the material cools down and solidifies, it will take shape.
The plastic cup making machine is an efficient and cost-effective way to produce quality plastic cups. It utilizes the latest technologies in automated manufacturing processes to ensure that each cup produced meets high standards of quality and consistency. By taking into account all the safety regulations, it guarantees a safe working environment for operators while maintaining superior production speeds. With its easy operation, intuitive control panel, and user-friendly design features, the plastic cup making machine is sure to be a great addition for any factory looking to maximize their efficiency without sacrificing product quality.


By Jennifer Wemhoff, The Groundwater Foundation
The recent warm weather we’ve been enjoying here in Nebraska got me thinking about Spring. I’m hoping the groundhog was right in predicting an early Spring, and am already looking forward to the grass greening up, leaves budding on the trees, flowers starting to poke out of the ground, and sunshine. After a winter filled with snow and ice for many of us, Spring affords the opportunity to come out of our winter hibernation and get back outdoors.
Spring is also a busy time for groundwater education. It’s a perfect time of year to get people outdoors, immerse them in nature, and teach them about the importance of groundwater. There are many water-related celebrations in the spring as well, providing the perfect occasions for water education and protection. Take advantage of these upcoming events:
- National Groundwater Awareness Week, March 6-12, 2011 (http://www.ngwa.org/public/awarenessweek/index.aspx)
- World Water Day, March 22, 2011 (http://www.worldwaterday.org/)
- Earth Day, April 22, 2011 (http://www.earthday.org/)
- Arbor Day, April 30, 2011 (http://www.arborday.org/arborday/)
- Drinking Water Week, May 1-7, 2011 (http://www.awwa.org/Government/content.cfm?ItemNumber=3862&navItemNumber=3863)
Are you planning to recognize these upcoming celebrations? If so, how? We’d love to hear from you! Comment here or on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/groundwaterfoundation.


According to a recent UN report, climate change poses a greater threat to food and security than previously thought. The IPCC warns that global warming is leading to more volatile weather patterns that have already begun reducing crop yields worldwide. As temperatures rise, rainfall patterns change, and pests and diseases spread.
Growing up in various countries in Africa, I was often witness to the type of erratic weather patterns described in the report. I vividly remember a particularly harsh drought in Tanzania the early 1980s, where almost no rain fell for several years. Water shortage in Dar es Salaam was such that lines of people were seen hauling sea water to their homes so that their toilets could be flushed. The little water that came out of the taps was carefully boiled and filtered for drinking and food preparation. People did what they could to save water, and prayed for bad weather.
What I also remember, is that the international community reacted rather surprisingly. Instead of simply sending food parcels to the worse hit areas in the North, it was decided to test out a completely new type of agriculture. Especially designed crops, adapted to the worse climates on earth, delivered very impressive results in less than a decade.
In one of my previous blogs “seeds of change” I mention that thanks to various technological advancements, Africa now has access to crops that are resistant to heat, droughts, floods and pests and may signify that in the future Africa will be exporting food, something that could never have been imagined a couple of decades ago.
It was the punishing climate in many parts of Africa that prompted these technological improvements, saving the African continent as a direct result. Perhaps these same crops will now save the world?


Conjunctivitis is an inflammation or infection of the conjunctiva. The conjunctiva is the outer most clear layer of the eye and also lines the underside of the eyelid. Some common symptoms of conjunctivitis are redness of the white of the eye, excessive watering, thick yellow or green discharge from the eyes, itchy eyes, burning eyes, blurred vision, swollen lids, increased sensitivity to light, and contact lens intolerance. Conjunctivitis can be caused by viruses, bacteria, irritants, and allergies. It can also spread easily from one person to another.
Bacterial conjunctivitis is an infection. Some of the causes are bacteria within your own body, physical contact with other people, poor hygiene, and contaminated makeup. It is usually treated by eye drops, ointment, or pills.
Viral conjunctivitis is most commonly caused by contagious viruses like that of the common cold. It can be highly contagious. If you have viral conjunctivitis, be sure to avoid contact with others, do not share your pillow, towel or washcloth with others, throw out all eye makeup, and wash your hands frequently. Antibiotics do not cure this type of conjunctivitis. Like the common cold, the virus has to run its course, usually within a week. Occasionally, a steroid eye drop may be able to relieve some of the discomfort from inflammation.
Allergic conjunctivitis is commonly associated with seasonal allergies. This should improve once the allergy is treated and the allergen that triggered the reaction is removed. There are many eye drops that can help to relieve the discomfort from allergic conjunctivitis. Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis is an allergic conjunctivitis usually caused by contact lens wear. You may need to discontinue contact lens wear while the condition is active. If you experience discomfort when wearing your contact lenses, your eye doctor can determine if this is the cause. Your optometrist may need to treat the inflammation and can recommend changes to your routine that may prevent a reocurrence.
Chemical conjunctivitis can be caused by irritants in your environment. An example is being splashed in the eyes with a noxious chemical. If this occurs, you should rinse your eyes out thoroughly with saline water or water for at least 5 minutes and call your doctor immediately.


Industrial Heritage Trail
Steel, coal and iron have been synonymous with the history of the Ruhr District for 150 years. And even with the return of the mining and steel industries and the beginning of the structural transformation, the shut down coal mines, iron and steel works and desolate green spaces continue to stand at the centre of the region. The Industrial Heritage Trail is dedicated to this fact with a circular trail, some 400 kilometres in length, through the Ruhr District.
This circular trail comprises 52 theme points: facilities which in the course of time have developed into spaces which bring industrial heritage to life and have become attractive venues with a pulling power for millions of tourists. 25 of these theme points are so-called anchor points, making up the core network of the trail, and where you can go into much more detail about the history of a region or one particular aspect such as coal mining.
The Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord is one of these 25 anchor points and is represented in the theme trails dealing with “Industrial Heritage on the Rhine”, “Industrial Nature Trail”, “The Ruhr District Mythology”, “On the Way to the Blue Emscher” and “Landmark Art”.
The Industrial Heritage Trail is a project of the Regional Association of the Ruhr (RVR).
More at https://www.route-industriekultur.ruhr/


Commentary by Dr. Margaret Weiss*: Like Strongest Families this innovative intervention has the potential to provide direct access to instruction on management of ADHD in the classroom where that expertise does not otherwise exist. Intervention with the teacher has a powerful impact on the life of the child.
Web-Based Intervention for Teachers of Elementary Students With ADHD: Randomized Controlled Trial: Corkum P, Elik N, Blotnicky-Gallant PA, McGonnell M, McGrath P. J Atten Disord. 2015 Sep 11. pii: 1087054715603198
Objective: To test the acceptability, satisfaction, and effectiveness of a web-based intervention for teachers of elementary school-aged children with ADHD.
Method: Elementary classroom teachers (N = 58), along with their students with ADHD, participated in a randomized controlled trial. The program consisted of six sessions that included evidence-based intervention strategies for reducing ADHD symptoms and impairment in the classroom setting. Teachers also had access to a moderated Discussion Board and an online ADHD coach. Questionnaire data were electronically collected from teachers and parents pre-intervention, post-intervention (6 weeks), and after an additional 6-week follow-up.
Results: Intent-to-treat analyses found significant improvements based on teacher (but not parent) reports of core ADHD symptoms and impairment for the Teacher Help for ADHD treatment group. Teachers reported a high level of acceptability and satisfaction.
Conclusion: Web-based ADHD interventions have the potential to reduce the barriers to treatment utilization and implementation that are common problems for school-based ADHD interventions.


Assessing students' foundation skills prior to the STEM majors
Source of Publication
Global Journal of Engineering Education
To increase the employability of STEM graduates and their readiness as scientific and technical knowledge workers for the 21st Century knowledge economies, higher education must emphasise what are known as foundation skills, such as critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, communication and teamwork, to name a few. Quality assurance organisations, such as ABET (the international accrediting body for technical fields) and national higher education accrediting bodies require programmes to show evidence of student attainment of foundation skills. Such skills, however, are recognised as difficult to both teach and assess. In earlier articles, the authors have described and presented preliminary results and findings from an assessment framework - The General Education Foundation Skills Assessment (GEFSA) - used to measure and assess the attainment of foundation skills for non-native English speaking students in a general education programme (i.e. pre-major students) at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates. This article focuses on recent GEFSA testing with students in their first and last semesters of the general education programme.
World Institute for Engineering and Technology Education
21st Century skills, Measurement, Performance task, Rubric, Soft skills, Transferable skills
Rhodes, Anthony; Danaher, Maurice M.; and Kranov, Ashley Ater, "Assessing students' foundation skills prior to the STEM majors" (2017). All Works. 572.
Indexed in Scopus


The southern veena or the Saraswati veena is a tata vadya (string instrument). It consists of a large body hollowed out of a block of wood, generally jackwood.
The lower rounded part works as the resonator known as kudam. The stem of the instrument is also made of the same kind of wood and the bridge is placed on the flat top of the body. The neck is attached to the stem and is usually carved into some figure like the head of a dragon called yali. A gourd, smaller in size than the kudam, is called a sarrokai. It functions like an extra resonator. It is fixed underneath the neck and forms a kind of rest or support for the instrument. 24 metallic frets are fixed on the stem.
The Saraswati veena is named after the Hindu goddess Saraswati who has usually depicted holding or playing this instrument. It is also known as Raghunath veena after a Tanjavur Ruler Raghunath Naik who first created a veena with 24 frets. This type of veena is mostly used in Carnatic Indian classical music.
School of Art Collection.
Indian Decorative Art
Jack wood, metal, and gourd
17th Century CE


Anglų - Lietuvių žodynas
Kompiuterinis žodynas internete nemokamai
Žodžio paaiškinimas anglų kalba:
- verb-intransitive: To be in a state of intimate, heightened sensitivity and receptivity, as with one's surroundings: hikers communing with nature.
- verb-intransitive: To receive the Eucharist.
- noun: A relatively small, often rural community whose members share common interests, work, and income and often own property collectively.
- noun: The people in such a community.
- noun: The smallest local political division of various European countries, governed by a mayor and municipal council.
- noun: A local community organized with a government for promoting local interests.
- noun: A municipal corporation in the Middle Ages.
- noun: The revolutionary group that controlled the government of Paris from 1789 to 1794.
- noun: The insurrectionary, socialist government that controlled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871.
- the C. (of Paris) Paryžiaus Komuna


In World War II, New Zealand wanted a tank, but none of their allies had any to spare. So they made their own, with a tractor, corrugated iron, a mattress, and a postcard.
First, a little background. If you’re not familiar with New Zealand, one of the culturally-defining characteristics of a stereotypical New Zealander is a willingness to improvise based on whatever is available. In the local parlance, this is a “number 8 wire” mentality. It’s a point of pride and sometimes a very useful skill. Sometimes.
I have written before about inflatable tanks. Absurd, but they actually achieved their desired outcome. The Bob Semple tank was worse. Much worse. Perhaps the worst tank ever made.
The concept was simple, and made sense at the time: create an exoskeleton that could be quickly and easily attached to existing machinery in the case of attack. New Zealand had plenty Caterpillar D8 tractors that they could use as the base.
First problem: the designers had no schematics or plans. So they decided to improvise based on a single postcard showing a similar American tractor-tank. Second problem: no armour was available. So they made armour out of corrugated iron – which, by the way, is very unlikely to be bulletproof. Third problem: no tank guns or turret guns. So they attached six light machine guns. That introduced the fourth problem: no place for the gunner to sit while they fired the machine guns. So they put a mattress down on the tractor’s engine for the gunner to lie on.
The end result was… awful. It was top-heavy (much like the ship from an earlier post), slow, heavy, and vibrated so much that it would be unlikely to ever actually hurt anyone. The poor thing had to stop every time it changed gears! You can see video of one in action below. Fortunately, it never saw actual combat, and the few prototypes were eventually retired.
[Thanks to Gareth E. for suggesting this topic.]
One Reply to “Worst tank”


U.S. could see ‘significant decrease’ in COVID-19 deaths by January, vaccine chief says
Moncef Slaoui, the top scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed, said over the weekend that the vaccine could lead to decrease in deaths by January.
Moncef Slaoui, the top scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed, told CNN Sunday that the United States could see a decrease in COVID-19 deaths by January, assuming people start taking the COVID-19 vaccine.
What’s going on?
Slaoui told CNN that 40% to 50% of all COVID-19 deaths are people living in nursing homes and those on the frontlines. But those people will likely receive the COVID-19 vaccine “by the end of the month of December or by the middle of the month of January.”
This could impact the amount of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., according to CNN.
- “I’m hopeful by the end of all the month of January we should already see quite a significant decrease in the mortality and severe morbidity associated in the elderly population,” he said.
- “By the month, the middle of the month of March, we should have really covered most of the highly susceptible population, about 100 million people,” Slaoui said.
Light at the end of the tunnel
Slaoui told CBS News over the weekend that he sees “light at the end of the tunnel,” suggesting life could return to somewhat normal by the spring.
- “I think we may start to see some impact on the most susceptible people probably in the month of January and February,” Slaoui said in an interview with “Face the Nation” program. “But on a population basis, for our lives to start getting back to normal, we’re talking about April or May. Therefore, it’s absolutely vital that everybody take comfort in the fact that we have light at the end of the tunnel, and find the energy in that to continue to wear our masks, distance, wash our hands, pay attention to what we’re doing to make sure we’re there by the spring to benefit from the vaccine.”


There have been many people that asked this question “Is rabbit a rodent?” An average person would say yes, but you will find out in this article that the answer is no. Also in this article, you will find out why to this answer. So, let’s be smarter than the average Joe and know the answer and exactly why!
Characteristics of a Rodent
First, rodents comprise the largest group of mammals because over 1/3 of the mammals are rodents. Rodents live in every single continent except Antarctica. The most common rodents are beavers, hamsters, rats, etc. One characteristic of a rodent is that it has one pair of incisors (sharp teeth) at the top and the bottom. These don’t stop growing until the rodent dies. Why is that useful? You can see it in beavers. They use their incisors teeth to cut trees, which wears their incisors. However, the incisors do not stop growing, so beavers can continue to cut trees throughout their lives!
There are other characteristics of rodents that all members of this family have. The way that they chew, the skeletal structure especially their skulls, and many others! It is very interesting that all these characteristics can be seen from a tiny mouse to a huge capybara that is the size of a big dog!
Characteristics of a Rabbit
So what about rabbits? Do they have characteristics that are similar to rodents or no? From everyday perspectives, rabbits indeed do look like rodents. They have big incisor teeth, and they chew the same. However, there is a major difference that sets the two apart. As mentioned before, all rodents have a pair of incisor teeth in upper and lower jaw. Rabbits, however, have three sets of incisors. On their top jaw, they have an extra small pair of incisors right behind the main pair. That extra pair of incisors in the top jaw is what sets rabbit apart from rodents. There are other characteristic differences as well including chewing pattern and skeleton differences.
So is a rabbit considered rodent?
No, rabbits are not rodents because they have a small pair of incisor teeth in their upper jaw!
I hope that you have enjoyed reading about this topic. If you want answers to frequently asked questions, visit the Q & A page!


Phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that float around the world’s oceans and bodies of water, converting sunlight into energy and acting as a base for the aquatic food chain. Though small in size, these tiny creatures have a huge effect on carbon cycling and are even believed to influence clouds and climate. Their monolithic power lies in their sheer numbers, which are seasonally boosted during huge natural blooms.
This image below, taken by NASA on September 23, 2015, shows one of these blooms in the North Atlantic Ocean in all its psychedelic glory.
The North Atlantic experiences these blooms in both spring and fall. While the spring blooms are usually more impressive, the weather conditions were nearly ideal when the Suomi NPP satellite was above this autumnal bloom.
The images were taken by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard this satellite. This data was then processed to bring out the colors and more subtle features of the bloom. It’s this process that also brings out the striped “grainy” effect you can see on the image.
"The image does a beautiful job of showing the close link between ocean physics and biology," said Michael Behrenfeld, a phytoplankton ecologist at Oregon State University, in a NASA statement. "The features that jump out so clearly represent the influence of ocean eddies and physical stirring on the concentration of phytoplankton pigments and, possibly, colored dissolved organic matter."
Click here to see the full 3196 x 5346 pixels image.
Image credit: NASA


It slipped under the radar screen due to all the furor over the impending government shutdown, but the NY Times ran an important article two weeks ago about the debt ceiling. The Republican plan is apparently to condition their agreement to raise the debt ceiling and save the country from default on a massive regulatory rollback.
This effort, if successful, would mark a huge power shift from the Senate and the President to the House of Representatives. Here are just some of the House GOP’s demands:
1. construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline
2. offshore oil and gas production and more permitting of energy exploration on federal lands
3. rolling back regulations on coal ash
4. blocking new EPA regulations on greenhouse gas production.
There is also a roster of non-environmental measures dealing with financial regulation, health care reform, medical malpractice lawsuits, and Medicare. If this gambit succeeds, the bill to raise the debt ceiling will be the most important single piece of legislation in decades.
It’s not unprecedented for one branch of a legislature to grab the power over government for itself. Starting around 1700, the British House of Commons started using its control over spending and taxes to eliminate the power of the House of Lords and of the King. Ultimately, the King became a figurehead, with the executive branch totally under the control of the Commons, and the House of Lords faded into insignificance.
Could something like that happen today? Perhaps so, if the House succeeds in its current effort to leverage the vote on the debt ceiling into a broad legislative program.
If the House can override the rest of the government by threatening the country’s financial standing, that just might be a step toward a parliamentary system of government by the House of Representatives. After all, if you can lose the White House but use a majority in the House to enact the losing candidate’s platform, the rest of the government could become something of a sideshow.
Cross-posted from the environmental law and policy blog Legal Planet.


What are the four needs that my individual has and reasons why they must be addressed using the SPEC approach?
The needs are Social, Physical, Emotional, and Cognitive
Social – The need for social interaction Jackie needs social interaction as she has mobility problems as well as depression and anxiety so doesn’t get out the house much she is also a binge alcoholic which has resulted in her being isolated from friends and family. I think Jackie needs social opportunities to help her engage in conversation, share experiences and build relationships this will help her to develop her social identity and achieve a sense of acceptance and belonging.
Physical – For growth and repair (basic or essential needs necessary to preserve human life and promote well-being), Jackie has a physical need regarding her poor diet and lifestyle due to her binge drinking when Jackie relapses she can drink for days without eating or washing and severely neglecting her health and hygiene leaving her malnourished. Eating a healthy balanced diet is very important and can help maintain physical and mental wellbeing.
Emotional – The need to feel safe and secure. Jackie has emotional needs because when her mother, father, and partner all died within a short period she was left with no support networks or people to share her emotions with resulting in more depression and excessive drinking. This left Jackie feeling unloved, lonely, isolated with no interaction within the community. Jackie needs to try and build trusting relationships in which she is secure enough to express her emotions and emotional needs.
Cognitive – The need for mental stimulation. Jackie has cognitive needs as she is at risk of developing korsokoff syndrome (a chronic memory disorder caused by alcohol misuse). Jackie just exists in her day to day life by doing the basics, i.e. eating, washing, and sleeping with no communication, problem-solving, decision making or reasoning in her daily life she has no mental stimulation and without cognitive stimulation her mental abilities and capacity will deteriorate.


At present about 100 MTs of hydrogen is produced globally, and 98% of that comes from fossil fuels
Creating policy mechanisms and regulatory frameworks along with establishing collaborations between countries, could accelerate a green hydrogen ecosystem, said Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
"Developing consensus on a common framework for hydrogen certification would be extremely critical to enable global hydrogen trade. Achieving this will be of paramount importance as part of G20 deliberations and discussions,” added Bhalla.
Giving a global perspective on green hydrogen, Gauri Singh, Deputy Director General, IRENA said, “At present about 100 MTs of hydrogen is produced globally, and 98% of that comes from fossil fuels. The world's current power consumption, 21,000 TWh, must be generated six times over to switch to a "green hydrogen economy."
Madhav Pai, Interim CEO & Program Executive Director - Sustainable Cities & Transport, WRI India said, “Green hydrogen is poised to play a vital role in the cross-sectoral decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors and is therefore a crucial element for a sustainable, low-carbon future. There exist unique prospects for the world's leading economies to engage in cooperative and collaborative efforts critical for addressing economic and technical challenges and building a resilient global hydrogen value chain.”
The growing efforts to diversify and advance the fuel basket will not only result in environmental benefits but would also be accompanied by energy security and reduced import dependency. To meet clean energy transition objectives, G20 nations will require adoption of multi-pronged strategies which should include renewable energy, green hydrogen, and its derivatives.
Substantive and coordinated global efforts are required to position green hydrogen as a key lever for energy transition, especially for hard-to-abate industrial sectors, long haul and heavy transport (including aviation and shipping), and other potential applications including heating and energy storage.
Register Now to Attend NextGen Chemicals & Petrochemicals Summit 2023 on 13-14 July 2023, Novotel Mumbai International Airport, Mumbai
Tamilnadu Petroproducts gets India's First BIS certification under IS 12795: 2020 for high-quality LAB Production
Creating policy and regulatory frameworks could accelerate the green hydrogen ecosystem: B. S. Bhalla
Merck partners with California-based research group to study catalysis innovation through machine learning
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In honour of all things Muddy, we have delved deep into the history of mud to dig you up some weird and wonderful facts in 10 Things You Never Knew About Mud!
Did you know the Ancient Egyptians build their houses from mud, or that mud is one of the oldest words in the English language?! Us either! Read on to find out more! 2. An Old English word Mud is an old English word that has been around since at least 1400 3. What the dictionary says.... Other words for mud in the Oxford English dictionary include slobber, slabber, slutch and slushiness.
4. Mud snakes! Some snakes live in mud! Mud snakes usually grow to a total length of 40 to 54 inches. The record total length is over 80 inches. Mud snakes inhabit the edges of streams and cypress swamps 5. Getting crafty! Clay aka mud pottery dates back to 27,000 BC!
6. Your hair will love it! Volcanic mud is a great hair moisturiser and is sold by several companies. 8. Mud crabs... There is such a thing as mud crabs! Mud crabs are found in Australia. They like sheltered waters such as estuaries and mangrove areas. Most adults live in shallow areas below the low tide mark, where they bury themselves in the mud during the day.
9. Great building material for...wasps! The Mud Dauber wasp uses mud to build its huts. They also fly alone, not in a swarm. Can your kids delve deep into the mud and find any facts that we didn't find and add any more to the list?
Visit us to shop the full range kids wellies.


Prospects in the orbital and rotational dynamics of the Moon with the advent of sub-centimeter lunar laser ranging
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Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) measurements are crucial for advanced exploration of the laws of fundamental gravitational physics and geophysics. Current LLR technology allows us to measure distances to the Moon with a precision approaching 1 millimeter. As NASA pursues the vision of taking humans back to the Moon, new, more precise laser ranging applications will be demanded, including continuous tracking from more sites on Earth, placing new CCR arrays on the Moon, and possibly installing other devices such as transponders, etc. Successful achievement of this goal strongly demands further significant improvement of the theoretical model of the orbital and rotational dynamics of the Earth-Moon system. This model should inevitably be based on the theory of general relativity, fully incorporate the relevant geophysical processes, lunar librations, tides, and should rely upon the most recent standards and recommendations of the IAU for data analysis. This paper discusses methods and problems in developing such a mathematical model. The model will take into account all the classical and relativistic effects in the orbital and rotational motion of the Moon and Earth at the sub-centimeter level. The new model will allow us to navigate a spacecraft precisely to a location on the Moon. It will also greatly improve our understanding of the structure of the lunar interior and the nature of the physical interaction at the core-mantle interface layer. The new theory and upcoming millimeter LLR will give us the means to perform one of the most precise fundamental tests of general relativity in the solar system.


It's not just about climate change - What about soils?
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Vladimir Vernadsky was one of the giants of geochemistry. Considered the founder of the fi eld of biogeochemistry and a true pioneer in “whole Earth” studies, he realized by 1945 that “Man under our very eyes is becoming a mighty and ever-growing geological force.” In the intervening 65 years, his “ever-growing force” has become a tidal wave. The global population has been increasing exponentially since the beginning of the industrial revolution, and as a result has increased by nearly a factor of three between 1945, when his observation was published, and today (see fi gure). Current projections anticipate a population exceeding 9 billion by 2050. This explosive human population growth has been fueled by ancient hydrocarbons and has come with high costs. Most Earth scientists are concerned with the implications of the rapid accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The consequences include a climate state without polar ice, acidifying oceans, and increasingly variable water fl uxes. The rate and extent of these and many other negative climate-related impacts, and how to mitigate them, have caused a vigorous discussion on climate change that is in the news on a nearly daily basis.
|Publication Subtype||Journal Article|
|Title||It's not just about climate change - What about soils?|
|Publisher||Mineralogical Society of America|
|Contributing office(s)||Crustal Geophysics and Geochemistry Science Center|
|Google Analytic Metrics||Metrics page|


The No.More.Plastic project involves more than 416 schools globally across 68 countries, covering six continents. During 3 weeks students will focus on the problem, solutions and how to take action. Students will be able to explore, brainstorm, discuss, create, connect, reflect and share their findings via weekly videos and pictures which will be shared at the website. Once a week they will watch the videos from their global peers to gain a deeper understanding about them. As part of the project they will focus on single use plastic, microplastics and the plastic soup.
This student-centered project is the perfect introduction to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Not only are we focussing on some of the most important global challenges, we also offer some skills to our students which are becoming increasingly important: creativity, complex problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration and empathy.
During the project we strive to do more than
Our students deserve better
During this project we aim to do more than acquiring knowledge, memorizing and assessing facts. We aim to stimulate our students to gain a deeper understanding, solve problems and taking action by making learning global and fun. Collaboration is key. The pedagogical framework is based on previous projects - including Climate Action project, Human Differences and Innovation project. which caused authentic learning and tons of student engagement.
The project will bring teachers in a global platform allowing them to exchange best practices and share anecdotes.
The project involves students aged 8-21 and can be introduced during every subject.
This project was launched between April 22 and May 10 2019.


LL.M. student at Chanakya National Law University, Patna, India
Crime prevention through environmental design is a way of making public spaces safer and more inviting by applying some principles of design and planning. Some of these principles are: natural surveillance, which means making sure that people can see and be seen by others; natural access control, which means limiting the entry points and exits to a space and making them visible; territorial reinforcement, which means creating a sense of ownership and responsibility for a space; and maintenance, which means keeping the space clean and well-lit. By following these principles, crime prevention through environmental design can reduce the opportunities and motivations for criminal behavior and increase the sense of community and well-being among the users of the space.
International Journal of Law Management and Humanities, Volume 6, Issue 2, Page 1351 - 1365DOI: https://doij.org/10.10000/IJLMH.114511
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution -NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits remixing, adapting, and building upon the work for non-commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright © IJLMH 2021


GLADA system that generates high-precision weekly alerts on changes in the state of native vegetation in tropical forests.
The GLAD (Global Analysis and Discovery) system was developed by the University of Maryland (United States), Google, and WRI (World Research Institute) to generate weekly updates on the status of tropical forests. It uses images from NASA’s Landsat satellites. Its alerts provide faster monitoring, with better definition and greater scale than the systems available in Brazil up to that point (2nd semester of 2016.) GLAD complements satellite monitoring systems already in use in the country since 2016, when it began operating.


Plunging into water with indifferent temperature (34 to 36ºC) is called immersion.
Immersion has various physiological impacts depending on the posture:
- Haemoid dilution (“dilution” of the blood).
- As a result of pressure change the lung’s breathing capacity decreases.
- Muscles of the body become relaxed.
- The buoyant force of water, which is based on the Archimedes law, decreases the weight of the body and movements in the water become easier.
- Water resistance can also be used for muscle training.
Impacts of hydrostatic pressure
- Compression impact on veins, peripheral (skin) arteries
- Decreases the chest and abdominal cavity volume
- Influences the breathing mechanics (breathing exercise)
- Improves kidney action
- Decreases the circumference of inflamed joints
Cold or hot water results in further reverse changes in metabolism and in the peripheral (mainly skin veins) circulation.
- In a cold bath veins are contracted, thus causing blood pressure increase, rhythm drop and coronary artery contraction in the body.
- In a hot bath the blood vessels widen, namely blood pressure increase and reflex-based, rapid cardiac action is experienced.
Water temperature related temperature sensation is very different for each individual.
In general 10 to 15ºC is very cold, 16 to 22ºC is cold, 23 to 33ºC is chilly, 37 to 38ºC is warm and over 39ºC is hot.
Hydrotherapy treatments: Weight bath, Underwater jet massage, Thermotherapy, Alternating bath, Kneipp foot bath, Hydro galvanic treatment


Advent Definitions: Domestic angels?
By Helen Biggs, on 4 December 2017
‘Angel’, in: R 221 DICTIONARIES WEBSTER 1869 : Webster, The people’s dictionary of the English language (London, [1869?])
It’s fascinating to see that in Webster angels are defined as both godly and evil spirits, but what really piqued my interest is the idea of being angelic – “partaking of their nature or dignity”. It immediately brought to mind one of the other items in our collections:
A is the Angel woman should be
Waiting to pour out her husband’s tea:
“Better than man” the Antis say-
But the better half has got to obey
These words may sound like they’re promoting woman as a domestic figure, but in fact they’re from the satirical Anti-Suffrage Alphabet, which playfully imitates a rhyming children’s alphabet book to ridicule the arguments used by anti-suffrage campaigners. One such argument was that a wife and mother was the moral centre of a household, and that this role would be diminished or corrupted if she took a more active role in public life. The Alphabet’s creators contend that this supposed moral purity was already compromised, as a husband was meant to be the final decision-maker in all non-domestic matters, whatever a woman’s own beliefs and values were.
The Alphabet is held as part of the Laurence Housman Collection, which will feature heavily in next year’s Main Library exhibition “Dangers and delusions”? Perspectives on the woman’s suffrage movement, set to open February 2018.
For more daily Advent-inspired definitions from our Rare English Dictionaries collection, follow @UCLSpecColl on Twitter.


What are some Latin phrases?
Common Latin Phrases
What are the three Latin phrases in the Constitution?
The U.S. Constitution contains approximately 4,500 words, and the only language used other than English is Latin: The three phrases in the Constitution are pro tempore, ex post facto and habeas corpus.
What is one of the most common Latin expressions found in English?
Latin Phrases in English
Where is Latin most used today?
How do you identify a Latin word?
Root + Suffix = Word They usually precede suffixes. The same is true of Greek and Latin, even if, when borrowing, we sometimes drop the suffix. Thus, the word cell in English is really the Latin cella, from which we’ve dropped the a suffix.
What is the Latin word for communication?
What two Latin words did communication?
The word communication has originated from a Latin word “Communes” which means something common.
What are the 8 elements of message?
Terms in this set (8)
What is essential to an effective communication?
Effective communication requires active listening, so practice active listening until it becomes second nature to you. Active listening involves hearing and understanding what a person is saying to you. Unless you understand clearly what a person is telling you, you can’t respond appropriately.
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What is it about?
Majority black and brown communities in the US experience disproportionate levels of pollution and economic insecurity connected to extractive industries like oil refineries. However, despite visible and highly documented impacts, environmental justice movements have not yet adequately considered environmental impacts from a racial justice and equity lens. In this article, I think about environmental impacts through a more historic, and place-based perspective, considering the continuation of extractive industries in Louisiana from the plantation economy to the petrochemical industry today. Following these different and changing forms of extraction raises questions about the shape of racialised violence in an increasingly toxic and environmentally unstable world.
Photo by Alexander Tsang on Unsplash
Why is it important?
The climate crisis is amplifying and accelerating the uneven environmental impacts that vulnerable, majority black communities face. Developing new perspectives that recognize the historical and structural patterns of racism and forefronts the lived experience of impacted communities is crucial to ensure that the climate crisis does not reproduce racial violence.
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Intimate extraction: Geological matter, extractive afterlives, and the denial of a Black sense of place in Southern Louisiana, Area, November 2022, Wiley, DOI: 10.1111/area.12847.
You can read the full text:
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I know this picture is a little blurry, but you can see I had 9 stations running in this classroom. Students names were written on index cards and moved up and down each time we did stations. The pictures on the cards coordinated with the pictures on the sign at the station location. This made it easy for kids to identify where they needed to be.
This management chart is actually in my TPT Store. It is called Literacy Station Signs. I cut the cards out, attached them to cardstock, and laminated them. Then I hooked them together using ribbons. Each student had a clothespin with their name on it. I would attach the clothespin to the station they were assigned to. Again, I could just move them down each day to send them to the next station.
This is my current management chart. I teach second grade now so I do not necessarily need visual pictures. It is simple, but that makes it easy to use. On each blue card, I have the station name. I write the partnerships on the index cards with magnets. Then, each day I move them down to their next station. The students at the bottom not at a station are pulled by either myself or the Learning Support Teacher for small group time.
My biggest recommendation is to introduce stations slowly. I have seen teachers introduce all 6-9 stations in one day and then chaos ensues. Often then teachers throw up their hands and give up. Gradually releasing the responsibility is something Debbie Diller discusses a lot in her book about literacy stations.
I take about 3-4 weeks to get all of my stations fully up and running. I know this seems like a long time, but if you do it right it will work. Things will run smoothly and you’ll be able to pull small groups while you’re students are being self-sufficient at their station.
I introduce the stations one at a time whole group. I always start with reading station (more info on this on Sunday) because it’s the easiest. I then allow partnerships a few minutes to practice. Then, the next day I introduce a second station.
Another huge suggestion is to model. Model, model, model. The more you model what you expect of kids at a particular station, the better off you will be. In addition to modeling myself, I also will have students model the expectations.


The Chicago Manual of Style presents two basic documentation systems. Choosing between the two often depends on subject matter and nature of sources cited, as each system is favored by different groups of scholars.Click on the styles to access the Chicago Manual's online guide.
The Notes and Bibliography style: used by History, Literature and the Arts.
The Notes and Bibliography style (also known as the Humanities style) is preferred by many in literature, history, and the arts. This style uses a system of notes, whether footnotes or endnotes or both, and usually a bibliography. The notes allow space for unusual types of sources as well as for commentary on the sources cited, making this system extremely flexible. Because of this flexibility, the notes and bibliography system is preferred by many writers in literature, history, and the arts.
The Author-Date style: used by Physical, Natural and Social Sciences.
The Author-Date style has long been used by those in the physical, natural, and social sciences. In this system, sources are briefly cited in the text, usually in parentheses, by author’s last name and date of publication. The short citations are amplified in a list of references, where full bibliographic information is provided.
The Chicago and Turabian styles are nearly identical.
Kate Turabian, the dissertation secretary at the University of Chicago for over 30 years, developed her guide for students and researchers writing papers, theses, and dissertations. Her manual is based on the University of Chicago Press's Manual of Style and departs from it in few places. "Turabian," as her guide is called, synthesizes the rules most important for students' papers and other scholarly research not intended for publication, and omits some of the publishing details and options that "Chicago" provides.


11 September 2013
You are likely familiar with the cosmic microwave background. This background is a thermal remnant of the big bang. Because of the expansion of the universe, this remnant energy has a temperature of about 2.7 K, which means it exists primarily in the microwave wavelengths. We see this cosmic background as a diffuse, low-energy glow of microwave radiation.
But there is another background that exists, known as the cosmic x-ray background. Just as the cosmic microwave background is a diffuse microwave glow, the cosmic x-ray background is a diffuse x-ray glow. You can see an image of this x-ray background in the image above. It is a false-color image, where red, green and blue represent low, medium and high x-ray energies.
Unlike the microwave background, the x-ray background is not a remnant of the big bang. Instead it is generated through several processes. Most of the background is produced by localized sources such as active galactic nuclei, but other sources are the the local bubble of interstellar media that surrounds the Sun and other stars in our local spiral arm of Orion. But there is a small portion of the background that remains unexplained.
One of the difficulties in understanding the x-ray background is the sheer challenge of observing x-rays at high resolution. X-rays tend to penetrate materials, so you can’t simply make a mirror to focus x-rays the way we do visible light or radio waves. X-ray telescopes must have special materials to reflect x-rays, and they need to have a very long focal length.
But I’ll talk about that next time.


Most Americans think the problem will get worse.
Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites have been stepping up their efforts to combat the spread of fake news on their platforms but that hasn't stopped Americans from sharing misinformation.
It turns out US adults who prefer to get their news through social media are more likely to share fake news than those who prefer to get news via conventional methods, such as newspapers, TV or websites, according to a study released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center.
About 60% of US adults who prefer getting news through social media said they had shared false information. But the situation was only a little better with US adults who preferred conventional media, such as newspapers and TV. Of that group, 51% said they had shared fake news. Both groups were about as likely to encounter fake news often, the study found.
The findings were part of a 72-page report that show Americans see fake news as a problem that needs to be fixed. The Pew Research Center surveyed more than 6,000 US adults from Feb. 19 to March 4 for the study. As part of the survey, Americans were asked how often they got news from social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter or Snapchat.
About two-thirds of Americans said they came across altered images or video sometimes or often. The issue has prompted renewed concern since doctored videos of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi making her appear drunk spread on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. One version of the video on Facebook appears to be gone, even though the social network has denied pulling it down.
Most Americans blamed political leaders and activists for spreading misinformation. They also thought journalists had more of a responsibility to help fix the problem. Only 9% of US adults thought tech companies carried the most responsibility to reduce the amount of misinformation out there.
Most Americans -- about 56% of US adults -- also think the problem of made-up news will get worse over the next five years, according to the survey.
"While Americans want the issue of made-up news addressed, they are also conscious of the huge challenge posed by partisan divides in our country today – challenges that are pronounced in the level of blame members of each party place on the news media," said Amy Mitchell, the center's director of journalism research, in a statement.


While mankind has certainly come a long way, a few things seem to remain firmly enshrined in basic human nature — things like our need for love and acceptance, our quest to fulfill our physiological needs, and our propensity to draw penises on walls.
Hadrian’s Wall (the inspiration for Game of Thrones’ Great Wall) was built in what is today northern England, during Roman times. Emperor Hadrian had it built starting AD 122, to defend the Ancient Britons from peoples living in today’s Scotland, such as the Picts. It was designed to keep the “barbarians” away from the Romans.
The Wall was largely successful — not that it stopped or prevented all attacks, but it was a noteworthy display of power by the Romans and was effective in controlling the flow of people in and out of Roman Britannia. Roman soldiers, however, showed their appreciation by drawing dozens and dozens of penises on it.
Newcastle archaeologist Rob Collins says he has identified 57 other etchings of male genitalia scattered across the length of Hadrian’s Wall. But it wasn’t necessarily that they were disrespectful — the penises had a very specific meaning.
Penis inscriptions and talismans were quite common in Rome. They were meant to ward off evil spirits and bring about good fortune. Simply put, in Rome, penises were a good luck charm. But outside of Rome, they were more of a symbol of status, a simple message that everyone could get: “here there be Romans, and we rule this place”.
“These inscriptions … are probably the most important on the Hadrian’s Wall frontier,” Collins says in a Historic England statement. “They provide insight into the organisation of the vast construction project that Hadrian’s Wall was, as well as some very human and personal touches.”
As if it weren’t impressive enough that these etchings have been around for 1,800 years, researchers will now immortalize them digitally. They are working on producing a 3D model of these penis etchings, offering viewers a detailed view into this phallic past. You know, for science.