Thursday, December 15, 2011

"Contagious" Yawning Occurs More Among Loved Ones

Yawning in response to another's yawn may be form of empathy, study hints.

Call it the finding that puts the "aw" in yawn—scientists have discovered that people yawn more in response to the yawns of people they care about most.

So-called contagious yawning is a type of psychological effect that happens only in response to seeing, hearing, or reading about yawning.

Though there have been previous hints of a link between contagious yawning and empathy, the new study marks the first time scientists have actually observed the connection.

New statistical models showed that the rate at which people yawned contagiously was highest in response to kin, then friends, then acquaintances, and lastly strangers.

The findings suggest that yawning is a form of empathizing with people experiencing a feeling, which—in the case of yawning—usually means stress, anxiety, boredom, or fatigue.

"This is the important point: By reenacting the mechanism, it's like you share emotions, so your response is higher because you mirrored each other's emotions," said study co-author Ivan Norscia of the Natural History Museum at the University of Pisa in Italy.

By contrast, spontaneous yawning, a purely physiological phenomenon, may occur to cool our brains, according to recent findings.

The Stronger the Bond, the More You Yawn

For the study, Norscia and co-author Elisabetta Palagi, of the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies in Rome, spent a year collecting behavioral data from more than a hundred adults of different nationalities.

The observations were made in a variety of natural settings—such as on the train or around the dinner table—in Italy and Madagascar, where the study authors also conduct primate research.

The scientists recorded several variables, such as the subjects' relationships to each other, countries of origin, genders, and styles of yawning, i.e., open-mouth versus suppressed yawning.

The team then developed a statistical model based on their data and tested the effects of each variable on contagious yawning.

In the model, only social bonding emerged as a predictor of response to another person's yawn, according to the study, published December 7 in the journal PLoS ONE.

The research provides "a pretty compelling case that empathy may be involved in contagious yawning among humans," said Andrew Gallup, an evolutionary biologist at Princeton University who has also studied yawning.

Are Yawners Paying Attention?

However, Gallup pointed out a potential limitation in the new results: People may simply notice yawning more often in their loved ones and friends.

For instance, people may be more attuned to the behaviors of people they know than those of, say, strangers on a train.

"I don't think that this completely discredits the results, but I think it's something to take into consideration," Gallup said.

A potential remedy, he said, would be to set up an experiment in which people are shown video clips of other people of varying relatedness to the subject, with instructions to pay equal attention to each clip.

If the same connection between social bonds and yawning emerges, "then you're home free," he said.

But study co-author Norscia pointed out that a person may actually pay less attention to a family member's yawn.

That's because a person's response to new stimuli is usually heightened, whereas a person's reaction to familiar stimuli might be reduced.

This is "an evolutionary adaptation to avoid an unbearable overloading of the attentional system," Norscia said. When someone does notice a loved one's yawn, though, they're more likely to respond due to their emotional attachment.

(Related: "Lizards Do 'Push Ups' to Get Their Neighbors' Attention.")

As for the potential study design with video clips, in Norscia's opinion, "I doubt you can drive someone's attention simply by asking them to do it. I wish controlling attention was that easy."

Contagious Yawning Still a Mystery

If people do yawn as a form of empathy, the reasons for the response are still unclear.

Evolutionarily, contagious yawning is a much more recent phenomenon seen only in humans, chimpanzees, baboons, and—more controversially—dogs.

Spontaneous yawning, on the other hand, has been around for at least 200 million years—even fish do it.

A potential benefit of contagious yawning could be to improve the overall vigilance of a group, Princeton's Gallup said. That's because, by cooling the brain, yawning enhances alertness and overall mental efficiency.

Likewise, yawning may be a way of encouraging people to lend a helping hand, study co-author Norscia suggested.

If "I am able to empathize with you to perceive what you are feeling," he said, "maybe I can engage in behaviors that can help you do something."



Monday, December 12, 2011

Lunar Eclipse - In Chennai, tamilnadu Canon 600D

lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth so that the Earth blocks the Sun's rays from striking the Moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a full moon. The type and length of an eclipse depend upon the Moon's location relative to its orbital nodes. The most recent total lunar eclipse occurred on December 10, 2011










Android in 2012: What’s after Ice Cream Sandwich - Page 1 - Integrating IT

Android in 2012: What’s after Ice Cream Sandwich - Page 1 - Integrating IT

Google Inc. only scratched the surface with the latest improvements to its Android mobile operating system. Users have been left wanting more, and they are likely to get it in 2012.

Better graphics, better cameras, and maybe even a voice-command feature similar to Siri (bundled with the latest iteration of Apple's iOS operating system) could be on the horizon for Internet search leader Google.

Android's latest big update, Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich, is coming with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and it's only a matter of time before other smartphones and tablets begin seeing the update.
But as fresh as Ice Cream Sandwich is, users are looking ahead. Android is already installed on tons of smart phones across countless wireless carriers, and that reach is sure to expand with each new update.

Here's what to expect for the little green robot in 2012.

Doing More With Voice

Siri brought voice commands to the masses, and you can bet that Google is working on something similar for Android.

Ice Cream Sandwich already allows for instant speech to text, and voice commands have been a part of the OS since Android 2.0, but they lack some of the personal charms that Apple has given its voice-activated virtual assistant.

While we shouldn't expect a snarky secretary like Siri, we can look forward to Google incorporating voice functions into more of its apps. A great example of this is the new Google Translate app. It has a conversation mode that allows you to translate your speech and the speech of others into one of more than 50 different languages. It's by no means perfect, but it gives us a good idea of how Google can use voice input to make even better apps.
Better Camera Software

When it came to mobile cameras, the stock Android camera software was hardly something to brag about. It was clunky, slow, and had only a few basic settings you could really customize.

Ice Cream Sandwich gave the software a much-needed update, introducing features like panoramic photos and zero lag between snapshots. Future Android updates could include face detection and more-advanced settings for experienced shutterbugs. But those camera improvements wouldn’t just be for phones. Tablets that use video chat would gain better focus and video quality, especially as we begin to see more tablets that run over 4G and LTE networks.

More Apps That Take Advantage of Hardware Acceleration

We've recently seen more phones with dual-core processors, but unfortunately not all apps have been optimized to take advantage of the extra processing power. Starting with Ice Cream Sandwich, however, hardware acceleration is enabled by default, meaning that new apps released on the OS will run smoother and games will look better than their predecessors. Older apps will have to be updated to see a boost in performance, and how an app behaves on a dual-core versus a single-core device will be noticeably different.

More Devices

Android is a versatile OS, and it's been installed on everything from USB drives to robotic bartenders.
At Google I/O 2011 (an annual developer conference), Google launched the Android@Home project, a framework for Android to be installed into automated "smart" houses. These Android smart houses would communicate with other Android-powered gadgets to make life easier for the people inside.
Some car manufacturers are even looking into Android to power the media consoles in their vehicles and to do things like media sharing from phones to the car. If it has a chip in it, chances are someone will try to install Android into it.
Lighter Overlays

Android overlays are no big deal as long as they don't get in the way of the Android experience.

Overlays can add a lot of functionality, such as what we saw on Honeycomb tablets. But on phones, most of them are clunky and resource-heavy. With Ice Cream Sandwich incorporating a ton of useful features that were previously seen only on HTC and Samsung devices, overlays are slowly being toned down.
A good example: Motorola's MotoBlur overlay. Once an overwhelming and visually assaulting UI, the MotoBlur overlay has been greatly reduced to a lightweight skin that blends in relatively well with the stock Android UI.

A More Complete Shopping Experience

When it comes to media, iOS is the reigning king.

The iTunes store has not only apps and music, but also movies, TV shows, and even books. With the launch of Google Music, Google is trying to create a similar ecosystem for Android.
The Android Market is steadily becoming the one-stop shop for all Android-related media. You can currently rent movies from the Android Market, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see TV shows and podcasts also make their way to the Google-run store. Once Google adds those to its Android Market lineup, Android will become a much stronger contender in the mobile media-player space.

Next: Jelly Bean?

Expect at least two updates to Android in 2012.

One will most likely be an incremental update to Android 4.0, but some observers expect another major update to the Android OS as well. Reportedly named "Jelly Bean," some people are already calling this next iteration of Android a "game-changer."
While details so far are slim, it is quite likely that Jelly Bean will contain one or more of the features described here.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

December 8th - 1971 – Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Navy launches an attack on West Pakistan's port city of Karachi.

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Indian, Bangladeshi and international sources consider the beginning of the war to be Operation Chengiz Khan, Pakistan's December 3, 1971 pre-emptive strike on 11 Indian airbases.[16][17] Lasting just 13 days it is considered one of the shortest wars in history.[18][19]

During the course of the war, Indian and Pakistani forces clashed on the eastern and western fronts. The war effectively came to an end after the Eastern Command of the Pakistani Armed Forces signed the Instrument of Surrender,[20] on December 16, 1971 following which East Pakistan seceded as the independent state of Bangladesh. Around 97,368 West Pakistanis who were in East Pakistan at the time of its independence, including some 79,700 Pakistan Army soldiers and paramilitary personnel[21] and 12,500 civilians,[21] were taken as prisoners of war by India.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Part of Indo-Pakistani Wars and Bangladesh Liberation War
Date3–16 December 1971
Location Eastern front:
East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
Western front:
India-West Pakistan border
ResultDecisive Indian political, strategic and military victory.
Eastern front:
Pakistani forces surrender.
Western front:
India declares unilateral ceasefire after Pakistani surrender in the east.[1]
Territorial
changes
Secession of East Pakistan as the independent state of Bangladesh.
Belligerents
 India

Bangladesh East Pakistan (nowBangladesh)
Mukti Bahini
Unofficially supported by:
 Soviet Union

 Pakistan

Unofficially supported by:
 United States

Commanders and leaders
Flag of Indian Army.svg Gen Sam Manekshaw
Flag of Indian Army.svg Lt.Gen. J.S. Arora
Flag of Indian Army.svg Lt.Gen. G.G. Bewoor
Flag of Indian Army.svg Lt.Gen. K. P. Candeth
Flag of Indian Army.svg Lt.Gen. Sagat Singh
Naval Ensign of India.svg Adm S. M. Nanda
Ensign of the Indian Air Force.svg ACM Pratap Lal

Bangladesh General M. A. G. Osmani

Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg Gen. Abdul Hamid Khan
Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg LGen Gul Hassan Khan
Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg LGen Tikka Khan
Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg LGen A. A. K. Niazi Surrendered
Naval Jack of Pakistan.svg VAdm Muzaffar Hassan
Pakistani Air Force Ensign.svg AM Abdul Rahim Khan
Strength
500,000 troops365,000 troops
Casualties and losses
3,843 killed [2]
9,851 wounded[2]
1 Frigate

1 Naval Plane[3][4]

Pakistani Claims

Indian Claims
(add the fig here)

9,000 killed[verification needed][11]
4,350 wounded
97,368 captured[verification needed][12]
2 Destroyers[13]
1 Minesweeper[13]
1 Submarine[14][15]
3 Patrol vessels
7 Gunboats

Pakistani Claims
(add the fig here)

Indian Claims
(add the fig here)

Western and Soviet involvement

The Soviet Union sympathized with the Bangladeshis, and supported the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini during the war, recognizing that the independence of Bangladesh would weaken the position of its rivals—the United States and China. The USSR gave assurances to India that if a confrontation with the United States or China developed, it would take counter-measures. This assurance was enshrined in the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty signed in August 1971.[60]

The United States supported Pakistan both politically and materially. President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger feared Soviet expansion into South and Southeast Asia.[61]Pakistan was a close ally of the People's Republic of China, with whom Nixon had been negotiating a rapprochement and where he intended to visit in February 1972. Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of West Pakistan would mean total Soviet domination of the region, and that it would seriously undermine the global position of the United States and the regional position of America's new tacit ally, China. In order to demonstrate to China the bona fides of the United States as an ally, Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan, routing them through Jordan and Iran,[62] while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan. The Nixon administration also ignored reports it received of the "genocidal" activities of the Pakistani Army in East Pakistan, most notably the Blood telegram. This prompted widespread criticism and condemnation both by Congress and in the international press


Courtesy: wikipedia

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

12 Most Unusual Bridges of the World

12. Kawazu-Nanadaru Loop Bridge, Japan


Kawazu-Nanadaru Loop Bridge

The Kawazu-Nanadaru Loop Bridge consists of two spirals, each 1.1 km long, 80-meter in diameter - the only way for traffic to get down the mountainside into the valley, too steep for any other usual road-building solutions. 



The busy Route 414 serves the weekend crowd from Tokyo, intent to wind down at the hot springs resort of the Izu Peninsula. The "winding down" bit obviously starts at this bridge. Built in 1981, the double-spiral structure demands careful driving - the speed limit on the bridge is only30 km/h, which also helps to better enjoy the views.

11. Hureai Bridge, Japan


This unique circular pedestrian bridge is located at the foot of the Hiyoshi dam near Kyoto, Japan. It is part of  Hiyoshi Spring spa resort and was designed by Japanese architect Norihiko Dan, who also planned the landscaping of the spa resort and park. 

Built in 1998 the bridge known as 'Friendship Bridge' has a diameter of 80 metres.

10. Wind-Rain Bridge, China

Chengyang Wind-Rain Bridge

The Chengyang Bridge or Chengyang Wind-Rain Bridge, Liuzhou, Guangxi Province (very north of Guangzi), People's Republic of China. It's in Dong Minority Region. It's a special covered bridge and one of Fengyu Bridges (a special bridge type in local Dong Minority Region). It was completed in 1916. It has many other names including Yongji Bridge and Panlong Bridge.



The bridge is a perfect combination of painting, bridge, corridor, veranda and Chinese pavilion. It has two platforms (at the two ends of the bridge), 3 piers, and 4 spans, 5 pavilions, 19 verandas, and three floors. The piers are made of stone, the upper structures are mainly wooden, and the roofs are covered with tiles. The bridge has wooden handrails on both sides.The bridge has a total length of 64.4 meters, and its corridor has a width of 3.4 meters. The net height above the river is about 10 meters.


9. Ponte Vecchio, Italy



The Ponte Vecchio is a Medieval bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewellers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. It has been described as Europe's oldest wholly-stone, closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge, but there are far older segmental arch bridges such as AlconĂ©tar Bridge.





The bridge first appears in a document of 996.The bridge consists of three segmental arches: the main arch has a span of 30 meters (98 ft) the two side arches each span 27 meters (88 ft). The rise of the arches is between 3.5 and 4.4 meters (11½ to 14½ feet), and the span-to-rise ratio 5:1.


8. Langkawi Sky Bridge, Malaysia


Langkawi Sky Bridge is a 125 metre curved pedestrian cable-stayed bridge. It is located 700m above sea level at the peak of Gunung Mat Chinchang on Pulau Langkawi, an island in the Langkawi archipelago in Kedah.The Langkawi Sky Bridge is accessible by the Langkawi Cable Car.

The Langkawi sky-bridge in Malaysia offer magnificent views of the Andaman Sea and Thailand's Tarutao Island. The Andaman Sea and Thailand's Tarutao Island can be seen in the distance. Platforms at each end allow the visitors to take a breather before venturing across. There are also signs telling visitors to get off the bridge quickly in the event of an electrical storm. 


7. Aiola Island Bridge, Austria



Located in the center of the Mur river in Graz, Austria, it has a sunbathing area, a trendy bar and a coffee house. Aiola Island Bridge is a unique offering of coolest bridge cum bar. Known as  'Aiola Island', it is positioned right in the heart of the Mur River in Graz, Austria. The island was built in 2003 by a New-York based artist Vito Acconci.
Aiola island-bridge bar in Austria


This exclusive installed masterpiece got the deserving attention within months. It features asunbathing area, fashionable bar and a coffee house and also allows you an access to cross the Mur river from one shore to other. I haven't come such an elite masterpiece before.

6. Tianjin Eye bridge, China


It is a gigantic Ferris wheel built on Yongle Bridge over the Haihe river. It can lift people 120m up into the air. Tianjin Eye is a 120m-tall (110m-diameter) Ferris wheel built on the Chihai Bridge over the Hai River in Tianjin, China. It is claimed to be the only such wheel to have been constructed over a bridge.

Construction started in 2007 (main body completed on 2008-Dec-18) and it opened to the public in on 2008-Apr-07. The electric-powered wheel has 48 capsules, each with a capacity of 8 passengers, and takes 30 minutes to complete a rotation, giving a capacity of 768 passengersper hour.

Tianjin Eye at night

At the time of construction, only the 135m London Eye and 160 m Star of Nanchang were taller, however even larger wheels have since been built, including the 165m Singapore Flyer, and the 185m Great Berlin Wheel and 208m Beijing Great Wheel are under construction.

5. Henderson Waves, Singapore





At a height of 36 meters or 12 storeys from the road, it's the highest pedestrian bridge inSingapore. Henderson Waves is a 274-metre (900 ft) long pedestrian bridge. At 36 metres (120 ft) above Henderson Road, it is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore. It connects Mount Faber Park and Telok Blangah Hill Park.
Henderson Waves at night

The bridge has a wave-form made up of seven undulating curved steel ribs that alternately rise over and under its deck. The curved ribs form alcoves that function as shelters with seats within. Slats of yellow balau wood, an all-weather timber found in South-East Asia, are used in the decking. The wave-forms are lit with LED light at night from 7pm to 2am daily. 


4.Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, Japan



The Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, also known as the Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway, is a bridge-tunnel combination across Tokyo Bay in Japan. It connects the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture with the city of Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture, and forms part of National Route 409. With an overall length of 14 km, it includes a 4.4 km bridge and 9.6 km tunnel underneath the bay—the fourth-longest underwater tunnel in the world. 


At the bridge-tunnel crossover point, there is an artificial island called Umihotaru with a rest area consisting of restaurants, shops and amusement facilities. Air is supplied to the tunnel by a distinctive tower in the middle of the tunnel, called the Kaze no TĹŤ, which uses the bay's almost-constant winds as a power source. The road opened on December 18, 1997 after 31 years of construction at a cost of 11.2 billion USD at the time of opening. The Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line reduced the drive between Chiba and Kanagawa, two important industrial regions, from 90 to 15 minutes.


3. Falkirk Wheel, Scotland


It restored navigability across Scotland on the historic Forth & Clyde Canal and Union Chanal. The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. It is named after the nearby town of Falkirk in central Scotland. The two canals were previously connected by a series of 11 locks, but by the 1930s these had fallen into disuse, were filled in and the land built upon.

The Millennium Commission decided to regenerate the canals of central Scotland to connect Glasgow with Edinburgh once more. Designs were submitted for a lock to link the canals, with the Falkirk Wheel design winning. As with many Millennium Commission projects the site includes a visitors' centre containing a shop, cafĂ© and exhibition centre.

2. Banpo Bridge, South Korea

The Banpo Bridge is a major bridge in downtown Seoul over the Han River, South Korea, connecting the Seocho and Yongsan districts. Banpo Bridge is on top of Jamsu Bridge, forming a"double deck" bridge. When the water level rises too high, the Jamsu Bridge becomes covered with water and gets closed off. The lower deck incorporates pedestrian and bicycle paths that provide easy access to the Banpo Hangang Park from the north side of the river. Banpo Bridge is a girder bridge and was completed in 1982.

The bridge has 38 water pumps and 380 nozzles on either side, which draw 190 tons of waterper minute from the river 20 meters below the deck, and shoots as far as 43 metershorizontally.


1.Magdeburg Water Bridge, Germany

The Germans took over 80 years to build this 918m bridge over Elbe river near the town ofMagdeburg. Canal engineers had first conceived of joining the two waterways as far back as 1919, and by 1938 the Rothensee boat lift and bridge anchors were in place, but construction was postponed during World War II. After the Cold War split Germany, the project was put on hold indefinitely by the East German government.
With the reunification of Germany and major establishment of water transport routes made theWater Bridge a priority again. Work started in 1997, with construction taking six years and costing €500 million. The water bridge now connects Berlin's inland harbour network with the ports along the Rhine river. The aqueduct's trough structure incorporates 24,000 tonnes of steel and 68,000 cubic meters of concrete. Until the opening of the water bridge in October 2003, ships moving between the Midland Canal and the Elbe-Havel Canal used a 12-kilometre, through the Rothensee lock, along the River Elbe and back up Niegripp lock.