News: Egypt To Scan Ancient Pyramids With Cosmic Rays

Link:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/egypt-pyramids-scan-cosmic-rays_562dd7d0e4b0ec0a3894e1f6

For the first time ever, scanning technology’s been used on pyramids and the results are quite surprising. The preliminary results of the Scan Pyramids project indicate an anomaly in the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid of Khufu that could uncover the secrets of other ancient Egyptian structures.

The project’s a collaboration between the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, Cairo University and the AHIP Institute, and aims to map millennia-old pyramids in Giza as well as discover hidden chambers and secret passageways.

Experts say the discovery paves the way for more groundbreaking research in ancient Egyptian studies.

Through infrared thermography and non-invasive cosmic rays, the two-week research found three hot stains on the eastern side of the Khufu pyramid. The heat radiating from the stone indicates an anomaly, although the reason behind the thermal differences remains unknown.

These irregularities continue to shroud these iconic monuments in mystery, but with the project continuing, it’s hope that more insights into pyramids, and indeed history, will be made. 

In my opinion, It's very interesting that they keep investigating ancient stuff like the pyramids and I'm amazed that over the years they've been discovering many things.

Oral Presentation and Self-evaluation

One of my weaknesses when I do an oral presentation is my confidence, I always get nervous and as a result I make some silly mistakes. Leaving aside some mispronounced words, the simple power point and the connection between the programs. However, we were the first group to present and I think it wasn't a bad presentation at all.

Joke podcast

Actually, I was trying to remember this joke "A kidnapper was dragging a child into the woods when the kid says, "Mister, these woods are really scary." The kidnapper says, "Yeah, I know. And I have to walk out all alone." But I kinda failed. 

I couldn't embed it, the link just doesn't work If I do it.

News: Toxic elements found in water weeks after Brazil’s mine disaster

The Brazilian government has labelled this scene an environmental catastrophe. After two dams burst at an iron ore mine, thick orange sediment is now washing into the ocean along the coastline. As much as 25,000 Olympic swimming pools’ worth of sediment has flowed more than 483 km.

Eleven people died in the disaster earlier this month. The Brazilian President has fined the mining company more than 44,000 pounds, but some believe that doesn't go far enough and protested in fishing boats.

The mining company Samarco has set up temporary barriers in an attempt to contain the mud flow and had been digging canals this week to guide the sediment out to sea.

Samarco says the mud isn't toxic, but biologists and environmental experts disagree. It has been more than a fortnight since the disaster and the long-term effects on the environment and the people who live there are yet to be fully understood. 

Is humour necessary?

Is humour necesarry? Humour is commonly present in our everyday life. It appears on television, radio, literature...etc. So there's no way that's just a simple coincidence. We all like humour and it has several benefits.

First of all, scientists have proved that we change psychologically when we laugh. We stretch muscles througout our face and body, our pulse and blood presure go up, and we breath faster, sending more oxygen to our tissues. In other words, laughter has the same benefits as a workout.

Secondly, scientists have justified too that laughter burns calories. They discovered that we burn aproximately more than 50 calories in 10-15 minutes.

What's more humor is good for difficult times where we have to deal with stressful situations. It promotes positive mood and helps to override negative emotions. It also helps to see the funny side in adverse situations.

In conclusion, I think It's pretty obvios why humour is necessary, it only has benefits and it makes us feel good as good as workout and it helps to relax in tough moments.

News: Adorable Peruvian Skateboarding Bulldog Broke a Guinness World Record

Link: http://www.latinospost.com/articles/78544/20151115/adorable-peruvian-skateboarding-bulldog-broke-a-guinness-world-record-watch.htm

We all know that skateboarding dogs are probably the best type of videos on the Internet, but this one pooch goes one step further.

It is Guinness World Record Day and to celebrate, Otto the bulldog set a world record for the longest human tunnel traveled through by a dog on a skateboard.

The thrill-seeking pup in Peru took to his skateboard and sped through the legs of 30 people to successfully break the record. The four-year-old animal also shows his skills by cleverly shifting his weight on the board to navigate his way through the curvy obstacle course so that he doesn't bump into anyone's legs.

For his record-breaking achievement, crowds gathered to give Otto attention, and he seemed to be rather pleased with himself. 

In my opinion, all of these records are kinda funny because they're rather surprising. 

Beauty/Dorian Gray writing

It's pretty clear that a problem in our society is beauty, as a matter of fact masses want to be young forever. But not young mentally, only physically.

But for me beauty hasn't got an age, in other words, we can be elder and maybe someone would think that we're beautiful, so obviously beauty because there isn't a valid guide about "How to be beautiful?" that works out for everyone.Every each of us is capable of finding beauty in everything, beacuse beauty is only a matter of perspective, not age.

Finally, the Dorian's Gray issue is still present nowadays, many people take care of their look but in a obssessive way. However, that's useless because beauty can be found elsewhere it just depends on the viewer.

News: Turkey shoots down Russian warplane on Syria border

Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34907983

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken out to say the loss is a stab in the back delivered to them by accomplices of terrorists.

This footage reportedly shows Russian military helicopters searching for the pilot of a downed jet near the Syrian border. Both Turkish military officials and a Russian President Vladimir Putin have verified that the Russian warplane was shot down, although the reasons behind the incident are contradictory.

Turkmen commander Selleck says the jet was taken down after multiple warnings that it was violating their airspace. He says the pilots were retrieved dead after his comrades opened fire into the air. Here he shows a piece of parachute collected from the fallen.

The crew reportedly ejected from the plane before it crashed into the mountains of northern Latakia.

Putin confirmed that the plane was shot down over Syrian territory by an air-to-air missile from a Turkish F-16 aircraft. He adds that the pilots and planes were in no way threatening Turkey and were carrying out their duty to fight Islamic State. A Syrian military source said the incident is now under investigation.

Summary: The key to success? Grit

http://www.ted.com/playlists/158/graduation_now_what

Angela Lee Duckworth left a very demanded job for a more demanding job: Teaching. So she teached maths to seventh graders, then she realized that some of the smartest students weren't doing well and some of the best performers didn't have the highest IQ. After several years of teaching Angela realized that they need a much better understanding of students and teachers and if we do well in studies and in life it depends on much more than IQ. 

Then Angela became a psychologist and in every study she asked herself the same question: Who is successful here and why?.After studying many situations one characterisitic emerged as a significant predictor of success: grit.

Grit is the perseverance to achieve long-term goals. Grit matters in everything, so school isn't a exception because according to a study she made, gritter students are more likely to graduate.

The problem is that nowadays we still don't know how to build grit. We know that talent doesn't make us gritty. Angela things that the best way to build grit in kids (so far) is "growth mindset" which means that the ability to learn isn't fixed that it can change with effort. So basically, she means that the key to success is being gritty and we can achieve it with effort.

News: Anonymous declares war on ISIS

Link: http://nypost.com/2015/11/16/anonymous-declares-war-on-isis/ 

French hackers from the activist group Anonymous have declared war on the so-called Islamic State after the Paris attacks.

In a video posted on YouTube, a representative wearing a hood and the group's distinctive Guy Fawkes mask said the violence that left 129 people dead can't go unpunished. The statement said, “That's why Anonymous activists from all over the world will hunt you down.

Anonymous threatened "Yes, you the vermin, who kill innocent victims. We will hunt you down like we did to those who carried out the attacks on Charlie Hebdo."

So get ready for a massive reaction from Anonymous. Know that we will find you and we will never let up. We are going to launch the biggest ever operation against you. Expect very many cyber-attacks. War is declared. Prepare yourselves.

Finally, they declared "The French people are stronger than you and will come out of this atrocity even stronger.”

In my opinion, due to the cyber world we live in, Anonymous may be important on fighting the terrorist war, actually since today the have hacked many social media accounts from the Islamic state.

News: Charlie Sheen Says He Has H.I.V. and Has Paid Millions to Keep It Secret

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/18/business/charlie-sheen-hiv-positive.html

Hollywood actor Charlie Sheen has revealed in a TV interview with NBC that he is HIV positive. Sheen said he learned about the diagnosis four years ago but said it was “a hard three letters to absorb”.

The 50 year-old actor rose to fame in Hollywood in the 1980s but is best known for his portrayal of Charlie Harper on U.S. comedy series "Two and a Half Men”. This role made him the highest paid actor on TV until he was fired in 2011 for debaucherous behaviour. 

Asked on NBC whether he had transmitted HIV to anyone, the actor said it was "impossible," although he admitted that he was "not entirely" aware of how he contracted the virus.

Sheen has struggled with drug addiction in the past and has admitted to sleeping with prostitutes. His doctor told the programme that Sheen does not have AIDS. The actor claimed that people who knew his HIV-positive status had extorted money from him to keep it secret. He said it cost him millions.

He proclaimed he would stop paying people now that his HIV status was public saying, "I release myself from this prison today." Media speculation has been rife for weeks about the star's health. Sheen said he decided to go public with the personal news to put a stop to what he described as very harmful stories that were threatening the health of so many others. 

In my opinion, It's kinda shocking that Charlie has HIV and he paid to keep it secret. Because it is his problem and if he didn't want to make it public, he wouldn't have to pay for it. The lost of privacy is a thing that produces a hopeless feeling on me.

Your say: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols

Never Mind the Bollocks was the first and only studio album by the punk band Sex Pistols. The album was released in the UK on October 28, 1977 by Virgin Records label immediately causing controversy over the inclusion of the word "Bollocks" in the title. This pretentious album is considered the wildest LP that rock 'n' roll had since then, the album has 12 very direct songs, with a very minimalistic sound,  which is crowned with a very acidic lyrics and an overwhelming invasion of sharp guitars.

Sex Pistols The disc opens with "Holidays in the Sun," a powerful theme that begins with a military march as a sonic warning about that the invasion is a reality, the second cut, "Bodies" is critic to abortion, "No Feelings" and "Liar" are two very visceral and crushing sound issues that devastate consciences with his lyrics, very angry and honest. "Good Save the Queen" is a hymn of all time, a very ambitious track, which leads to the continuity of "Problems" and thereupon to the youth of "Seventeen" . Then we find "Anarchy in the UK", "Submission" and "Pretty Vacant", three very enveloping songs and above all very emaciated, devastating reality by the Western world and the hopelessness of his youth. In the end we come to "New York" and "EMI", two important controversial songs.

Finally, I recommend this album to everyone even if you don't like punk it's a classical LP, a must-hear and essential to understand the evolution of the genre thorughtout the decades. Never Mind the Bollocks marked a turning point in music of the 20th century.

Your say: Beauty and subjectivity

First of all, we got to define beauty as an abstract notion linked to many aspects of human existence. This is mainly studied by the philosophical discipline of aesthetics, but is also addressed by other disciplines such as history, sociology and social psychology. As a consequence beauty is commonly defined as the characteristic of a thing through a sensory experience, which seeks a feeling of pleasure or a feeling of satisfaction. Therefore, In this sense, the beauty comes from events such as the shape, the visual appearance, movement and sound, although it is associated, to a lesser extent, the tastes and smells.

As we all know, beauty is an abstract concept that arises from the appreciation of a given viewer, so what some individual considers "beautiful" may not be "beautiful" for another spectator, it is the view of the observer (influenced by the socio-cultural skills , ideological, environmental, etc.) from which beauty is determined. And it is subjective as opposed to objective, because it can't be measured or calculated.

In conclusion, that's why I think that beauty can be found in every corner of the world if one only knows how to find it, because it's based on a subjective opinion which differs from that of any other individual.

Your say: One flew over the cuckoo's nest.

To begin with, One flew over the cuckoo's nest is a classical drama film in which the foremost thing is onscreen battle between Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher which represents the culture wars of the 1970s and testament to the director's vision that the film retains its power more than three decades later.

Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a man convicted of assault, and a free spirit who lives crosscurrent, is detained in a mental hospital. The center inflexible discipline emphasizes its contagious tendency to disorder, which eventually triggering a war between patients and clinic staff with cold and severe Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) to the head. The fate of every patient is at stake.

I loved how the Czech director, Milos Forman and Jack Nicholson addressed to the insanity as a concept, the dignity of the individual and the American Psychiatric complaint system. The movie's directing is great, the acting is outstanding, the script is captivating, and as a proof of that One flew over the cuckoo's nest is one of the few movies that gained the five main Oscars awards.

Finally, I recommend this movie to everyone, it's a must-watch classic which aged magnificently.