Historical Perspectives – Page 98

Animals, Current Events, Historical Perspectives

At 39, Is Lucy the Oldest Cat in the World?

January 9, 2011

Lucy at large

What’s her secret? It must be something in the Fancy Feast.

Lucy, from Llanelli, South Wales, is a proud Gen X’er – in her time, she’s lived through eight prime ministers, a handful of wars, and the rise of the technological generation. But the years take a toll, and at 39 years old, Lucy’s gone deaf and probably has a bit of trouble getting up in the morning. But that’s all excusable when you consider Lucy is a feline…

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Business, Current Events, government, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, Internet, Latest News

Twitter Subpoenaed by U.S. Government for Wikileaks Accounts

January 9, 2011

The U.S. government takes action on Twitter

The U.S. government has asked Twitter to hand over private messages sent to and from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and other WikiLeaks staffers.

In all likelihood, it’s also contacting other web services Assange may have used to get contact details and personal information about Assage’s activities and supporters.

According to a report just filed by The New York Times, Twitterhas been subpoenaed by the U.S. government in connection to the ongoing WikiLeaks investigation…

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Food, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, Latest News, Latest Trend, People Making a Difference, Plant Life

Chicago Combats Food Deserts and Childhood Obesity One Seed at a Time

January 9, 2011

Chicagoans that vote for their favorite seeds, get free seeds to plant in their gardens.

It seems like an oxymoron that childhood obesity could occur in food deserts, but in much of the country that’s exactly what’s happened. Food deserts, often located in impoverished urban environments, are areas where residents have little access to fresh fruits and vegetables because there are no grocery stores or farmers’ markets nearby. Such areas are often plagued with quickie marts where families feed themselves the processed junk that’s available, fostering an obesity epidemic. Read on to see how one program is working to change Chicago’s landscapes and make these infamous food deserts a thing of the past…

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, Latest News, Medical Breakthrough, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints

Study Links Meditation to Telomerase, An Anti-Age Enzyme

January 9, 2011

Meditation may make the body age more slowly.

It’s always awesome when meditation is given a nod by science and shed of its commonly regarded view as a new-agey, inaccessible practice. In 2009 and 2010, we shared meditation’s practical application to common health ailments as studied by researchers: heart disease and depression.

I’m not sure how I missed this third incredible find from TIME that was issued at the tail end of last year. Could we meditators also have a leg up in the longevity factor?

According to researchers at the University of California-Davis, quite possibly…

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Current Events, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, Latest News, People Making a Difference

11-Year Old Is Building a House

January 8, 2011

Opunake’s Dylan Karam, 11, got his first hammer for his fifth birthday and has never been far from a building site ever since.

Dylan Karam, 11, of Opunake, New Zealand, is building a house:

Since getting a hammer when he was five, Dylan has never been far from a construction site and has helped builders around Opunake in the last six years.

But it is his latest project that could be his most impressive…

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Culture, Education, Food, Historical Perspectives

The Color Orange Was Named After The Fruit

January 8, 2011

Life would be quite different if these would have been known as ‘geoluhreads’.

The color orange was named after the fruit, not the other way around. Before then, the English speaking world referred to the orange color as geoluhread, which literally translates to ‘yellow-red.’ The word orange itself was introduced to English through the Spanish word ‘naranja,’ which came from the Sanskrit word nāraga, which literally means ‘orange tree.’

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Corporate Manipulation, Crazy Stuff, Current Events, government, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, Latest News

UK Scientist Suggests Rebranding GM Crops As “Vaccinated”

January 7, 2011

Does ‘Vaccinated’ sound better than genetically raped?

The latest face-palm absurdity concerning genetically modified crops: One of the UK’s top agricultural scientists has floated the idea that GM crops should be rebranded as “vaccinated” or “inoculated” so that the public would embrace them more willingly…

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Analysis, Historical Perspectives, Insects, Science & Technology News

Lice DNA Study Shows Humans First Wore Clothes 170,000 Years Ago

January 7, 2011

University of Florida researcher David Reed is lead investigator on a five-year study following the evolution of lice that found modern humans first began wearing clothes about 170,000 years ago.

A new University of Florida study following the evolution of lice shows modern humans started wearing clothes about 170,000 years ago, a technology which enabled them to successfully migrate out of Africa.

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Analysis, Big Problems, Current Events, Food, Globalism, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, Latest News

World Food Prices Close to Record High

January 6, 2011

Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization announced yesterday that in December, food prices surpassed their 2008 levels, often remembered for the riots that broke out around the world.

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Animals, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Current Events, Historical Perspectives, Latest News

Giant Tuna Sells For $396,000

January 6, 2011

It’s beginning to look a lot like sushi…

In Tokyo, a giant bluefin tuna sold at auction for a record 32.49 million yen—nearly $396,000. The price for the 754-pound tuna beat the previous record set in 2001 when a 445-pound fish sold for 20.2 million yen. What do you do with a fish that sold for $526 per pound? Make sushi.

The massive tuna was bought and shared by the same duo that won the bidding for last year’s top fish: the owners of Kyubey, an upscale sushi restaurant in Tokyo’s Ginza district, and Itamae Sushi, a casual, Hong Kong-based chain…

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Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Global Warming, Globalism, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, New Discoveries

Scientists Create 52 Artificial Rain Storms in Abu Dhabi Desert

January 6, 2011

On the 52 days it rained in the region throughout July and August, forecasters did not predict rain once.

Hail, lightning and gales came through the state’s eastern region this summer thanks to scientist-puppetmasters.

As part of a secret program to control the weather in the Middle East, scientists working for the United Arab Emirates government artificially created rain where rain is generally nowhere to be found. The $11 million project, which began in July, put steel lampshade-looking ionizers in the desert to produce charged particles. The negatively charged ions rose with the hot air, attracting dust. Moisture then condensed around the dust and eventually produced a rain cloud. A bunch of rain clouds…

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Breakthrough Thinking, Great New Product, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, New Viewpoints, People Making a Difference

Could Fire Truck Ladders Be Replaced with Escalators?

January 5, 2011

Up, Up and Away On A Conveyor Belt!

Orville Douglas Denison thinks that telescoping ladders used by firefighters are too slow for firefighters to use effectively. So he designed a system that would lift up firefighters on something like a conveyor belt or an escalator:

In a rescue, firemen could extend Denison’s hydraulic ladder to windows as high as 113 feet. But rather than clamber up the ladder, the firefighter would hop on, and the rungs would roll up at 200 feet per minute—more than twice the average climbing speed of a firefighter weighed down by 130 pounds of gear…

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