A new analysis of glaciers on Mars reveals that the red planet has experienced between six and 20 separate ice ages over the past 300 to 800 million years.
During the last ice age on Earth 20,000 years ago, our planet was covered with glaciers. Then those glaciers retreated to the poles. Leaving the rocks behind as a guide, these glaciers dropped them as they scraped and carved tracks as they moved to the poles.
On the other hand, the Martian glaciers have not left. They have been frozen to the surface of the planet, which has an average temperature of minus 81 degrees Fahrenheit, for more than 300 million years – they have just been covered in debris.
“All the rocks and sand carried on this ice remained on the surface,” said study author Joe Levy, a planetary geologist and assistant professor of geology at Colgate University, in a statement. “It’s like putting ice in a cooler under all that sediment.”
Glaciers on the surface of Mars have long been a mystery to geologists who have attempted to determine whether a long ice age on Mars caused its formation or whether it formed during multiple ice ages spanning millions of years.
A study of rocks on the surface of glaciers can answer this question. Levy determined that since the rocks eroded over time, the discovery of rocks that turned from larger to smaller sizes at the bottom of the cliffs indicated a single ice age.
Since it is not yet possible to visit Mars and study its surface in person, Levy and 10 students at Colgate University in New York State used images of 45 glaciers taken by NASA’s Mars Exploration Orbiter.
The high resolution of the images allowed the researchers to enumerate the rocks and determine their size. Levy said zooming into orbit allows the team to “see things the size of the dinner table” on the surface of Mars.
In total, researchers counted and measured 60,000 rocks. The AI would have reduced some of the work that took two summers to complete, but the AI cannot distinguish between rocks and the surface of the glacier.
“We did some kind of virtual fieldwork, going up and down these glaciers and mapping rocks,” Levy said.
Instead of a fixed arrangement of rocks that differ in size, the researchers observed an unexpected randomness.
“Actually, the rocks were telling a different story,” Levy said. “It wasn’t their size that mattered, but how they were grouped or agglomerated.”
The rocks were actually moving in the glaciers, not out of them, so the rocks were not eroded.
But it was visible in rings of debris on the surface of the glaciers. These rings help define the characteristic flows of ice that formed during the different ice ages.
Ice ages occur when the planet’s axis tilt, known as the eccentricity, so these distinct ice ages formed separately to reflect the times when Mars essentially wobbled along its axis.
This sheds some light on the Martian climate and how it has changed.
“There are really good models for the parameters of Mars’ orbit over the past 20 million years,” Levy said. “Then the models tend to get messy.”
The team’s results indicated that Mars had experienced multiple ice ages.
“This paper is the first geological evidence of what Mars’ orbit and its deflection might do for hundreds of millions of years,” said Levy. “These glaciers are tiny time capsules, capturing snapshots of what was orbiting in the Martian atmosphere. Now we know we have access to hundreds of millions of years of Mars history without having to search deep into the Earth’s crust – we can just take a stroll along the surface.” “.
The content of these glaciers could include evidence of life that may have existed on Mars.
“If there were any biomarkers blowing around, they’d get trapped in the ice, too,” Levy said.
The discovery of rocky bands inside glaciers is also useful information for astronauts who might one day land on Mars and prospect in glaciers to use water ice.
Researchers will continue mapping glaciers on Mars in the hope of learning more about the planet’s past and whether life has ever existed in its history.
“There is a lot of work to be done to find out the details of the history of Mars’ climate, including when and where it was warm and humid enough to have brine and liquid water,” said Levy.


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The Holocaust or Shoah (Hebrew for catastrophe) was the genocide perpetrated by the German Nazis and their collaborators against the Jews of Europe from 1933-1945. It resulted in the loss of two thirds of European Jewry, six million innocent human lives, each a unique individual. The Holocaust has been increasingly recognized as a seminal historical event that has left an indelible scar on the collective consciousness and conscience of Western civilization. It has been the subject of more scholarly scrutiny than any other genocide due in part to the vast amount of documentation concerning it, gleaned from both its perpetrators and its victims.
The intellectual and social psychological foundations of the Holocaust were laid by centuries of Christian anti-Semitic prejudice and persecution and then by the emergence of so-called "racial science" in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which posited that the Jews were the root of all evil. The Holocaust itself proceeded in stages, beginning with Hitler and the Nazis’ rise to power on January 30, 1933. The racist ideology behind the Holocaust was paranoid and irrational, yet it was carried out with the utmost rationality beginning with the "cold pogrom", the persecution of the Jews through discriminatory legislation. The Nuremberg laws (1935) promulgated a biologically based definition of a Jew, made German Jews second-class citizens and outlawed marriage and sexual relations between Jews and "Aryans".
The ongoing expropriation of Jewish property reached its zenith in the wake of the Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) pogroms in November of 1938. Kristallnacht witnessed the desecration and destruction of several hundred synagogues and the incarceration of 30,000 Jewish males in concentration camps. The first of these was Dachau, which had been established in March 1933. It became the model camp for the Nazi camp kingdom of death that was eventually established throughout Europe. A number of historians view Kristallnacht as the actual beginning of the Holocaust.
Once the Nazis launched World War II with their attack on Poland on September 1, 1939, they created Jewish ghettos there and then in other conquered lands. Each ghetto had its own Judenrat or Jewish council. These councils became tools of the SS, the instrument of Nazi genocide. Many council members were terrorized into submission, but others behaved honorably and courageously, doing everything possible to save their people. The ghettos themselves became death traps where tens of thousands perished due to disease, slave labor and malnutrition — but various forms of Jewish resistance also became manifest in them.
Outright extermination began with the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 194l. The Nazis falsely believed the USSR was run by "Jewish Bolsheviks" and populated by "racially subhuman elements." Einsatzgruppen, mobile SS killing squads, murdered one and a half million Jews in eastern Poland, Belorussia, Ukraine, and Russia. The greatest massacre occurred in the ravine of Babi Yar, outside of Kiev, where 33,700 Jews were murdered on September 29 and 30, l941.
From the very outset of their rule, the Nazis pursued a policy of Jewish forced emigration. But Chaim Weizmann, who became the first president of the State of Israel, noted, "The world was divided into two camps. One which wanted the Jews out and the other which did not want to let them in." This reluctance to admit Jewish refugees helped confirm the Nazis' hateful views of the Jews. However, with increasing numbers of Jews falling under their control, the Nazis had to find other solutions to what they referred to as the "Jewish question." In addition, the outright killing of unarmed men, women and children proved psychologically difficult, even for some members of the Einsatzgruppen.
Therefore, some time during the second half of 1941, the Nazi leadership decided on the "final solution" to the problem of European Jewry. It was announced to key Nazi functionaries at the infamous Wannsee Conference on January 22, 1942. The remaining Jews of Europe were to be deported to killing centers where they would be robbed of all they had and murdered in specially constructed gas chambers. Their bodies would then be incinerated in crematoria. This was to be done under the cover of war and with the utmost secrecy. A chillingly euphemistic vocabulary, such as "resettlement in the east," was developed to hide the Nazis' true intentions. The death factories they Nazis constructed illustrate the ultimate abuse of science and technology.
Some able-bodied Jews were not murdered immediately. They were subject to "death through labor" where they were systematically dehumanized in a hell-on-earth of pain and atrocity. The largest of the camps was Auschwitz, a combination extermination and slave labor camp where more than one million Jews and seventy thousand Poles met their deaths. Nazi Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann and his cohorts coordinated the round up and deportation of Jews to this and other camps from all over Nazi-occupied Europe. Primo Levi, in his classic work, Survival in Auschwitz, wrote, "A large heavy guard prowling outside the barracks snatched [an icicle] from me. 'Why', I asked him in my poor German. He replied, 'Here there is no why.'"
The peak years of Jewish annihilation were 1942 and 1943. However, more than a half million Hungarian Jews perished in 1944 following the Nazi invasion of that country. Even with defeat becoming increasingly evident, the slaughter continued. Though Hitler and the Nazis knew they would lose the wider war, they were determined to win their war against the Jews. The genocide came to an end only with the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945.
The Holocaust involved perpetrators and collaborators, some of whom were ideologues, criminals and sadists, but many of whom were, in the words of political theorist and author Hannah Arendt, "terribly and terrifyingly normal." They were part of a vast bureaucracy of death. They demonstrated how easily many individuals can ignore the dictates of conscience. The bureaucracy of death included the elites of a modern industrialized society: attorneys, judges, engineers, bankers, journalists and physicians. The latter conducted hideous medical experiments in the name of racial eugenics.
The victims of the Holocaust often could not imagine the unimaginable and were not aware of fate that awaited them. Deceived, abandoned and powerless, they faced with tragic "choiceless choices" and lost everything: their homes, their families, their innocence, their identities and their lives. The Nazis were demonically obsessed with the need to destroy every Jew. In the words of Elie Wiesel, "Not all the victims were Jews, but every Jew was a victim."
Bystanders included the Allied nations, most of those in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church and in the Protestant churches, and countries who pursued neutrality. There were Jewish resisters who engaged in spiritual, moral and physical resistance in ghettos, camps and forests — and a small number of rescuers, immune to the infections of evil and indifference. They heeded the admonition of the English poet John Donne who said, "Therefore send not to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee." Then there were the Allied liberators of the concentration camps at the end of the war who freed the skeletal survivors.
The survivors had to live with "a violated self," but most nevertheless went on to rebuild their lives and bear witness to what had befallen them. A number of survivors were able to reach British-controlled Palestine through the clandestine Aliyah Bet (prohibited immigration) immediately after the war. Some fought in the Israeli War of Independence in 1948 and gave their lives to help found a Jewish state dedicated to preventing a second Holocaust.
The Holocaust cannot be discussed without considering the some five million non-Jewish victims of the Nazis. These included the Nazis' political opponents, as well as Jehovah's Witnesses, male homosexuals and the physically and mentally handicapped who were considered by the Nazis "life unworthy of life" and were murdered in a "euthanasia" program. Those who carried out these "mercy killings" went on to take part in the Nazi genocide against the Jews.
Other victims included the Gypsies (the Roma and Sinti) many of whom were also ghettoized and deported to camps. The Nazis also murdered some two million Poles and several million Soviet prisoners of war, all of whom were viewed as "racially inferior," fit only to be enslaved by the "master race" and unworthy of any humane treatment.
The victims of the Holocaust must be remembered, for if their memory is forgotten, they will perish a second time. But the Holocaust was not simply a Jewish tragedy — it was a human tragedy. The Holocaust resonates with themes of hatred, brutality and loss, but it contains universal lessons as well. It undermines easy optimism about human nature and human progress. It bids us to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, the guarantor of our liberties and, to paraphrase Elie Wiesel, it impels us to try to save one person, to never allow the enemy to ask questions or to supply the answers, to fight evil right away for it won’t pass without a struggle, and to never allow ourselves to become perpetrators or victims or bystanders. Above all, it cries out to us to love our neighbors as ourselves.


How AWS Lambda Serverless WorksDec 11, 2018, 06:00 (0 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Sean Michael Kerner)
One of the primary systems in the Lambda architecture is called a worker. It's where AWS provisions a secure environment and enables the customer code execution.
Mesrobian explained that what the worker does, is it creates and manages a collection of sandboxes and sets limits on those boxes, such as memory and CPU available for function execution. The worker downloads the customer code, announces it for execution, and it also manages multiple language runtimes. The worker also executes the customer code through initialization and invocation and finally it manages agents for monitoring and operational controls like AWS CloudWatch.


Someone who has not experienced anxiety or depression may find it hard to understand it.
Depression can be different to each person so it is difficult to support anyone who is affected by this disorder. What you can do to provide support is to educate yourself about it.
Learn about the symptoms, causes and best treatments for this disorder. You may also want to give them a gift to help ease their burden.
Here are some positive gift ideas for someone who is suffering from depression or anxiety. All gifts included in this list are meant to provide comfort and happiness to the person.
1. Coloring Books for Adults
People usually feel anxious when they think that they are not safe. There are times that our brain lets us get carried away resulting to fear. Coloring can make a person relax the amygdala or the part of the brain that produces fear. It can give the same feeling that a person feels during meditation.
2. Thank You Journal
When we show people some gratitude, many good things happen inside us. The more we express gratitude the more we tend to adopt it. It is really good when we help the person identifies the things that he or she is thankful for because it tends to keep away those negative thoughts that make him or her worry.
Depressed people concentrate on negative thoughts so they fear the future and ignore the good things in their lives. Giving them time to list down things they are grateful for can help them avoid worrying.
3. Guided Meditation App
Performing guided meditation can help the brain calm down and tame those cortisol levels, making them more relax and at ease. The parts of the brain responsible for good functioning can work properly; therefore, there will be lesser activity for that part of the brain responsible for feeling depressed. It is really best if they get meditation a part of their daily lives overcome depression.
4. Weighted Blanket
People with anxiety usually find it hard to sleep at night. These blankets were originally made to help children with behavioral disorders or autism, but as they get more popular they are now being used to many different scenarios like treating people with depression.
These blankets are utilized to ground the body and this can give a positive outcome on anxiety. This is somehow the same with DPT or Deep Pressure Therapy, which utilizes pressure or sense to touch to treat panic attacks and anxiety.
Weighted blankets can now be bought in-store and even online. The price can go from $100 and more, depending on how big and how heavy it is. Ideally, it is best to use something that is 10% of the weight of the person who will use it. For example, if the person weighs 150 lbs., the blanket that you will buy should be 15lbs. You may also buy floral bouquets together with it; it will surely put a giggle on their face.
5. Lavender Essential Oil
Essential oils are now getting more and popular. Diffusers now are being used not only at homes but also in cars, offices, and gyms. There are many kinds of essential oils and each has its own scent and benefits. Lavender is famous for its soothing and calming effect that is why it is used to help depression.
Diffusing lavender essential oil at home can provide a sense of calmness. Placing it in their bedroom can help them relax and sleep well. Anxiety can make muscles tight and make anyone feel tense, using it can motivate their mind to relax, making them feel safe and not worry.
6. Motivational Books
A good read can help them divert their attention and not feel depressed. Depression can make the imagination run wild. The person feeling this can have worrying and dreadful thoughts. They can even think about dangerous things or scenarios.
Giving them a good book to read can help divert their minds to something good and can even bring them back to think rationally. Books can help occupy their thoughts and stop negative thought patterns. Look for a book that you are sure they would enjoy reading. You may also give them a self-help type of reading book to make them aware of what they are feeling.
Reading can decrease depression-provoking thoughts. Based on a study, reading, even for just a few minutes can lower down the heart rate and relax muscle tension.
7. Fidget Toys
In order to control their anxiety or depression give them fidget toys. There are times that they just need something to distract them in their thoughts and give them something to make them occupied.
You may look for fidget toys like stress balls, fidget cubes, or the most popular fidget spinner. If you want it to be more discreet, you may opt for fidget jewellery that has the same use as the toy. You can also buy popular bobbleheads together with it; your loved ones will admire it.
8. A letter or Gift Card
Do not underestimate the power of card or letter. They may not be as popular as before but sometimes all that a person needs is something to remind them that they are still important someone cares for them. So why not send a card or write a letter.
9. Comfortable Clothes
Usually, a person suffering from depression just spend their time locked at home. Help them feel comfortable by giving them some socks, t-shirt, sweats or pajama pants.
10. Surprise them with interesting stuff
One good gift to make them relax and calm down is giving them something fun to do. This gift should involve their hobby or interest. It could be a sketchbook if they are into drawing, a camera if they are into photography.
There a lot of positive gifts you can give to someone with depression. You may combine any of the gift items above or you can also incorporate a popular bobblehead to each of them.


A key that moves the cursor (or insertion point) to the beginning of the next line, or returns control to whatever program is currently running. After a program requests information from you (by displaying a prompt), it will usually not respond to your input until you have pressed the Enter or Return key. This allows you to correct typing mistakes or to reconsider your entry before it is too late. In many applications, pressing the Enter key moves the cursor to the next field. In graphical user interfaces, pressing Enter activates the currently selected button or option.
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Table sugar, which is used as an ingredient in many foods that you eat, is made up of two components. These are fructose and glucose. The glucose component is good for your body as it is converted to energy. On the other hand, the fructose component is harmful to our body, and it leads to a myriad of complications. Fructose is not only found in table sugar but also in fruits. It is vital that you decrease sugar intake to maintain a healthy body and below are justifications of why you need to do that.
Sugar Intake Causes Deposition of Fat in the Liver
The fructose that you consume goes directly to the liver. The purpose of fructose in the liver is to replenish used glycogen but since most people do not work out the glycogen is rarely used up and thus the fructose has no role to play. The liver turns the fructose to fat. The fat build up is dangerous over time.
Sugar Intake Cause Insulin Resistance
Excess sugar leads to the body becoming resistant to insulin. This triggers the body to produce more insulin to counter the sugar eventually overworking the pancreas leading to its damage. A damaged pancreas is a recipe for type 2 diabetes.
Sugar Intake Raises Your Risk of Western Diseases
Other than causing diabetes, sugar also leads to heart disease and obesity. It does this by raising the levels of bad cholesterol that leads to weight gain.
Leads to Leptin Resistance
Leptin is a hormone produced by the body whose core function is to control your appetite and the body’s metabolism rate consequently helping you maintain a normal weight. If the body resists leptin, the consequences are becoming obese.
Thriving of Cancer
Fructose helps cancer thrive in your body by fuelling their energy source. It is, therefore, vital that you avoid sugar intake to rid cancer cells of their energy.
Increased Uric Acid Production
The uric acid produced in small amounts is not harmful to the body. It only becomes toxic when produced in large amounts, and sugar is a well-known catalyst for increasing uric acid production. Excess uric acid often leads to gout, kidney stones, and increased blood pressure.
Promotes the Growth of Pathogenic Bacteria
While the bigger part of your body cannot use fructose as an energy source, the gut can do so. However, when the fructose is in excess, it leads to gut flora imbalances that promote overgrowth in bacteria and consequently the growth of pathogenic bacteria.
Sugar is Addictive
Consumption of sugar leads to the releasing of dopamine to the brain giving you a feeling of pleasure. This is precisely how hard drugs work. Sugar addiction will lead you to consume excess sugar and consequently get health problems.
Sugar is Empty Calories
Sugary foods fill your stomach but do not add any value to your body. They contain petite to no nutrients.
Leads to Dyslipidemia
Sugar damaging the liver eventually leads to dyslipidemia. This is a condition where the lipid markers in the blood tend to shift in a direction that spells heart disease.
The above reasons justify why you should consume less sugar. You will not only be healthy but live a happy life also.


It's the 1970s, and the stock market is a mess. It has lost nearly 50% over a 20-month period, and for close to a decade few people want anything to do with stocks. Economic growth is weak, which results in rising unemployment that eventually reaches double-digits. The easy-money policies of the American central bank, which were designed to generate full employment by the early 1970s also caused high inflation. The central bank, under different leadership, would later reverse its policies, raising interest rates to some 20%, a number once considered usurious. For interest-sensitive industries, such as housing and cars, rising interest rates cause a calamity. With interest rates skyrocketing, many people are priced out of new cars and homes.
- Periods of rapid inflation occur when the prices of goods and services in an economy suddenly rise, eroding the purchasing power of savings.
- The 1970s saw some of the highest rates of inflation in the United States in recent history, with interest rates rising in turn to nearly 20%.
- Central bank policy, the abandonment of the gold window, Keynesian economic policy, and market psychology all contributed to this decade of high inflation.
Interest Rate Casualties
This is the gruesome story of the great inflation of the 1970s, which began in late 1972 and didn't end until the early 1980s. In his book, "Stocks for the Long Run: A Guide for Long-Term Growth" (1994), Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel, called it "the greatest failure of American macroeconomic policy in the postwar period."
The great inflation was blamed on oil prices, currency speculators, greedy businessmen, and avaricious union leaders. However, it is clear that monetary policies, which financed massive budget deficits and were supported by political leaders, were the cause. This mess was proof of what Milton Friedman said in his book "Money Mischief: Episodes in Monetary History", inflation is always "a monetary phenomenon." The great inflation and the recession that followed wrecked many businesses and hurt countless individuals. Interestingly, John Connally, the Nixon-installed Treasury Secretary who did not have formal economics training, later declared personal bankruptcy.
Yet these unusually bad economic times were preceded by a period in which the economy boomed, or appeared to boom. Many Americans were awed by the temporarily low unemployment and strong growth numbers of 1972. Therefore, they overwhelmingly re-elected their Republican president, Richard Nixon, and their democratic Congress, in 1972; Nixon, the Congress, and the Federal Reserve failed them.
How and Why
Upon his inauguration in 1969, Nixon inherited a recession from Lyndon Johnson, who had simultaneously spent generously on the Great Society and the Vietnam War. Congress, despite some protests, went along with Nixon and continued to fund the war and increased social welfare spending. In 1972, for example, both Congress and Nixon agreed to a big expansion of Social Security, just in time for the elections.
Nixon came to office as a supposed fiscal conservative. Still, one of his advisors would later classify Nixonomics as "conservative men with liberal ideas." Nixon ran budget deficits, supported an incomes policy and eventually announced that he was a Keynesian.
John Maynard Keynes was an influential British economist of the 1930s and 1940s. He had advocated revolutionary measures: governments should use countercyclical policies in hard times, running deficits in recessions and depressions. Before Keynes, governments in bad times had generally balanced budgets and waited for badly allocated business investments to liquidate, allowing market forces to bring a recovery.
Nixon's other economic about-face was imposing wage and price controls in 1971. Again, they seemed to work during the following election year. Later on, however, they would fuel the fires of double-digit inflation. Once they were removed, individuals and businesses tried to make up for lost ground.
Nixon's deficits were also making dollar-holders abroad nervous. There was a run on the dollar, which many foreigners and Americans thought was overvalued. Soon they were proved right. In 1971, Nixon broke the last link to gold, turning the American dollar into a fiat currency. The dollar was devalued, and millions of foreigners holding dollars, including Arab oil barons with tens of millions of petrodollars, saw the value of dollars slashed.
Still, President Nixon's primary concern was not dollar holders or deficits or even inflation. He feared another recession. He and others that were running for re-election wanted the economy to boom. The way to do that, Nixon reasoned, was to pressure the Fed for low-interest rates.
Nixon fired Fed Chairman William McChesney Martin and installed presidential counselor Arthur Burns as Martin's successor in early 1970. Although the Fed is supposed to be solely dedicated to money creation policies that promote growth without excessive inflation, Burns was quickly taught the political facts of life. Nixon wanted cheap money: low-interest rates that would promote growth in the short-term and make the economy seem strong as voters were casting ballots.
Because I Say So!
In public and private Nixon turned the pressure on Burns. William Greider, in his book "Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs The Country" reports Nixon as saying: "We'll take inflation if necessary, but we can't take unemployment." The nation eventually had an abundance of both. Burns, and the Fed's Open Market Committee which decided on money creation policies, soon provided cheap money.
The key money creation number, M1, which is total checking deposits, demand deposits, and traveler's checks, went from $228 billion to $249 billion between December 1971 and December 1972, according to Federal Reserve Board numbers. As a matter of comparison, in Martin's last year, the numbers went from $198 billion to $206 billion. The amount of M2 numbers, measuring retail savings and small deposits, rose even more by the end of 1972, from $710 billion to $802 billion.
It worked in the short term. Nixon carried 49 out of 50 states in the election. Democrats easily held Congress. Inflation was in the low single digits, but there was a price to pay in higher inflation after all the election year champagne was guzzled.
In the winters of 1972 and 1973, Burns began to worry about inflation. In 1973, inflation more than doubled to 8.8%. Later in the decade, it would go to 12%. By 1980, inflation was at 14%. Was the United States about to become a Weimar Republic? Some actually thought that the great inflation was a good thing.
The Bottom Line
It would take another Fed chairman and a brutal policy of tight money, including the acceptance of a recession before inflation would return to low single digits. But, in the meantime, the U.S. would endure jobless numbers that exceeded 10%. Millions of Americans were angry by the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Yet few remember Burns, who in his memoirs, "Reflections of an Economic Policy Maker (1969-1978)," blames others for the great inflation without mentioning the disastrous monetary expansion. Nixon doesn't even mention this central bank episode in his memoirs. Many people who remember this terrible era blame it all on the Arab countries and oil pricing. Still, the Wall Street Journal, in reviewing this period in January 1986 said, "OPEC got all the credit for what the U.S. had mainly done to itself."


On 15 February 1971, Scotland, like the rest of the UK, started counting pounds using the decimal system, where the unit of counting is ten ie 100 pence make up 1 pound. Before that money was counted in pounds, shillings and pence. The system worked as follows: there were 12 pence in one shilling, 20 shillings in one pound and so there were 240 pence in a pound.
Most people are familiar with
Lsd meaning pounds, shillings and pence, the letters being taken
from the Latin librae, solidi and denarii.
Sometimes it is uncertain whether the clerk always means the Latin word
to be represented as you may find sch or sh instead
of s. For this reason we have adopted the following convention
transcribing L, s and d when it indicates money
as L~ s~ d~. Should any other letters in the
word be shown then include them eg Lib~.
Before the Act of Union, Scotland had its own currency, the pound Scots. The debasement of the Scottish coinage had resulted in the divergence of the Scottish and English currencies. However, from 1600 onwards the exchange rate was stabilised at 12:1. One pound Scots equalled 1s. 8d sterling and 1 pound sterling equalled 12 pounds Scots. Some Scottish documents refer to the Scottish merk which was mainly a unit of account, but was occasionally minted prior to 1707. 1 merk equalled two thirds of a Scots pound i.e. 13s 4d which was the equivalent to 1s 1d in sterling.
For more information about money, coinage and banking visit the SCAN
In addition, the Scots currency converter on this website allows you to
carry out addition in pounds, shillings and pence and convert an amount
in Scots pounds to Sterling from the year 1600 onwards. You can also find
out the purchasing power of a sum of money using the Economic History
Services website: http://measuringworth.com/calculators/ppoweruk/
Back to Numbers main page.


Congenital infections affect babies as the result of infection of the mother during pregnancy. Infection of the infant can occur before the infant is born or during the birth process.
for searching the Internet and other reference sources
Group B streptococcus
What Are Congenital Infections?
Bacteria, parasites, or viruses can cause congenital infections, which are infections that are present at birth. These infections can be passed to the fetus or newborn in two ways. Some infections, such as rubella or cyto-megalovirus, are passed from the mother to the baby through the placenta (pluh-SEN-ta), the organ that nourishes the baby in the uterus, or womb. A baby can also become infected during the passage through the birth canal, as happens with group B streptococcus.
Some infections that can seriously endanger the health of a developing fetus or newborn cause few or no symptoms in a pregnant woman. The mother's health and immunity to disease play a role in whether or not she contracts an illness. In addition, the stage during the pregnancy when a woman becomes infected can also affect the severity of the infant's illness. For example, being exposed to an infection in early pregnancy is often more dangerous for the fetus, placing the baby at higher risk for miscarriage * , birth defects, or other problems.
What Are Some Common Congenital Infections?
There are many infections that can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy or childbirth.
Chlamydial (kla-MIH-dee-ul) infection is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis (kla-MIH-dee-uh truh-KO-mah-tis). Many women who are infected do not even realize it because they often have no symptoms. However, when untreated, chlamydia can cause a scarring infection of the woman's internal reproductive organs, increasing her risk of a potentially fatal tubal pregnancy * . If passed to the baby during the passage through the birth canal, chlamydia can cause conjunctivitis * and pneumonia * . These infections usually respond well to antibiotic treatment.
Cytomegalovirus (sye-tuh-meh-guh-lo-VY-rus) infection (CMV) is caused by the cytomegalovirus, a member of the herpesvirus family * . It is transmitted through infected blood, saliva, urine, or other body fluids. CMV is a common infection, affecting about 1 in 100 newborns. Many people who have CMV do not realize it because it often produces no symptoms in healthy adults, but mothers who are infected with the virus during pregnancy can pass the virus to the baby in the uterus. A woman can also pass the virus to her infant during delivery or through breast milk, however, infection by these routes is less likely to cause severe problems for the baby. Newborns who have contracted CMV in the womb may have no initial symptoms, but over the first few years of life the infection has been associated with problems with growth and development, as well as trouble with vision and hearing. About 10 percent of infants with congenital CMV infection will have signs or symptoms at birth that may include jaundice * , retinitis * , microcephaly * , or signs of brain damage. Antiviral medications may help in some cases of congenital CMV infection.
* miscarriage is the ending of a pregnancy through the death of the embryo or fetus before birth.
* tubal (TOO-bal) pregnancy is a condition in which a fertilized egg implants in the fallopian tube instead of the wall of the uterus.
* conjunctivitis (kon-jung-tih-VY-tis), often called 'pinkeye," is an inflammation of the thin membrane that lines the inside of the eyelids and covers the surface of the eyeball. Conjunctivitis can be caused by viruses, bacteria, allergies, chemical irritation, and other conditions or diseases that cause inflammation.
* pneumonia (nu-MO-nyah) is inflammation of the lung.
* herpesvirus (her-peez-VY-rus) family is a group of viruses that can store themselves permanently in the body. The family includes varicella virus, Epstein-Barr virus, and herpes simplex virus.
* jaundice (JON-dis) is a yellowing of the skin, and sometimes the whites of the eyes, caused by a buildup in the body of bilirubin, a chemical produced in and released by the liver. An increase in bilirubin may indicate disease of the liver or certain blood disorders.
* retinitis (reh-tin-EYE-tis) is an inflammation of the retina, the nerve-rich membrane at the back of the eye on which visual images form.
* microcephaly (my-kro-SEH-fah-lee) is the condition of having an abnormally small head, which typically results from an underdeveloped or malformed brain.
Gonorrhea (gah-nuh-REE-uh) is an STD caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae (nye-SEER-e-uh gah-no-REE-eye). Women often do not know that they are infected because the infection may not cause noticeable symptoms. Newborns can be infected during birth and develop an eye infection called gonococcal ophthalmia (gah-nuh-KOH-kul opf-THAL-me-uh). In rare cases, babies will develop gonorrhea that causes blindness or meningitis * . In the United States, newborns routinely receive eye medication at birth to prevent gonococcal eye infection. Antibiotics are given by injection to newborns if gonococcal infection is suspected.
Group B streptococcal infection
Group B streptococcal, or GBS, infection is caused by a bacterium that can be passed from mother to child shortly before or during birth. In newborns it can cause sepsis * , pneumonia, and meningitis. Although most pregnant women with GBS infection have no symptoms, it can cause bladder infections, infections in the womb (known as amnionitis, am-nee-o-NYE-tiss), and stillbirth. GBS disease is the most frequent cause of life-threatening infection in newborns, and according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the rate of infection in newborns is 0.5 per 1,000 live births. Since the beginning of preventive screening and treatment in pregnant women, the number of babies affected by GBS infection has declined by 70 percent. Newborns with GBS infection are treated with intravenous * antibiotics and require hospitalization.
Hepatitis (heh-puh-TIE-tis) is an inflammation of the liver * . Viruses, bacteria, and a number of other noninfectious medical conditions can cause hepatitis. Hepatitis that is of concern with regard to congenital infection usually is caused by the hepatitis B or C viruses. Both can be transmitted from mother to newborn during birth. If not vaccinated, about 90 percent of newborns infected with hepatitis B at birth will develop chronic * hepatitis, although newborns may not have symptoms of hepatitis at first. In the United States, newborns now routinely receive vaccinations * against hepatitis B infection.
Herpes (HER-peez) refers to the infections caused by the two types of herpes simplex virus: HSV-1 and HSV-2. HSV-1 causes cold sores; HSV-2 is sexually transmitted and in women can cause lesions (LEE-zhunz), or sores, on the vagina, cervix * , or skin around the birth canal. The virus can be passed to babies who have contact with these lesions during birth. Herpesvirus infection in newborns can be limited to the skin or it can involve the lungs, brain, and other organs. More widespread infection in the infant can result in permanent brain damage, mental retardation, or death. Newborns with herpes are given intravenous antiviral medication.
* meningitis (meh-nin-JY-tis) Is an inflammation of the meninges, the membranes that surround the brain and the spinal cord. Meningitis is most often caused by infection with a virus or a bacterium.
* sepsis is a potentially serious spreading of infection, usually bacterial, through the bloodstream and body.
* intravenous (in-tra-VEE-nus) means within or through a vein. For example, medications, fluid, or other substances can be given through a needle or soft tube inserted through the skin's surface directly into a vein.
* liver is a large organ located beneath the ribs on the right side of the body. The liver performs numerous digestive and chemical functions essential for health.
* chronic (KRAH-nik) means continuing for a long period of time.
* vaccinations (vak-sih-NAY-shunz), also called immunizations, are the giving of doses of vaccines, which are preparations of killed or weakened germs, or a part of a germ or product it produces, to prevent or lessen the severity of the disease that can result if a person is exposed to the germ itself.
* cervix (SIR-viks) Is the lower, narrow end of the uterus that opens into the vagina.
Parvovirus infection is caused by parvovirus B19, which causes fifth disease in children. Fifth disease usually results in a distinctive red rash on the face, body, arms, and legs. Women who are infected during pregnancy typically experience only mild illness, with symptoms such as a rash or joint pain or swelling. However, in some cases the infection can cause severe anemia * in the unborn baby and miscarriage.
Rubella (roo-BEH-luh) infection (German measles) is caused by the rubella virus, which is transmitted by contact with fluid from the mouth or nose (usually from coughs or sneezes) of someone who is infected. If a woman contracts the disease early in her pregnancy, she can pass it to her unborn baby. It can lead to congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), which is associated with fetal death, miscarriage, premature delivery, and various birth defects, including deafness, cataracts * , mental retardation, microcephaly, enlarged liver and spleen * , bone marrow * problems, and heart defects. CRS occurs in about 25 percent of infants born to women who had rubella infection during the first 3 months of pregnancy. Babies born with CRS are treated for specific defects.
Syphilis (SIH-fih-lis) is an STD caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. If a pregnant woman has syphilis, she can pass it to the fetus. If not treated early, syphilis can lead to serious complications in infants, including blindness, deafness, central nervous system * problems, and death. Nearly half of all infants infected with syphilis during pregnancy die before or shortly after birth, unless the mother has received treatment with antibiotics (usually penicillin) early in the pregnancy. Penicillin is given to infants whose mothers were infected but inadequately treated. Babies who show evidence of possible congenital syphilis, based on either physical signs or the results of a routine newborn blood test that screens infants for exposure to syphilis, also are treated with penicillin.
Toxoplasmosis (tox-o-plaz-MO-sis) is caused by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which is commonly found in cats and can be passed to humans in cat feces * . The March of Dimes estimates that a pregnant woman who contracts toxoplasmosis has a 40 percent chance of passing it to her baby. Handling soiled cat litter is the typical way that the disease is transmitted to humans, but the parasite also may be present in raw or undercooked meat. Women who are first infected with the parasite shortly before they become pregnant or when they are pregnant can pass the organism to the fetus, leading to congenital toxoplasmosis; the symptoms of this condition include jaundice, rash, fever, anemia, inflammation of the retina of the eye, and an enlarged spleen and liver. A baby with congenital toxoplasmosis may be blind or have learning and motor (movement) disabilities and other central nervous system problems. The problems associated with congenital toxoplasmosis may be present at birth or appear as the child develops.
* anemia (uh-NEE-me-uh) is a blood condition in which there is a decreased amount of oxygen-carrying hemoglobin in the blood and, usually, fewer than normal numbers of red blood cells.
* cataracts (KAH-tuh-rakts) are areas of cloudiness of the lens of the eye that can interfere with vision.
* spleen is an organ in the upper left part of the abdomen that stores and filters blood. As part of the immune system, the spleen also plays a role in fighting infection.
* bone marrow is the soft tissue inside bones where blood cells are made.
* central nervous system (SEN-trul NER-vus SIS-tem) is the part of the nervous system that includes the brain and spinal cord.
* feces (FEE-seez) is the excreted waste from the gastrointestinal tract.
Infection with the varicella zoster (var-uh-SEH-luh ZOS-ter) virus can cause chicken pox and shingles (an infection that can cause a painful rash with blisters), and it can be spread through contact with the sneezes or coughs of an infected person. Because most adults had chicken pox as children, it is uncommon for a pregnant woman to become infected with the varicella virus. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists estimates that a woman's risk of contracting varicella during pregnancy is less than 1 in 1,000. However, becoming infected during pregnancy can cause serious complications. If a woman is infected with varicella early in the pregnancy, the baby can have multiple birth defects. Features of congenital varicella syndrome may include scarring, malformed limbs, and damage to the eyes and brain. Up to 2 percent of women who become infected with varicella during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy have babies with congenital varicella syndrome. If a mother contracts chicken pox immediately before or after delivery, the baby may develop severe or even fatal chicken pox.
Can Congenital Infections Be Prevented?
There are many preventive steps pregnant women can take to avoid becoming infected with diseases that could harm their infants. Practicing abstinence (not having sex) or safe sex by using a latex condom can reduce the risk of contracting STDs such as syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and herpes. Experts recommend that every pregnant woman be screened for these infections and, if needed, treated with antibiotics or other medications to reduce the risk of passing them to her baby.
Because between 20 and 30 percent of pregnant women carry GBS bacteria, pregnant women often are tested for the bacteria between the thirty-fifth and thirty-seventh weeks of pregnancy. The woman's doctor takes samples from the vagina and rectum, and the samples are examined under a microscope. If a woman is infected with GBS, intravenous antibiotics given during delivery can help reduce the risk of transmitting the bacteria to her baby.
Avoiding contact with cat feces and not eating or handling raw meat can reduce the risk of contracting toxoplasmosis. Wearing gloves when handling soil, especially outside, and cooking all meat thoroughly before eating can also help prevent infection. Women who are considering becoming pregnant can be screened for antibodies * to CMV and toxoplasmosis. If tests show that they already have antibodies, there is no risk of acquiring the disease during pregnancy and therefore no risk to the baby. If they do not have antibodies, they should practice particularly good hygiene while pregnant, including frequent hand washing, especially after contact with diapers or someone's bodily fluids. Good hygiene can also help prevent infection with parvovirus.
One way for a woman to prevent pregnancy- and newborn-related infections is to make sure her vaccinations are updated before becoming pregnant. Vaccinations can prevent some diseases, such as rubella and varicella, but if a pregnant woman does not have immunity to these diseases, she should not be vaccinated while pregnant because of potential risk to the fetus (these vaccines contain live viruses). Instead, vaccinating those around her can help protect her from infection. Other vaccines, such as the flu vaccine (not a live virus vaccine), are recommended during pregnancy.
* antibodies (AN-tih-bah-deez) are protein molecules produced by the body's immune system to help fight specific infections caused by microorganisms, such as bacteria and viruses.
* immune globulin (ih-MYOON GLAH-byoo-lin), also called gamma globulin, is the protein material that contains antibodies.
Women with herpes lesions will likely have their babies delivered via cesarean section to reduce the risk of passing the virus to the baby during delivery. Administering hepatitis B immune globulin * and hepatitis B vaccine to the infant within 12 hours of birth can prevent hepatitis B infection in the newborn. Experts recommend that rubella and varicella vaccines be given before pregnancy to women who have not already had these diseases or received the vaccines.
March of Dimes, 1275 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains, NY 10605. The
March of Dimes provides information about how to prevent birth defects,
such as those caused by CMV and rubella infection. Telephone 888-MODIMES
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1600 Clifton
Road, Atlanta, GA 30333. The CDC is the U.S. government authority for
information about infectious and other diseases. The organization offers
fact sheets about pregnancy- and newborn-related infections at its


There’s a new buzzword in the sustainable seafood movement: traceability. But like “sustainability,” “traceability” is an ambiguous and confusing concept.
At its most basic definition, traceability is a record-keeping system designed to track the flow of product through the production process or supply chain.
But what that looks like in practice can vary greatly.
For many businesses, traceability means having the data to know what came in the company’s door, and what left. For others, the term implies sophisticated electronic data systems that can store product information in the form of bar codes. Some think the word means having a set of standards by which data is recorded and shared. And yet others hold that traceability must provide access to essential information about how fishing takes place.
The truth is, everyone is correct.
Today, there are multiple functions that all fall into the traceability bucket. These functions exist to serve different business and regulatory needs. And that’s where things get complicated. For companies to effectively root out environmental and social ills such as fraud, illegal fish, and human rights abuse, requires a combination of multiple traceability functions applied across the entire supply chain.
Environmental and social NGOs working in the seafood arena today confront a new difficulty: Keeping up with the rapidly evolving traceability landscape. Members of the NGO community, especially those already engaged in traceability work, recognize that implementing robust, end-to-end traceability requires the coordinated effort of multiple NGOs and their industry partners. Such coordination will be far more efficient and effective with common definitions, training tools, and communication resources in hand.
To help fellow NGOs navigate this important topic and work with industry partners more effectively, Future of Fish, with the assistance of FishWise, Global Food Traceability Center (GFTC), and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), led research and development of educational and communication tools. Following surveys and interviews with conservation organizations, Future of Fish created resources to meet internal NGO staff training needs and to use with industry partners. The resources on this site were designed to meet the expressed need for multiple forms of media that include high-level concepts and more detailed explanations. These tools can be used by NGO organizations internally and externally.
The current suite of tools can be accessed via the page sidebar as well as being linked below:
- A comprehensive and illustrated Glossary of Traceability Terms
- A one-sheet defining the five core functions of traceability
- A series of three PSA-style animations that highlight the need for full-chain traceability
- A detailed slide deck with narrated voiceover that provides insight into the current traceability landscape of the seafood supply chain, and an overview of developing initiatives and innovations
The NGO Traceability Toolkit was funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.


Photos: Auschwitz Memorials and DisplaysClick on a thumbnail image to view the full photograph.
A washroom in Block 11--the "Death Block." Here condemned prisoners were made to undress before being shot. Temporary gas chamber used during 1941 and 1942. Urn of human ashes. One of the many suitcases found at the camp when the Soviet troops arrived. Prosthetic devices taken from prisoners. Cloth made from human hair. Seven tons of human hair were found in the camp warehouses. One small section of the "mountain" of shoes on display at the camp. Zyclon B cans. Zyclon B cans. This sculpture by Mieczyslaw Stobierski, at Auschwitz, is titled "Starvation." Detail of sculpture. Detail of sculpture. Sculpture by Anna Raynoch-Brzozowska, titled "Mother and Child." This sculpture titled "Wie Zien," is by Hanna Raynoch. Stained glass, 1977.
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A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust
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College of Education, University of South Florida © 2005.


Asian countries on front line of climate calamity—report
The latest annual Global Climate Risk Index 2018 report makes dismal reading for Asian economies.
Launched by German climate change think-tank Germanwatch on the sidelines of COP23 in Bonn, Germany on Thursday, the 13th edition of the Index further confirms the fact that less developed nations are more vulnerable to climate change.
Asian countries once again feature among the most-at-risk nations on the Index, which analyses data from weather-related disasters such as storms, floods and heat waves.
The Germanwatch report states that more than 524,000 people died as a direct result of over 11,000 extreme weather events and losses between 1997 and 2016, amounting to around US$3.16 trillion (on Purchasing Power Parity).
According to the Climate Risk Index: Haiti, Zimbabwe and Fiji rose to the top of the list on 2016 data.
None was on last year’s ranking – thus showing how unpredictable climate change is. On the Long-Term Climate Risk Index (CRI): the 10 countries most affected from 1997 to 2016 (annual average) of the report, Honduras, Haiti and Myanmar top the list.
The top three countries in the long-run (1997-2016) were hit by Hurricane Mitch (Honduras) in 1998, Hurricane Sandy (Haiti) in 2012 and Cyclone Nargis (Myanmar) in 2008.
Most of the Asian countries hold the same position as of last year’s long-term index (1996 to 2015), with the Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam in 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th positions respectively.
Furthermore, of the 10 most affected countries (1997–2016), nine were developing ones in the low income or lower-middle income country group.
Pakistan ranked 40t in the list, suffering 566 casualties, losing US $47.313 million – equivalent to 0.0048 per cent of the GDP.
“The Climate Risk Index may serve as a red flag for already existing vulnerability that may further increase in regions, where extreme events will become more frequent or more severe due to climate change,” reveals the report.COP23, scheduled to end on November 17, is a good opportunity for Asian nations to showcase their high climate vulnerability and success stories of adaptation to the world, along with building pressure on the developed countries to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius pledged in the Paris Agreement.
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Welcome to the Birmingham City Schools!
The mission of the Birmingham City School System is to guide all students to achieve excellence in a safe, secure and nurturing environment.
The Birmingham City School System offers a standards-based aligned curriculum to its students. Standards-based reform is the driving force behind most federal, state and local education policy. Under the standards-based reform, students will have access to more challenging curriculum content that they will be expected to learn at a proficient to high level of performance.
The focus of the Birmingham City School System is to raise academic standards for all students. The standards guiding the selection of curriculum materials and classroom instruction are determined by the following:
Within the framework of these standards, Birmingham City School System offers a broad range of academic curriculum from early childhood to college preparatory. BCS also meets the diverse needs of its students through specialized programs for English as a second language, gifted students, family literacy and more.
The content of the curriculum that specifies what students should know at each grade level.
The content also specifies what the teachers must teach.


Light pollution is playing havoc with age-old rhythms of life—of sleep, procreation, metabolism, migration and foraging
When was the last time you looked up at the night sky and marvelled at the wondrous caravan of countless celestial objects winking at you from the deep recesses of space and time? At the Milky Way, the galactic stardust of which our planet is a part, or the Betelgeuse, one of the brightest stars visible to the naked eye, or for that matter moons of Jupiter and rings of Saturn? To be sure, when it comes to the heavens, most of us, especially the urbankind, are proverbial frogs in a well (except perhaps vicariously when we seek omens in its mysterious movements). But even for the astronomically curious, the modern city lights have become so dazzling and ubiquitous that there are very few spaces of sheer darkness left from where one could enjoy an unfiltered view of the night sky.
The story goes that in 1994, when an earthquake in the wee hours cut off power to most of Los Angeles, some people reported the spooky appearance of a “strange sky”—they were actually looking at stars!
Scientists refer to it as light pollution, and it is captured most tellingly in satellite images of Earth. According to a recent study published in Science Advances, satellite shots taken every October between 2012 and 2016 show that the world is not only getting warmer but also brighter. The US especially is so flushed in this artificial glow that children growing up there now may never see the Milky Way. The story in western Europe is not much different either.
Lighting is colonising the rest of the world too at a brisk pace. Indeed, according to the study, most of the growth in lighting came from developing countries—Africa still has large patches of darkness while India and China appear flood-lit. This is in line with earlier studies that suggest that lighting grows with rising GDP. So, the world is set to get even brighter in the times to come.
Curiously, while satellite images show that developed countries like the US have reached a saturation point, authors of the study point out that the brightness might well be increasing as the satellite used in the study cannot pick up the blue light of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are rapidly replacing the old sodium lamps because they consume less energy and last longer, and hence contribute less to the carbon budget. One can see them sprouting almost everywhere in big cities now—in parks, at homes, on streets and across stadia and malls, among other spaces. This is yet another illustration of Jevon’s paradox, which states that, contrary to common sense, doing more with less does not necessarily lead to parsimony.
But what if we are denied the beauty of the Milky Way? Isn’t that, as many argue, a small, indeed some may argue even fair, price to pay for progress, and which makes our urban spaces safe from crime to boot? (Incidentally, a 1997 study by the US National Institute of Justice did not find a strong correlation between crime rates and lighting at night. So this claim remains contentious). On the face of it, light pollution may not seem as hazardous as air pollution, but it can play havoc with age-old rhythms of life—for instance, of sleep, procreation, metabolism, migration and foraging—that have evolved over millions of years in harmony with natural cycles of light and darkness. For instance, a recent study published in the journal Nature reveals that artificial light drove nocturnal pollinators away from plants. Another British study found that trees bathed in artificial light burst their buds earlier. Likewise, many studies have documented how artificial light acts as false beacon or deadly siren for many species of insects, migratory birds, nocturnal creatures like bats and owls, as well as for a host of marine life. As for its impact on plants, we haven’t even scratched the surface.
Forget about other forms of life, for they are convenient scapegoats for modern civilisation’s crimes agai nst ecology. We are not even willing to come to terms with how light pollution might be disrupting the lives of our own species. It’s common lore now that our wanton flirtation with the day-night cycle is behind the epidemic of insomnia afflicting the world. Besides, a growing body of evidence suggests that light pollution may be linked to cancer, obesity, depression and dementia.
And yet we continue to transgress the natural line between light and darkness through artificial lighting, not just through electric lights but now through our addiction to laptops and smartphones. Indeed, last year’s Nobel Prize in physiology was conferred on three US scientists for unravelling the complex links between circadian rhythm (in other words, inner biological clock) and the external environment. Many believe this should be a wake-up call to reclaim and revive the forgotten darkness in our lives.
Fascination with darkness, especially its connection with sleep, has a much older vintage. The ancient Indian text called the Mandukya Upanishad talks about a state of consciousness called turiya (fourth state) that occurs only in deep darkness of the midnight hour, and transcends the other three—waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep. Other cultures too refer to something similar—Tahajjud or the Night Prayer in Islam, and Tikkun Chatzot or the Midnight Repair in Judaism, which, however, has become very rare, thanks to the encroachment of darkness by the ubiquitous electric lamp.
But darkness also inspired fear, so humans learnt to pierce it with fire long before (about 250,000 years ago) Edison’s famous invention. In fact, in his book Catching Fire, Harvard anthropologist Richard Wrangham argues that gathering and feasting around fire with others is what made us human. As time went on, human ingenuity devised ever-more efficient ways to encroach upon darkness, from wax candles, oil lamps and gaslights to eventually the electric bulbs, which have colonised almost all parts of the globe today. More than 60 per cent of the world, and close to 99 per cent of the US and Europe, now lives under a sepia sky tainted with light.
But how does one resist this mass illumination so that we can experience not only the cosmic experience of the night sky but also the primeval pleasure of deep sleep? It would be foolish to go around smashing electric lamps, as the Parisians did with the lanterns in the 18th century—mourn as we may the loss of darkness, the truth is we cannot do without lighting.
Nevertheless, we can at least take the edge off it by making it less harsh and less pervasive. For a start, as the world switches to energy-efficient LEDs, we should opt for the much softer red or orange glow instead of the blue, which stymies melatonin, the sleep-inducing chemical. Second, go dark for several hours at night, as some cities like Chicago and Paris have been doing over the past few years. Third, go for shaded lamps instead of the open or sky-facing ones that pollute more. Lastly, as much as you can, avoid using laptops or smartphones a couple of hours before going to sleep.
As Paul Bogard wonders in his illuminating The End of Night, “while light at night is welcome, can there be such a thing as too much? In doing away with darkness, what beauty do we lose?” A couplet on the electric lamp by the irrepressible 19th century Urdu shayar Akbar Allahabadi may throw some light on the matter:
Barq ke lamp se aankhon ko bachaaey Allah
Roshni aati hai aur noor chalaa jaata hai
[God save our eyes from the electric lamp
Darkness it does light up but takes away the glow.]
A thought-provoking poser indeed. But how about sleeping on it in the deeply pleasurable shadows of the night?
This monthly section will explore the tangled web of modern ideas about science and environment across space and time
(This article was first published in the 16-31 January issue of Down To Earth, under the headline, 'The death of darkness').
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Dyson was founded in 1992 by Sir James Dyson, who at the time was an industrial designer and inventor who had invented and patented bagless vacuums using cyclone technology. The man and his company pride themselves on engineering products which work in different and better ways than their predecessors. Dyson famously created 5,127 prototypes of his first vacuum cleaner in a workshop behind his house before he felt it was acceptable for commercialization. By the late 1990′s, Dyson began working on motor technology for his vacuum products, and eventually invented and patented the Dyson digital motor based on the switch reluctance principle. This smaller, lighter, cleaner and more power-efficient motor gave Dyson another proprietary piece of technology to beat the competition, and Dyson engineers began to propose other products that could utilize the “DDM.” One of those new products was a hand dryer that used high-velocity air to “scrape” the water off of hands rather than using heated air to evaporate it.
Dyson postulated that he could invent a hand dryer that was faster, more energy efficient, and more hygienic than those that blow without filtration and use heat. Several years later, in 2006, he unveiled the Dyson Airblade hand dryer to the world. Because the DDM was so powerful, it could pull air through an incredibly dense HEPA filter and still maintain a high air velocity. Dyson integrated antimicrobial coatings into the materials for an added hygiene impact. By avoiding the need for a heater, the units required a mere 1400 watts for the motor (which was on for only 12 seconds), making it very energy efficient. In typical Dyson fashion, Airblade was the new best in class product.
Dyson put the Airblade through more independent product testing and certification than any other hand dryer manufacturer. It is the only hand dryer certified as hygienic by the Royal Society of Public Health in the UK, NSF in the US, and HAACP International globally (HAACP is the global food safety organization that sets standards for hygiene in food manufacturing and preparation). It also has achieved the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Reduction Label, reflecting the carbon footprint of the product and a symbol of the brand’s commitment to further reducing their impact on the environment.
All of these things make the Dyson Airblade hand dryer a one-of-a-kind product. It features low energy, fast dry time, a tough and durable exterior, and is hygienic enough for the food industry. Dyson Airblade hand dryers also have unique warranties that includes some of the labor where the tech will repair the unit on your wall if something goes wrong.
Along with their unique warranty, Dyson has a financing program. In this program, for as low as $29/month (over 5 year period) you can obtain a Dyson with no money down. Imagine replacing your $100-200/month paper towels with just $29! Call us for details.
The Airblade product line has gone through some changes in the past few years. The original AB02 and AB04 have been replaced by the improved (and quieter) AB14 (aka the Airblade dB). They have added the AB12 (or Airblade V) hand dryer, Dyson’s first traditional on-wall, ADA-compliant hand dryer that features the new V4 DDM. And in 2014, they launched the Airblade Tap, the world’s first faucet with a built-in hand dryer.
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Sea-Tac Airport Installs Dyson Airblade Tap


Frustrated by what he considered low expectations and minimal structure at American Indian Public Charter School, Dr. Ben Chavis set out to reform the school by instituting no-nonsense policies regarding attendance, appearance, and instruction. And it worked. Included: Information about the American Indian Model (AIM to educate).
When Dr. Ben Chavis took over as principal of the American Indian Public Charter School (AIPCS) in Oakland, California, it was teetering on the edge of closure. Attendance was dismal, test scores low, and the building and grounds a mess. Chavis, a Lumbee Indian, thought the faculty was inappropriately using students' ethnicity as an excuse for not working hard or meeting expectations.
Dr. Ben Chavis
Chavis turned the school around with a get-tough approach now known as the American Indian Model (AIM to Educate) that stresses high expectations, strict standards, and no excuses. (The dress code, for example, prohibits students from wearing any makeup or jewelry, including watches.) A C- is a failing grade. Some traditional school holidays such as Columbus Day and Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday are celebrated by having students spend the day in class. In exchange, administrators tell parents if they support the AIM approach, they guarantee their children will be prepared to graduate from college. AIM has been adopted by other schools, with similar successful results.
Now retired, Chavis talked with Education World about his philosophy of education and why he thinks AIM works.
Education World: Who or what inspired you to be an educator?
Dr. Ben Chavis: I had some very good teachers, such as. Helen Smith in the third grade, Mrs. Ransom in the fourth grade, and Mary Lamm and Ann Phillips in the sixth grade who were tough as nails; they demanded discipline and hard work. My high school track coaches, Lawrence McDuffie, Francis Bass, and Ralph Ortega ran us like greyhound dogs. They taught me that discipline and hard work were the biggest indicators of success in sports and life. Those teachers and coaches inspired me to become an educator. I love and respect each of those great teachers who pushed me to put forth my best effort.
EW: How do you think the philosophy of educating American Indian children that existed at the school prior to your arrival developed? Do you think there are certain strategies that do benefit Indian children?
Chavis: There was no philosophy of educating American Indian or any other students at American Indian Public Charter School before I was hired by the school board. The school was a place where lazy adults pretended to be educators and collected a check. They seemed to have no idea as to how any student should be educated. My grandpa, Calvin Chavis, called this type of people bone heads or ticks. The AIPCS students were being cheated out of an education at that time. It continues to occur in mostly secondary schools -- the sixth through 12th grade -- throughout the United States. I know discipline, structure, accountability, and hard work are proven strategies that benefit all students in school.
EW: Some of your views and approaches might be seen by some as controversial.
Chavis: There are some individuals who see the American Indian Model (AIM to Educate) as controversial. Why is it controversial to discipline students who are lazy and reward hard-working students? Do the critics have a proven method of educating our student population? I don't waste my time with critics who have no proven record of student achievement. I am too busy working with students who want to improve their lives with a great education. Once our students graduate from middle school, they are prepared with the academic skills to graduate from the best high schools and universities in the United States. This proves the AIM to Educate approach works.
EW: What kind of response did you get from the American Indian community to your approach to reforming the school?
Chavis: The American Indian community as a whole was very supportive of my efforts to create high academic achievement standards for our students at AIPCS. Many of them worked with my staff and I to ensure the students returned to a clean school. Tommy Seaton, his family, and others have worked very hard during the last decade to make sure students get a first-rate education at AIPCS. The Indian community was very supportive of me implementing the American Indian Model at our school.
EW: What or who were the biggest obstacles in your efforts to turn around your school?
Chavis: The biggest challenge was to create a school culture of discipline and hard work at AIPCS. Students and families had been conditioned to label excuses as part of their culture -- to miss school, come late, and be unprepared to work. The students had a very low school attendance rate. Students cannot be prepared with sound academic skills when they are not in school. How can students excel in mathematics, language arts, science, social studies, physical fitness, or the arts when someone blames their learning style, ethnic culture, school curriculum, or economic situation [for their shortcomings]? Once I overcame that nonsense, the students at AIPCS started to excel in academics, physical fitness, and the arts and were accepted to attend some of the best schools in the United States. I developed a clear mission statement to ensure the students would receive a sound education and discipline at AIPCS. Students were taught that they must work hard and accept responsibility for their actions.
EW: What are the keys to implementing your approach in other settings, such as rural and suburban schools? Or is the setting not important?
Chavis: The leadership, teachers, students, and families must be trained in how the American Indian Model works. Once the training is completed and AIM is implemented in their school, they will see amazing academic results for their students. The principal must make sure the team follows the model. In Oakland, California, there are five secondary schools that have implemented the AIM to Educate model. The California Department of Education uses the Academic Performance Index (API) scoring of 200 as the lowest and 1000 as the highest to rank schools.
[The top five performing schools in the city are AIM schools.] American Indian Public Charter School is ranked 977; American Indian Public Charter School I, 933; American Indian Public High School, 946; Oakland Charter Academy, 943; Oakland Charter High School, 955.
In addition, those schools are ranked as some of the best secondary schools in the United States as a result of their high academic scores. I assure you, students will excel in the American Indian Model in a rural or urban setting. This is something you can take to the bank.
EW: How did you get parents involved in the school and get them to buy in to your approach?
Chavis: At AIPCS, 98 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. In short, some of the families are poor as church mice. We ask families to make sure their children attend school and support the decisions of our AIPCS staff. We guarantee every family whose child attends AIPCS that their child will be prepared to attend college. This philosophy has proven extremely successful with our students and families.
EW: How did the No Child Left Behind Act shape your approach to school reform?
Chavis: I love the No Child Left Behind Act. It makes public schools accountable for educating all students. The students at AIPCS take the California Standards Test (CST) each year at the end of April. The information from that test is utilized to make sure that we are addressing the core academic needs of each student. The CST has proven very accurate in the past in determining areas in which our students need additional academic support. We also send a copy of the students test results to their families. The students success at AIPCS confirms to the families that we are doing our job. In 2008-2009, every eighth grade student at AIPCS tested proficient or advanced in English-language arts and algebra.
This e-interview with Dr. Ben Chavis is part of the Education World Wire Side Chat series. Click here to see other articles in the series.
Article by Ellen R. Delisio
Copyright © 2009 Education World


1837, "detailed list of dishes to be served at a banquet or meal," from French menu de repas "list of what is served at a meal," from French menu (adj.) "small, detailed" (11c.), from Latin minutus "small," literally "made smaller," past participle of minuere "to diminish," from root of minus "to diminish" (from PIE root *mei- (2) "small"). Computer sense of "list of options displayed on a screen" is by 1967, from the expanded sense of "any detailed list," which is attested by 1889.
"kind of porridge; meal boiled in water or milk until it forms a thick, soft mass," 1670s, in the American colonies, a variant of mash (n.) "soft mixture." Meaning "anything soft and thick" is attested from 1824.
late 14c., "one who serves" in any capacity, agent noun from serve (v.). Especially "an attendant at a meal" (mid-15c.). By 1580s in sports. The meaning "that which is used in serving" is by c. 1600; the computing sense is by 1992.


Ethyl alcohol, also called ethanol, grain alcohol, or alcohol, a member of a class of organic compounds that are given the general name alcohols; its molecular formula is C2H5OH. Ethyl alcohol is an important industrial chemical; it is used as a solvent, in the synthesis of other organic chemicals, and as an additive to automotive gasoline (forming a mixture known as a gasohol). Ethyl alcohol is also the intoxicating ingredient of many alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, and distilled spirits.
There are two main processes for the manufacture of ethyl alcohol: the fermentation of carbohydrates (the method used for alcoholic beverages) and the hydration of ethylene. Fermentation involves the transformation of carbohydrates to ethyl alcohol by growing yeast cells. The chief raw materials fermented for the production of industrial alcohol are sugar crops such as beets and sugarcane and grain crops such as corn (maize). Hydration of ethylene is achieved by passing a mixture of ethylene and a large excess of steam at high temperature and pressure over an acidic catalyst.
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Ethyl alcohol produced either by fermentation or by synthesis is obtained as a dilute aqueous solution and must be concentrated by fractional distillation. Direct distillation can yield at best the constant-boiling-point mixture containing 95.6 percent by weight of ethyl alcohol. Dehydration of the constant-boiling-point mixture yields anhydrous, or absolute, alcohol. Ethyl alcohol intended for industrial use is usually denatured (rendered unfit to drink), typically with methanol, benzene, or kerosene.
Pure ethyl alcohol is a colourless, flammable liquid (boiling point 78.5 °C [173.3 °F]) with an agreeable ethereal odour and a burning taste. Ethyl alcohol is toxic, affecting the central nervous system. Moderate amounts relax the muscles and produce an apparent stimulating effect by depressing the inhibitory activities of the brain, but larger amounts impair coordination and judgment, finally producing coma and death. It is an addictive drug for some persons, leading to the disease alcoholism.
Ethyl alcohol is converted in the body first to acetaldehyde and then to carbon dioxide and water, at the rate of about half a fluid ounce, or 15 ml, per hour; this quantity corresponds to a dietary intake of about 100 calories.


Are you tired of your child struggling to learn? Do you feel helpless and frustrated? Did you know that if your child didn’t crawl very much or at all as a young child, that is could affect their learning, later in life? I understand because I was in your shoes!! My child was struggling. I had to figure out what to do. There is a way for them to be and feel successful! There are strategies that I have created and learned to help your child remember what is on a test, learn multiplication, figuring out simple addition and subtraction strategies, phonetics for early learners, number recognition, and much more! All of this while your child is on the move. It only takes a little preparation because I have done all of the work for you. You will be spending time with your kids while helping them learn. Having your child sit still while learning can be frustrating. Don’t feel that way anymore! I am Kim, founder of Brainonthego.com. I am so glad that I am talking to you! You came across my website for a reason and the common denominator is that our kids are struggling to learn. I started doing research and came upon some startling and interesting information.
I found this article and it opened my eyes. Joseph Chilton Pearce elaborates on this theme in describing the “startle effect”. He states that because children go essentially “catatonic” watching TV, producers found they could inject unexpected noises and sudden changes of volume and light in programming to shock the child viewer back into attention. These shocks cause the sympathetic nervous system to release, to the body and brain, cortisol, an adrenal hormone usually reserved for emergencies. The nervous system tries to readjust to this cortisol dosage, accepting the higher level as normal. Higher and higher numbers of startle effects become necessary to hold the child’s interest, which media producers have done. Children who view media are thus saturated with cortisol, which Chilton Pearce connects to the increases incidence of anxiety and over-stimulation in children. According to Sava Tang Alcantara from eHow, the definition for Cortisol is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands that sit above the kidneys. Known as the “stress hormone,” cortisol makes blood pressure and blood sugar levels rise. Chronic elevated blood pressure can increase an individual’s risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. Effectively managing stress may also help keep cortisol levels down and protect the immune system. Cortisol plays an important role in helping the body release insulin, maintain glucose levels and keep the immune system healthy. Dr. Axe explains that exercise is proven to reduce Cortisol along with diet, stress management and a few other ways. This is one thing that I want to help with by getting your child to learn while they move. I want to help lower their cortisol, help them exercise and most of all help your child to be successful in learning!
In the Parent magazine, Dina Roth Port explains why your child should crawl before they walk. While the conventional wisdom is that there’s no harm in skipping the crawling stage, a growing number of experts — particularly pediatric occupational therapists — say that crawling is actually a critical developmental milestone whose long-term benefits we’re only now beginning to recognize. I have some activities to help work on strengthening this stage. Also, I have other methods of helping children remember what they are learning that are unique. I do realize that our children have to use computers for education, but don’t let that be their primary resource of learning. Getting their blood flowing through their brain is just as effective and healthier for them.
The conventional way of teaching isn’t resonating with our children because they learn in different ways. This doesn’t mean that our children are ignorant, it just means that they learn differently. My own child learns differently and I realized that I had to do something for her because she was struggling. I want to use my passion to demonstrate to parents a way to help their children that is unlike anything else. It will motivate and stimulate your child’s mind. Your child will be moving most of the time while doing these outside the box activities. This method should engage your children that are ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyper Disorder), LD (Learning Disabilities) and other children who just want to learn an easier way. The children that I coach are always laughing at me while I demonstrate each activity. They haven’t seen anything like this and are surprised that I want them to move instead of sitting still. It is so fun to watch their faces as they tackle each task and they finally recall what they have just learned. Nothing is more rewarding than to see a child finally get it. It sure makes studying for a test more enjoyable. I remember the days of pulling out the flash cards, fussing about studying for a test and an evening of total frustration! Put those days behind you! Don’t you want your child getting their wiggles out while learning? What a bonus! The U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Frontiers in Psychology did research. I have pulled out an excerpt on their findings. This excerpt will inform you of who did what and the research they found.
Our children’s education is so important and they shouldn’t be frustrated because they learn differently. The time is now to invest in your child’s education and self-esteem. Using my methods can help your child and this way they will not always be on the computer.
If you want to read more about this in detail, here are the websites below:
You have to copy this article below and paste it in your search bar to show up. I’m not sure why it won’t go through without doing that.
https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/08/how-exercise-can-boost-the-childs-brain/? php=true& type=blogs& php=true& type=blogs&smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc id&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000& r=1


The is no question that a general environmental warming will have significant impact on the Northwoods, as it will everywhere. This is not the forum to debate our climatic future, nor the extent to which that future is shaped by the actions of humans; rather, it is assumed that we are entering into a period of warming, possibly if not probably a significant one.
Since recreation is key to the Northwoods economy, climate change could have significant economic as well as ecological impact. Warmer winters could easily make the snowmobile season too short to be economically viable, or could eliminate it altogether. Warmer summers might make vacationing in the Northwoods less pleasant, but warming throughout the entire region should leave the Northwoods cooler than most of the United States. And the lakes would remain an incredible asset regardless of warming.
Brian Fagan, in his book The Great Warming using the warm period of approximately 800 to 1300 A.D., generally referred to by climatologists as "the great warming", as a basis for looking at climate impacts on civilizations. His conclusion is that they are often significant. He also points out that for much of the world, the great warming really meant the great drought. While it brought some salutary effects to Europe (think of the period of the construction of the great cathedrals and the emergence from the dark ages), for much of the world the effect of warming was significant drought. Nothing from that period really enlightens the possible effect of warming on the Northwoods.
My own experiences at Star Lake certainly confirm a warming period. I can remember as a boy sitting at the lodge and seeing frost on the grass in late August. In the 1940s and into the 1950s all of the lodge cabins had wood stoves, and a wood pile was available near the cabin. And we used those stoves, especially in the evenings. Now seldom do I light my fireplace before Labor Day. These are simply anecdotal notes, but there is general agreement that the climate is quite a bit warmer than fifty years ago.
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WISCONSIN INITIATIVE ON CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS
WICCI was established in the fall of 2007 as a collaboration between the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR). Prior to WICCI's formation, both entities had independently begun to examine the issue of climate change impacts. The Nelson Institute effort began in response to questions from state legislators who wanted to understand how climate change could affect their constituents. The WDNR effort was in response to agency staff concerns about how climate change would impact the state's natural resources for which the agency had stewardship and management responsibilities. A joint meeting of 40 UW-Madison and agency scientists in early summer 2007 became the springboard for joining forces and launching a statewide effort. Following that meeting, a small, ad-hoc group of scientists from both entities developed the structure of WICCI--an organization that quickly grew to include representatives from other state and federal agencies, several UW System schools, tribal organizations, businesses and non-profit groups.