World of Difference.

The Paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers,wider freeways but narrow view points. All of us have learnt how to make a living but not life. We have added years to life but not life to years.

We have been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour. We have more university degrees but less sense, more knowledge but less judgement,more experts yet more problems, more medicines but less wellness.

We spend more but have less, we buy more but enjoy less. We have bigger houses but smaller families, more conveniences but less time. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little,drive too fast, get too angry,stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch too much T.V. and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values, we talk too much, love too seldom and hate too often, We conquer outer space but not inner space. We have done larger things but not better things.

We have cleaned up the air but polluted the soul, we have conquered the atom but not our prejudice. We write more but learn less. We plan more but accomplish less.

We have learnt to rush but not to wait. We built more computers to hold, more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less. These are times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small charecter,steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two income but more divorce, fancier houses but broken homes,these are the days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, over weight bodies and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill. It is time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this middle to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just ignore.

Remember, spend sometime with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever, remember to say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person will grow up and leave your side, remember to give a warm hug to the one next to you , because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesnt cost a rupee.

Remember to say'I LOVE YOU' to your partner and your loved ones but most of all mean it. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak, give time to the precious thoughts in your mind.

Always remember - Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away.

Joining hands to save the tiger .

Heads of 16 villages bordering a tiger reserve in Arunachal Pradesh have joined hands to form a committee to protect the reserve where hunting of wild animals illegally has been a common practice.

The 16-member committee in conjunction with the forest department is to work for protection of the Pakke Tiger Reserve, about 250 km from the Chinese border.

The committee, locally called as "Ghora Aabhe", recently passed a resolution listing penalties for wildlife violations of 17 different wild species ranging from Rs.200 to Rs.30,000.

"Following this initiative, about 32 illegal locally made guns were seized from poachers. Many of the poachers have now promised to work for protection of the reserve," said Tana Tapi, divisional forest officer, who helped the villagers to form the committee.

A conservation organisation, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), which is supporting the "Gaon Burahs" - village heads - with honorariums to carry out conservation actions, said villagers have been keeping a strict vigil in the reserve, which has led to the recovery of arms.

The 862-sq km Pakke Reserve in East Kameng district is home to many rare and endangered wildlife species, such as tiger, leopard, wild dog, Himalayan black bear and elephant.

Although wildlife trade is not prevalent here as in other parts of the country, hunting for food has been a major threat to wildlife.

"The reduction in hunting, particularly of prey species of the tiger, will help tiger conservation in the long run," said P.C. Bhattacharjee, professor at Gauhati University.

The committee would work to strengthen intelligence networks, enforcement activities and create awareness for conservation among the people. Repeated seizures would also act as a deterrent for likely offenders, Tapi said.

"The Gaon Burah's role is crucial since they can persuade people for sustainable use of natural resources," said Bhattacharjee.

"This initiative can be a role model elsewhere in the country where problems of hunting for food and trade are widespread. Fringe villages adjoining huge unmanned wildlife sanctuaries can play a stellar role in conservation," said Rahul Kaul, director conservation of WTI, who is supervising the project in Pakke.

"The Pakke Reserve, which is contiguous with the Nameri Tiger Reserve of Assam, is an important habitat for the big cats. This move by the villagers is an important step forward particularly in the light of the present tiger crisis in the country," he said.

Ice Bergs are 'Ecological Hotspot'.

Drifting icebergs are "ecological hotspots" that enable the surrounding waters to absorb an increased volume of carbon dioxide, a study suggests.

US scientists found that minerals released from the melting ice triggered blooms of CO2-absorbing phytoplankton.

These microscopic plants were then eaten by krill (shrimp-like organisms), whose waste material containing the carbon sank to the ocean floor.

The findings are published in the online journal Science Express.

The study, carried out in the Southern Ocean's Weddell Sea in December 2005, has helped researchers understand the impact of free-floating icebergs on the marine environment.

"We had almost 1,000 icebergs."

"We are going to go back and look at smaller icebergs to see how important they are "

Dr. Ken Smith- Oceanographer.

The team focused its attention on two icebergs, one measuring 2km by 0.5km (1.2 miles by 0.3 miles) and another 21km in length and 5km wide (13 miles by 3 miles).

Using instruments that included a trawl net and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) with a video camera, the researchers sampled waters from the ice blocks up to 9km away (5.5 miles).

They found a "substantial enrichment" of minerals, phytoplankton, krill and seabirds in the surrounding water up to 3.7km away (2.3 miles) compared with areas with no icebergs.

"These results suggest that free-drifting icebergs can substantially impact the (open sea) ecosystem of the Southern Ocean and can serve as areas of enhanced production and sequestration of organic carbon to the deep sea," the scientists wrote.

Dr Smith said these findings would be followed up next year by a much more intensive examination.

"We are going to go back and look at smaller icebergs to see how important they are, and to see if they also have an associated enrichment of the surrounding water."

I Want to Say How Proud I Am of You .

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY.

To My Dad on His Day

To my dad on his day,

Of whom I am a living will:

May your happiness fulfill

Your goodness, as is just and right.

Deeds are seeds upon the night

As wind and wonder have their way,

Delivering the destined light.

________________________________

I Do Not See You Often

I do not see you often,

butI see you every day.

I've taken you along with me

As I have grown away.

We talk about the things that fill

A life with love and pain,

But our timeless golden time,

Unspoken, still remains.

You will always be my dad,

And I, your darling daughter.

The days may turn like waterwheels,

But that will never change.

The thought of you will make me glad

No matter where I wander.

You are the place that cannot feel

Uncanny, dark, or strange.

Eye flickers key for fine detail .

Tiny, involuntary movements made by our eyes when we focus on something could be more useful than we might think, scientists have found. We may not be aware that our eyes are making these movements, but without them our vision fades. And scientists have now found that they could also be important in helping us to see very fine details. The research, carried out by scientists at Boston University, was published in the journal Nature.

Our eyes are never in a position of absolute rest - they are always moving slightly, much as we find it difficult to hold our hands completely steady. These tiny flickers made as we focus on something are known as fixational eye movements. They keep the image on the retina of our eyes moving, and scientists have known for about 50 years that removing this motion for a long time, by stabilising the image on the retina, causes vision to fade. This observation gave rise to the idea that the movements are necessary to refresh the responses of neurons in the visual system to prevent images we are focused on from fading.

New technique

But there has been debate over whether the movements have any other functions. Professor Michele Rucci and colleagues used a new technique for counteracting the visual effects of the eye movements to test their effects on vision. They were able to stop the effects of the movements for short periods of time, so that vision did not start to fade. They found that, without the motion, people in the study were less able to perceive fine details in images. Participants looked at a grating and had to say whether it was being oriented to the right or to the left. When the grates were very close together, people were less successful in the task if their retinas were stabilised to remove the effects of the eye movements - they got it wrong 16% more of the time.

However, when the grates were further apart there was no effect when the retinal image was stabilised. Professor Rucci said it seems that when we fixate on something we get more small eye movements which could help us focus on these details.

'Useful'

He said such a mechanism could be crucial to help us focus in on fine details when we need to.

And he said the findings could have clinical implications for people with conditions that result in abnormal fixational eye movements.

He said: "By showing that fixational eye movements participate in the perception of fine detail, our results may help explain the reasons behind part of these visual deficits and may contribute to the development of treatments."

Tim Hunter, a councillor for the College of Optometrists, said the research was interesting and seemed to give a "sound result" but that he would like to see the effects duplicated in other studies to confirm the finding.

He added that understanding more about how the eye works and can go wrong could give us opportunities to correct problems and improve vision in the future.

Space Shuttle - Atlantis.

After weeks of delay, space shuttle Atlantis was finally launched for its mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

The orbiter will deliver new equipment to the space station.

The mission was due to take place in March but repairs had to be made to the shuttle's external tank, which was damaged by a hailstorm in February.

Golf-ball sized hail stones hit the launcher vehicle system, causing hundreds of dents and minor surface damage to the tank's foam coveriSince the destruction of Atlantis's sister shuttle Columbia and the death of its crew in 2003, shuttle damage has been a major cause of concern for Nasa. ng and to heat shields on the orbiter itself. Columbia's heat shield was damaged during its launch and the ship was destroyed as it returned through the atmosphere 16 days later.

Atlantis has a crew of seven: Rick Sturckow will command the mission and Lee Archambault will serve as Atlantis' pilot. Mission specialists James Reilly, Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, John Olivas and Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson make up the rest of the team.

Mr Anderson will replace Sunita Williams on the ISS, who will be returning to Earth aboard Atlantis. Space shuttle Atlantis blasted off into space on Saturday to bring back Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams after her six month stay at the International Space Station , the longest for any woman.

The crew will be installing a new backbone segment and a set of solar wings on the space station, which is currently being expanded.

Nasa must fly at least 13 more missions to finish constructing the orbiting outpost before retiring its fleet of shuttles in 2010.

However, the delays to Atlantis' mission have meant that Nasa will have to reduce its 2007 programme from five to four launches.

IF TEARS COULD............

If tears could build a stairway

And memories were a lane,

I would walk right up to heaven

To bring you home again.

No farewell words were spoken.

No time to say good-bye.

You were gone before we knew it,

And only God knows why.

My heart still aches in sadness

And secret tears still flow.

What it meant to lose you,

No one will ever know.

New 7 Wonders of the World .

VOTE FOR TAJ MAHAL - YOUR VOTE MATTERS .

The voting campaign for the New 7 Wonders of the world is going on, and there are just 26 more days left for voting. There are 21 candidates for this. The New 7 wonders will be announced during the Official Declaration Ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on 7th July'07.

Your vote counts ............ Help make history.

To vote you can log on to http://www.new7wonders.com/

The event will take place at Portugal's largest venue, the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, The Official Declaration of the New 7 Wonders of the World show will feature performances and award presentation appearances from Ben Kingsley, Jose Carreras, Chaka Khan, Alessandro Safina, Joaquín Cortés, Dulce Pontes, Neil Armstrong and Cristiano Ronaldo amongst others. The Portuguese event agency Realizar Impact Marketing, known for its innovative, international multimedia, will create and produce the event on July 7, 2007, which will be broadcast around the world.

The official Ceremony is sure to be once in a life time event.

GLOBAL WARMING.

THE PLANET IS HEATING UP AND FAST .....................

Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, cloud forests are drying, and wildlife is scrambling to keep pace. It's becoming clear that humans have caused most of the past century's warming by releasing heat-trapping gases as we power our modern lives. Called greenhouse gases, their levels are higher now than in the last 650,000 years.

We call the result global warming, but it is causing a set of changes to the Earth's climate, or long-term weather patterns, that varies from place to place. As the Earth spins each day, the new heat swirls with it, picking up moisture over the oceans, rising here, settling there. It's changing the rhythms of climate that all living things have come to rely upon.

GLOBAL WARMING CAUSES:
Scientists have spent decades figuring out what is causing global warming. They've looked at the natural cycles and events that are known to influence climate. But the amount and pattern of warming that's been measured can't be explained by these factors alone. The only way to explain the pattern is to include the effect of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted by humans.

IS GLOBAL WARMING REAL :
Has Global Warming Been Exaggerated?
The warming of Earth's surface and oceans over the past century is very well documented, and climate research shows that most of the warming in the past half century results from manmade greenhouse gases. In recent years, global warming has been the subject of a great deal of political controversy. As scientific knowledge has grown, this debate is moving away from whether humans are causing warming and toward questions of how best to respond.

EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING:
Signs are Everywhere.
The planet is warming, from North Pole to South Pole, and everywhere in between. Globally, the mercury is already up more than 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius), and even more in sensitive polar regions.

And the effects of rising temperatures aren’t waiting for some far-flung future. They’re happening right now. Signs are appearing all over, and some of them are surprising. The heat is not only melting glaciers and sea ice, it’s also shifting precipitation patterns and setting animals on the move.

Some impacts from increasing temperatures are already happening.

Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice.

Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the Adélie penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years.

Sea level rise became faster over the last century.

Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to higher, cooler areas.

Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average.

Spruce bark beetles have boomed in Alaska thanks to 20 years of warm summers. The insects have chewed up 4 million acres of spruce trees.

Stroke Identification .

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Steps STROKE IDENTIFICATION:


During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.



A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Thank God for the sense to remember the "3" steps, STR .



Read and Learn!Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.



Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:



*Ask the individual to SMILE.



*Ask the person to TALK, to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently: It is sunny out today.)



*Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.



{NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue... if the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke} If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call hospital / doctor immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher. A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.