Jumat, 27 Juni 2014

New record: World’s oldest animal is 507 years old

This is the only picture of the ocean quahog Ming – the the longest-lived non-colonial animal so far reported whose age at death can be accurately determined. After the photo was captured in 2007, the shells were separated to allow accurate determination of the animal’s age. (Photo: Bangor University)

In autumn 2006 a team of researchers went on an expedition to Iceland, where they discovered something that made the headlines across the world. The discovery even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records.

One of the Arctica islandica bivalve molluscs, also known as ocean quahogs, that the researchers picked up from the Icelandic seabed turned out to be around 405 years old, and thus the world’s oldest animal.
However, after taking a closer look at the old mollusc using more refined methods, the researchers found that the animal is actually 100 years older than they thought. The new estimate says that the mollusc is actually 507 years old:

“We got it wrong the first time and maybe we were a bit hastingly publishing our findings back then. But we are absolutely certain that we’ve got the right age now,” ocean scientist Paul Butler, who researches into the A. islandica at Bangor University in Wales, tells ScienceNordic.

A contemporary of Columbus and Luther

The ‘new’ age means that the mollusc was born in 1499 – only a few years after Columbus visited America for the first time, and more than a decade before Martin Luther’s Reformation of the Catholic Church.

The mollusc’s 507-year-long life came to an abrupt end in 2006 when the British researchers – unaware of the animal’s impressive age – froze the mollusc onboard the ship.
After its death, the mollusc was given the name Ming – after the Chinese Ming dynasty, which was in power when the animal was born.

Although Ming has turned out to be a full century older than first thought, the name is still relevant, as the Ming dynasty lasted for almost 300 years (1368-1644).

For each year of the ocean quahog’s life, a new growth ring emerges on its shell. In years with lots of food, the growth ring is usually wide, whereas a narrow ring indicates a year with less food. (Photo: Bert Aggenbach, NIOZ)

Did they get the age right this time?
How can we be sure that the British researchers have determined Ming’s correct age this time around?
According to one of the world’s leading mollusc researchers, there is a general agreement within research circles that 507 years is Ming’s correct age:

“The age has been confirmed with a variety of methods, including geochemical methods such as the carbon-14 method. So I am very confident that they have now determined the right age. If there is any error, it can only be one or two years,” says marine biologist Rob Witbaard of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, who has researched into the A. islandica for more than 30 years.

Witbaard was not involved in the study of Ming, but he has read the new article.

Bivalves were once thought not to exceed 100 years.

In the late 1980s, Witbaard was one of the scientists who discovered that the age of theA. islandica can be determined by counting growth rings in the shell.

“When I began my research in the 1980s, scientists didn’t know that the A. islandica could live beyond 100 years,” he says.

“I had several specimens in my collection that had more than 100 growth rings, but I found it difficult to convince people that they were really that old. Today, however, these growth rings have become an accepted way of dating the A. islandica.”

The growth rings on the ocean quahog are visible on both the outside and the outside of the shell. The hinge ligaments that connect the two shells are generally considered to be the best place for counting growth rings. It was for this very reason that the British researchers initially chose to count Ming’s growth rings inside the hinge ligaments. This photo shows the growth rings inside the shell, which formed the basis for the new, more accurate, estimate. (Photo: Rob Witbaard)

Why the initial misdating?
The growth rings on the A. islandica are visible both on the outside and the outside of the shell. The hinge ligaments that connect the two shells are generally considered to be the best place for counting growth rings.

“On the outside, the mollusc shell is curved, and that makes it difficult to get the right angle for measuring and counting the growth rings,” says Butler. “The growth rings are also better protected inside the hinge ligaments.”

And it was for this very reason that he and his colleagues initially chose to count Ming’s growth rings inside the hinge ligaments.

The problem with this, however, was that Ming was so old that the growth rings had become too compressed – the more than 500 rings were packed into a tiny hinge ligament area measuring only a few millimetres.

Unique patterns in growth rings
When the researchers started to re-date Ming, they therefore decided to look at the growth rings on the outside of the shell, as these were spread over a much wider surface and were thus easier to see.

And here they suddenly noticed many more growth rings.
To be extra sure, the British researchers began comparing Ming with other old specimens of the A. islandica.

According to Butler, different time periods are represented as unique patterns in the growth rings of the A. islandica – patterns that are almost identical in all specimens that have lived in the same area at the same time.

“In this way we can use measurements of other shells to determine that we actually arrived at the right age. The ocean quahog specimens we used for comparison were obviously not as old as Ming, but they have lived in different periods of Ming’s life. So this is how the patterns in their growth rings can help verify the age.”

Ming provides insight into climate changes
“The fact alone that we got our hands on an animal that’s 507 years old is incredibly fascinating, but the really exciting thing is of course everything we can learn from studying the mollusc,” says the head of the AMS 14C Dating Centre at Aarhus University, Denmark, Associate Professor Jan Heinemeier, who helped with the new dating of Ming.

The pattern in Ming’s growth rings does not only provide scientists with an accurate age of the animal; the A. islandica can also provide a unique insight into past climate conditions.

By examining the various oxygen isotopes in the growth rings, scientists can determine the sea temperature at the time when the shell came into being.

“The A. islandica provides us with a year-by-year timeline of the ocean temperature. I find that incredibly fascinating,” says Butler.

Rob Witbaard agrees that old ocean quahogs like Ming are a unique tool for shedding light on past climate change:

“There are a number of methods to chart past climate on land, but for the marine environment we only have some very limited data. The A. islandica can help fill this gap in our knowledge and provide us with a very accurate picture of past climate,” he says.

“This is important to our understanding of how much changes in the oceans affect the climate on land. And the really amazing thing is that the pattern in the ocean quahog’s growth rings actually recurs in tree rings.”

What is Ming’s secret for longevity?
The discovery of Ming in 2006 has inspired many researchers to try and figure out the secret behind its impressive age.

One leading researcher in this field is the German animal physiologist and marine biologist Doris Abele. She believes that the ocean quahog’s ability to live for centuries is primarily due to a slow metabolism. The animal lives its life in slow motion, so to speak:

“The A. islandica has a very low oxygen consumption. When an animal has such a slow metabolism, it normally also means that it has a very long lifespan. However, I also believe that part of the reason for its longevity lies in its genes,” says Abele, who heads a research group for stress physiology and ageing in marine ectotherms at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany.

Ming may not even be the world’s oldest
Although the latest research has established that Ming is 100 years older than originally thought, it is still not certain that Ming is the rightful owner of the title as the world’s oldest animal.

If the world of primitive organisms is to be included in what we call ‘the animal kingdom’, then the so-called primitive metazoans – a collective term for sponge-like animals, cnidarians, and worms – include a species that beats Ming by thousands of years.

The glass sponge (Hexactinellida) is thought to reach an age of 15,000 years, and some researchers even believe they have found specimens with ages of up to 23,000 years.




10 Facts About the Kingdom Tower, the Soon-To-Be Tallest Building in the World

Construction is set to begin on the soon-to-be-tallest building in the world: The Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, will stand 3,280 feet, and was designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture of Chicago. It is part of the larger development, Kingdom City, and will be the first structure in the world to reach the one-kilometer-high mark (the original design was to be one-mile-high (1.6 km), but the geology of the area was not suitable for that height).


The project comes with a (literally) high-minded pedigree: Adrian Smith designed Burj Khalifa while at Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. And like the Burj Khalifa, the final height of the project is undisclosed. This recalls the height wars in New York City in the last century, when the top of the Chrysler Building was kept hidden until its final debut, in order to beat out the Manhattan Trust Building.

Height wars aside, we've gathered some top pieces of trivia that illustrate why the Kingdom Tower is truly awe-inspiring, and more than just a big building:


1. The tower will be home to the world’s highest observatory. It will also have a separate, 98-foot-diameter outdoor balcony, which was originally intended to be a helipad.

2. The building is so big they are unable to show it realistically in one rendering. Only elevations and birds-eye views can contain the entire project. Imagine those construction drawings.


3. The foundation piles are about as large as a small room at 10 feet in diameter, and can reach up to 360 feet in length.

4. Its shape is functional. The narrowing silhouette has to fight wind as well as gravity, so the three-sided shard is designed to be aerodynamic. The taper also helps maximize usable/rentable area. It offsets the large core size on the lower floors by widening the base, while the shape also narrows the core overall, making it less space-consuming at the top.



5.  Its form is interesting for a tower of its size. The "three petal" plan allows separate extrusions to nudge against one another, while the profile is inspired by folded fronds of young desert plant growth. Gill-like indentations add another scale of visual intrigue.

6.  It's on a plinth! But joking aside, the building does meet the ground in a nuanced, thoughtful way. Transportation routes crisscross around it, and the plinth melds it with its urban surroundings.



7.  It has 59 elevators and 12 escalators, and five of these elevators will be double decker. The lifts will not reach the speeds of normal elevators, as the change in air pressure at those altitudes would cause nausea. Three sky lobbies will prevent any one elevator from having to go all the way to the top, eliminating the need for excessively huge cables.

8. It has high-tech features. A high-performance exterior wall system, including low-conductivity glass, will minimize energy consumption by reducing thermal loads.



9. There are super-cool patios all along its three sides. Each side features a series of shaded notches where outdoor terraces offer extreme views of Jeddah and the Red Sea.

10. The massive structure will contain 80,000 tons of steel. Parts of the core will contain concrete that is several meters thick.




We could Travel to New Worlds in NASA's Starship Enterprise

US space agency commissions design for its first warp speed spaceship

The body of the IXS Enterprise is suspended inside two large rings, a design decision that means the craft can sit safely inside the warp bubble generated by its Alcubierre drive. A good thing, too: any appendages that jutted outside would be subjected to unimaginable effects as the ship distorted space-time.

NASA announced in 2012 that it was working to build a "warp drive" that could enable "faster-than-light" travel. Two years later and the space agency hasn't built a spaceship capable of such speeds yet — but thanks to artist Mark Rademaker, we now know what one could look like. The result is the IXS Enterprise, a ship that shares similarities with both its science fiction Star Trek namesake, and NASA's real-world space shuttle.

Rademaker worked together with NASA's Dr. Harold White to produce visual concepts for the craft. White and his team at NASA are hoping to make "faster-than-light" travel possible with Alcubierre drives. The drives, named for physicist Miguel Alcubierre, theoretically work by distorting space-time. By expanding the space behind a ship and contracting the space in front of it, the IXS Enterprise could drastically speed up our space travel potential, making the 4.3 light-year journey to Alpha Centauri in around two weeks.

Rademaker says he was influenced in the design for his Enterprise by Matt Jefferies' sci-fi artworks from the 1960s. But where famed aviation artist Jeffries, who helped create the spaceships of the Star Trek universe, imagined spindly craft with thin rings, the IXS Enterprise sits inside two circles chubby enough to power its Alcubierre drive. The spacecraft is fatter than most of Jefferies' sci-fi ships, too, capable of bearing four cylindrical pods on its flanks, and sporting a wide, flat, duck's bill of a command module. Speaking at the SpaceVision conference last year, Dr. White justified the design, saying that "if you're going to go to all the trouble of making it that big, you might as well fit all you can in there."

Until NASA announces a breakthrough in its research of Alcubierre drives and "faster-than-light" travel technology, Rademaker's concepts will remain only concepts. But his visualization of the IXS Enterprise still gives us a glimpse of the kinds of vehicles we'll hopefully one day be able to use to travel to strange new worlds, to seek out new life, and new civilizations.

An Alcubierre drive is theoretically capable of warp speeds, but the travel time to our nearest neighbor is still two weeks. Any "faster-than-light" craft will need to be big enough to have room for staff and supplies to survive out beyond the edge of our solar system.

Rademaker's images imagine the ship during its construction. His design is shown to be modular, with space for four pods on the side of the ship that could house living quarters, supplies, or — in keeping with the ship's name — a holodeck.

The number of sponsors suggests NASA is expecting the commercial space travel sector to keep growing. Squint at the bottom right of the nameplate and you might see a familiar logo: Weyland-Yutani, the nefarious fictional megacorporation from the Alien movies.
The concept of a warp drive-enabled spaceship is still fanciful at this point in human development, but Rademaker's images blend elements of real-world tech with sci-fi suggestion. The Enterprise's side solar panels look like they've been borrowed from the International Space Station.

All images courtesy of Mark Rademaker.

SOURCE

Perbedaan Kampanye Hitam dan Kampanye Negatif




Kampanye Pilpres 2014 sudah dimulai. Sekarang para capres dan timnya sudah mulai berkampanye di berbagai kota di indonesia.


Pilpres kali ini bener benar panas karena hanya terdiri dari dua kubu yaitu Jokowi-JK dan Prabowo - Hatta. Walaupun kampanye resmi baru di mulai kemarin (4 juni 2014), namun kampanye didunia internet dan media Massa sudah di lakukan jauh jauh hari.  Kampanye media ini ini kebanyakan justru kampanye negatif dan kampanye hitam. Nah sekarang kita ke topik, apa sih kampanye negatif? Bedanya apa dengan kampanye hitam?

Namun sebelum lebih jauh membahas dua hal tersebut, kita harus tahu arti dari kampanye . Definisi kampanye menurut wikipedia adalah
Kampanye adalah sebuah tindakan doktet bertujuan mendapatkan pencapaian dukungan, usaha kampanye bisa dilakukan oleh peorangan atau sekelompok orang yang terorganisir untuk melakukan pencapaian suatu proses pengambilan keputusan di dalam suatu kelompok, kampanye biasa juga dilakukan guna memengaruhi, penghambatan, pembelokan pecapaian
Itu adalah definisi umum dari kampanye. Sedangkan definisi kampanye politik menurut wikipedia adalah SBB:
Kampanye politik adalah sebuah upaya yang terorganisir bertujuan untuk memengaruhi proses pengambilan keputusan para pemilih dan kampanye politik selalu merujuk pada kampanye pada pemilihan umum

Yang akan kita bahas adalah jenis kampanye dilihat dari isinya. Saya membagi jenis ini menjadi 4 jenis:

  • Kampanye Positif 
  • Kampanye Negatif
  • Kampanye Abu abu
  • Kampeye Hitam.  

 Kampanye Positif

Kampanye positif adalah kampanye yang lebih cenderung mengenalkan calon pemimpin/presiden secara pribadi,  program kerja dan visi misinya. Bentuk kampanye ini bisa berupa slogan, baliho, iklan TV, dialog, wawancara ataupun debat. Kampanye inilah yang harusnya dilakukan oleh para calon. Kenyataannya baik calon, tim ataupun fan dari calon pemimpin sangat jarang membahas ini, justru yang lebih di tonjolkan adalah kampanye yang menelanjangi kekurangan lawan yang sering disebut kampanye negatif.

Kampanye Negatif. 
kampanye Negatif di Pilpres 2014 ini sangat terasa. Kampanye negatif cenderung menyerang calon pemimpin secara pribadi, walaupun demikian, kampanye negatif ini juga bisa menyerang program kerja dari visi misi lawan politiknya.

Dalam agama islam,kampanye negatif ini sama dengan 'Ghibah' yang artinya membicarakan kejelekan orang lain. Kampanye ini walaupun konotasinya jelek, namun sering dipakai agar pemilih berhati hati dengan lawan politiknya dengan kekurangan yang ada dipihak lawan politik. Kadang kampanye negatif ini didasari dengan data dan fakta namun di opinikan dengan cara negatif.

Saya berikan contoh kampanye negatif baik yang ditujukan di prabowo atau jokowi


Kampanye Negatif ditujukan ke prabowo


  1. Prabowo seorang duda, pandangan lawan politiknya, kalo mimpin keluarga aja tidak bisa bagaimana mimpin negara. 
  2. Prabowo masih terkait order baru karena istrinya anak suharto
  3. Prabowo adalah orang yang emosional
  4. Prabowo ingin mengatur agama lewat visi misinya 
Kampanye Negatif Ditujukan Ke Jokowi
  • Jokowi mencla mencle
  • JK bilang negara bisa hancur jika di pimpin Jokowi
  • Jokowi Boneka Megawati
  • Jokowi Pro Asing 
  • jokowi tidak bisa bahasa inggris
  • jokowi tidak bisa pidato
  • Jokowi kerjanya  pencitraan
Kampanye Abu abu 
Kampanye abu abu adalah kampanye yang menjelekan pihak lawan namun data fakta dan realitanya masih abu abu. Benar salahnya belum bisa dibuktikan. Cuma dikesankan bahwa pihak lawan politik adalah salah. Contohnya adalah sbb:
  1. Prabowo di duga menculik dan melanggar ham di tahun 1998
  2. Prabowo pindah kewarganegaraan yordania
  3. Jokowi diduga terlibat dalam korupsi transjakarta
  4. Jokowi Gagal memimpin jakarta
  5. Tweet Triomacan tergolong kampanye abu abu, karena sebagian tweetnya bener sebagian hanya tuduhan tanpa dasar. 
Perhatikan bahwa dalam kampanye abu abu, antara kebenaran dan opini cenderung kuat opininya. Maka untuk perkara ini, belum bisa dibuktikan benar dan salahnya. Berbeda dengan kampanye NEGATIF yang sudah sangat terlihat data dan faktanya dilapangan. 

Kampanye Hitam 
Kampanye hitam adalah kampanye yang mengarah ke pembunuhan karakter dan cenderung FITNAH. Isinya fitnah, kebohongan dan tuduhan tanpa bukti. Kampanye jenis inilah yang bisa dijerat dengan hukum, minimal dapat sangsi dari KPU jika tim capres melakukan kampanye jenis ini. 

Kampanye hitam ini dalam piplres 2014 lebih sering ditujukan ke jokowi, berikut ini adalah contohnya
  1. Jokowi beragama kristen
  2. Jokowi keturunan CINA
  3. Jokowi Meninggal
  4. Tweet akun abraham samad (akun palsu) yang bilang prabowo akan membunuh jokowi. 
Dan masih banyak lagi kampanye hitam jenis ini. Namun yang menarik disini adalah kampanye hitam kadang dilakukan oleh pihak yang sama. Contohnya adalah di thailand.  bisa saja para pendemo di oposisi sengaja dihilangkan atau dibunuh justru oleh pihak oposisi juga lalu menyalahkan pihak pemerintah dan militer.  Sejauh ini kampanye HITAM di indonesia justru dilakukan lewat Internet oleh sumber tidak jelas. 

Kesimpulannya, Gunakanlah kampanye Positif untuk mendapat simpati calon pemilih dan gunakan kampanye Negatif seperlunya. DAN JANGAN PERNAH MENYEBARKAN KAMPANYE HITAM yang cenderung fitnah! sekian, semoga artikel ini bermanfaat.


8 Vending Machines You Didn't Know You Needed

STORY HIGHLIGHT:
  • In Japan you can buy beer, eggs, bras, live lobsters, salad and neckties from vending machines
  • The Cupcake ATM has hit in New York
  • Gold and Flip-flops are two more things you can buy from the vending machines on our list

(CNN) -- Legend has it the first machine dispensed holy water in exchange for a coin in ancient Egypt.
Tobacco vending machines have been around since the 1600s.

Then came soft drinks, chocolate bars, bubble gum and condoms. Now, vending machines can be used for anything small enough to be lifted out of a tray, it seems.

Japan has embraced the concept wholeheartedly, selling eggs, bras, live lobsters, salad, cold and hot coffee, ties and, reportedly, even used underwear from machines. Other countries are catching on.

1. Cupcakes (New York)
For $4.25, Sprinkles bakery's New York machine sells cinnamon-chocolate and other flavors of cupcakes. Sprinkles opened its first "Cupcake ATM" in California in 2012 and also has machines in Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas.
For $4.25, Sprinkles bakery's New York machine sells cinnamon-chocolate and other flavors of cupcakes. Sprinkles opened its first "Cupcake ATM" in California in 2012 and also has machines in Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas.
In the land where "small cakes baked in cups" were first mentioned in a recipe book in the 1700s, it's not surprising the hand-held cake has gone 24/7.

Stocked with up to 750 cupcakes baked daily in the adjoining Sprinkles bakery, this sugar-pink vending machine sells cupcakes around the clock.

For $4.25 you get to choose from cinnamon chocolate, black and white and seasonal specialties such as Irish chocolate and maple bacon.

There's even a doggie cupcake for your pooch, giving you an excuse to stop by when on "walkies."
Sprinkles opened its first "cupcake ATM" in California in 2012 and has also installed the machines in Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas.

Where to find it: 780 Lexington Ave., New York.

2. Gold Bars (Dubai, UEA)
It might not be a common midnight emergency purchase, but for those who do find themselves in need of gold to go, Dubai provides.
It might not be a common midnight emergency purchase, but for those who do find themselves in need of gold to go, Dubai provides.
You might not often need to buy a gold bar in the middle of the night, but in the United Arab Emirates, the tradition of gifting gold on holidays, festivals and special occasions is still going strong.

At the Gold ATM you can purchase anything from a 2.5-gram, 24-karat gold coin to a rather more substantial 31-gram (one ounce) gold bar.

You even have a choice of designs: a locally significant Burj Khalifa design or a kangaroo or Canadian maple leaf.

The price stays up to date via the Internet, it's refreshed every 60 seconds.

Where to find it: Lower Ground Floor, next to entrance to Burj Khalifa Observation Deck At The Top, Dubai Mall, Down Town, Dubai, UAE

3. Flip-flops (Sydney, Australia)
To embrace Australian culture, you need to wear flip-flops, or thongs as they're locally known. Say thank you to the Havaianas flip-flop vending machine.
To embrace Australian culture, you need to wear flip-flops, or thongs as they're locally known. Say thank you to the Havaianas flip-flop vending machine.
Flip-flops, or thongs as they're locally known, are part of the uniform in this country of sunshine, surfer dudes and an all-embracing relaxed attitude.

If you've arrived unprepared, the Havaianas flip-flop vending machine in Sydney's city center could be your sole salvation.

You're at the mercy of the machine for sizes and styles, but for $20 you're good to kick off your city shoes and hop to the beach.

Where to find it: Ground level, The Galleries, 500 George St., Sydney, NSW, Australia.

4. Umbrellas (Vancouver, British Columbia)
You know you've landed somewhere with inclement weather (Vancouver) when there's an umbrella vending machine at the airport. More so when it's empty.
You know you've landed somewhere with inclement weather (Vancouver) when there's an umbrella vending machine at the airport. More so when it's empty.
You know that you've landed somewhere with inclement weather when there's an umbrella vending machine at the airport.

One of the wettest cities in Canada with an average of 57 inches of rain per year, Vancouver prides itself in its mild climate, but gives you the option to be prepared.

For $5 you get a pocket-sized umbrella and ... well that's it.

Where to find it: Level 1, domestic arrivals just before the exit to public transportation, Vancouver Airport, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

5. Bicycle Helmets (Melbourne, Australia)
Just arrived in Melbourne, Australia, without this important cycling accessory? Helmets sold in vending machines come in three sizes and one design.
Just arrived in Melbourne, Australia, without this important cycling accessory? Helmets sold in vending machines come in three sizes and one design.
People clad in Lycra populate Aussie roads, but they stay safe -- it's illegal in Australia to ride a bike without a helmet.

If you've just arrived and want to cycle around the sights, you can pop into one of the many 7-Elevens in town to get a brain bucket.

If you're alighting at Southern Cross Station in the heart of Melbourne, however, you can get one out of a machine.

Three sizes, one design, $5, and you have a stylish blue helmet that's safe and legal.

Where to find it: Southern Cross Station, near the rental bike stand on Spencer Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

6. Caviar (Los Angeles)
Packed in shiny containers offering more than a dozen choices of delicate fish eggs from around the globe, this Los Angeles-based machine dispenses caviar in 25-gram tins (around $25) and party boxes of 400 grams ($999.95).
Packed in shiny containers offering more than a dozen choices of delicate fish eggs from around the globe, this Los Angeles-based machine dispenses caviar in 25-gram tins (around $25) and party boxes of 400 grams ($999.95).
Caviar and vending machines?

Beverly Hills, stronghold of the obscenely well-to-do, is home to not one but three caviar vending machines.

Called Caviar Automated Boutiques, these upscale vendors offer more than a dozen types of caviar from all over the world, packed in shiny containers offering anything from a tasty morsel at 25 grams (around $25) to party boxes of 400 grams ($999.95).

Where to find it: Westfield Topanga, Level 2, 6600 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Canoga Park, California.

7. Books (Canada)
This Canadian vending machine allows you to get a secondhand book for a mere $2, as well as giving you the opportunity to donate a book for the next reader.
This Canadian vending machine allows you to get a secondhand book for a mere $2, as well as giving you the opportunity to donate a book for the next reader.
It's a universally acknowledged truth that those in possession of too many unread books continue to buy new ones.

Green Reads offers a solution: a book vending machine that allows you to get a good secondhand book for $2, as well as giving you the opportunity to donate a book for the next reader.

The machines are located in commuter-dense areas such as train stations, hospitals and airports.

A portion of proceeds earned by the machines are donated to female literacy and numeracy programs in Africa.

Where to find it: The prototype is at Barrie Transit Downtown terminal, 24 Maple Ave., Barrie, Ontario.

8. Burritos (Los Angeles)
Where better than the University of Southern California campus to find the first-ever burrito vending machine?
Where better than the University of Southern California campus to find the first-ever burrito vending machine?
Students' diets are notoriously bad, so what better place than the University of Southern California campus for the first-ever burrito vending machine?

For $3.75 you can get a hot, steaming burrito.

So that busy students don't get too bored while being idle for the 90 seconds it takes to dispense, they can watch a music video while the robotic machine puts their food together.

Where to find it? Parkside Apartments, 3730 McClintock Ave., USC, Los Angeles.


The Sleep Schedules Of 27 Of History's Greatest Minds

WHAT DO FREUD, MARINA ABRAMOVIĆ, BEETHOVEN, AND YOU HAVE IN COMMON? FOR ONE, THE NEED TO SLEEP.

The science of sleep and its glorious effects on creativity, productivity, and sanity gets a lot of press these days. That said, the sleep habits of some of your favorite writers, musicians, and artists may surprise you a little.


The bedtimes and rising times of history’s greatest minds are inventively illustrated in this New York infographic based on Mason Currey’s Daily Rituals: How Artists Work.* The infographic seems to debunk the myth that geniuses stay up through the wee hours working manically, and that you're more creative when you're tired--most of these 27 luminaries got a wholesome eight hours a night.

Image: Ben Franklin and Sleep mask via Shutterstock

Unfortunately, the infographic doesn’t yield any sleep-related tricks for unleashing your own latent genius, other than following the boring eight-hour rule. You could try rolling like Balzac, a prodigious coffee-drinker who slept from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. and then napped mid-morning, but he was likely creative in spite of rather than because of his schedule. A few others skimped on their sleep too, of course--hard-partying F. Scott Fitzgerald slept between 3:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., and Sigmund Freud averaged just six hours a night, but his love of stimulants far stronger than caffeine is well-documented. So if you think pulling all-nighters is the key to finishing up your Great American Novel, reconsider after taking a nap.

*An earlier version of this article failed to credit New York for the visualization and misspelled the first name of Marina Abramović. We regret the errors.




Selasa, 10 Juni 2014

Clever Koalas Hug Trees to Stay Cool in Hot Weather, Scientists Say

Clever climate control
Researchers suspect that koalas aren't the only animals that hug trees to cool down. (Natalie Briscoe)

On a hot day in Australia, a koala’s thick fur is not necessarily an asset. The marsupials don’t retreat to dens or dugouts, and the water that would help them cool off can be hard to come by. In the wild, the animals “can suffer high mortality during extreme heat events,” according to a report published Wednesday in the journal Biology Letters.

The authors of the study figured koalas must do something to cool off in hot weather. To figure out what it was, they put radio collars on 37 koalas in southeastern Australia and tracked their movements during the winter of 2009 and the summer of 2010-11. (In the land down under, summer lasts from December to March.)

The researchers kept detailed records of these koalas’ activities, noting their posture and their preferences for high or low branches. The scientists also used a portable weather station to assess the microclimate conditions just a couple of feet from where the koalas made themselves comfortable.

For additional data, the scientists observed another 130 koalas in the area that weren’t wearing collars.

What they discovered was that the koalas’ posture on hot days was quite different than on cooler days. In the summer, the animals arrayed themselves in trees in a way that exposed more of their surface area. This often meant hugging a tree trunk or a large branch closer to the ground, with arms and legs outstretched. In the winter, koalas ventured higher up in the tree and further out onto the branches.

Why would different parts of the tree be appealing in different seasons? To answer this question, the researchers took the temperatures of four species of trees – three eucalyptus and one acacia – at the peak of summer.

Smart, not lazy
Smart, not lazy
Cooling off
Cooling Off
This thermal image reveals the roughly 15-degree Fahrenheit temperature difference between a lounging koala and the tree branch on which it rests.
Sitting pretty
Sitting Pretty
Natural air conditioning
Natural Air Conditioning
Temperature differential
Temperature Differential
Clever climate control
Clever Climate Control

Using a thermal imaging camera and software, they discovered that the tree trunks had lower surface temperatures than the branches or canopies. The trunks were also cooler than the surrounding air. This seemed to explain why koalas stayed closer to the base of the tree in the summer and ventured farther up the tree in winter.

Of all the trees tested, the coolest ones were the Acacia mearnsii trees, the scientists found. As it happens, these were the trees where koalas spent 29% of their time in the summer but only 5% of their time in the winter. Koalas can’t eat the leaves of these trees, but now scientists believe they know why they’re so appealing, especially in the summer months.

To make sure that their trees-as-air-conditioners theory was plausible, they came up with an equation to determine just how much heat a koala could dissipate by hugging a cool tree. After taking into account the thickness of a koala’s compressed fur, the thermal conductivity of that fur and the surface area of the fur touching a tree (among other factors), they calculated that a 25-pound male koala could shed 68% of its excess heat on a 95-degree day by hugging a cool tree in a shady spot. That, in turn, could mean the difference between life and death when water was scarce.

It’s an ingenious strategy for chilling out, and koalas probably aren’t the only animals that realize it, the researchers wrote.

“Cool tree trunks are likely to provide important microhabitat for a broad range of tree-dwelling species, including primates, leopards, birds and invertebrates during hot weather,” they wrote.

Knowing this will help humans predict how animals will adapt to a warming climate, as well as help them decide what kinds of habitat are most critical to preserve, the researchers added.