"Biodetectives"

Bringing the "wanted poster in the post office" concept into the 21st century, the FBI has begun using facial recognition software to identify fugitives on North Carolina highways. The software measures the biometric features of thousands of motorists' DMV photos, matching them against mugshots. When the face matches that of a known criminal, the authorities jump into action.

Now bringing FBI concept to nature, scientists have found that they can train bees to recognize the arrangement of human facial features, by rewarding the classy striped insects with sugar. That could inspire new facial recognition systems, given that bees manage this feat with brains the size of a microdot.

It turns out that bees don't consciously recognize individual people, so much as the relative pattern that makes up a face. Researchers tested this by first training the bees to recognize simple faces made of dots and slashes, and then seeing if the bees could distinguish between two different faces. The bees passed the test.

In German airports honeybees are also being used as “biodetectives” to monitor air quality by regularly testing their honey for a suit of pollutants. The latest about the bees are that they have showed themselves smatter than sophisticated computers, as far as routs among several flowers goes.

They learn to fly the shortest possible route between flowers even if they find the flowers in a different order, according to a new British study.

Source: http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-10/bees-beat-computers-ability-solve-complex-math-problem

This small creature is able of doing so many things! When I wrote that article about “how to make our dreams come true” I also used a bee figure to exemplify the beehive complexity. Now I keep wondering if bees could be trained to identify criminal faces and still explore the locations of the fugitives and quickly figured out the shortest paths among their caches. In nature, bees have to link hundreds of flowers in a way that minimizes travel distance. They navigate using angles of sunlight, which helps them find their way home. To do this, their tiny brains must pack a powerful memory.

It is more blessed to give than to receive.

The sea of Galilee or lake of Galilee is a large freshwater lake, the largest in Israel, with a maximum length of 20km and maximum width of about 10km. Jordan river, which comes from Mount Hermon and Cesarea Philippi, flows into Sea of Galilee and then goes through the Dead Sea.

The sea of Galilee is blue, full of life, calm waves and contrasts.On its banks, is reflected the delicately beautiful yellow flowers of its meadows.
The Dead Sea which is , actually, a lake, is the lowest body of water existing on Earth.With the level of its surface, not computed until 1837, as 396m bellow sea level. The lake receives a daily average of about 6 1/2 million tons of water from the Jordan River and other waterways.However, evaporation is so great that the lake level remains constant,increasing only 3 to 4.5 m above its normal level after rainy season. The level of water it receives is, nevertheless, slightly higher than evaporation and thus its level increases slightly.Therefore, the lake now is considerably larger than it was 2000 years ago.
The Dead Sea contains 28% salt, compared to 4-6% of ocean water. The natural salt deposits, as well as the absence of flow, are the source of their peculiar situation, not draining the water it receives, retaining all the minerals that arrive, and as salty as a human being or animal can never sink on it, hence the name "sea salt”.
The Lake of Galilee generously transmits what it receives. Its water, when get there, immediately flow to remedy part of the dry fields; quenches the thirst of men and animals.
It is selfless water.
The Dead sea is stagnant, asleep, it's salty. It kills.Its water is selfish, useless...
With us it happens the same. Those who lives generously, giving and offering themselves to others, these people live in peace.
People who selfishly, receive, hold and doesn't give, are like stagnant water, which causes death around them. So many of us behave like Dead Sea, only accumulating. They are able to build such a bitter, miserable and unhappy life!
Those who give and offer themselves generously and without expectation of reward.. these are the happiest people of the world.

It is more blessed to give than to receive. 

Sharing less make us poorer.
Those who build only for themselves are desperately calling for unhappiness.
By sharing, It’s like opening the door to happiness.

A diary of my tears

Looking at the picture, I wonder what the meaning of his tears is. Had I written a diary about all the tears I’ve shed, I wonder how it would be:

When I was born in tears I cried to the world: “I’m here!” And my mother told me she heard my crying and got so excited that the tears flowed from her eyes too.

It is interesting that we are able to cry for our own reasons or for someone’s reasons as well; for friend’s, brother’s even for the suffering of strangers. Only those who have died in their feelings can’t cry. Their hearts are already so parched by the sorrows of life, grudges, and hurt feelings that it has become a desert within the chest.
In our complexities as human beings, we experience feelings of joy, elation, sadness, excitement, pleasure etc.
While children we’ve faced prank and its consequences. Bumps, scrapes, bicycle falls ... later, the tears are born for reasons, sometimes, unknown, and these are perhaps the most dangerous ones, when we don’t know what is happening within our hearts.
The lack of self-knowledge often leads us to dangerous paths. In the struggle of life many of us succeed, others just give an attempt, some of us have given up to fight and grow; so many of us have lost faith and the ability to trust their intuition realizing their true wealth.
Diving into the pit of our souls our breath is taken away from us when we face the possibility that our tears simply have life themselves: They soothe, comfort, silence, acknowledge, denounce ... Sometimes they are rebels, without the trickle, other times they are disguised, hypocritical, self-serving showing true artistic talent on stage and in real life.
Had we heard what tears are trying to tell us, we would grow stronger.

So many times we weep for futile reasons, we cry too much for impossible love, we cry too much over issues we cannot solve, only accept ... and fight ... and win ...
How often we cry for fearing asking for some help; out of pride that hurts to the heart and to the others.
Our tears are a compost of water, minerals, proteins and fats. It has the taste of our victories and fails, of our dreams and sorrows, separations, disappointments, infidelities, the feeling that we do not serve God as we should. A feeling that we always can do a little bit more!
Tears are also partners in times of loneliness. It comes creeping in and flood the soul: Whenever we may feel forgotten… when time seems having stopped or a disease that simply insists on abusing of us… or that someone’s suffering which cuts to the heart…
Finally, the tears are wisdom to live life. Do not get lost in fake smiles. Follow your tears and find your heart.

What about you? If you have to write a diary of your tears, how it would be like?

Geyser and geothermal energy

The Geothermal is another type of renewable energy, it is an energy that generates electricity without polluting the environment.
It is obtained by heat within the Earth: The Earth is composed of large plates where we can find the magma( magma is the name given to the rock that lies inside the Earth and when expelled by a volcano, give raises the lava).

There are areas within the land where the forced penetration of molten rock magma, has a very high temperature, ideal for generating geothermal power plants in power generation.

The Geothermal Energy is also found in geyser which is a hot spring that erupts periodically, sending a column of hot water and steam to the surface of the Earth. This steam can generate energy when brought to power plants.

The geysers are found in few places on Earth, practically 1000 in the entire planet , half of them are located in Yellowstone National Park,California, US.

The procedure of formation of geysers's underground water is made through the cracks found in the groundwater within the Earth, and in contact with rocks and volcanic lava that warms water to form such a pressure that the water goes into boiling. The generated steam forces water up to Earth in a violent form of jet. These jets can reach up to 80m high and temperatures up to 100°C.

This phenomenon usually has an unpleasant odor and corrosion can sometimes be harmful to humans.

This video explains more about the geysers found in Yellowstone Park:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEsRdstaduw

For more information and curiosities about natural Phenomena join us in Crazygreen community in orkut http://www.orkut.com.br/Main#Community?cmm=94563337

Approximately 380 000 plants are in risk of extinction worldwide.

Studies conducted by the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Natural History Museum, UK, in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), about the risk of extinction of plants in the world found that up to one fifth of the species is threatened.

This is the first time that damage to approximately 380 000 known plant species worldwide are estimated. Results will be used for conservation work and are fundamental for UN meeting on Biodiversity to be held in Nagoya, Japan this month from 18th to 29th.

http://www.biodiversityislife.net/?q=Nagoya

The work was based on the files of the botanical garden with more than eight million species of plants and fungi preserved in more than six million species from the collection of data and digital collections of partner institutions.
The task of mapping the threat to more than 380,000 plant species estimated is a much bigger challenge than the same analysis of birds (10,027 species), mammals (5490 species) and amphibians (6,285 species). Therefore, a sample of 1,500 species was collected from each of the five largest groups of land plants: bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms, monocots and legumes. Both rare and common plants were selected.
Simulations done previously for amphibians and birds have shown that 1500 would be a sufficiently representative to draw the picture.
The conclusions are:

- About a third of the sample species are so little known that tests can’t be done on their conservation.

- Of more than 4000 species carefully analyzed, 22% (more than one fifth) were classified as Endangered.

- The plants are more threatened than birds, as equally as threatened mammals and less threatened than amphibians and corals.

- Gymnosperms (pine, pines, redwoods ...) are the group most threatened.

- Rain Forest is the most endangered habitat.

- The most threatened species are found in the tropics.

- The greatest threat is loss of habitat for humans, especially for agriculture and livestock.

Gratitude

Certain man, behind the counter of a shop, was distractedly gazing at the street, when a girl smashed her nose at the glass window. Her color-of-the-sky-eyes, lit up when she saw certain object.She entered the shop and asked to see the blue turquoise necklace.

- "It's for my sister, would you do a pretty good package?"

The shop owner, suspicious, asked:" How much money do you have?"

Without hesitation she pull out a handkerchief tied around and was undoing the knots. She put it on the counter and happily said: " is it enough?"

There were only a few coins, that she proudly displayed.

- You know, i want to give this as a gift to my older sister. Ever since our mother died she's taken care of us without thinking about herself! Today is her birthday, and I'm sure she'll be happy with this necklace, which is the color of her eyes.

The man went to the interior of the shop, put the necklace on a box and wrapped it beautifully." Ok, here it is!"

The girl returned home happily bouncing down the street. the day hasn't finished yet, when a beautiful young woman, with blond hair and blue eyes entered the shop.She placed on the corner the familiar package, scrapped and asked: "Was this necklace purchased here?" " yes, ma'm" said the men." And how much did it cost?"

"Ahh", said the shopkeeper," The price of any product of my shop is always a confidential matter between me and my customers."

"But my sister had only a few coins,The necklace is true, isn't it? She wouldn't have enough money to buy it!"

The men took the box, redid the package with extreme care and returned it to the young lady.

"She payed the highest price anyone could pay. She gave everything she had!"

When we wake up to the sentiment of gratitude, we'll begin to feel gratitude for everything. The air we breath, for walking, seeing, hearing, speaking and for the fact of being alive!!

PrePeat the renewable print

Sanwa Newtec, the Korean company, has created a powerful solution for companies that spend tons of paper per year: The Eco PrePeat can delete the printed texts from the papers. It doesn't use ink or tones and operates with a special paper made from recycled PET bottles, which is renewable.

the printer works with a system of controlled heat, which on contact with paper towels RW, darkens or lightens the surface.( yes, it only prints in black and white).

The printer head is like a needle heat, which is passing and making the paper. Documents that are no longer needed, can be erased and the leaf reused. A single page can be printed about a 1000 times. it seems like magic. Check at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQiXONfGwDc&feature=player_embedded

What about the price?

Yes, still very high prices!

You don't need a expensive printer to be more sustainable though. Simple solutions such as double - sided printing, reusing the pages that no longer serves as draft and considering before printing, helps to reduce the amount of garbage on the planet.

One way to be more economical ( and ecological) is to change the font of the letters. A 2009 studies showed that just by changing the times new roman and arial for century gotic, you spend 10% less toner.

A more radical solution comes from Ecofont, a Dutch company. it comes from a software that makes holes in the letters when you send a text to the printer. the economy is 25%.

Although the prices are still high, we mustn't forget that the first mainframe computers weighed tens of tons, filled huge rooms and consumed enough energy to light a small city.

the future of the print must lie along the lines of PrePeat, or it may take some other course.

Only time will tell.

ecological attitudes to children

talking about ecology is easy, but how stay away from the speech and actually include ecological attitudes in our daily lives Setting an example for children that live with us.

Teaching our kids how to care for the environment and recycling is to encourage early interaction with nature and take simple actions in everyday life that can make a big difference in the future.
Living in a perfect world ecologically is still far from our reality.

But we can reduce the environmental impact of our existence, raising and teaching basic attitudes at home: How to separate dry waste from wet, saving water, using lighting from windows and not leave the light on when leaving the room, turn off the television, gardening, planting a home garden and caring for animals. These are simple and affordable ways to teach our kids that we can live sustainably

the example that parents can give to their children is the best way to teach them how to behave in society, with a feeling of teamwork and respect for others citizens . Parents exert great influence over kids, inside and outside the home, so your attitude should serve as a model of good practice for them, being far more effective than rules imposed.
Some measure of solidarity can be passed from parents to their children from an early age, among some: The adoption of needy animals, attitude that makes the child learn to be more compassionate; Lessons on how to care of things themselves, not throwing away good objects that could be donated, recycle waste, in addition to saving water and electricity, have the habit of helping the needy and bring the child along, where possible, be gentle as the others so that children see in parents a good model of conscientious citizens.

How to make our dreams come true?

The first step is to have a goal:

When we dream we have the ability to imagine something that could change in some way or even transform our lives. From the dream we need to set clear goals on how to turn them into reality. Stop only imagining. Start to materialize.

To set strategies:

After determining the goals is time to define a strategy to make your goal a reality. Don’t act by impulse; don’t get discouraged when the results are not as good as expected. Know that problems will appear in the middle of the road. Know when is time to retreat or to advance depending on the opportunity and the moment you are living.

Working conscious:

Have joy while working. Be committed. Take pleasure in letting some less important things aside to devote to achieving your dreams. A poet once said:

" Bees making honey worth the time it didn’t fly" It means that knowing the importance of honey to its colony, it ceases to fly... to feel the breeze...to play with its companions for some time. This is love for a cause larger than us. It is not being selfish.

Be competent at it:

we must always evolute. Always learn more, innovate every day. If we think we know everything we are not growing. We are eternal learners in life.Sharing the little we know gives us the opportunity to add the little that the other knows. Thus add more and more knowledge. Many of us have no idea how much we can do.
Being competent in everything we do mean, overcoming challenges every day. It doesn't mean continued success, but continued growth. We also learn when we fail.

Reflect on these ideas. In all areas of your life they will be useful.

Simplify your life!

Everything that is beautiful tends to be simple; the beauty walks side by side with simplicity. Take a look at the logic that prevails in the quiet gardens.

There is no conflict among bromeliads; there is no anguish among the roses, or anxieties among jasmine. They meet the fate of their blooming time and the freshness to say goodbye when it's time.

By welcoming the falling rain and extracting what is essential for them. They receive the sun and wind, and die on their time.

Simplicity is a concept that brings us to the purest form of reality. The seed is simple because it does not get lost in the attempt of wanting to be flower prematurely.

Wanting much at a time is to get lost in the tangle of desires. There is a risk of not getting anything, because the effort and care is what makes the reality remains.

Try walking lighter. Carry less baggage when traveling, reserving your energy for sightseeing. By traveling heavy we run the risk of spending our energy in the transport of the luggage.

Those who cultivate simplicity have the facility to make the environment in which they live lighter.

They don’t create confusion for little things, don’t put their attention on what is accidental, but hold their eyes for what are really worth it.

Simple people are those who enjoy the smaller things... It's like drinking water on the hollow of the hands .

They are able to laugh in the face of symbolic gifts without much material value.

Giving gifts to complicated people is a challenge. We don’t know what they like, because only in the simplicity is possible to know someone. Even facing death the simple ones tend to die more easily. They feel that the time has come for them, deliver his last breathe and go.

I have a hunch that when we simplify our life, happiness will come to our house when we least expect it.

The credits for those wonderful pictures are for Sushant Singhal, which inspired me to write this post.