Best tech support

A new study by Consumer Reports finds that technical support for most computers is pretty dismal. According to the study Compaq and Hewlett-Packard’s tech support were found to be generally worse. For laptops, Lenovo’s tech support found to be  quite good. Apple rated as the best by consumers. The Consumer Reports’ survey showed Mac’s in-store help is excellent, solving problems 90 percent of the time.

Early Asthma Detection

Pay attention to your child to help find the early warning signs of asthma.

• Coughing at night, not related to illness
• Clearing of the throat
• Irregular breathing pattern
• Wheezing slightly
• Loud breathing
• Notch just above the Adam’s apple sinks in as they breathe
• Paleness or sweating

Picture Source: www.clevelandclinic.org

Lenovo leads in Consumer Rankings

After, Lenovo the Chinese laptop maker bought the business from IBM, what used to be IBM Thinkpads are now Lenovo Thinkpads. Lenovo laptops rank #1when it comes to laptops with least number of repairs reported by about 135,000 owners in Consumer Reports surveys. Lenovo also ranks second in tech support only next to Apple, ahead of Dell and HP.

Legend of Crystal Skulls

What is the truth behind the crystal skill, Indiana Jones chasing after in the ‘Kingdom of the crystal skull’. Some interesting facts. These exotic carvings are usually attributed to pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures. Museums began collecting rock-crystal skulls during the second half of the nineteenth century, a period of abundance fake pre-Columbian artifacts. Although nearly all of the crystal skulls have at times been identified as Aztec, Toltec, Mixtec, or occasionally Maya, they do not reflect the artistic or stylistic characteristics of any of these cultures.

The Adventures of Indiana Jones - The Complete DVD Movie Collection

Reveal Mother Tongue By Brain Waves

All this time no one can read our thoughts, but some scientists proved that they can at least figure out the language that we do our thinking. Experts can figure out our mother tongue and the level of proficiency in the other languages before we even utter a word. This has been done by analyzing our brain activity while we read in our mind.

Picture Source: http://dericbownds.net/

A Women Remembers Everyday Of Her Life

Jill Price is a 42-year-old California woman who can recall almost every day of your life since childhood. She first came to public attention in 2006. Her condition is known “hyperthymestic syndrome”, meaning “overdeveloped memory”, but of a very particular kind. Jill Price has no special aptitude for memorizing lists things, and she was an average student. But she remembers every single things that happened to her from her childhood very accurately.

Picture Source: http://www.ipmc.cnrs.fr/

Nepal become the world’s newest republic

Ending its 240 years of monarchy, Nepal become the world’s newest republic. A constituent assembly meeting in the capital, Kathmandu, overwhelmingly voted to abolish royal rule. Only four members of the 560 members Constituent Assembly opposed the change. King Gyanendra is given 15 days to vacate his Kathmandu palace. The palace will be transformed into a museum. May 29 is declared as “Republic Day.” Nepal is the only Hindu country in the world.

Dust dimming our universe

Universe is actually twice as bright as previously thought, dust is obscuring approximately half of the light that the universe is currently generating. Using an innovative new model of the dust distribution in galaxies, astronomers from UK and German calculated precisely the fraction of starlight blocked by the dust. This obscuring effect from these tiny dust grains also reduce the effectiveness of modern instruments to see further into space.

Test Your Fitness

Collect these data:

• Time taken to walk 1 mile or jog 1.5 miles.
• Number of half sit-ups you can do in a minute.
• Number of push-ups you can do in a minute.
• Do the sit-and-reach flexibility test. Sit on the floor, legs extended, with a yardstick taped to the ground. Slowly stretch forward, your fingertips on the yardstick. Recording how far you reach on your farthest stretch.
• Measure the height, weight, and waist.

Plug the numbers that you gathered into the Adult Fitness Test web site to get your results.

(Photo Source:flickr.com/photos/kowax09/121290185/)

Fuel from Rice straw

A new discovery by Chinese researchers could turn the 230 million tons of rice straw each year produced by the country into an inexpensive new renewable enerygy source. In this new method rice straw is treated with sodium hydroxide before allowing bacteria to ferment it into a biogas. Three prototype facilities have been built in China using this technology.

Reason For Irrational Fear

We worry too much about man-made catastrophe. We are disproportionately afraid of some things but can ignore others. The reason for this is how our brains are wired, which allow us to respond to danger before we’ve even had time to think about it.

Asteroids are natural and dangerous, but we are more terrified by risks such as terrorism or bio-engineered foods. Because we don’t believe that the asteroid impact can happen. Our experience and culture taught us what to fear. We are born with some basic phobias, and we learn few others from media and everyday life. We’re more afraid of catastrophic events such as airplane crashes than of everyday risks like cancer which kills may people every single day.

Shrimps Can See The World In More Colours

A shrimp living in Australia can see the world beyond the rainbow. Mantis shrimps with the use of their claws, they are capable of seeing colors from the ultraviolet to the infrared. These shrimps have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom, and it views the world in up to 12 primary colors . Humans can only see 3 primary colors.

Picture Source: www.thepetstop.com

Facebook borrows money

Facebook’s explosive growth needs more cash. Facebook has borrowed $100 million recently from Calif.-based venture loan firm TriplePoint. The loan will help to buy approximately 50,000 more servers. In January this year Facebook elevated its projected revenue from $300 million to $350 million. In 2007 its revenue was $150 million. Facebook has approximately 70 million registered users.

Same Sex Attractions Are Natural

Is homosexuality natural? Scientists say that the same-sex attraction is common in many species. Two male penguins at New York’s Central Park Zoo were a couple for 6 years. These penguins nurtured a fertilized egg together given by a zoo keeper.

There are more than 1,500 animal species are known to practice same sex coupling. This includes owls, salmons, bears, gorillas, flamingos and many others. So why evolution hasn’t eliminated this trait since it doesn’t lead to reproduction. The answer is that this type of coupling may simply be for pleasure. Not every sexual act lead to reproduction.

Machoism And Alcohol

When it comes to a stressful situation, women and men act differently. Women have greater rates of depression and anxiety disorders while men have greater rates of alcohol-use disorders.

According to a new study, men tend to consume alcohol when they are stressed or upset. Women feel sad or anxious, which lead to depression and anxiety, and they also tend to think over and over again about their negative emotional state. But men are more likely to distract themselves from negative emotions, and try not to think about these emotions. This can lead to alcohol related disorders.

Photo Source: www.lcbo.com

Phoenix probe lands safely on Mars

After a 680-million-km (423-million-mile) journey from Earth, NASA’s Phoenix probe touched down on the Martian surface. Phoenix entered the Martian atmosphere at about 21,000km/h and used a thermal shield, a parachute, then pulse thrusters to slow down to a mere 8km/h. The Spacecraft landed in the far north of the Red Planet. The probe is equipped with a robotic arm to dig for water ice thought to be buried beneath the surface. Scientists say the mission should give the clearest indication yet of whether the planet could once have harbored primitive life. About half of the three dozen Mars exploration tries have failed over the past five decades. The probe was launched on 4 August 2007.

Younger Siblings Could Be At Risk Of Developing Asthma

The published journal Clinical and Experimental Allergy from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, suggests that those who have older siblings are more likely to experience respiratory symptoms including an episode of wheezing or other respiratory distress than those who are oldest or only children. Children with at least two older siblings are 50% more likely than other children to have breathing problems.

Photo Source: www.nlm.nih.gov

Preserving Humans

No one can live forever. But a pioneering field called cryonics could give people lives. The cryonics is a low-temperature preservation of humans. When a person dies from a incurable disease, they could be thawed and revived in the future when a cure has been found. Cryonics centers store posthumous bodies in liquid nitrogen at temperatures of (-320) degrees Fahrenheit.

Baby Birds and Infants Babble

Do you know that baby birds babble just like infants? We see babbling as an undeveloped adult behavior. These behaviors show the presence of exploration and creativity. As songbirds grow up, they switch from babbling to singing by changing to a different brain circuit.

According to Ofer Tchernichovski, a neuroscientist at City College of New York, Male songbirds learn to sing by exploring their vocalizations. Human babies are also doing the same thing when they babble. The complex behaviours such as singing in birds are analogous to human behaviors, such as speaking.

Photo Source: http://petcaretips.net/

Major Cause Of Childhood Deaths

In the special edition World Health Organization (WHO) Bulletin, there are many health experts around the world, highlight the fact that pneumonia kills more children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined.
Although there are many effective interventions exist to prevent and treat pneumonia, pneumonia remains a significant problem in many countries. Most important underlying causes of childhood pneumonia are poverty, poor household environment such as overcrowding, poor hygiene and smoke, and malnutrition.

Photo Source: http://sitemaker.umich.edu