Tag Archives: day
‘Bed Of Needles’ Minimizes Pain
Researchers have come up with a better way of keeping skin grafts in place through a bed of microscopic needles so pain, and damage, would be minimal compared to staples. (Via Counsel and Heal)
The nature inspired “bed of needles” is actually a parasitic worm to be exact which preys on fish. It uses its pointing microscopic head to latch onto the fish’s intestine.
But what makes the worm unique is that once it gets the needles inside its prey they expand to get an extra-tight hold. (Via Bio Lib)
And the bed of needles does the same thing. Once it is inserted into the skin, the needles swell when they meet moisture. (Via Science CodeX)
It’s a method that is hardly comparable to any other treatment available today. When the bed of needles is compared to medical super glue or a standard micro needle patch, its grip is extraordinarily tighter. (Via Youtube)
The lead researcher Dr. Jeffrey Karp told the BBC its snug hold isn’t the only benefit.
“The unique design allows the needles to stick to soft tissues with minimal damage… Moreover, when it comes time to remove the adhesive, compared to staples, there is less trauma inflicted to the tissues, blood and nerves, as well as a reduced risk of infection.”
Researchers not only hope the invention will one day be an alternative to staples and other devices used for skin grafts but it might also be used to administer therapeutic drugs like proteins. (Via EurekAlert!)
Dinosaur Embryos Discovered
A team of paleontologists from the University of Toronto discovered the world’s oldest dinosaur embryos in southern China. The 190-million-year-old fossils predate previously discovered embryos by almost 100 million years and give insight into how the ancient creatures developed.
Scientists excavated and analyzed more than 200 bones from various stages of the embryos’ development. According to U.S. News & World Report, the fossilized bones come from the nesting grounds of the Lufengosaurus.
These long-necked herbivores were most commonly seen during the early Jurassic period, stretching 30 feet long by adulthood. (Via Wikimedia Commons)
The fossils may give researchers a clue to how dinosaurs managed to grow to such huge sizes. USA TODAY explains it started inside the egg. The team focused on examining the femur which is the largest embryonic bone. They found it grew dramatically while the dinosaur was still in the egg and kept up the rapid growth pace much of the animal’s life.
Lufengosaurus femurs were thin and porous and not the kind of bones scientists expect to last 190 million years. That’s lead researchers to believe there may be plenty of other ancient embryo fossils waiting to be discovered.
National Geographic reports with the Lufengosaurus, believed to be the predecessor of the enormous sauropods, the fossils could hold the key to understanding the growth of the biggest land animals that ever lived.
Lufengosaurus femurs were thin and porous and not the kind of bones scientists expect to last 190 million years. That’s lead researchers to believe there may be plenty of other ancient embryo fossils waiting to be discovered.
According to Discovery News, that wasn’t the only surprise. The researchers also found collagen. This is organic material that wasn’t fossilized, but came straight from the dinosaur’s body. Scientists may even be able to eventually extract DNA.
However, don’t get your hopes up for a Jurassic Park getaway as scientists say the idea of cloning dinosaurs is still far off.
Drones Deliver Morning Paper
Will paper boys need to find a new way to earn their pocket money in France? Well if the province of Auvergne are to believed they will pilot a drone newspaper delivery service in May. The official postal service, La Poste Group, has already been beta-testing the automated delivery service with 20 hornet-looking unmanned aerial vehicles.
Word is that FedEx may want to get in the game by using drones for peaceful non controversial services. It has come to my attention that it has been a vocal proponent of a drone-powered delivery service, and the FAA has been steadily approving regulations to permit commercial drones by fall of 2015. If this happens, say goodbye ladies to seasonal sexy UPS men in short shorts.
At least one state, Virginia, is on the path to place a two-year moratorium on law-enforcement drones, but that surely wouldn’t derail FedEx’s plan for an army of automated delivery drones.
While the morning paper is nice, I can’t wait for the taco-delivery service, Tacocopter (or a ChickCopter run by KFC). Even though this flavor fairy was a hoax (which fooled The Colbert Report), I hope it’ll be a reality soon as it will save me a trip everyday when I want to have lunch.
NOTE: Sorry everyone! This is an April Fools joke, which suckered a lot of outlets, because it was not put out on April Fools day, but 3 day ago. Someone in a marketing department for La Poste Group has too much time on his hands!
Celebrity Cricket Match ‘Help For Hero’s’
Celebrity Breakfast brought to you by Paramount Media Productions
Lymm Oughtrington Park Cricket Club, in Cheshire, hosted a celebrity cricket match 
and fun day, in support of the Forces Charity “Help For Heroes” I went along as my Dad was playing in the celebrity team. The day also incorporated the official opening of the club’s new practice facility, by Warrington South MP, David Mowat, and Lymm Parish Councilor Sheila Woodyatt.
The showpiece event of the day was a “Twenty20” cricket match between a team of television and sporting celebrities and a Lymm Oughtrington Park XI team. Celebrities included, Peter Reid, WillieMorgan, Stuart Law, Phil Middlemiss and headlining the event was Antony Costa of Internationally renowned Pop Group “Blue”, who performed live during the innings break of the “Twenty20” Match. The club’s charming pavilion served as a “VIP area” during the event, where club officials, local business people and politicians rubbed shoulders with special celebrity guests!
I met the mayor of Warrington, Clir Steve Wright pictured with Dad who turned out to be a huge fan of my Dad’s and told me that as a boy he was his hero.
“City FM” radio station hosted a “Roadshow” from the ground and it was a great day despite the rain!! – But most importantly it raised lots of money for the fantastic charity, ‘Help For Hero’s’
Oh and the celebrity team won the match!
Whitney Burial Closes Cemetery
The cemetery where Whitney Houston was laid to rest has been closed to the public indefinitely.
Officials at the Fairview Cemetery in New Jersey made the decision following a series of traffic problems resulting from grieving fans wanting to pay their respects to the singer, who was buried there on Sunday.
Police Captain Cliff Auchter said: “It’s a private property, and it’s up to them to make that decision. It was done in light of the overcrowding that occurred.
“The cemetery is a maze of very small roads, so if two cars come face to face, you have a Mexican standoff.”
Those with relatives buried in the cemetery will not be affected by the ban, and a round-the-clock police presence will remain in place for the foreseeable future.
Capt. Aucher added: “I don’t have any idea as to when that will change. It’s being evaluated day to day [by the cemetery].”
Despite the traffic problems, there have been no incidents at the site.
He added: “It’s been relatively quiet.”
Whitney was found dead in the bath of her Beverly Hills hotel room on February 11. She was 48 years old.
The ‘I Look To You’ singer’s “going home” service had taken place on Saturday and stars including Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, Clive Davis and Kevin Costner – Whitney’s co-star in movie ‘The Bodyguard’ – were among the mourners.
Kevin paid tribute to the singer in a moving eulogy at the funeral, telling her fans to remember “the sweet miracle” of the singer.
He said: “I urge us all inside and outside, across the nation and around the world, to dry our tears, suspend our sorrow and perhaps our anger just long enough, just long enough to remember the sweet miracle of Whitney … So off you go Whitney, off you go, escorted by an army of angels to your heavenly father and when you sing before him don’t you worry, you’ll be good enough.”
R.I.P Whitney Elizabeth Houston
For more on Whitney tune in to The Urban Factor on playvybz.com.
Hosted by Gino every saturday 3 to 5.
Danny Miller
Celebrity Breakfast brought to you by Paramount Media Productions
Still relatively new to television, Danny Miller won his first major role in 2007, when he played Kyle Brown in the long-running BBC children’s show Grange Hill. In 2008 he landed a prominent role, being the second actor to portray Aaron Livesy on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Sadly Danny has decided to leave the show and told me that after 3 years although he has loved every minute of it, he has itchy feet and wants try something new.
Danny’s father Vince Miller is a close family friend and I have worked with him for many years in the industry. Vince is in my opinion one the best compares’ in the country – he is a true professional. Vince often talked about Danny over the years and I know is very proud of his achievements so far.
After the death of Gavin Blyth at only 41 who was the TV producer in charge of Emmerdale, Danny along with his good friend Daniel Jillings set up a new charity ‘Once upon a smile’ which was founded in 2011. They have already been recognized throughout the UK as a source of support for families who have suffered the loss of a parent or child from a long term or terminal illness. The charity have already held a few events including a children’s Santa Day in December but are having their official launch hosting an exclusive dinner at the Hilton hotel in Manchester on February 18th, which will be sponsored by OK! Magazine and attended by celebrities from Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks and Eastenders.
Danny is also one of the celebrities featured in a new documentary ‘Celebrity Charities’ made by Paramount Media productions and produced by my son, Alex Morgan which highlights the hard work celebrities put into helping their chosen charities that is often overlooked in the media – along with Sir Cliff Richard OBE, Denise Welch and Willie Morgan.
I had an informal chat with Danny and he told me that now he has left Emmerdale he would be putting any spare time he has into raising awareness of the charity.
For any information on the charity or to book tickets for any future events log onto: www.onceuponasmile.org.uk
Deep Breathing – Deep Living
Have you ever been annoyed with yourself after noticing your mood change drastically and, in your opinion, for no acceptable reason?
“Why am I in such a bad mood?”
I have been there. I have been there so many times I think I have graduated to the next level of being annoyed at the simple fact that I would let this problem exist in the first place, not to mention letting it repeatedly happen.
The workplace is one arena where a bad mood can quickly influence the direction of business goals, and that is when it becomes so much more important to swiftly resolve the habit.
It exists for a reason, and you must enter the dark room of ‘reasons’ and flip the switch, take ownership, and understand your self just a little bit more.
Deep breathing is one way of telling your mind, “life is worth living” and your body, “air is worth breathing”.
The more you do it, the better it feels.
I know that a lot of us don’t regularly do deep breathing, and if you do get inspired to start now, please take it easy, you may get light headed very quickly. As long you pace yourself until you are comfortable, if you are like me, in a few weeks you will be able breath as deeply as your lungs allow, all day long, with no dizzies.
Yoga goes deeply into the understanding of the power of deep breathing, I recommend everyone to watch the below video, to get a grasp on just how much takes place when you breath consciously.
Can you imagine the changes you will see day to day if you breath consciously whenever you feel down?
My only reason for blogging about it is because my life has changed drastically due to my dedication to this spiritual and scientific art.
The Deadliest Car Races in the World
Any auto race carries an inherent risk of injury or death, but the following races have established a grim reputation as the deadliest car races in the world:
Dakar Rally
Formerly known as the Paris to Dakar Rally, this off-road race took place in Europe and Africa from its inaugural running in 1979 through 2007. After the 2008 race was cancelled because of security concerns, the event moved to South America and currently takes place in Argentina and Chile. The race typically takes place in a hectic atmosphere due in part to the variety of vehicles competing, which includes cars, dirt bikes, trucks and sport-utility vehicles. At least 49 people have been killed as a direct result of the race since its inception.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans
An endurance race that has taken place in France each year since its inception in 1923, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is conducted on a series of closed public roads. It aims to test the durability of the cars as well as the skill and stamina of the drivers. The race is noteworthy for cars in various classes competing at vastly differing paces at the same time. The race was the site of a horrific crash in 1955 in which driver Pierre Levegh’s car careened over a retaining wall and into the crowd of spectators, killing 84 people and injuring more than 100.
Indianapolis 500
Known as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” the Indy 500 draws hundreds of thousands of racing enthusiasts to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana every Memorial Day weekend. A highly competitive race that has transcended the sport to become a cultural touchstone as well, more than 40 people have died in the Indy 500 since it began in 1911. The death toll includes drivers, members of the driving teams and spectators.
Macau Grand Prix
A street-circuit race established in 1954 and held annually in Macau in southeast Asia, theMacau Grand Prix has earned a reputation as one of the most challenging and difficult coursesin the sport of auto racing. The most infamous tragedy on the Macau Grand Prix course occurred in the 1967 race, when Arsenio “Dodjie” Laurel, who won the race in 1962 and 1963, was killed in a crash while attempting to reach his third victory in the event.
Baja 1000
An off-road race that is held each November on the Baja California peninsula in western Mexico, the Baja 1000 includes cars as well as buggies, all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles. The dangerous course includes hairpin turns, nearly inaccessible roadways and booby traps, which have caused multiple deaths of competitors, team members and fans.
Article by Miles Walker a freelance writer who normally provides auto insurance comparison over at Carinsurance Comparison.Org. He recently wrote about cheap car insurance quotes available right now.
Adam & Eve Our Origins
For a Long time Adam walked the Earth alone, noticing that all the animals had mates he questioned God as to why he had no mate. “Why do you want a mate”? God asked “Because I feel lonely” Adam replied. “Very well” said God “I will create for you a perfect companion, she will love you, serve you, listen to all your stories and laugh at all your jokes, she will wash for you, iron, cook and clean. Never will she argue with you and never will she question you or rise up against you, I will put you into a deep sleep and take your arm and leg to make her”.
At this information Adam went quiet, “An arm and a leg, wow, that’s a lot, what can I get for a rib”?
After the woman was made she wondered around the garden observing many things and then one day she came to Adam with a question, “Adam, what colour are we”?
“What do you mean Eve”? he replied
“Well everything seems to have a colour, roses are red, the sky is blue, but what colour are we”?
“I don’t know, why don’t you ask God”.
So the next day Eve appeared before God and asked him the same question. “What colour are we God”?
To which God replied, “You are what you are”.
“But what colour is that exactly”, Eve persisted.
“You are what you are now go”! God said sternly.
On returning to Adam Eve seemed satisfied and had her answer. “What did God say”? asked Adam
“We are white” replied Eve.
“Really, White, what did God say exactly”?
“He said You are what you are” Eve replied.
“You are what you are”? Adam seemed perplexed “how did you get White from ‘You are what you are”?
Eve replied “Well I figured if we were black he would have said ‘You is what you is”…
US State fires ALL of its teachers
The mayor of Providence, the capital of the US state of Rhode Island, is facing criticism after he fired all of the city’s nearly 2,000 school teachers in an effort to tackle a $100m deficit. Not all will ultimately go, but sending dismissal notices to everyone means the city can fire teachers at the end of the school year without regard to seniority. Angel Taveras, who only took office in January, defended the move by saying it was a necessary “protective measure” to help tackle the shortfall.
Al Jazeera’s Scott Heidler reports from Providence.
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It may seem difficult to make sense of decisions made in high offices which effect our day to day lives, like decisions to lay off the very people taking care of the future of our planet, because if the children of tomorrow are not Earths future who is?
When a country with no major disasters or catastrophes to attend to ends up so far in debt that teachers need to be sacked could this be a sign that its entire system of thinking is fundamentally flawed.
Without teachers $100m an be saved, but then what of the students that would have been taught? there seems to be a fundamental common sense logic missing from this equation and the criticism of this decision seems justified.
In Internet chat rooms there is talk of 2011 being the year we see wide spread rioting on the streets of America, the mass scale of decisions made by governors and leaders however could tip the balance, School administrators say “this decision allows us the opportunity to plan it out over the next month or two, to close our gap and educate our kids”. We are not entirely sure how laying off teachers can contribute to the education of kids, but some how the office of Mr Taveras has figured it out.
This is a very brave move by Angel Taveras and on face value it really does seem like the wrong move, however only time will tell if his logic has ground. In the meantime our hearts go out to the 2,000 teachers and their families who face a difficult road ahead.
Pablo G.
The Real Terrorist Was Me
“There will only be a war, where soldiers are willing to fight.”
Sobering and relevant, I always knew this day would come, a soldier who could stand up and make a strong point about what it really means to go to war, and be aware of the truth.
Let’s sit back and feel the energy this US Soldier is giving out.
What are Renault Designers Thinking?
OK, so a little background on myself, for 15 years I was an auto technician. I worked with Toyota(3 years), Ford(4 years), Peugeot(2 years) and Renault(4 years), all main Dealerships. The last 4 years with Renault, I got to see and know what this company is like from the inside and here is my verdict.
The staff and management are all very beautiful people, when I began to work with Renault, I felt like I joined a family.
The product I must admit is very good, the best France have to offer in my opinion, at least up until 2003 this is true. Working on Renault’s as a technician was enjoyable, fairly decent build quality and general all round sensible design, up until about 2001, then I noticed a change in design method.
Design: After 2001, things began to get a bit complicated, I noticed that simple jobs were becoming more complicated, as a technician I worked on nothing but Renault’s day in and day out, but even I was finding simple tasks a little daunting. I got the feeling that whoever was designing the build specifications was purposely aiming to scare the customer away from even opening the bonnet (that is “Hood” for Americans).
Simple tasks which any DIY mechanic should be able to do were becoming impossible, and the customer was left with no choice but to come to the main dealer where we would do the job for £50 per hour.
To drive, Renault’s are simply beautiful cars, I was proud to work there and I will always stand by the Renault product. BUT if you like to be involved in the general maintenance of your vehicle, something as simple as changing a light bulb, then be warned the designers at Renault do not want anyone, and I mean anyone other than a trained Renault technician touching their vehicles. Renault’s are NOT cars you can modify.
I left Renault in 2003 to work with Mercedes, I remember finding the German engineering a lot more user friendly. Fifth gear recently did a feature on the Renault Mégane, which brought it all back to me. What are the designers at Renault thinking?
Facebook Down???
Reports are coming in from all over the world that facebook is down, a report to CNN states:
– Facebook was down for many users for the second day in a row on Thursday.
A Facebook spokeswoman says Thursday’s issue is not related to the issue on Wednesday that shut or slowed down the site.
“We’re currently experiencing some site issues causing Facebook to be slow or unavailable for some users,” a spokeswoman said in an e-mail. “We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.”
She said the issue was not related to the one from Wednesday, when problems with a third-party network provider shut the site down, or slowed it badly, for several hours.
With more than 500 million users, Facebook is the world’s largest social-networking site.
On Facebook’s blog for developers, a post said the site was “experiencing latency issues,” or a time delay, with its platform. But some tech observers speculated that the delay on the developers’ platform was unlikely to be the entire cause of the problem.
As usual, Facebook’s outage led thousands of social networkers to Twitter to, well … talk about Facebook.
“Somebody needs to fix Facebook ASAP,” wrote Gizmodo blogger Rosa Golijan on her Twitter feed. “I don’t like having to tweet to show that I ‘like’ all the stories about it being down.”
Several sarcastic Twitter users bemoaned the fate of the undernourished virtual plants and animals of FarmVille, while others (presumably with a degree of self-awareness) remarked on the ramifications of the outage.
“OPB BREAKING NEWS: Facebook is down,” read a message on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s feed. “Worker productivity rises. U.S. climbs out of recession.”
- Facebook was down for users Thursday, the second day in a row
- Spokeswoman says the problem isn’t related to a similar outage on Wednesday
- Users flock to Twitter … to talk about Facebook
News source Doug Gross, CNN
Just today in the UK, Facebook seemed to be working just fine as many users communicated and played their social network games, but at about 21:45 GMT, reports started to come in that people were unable to log in and in fact the site was down altogether. I myself tried logging into my account just to see if the reports were true.
Update: it is now 23:10 and it seems facebook is up and running just fine, so hopefully all the issues are now sorted.
REVIEWING AND LOOKING BACK
Well, Summer is through and I am well rested, after a busy, fun bank holiday, taking part in Nottinghill Carnival 2010, I needed two weeks to fully recover! Check out my special appearance in the Coca Cola TV advert 50 days of summer (I am in full costume with pink and black hair!)
It was a great experience and a pleasure to be involved in such a internationally unified event. Which to my surprise turned out to be even better than last year, I managed to get through the whole parade without being mixed up in any real trouble or negative vibes. Everyone seemed to be having a real good time which is what it is all about!
Felt so proud to be apart of the parade Palaaaancing! Jumping up and all the rest of it. I absolutely love Socca Music and I think this year the tunes seriously represented the vibes without a doubt. It makes everybody happy and you can not help but smile and whine!!
The other highlight of the day was having the opportunity to showcase once again my new material live on stage, with what turned out to be the most hyped receptive crowd I have had the chance to perform to yet! I was so well received which did actually surprise me, the response they gave me was fantastic. I have Mastermind and Curtis Walker to thank for that who support me to the fullest and keep me motivated to do great things.
I do hope I achieve all I want this year and even it I do not? Well I shall make the goals smaller and achieve poco a poco (little by little).
Kbitradio has been a great opportunity for me to showcase the best music in my opinion from up and coming signed and unsigned artist both nationally and internationally. It is something that I talked about doing for almost 2 years ago now and funny how the opportunity follows. I do believe, no, let me rephrase, I am a VERY strong believer in vision, followed by action, followed by opportunity. In order to gain what you want from live you must envision it in your minds eye then take action, for envisioning alone will not bring what you want, it’s the putting it in you mind first and then looking for the relevant opportunity which if you take action your mind helps you to find anyways. I will leave the example of how it has worked for me for the next article.
Moving on from there though, I always get to interview interesting people and last week I had the pleasure of interviewing a new comer to the music scene T. Amore who had plenty to say about positive thinking and how music plays a powerful part in influencing peoples thoughts, feelings emotions and life! Imagine that? Yet it is so true the subconscious is a sponge, takes everything in particular, music, music would be the equivalence to the water no in fact the sea, and our subconscious soaks up everything involved in it, melodies lyrics etc. T.Amore has release an album called “How to Overcome Mental Barriers”. The material is all positive and like a type of guide of self help poetry like a book. I am privileged to have a hard copy as it contains the lyrics which are like affirmations, which I feel are important in leading a successful life or at the very least a life you want. Well to check out T.Amore and other artist alike check the SRT Show group page and join on Facebook, also check me every Friday live on www.kbitradio.com from 9.30pm.
Till next time mucho love xx
Double R aka Rain.
Avatar – Pandora – Terra Firma – Our Mother
A good friend said to me the other day “Everybody has got something that makes them switch”, I took it to mean the “critical line” that is drawn in each man, or “law”, and to that, I could only respond with the Laws of Nature.
In the astonishing film Avatar, which I just enjoyed at the 02 Vue in Finchley Road, London, the indigenous people from Pandora drew the “Nature” line so strongly, that when the “Sky People” tried in any way to interfere with their ways, the “Nature” line was the first and last threat, the broken LAW.
One thing that always pushes its way into all my thoughts is whether a person, or idea, is honoring the obvious need to love and respect Our Mother, the Earth and Nature.
“We killed our mother, a long time ago”
Most religious reaches for spiritual truth tend to only have conflicts out in the open regarding the male aspect of man, while the female aspect tends to fall to the mysterious night.
Even though this is apparent from some angles, I think even the male aspects of man are much agreed on, as the “law” tends to rest within structure, straight lines, the blade, but the forgetting of our origins causes us to lose sight of simple truth, for instance, we are all one.
If Pandora was real and I could go there, I think I have always been there, and being in this world perhaps could be easily explained as the inversion of the “Sky People” wearing an avatar to enter the alien world. I feel like my human skin is the avatar, and deeper inside, I am from the earth.
I see you…
ICU Online Web TV Looking for Volunteers
Right, here we go. We are looking for mushroom testers, the goal is to eat as many special mushrooms as you can in a day, then stare at rainbows. Here we have a recording of a very successful candidate.
Please note the attention to detail and enthusiasm.
