Welcome to ...

The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Sunday, April 20, 2014

The Daily Drift

 
The truth hurts don't it, boys ...!
 
Carolina Naturally is read in 197 countries around the world daily.   

Celebrate Ishtar (The correct spelling of 'Easter') the right way ... with sex ... !
Today is - Today of the Festival of Ishtar (often misspelled 'Easter')


Don't forget to visit our sister blog: It Is What It Is

Some of our reader today have been in:
The Americas
Pikangikum, Britannia, Montreal, Thunder Bay and Vancouver, Canada
Owosso, Bala Cynwyd, Thayne and Cupertino, United States
Panama, Panama
The Bottom, Sint Eustatis and Saba
Managua and Tipitapa, Nicaragua
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Assis, Sao Paulo, Rio De Janeiro and Fortaleza, Brazil
Asuncion, Paraguay
Mexico City, Mexico
Europe
Olofstroem, Stockholm and Kista, Sweden
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Riga, Latvia
Preston, London, Pool and Old Portsmouth, England
Bilbao and Madrid, Spain
Valff, Montrouge and Salon-De-Provence, France
Nokia and Espoo, Finland
Belgrade, Serbia
Dublin, Ireland
Milan, Ravenna, Alessandria and Ronciglione, Italy
Ankara, Turkey
Edinburgh, Scotland
Dresden and Nuremberg, Germany
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Tbilisi, Georgia
Vladivostok, Ryazan and Moscow, Russia
Sofia, Bulgaria
Newport, Wales
Athens, Greece
Asia
Riyadh and Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Benares, Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai, Cochin, Noida, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Ranchi, Thiruvananthpuram and Delhi, India
Sagaing, Burma
Tehran, Tabriz, Iran
Tel Aviv, Israel
Tangerang and Jakarta, Indonesia
La Dagotiere and Quatre Bornes, Mauritius
Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Colombo and Gampaha, Sri Lanka
Karachi, Pakistan
Beijing, China
Doha, Qatar
Africa 
Osogbo, Nigeria
Germiston and Johannesburg, South Africa
Khartoum, Sudan
The Pacific
Melbourne and Sydney, Australia
Manila, Philippines

Today in History

1139 The Second Lateran Council opens in Rome.
1657 English Admiral Robert Blake fights his last battle when he destroys the Spanish fleet in Santa Cruz Bay.
1769 Ottawa Chief Pontiac is murdered by an Indian in Cahokia.
1770 Captain Cook discovers Australia.
1775 British troops begin the siege of Boston.
1792 France declares war on Austria, Prussia, and Sardinia.
1809 Napoleon defeats Austria at Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria.
1836 The Territory of Wisconsin is created.
1841 Edgar Allen Poe's first detective story is published.
1861 Robert E. Lee resigns from the U.S. Army.
1879 The first mobile home (horse-drawn) is used in a journey from London to Cyprus.
1916 Wrigley Field opens in Chicago.
1919 The Polish Army captures Vilno, Lithuania from the Soviets.
1940 The first electron microscope is demonstrated.
1942 Pierre Laval, the premier of Vichy France, in a radio broadcast, establishes a policy of "true reconciliation with Germany."
1945 Soviet troops begin their attack on Berlin.
1951 General MacArthur addresses a joint session of Congress after being relieved by President Truman.
1953 Operation Little Switch begins in Korea, the exchange of sick and wounded prisoners of war.
1962 The New Orleans Citizens Committee gives free one-way ride to blacks to move North.
1967 U.S. planes bomb Haiphong for first time during the Vietnam War.
1999 Two students enter Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado and open fire with multiple firearms, killing 13 students and teachers, wounding 25 and eventually shooting themselves.

Editorial Comment

It has been a few weeks since we began our little experiment with having thematic days as opposed to mini-theme sections on each day's postings and it has worked so far - not too many kinks.
While CAROLINA NATURALLY has never been a up to the second with the latest, type of blog we have tried to be somewhat timely and this is what we have noticed that has suffered a bit going to thematic days.
Now our postings are a mixed bag of timely and not so timely items - more so the not so timely posts - we are trying a couple of ideas to alleviate the delays.
Of course if any world shattering things come up we will post them as soon as possible as we have always done. 

So far our readers have liked the format and our readership has begun its yearly spring incline which is coinciding with the new format's unveiling  (OK, so we timed it that way, deal with it).
Since its inception CAROLINA NATURALLY has stair-stepped in readership each year spring through summer and leveling off during the winter at a higher level than the year before.
This year we have already reached the 1 million reader threshold (1,283,780 to be exact) earlier than ever.
And the month of April is not over yet.

Thank you for reading CAROLINA NATURALLY.

Non Sequitur

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/1LbTH_k4W5qqiP.uvYe6wg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTE5NjtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz02MDA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ucomics.com/nq140419.gif

Are We Close to Repairing Spinal Cord Injuries?

Certain injuries we are able to fix, and some we simply don't have the technology to fix. One of the more common unfixable injuries involves spinal cords, but Trace explains how science might be close to finding a way to repair nerves in the spine!

The bacteria that ate our sewers

Concrete sewers are being devoured by their microbial ecosystems and researchers at the University of Colorado are trying to find a way to stop it. (Full disclosure: My husband's cousin Ali Ling is one of the researchers who worked on this project.)

Science is slow, and that's good

Coincidence and fallacy are instantaneous. But science creeps along very slowly. Deep Sea News has a nice discussion of what happens when those two forces crash into each other

Contrary to expectations, life experiences better use of money than material items


Study shows shoppers might buy material items because of mistaken […]

Male-dominated societies are not more violent, study says


Conventional wisdom and scientific arguments have claimed that societies with […]

Did Shooter's PTSD Cause Violence at Fort Hood?

Gunman complained about symptoms relating to post traumatic stress disorder, but experts say combat not always to blame.

Why Are Artists and Musicians More Prone to Suicide?

Was Kurt Cobain’s profession as a musician a risk factor?

Positive, negative thinkers’ brains revealed


The ability to stay positive when times get tough – […]

The Scientist

Being a scientist is fun it can take you places you've never been before time and time again!

World’s oldest weather report could revise Bronze Age chronology

World’s oldest weather report could revise Bronze Age chronology
An inscription on a 3,500-year-old stone block from Egypt may […]

The Science of 'Game of Thrones'

Amid palace intrigue, gruesome assassinations, dark religious rituals, bloody battle scenes, fire-breathing dragons and lusty sexual escapades, there's some science.

Top Places Linked to Mysterious Disappearances

Malaysian Airlines flight 370 isn't the first tragic disappearance to fascinate the world.

Arctic Sea Ice Tops Out at Fifth Lowest on Record

The layer of ice that covers the Arctic Ocean will now begin its annual spring and summer decline.

How Well Can We Predict Earthquakes?

A string of earthquakes have been occurring in Chile and Southern California. What causes earthquakes, is a bigger one coming, and can we predict them? Plus, Annie tells us how to stay safe.

Ziggy

http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/6ewkBMtSno6rZ6jtRNSZXg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTI5MztweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz0zMDA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ucomics.com/zi140419.gif

How personal genomics solved a family's tragic health mystery

Laura and Rob Sheppard lost three children the same way — all were born with brains that stopped developing a little less than halfway through pregnancy. The deaths might have remained a mystery, but for the power of personal genomics and connections the Sheppards were able to make between scientists in different parts of the country who were studying disorders nobody realized were really the same thing. 

Body odor changes following vaccination

Body odor changes following vaccination


Our understanding of the role of body odor in conveying […]

Levels of sodium intake recommended by CDC associated with harmful health outcomes


A new study published in the American Journal of Hypertension […]

A protein could be a key weapon in the battle of the bulge

A protein could be a key weapon in the battle of the bulge

High levels of GDNF protein could help the body resist […]

Obesity primes the colon for cancer


Obesity primes the colon for cancer


Obesity, rather than diet, causes changes in the colon that […]

Daily Comic Relief

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/T7IMT02OCcLjTdrAWCCCyw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTE5MztweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz02MDA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ucomics.com/dp140419.gif

Can We Genetically Engineer Humans for Space?

Traveling far distances in space is difficult, but advances in jet propulsion and genetics are making it possible. Dr. Kiki Sanford joins Trace to discuss how altering the genes in our bodies can make us more fit to survive on other planets!

Moon's Age Revealed, and a Lunar Mystery May Be Solved

This artist's illustration depicts a giant impact between the early Earth and a Mars-size object, a cataclysmic collision thought to have created the moon about 4.5 billion years ago.Scientists have pinned down the birth date of the moon to within 100 million years of the birth of the solar system — the best timeline yet for the evolution of our planet's natural satellite. This new discovery about the origin of the moon may help solve a mystery about why the moon and the Earth appear virtually identical in makeup, investigators added.
Scientists have suggested the moon was formed 4.5 billion years ago by a gigantic collision between a Mars-size object named Theia and Earth, a crash that would have largely melted the Earth. This model suggested that more than 40 percent of the moon was made up of debris from this impacting body. (Current theory suggests that Earth experienced several giant impacts during its formation, with the moon-forming impact being the last.)
However, researchers suspected Theia was chemically different from Earth. In contrast, recent studies revealed that the moon and Earth appear very similar when it comes to versions of elements called isotopes — more so than might be suggested by the current impact model. (Isotopes of an element have differing numbers of neutrons from one another.)
"This means that at the atomic level, the Earth and the moon are identical,"study lead author Seth Jacobson, a planetary scientist at the Côte d'Azur Observatory in Nice, France, told Space.com. "This new information challenged the giant impact theory for lunar formation."
How the moon evolved
No one seriously disputed an impact as the most likely scenario for the formation of the moon, Jacobson said. However, a virtually atomically identical moon and Earth threw the exact circumstances of the collision into question, he said.
Now, by pinpointing when the moon formed, Jacobson and his colleagues could help explain why the moon and Earth are mysteriously similar. The scientists detailed their findings in the April 3 issue of the journal Nature.
Efforts to date the moon-forming impact have proposed a range of ages. Some have argued for an early event, about 30 million years after the birth of the solar system, whereas others suggested that it occurred more than 50 million years and possibly as much as 100 million years after the solar system formed.
To help solve this mystery, Jacobson and his colleagues simulated the growth of the solar system's rocky planets — Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars — from a protoplanetary disk of thousands of planetary building blocks orbiting the sun.
By analyzing how these planets formed and grew from more than 250 computer simulations, the researchers discovered that if the moon-forming impact was early, the amount of material accreted onto Earth afterward was large. If the impact was late, the amount would then be small.
Past research had calculated the amount of material accreted onto Earth after the moon-forming impact. These estimates are based on how on how so-called highly siderophile or "iron-loving" elements such as iridium and platinum show a strong tendency to move into Earth's core. After each giant impact the nascent Earth sustained, these elements would have leached from Earth's mantle and bonded with heavy, iron-rich material destined to sink to Earth's heart.
Moon birth mystery
After the last giant impact that formed the moon, the mantle should have been almost completely stripped of iridium, platinum and their cousins. These elements are still present in the mantle, but only in small amounts, which suggests only a small amount of material accreted onto Earth after the moon-forming impact.
The researchers calculated the moon-forming impact must have occurred about 95 million years after the formation of the solar system, give or take 32 million years.
"A late moon-forming event, as suggested by our work, is very consistent with an identical Earth and moon," Jacobson said.
In addition, recent analyses propose that the impact that created the moon required a faster, more energetic collision than previously suggested. This makes sense if the impact took place relatively late with an older protoplanetary disk, as the new findings suggest.
"Older disks tend to be dynamically more active, since there are fewer bodies left in the disk to distribute energy amongst," Jacobson said.
These new findings raise an interesting new puzzle. While they suggest the moon and the Earth formed together nearly 100 million years after the solar system arose, evidence from meteorites from Mars suggests that the Red Planet formed as little as a few million years after the solar system was born.
"This means that Earth and Mars formed over dramatically different timescales, with Mars forming much faster than the Earth," Jacobson said. "How can this be? Is it just a matter of size? Location? What about Mercury and Venus? Did they grow on similar timescales to the Earth or on timescales more similar to Mars? I think these are some of the really important questions that we, as a community of planetary scientists, will be addressing in the future."

Misleading mineral may have resulted in overestimate of water in moon


Ancient volcanic explosions shed light on Mercury’s origins


Astronomical News

It can be stressful being a small asteroid -- not only do they risk collision with the planets any time, they are also slowly being eroded by the sun.
Earth’s finishing touch came with a wallop when a Mars-sized hunk of real estate crashed into the fetal planet some 95 million years after the birth of the solar system -- later than some astronomers thought -- sending up debris that eventually formed moon.
NGC 1316 has a lot of skeletons in its closet -- literally.
When astronauts spend long periods of time in space, their hearts start to become spherical, a new study claims.
Last month's BICEP2 discovery of gravitational waves is compelling evidence for the inflationary period just after the Big Bang. But what if there's another explanation?
A massive black hole has, for the first time, revealed its bling -- a string of star clusters arranged like a stellar String of Pearls.
On Saturday, the sun erupted with an X-class flare, knocking out radio communications for several minutes.

Mars: The Muddy Red Planet?
Some of Mars' lava fields may actually be massive mud flows, indicating that they weren't created by ancient volcanic activity at all.

Coming Tomorrow

Coming Tomorrow
  • 19 Food Brand names You're Probably Pronouncing Wrong
  • Can You Dance Like Tyrannosaurus Rex?
  • Non-Conformity and Creativity Now Listed As A Mental Illness by Psychiatrists
  • Judge Rules Living Off The Grid To Be Illegal
And more ...
This isssster bunnie is our Animal Picture, for today.