CAROLINA NATURALLY

Thursday, July 22, 2010

The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
Your attention stretched thin for now, and many different demands are coming your way.
Of course, this is stressful, but if you don't let it surprise you, you ought to be able to handle it -- and even look good doing it.
Set new priorities, but make sure to keep them flexible so you can adapt as other things pop up.
Schedule time to decompress, and some extra time with your people -- these should be at the top of your list.

Today is:

Today is Thursday, July 22, the 203rd day of 2010.

There are 162 days left in the year.

Today In History July 22

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:

National Penuche Fudge Day

Spooners (Spoonerism) Day

Rat-Catchers Day

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The First Bookmobile in the United States

This is a photograph of what is alleged to be the first American bookmobile. It was built in 1905 by the public library of Washington County, Maryland. Mary Titcomb, the librarian responsible for its creation, described its importance:

Would not a Library Wagon, the outward and visible signs of the service for which the Library stood, do much more in cementing friendship? Would the upkeep of the wagon after the first cost be much more than the present method? Is not Washington County with its good roads especially well adapted for testing an experiment of this kind, for the geography of the County is such that it could be comfortably covered by well planned routes? These and other aspects of the plan were laid before the Board of Trustees – who approved of the idea, and forthwith the librarian began interviewing wagon makers and trying to elucidate her ideas with pen and pencil. The first wagon, when finished with shelves on the outside and a place for storage of cases in the center resembled somewhat a cross between a grocer’s delivery wagon and the tin peddlers cart of by gone New England days. Filled with an attractive collection of books and drawn by two horses, with Mr. Thomas the janitor both holding the reins and dispensing the books, it started on its travels in April 1905.
No better method has ever been devised for reaching the dweller in the country. The book goes to the man, not waiting for the man to come to the book. Psychologically too the wagon is the thing. As well try to resist the pack of a peddler from the Orient as the shelf full of books when the doors of the wagon are opened by Miss Chrissinger at one’s gateway.

The original wagon was hit and destroyed by a train in 1910, and replaced with a motorized version two years later.

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The Ruins Of Cumberland Island

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Cumberland Island lies off the coast of Georgia and is the largest of the state's barrier islands at just under 18 miles in length. Virtually no one lives on the island all year round these days but at the southern end of the island you will find Dungeness, once owned by the famously rich Carnegie family.

The house is now in ruins but perhaps if you listen closely you might hear the strains of a ghostly Charleston.

Lightning's striking facts and myths

An old childhood trick can determine the distance of an approaching electrical storm.

Truth about airplanes

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Stonehenge's Second Henge

Archaeologists have found something at Stonehenge that is so exceptional that they’re calling it the most exciting find there in fifty years: a second, Neolithic henge.

The new "henge" – which means a circular monument dating to Neolithic and Bronze Ages – is situated about 900m (2,950ft) from the giant stones on Salisbury Plain.
Images show it has two entrances on the north-east and south-west sides and inside the circle is a burial mound on top which appeared much later, Professor Gaffney said.
"You seem to have a large-ditched feature, but it seems to be made of individual scoops rather than just a straight trench," he said.
"When we looked a bit more closely, we then realised there was a ring of pits about a metre wide going all the way around the edge.
"When you see that as an archaeologist, you just looked at it and thought, ‘that’s a henge monument’ – it’s a timber equivalent to Stonehenge.

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Archaeology and the city

From plow furrows in Sheridan Square to the foundations of a 17th-century City Hall/local pub (man, wouldn't that make council meetings more fun?), this nifty map traces some of the most fascinating finds in New York City urban archaeology.

Bowls of Fingers, Baby Victims, More Found in Maya Tomb

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Sealed "like Fort Knox," royal burial may be "gold mine of information."
Ceramic lid found among multiple bowls containing human fingers at newfound Maya royal tomb.

Bahamas' 'blue holes' reveal weird science

Scientists have been researching the bizarre locations for at least 30 years.

One called 'Stargate'

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The best adventure trips in the world

Travel by horseback, kayak, or bicycle on one of these once-in-a-lifetime journeys.

Dog-sled through Finland

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Soccer News

Landon Donovan's wealthy pursuer

One of England's top teams admits it is interested in acquiring the U.S. soccer hero.

Possible historic salary

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Soccer player unleashes inner cheerleader

A playful defender on a Polish team is caught on camera mimicking the team's young cheerleaders.

Watch him dance

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Russian spy leaves enigmatic trail online

The "femme fatale" of the spy ring finds ways to connect with the world from an undisclosed location.

Denies rumor

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Common typos spell-check won't catch

The most common error in the English language is one your computer will miss.

Ten worst to watch for

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Dieters embrace caveman eating habits

"Paleo diet" followers lose weight by dining on new versions of Stone Age fare.

Some bend rules with coffee 'vice'

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Fragments of Gluten that Trigger Celiac Disease Isolated

If you have an immune system disorder called celiac disease or are allergic to gluten (or know that someone who is), then you know that eating the wrong thing can lead to severe pain.
Even though the role of gluten in celiac disease has been known for 60 years, researchers have just pinpointed the peptide sequence in gluten that cause the body’s immune system to wreak havoc in your tummy:

Bob Anderson, a celiac disease researcher at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Victoria, Australia, and fellow researchers recruited more than 200 celiac disease patients for their study. Participants ate servings of bread, rye muffins or boiled barley for three days. Six days after the experiment started, the researchers drew blood samples.
They tested the samples to see how strongly immune cells in the blood reacted to more than 2,700 different gluten peptides (relatively short chains of amino acids). Ninety of the peptides elicited some response, and three in particular generated the biggest reaction.
"The holy grail in celiac disease research has been to identify the toxic peptide components of gluten, and that’s what we’ve done," Anderson said in a statement. "These three components account for the majority of the immune response to gluten."

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