English Language

Let's face it-English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins were not invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which are not sweet, are meat. we take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor it is a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers do not fing, grocers do not groce and hammers do not ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why is not the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? 

Doesn't seem crazy that you can make amends but not one mend? If you have bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. Why doesn't buick rhyme with quick?.

Astrobiology In Our Solar System

3. The three most likely candidates for life in our solar system (besides Earth) are; the planet Mars, Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Titan. This idea is based on the fact that these planets/moons may have liquid water, a molecule which is essential for life as we know it.

4. Water on Mars is found in its polar ice caps and newly carved gullies recently observed on Mars suggest that liquid water may exist on the planet's surface, and possibly in the subsurface environments (below the surface).

5. As for Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter, an ocean of liquid water likely exists beneath it's icy outer crust. The ice outer crust is approximately 2-3 km's thick and the liquid water may be as deep as 100 km's in many areas!; this water may be warmed to a liquid state by volcanic vents on the ocean floor. Jupiter also has a total of 62 moons!.

6. Saturn's largest moon, Titan, could also support extraterrestrial life. Titan has been described as having conditions similar to those of early Earth. On Titan, scientists have discovered the first liquid lakes outside of Earth, but at first they seemed to be composed of dangerous chemicals. after data was studied, it was reported on March 2008 that the oceans in Titan may in fact be composed of liquid water and ammonia. Saturn also has a total of 61 moons!.

Astrobiology In Our Solar System

1. Astrobiology is primarily the study of searching for life on other planets and moons; the life form does not have to be as developed as a human, but may only be a simple organism such as bacteria, or any type of plant; also, life forms which are not on our planet are extraterrestrial life forms. Secondly, astrobiologists search for habitable planets for humans to live on; astrobiologists study planets and moons throughout our solar system and beyond, but this article is limited to the three most probable places we might find life in our solar system.

2. There are many amazing possibilities that the study of astrobiology could produce; for instance, we can learn more about science, find new organisms which may substantially advance medicine, change the way we look at religion, knowing that we are not alone in the universe could have the propensity to unite countries and even minimize war, not to mention that having another planet to live on could be valuable if we are challenged by any number of cataclysms.

to be followed .....

Coat of Arms

A symbol composed of various elements such as animals, flowers, leaves, crown, usually arranged around a shield, and representing a country, province, family, person, etc.

Social Media

   IN recent years the social media has become more involved in the live of many people and has created a number of problems; such as destroying the social relations between family members and communities, leading to less work productivity, increasing security concerns , all of that develop many questions about the fast spread of social networks and how we can control them.

First of all, social media has affected relations and communication

between family members, communities and neighborhoods. For example; teenagers prefer to sit at their desks using computers than sitting with their parents discussing their problems with them, so people are spending less time together or socializing with others.

Secondly, social networks affect the productivity of workers at work places as they spend more time using their devices distracting them leading to lose focus and work less. In addition to that, some workers are using computers of their work in things that are not related to work costing their companies extra money.

Thirdly, people become more vulnerable to fraud and personal information theft, because they are giving out their info exposing themselves to all kinds of spying activities.

In conclusion, we can not stop the spread of social media , it has become a part of our daily aspects , but we need to be more careful and immunize ourselves against any threat.

The Notion ‘Language’

The identification of different languages is not a straightforward matter. Every language is characterized by variation within the speech community that uses it. If the resulting speech varieties are sufficiently similar as to be considered merely characteristic of a particular geographic region or social grouping they are generally referred to as dialects, so Cockney and Norfolk are usually considered to be dialects of English. Sometimes social, political and historical pressures are such that the varieties are considered to be distinct enough to be treated as separate languages, like Swedish and Norwegian or Hindi and Urdu. Often the question of whether two languages are varieties of a single language or distinct languages is much argued over, like Macedonian and Bulgarian, or English and Scots. The naming of a language is another point of possible contention. While most linguists estimate around 6800 languages in the world, they also recognise four or five times that number of language names. A particular language may be known by one name to scholarship and another to its speakers; thus the name ‘Akan’ is not generally used by speakers of the language since Akan speech forms constitute a dialect continuum running from north to south in Ghana and different communities refer to their tongue by different names – Asante, Fante, Twi, Akuapem, Brong, Akyem or Kwahu.

Source:CONCISE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD by KEITH BROWN

Breastfeeding VS Infant Formula

Breast milk will help protect your baby from: 1.Being overweight or obese. 2.Bowel disease. 3.Coughs & colds. 4.Diabetes. 5.Ear infections. 6.Sudden Infant Death syndrome (SIDS). 7.Some childhood cancers. 8.The effects of toxins in the environment. Breastfeeding will help protect mother from: 1.Breast cancer. 2.Diabetes. 3. Ovarian cancer. Breastfeeding promotes closeness and bonding of mother and baby.

Infant formula: 1.does not change to meet your baby's growing needs. 2.does not protect your baby from infections and diarrhea. 3.is not sterile (powdered form). 4.is not recommended for babies less than 2 months of age (powdered form). Challenges with infant formula include: 1.extra time is needed to sterilize equipment. 2.Mistakes can be made during preparation.

  Source:Toronto.ca/health

Cycling helps people prevent type 2 diabetes

A Danish study says that taking up cycling can significantly reduce the risks of getting type 2 diabetes. It was published on July 12, 2016, in PLOS Medic. Doctors have been suggesting people to take up exercise for a very long time. They have proven it reduces the risks of developing cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer, among others. However, people are not always sure what kind of exercise they have to do. The usual suggestion is to engage in “moderate-intensity” activity which is not very specific.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common of these problems. Martin Rasmussen, from the University of Southern Denmark, and a group of his colleagues chose cycling as the primary activity to determine the impact of exercise in the prevention of this disease. The researching team carried out a cohort study that included more than 60,000 Danish adults including men and women. All the participants were aged between 50 and 65.

In Denmark, cycling is more than a sport. The infrastructure allows people to commute on their bicycles, but some of them do it as a hobby or as a way of training. This gave the researching team the opportunity to separate the participants in groups based on the amount of time they spent on a bike. To measure this, the specialists used a self-reported physical activity questionnaire which has been ranked well for its accuracy and practicality.

It is never too late to start doing something to improve health

Rasmussen and his team found out that people that spent more time on a bike, on a weekly basis, were less like likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Moreover, people that took up the activity when the experiment registered a much greater benefit than the ones who did not, they were 20% less likely to develop the disease. As a result, the specialists concluded that there is no age limit to benefit from it.

The study measured cycling both as a recreational and commuting activity, and it seems that the latter reaps the most benefits. According to the specialists, people that come from and go to work by bicycle are more exposed to the activity than the ones who do it for entertainment. In total, they spend an average of seven hours a week riding a bike, and gender did not report a significant change in the results.

The paper confirmed the potential benefits the activity in public health. It also refers to how the government could promote cycling in the community and make some infrastructural changes to encourage the exercise as a standard commuting method. In combination with screening rallies for type 2 diabetes, a campaign promoting the training could help other countries to achieve the commuting structure Denmark has.

The Medical Research Council funded the study, and it was published on-line in PLOS Medicine. Even though it was commissioned, the peer review is still pending.

Source: PLOS Medicine

http://www.pulseheadlines.com/cycling-helps-people-prevent-type-2-diabetes/40560/