Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Top Fat Burning Food Strategies : 1 Introduction

Amy McGorry: Forget the fat diets with crazy tips that no one can sustain. If you want to really lose weight, your best eating bet is to keep it simple. Here are three food strategies that can help.

First get your protein. Protein provides essential building blocks for the daily repair of nearly every cell in your body. Getting enough is critical to your health and vitality and research shows that protein rich food keeps you feeling fuller, longer than either carbs or fats. So you can eat less and still feel satisfied.

Some great sources of proteins include eggs, yogurts, skinless white meat and beans. Second, eat early. Make sure to have breakfast every morning, it jump starts your metabolism and prevents late day binge.

Studies have food that dieters are most successful at weight loss when they start their day with a meal. Mix quick cooking oats with low fat milk and adding in some banana, will add a dash of all natural sweetness. Toss in some nuts to make the meal more filling.

Third, get a handle on portions, most of us each too much. To lose weight you have to eat proper portions. Don't have measuring cups or teaspoons around? Use your hand to measure. For me fish and poultry, one serving is about 3 ounces worth the size of the palm of your hand.

When eating mix nuts or raisins, aim for one quarter cup or one layer on your palm, one handful. For cereal or popcorn, one cup is a standard serving size, so use two cup hands to measure and those are just a few easy fat burning strategies to help you drop those last few unwanted pounds.


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Daily Orbit - Studying Saturn's Magnetosphere : 1 Introduction

Emerald Robinson: Has a hundred year old mystery been solved? Mind over robots, RoboBees have a lift off and honoring Tesla on today's Daily Orbit!

Hello and welcome to the Daily Orbit, I'm Emerald Robinson. Well Saturn is making headlines again this week, as researchers say they finally understand how the gas giant's magnetosphere changes with the seasons.

Why is this interesting? Scientists say this provides an important clue in understanding the planet's radio signal, which was once thought to be able to give an accurate measurement to the length of a Saturn day.

The new results could also help scientists better understand variations in the Earth's magnetosphere and the Van Allen radiation belts, which both affect things like spaceflight and cell service. Hey I'm all about research that keeps my cell service intact.

A blast lit up the sky in 1908, the force of which was a thousand times greater than the Hiroshima bomb and took out 80 million trees in an 800 square mile area. This has been known as the Tunguska Event. No one really knew the culprit, until now that is.

One scientist in Russia says that among rock samples he took from that area more than 20 years ago, three rocks are not Earthly in origin. He claims they are characteristic of meteorites with evidence of melting and regmaglypts, impressions typically caused by ablation as a rock falls through the atmosphere. He concludes a comet or asteroid collided with Earth that day. He named his three rocks; dental crown, whale and boat, which is which well, we'll let you be the judge.

And one of the most famous scientists of the twentieth century is being honored by what better than a science learning center and museum. Friends of Science East Incorporated partnered with the online comic Matthew Inman of TheOatmeal.

com, to raise enough money via crowd sourcing to purchase Wardenclyffe, the site in Shoreham, New York, where scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla planned to build his wireless communications and energy transmission tower in the early 1900s.

Due to financial woes, Tesla's dream was never realized. Known for his contributions to radio and electricity, Tesla's eccentricity earned him a mad scientist title. However, supporters of Tesla dream to restore the Wardenclyffe site laboratory and continue on Tesla's legacy. They say they'll need $10 million to complete the project and are calling on science lovers for contributions.

And as a robotics enthusiast himself, Tesla would have loved this next story. Engineers at Harvard have had their own robotic dreams come true, creating a flying insect robot known as RoboBee.

The team has been working more than a decade on this robot that is half the size of a paperclip, weighs less than a tenth a gram, and can flap its wings 120 times per second. The bug-bot currently has to be tethered to an energy source to fly and high energy-density fuel cells must be developed before the RoboBees will be able to fly with much independence.

Researchers say these tiny flying robots could one day help with environmental monitoring and crop pollination. And I loved what one engineer had to say; it's about the excitement of pushing the limits of what we think we can do the limits of human ingenuity. Well said, Mr. Scientist.

And here is another one the mad scientist would have loved, manipulating robots with your mind. Students at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology are making all kinds of advancements in robotics.

One Master's student says he can control a robot with movements of his eyes, eyebrows and other parts of his face by hooking himself up to an EEG machine where electrodes read the activity of the brain and send a message to the robot to move in a pre-defined way.

Another team is working on controlling a robot with arm movements alone, attempting to train it to imitate human movements using the Kinect camera. And one supervisor at the University has developed a three-fingered grasper to improve robots' effectiveness in the manufacturing industry. So much Mr. Tesla would have loved. Well that does it for the Daily Orbit, I feel inspired to do the Robot, join me, Mr. Robotic.


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Make Better Food Choices At A BBQ : 1 Introduction

John Basedow is the creator of the best-selling Fitness Made Simple video series, which has helped to improve the bodies and lives of thousands of men and women. From starting out in his parent’s basement to being seen on television sets across the country and deemed a “pop culture icon” by the media, John’s journey is an American dream come true “rags to riches” story. Fueled by an undying persistence and his personal motto “believe in yourself and you can accomplish anything”, John has achieved international recognition and created a media empire with Fitness Made Simple, which includes DVD's, CD’s, supplements, and infomercials all aimed at raising awareness about the importance of making fitness a part of your life. John has been featured on numerous TV and radio shows as well as in print media ranging from the Los Angeles Times to the National Examiner. In fact, The New York Times places him alongside NASCAR and figure skating in the contemporary pantheon of “great American sports television phenomena” and Muscle & Fitness Magazine named him the top infomercial star of the past 10 years. In addition to being a model that’s graced the pages of many major magazines, John’s also a well respected columnist and author of Fitness Made Simple: The Power to Change Your Body & Life, his book, published by literary powerhouse McGraw-Hill, that details his personal story and highlights his complete exercise and nutrition program. He’s a frequent guest on FOX News Channel, a regular on the popular Sirius/XM Radio program Covino & Rich and a new personality on the national cooking series Taste This TV. Along with being a spokesmodel for Chamonix Skincare and Energize sports drink, John works with various charities, including the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, for which he received an award and was the Honorary Spokesperson at their StepOut Walk To Fight Diabetes. John currently hosts & produces a popular YouTube show called New Media Stew, which started in August 2010 and features Motivational Minutes, Celebrity Nuggets Of Wisdom, Fit Tips, WTF segments, movie reviews, current event coverage and viewer interaction. John also speaks at the prestigious NAVEL Health & Wellness Expos and motivates people of all ages, from teenagers to grandparents, to follow their dreams with his popular Power To Change Your Body & Life Seminars. As John says, “If you can think it, you can do it. Don’t listen to negative people. If you focus on your goals, work hard and never quit, you can achieve anything.”


View the original article here

Top Jobs Experiencing Growth : 1 Introduction

Brian Alden: If 2012 wasn't your year for acquiring a job as an accountant, computer systems analysts or a marketing professional, fear not, according to forbes.

com, if you have a Bachelors degree in one of these three areas of study, you have a good chance of getting a decent job this year. The top spot of these three up and coming professionals for the year goes to people working with computer systems. Most people in this field have a Bachelors degree in computer science and can make as high as $90000 a year. If you consider yourself a computer geek life is about to get a whole lot cooler.

Coming in the second spot are auditors and accountants. With specialties such as keeping track of financial records and making sure taxes are being paid, these mathletes have had a 3 percent job increase since 2010 and can make around $61000 a year. Rounding out the list are marketing professional and specialists. With a 10 percent growth rate in the past three years and speculations of growth to reach at least 40 percent in the next eight years, these people are responsible for the products you buy and the prices you pay for them. If you have a knack for sales, you could be making $60000 a year or more.

So if any of these jobs are in your area of expertise and you haven't been so lucky on the hunt, don't worry, it looks like this year is going to be much, much more promising.


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What Is An Ecosystem? : 1 Introduction

Emerald Robinson: Hi I'm Emerald Robinson and in this What is? video we're going to investigate Earth's ecosystems. An ecosystem is a community of living things interacting with the non-living parts of their environment.

There are two primary parts of an ecosystem. The biotic part is made up of all the living things like plants and animals fungi and bacteria and viruses. The abiotic part is made of non-living things like rocks and minerals, water and energy. Ecosystems can be almost any size. While most of us think of communicates like a coral reef or a forest, an ecosystem can be a small pond or even the area beneath a large rock.

Ecosystems need energy, in most cases this energy comes from sunlight. Producers like plants take light energy and convert it into usable sugar energy through photosynthesis. As animals consume the energy from plants they are eaten my other animals and ultimately decompose back into the soil. The energy moves through the ecosystem via a food web.

Two of the most important concepts in the study of ecosystems are niche and habitat. A habitat is a place where an organism lives. Organisms must get nutrition, shelter, water and the other things they need to survive from their habitat.

Niche is an organism special role in the ecosystem. One how something eats, how it behaves, where it lives, all of these things define an organisms niche. Two organisms cannot occupy the same niche for very long. Eventually one will occupy the other for food and other resources forcing the other to move or to go extinct.

Many of the Earth's ecosystems are threaten due to climate change pollution and the human destruction of habitats. Scientist called ecologists study and monitor the health of ecosystems and continually work to discover new ways to protect these precious organisms and environments.


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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Daily Orbit - SpaceX Comes to Spaceport America : 1 Daily Orbit - SpaceX Comes to Spaceport America

Emerald Robinson: Virgin Galactic gets a new roommate. Making a Martian Colony Survivor Style, Robots that smell your stench and we're going nuts on today's Daily Orbit.

Hello and welcome to the Daily Orbit, I'm Emerald Robinson. SpaceX and Virgin Galactic are going to be roommates. SpaceX has signed a 3-year deal to lease land and facilities at New Mexico's Spaceport America, where Virgin Galactic also currently calls home.

The New Mexico Spaceport Authority has been readying the world's first commercial spaceport and they hope the addition of SpaceX will open the door for even more commercial tenants.

SpaceX plans to begin their next phase of development for their reusable rocket program at the new site. The company said that the facility has the physical and regulatory landscape needed to complete the next phase of testing for their Grasshopper vehicle. A little roomie advice guys, put the lid back on the gas tank.

And who would like to be my roommate on Mars? Mars One, an organization seeking to establish a human settlement says it has received over 78,000 applications in just two weeks from over 120 countries around the world.

Mars One hopes to establish a permanent settlement on the Red Planet in 2023. And almost like a game of Survivor, applicants have to make it through four rounds to be selected, followed by 7 years of training. Want in on the running? You've got until August 31 to get your application in! Do you get motion sickness? If I check yes do you think that hurts my chances?

Warning! Warning! Foul odor is detected. Leave it to the Japanese to develop a robot to detect bad breath and body odor. The two new automatons; a female humanoid and a dog robot utilize artificial olfaction sensors or electronic noses to detect foul odor.

The female humanoid, Kaori declares emergency if your breath stinks, ouch! And the dog, Shuntaro growls when it detects stinky feet. Why make robots like this? The engineer said he wanted to make a robot that could make people smile and laugh again after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. That is pretty funny.

Talk about being hard headed, a teams of scientists have identified a new species of dog-sized bone-headed dinosaur that dates back over 85 million years. Studying two skull caps found in Alberta, Canada, the team says that the Acrotholus walked on two legs and had a thickened dome skull above its eyes, which was used for display to other members of its species.

Scientists say it may have used its head in head-butting contests. What a bonehead. The skulls are resistant to destruction and scientists say they will help reveal a few more details about the evolution of bone-headed dinosaurs and they feel like there are many new small dino species like Acrotholus waiting to be discovered. Well, get to it, because we love our dino news.

And I'm going nuts over this next story of walnuts. New research found walnuts to be one of the healthiest nuts out there. We've known for a while the health benefits of eating nuts like lower blood cholesterol and getting your fatty acid intake, but the new study found that both the whole walnut and its extracted oil are beneficial.

They found whole walnuts help HDL or good cholesterol, remove excess cholesterols from the body. And it works in as fast as 30 minutes. They also found that the oil in walnuts maintains blood vessel function after you eat, which is often compromised in those with cardiovascular disease. Other components of walnuts play a role in heart health and researchers say they are a good addition to a heart healthy diet.

Well that's it for the Daily Orbit. Remember to eat your walnuts for your heart.


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How To Make Baseball Player Bomb Pops : 1 Introduction

Amy Riolo: Hi! I'm Amy Riolo with culinary.

net. Today, I'm going to show you how to make a tasty frozen treat, Bomb Pops Baseball Players. Nothing says summer more than baseball, America's favorite pass time.

During these warm months, find the kids something fun to do to fill their days of leisure. This recipe is quick and easy with a prep time of only ten minutes. Start by patting dry four medium sized strawberries that have had their stems removed, and cut a thin slice of one long side of each. Hollow out the center to fit on the end of a bomb pop.

Next, place a dab of white frosting where the strawberry begins to taper to a point and attach a sugar letter. This will be your baseball player's helmet. Then, we can add some eyeballs. I'm using store bought candy eyeballs, but if you choose to make the eyeballs from scratch, you can place two dabs of white frosting for the eyes and press some mini candy coated chocolate piece for each one of the eyeballs. Attach half of a graham cracker stick with frosting for the arms.

For another decorative touch, use the frosting to attach a sugar player's jersey number to the front of each of the bomb pops.

Lastly, place the strawberry baseball helmets on top of the each of the bomb pops and serve immediately. You'll score a home run when you invite the kids into the kitchen to create these delicious summer time treats.


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How To Make Roasted Peaches In Basil Mascarpone Cream : 1 Introduction

An award - winning author, popular lecturer, restaurant consultant, and educator, Amy Riolo is known for fusing the worlds of culture, cuisine, and history. Amy makes frequent appearances on numerous television and radio programs both in the United States and abroad including Fox TV, CBS, Montgomery and Fairfax County TV, Nile TV, The Travel Channel, Martha Stewart Living Radio, WHYY, Abu Dhabi Television, and many others totaling a reach of over 223,194,389 people. Amy also develops and hosts a weekly news video program entitled “Culture of Cuisine” which airs on twenty-eight nationally syndicated channels and has developed hundreds of videos for corporate clients. Amy’s clients include Harris Teeter, Stevia, US Endocrine Society, US Apple Association, The National Association of Sauces and Condiments, and many others. Her work has also appeared in the USA Today, Cooking Light Magazine, The Washington Post, CNN.com, The Wall Street Journal, Gulf News, Cornell Alumni Magazine, Popular Anthropology Magazine, The National, and Egyptian newspapers and hundreds of blogs. She is also the author of a popular blog called Dining with Diplomats (www.diningwithdiplomats.blogspot.com) which has been the inspiration for a Travel Channel television series. A successful restaurant consultant and graduate of Cornell University, Amy enjoys developing concepts, menus, action plans, recipes, training seminars and guides, and themes for corporations, restaurants, and hotels. She has consulted international business owners on bakeries, cafes, restaurants and stores. She was recently awarded Montgomery College’s Milton F. Clogg Award for Outstanding Alumni Achievement in the Culinary Arts. Amy’s popular lectures range in topics and include everything from improving profitability in the restaurant industry to international business and dining etiquette to international cuisine and culture. She has been an invited guest speaker for The Library of Congress, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, National Geographic, The Smithsonian Institution, The Fulbright Commission, The National Museum of African Art, The Walters Art Museum, The Kennedy Center, and many other embassies, museums, and organizations. Amy’s first book, Arabian Delights; Recipes & Princely Entertaining Ideas from the Arabian Peninsula was chosen as one of the “16 Volumes Worth Staining” by the Washington Post (Capital Books, 2007). Her second book Nile Style; Egyptian Cuisine and Culture (Hippocrene Books) won the World Gourmand Award for "Best Arab Cuisine Book" in the United States in 2009 and is now being printed in a second edition. Her most recent book, The Mediterranean Diabetes Cookbook, (American Diabetes Association) was released in March 2010 and has won the 2011 Nautilus Book Award. Amy is a member of The International Association of Culinary Professionals, Culinary Historians of Washington, Les Dames d’Escoffier (Global Culinary Initiative), Culinary Historians of Washington, and Slow Food DC. Amy is based in the Washington DC, area and leads culinary tours to both the Mediterranean and Middle East.


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Daily Orbit - Men on Mars : 1 Introduction

Emerald Robinson: A manned mission to Mars coming soon, maybe. NASA is looking a little green. They're coming! Who's that exactly? We'll let you know. And two is better than one on today's Daily Orbit.

Hello and welcome to the Daily Orbit, I'm Emerald Robinson. Our favorite Martian Man is at it again, talking about well Martian men or men on Mars at least. At the Humans to Mars Summit at George Washington University on Monday, Charles Bolden spoke about the growing interest to send humans to Mars by the 2030s, saying NASA's entire program is aligned to support this goal.

They are using the space station as a testing bed for technologies and systems for future manned Mars missions. Thinking about your own cosmic career? NASA had the second highest number of applicants ever last year with over 6,300 aspiring astronauts. Only 20 will make the cut and from that three will be trained for long duration space flight i.

e. one to Mars. Sorry Bolden, but SpaceX's Elon Musk plans to one up you, sending to people to Mars in the 2020s. Sounds like a great Celebrity Deathmatch to me!

NASA is going green. NASA announced it plans to switch to a greener environmentally benign rocket fuel by 2015. Hydrazine has been the propellant of choice due to its ability to produce lots of energy and hot gas from little liquid, but it's highly toxic, highly volatile and has limited capacity.

So NASA is refining a new energetic ionic liquid propellant, or EIL known for thermal stability and extremely low vapor pressure, making it good for rocket fuel. Scientists with NASA say that as EIL propellants are developed, they will provide lower cost and safe propulsion systems operations along with greater mission flexibility and faster mission response times.

It's the year of the cicadas. Everyone keeps saying this to me since my recent move to the East Coast. What is that? They've been sleeping for 17 years and they're ready to rise and storm the East Coast from Georgia to Connecticut.

There is no escape from these relatively harmless cricket-like insects that are expected to outnumber us humans 600 to one. They will be leaving their hiding places once the ground reaches precisely 64 degrees Fahrenheit to procreate and alas die, leaving a horde of carcasses behind. The mating song will fill the air with loud buzzing. This group name Brood II is one of seven different species of periodical cicadas. So watch out, they're coming.

Two is better than one, don't you think? And that's definitely the case when NASA maps volcanoes. The agency's Landsat Data Continuity Mission satellite's two instruments; the Operational Land Imager and Thermal Infrared Sensor were able to work in concert to provide insight on the Pacific's Paluweh volcano in mid-eruption.

The Imager also picked up the white-hot speck in the volcano's caldera, which shows the volcanic activity. Scientists were able to image very diverse thermal activity with great detail. One researcher said, each instrument by itself is magnificent but when you put them together, it's greater than either could do by themselves.

Didn't you think we'd be cruising around George Jetson style by now? Me too! Well, maybe we're getting closer. The company Terrafugia already developed the world's first flying car years ago although it's not yet in production. They are now moving on to the possibility of a four-seat, vertical takeoff and landing hybrid-electric flying car called the TF-X.

This kind of resembles a helicopter and employs state-of-the-art intelligent systems, fly by wire controls and currently available technology to increase simplicity and safety in personal aviation.

The company says it is nearing production of its first flying car, the Transition which already has 100 orders at $279,000 a pop. So if the TF-X is a hybrid, does that mean I can park at a meter for free? If so, I'm tailing in, I can't get any more parking tickets. And that does it for the Orbit today Orbiters, we'll see you here tomorrow.


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Sun Protection For Summer Workouts : 1 Practice Sun Safety

John Basedow is the creator of the best-selling Fitness Made Simple video series, which has helped to improve the bodies and lives of thousands of men and women. From starting out in his parent’s basement to being seen on television sets across the country and deemed a “pop culture icon” by the media, John’s journey is an American dream come true “rags to riches” story. Fueled by an undying persistence and his personal motto “believe in yourself and you can accomplish anything”, John has achieved international recognition and created a media empire with Fitness Made Simple, which includes DVD's, CD’s, supplements, and infomercials all aimed at raising awareness about the importance of making fitness a part of your life. John has been featured on numerous TV and radio shows as well as in print media ranging from the Los Angeles Times to the National Examiner. In fact, The New York Times places him alongside NASCAR and figure skating in the contemporary pantheon of “great American sports television phenomena” and Muscle & Fitness Magazine named him the top infomercial star of the past 10 years. In addition to being a model that’s graced the pages of many major magazines, John’s also a well respected columnist and author of Fitness Made Simple: The Power to Change Your Body & Life, his book, published by literary powerhouse McGraw-Hill, that details his personal story and highlights his complete exercise and nutrition program. He’s a frequent guest on FOX News Channel, a regular on the popular Sirius/XM Radio program Covino & Rich and a new personality on the national cooking series Taste This TV. Along with being a spokesmodel for Chamonix Skincare and Energize sports drink, John works with various charities, including the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, for which he received an award and was the Honorary Spokesperson at their StepOut Walk To Fight Diabetes. John currently hosts & produces a popular YouTube show called New Media Stew, which started in August 2010 and features Motivational Minutes, Celebrity Nuggets Of Wisdom, Fit Tips, WTF segments, movie reviews, current event coverage and viewer interaction. John also speaks at the prestigious NAVEL Health & Wellness Expos and motivates people of all ages, from teenagers to grandparents, to follow their dreams with his popular Power To Change Your Body & Life Seminars. As John says, “If you can think it, you can do it. Don’t listen to negative people. If you focus on your goals, work hard and never quit, you can achieve anything.”


View the original article here

Daily Orbit - Spreading the Word : 1 Introduction

Emerald Robinson: A new breathalyzer will take your breath away.

Sheep that glow in the dark?

A new touchscreen that's too good even for the movies.

And animals are spreading the word on today's Daily Orbit!

Hello and welcome to the Daily Orbit. I'm Emerald Robinson.

How did humpback whales get over their hunger hump when herring stocks plummeted in the 80s? They found a new way to hunt and passed it on. Researchers have found that like us humans, humpback whales are able to pass on hunting techniques to each other. Previously the whales would blow bubbles underwater to create "bubble nets" to herd the herring. Now they are feeding on sand lance and have adapted by hitting the water with their tail before diving to produce the bubble nets. Scientists are calling this behavior "a lobtail feeding.

" And 30 years of observation shows that this feeding technique has spread to 40% of the humpback population, suggesting cultural transmission.

And here's more evidence of cultural transmission at work in a little game of "monkey see, monkey do.

" Researchers found that male vervet monkeys were more likely to confirm to local behavior, even if it didn't make sense to them. The monkeys were fed two boxes of corn: one pink, one blue. One box was repulsive, teaching the monkeys not to eat one color.

When a new generation of wild monkeys was born, the monkeys were given completely edible corn in blue and pink. The adults still continued to eat only the color of corn they were trained to, and taught the little monkey youngsters to do the same. But interestingly, when male monkeys crossed into other groups, they would adapt to eating the colored corn that that group preferred, regardless of what they had been taught. They say it's kind of like when tourists seek a local cuisine. I guess it just goes to show you, when in Rome.

And when in Sweden, there's another reason not to drive under the influence, as if you really needed another one. New research from Stockholm has taken the breathalyzer to the next level, enabling it to detect blood levels of cocaine, amphetamines, and cannabis along with alcohol. The device proved 87% accurate in tests on drug users, the same proficiency as blood and urine tests.

Researchers used a commercially available device called SensAbues, which traps tiny solid and liquid micro-particles suspended in the breath for analysis. They then analyzed the samples using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. The team said advances in cost reduction and portability could make this kind of drug testing as common as breathalyzer testing for alcohol.

Well, I might have heard it all now. Glow in the dark sheep? Yep, scientists have genetically modified a herd of sheep using a fluorescent protein from a jellyfish which causes the sheep to give off a glowing green color when exposed to some types of UV rays. Besides the fact that they glow in the dark, scientists wanted to assure everyone that these sheep are developing normally. But why make a sheep glow in the dark? Well, other than the fact that it is kind of funny, scientists say that researching genetically modified animals can help them better understand diseases and how they develop, not just for animals but for humans as well. Here's another question you might have ask, why green? Well, that's because it's easier to see and identify in the sheep's tissues. I'm just waiting for them to start busting out muscles and getting all angry, the incredible hulk sheep!

And in more Hollywood-esque science, remember the Minority Report where Tom Cruise used smart gloves to manipulate images and videos on a virtual screen? Well, move over Tom, because real life has one-upped that! A team from Carnegie Melon University has demonstrated a new depth camera projector-based system that allows touch-based interfaces to be created anywhere with the swipe of a hand. The system, called WorldKit, allows a user to draw a functioning remote control on the arm of their sofa or an interactive calendar on the wall. The system records room geometries, senses hand gestures and projects desired images onto surfaces. It doesn't require calibration and users can create switches, message boards, indicators, and a variety of other things. Now that's pretty cool!

And that's all for your Daily Orbit. We'll see you tomorrow!


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Monday, May 20, 2013

Daily Orbit - Name That Asteroid! : 1 Introduction

RedOrbit.com is committed to providing stimulating, original content and presentation, with over 2,000,000 pages covering the vast ideological spectrums of space, science, health, and technology. The beautiful and engaging forum created at RedOrbit.com promotes a friendly and open environment, enhancing user loyalty and community, while advancing RedOrbit's goal of providing the world with a virtual Utopia for intelligent, curious minds.


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Top Exercise Ball Moves : 1 Introduction

John Basedow is the creator of the best-selling Fitness Made Simple video series, which has helped to improve the bodies and lives of thousands of men and women. From starting out in his parent’s basement to being seen on television sets across the country and deemed a “pop culture icon” by the media, John’s journey is an American dream come true “rags to riches” story. Fueled by an undying persistence and his personal motto “believe in yourself and you can accomplish anything”, John has achieved international recognition and created a media empire with Fitness Made Simple, which includes DVD's, CD’s, supplements, and infomercials all aimed at raising awareness about the importance of making fitness a part of your life. John has been featured on numerous TV and radio shows as well as in print media ranging from the Los Angeles Times to the National Examiner. In fact, The New York Times places him alongside NASCAR and figure skating in the contemporary pantheon of “great American sports television phenomena” and Muscle & Fitness Magazine named him the top infomercial star of the past 10 years. In addition to being a model that’s graced the pages of many major magazines, John’s also a well respected columnist and author of Fitness Made Simple: The Power to Change Your Body & Life, his book, published by literary powerhouse McGraw-Hill, that details his personal story and highlights his complete exercise and nutrition program. He’s a frequent guest on FOX News Channel, a regular on the popular Sirius/XM Radio program Covino & Rich and a new personality on the national cooking series Taste This TV. Along with being a spokesmodel for Chamonix Skincare and Energize sports drink, John works with various charities, including the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, for which he received an award and was the Honorary Spokesperson at their StepOut Walk To Fight Diabetes. John currently hosts & produces a popular YouTube show called New Media Stew, which started in August 2010 and features Motivational Minutes, Celebrity Nuggets Of Wisdom, Fit Tips, WTF segments, movie reviews, current event coverage and viewer interaction. John also speaks at the prestigious NAVEL Health & Wellness Expos and motivates people of all ages, from teenagers to grandparents, to follow their dreams with his popular Power To Change Your Body & Life Seminars. As John says, “If you can think it, you can do it. Don’t listen to negative people. If you focus on your goals, work hard and never quit, you can achieve anything.”


View the original article here

Mumbai: Mercury may soar in a few days

It’s getting hotter. So says the weatherman.

Saturday surpassed last May’s high with a temperature of 34 degrees Celsius but Mumbai continued to have a more bearable summer than interior Maharashtra because of westerly winds blowing over the city. But Indian meteorology department officials warn that temperature may soar in three to four days after the winds die down.

Met officials have attributed the current temperature to the existing weather conditions in the sea. “As a cyclonic storm has been formed in the south east Bay of Bengal, we are getting westerly winds over the city. While the mercury has risen little in city, it is higher in interior Maharashtra,” said Ajay Kumar, director of India Meteorology Department.

Last year, the city recorded the highest maximum temperature 33.9 degree Celsius on May 20. However, the all-time high in May is 41 degree Celsius on May 12, 1956.

Kumar added that temperatures in the city will remain the same over the next few days. “Till the storm moves away, the temperature will remain same and it will take at least 3-4 days for it to clear up,” he said.

Colaba and Santacruz have recorded highs of 34 degree Celsius and 33.3 degree Celsius respectively on Saturday. The minimum temperature recorded were 26.0 degree Celsius and 24.4 degree Celsius respectively. The humidity levels were 77% and 64% at Colaba and Santacruz respectively.

The Met forecast for Sunday said that the maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 33 and 24 degree Celsius respectively.


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Tips For Managing Chemotherapy Hair Loss : 1 Introduction

Marc Avram: Too many of us are faced at some point in our life combating cancer and still a very commonly treating is through chemotherapy and some chemotherapy medications unfortunately cause hair loss. And for many patients the loss of their hair is almost as upsetting as having the cancer itself, because it's something that tells the world and tells them something radically is different in their body.

The reason you loose hair from chemotherapy is because our hair follicles are very active as we know we have to cut our hair every few weeks, every couple of months. So chemotherapy medications tend to go after cells that are replicating very quickly such as cancer cells. So it has a tendency to go after anything that replicates quickly and unfortunately our hair follicles get affected by that. The hair loss from chemotherapy is temporary, once you remove the medication the hair will grow back, not all chemotherapeutic agents cause hair loss. Ask your oncologist if there is a medicine that they feel will work optimally for you that won't cause hair loss. If they feel that you need a medication that will cause hair loss and that there is no other choice for you, then just be prepared you are going to loose your hair. In fact you may loose all your hair on your body. Why?

Because chemotherapy is affecting your entire body and all your hair follicles whether it's on your lower leg, your eyebrows, your eyelashes, your scalp will be lost during chemotherapy.

Some patients say there is pain associate with it, and some say there is no pain. It's variable from patient to patient. We are not sure what's causing the pain, whether the pain is in fact a direct result of the chemotherapy destroying the follicles, or whether there is pain beyond the skin, the stress basically of loosing the hair.

It's easier for a man frankly. These days many men just decide to shave their hair off. It's a fashion statement; its very popular society accepts it. For women that's a different story, it's a lot of stress. Clearly when you have cancer you want to fight it and you want to beat it. So clearly you want to go after the optimal treatment including if that results in temporary hair loss. One of the wonderful things that's developed in the field of oncology is support groups and hospitals throughout the country and throughout the world now are very sensitive to this issue of hair loss and have excellent referral sources for both support and actual options including temporary hair pieces that look completely natural for patients. These days often I will not know that someone has a hair piece and no one will know that you have one. They are excellent affordable and available for patients undergoing chemotherapy. Some insurances now do at least partially reimbursed for the cost of a hair piece. If you choose not to wear a hair piece, if that's not for you, there are other great fashion things you can do; such as scarf's, wraps and hats to camouflage your hair. Speaking again to support groups, other people who have been through will give you good ideas, good tips on how to make yourself feel better about yourself while you are undergoing the chemotherapy. Unfortunately the same rules apply for children as adults, children undergo chemotherapy will loose all their hair. The hair foundation does partner with the Childhood Leukemia Foundation which is an excellent resource for providing hair pieces for children undergoing chemotherapy.

What happens to your hair when it grows back? Patients ask will it grow back fully? Most of the hair grows back exactly, the way it was before. Some patients are convinced and I don't doubt them that their hair is growing back thicker then it ever was before. Is it possible that a chemotherapeutic agent affects our matrix cells that create our hair follicles to either make them thicker than before or thinner in an individual? I think that's very possible that it does. But the important point is your hair will grow back, once the chemotherapy is over. Speak to your oncologist, go to the support group, because if you know what to expect with your hair loss, if you know that it's going to be temporary it does make it easier for patients.


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Critics' review: Gippi is a winner

By HT

Film: Gippi
Cast: Riya Vij, Divya Dutta, Taaha Shah, Doorva Tripathi, Jayati Modi
Director: Sonam Nair

Karan Johar's magic seems to be working of late. Last week his part in Bombay Talkies earned tremendous praise from critics and now his latest production Gippi too garners thumbs up.

Gippi, a story of an over-weight teenager, is a feel good film which would leave a smile in the end, feel critics.

Mayank Shekhar praises the film no end paying a compliment to producer Karan Johar. He says, "Gippy is fairly bright, emotionally intelligent, effervescent, charming even - much like the film named after her".

"Rarely do you come across an audience applauding at the end of a film at a press show. I did here. This is because this film nails it in the end. Very few do. I'm just glad the best anti-dote to a ‘Karan Johar’ film is a film produced by Karan Johar himself. This is just as it should be", adds Shekhar.

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama agrees, "This one's well done, captures the emotions sensitively and is packed with anecdotes that make this motion picture pleasurable. The issues depicted in the movie, the metamorphosis that Gippi goes through, the bitter-sweet episodes... nothing seems conventional or borrowed from films of a similar variety".

While for some it totally worked, others found hiccups in the story but wasn't a thorough disappointment. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV feels that Gippi isn't the ultimate film about adolescence. "Gippi is a feel-good drama and everything, even an overdose of clumsy preaching, is fair when the principal pursuit is happiness. Can't be good advertisement for any self-respecting school in the hills", he avers.

Coming to Riya Vij's (Gippi) acting skills, reviewers take the same stand. The newbie teenager gets into the skin of her character and she couldn't have done it better.

"Her work is utmost effortless and she is the film's wonder girl", says Mohar Basu, Koimoi.com.

Divya Dutta is a natural and stood out with her excellent performance. Gippi's best friend Anchal and Jayati Modi acted effortlessly throughout.

On technical front too Adarsh is satisfied: "Sonam, who has assisted Ayan Mukerji and Vishal Bhardwaj, seems like a proficient storyteller, for technically speaking, there are no glitches and the storytelling is devoid of hiccups as well."

In an interview with Aniruddha Guha of Timeout Mumbai, Gippi director Sonam Nair says about wielding the microphone: “What’s stressful about it? I feel like a girl in a candy store. And I love my film, irrespective of what people may think about it.”

Nair will be glad to know that most critics are willingly swaying with the happy vibe of her debut directorial venture.


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How To Design A Bedroom Sanctuary : 1 Introduction

J.P. Leggett and C.B. Platt were both residents of Carthage, a county seat in southwest Missouri, when they formed their business partnership in 1883.

J.P. Leggett was an inventor and had several patents to his credit. When he developed the idea for a spiral steel coil bedspring, he went to his future brother-in-law, C.B. Platt, for his manufacturing capability and expertise.

Together they produced the L&P bedspring, patented in 1885, which offered the best night's sleep yet available.

Their partnership prospered and the business was incorporated in 1901. The company has operated continuously since then, and began its fifth decade of public ownership in 2007.

The modern growth era for the company began in the 1960s, when an executive management team assumed leadership. Being substantially invested in Leggett & Platt stock, then and now, management developed a plan to enhance the potential for long-term growth. The strategy is a proven success, resulting in leading manufacturing, marketing, and distribution capabilities.

Today, we are serving more customers, with more products, and more growth opportunities than ever before.


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Book review: Cobalt Blue

Book: Cobalt Blue
Author: Sachin Kundalkar, translated by Jerry Pinto
Publisher: Penguin
Price: Rs399

A page into Cobalt Blue and you realise it’s a book you can’t put down easily. Its voices capture you. Cobalt Blue is the story of a man who walks into the Joshi family as a paying guest and walks out suddenly, breaking the hearts of siblings Tanay and Anuja. The books has two parts, each a monologue — Tanay directly addresses the man who left, and Anuja writes her thoughts in a diary.

The paying guest (PG) has no name or surname and no past. He is a man who lives by his own idiosyncrasies, a seeker who follows no rules. He likes Matisse, Rumi, Dali, rice pancakes, strong coffee, black and white photographs and Coke with a pinch of salt. He paints and plays the guitar. Being alone is a habit for him.

The only thing that is known about his family is that his father was a consultant with the Indian embassy in Paris and that his uncle molested him when he was a child. There’s a lot you learn about the guest and yet, a lot you don’t know. Most of you know comes through Tanay’s narrative.

Tanay is the non-favoured son in the Pune-based Joshi family. A quiet child, with a funny walk, his life changes when PG steps into it. He spends most of his days, and nights, with him. When PG leaves, all he has of him are a few stray photos, clothes...a museum of broken things. He can’t share his grief, so it consumes him. In short, broken sentences, he conveys his feelings of loss, longing and betrayal.

In contrast, Anuja’s mourning is more visible. It takes the form of depression and crying bouts. Her monologue comprises entries in a diary that her psychiatrist tells her to maintain. Her section is more detailed. Anuja is a rebel. She has a few social skills. She suddenly takes off on treks and trips and volunteers with environmental organisations. She is the one who approaches the PG and asks him out. She doesn’t like the world of her mother’s religion and the cowardice of her father. Her love is no different from Tanay’s in its intensity.

For a book that was originally written in 2006, Cobalt Blue is ahead of its time. The homosexuality angle is dealt with simply. Tanay dreams of living with PG, of being in a stable, monogamous relationship. “What do two men who decide to live together do?” he ponders. “Men who don’t have the old to look after or the young to raise. For most of the day we would do as we liked.”

He takes PG along to secret  meetings with other homosexuals where they plan a movement for their rights. But in his heart, Tanay knows that fighting for independent newspapers, pubs, theatres and the like... making a break from the rest of the world and demanding equality makes them no different from the Establishment. It appears as if Tanay and PG had a deeper connection than the one PG had with Anuja.

Kundalkar’s observations on life are sharp and witty. There is a hilarious passage that talks about how domestic counselling happens in a Maharashtrian family. Everyone has a inner psychiatrist within them that emerges with some home-made mottos and a few lines from a Jagjit Singh ghazal or a Tukaram quote, and finally the ever popular phrase: Whatever happens, happens for the best.

One of Anuja’s diary entries touches upon her aunt’s thoughts on their generation being transitional. “We had been given the freedom to choose how we want to live and behave. We were lucky to have parents who felt blessed in having children and were willing to take all the responsibilities that came with it. And so our sense of freedom is only a rehearsal. The next generation will have to pay the price.”

The narratives of both siblings are not chronological. Anuja’s diary entries may be dated but what she writes in them follows no timeline. There’s a poetic quality to the language, making you wonder about the beauty of the actual version. In the translator’s note, Jerry Pinto mentions how in many places he let the Marathi words be because he didn’t want them to lose character.

Cobalt Blue is a book that will engulf you when you are reading it, and haunt you much after you’re done.


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Top Foods To Buy Organic : 1 Introduction

Amy McGorry: Eating organically grown food is a clear delicious choice, but finding and affording it can be challenging. Here are a few highly contaminated foods that you should buy organic whenever possible, beef, pork and poultry.

The EPA reports that meat is contaminated with higher levels of pesticides than any plant food. Many chemical pesticides are fat-soluble and accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals.

Animal feed that contains animal product compounds the accumulation, which is directly passed to the human consumer.

Antibiotics, drugs and hormones also accumulate and are passed on to consumers as well. Look for beef, pork and poultry products labeled organic whenever possible.

Milk, cheese and butter for reason similar to those for meat, the fat and dairy product poses a high risk for contamination by pesticides. Animals concentrate pesticides and chemicals in their milk and meat. Growth hormones and antibiotics are also serious concerns and are invariably found in commercial milk, cheese and butter.

Strawberries and raspberries, 36 different pesticides are commonly used on strawberries and 90% of strawberries tested register pesticide contamination above safe levels.

Raspberries trump strawberries with the application of 39 chemicals. 58% of the raspberries tested register positive for contamination. A good general rule is to buy organic for any fruit or vegetable you don't peel.

Spinach and other greens, the FDA found spinach to be the vegetable most frequently contaminated with the most potent pesticides used on food. 83% of the conventionally grown spinach tested was found to be contaminated with dangerous levels of at least some of the 36 chemical pesticides commonly used to grow it.

Make sure you are choosing organic whenever possible in order to avoid contamination in your meals.


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Book review: Levels Of Life

Book: Levels Of Life
Author: Julian Barnes
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Price: Rs295

An hour into Sam Mendes’ cult film American Beauty, the teary-eyed boy says to his girl, “Sometimes there is so much beauty in this world I feel I can’t take it in my heart. It’s gonna cave in.”

Ten pages into the section titled The loss of depth in Julian Barnes’ Levels Of Life, a reader can experience a similar surge of emotions. Except that it’s not beauty but sorrow that triggers such a realisation. The sorrow and loneliness that Barnes writes about upon losing Pat Kavanagh, his wife and companion of thirty years to death.

Kavanagh, a literary agent, met Barnes in 1978. They got married the following year, and in 2008 at the age of 68, she lost a battle to brain tumour. While personal tragedies carry great potential for a book, it is difficult to write about them without getting carried away. And once a writer gives in to that temptation, he loses control on both the narrative and the reader’s attention.

That is never the case with Barnes. He doesn’t drag you down with the burden of his loss. But you will recognise your own emotions in him as he mourns her “uncomplicatedly, and absolutely”. For a reader, there is a certain comfort in this discovery; for being able to find his feelings being expressed in a manner that he can call his own. By sharing his pain with the reader, Barnes helps him to unburden.

The top-down approach of the book is evident in the titles of the sections: ‘The sin of height’, ‘On the level’ and ‘The loss of depth’. They are connected by death and the pain of separation. ‘Sin of height’ is a marriage of the two wonders of 19th century Europe: ballooning and photography. With the invention of the aeroplane still several years away, this was the age of the balloonatics who would risk their lives to soar into the sky. Ballooning linked England and France; France and Germany. The first man to put the two inventions together was a genius called Nadar, the father of aerostatic photography.

A tall gangling, figure with a mane of red hair, Barnes describes him as passionate and restless by nature, and the great poet Baudelaire called him ‘an astonishing expression of vitality. He wore many hats apart from being a journalist, caricaturist, inventor and entrepreneur.

Much of Nadar’s early pioneering work is lost, and what remains are only of passable quality. In 1919, around the time his wife Ernsteine died after fifty-five years of marriage, “Loius Bleriot flew the Channel, a final endorsement of Nadar’s belief in heavier-than-air flight”.

The balloon also brought two unlikely persons together, if only for a brief while: Sarah Bernhadt, the greatest actress of her day, and Fred Burnaby, the giant of an Englishman, who spoke seven languages, fought several wars and had travelled the world. ‘On the level’ chronicles their passionate affair, and the parting of ways. A heartbroken Burnaby died in a battlefield, three years after Bernhadt married a Greek diplomat.

It’s true no text can prepare one for the bereavement that death brings in its wake. And, may be what EM Forster says is right: “One death may explain itself, but it throws no light upon another.” But Levels Of Life has been cathartic for this reader who lost his father three years ago. In Barnes he has found a kindred soul.


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Sunday, May 19, 2013

How To Make Double Chocolate Baklava : 1 Introduction

An award - winning author, popular lecturer, restaurant consultant, and educator, Amy Riolo is known for fusing the worlds of culture, cuisine, and history. Amy makes frequent appearances on numerous television and radio programs both in the United States and abroad including Fox TV, CBS, Montgomery and Fairfax County TV, Nile TV, The Travel Channel, Martha Stewart Living Radio, WHYY, Abu Dhabi Television, and many others totaling a reach of over 223,194,389 people. Amy also develops and hosts a weekly news video program entitled “Culture of Cuisine” which airs on twenty-eight nationally syndicated channels and has developed hundreds of videos for corporate clients. Amy’s clients include Harris Teeter, Stevia, US Endocrine Society, US Apple Association, The National Association of Sauces and Condiments, and many others. Her work has also appeared in the USA Today, Cooking Light Magazine, The Washington Post, CNN.com, The Wall Street Journal, Gulf News, Cornell Alumni Magazine, Popular Anthropology Magazine, The National, and Egyptian newspapers and hundreds of blogs. She is also the author of a popular blog called Dining with Diplomats (www.diningwithdiplomats.blogspot.com) which has been the inspiration for a Travel Channel television series. A successful restaurant consultant and graduate of Cornell University, Amy enjoys developing concepts, menus, action plans, recipes, training seminars and guides, and themes for corporations, restaurants, and hotels. She has consulted international business owners on bakeries, cafes, restaurants and stores. She was recently awarded Montgomery College’s Milton F. Clogg Award for Outstanding Alumni Achievement in the Culinary Arts. Amy’s popular lectures range in topics and include everything from improving profitability in the restaurant industry to international business and dining etiquette to international cuisine and culture. She has been an invited guest speaker for The Library of Congress, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, National Geographic, The Smithsonian Institution, The Fulbright Commission, The National Museum of African Art, The Walters Art Museum, The Kennedy Center, and many other embassies, museums, and organizations. Amy’s first book, Arabian Delights; Recipes & Princely Entertaining Ideas from the Arabian Peninsula was chosen as one of the “16 Volumes Worth Staining” by the Washington Post (Capital Books, 2007). Her second book Nile Style; Egyptian Cuisine and Culture (Hippocrene Books) won the World Gourmand Award for "Best Arab Cuisine Book" in the United States in 2009 and is now being printed in a second edition. Her most recent book, The Mediterranean Diabetes Cookbook, (American Diabetes Association) was released in March 2010 and has won the 2011 Nautilus Book Award. Amy is a member of The International Association of Culinary Professionals, Culinary Historians of Washington, Les Dames d’Escoffier (Global Culinary Initiative), Culinary Historians of Washington, and Slow Food DC. Amy is based in the Washington DC, area and leads culinary tours to both the Mediterranean and Middle East.


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MI win neighbourhood brawl

Skipper Rohit Sharma led from the front as Mumbai Indians registered a comfortable five-wicket win over Pune Warriors at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium here on Saturday.
The visitors were in trouble at 39/3 before Sharma (37, 41 balls, 3x4) and Ambati Rayudu (26, 23 balls, 2x4, 1x6) added 54 runs for the fourth wicket to take their side closer to the 113-run target. Harbhajan Singh sealed the deal by hitting a boundary off Kane Richardson. For the record, Mumbai have 18 points from 13 matches and are second on the points table. Pune (four points from 13 games) remain at the bottom after their ninth consecutive defeat.

Earlier, Mitchell Johnson called the shots with brilliant figures of 2/8. He was rightfully adjudged Man of the Match. Lasith Malinga and Abu Nechim Ahmed, too, did well by picking up two wickets each. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also came to the party with impressive figures of 4-0-14-1. He got the better of Yuvraj Singh, who top-scored for the hosts (33, 29 balls, 1x4, 2x6).

Mumbai were off to an awful start, losing opener Dwayne Smith off the very first delivery bowled by Ashok Dinda. Sachin Tendulkar collected a few boundaries before mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis had the maestro caught at long-on. The Sri Lankan unleashed the carrom ball and Tendulkar tried to chip it back over the bowler’s head. But he ended up closing the face of the bat and the ball landed straight in the hands of Manish Pandey.
Dinesh Karthik was the next to go, the right-hander slog-sweeping a Yuvraj delivery straight to Pandey. And by the time Rayudu fell, Mumbai were exactly 20 runs away from victory. Dinda had him caught at deep square-leg.

Glenn Maxwell, whose contract is worth a million dollars, got his first game of the IPL. The Aussie carted Dinda for a four and six to level the scores. Sharma was disappointed after he was dismissed with Mumbai at the doorstep of victory. Harbhajan finished things off with a four as Mumbai won with seven deliveries to spare.

“It is good to be in the side making your debut and winning the match,” Maxwell said. On the other hand, Pune skipper Aaron Finch blamed the batsmen. “It was the top order and some players in the middle order who let us down.”Brief Scores: Pune Warriors 112/8 in 20 overs


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Mumbai defeats Pune

Rohit Sharma action during IPL match against Pune Warriors India at Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Pune .


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Understanding Hair Loss In Children : 1 Introduction

Nicole Rogers: There are several reasons why children can loose their hair. Up to two million children in the United States are affected by hair loss. The good news is that we do have treatments, but it's unpredictable how well they will respond to the treatments.

In some cases, the hair regrows completely on its own without any treatment whatsoever. Assessing the type of hair loss can be tricky. If the hair loss is very diffused, the first question we try to understand is how long they have been having this hair loss and if they have had any major physiologic stressors that could possibly explain a short term shedding process such as a prolonged hospitalization, a high fever. If they were to suffer low iron stores, that could be a dietary or nutritional aspect, certain medications such as isotretinoin can also cause short term hair shedding. Everyday stress in and of itself is not usually a cause of hair loss. Now if the child is suffering from severe physiologic stress such as due to bullying or dealing with a divorce or loss of a loved parent or sibling then, certainly that very well may be a factor. Probably the most common is Alopecia Areata which is the appearance around or oval shaped shiny patches of hair loss and there is usually not any symptoms associated with this, but it can be very troublesome to children and to their caregivers because it is noticeable to others and it can also to hard to camouflage. There is a particular form of hair loss we see in African American patients, due to pulling or twisting of the hair and this is something we call Traction Alopecia and it can be avoiding by not using tight ponytail holders or tight braids, braids can be offenders and typically people can develop hair loss right across the sideburn area or even across their entire hairline. One uncommon form of hair loss that we see in children is called Trichotillomania. And this is an actual inherited obsessive compulsive disorder, where children will repeatedly pull or break at their hairs and it can be hard to eliminate without behavioral modification or possibly psychiatric intervention.

Now one thing is to understand is just because your child is only 13 or 14 it's not impossible that they may have developed or inherited a form of Androgenetic Alopecia from another family member and we actually do see female and male pattern thinning in children as early as 14 or 15.

For children under the age of 18 who are developing an early case of either male or female pattern thinning I usually recommend starting with topical row gain or minoxidil and this is a topical medicine which will help increase the thickness of the hair and also increase the amount of time that they are in the actively growing phase.

For kids especially those who suffer from an oily scalp the use of a daily dandruff shampoo such as either ketoconazole or zinc pyrithione can make a big difference in their overall scalp hygiene. It's important as a parent that you prepare your children for the changes in their bodies including hair growth in places they didn't expect such as under the arms. But sometimes young women can develop hair growth in places like their face. And if this is present along with things like irregular periods or very severe acne or hair thinning on the top of the scalp that may indicate that they are suffering from a condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome.

And this is something that can be diagnosed by the obstetrician or the gynecologists. If your child has being suffering from hair thinning or hair loss for a period greater than six months, I would definitely seek the advice of a local dermatologist or a local physician who specializes in hair disorders.


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Mom on the marquee: Single B-Town actresses that played mom on screen

Most Hindi film heroines don't risk playing a mother on screen. It is considered too risky. Here's looking at the actresses who took up the challenge and played mommy on screen. Did they pull it off? Yes, most did, quite effortlessly. Is it difficult for the audience to accept a 'not-mom' actress portraying a mom on screen? Not at all. In a world where Bollywood still has playback singing, background dancers and heroes beating up entire armies, aren't they supposed to have faith in a little thing called 'acting'? Certainly, parenthood informs an actress' preparation for a mom role, but is it required for a great performance? Nope.


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Daily Orbit - Virgin Galactic's Powered Up! : 1 Introduction

Emerald Robinson: A successful step in spaceflight for tourism. The ringed planet is raging and we'll tell you why. What's shifting in smartphone development? And are you a victim of FoMo? On today's Daily Orbit!

Hello and welcome to the Daily Orbit. I'm Emerald Robinson. Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo reached Mach 1.

2 yesterday in its first powered test flight. This the first time the spaceflight system and the motor have been put together after extensive tests on both separately.

In a blog post the company's owner Richard Branson said that this starts the phase of testing that demonstrates their vehicle's ability to go to space and hopefully that's later this year.

He said this first powered spaceflight is the most important test to date and makes spaceflight by the end of the year a very realistic goal. Branson said that, like the hundreds of customers who have already purchased tickets, he and his children cannot wait to get on board this fantastic vehicle for their own trip to space. I'll let them a try it out a couple of times before I buy a ticket.

There's a storm raging on Saturn that makes hurricanes on Earth look tame. Cassini caught images of a hurricane-like storm hovering at the ringed planet's North Pole. The storm is bigger than 2 Earths and the eye of this monster measures about 1,250 miles across, which is about 20 times larger than the average eye of a hurricane on Earth.

The storm is swirling in a large, mysterious, six-sided weather pattern known as a hexagon with winds upward of 300 miles per hour. Scientists say this storm is unlike any hurricane we've experienced on Earth because it is locked to the planet's North Pole, and there is no ocean underneath.

They say learning about this storm may help them understand more about how hurricanes on Earth are generated and sustained. And in the words of Garth Brooks, and the storm rolls on out of control, I hadn't sung in a while, thought you'd like that.

And I'm for this one, going green while getting my greens delivered. You no longer have to feel high-maintenance for getting your groceries delivered to your door, because new research says it's actually better for the environment than driving to the store yourself.

Researchers found delivery service trucks were able to cut 20% to 75% of the carbon dioxide produced by personal vehicles and up to 90% if they delivered based on the most efficient route. And the bottom line, saving fuel saves money, which also saves on emissions. It's a win for store owners and the environment and good for me, because I do hate to go to the grocery store.

And the smartphone game is getting shifty, shape-shifting that is. Two different teams of researchers are talking about their flexible phones. MorePhone will be on display this week at the Computer-Human Interface Conference in Paris. It uses a monochromatic, flexible e-ink display with memory wires that bend the device when a call or text is received to provide a visual cue to avoid missed calls or texts.

Another team is taking that even further with their Morphees which is based on what they call Shape Resolution. So far they have six prototypes made out of shape-changing materials such as memory alloy and electro active polymer that can bend in a specific way. One bends at the seams to offer password protection, one creates a game controller, and another is a pretty flower. That's cool but I'm still holding out for a screen that won't break personally.

Have you been experiencing more FoMO lately? It's not your fault. It's a serious condition that can be exacerbated by social networking. FoMO might sound silly but it's short for the fear of missing out and researchers say that it's becoming more prevalent as social networking users can constantly see what their friends are up to.

Not only do they have the fear that they may be missing out, but researchers say they actually are, because they are so concerned about Facebook or Twitter that they often ignore what's going on around them.

Researchers say that Facebook can be rewarding but we have to learn new skills to control our usage and enjoy social media in moderation. Are you experiencing FoMO? Test yourself. You can go to ratemyfomo.

com. Well that's all folks. What's my FoMO rate? Oh no, my FoMo is out of control.


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ATS presents laboratory evidence in Pune blasts

The Pune blasts charge sheet filed by the Anti-terrorism squad (ATS) have attached evidence in the form of forensic science laboratory (FSL) reports to prove the invlovment of the accused in the case.

As per the charge sheet, accused Imran Pathan, (who is under police custody), was allegedly given the duty of handling the outdoor work before the blast.

Prior investigations led ATS to the shop from where Pathan bought ball bearings used in the bomb. The charge sheet states the ATS collected the samples of the ball bearings from the shop and sent them for examination to the Mumbai FSL. The results revealed that the bearings found at the blast site matched those collected from the shop by the ATS.

The ATS also verified that the sweat on the jacket found at the site matched Firoz alias Hamza’s DNA making it clear that Hamza was among the conspirators.
Similar forensic evidence was found from the bedsheets retrieved from the rented room. The DNA analysis of the sweat found on the bedsheets matched with the DNA of Irfan Landge.

Pune was rattled by four low intensity blasts on August 1, 2012, at a spot in front of the Bal Gandharva theatre, opposite a McDonald’s outlet, near Garware Bridge and a Dena Bank branch. The police also recovered a live bomb near Axis Bank on the road.


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Healthy Super Foods : 1 Introduction

Amy McGorry: If you want to feel more upbeat, look leaner and sharpen your mind, your menu may just be your best medicine. But what exactly should you be eating? Here are some great delicious and healthy options.

Bananas are an excellent way to fuel your body before or after your workout. They contain natural sugars for sustained energy, plus a satisfying amount of fiber. They are rich in vitamin B6 and are good source of potassium helping to enhance alertness, prevent muscle fatigue and control high blood pressure.

Oatmeal is more than a smart breakfast choice; it may also help you sleep. Research shows that eating a small carb based food about an hour before bed, can raise levels of tryptophan.

This chemical helps your brain produce serotonin which in turn triggers your body's productions of melatonin helping to eliminate your insomnia. To keep your mind sharp, cook with extra virgin olive oil. People who follow a diet routine extra virgin olive oil are 40% less likely to develop Alzheimer's, possibly because the oil's polyphenols protect brain cells from free radicals that lead to memory loss. It's also been shown to fight cancer and heart disease.

Strawberries may help fight cancer. They contain ingredient that may halt the growth of cancer cells, while diminishing the tumor's blood supply. Strawberries are also rich in vitamin C, which research shows help stimulate the production of white blood cells. One cup offers almost 150% of your daily value of C.

These delicious berries can also boost brain health and control your blood sugar. So stock your kitchen with some of these healing super foods, and your pantry will be as useful as your medicine cabinet.


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Virginia deserved notice on bomb suspect burial: Funeral director

Local officials in Virginia should have been told before the body of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was interred there, said the funeral director who handled his remains.

Worcester, Massachusetts, funeral home owner Peter Stefan also said Boston city officials had known by Wednesday where the body was being taken, shedding new light on the controversial burial. But, Stefan said, the process was done correctly, under rules that give burial rights to family members, and that he had spoken with Virginia officials who were reviewing the situation to make sure it was legal. [ ID: nL2N0DR3JI ]

"We did not just arbitrarily send that body down," Stefan said in a telephone interview with Reuters on Saturday. "We have informed them that everything was done legally. They know that. But I just felt uncomfortable," he said. "It didn't feel right." Tamerlan, 26, and his 19-year-old brother, Dzhokhar, are believed to have set off two bombs near the finish line at the Boston Marathon on April 15, killing three people and injuring 264. After Tamerlan died in a shootout with police on April 19, disposition of the ethnic Chechen's remains became controversial with local cemeteries refusing to accept them, while some family members sought to have them transported overseas.

Massachusetts officials, including the city manager in Tsarnaev's hometown of Cambridge and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, called for the body to be buried outside their communities. On Friday, an official death certificate released by Menino's office showed that Tsarnaev had been buried in a Muslim cemetery in Doswell, Virginia, near Richmond. Stefan said Tsarnaev's body was transported to Virginia in a van driven by his uncle, Ruslan Tsarni.

Tsarni has denounced the bombing but said he had a responsibility to arrange for his nephew's burial, which took place Thursday. A Richmond woman, Martha Mullen, told the Boston Globe she helped arrange for the burial after hearing media reports of the controversy and protests outside the Graham, Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester, Massachusetts. "Jesus says love our enemies," Mullen told the newspaper, adding that the protests "portrayed America at its worst."

Stefan said Tsarni and at least one funeral home staff member drove to Boston on Wednesday afternoon and filed the death certificate with city health officials, part of the regular process of obtaining a burial permit.

The certificate shows that officials issued a permit May 8, the same day. After that step in the process, the city could have disclosed information about the burial site, said Stefan, who also chairs a state board that oversees funeral services. While he said local officials in Virginia should have been told that Tsarnaev's body was being taken there, Stefan said rules limited what he himself could say until after the death certificate was made public. Stefan said he did not blame Menino for not flagging the form earlier, however. "He probably didn't even know it was filed.

That would be some inconsequential thing to him," Stefan said. Spokespeople for Menino did not immediately return requests for comment. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev remains in a prison west of Boston after being charged with crimes that could carry the death penalty if he is convicted.

(Reporting By Ross Kerber; editing by Gunna Dickson)


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Daily Orbit - Tracking Light Pollution : 1 Daily Orbit - Tracking Light Pollution

Emerald Robison: A new app is shedding some light on light pollution. Is there life after fire? Another way to consume caffeine and celebrating healthy eyes on today's Daily Orbit!

Hello and welcome to the Daily Orbit, I'm Emerald Robinson. There's a new app in town and it's providing some light in the darkness, its name; Loss of the Night. What it does? Well let's just say it sheds light on light pollution.

Actually the new app is pretty cool in that it evaluates sky brightness on a global scale, allowing people around the world to collect data on sky glow without the use of expensive equipment.

It's a citizen scientist project that uses models from satellite data to estimate how bright the sky is in certain areas. Light pollution is having an impact on ecosystems and they hope this data will help scientists investigate the correlation with health, biodiversity, energy waste and other factors. Well isn't that illuminating?

Here's a burning new find in forest ecology. Though a major cause of plant death and destruction, fire can also be a source of life as some dormant seeds begin to germinate in the aftermath of a raging inferno and scientists now think they know why.

Chemicals in the smoke of burning trees called karrikins bind with a protein in plant seeds KAI2, which causes a chain reaction of signals to other proteins in the seeds, leading to germination at the right place and time after a wildfire. They say periodic forest fires are necessary in mature forests. But that's not a go-ahead for any arsonists out there. And remember only you can prevent forest fires.

And scientists have confirmed that endangered green sea turtles in Florida are in fact using designated protected areas. By tracking mama turtles with satellite tags in Dry Tortugas National Park, researchers were able to follow their travels once nesting season was over.

They found that the turtles were using shallow grass beds and degraded coral reefs within the Dry Tortugas National Park and the surrounding areas of the Florida Keys Marine National Sanctuary.

They combined satellite telemetry data with an extensive habitat map to find out what habitat exactly these turtles were using in the Park. They say this info will be very helpful to park managers and is vital for understanding whether conservation measures are effective.

As more and more SmartWatch rumors are surfacing, people are asking, how exactly are we supposed to interact with such a thing? Well college students at Carnegie Melon are proposing an answer to that, the ZoomBoard. This special keyboard features one to two levels of zoom to allow watch wearers to tap out messages one letter at a time.

To type a single letter, the user taps the keyboard where that key lives. This zooms the keyboard to a level where that key can be easily tapped. A flick to the right enters a space and a flick to the left is backspace. They admit it might not be amazing, but they say, hey! It gets the job done. It would be better for me than Siri, because she never understands what I am saying.

Well I'm always looking for a new way to get my caffeine and Wrigley chewing gum has given me another. Each stick of the new caffeine gum has 40 milligrams of caffeine and comes in an eight piece pack. But the Center for Science in the Public Interest ain't having it.

They are taking aim at the company for its marketing geared towards adolescents. But Wrigley fired back stating, the gum is intended for adult use only. Caffeine products have been growing in popularity in recent years and even the FDA says the caffeine explosion is beyond anything they would have envisioned. But personally I'd like to say, thank you Wrigley, thank you, thank you very much. Maybe I can wean myself off of energy drinks. No, I'll probably just drink espresso while chewing my caffeinated gum.

And May is officially Healthy Vision Month. The CDC's Vision Health Initiative and Healthy Vision Month are partnering with the National Eye Institute this month to encourage all Americans to make vision health a priority. So go celebrate and get an eye exam. And that's all for your Daily Orbit. Z-T, what's wrong with these glasses?


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Of maternal bonds: Best TV moms

While Bollywood divas may refrain from playing mothers onscreen — Madhuri Dixit Nene is said to have refused to play Sonam Kapoor's mom — their TV counterparts have no such aversions. In fact, what is unique is actresses in their early 20s or those still to experience motherhood in real life are convincingly playing moms. Kratika Sengar in Punarvivah is mother to four-year-old Ansh, Hina Khan has been a mother to kids of different age groups — from a baby to a six-year-old child in Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Sakshi Tanwar has a five-year-old daughter in Bade Acche Laggte Hai, Sonarika Bhadoria who plays Parvati is mother to three kids including Ganapati in Devon Ke Dev Mahadev while Disha Vakani and her onscreen son Tapu in Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chasmah have journeyed together for five years on the show. Clearly, TV actresses have no qualms when it comes to donning the mantle of motherhood.


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What Is A Sonic Boom? : 1 Introduction

Emerald Robinson: Hi! I'm Emerald Robinson and in this 'What is' video we are going to answer the question, what is a sonic boom? A sonic boom is a noise produced by something moving through the air faster than the speed of sound. But how does a sonic boom produced?

As an object moves through the air, it forces air molecules out of its way, creating waves. These waves move away from the object or propagate. If the object moves faster than these waves can propagate, the waves become more and more compressed. Eventually they are unable to get out of the way of the moving object quickly enough and combine into one large shock wave that trails behind the object.

Sonic booms comes from the shock wave created by an object moving faster than its own sound waves. The shock wave forms a cone shape around the object, with the tip of the cone at the front and the base trailing behind. When you first see the object, it appears to be moving without making any noise. Its only when the base of the cone reaches your ears, that you hear the boom.

In order to create a sonic boom, an object must move faster than a speed of sound about 700 miles per hour. Sometimes physicists call this speed Mach 1. Anything moving faster than Mach 1 is moving faster than the speed of sound. Any object, that moves faster than Mach 1 makes a sonic boom. Although we usually associate airplanes and space crafts with sonic booms, meteors and other objects entering the earth's atmosphere from space make them too. A whips crack is a mini sonic boom when its tip moves faster than the speed of sound. Even nature makes sonic booms. Lightning makes air molecules move faster than the speed of sound and because of the sonic, boom, we call thunder.


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Saturday, May 18, 2013

HealthWise: Diet foods that make you fat!

Every dieter worth his salt has at some point or the other fallen for gimmicky foods that scream “low fat”, “less calories” or “sugar free”. Most people‘s reason to pick “diet food” is that they’re relatively healthy.

Here are a few facts about these so-called “healthier choices”.
Baked snacks: Baked snacks of every variety are available everywhere. Whatever your “regular snack” is priced at, the baked version is just a little more expensive with absolutely no difference in taste. While the normal variety may have 50% fat, these “diet ” foods have around 40-45% fat which is not enough of a difference to qualify them as diet food. Also, since you don’t feel guilty eating them you might end up eating extra servings.

Diet tip: Choose to snack on a multigrain sandwich with veggies or a bowl of fruit — they’re more filling and healthier.

Yogurt: Flavoured yogurts seem like the dream snack. They taste good, come in various flavours and have a choice of several toppings. They also claim to be low fat. While some of the bigger brands might genuinely be low fat, they are not sugar free and the exotic toppings further add to the calories.

Diet tip: A flavoured yogurt that looks and tastes like ice cream is a high fat choice. Choose yogurt that is less creamy in texture. Avoid sugar laden toppings and choose fruits instead.

Granola bars: Granola bars are compact, handy and taste great. Some are also coated with chocolate or peanut butter  apart from  the nuts they contain. Most of these bars are loaded with sugar in some form, which is what binds all the ingredients together and makes it taste great.

Diet Tip: Sweet or chocolate coated granola bars are a very bad choice for dieters. Pick the ones that are bland and have more natural ingredients.

Juices: A 300ml glass of orange juice contains the calories from six oranges minus the fibre and nutrients. Packaged juices are worse because of the added sugar.

Diet tip: If you are a serious dieter, eat the fruit instead of having the juice and you won’t miss out on the nutrients and will consume lesser calories.

Diet colas: Diet colas have artificial sweetners that have no calories. However, research indicates that the taste of the artificial sweetner can actually create a sugar craving. Besides, artificial sweeteners interfere with digestion and their prolonged use is not great for the brain.

Diet tip: Have a glass of lemon juice.

Salads: Raw salads are a great way to increase the fibre component in your diet. They are, however, not a good choice if you dunk them in high fat dressings.

Diet Tip: Salads can be boring if they have no dressing. The best option is to call for the dressing separately and add it yourself in small quantities.

Samreedhi Goel is a nutritionist & personal trainer. She runs her fitness studio Size Wise and specialises in Zig Zag diets. She also does online consultations.

samreedhi@sizewise.co.in
@samreedhigoel


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Alternative Therapies That Fix Health Problems : 1 Introduction

Amy McGorry: Many people still assume that there's very little scientific evidence regarding complementary and alternative medicine therapies, but the truth is many of these approaches, can have an enormous impact on your health and well being. Here are few to consider.

Aroma therapy can be used to treat stress, sleep disorders and mood disturbances, including depression and anxiety. Aromatic essential oils from plants are extracted, distilled and typically mixed with other substances like oil, alcohol or lotion, then applied to the skin, sprayed into the air or inhaled. Inhaling a scent triggers powerful neurotransmitters and other chemicals that results in an improved mood.

Acupuncture has been proven effective in treating conditions, including migraines, chronic pain and insomnia. A key component of traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture is practiced by inserting extremely thin needles through the skin at strategic acupoints on your body. This arouses the nervous system to release endorphins to the muscles, spinal cord and brain. This can change the experience of pain and trigger the release of other chemicals and hormones that influence the body's internal regulating system.

Massage can help treat migraines, improve sleep quality, enhance immune function and reduce low back pain. Using the principle that touch is healing, massage involves rubbing the soft tissues of the body, such as the muscles and connective tissues to release tension or treat injury.

Aside from being the ultimate in relaxation, massage works to reduce inflammation and stimulate the healing of connective tissues or damaged muscles.

Consider giving these therapies to try to live a healthier, happier life.


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Manchester United stalwart Paul Scholes to retire at end of season

Paul Scholes will quit at the end of the Premier League season, the Manchester United midfielder said on Saturday.

The former England international first announced his retirement at the end of the 2010-11 season but returned in January 2012 to extend his one-club career to 19 years and 716 appearances.

"Yes, I am finally hanging up my boots for good," he told United's website (www.mufc.com). "Playing football is all I have ever wanted to do and so to have had such a long and successful career at Manchester United, under the greatest manager of all time (Alex Ferguson), has been an honour."

(Writing by Stephen Wood, editing by Tony Jimenez)


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5 Ways To Stay Cool During Your Workout : 1 Introduction

John Basedow is the creator of the best-selling Fitness Made Simple video series, which has helped to improve the bodies and lives of thousands of men and women. From starting out in his parent’s basement to being seen on television sets across the country and deemed a “pop culture icon” by the media, John’s journey is an American dream come true “rags to riches” story. Fueled by an undying persistence and his personal motto “believe in yourself and you can accomplish anything”, John has achieved international recognition and created a media empire with Fitness Made Simple, which includes DVD's, CD’s, supplements, and infomercials all aimed at raising awareness about the importance of making fitness a part of your life. John has been featured on numerous TV and radio shows as well as in print media ranging from the Los Angeles Times to the National Examiner. In fact, The New York Times places him alongside NASCAR and figure skating in the contemporary pantheon of “great American sports television phenomena” and Muscle & Fitness Magazine named him the top infomercial star of the past 10 years. In addition to being a model that’s graced the pages of many major magazines, John’s also a well respected columnist and author of Fitness Made Simple: The Power to Change Your Body & Life, his book, published by literary powerhouse McGraw-Hill, that details his personal story and highlights his complete exercise and nutrition program. He’s a frequent guest on FOX News Channel, a regular on the popular Sirius/XM Radio program Covino & Rich and a new personality on the national cooking series Taste This TV. Along with being a spokesmodel for Chamonix Skincare and Energize sports drink, John works with various charities, including the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, for which he received an award and was the Honorary Spokesperson at their StepOut Walk To Fight Diabetes. John currently hosts & produces a popular YouTube show called New Media Stew, which started in August 2010 and features Motivational Minutes, Celebrity Nuggets Of Wisdom, Fit Tips, WTF segments, movie reviews, current event coverage and viewer interaction. John also speaks at the prestigious NAVEL Health & Wellness Expos and motivates people of all ages, from teenagers to grandparents, to follow their dreams with his popular Power To Change Your Body & Life Seminars. As John says, “If you can think it, you can do it. Don’t listen to negative people. If you focus on your goals, work hard and never quit, you can achieve anything.”


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Pran, the dignified villain

Pran Sikand rose from the grassroots to peaks very few have achieved in Indian cinema. Starting with Punjabi films, he made his mark in Bollywood in 1948 with Ziddi after which he never turned back. This suave and versatile actor added confidence, ruthlessness and dignity to his performances as a villain, never resorting to vulgarity or crudity.

In the late 60s, Pran shifted to mature character roles and with Upkar in 1967, he became a household name as the loveable Malang Chacha.

Pran has acted opposite almost every actor — from Dilip Kumar to Amitabh Bachhan to Rishi Kapoor — and has stood the test of time as an actor of substance. Earlier this week, he was bestowed the coveted Dadasaheb Phalke award in recognition of his immense contribution to Indian cinema. Excepts from an exclusive interview:

Memories of your initial Punjabi films?
I have fresh and fond memories. They were not great films or made with big budgets, yet they helped me develop my acting skills and confidence.

Ziddi gave you a foothold in Hindi films.
It gave the required foothold to Dev Anand, Kamini Kaushal and me. I still remember in one scene in Ziddi, I had a strong argument with Dev Anand. I was so involved in the scene that I opted for two different modulations to deliver my dialogue.

Dev Anand reacted equally well in a staccato delivery. We shook hands complimenting each other after the shot. A competent actor and a true sport, Dev Anand acted with me in a series of hits, Munimji, Amardeep, Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai and Johny Mera Naam.

How did you develop your unique style of villainy?
I consciously attempted never to appear repetitive. The villainy of Munimji was different to that of Madhumati. Similarly, Tumsa Nahin Dekha was no way similar to Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai. At one point in the mid-60s, I was quite bored of being cast only as a villain.

The actors you thoroughly enjoyed working with?
Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Manoj Kumar and Amitabh Bachhan. We were like one family. None of us desired to overshadow the other forcibly whilst acting.

In Madhumati, as Ugra Narayan, I had to look straight into Dilip Kumar’s eyes and express my wicked mentality. As usual, Dilip Kumar was even better with his low-key dialogue delivery. Shammi Kapoor punched my face with real force in Tumsa Nahin Dekha, hurting my teeth.

He was very apologetic and I didn’t mind. He was a passionate actor. Performing with Amitabh Bachhan in Zanjeer, I was amazed at his sincerity and dedication. I knew he would go far and he virtually did so.

Were your heroines not scared of you?
(Laughs): No. I never believed in terrorising any actress. In Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai, Padmini reacted eye to eye and we were able to do excellent teamwork. There was no scene in the film where I had to molest her.

Prior to the climax in Gumnaam, I had to approach Nanda with the intention of molesting her. She cried so innocently, “Rakesh aage mat badho”, that I could not develop the evil feeling of molesting her. She smiled and said, “Pran saab you are so realistic that I had to put in my best to match you.”

Why did your maiden attempt to play a positive character in Aah flop?
I initially thought people were not ready to accept me in a positive role. Later, Raj Kapoor and Manoj Kumar explained to me that it was not my fault but a lacunae in direction and scripting. The scene where Raj Kapoor bends down and emotes holding my hands after he is diagnosed with tuberculosis literally shook me. For once, I emoted silently without glycerin.

Any other such scene?
Yes. In Purab Aur Paschim, I developed an excellent rapport with Manoj Kumar after Shaheed. His imaginative eyes discovered my true potential and he totally changed my image in Upkar. An excellent writer, director and actor, he knows very well how to handle actors. I still remember how well he exploited my emotional intensity in Purab Aur Paschim.

As I come staggering after a few bouts of drinks to attend my daughter’s marriage, I suffer from a guilty conscience and my eyes slowly fill with tears. After viewing the films, Nargis Dutt wrote to Manoj Kumar highly praising the 500ft scene as unforgettable.

You were so effective in the song sequence Dil Ki Umange?
I had to lip the stanza in Munimji with a besura note. The majestic romantic part was being rendered by Hemant Kumar and Geeta Dutta for Dev Anand and Nalini Jaywant. I thought my portion would irritate the audience. Fortunately it proved to be a big bonanza for me.The best song I ever lipped is Kasme Wade Pyar Wafa Ke in Upkar.

Your views about contemporaries and juniors?
AKN Singh had a unique style. Kanhaiyalal was inimitable. Premnath was versatile and unpredictable. Jayant stood out with his towering personality and effortlessness. Prem Chopra had a lot of unused potential. So did Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha and Danny Dengzongpa.

Did you not get stereotyped in your later days?
From the late 70s onwards, the characters offered to me were many but seldom had the substance of Madhumati, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai or Shaheed. I carried on performing and understood I was getting stereotyped. My own self understood the monotony and thus later I stopped performing, knowing where to draw the line.


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