Very less knowing facts about US Supreme Court

Since its creation by Article III of the U.S. Constitution, the Supreme Court has handed down decisions that have shaped American history, from civil rights to election issues to the powers of business and government. Known as the court of last resort, the Supreme Court has the final authority to interpret constitutional questions and federal law and to uphold or reverse decisions made by lower courts. To date, there have been 112 justices (including 17 chief justices) in the court’s history, 108 men and four women. Find out some surprising facts about the job (hint: there are no official qualifications) and learn about how the nation’s highest court works and has changed over the years.

1. The court was around for 145 years before it got a permanent home of its own.

The court convened for the first time in February 1790 in New York City, then the nation’s capital. From 1791 to 1800, it assembled in Philadelphia, which served as the capital while Washington, D.C., was under construction. Starting in February 1801, the court began meeting in Washington, where it occupied various sites in the Capitol building for more than a century. (After the British burned the Capitol in 1814, the court even temporarily met in a private home.) In 1929, at the urging of Chief Justice William Taft, Congress authorized some $9.74 million to erect a building the court could call its own. The marble structure, in use since 1935, was designed by architect Cass Gilbert Sr., whose projects included New York City’s Woolworth Building (the world’s tallest skyscraper from 1913 to 1930), along with several state capitols and other public works. Today, the building features its own police force as well as a top-floor gym, with a basketball court nicknamed “the highest court in the land.” Shooting hoops and lifting weights are banned while court is in session, however.

2. There haven’t always been nine justices on the court.

The U.S. Constitution established the Supreme Court but left it to Congress to decide how many justices should make up the court. The Judiciary Act of 1789 set the number at six: a chief justice and five associate justices. In 1807, Congress increased the number of justices to seven; in 1837, the number was bumped up to nine; and in 1863, it rose to 10. In 1866, Congress passed the Judicial Circuits Act, which shrank the number of justices back down to seven and prevented President Andrew Johnson from appointing anyone new to the court. Three years later, in 1869, Congress raised the number of justices to nine, where it has stood ever since. In 1937, in an effort to create a court more friendly to his New Deal programs, President Franklin Roosevelt attempted to convince Congress to pass legislation that would allow a new justice to be added to the court—for a total of up to 15 members—for every justice over 70 who opted not to retire. Congress didn’t go for FDR’s plan.

3. There are no official qualifications for becoming a Supreme Court justice.

The Constitution spells out age, citizenship and residency requirements for becoming president of the United States or a member of Congress but mentions no rules for joining the nation’s highest court. To date, six justices have been foreign born; the most recent, Felix Frankfurter, who served on the court from 1939 to 1962, was a native of Vienna, Austria. The youngest associate justice ever appointed was Joseph Story, who was 32 years old when he joined the bench in 1811. Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who served from 1902 to 1932, retired at age 90, making him the oldest person ever to sit on the court. One thing every justice who’s served shares in common is that all were lawyers prior to joining the court. During the 18th and 19th centuries, before attending law school was standard practice, many future justices got their legal training by studying under a mentor. James Byrnes, who served on the court from 1941 to 1942, was the last justice who didn’t attend law school (Byrnes, who also didn’t graduate from high school, worked as a law clerk and later passed the bar exam.) Harvard has produced more members of the court than any other law school; to date, 20 justices have attended or graduated from the venerable institution, which was established in 1817 and is America’s oldest continually operating law school.

4. Justices are appointed for life but can be impeached.

Associate Justice William O. Douglas put in 36 years and 7 months on the bench, from April 1939 to November 1975, the longest tenure of any justice in the court’s history. Douglas’ successor, John Paul Stevens, was part of the court from December 1975 to June 2010, making him the third-longest serving justice. (Steven Johnson Field, who served from 1863 to 1897, comes in second.) Although they are appointed for life, more than 50 have chosen to retire or resign; that number has included the likes of John Jay, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Charles Evan Hughes, Earl Warren, Thurgood Marshall, and, more recently, William Rehnquist and Sandra Day O’Connor. Only one justice ever has been impeached: Samuel Chase, in 1804. The U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach Chase, an outspoken figure accused of acting in a partisan way during various court proceedings; however, the U.S. Senate acquitted him in 1805 and he remained on the bench, where he had served since 1796, until his death in 1811.

5. William Howard Taft is the only person to have served as U.S. president and on the court.

Taft served as America’s 27th president, from 1909 to 1913, during which time he appointed five associate justices and one chief justice. After losing his bid for re-election, Taft, a graduate of Yale University and Cincinnati Law School, and a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals prior to his presidency, went on to teach law at Yale and serve as head of the American Bar Association, among other activities. In 1921, following the death of Chief Justice Edward Douglass White, whom Taft had appointed when he was in the White House, President Warren Harding nominated Taft as White’s replacement. As the court’s 10th chief justice, Taft successfully advocated for passage of the Judiciary Act of 1925, which enabled the justices to choose which cases they wanted to hear (today, the court follows the so-called rule of four, by which at least four justices must vote to grant a petition to review a case before it can be heard by the court). Taft served as chief justice until February 1930, when he resigned due to poor health; he died the following month.

6. George Washington appointed the most justices to the court.

The president of the United States has the sole power to nominate Supreme Court justices whenever there are openings on the court, and each nomination must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. George Washington made 11 appointments to the court, while Franklin Roosevelt made the second highest number of appointments, nine. Only three presidents besides Andrew Johnson did not make appointments: William Henry Harrison (who died in 1841, a month after his inauguration), Zachary Taylor (who passed away in 1850, 16 months after taking office) and Jimmy Carter. To date, presidents have submitted 160 nominations, including nominations for chief justice. Of that total, 124 were confirmed, with seven of them opting not to take the job. America’s 10th president, John Tyler, who assumed office after the death of William Henry Harrison, made nine nominations while in office from 1841 to 1845, but the politically unpopular Tyler managed to get just one of those nominations confirmed by the Senate.

7. In recent years, the court has received some 10,000 annual requests to review cases, but hears only about 80.

The justices usually only take on cases involving significant legal principles or cases in which lower courts have disagreed about the interpretation of federal laws. Most of the court’s cases come to it on appeal from lower federal courts and state courts; however, the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction (the right to hear a case for the first time, before any appellate review) in a few instances, such as cases involving ambassadors or disputes between two or more states. Because the justices primarily hear cases on appeal, it’s uncommon for witnesses or evidence to be presented in court. Instead, attorneys submit written legal arguments (briefs) in advance and justices typically listen to oral arguments, in which each side has 30 minutes to make a presentation, during which the justices can ask questions. (The courtroom is open to the public during oral arguments, which are not allowed to be televised or photographed; since 1955, the court has made audio recordings of oral arguments, which are released after the arguments are over.) The justices later meet in private to discuss and vote on each case. In the event of a tie vote, the decision of the lower court is upheld.

World's first talking robot-astronaut ready to go to space

In a world first, Japan is set to send a talking robot-astronaut to the International Space Station to conduct the first conversation between a human and a robot in outer space.

Kirobo, the robot astronaut, is scheduled to be launched from the Tanegashima Space Center, located in southwestern Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture, aboard the Kounotori 4 cargo spacecraft to ISS on August 4.

Named after a combination of the Japanese word kibo, or "hope", and the word "robot", the Kirobo project is part of an experiment that will see the first human-robot conversation held in space, the 'Japan Daily Press' reported.

Kirobo is about 34 centimetres tall and weighs about one kilogramme, which makes it smaller than most robots that go into space.

The robot has already undergone several pre-launch tests, including simulations with zero gravity, the report said.

During one of the first demonstrations, the robot's developers asked Kirobo what its dream was. It replied that it "hoped to create a future where humans and robots live together and get along."

Kirobo, the talking robot, was jointly developed by the University of Tokyo, Toyota, and Dentsu Inc.

With new tech, any surface can be touchscreen

A latest experimental technology system, called WorldKit reportedly turns any surface into a touchscreen by pairing a depth-sensing camera lens with a projector lens.

According to Fox News, WorldKit's aim is to transform all of the surroundings into touchscreens, equipping walls, tables, and couches with interactive and intuitive controls.

Chris Harrison, a soonto-be professor in human computer interaction at Carnegie Mellon University and Robert Xiao, a PhD candidate at Carnegie Mellon and lead researcher have together come up with the latest innovation. Harrison said that it is an interesting space of having projected interfaces on the environment, using the whole world as a sort of gigantic tablet.

Xiao said that the technology allows users to select a surface and 'paint' an interactive object on it like a 'button' or a 'sensor' after which the selected area is used to display a chosen interface, such as a menu bar or a sliding lighting-control dial, which can then be manipulated through touch gestures.

The report said that WorldKit's depth sensor is connected to a projector that is mounted to a ceiling or a tripod and its major drawback is its big size.

Experts are positive of exploiting the technology for use in the mobile market in near future and are also envisioning ambitious applications for the technology like experimental interior design which could also be included in gaming potential.

Explaining the contrast between WorldKit and Google's wearable Glass, Xiao said that WorldKit is at an advantage as all the interactions are out in the world and one is thus interacting with something real and tangible, unlike Glass which allows only virtual seeing and not touching, the report said.

Conversation Between, Former President of India, "APJ Abdul Kalam" and His Teacher

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Former President of India

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty.

He asks one of his new students to stand and.....

Prof:  So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof: Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Student: Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him.

Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?

(Student is silent.)

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Is Satan(Devil) good?

Student: No.

Prof: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From...God.. .

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Student: Yes.

Prof: So who created evil?

(Student does not answer.)

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?

Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So, who created them?

(Student has no answer.)

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you.

Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.

Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist.

What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof: Yes.

Student: No sir. There isn't.

(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold . Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy . Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?

Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it.

Now tell me, Professor.Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher? (The class is in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?

(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir.

With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable. )

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student: That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH . That is all that keeps things moving & alive.

This is a true story, and the student was none other than........ .

APJ Abdul Kalam , the former president of India.

A series of fight turns into festival: La Tomatina

Parade of Gigantes Y Cabezudos, 1945

In 1945, during a parade of gigantes y cabezudos, “Giants and Big-Heads costumes parade”, young adults who wanted to be in the event staged a brawl in town's main square, the Plaza del Pueblo, pushed the other young people. One of the young people fell on the floor, and when he got up he started to hit everyone there, so everybody started fighting. There was a vegetable stand nearby, so they picked up tomatoes and used them as weapons. The police had to intervene to break up the fight and forced those responsible to pay the damages incurred.

The following year the young people repeated the fight on the same Wednesday of August, only this time they brought their own tomatoes from home. They were again dispersed by the police. After repeating this in subsequent years, the tradition was established. In 1950, the towns allowed the tomato hurl to take place, however the next year it was again stopped. A lot of young people were imprisoned but the Buñol residents forced the authorities to let them go. The festival gained popularity with more and more participants getting involved every year. After subsequent years it was banned again with threats of serious penalties. In the year 1957, some young people planned to celebrate "the tomato's funeral" as a protest, with singers, musicians, and comedies. The main attraction however, was the coffin with a big tomato inside being carried around by youth and a band playing the funeral marches. Considering this popularity of the festival and the alarming demand, 1957 saw the festival becoming official with certain rules and restrictions. These rules have gone through a lot of modifications over the years.

People Celebrating "the tomato's funeral"

Another important landmark in the history of this festival is the year 1975. From this year onwards, "Los Clavarios de San Luis Bertrán" (San Luis Bertrán is the patron of the town of Buñol ) organised the whole festival and brought in tomatoes which had previously been brought by the local people. Soon after this, in 1980, the town hall took the responsibility of organizing the festival.

In the early years of 1700 to 1900 why European people feared of tomatoes

In the late 1700s, a large percentage of Europeans feared the tomato.

A nickname for the fruit was the “poison apple” because it was thought that aristocrats got sick and died after eating them, but the truth of the matter was that wealthy Europeans used pewter plates, which were high in lead content. Because tomatoes are so high in acidity, when placed on this particular tableware, the fruit would leach lead from the plate, resulting in many deaths from lead poisoning. No one made this connection between plate and poison at the time; the tomato was picked as the culprit.

Pewter Plate

Around 1880, with the invention of the pizza in Naples, the tomato grew widespread in popularity in Europe. But there’s a little more to the story behind the misunderstood fruit’s stint of unpopularity in England and America, as Andrew F. Smith details in his The Tomato in America: Early History, Culture, and Cookery. The tomato didn’t get blamed just for what was really lead poisoning. Before the fruit made its way to the table in North America, it was classified as a deadly nightshade, a poisonous family of Solanaceae plants that contain toxins called tropane alkaloids.

One of the earliest-known European references to the food was made by the Italian herbalist, Pietro Andrae Matthioli, who first classified the “golden apple” as a nightshade and a mandrake—a category of food known as an aphrodisiac. The mandrake has a history that dates back to the Old Testament; it is referenced twice as the Hebrew word dudaim, which roughly translates to “love apple.” (In Genesis, the mandrake is used as a love potion). Matthioli’s classification of the tomato as a mandrake had later ramifications. Like similar fruits and vegetables in the solanaceae family—the eggplant for example, the tomato garnered a shady reputation for being both poisonous and a source of temptation. (Editor’s note: This sentence has been edited to clarify that it was the mandrake, not the tomato, that is believed to have been referenced in the Old Testament)
But what really did the tomato in, according to Smith’s research, was John Gerard’s publication of Herball in 1597 which drew heavily from the agricultural works of Dodoens and l’Ecluse (1553). According to Smith, most of the information (which was inaccurate to begin with) was plagiarized by Gerard, a barber-surgeon who misspelled words like Lycoperticum in the collection’s rushed final product. Smith quotes Gerard:
Gerard considered ‘the whole plant’ to be ‘of ranke and stinking savour.’… The fruit was corrupt which he left to every man’s censure. While the leaves and stalk of the tomato plant are toxic, the fruit is not.
Gerard’s opinion of the tomato, though based on a fallacy, prevailed in Britain and in the British North American colonies for over 200 years.
Around this time it was also believed that tomatoes were best eaten in hotter countries, like the fruit’s place of origin in Mesoamerica. The tomato was eaten by the Aztecs as early as 700 AD and called the “tomatl,” (its name in Nahuatl), and wasn’t grown in Britain until the 1590s. In the early 16th century, Spanish conquistadors returning from expeditions in Mexico and other parts of Mesoamerica were thought to have first introduced the seeds to southern Europe. Some researchers credit Cortez with bringing the seeds to Europe in 1519 for ornamental purposes. Up until the late 1800s in cooler climates, tomatoes were solely grown for ornamental purposes in gardens rather than for eating. Smith continues:
John Parkinson the apothecary to King James I and botanist for King Charles I, procalimed that while love apples were eaten by the people in the hot countries to ‘coole and quench the heate and thirst of the hot stomaches,” British gardeners grew them only for curiousity and fo the beauty of the fruit.

A technology is used for converting water in electricity: myFC POWERTREKK

Intro

myFC PowerTrekk is the preferred alternative portable power source for outdoor enthusiasts, travelers and other people who spend time away from the grid. myFC PowerTrekk is also the ideal safety kit option, since it gives you access to instant power by using small amount of water.

THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND IT

myFC PowerTrekk uses  green fuel cell technology, which cleanly and efficiently converts hydrogen into electricity. The ability to simply insert a myFC Puck and add water provides users with instant and limitless power on the go. Unlike solar chargers, fuel cell power is generated quickly (no waiting for sunlight harvesting) and reliably (charging speed not impacted by weather, solar position etc. and no power degradation like with batteries).

At the heart of the myFC PowerTrekk is myFC's proprietary FuelCellSticker technology. Made from foils and adhesives, the FuelCellStickers form a flexible unit, less than 2.75mm thick.

The fuel cell inside myFC PowerTrekk is a completely passive system. Without fans or pumps, the fuel cell silently converts hydrogen into electricity via its Proton Exchange Membrane.

The chemical process is safe, controllable and eco-friendly, and the only bi-product from the fuel cell is a little water vapor. To operate, hydrogen must be supplied to the fuel cell, and the fuel cell must be exposed to air.

myFC PowerTrekk and the myFC Puck meet industry security standards and can be brought on airplanes in the passenger cabin.

WHAT IS FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that transforms the chemical energy of a fuel (hydrogen, methanol, natural gas, gasoline etc.) and an oxidant (air or oxygen) into electrical energy. The fuel and the oxidant react at two different electrodes – the anode and the cathode – and are separated by an electrolyte that transmits ions (e.g. H+, OH- etc.) from one electrode to the other. Fuel cells have many similarities with batteries, but with the fundamental difference that the electrodes are not consumed in the process – a fuel cell will run as long as fuel and an oxidant (air) is provided to the electrodes.

Rainbow Rose: A new type of Rose with Seven Colors.

When we talk about the rose first think come in mind is ' a beautiful flower in red color'. But if I said this is not much. A rose flower with 7 colors, like a rainbow. It seems to be dream, but it's true:

The Rainbow Rose is a genuine rose with highly attractive colours. Each rose petal has one of the colours of the rainbow. And so, with her seven different colours, this rose sets the imagination on fire.

The Rainbow Rose has clear, binding, and powerful colours.

A gift as Unique and Vibrant as she is !!!!

Rainbow Flower

Dutch florist, Peter de Werken is the inventor of a trade secret process for creating rainbow roses. The picture says it all. The flowers are treated with natural pigments into their stems, so when they grow each petal has a different color. The flowers are sold under the name of rainbow rose or happy rose and are only available as cut or dried flower arrangements.

The Happy Roses Company describes the process in the following way, "Roses are placed in special water. Different substances are dissolved in this water. The rose branch absorbs this water as part of a natural process. This is what changes the color of the petals. What makes Happy Roses unique is that the inventor has managed to color a few petals, for example, yellow, whilst at the same time other petals color differently, for example, blue, orange or lilac." The whole process takes 12 to 24 hours. BTW Did you know that the very first plant patent was for a climbing rose?

Best Reasons to Smile.

Smiling Makes Us Attractive

We are drawn to people who smile. There is an attraction factor. We want to know a smiling person and figure out what is so good. Frowns, scowls and grimaces all push people away -- but a smile draws them in.

Smiling Changes Our Mood

Next time you are feeling down, try putting on a smile. There's a good chance you mood will change for the better. Smiling can trick the body into helping you change your mood.

Smiling Is Contagious

When someone is smiling they lighten up the room, change the moods of others, and make things happier. A smiling person brings happiness with them. Smile lots and you will draw people to you.

Smiling Relieves Stress

Stress can really show up in our faces. Smiling helps to prevent us from looking tired, worn down, and overwhelmed. When you are stressed, take time to put on a smile. The stress should be reduced and you'll be better able to take action.

Smiling Boosts Your Immune System

Smiling helps the immune system to work better. When you smile, immune function improves possibly because you are more relaxed. Prevent the flu and colds by smiling.

Smiling Lowers Your Blood Pressure

When you smile, there is a measurable reduction in your blood pressure. Give it a try if you have a blood pressure monitor at home. Sit for a few minutes, take a reading. Then smile for a minute and take another reading while still smiling. Do you notice a difference?

Smiling Releases Endorphins, Natural Pain Killers and Serotonin

Studies have shown that smiling releases endorphins, natural pain killers, and serotonin. Together these three make us feel good. Smiling is a natural drug.

Smiling Lifts the Face and Makes You Look Younger

The muscles we use to smile lift the face, making a person appear younger. Don't go for a face lift, just try smiling your way through the day -- you'll look younger and feel better.

Smiling Makes You Seem Successful

Smiling people appear more confident, are more likely to be promoted, and more likely to be approached. Put on a smile at meetings and appointments and people will react to you differently.

Smiling Helps You Stay Positive

Try this test: Smile. Now try to think of something negative without losing the smile. It's hard. When we smile our body is sending the rest of us a message that "Life is Good!" Stay away from depression, stress and worry by smiling.

The working or technology of Magic Cube: A futuristic virtual keyboard device

When we talk about the keyboard. whats come in our mind is that box of  400 mm x 140 mm box (approx) or a packet of  4 inch dia and 6 inch in length ( Fold-able keyboard). But if it possible to get in 2 inch x 2 inch box. which is very easily portable.

Magic Cube Intro:

The Magic Cube is a compact and versatile product; it is a projection keyboard and multi-touch mouse, all in one easy-to-use product. It connects easily to any Bluetooth HID devices, including the latest iPhone, iPad and Android devices. You can also plug-n-play with Windows and Mac OS devices via USB connection.

With just a single flick of a switch, the Magic Cube is ready to pair wirelessly with your mobile device. It fits easily in your pocket and it is perfect for on the go. You'll be sure to turn heads the moment you start typing on the Magic Cube.

Compatible OS: iOS 4 and later, Mac OS 10 and later, Android 2.2 and later, Windows XP/Vista/7 and later, and any device with Bluetooth HID support.

But the question arise how or on what technology its work?

The projection laser displays the keyboard layout onto any opaque surface. Keystrokes are recognized and relayed via an invisible infrared layer combined with an optical sensor.

The recognition process works as follows: when the user presses a key on the projected keyboard, the infrared layer is interrupted. This produces IR reflections that are recognized by the sensor in three dimensions, allowing the system to assign a coordinate (keyboard character).

This product emits infrared light from the lower end of the product to detect objects such as fingers. When an object passes through the area illuminated by the infrared light source, any infrared light reflecting off the object is detected by the sensor. Information on the position and movement of the object is then analyzed to perform the product's role as a keyboard.

Hope my friends you really enjoy about this new technology. if 'Yes' then share it. Lets world to come near the future.

Infections From Contaminated Injections Can Lurk Undetected

Spinal MRIs similar to these found infections that many patients hadn't realized they had.

People who think they didn't get sick from a nationwide meningitis outbreak caused by contaminated steroid injections used to treat back pain may want to think again.

Doctors at hospitals in Michigan did MRI scans of people who had been given tainted injections but didn't report symptoms of meningitis afterwards.

About 20 percent of the 172 people tested had suspicious-looking MRIs, and 17 ended up needing surgery to treat fungal infections in or around the spine.

The patients had gotten steroid injections about three months before the MRI, in mid to late 2012.

Even though some of the people had increased back pain and other problems after the tainted injection, quite a few hadn't gone to the doctor to report the symptoms before the researchers contacted them about getting an MRI.

The researchers think that's partly because people weren't able to tell if the pain was caused by the back problems that led them to get the injection, or from something new.

It may also be because the first people who got sick from the contaminated shots came down with meningitis, an inflammation of the tissue that wraps the brain. It's the kind of life-threatening illness that's hard to ignore. At least 23 people died.

As the number of meningitis cases waned, and people started coming down with spinal infections instead. It's as if the meningitis cases were on a fast boil, and the spinal infections were simmering on a back burner.

This screening method isn't perfect: 17 percent of the patients screened had equivocal MRIs.

But screening with MRI may be a better option than treating all exposed people with high doses of antifungal medications, according to an accompanying editorial. Toxic effects of treatment include altered mental states, hallucinations, and liver damage.

The Food and Drug Administration has warned people who may have been exposed to medicines produced at the New England Compounding Center after May 21, 2012, to be alert for headaches fevers, chills, and other symptoms.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends MRIs for people who received contaminated injections and who had symptoms at or near the injection site. The company produced about 1,200 different drugs, most of which were injectables.

Common reasons which reduce or damage Brain or its Efficiency.

In our body the most 2 important parts are Brain and Heart. Any one of this stop working we are dead. But then also we are regularly damaging them with very common practice of ours. For brain they are:

1. No Breakfast

People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level.
This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.

2. Overreacting

It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.

3. Smoking

It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High Sugar consumption

Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.

5. Air Pollution

The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.

6. Sleep Deprivation

Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.

7. Head covered while sleeping

Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.

8. Working your brain during illness

Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.

9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts

Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.

10. Talking Rarely

Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain.

Tianhe-2, or Milky Way-2: World Fastest Computer

Tianhe-2, or Milky Way-2

According to the semiannual TOP500 official listing of the world's fastest supercomputers released Monday.

Tianhe-2, or Milky Way-2, clocked in at number one with a performance of 33.86 petaflops per second, according to a press release issued byTOP500. The computer was developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology and will be deployed at the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzho, China, by the end of the year.

China last wore the crown of fastest supercomputer in November of 2010 with Tianhe-1.

The Chinese computer was a surprising winner, according to the release, because it was developed two years ahead of schedule.

Tianhe-2 has 16,000 nodes, each with two Intel Xeon IvyBridge processors and three Xeon Phi processors for a combined total of 3,120,000 computing cores.

"Most of the features of the system were developed in China, and they are only using Intel for the main compute part," said TOP500 editor Jack Dongarra in a news release accompanying the announcement. "That is, the interconnect, operating system, front-end processors and software are mainly Chinese," said Dongarra, who toured the Tianhe-2 development facility in May.

The previous number one, the Cray-made Titan computer installed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, is now ranked second. The third ranking computer, IBM’s Sequoia, installed at DOE’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is also in the U.S.

Why would the Victoria Cross ever Introduced?

Biref intro of Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories. It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals. It may be awarded to a person of any rank in any service and to civilians under military command. The VC is usually presented to the recipient or to their next of kin by the British monarch at an investiture held at Buckingham Palace.

Now the answer of Question. (Reason):

In 1854, after 40 years of peace, Britain found itself fighting a major war against Russia. The Crimean War was one of the first wars with modern reporting, and the dispatches of William Howard Russell described many acts of bravery and valour by British servicemen that went unrewarded.

Before the Crimean War, there was no official standardised system for recognition of gallantry within the British armed forces. Officers were eligible for an award of one of the junior grades of the Order of the Bath and brevet promotions whilst a Mention in Despatches existed as an alternative award for acts of lesser gallantry. This structure was very limited; in practice awards of the Order of the Bath were confined to officers of field rank. Brevet promotions or Mentions in Despatches were largely confined to those who were under the immediate notice of the commanders in the field, generally members of the commander's own staff.

Other European countries had awards that did not discriminate against class or rank; France awarded the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour) and The Netherlands gave the Order of William. There was a growing feeling amongst the public and in the Royal Court that a new award was needed to recognise incidents of gallantry that were unconnected with a man's lengthy or meritorious service. Queen Victoria issued a Warrant under the Royal sign-manual on 29 January 1856 (gazetted 5 February 1856) that officially constituted the VC. The order was backdated to 1854 to recognise acts of valour during the Crimean War.

Queen Victoria had instructed the War Office to strike a new medal that would not recognise birth or class. The medal was meant to be a simple decoration that would be highly prized and eagerly sought after by those in the military services. To maintain its simplicity, Queen Victoria, under the guidance of Prince Albert, vetoed the suggestion that the award be called The Military Order of Victoria and instead suggested the name Victoria Cross. The original warrant stated that the Victoria Cross would only be awarded to soldiers who have served in the presence of the enemy and had performed some signal act of valour or devotion. The first ceremony was held on 26 June 1857 where Queen Victoria invested 62 of the 111 Crimean recipients in a ceremony in Hyde Park.

It was originally intended that the VCs would be cast from the bronze cascabels of two cannon that were captured from the Russians at the siege of Sevastopol. The historian John Glanfield has since proven through the use of x-rays of older Victoria Crosses that the metal used for VCs is in fact from antique Chinese guns and not of Russian origin. One theory is that the guns were originally Chinese weapons but the Russians captured them and reused them at Sevastopol. It was also thought that some medals made during the First World War were composed of metal captured from different Chinese guns during the Boxer Rebellion but the original metal was used after the war. It is also believed that another source of metal was used between 1942 and 1945 to create five Second World War VCs when the Sevastopol metal went missing.

The barrels of the cannon in question are on display at Firepower - The Royal Artillery Museum at Woolwich. The remaining portion of the only remaining cascabel, weighing 358 oz (10 kg), is stored in a vault maintained by 15 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps at Donnington, Telford. It can only be removed under armed guard. It is estimated that approximately 80 to 85 more VCs could be cast from this source. A single company of jewellers, Hancocks of London, has been responsible for the production of every VC awarded since its inception.

Flagrant violations of civil liberties in America: Japanese-American Relocation

The relocation of Japanese-Americans into internment camps during World War II was one of the most flagrant violations of civil liberties in American history. According to the census of 1940, 127,000 persons of Japanese ancestry lived in the United States, the majority on the West Coast. One-third had been born in Japan, and in some states could not own land, be naturalized as citizens, or vote. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, rumors spread, fueled by race prejudice, of a plot among Japanese-Americans to sabotage the war effort. In early 1942, the Roosevelt administration was pressured to remove persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast by farmers seeking to eliminate Japanese competition, a public fearing sabotage, politicians hoping to gain by standing against an unpopular group, and military authorities.

On February 19, 1942, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which forced all Japanese-Americans, regardless of loyalty or citizenship, to evacuate the West Coast. No comparable order applied to Hawaii, one-third of whose population was Japanese-American, or to Americans of German and Italian ancestry. Ten internment camps were established in California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas, eventually holding 120,000 persons. Many were forced to sell their property at a severe loss before departure. Social problems beset the internees: older Issei (immigrants) were deprived of their traditional respect when their children, the Nisei (American-born), were alone permitted authority positions within the camps. 5,589 Nisei renounced their American citizenship, although a federal judge later ruled that renunciations made behind barbed wire were void. Some 3,600 Japanese-Americans entered the armed forces from the camps, as did 22,000 others who lived in Hawaii or outside the relocation zone. The famous all-Japanese 442nd Regimental Combat Team won numerous decorations for its deeds in Italy and Germany.

The Supreme Court upheld the legality of the relocation order in Hirabayashi v. United States and Korematsu v. United States. Early in 1945, Japanese-American citizens of undisputed loyalty were allowed to return to the West Coast, but not until March 1946 was the last camp closed. A 1948 law provided for reimbursement for property losses by those interned. In 1988, Congress awarded restitution payments of twenty thousand dollars to each survivor of the camps; it is estimated that about 73,000 persons will eventually receive this compensation for the violation of their liberties.

Why Are Mosquitoes Attracted to Some People More Than Other?

There is no doubt that mosquitoes are more attracted to some people than others, and it seems, to some parts of the body over others. But who is really more susceptible and why? The topic is, and has been, the subject of a great deal of government, university and private research for years. It is because there is so much that is unknown about it, and because each mosquito species can be attracted to different things.

I have gathered some information about the same through some studies.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS), “What may be attractive to one species may not be for another. For example, some species may be attracted to human blood while others may feed only on the blood of wild or domestic animals. Since there are 4-6 dozen mosquitoes out of 2,700 worldwide that transmit diseases, it can be tricky to pinpoint an attractant”.

In addition to this, American Mosquito Association (AMA) studied that “more than 350 compounds have been isolated from odours produced by human skin, many of which attract mosquitoes as well as other biting insects. Along with these compounds, some of the characteristics that have been scientifically proven to attract the attention of mosquitoes include the following:

Carbon-dioxide – Mosquitoes are greatly attracted to carbon dioxide and it has been universally considered. It is virtually impossible to keep mosquitoes away as human expel carbon dioxide with every breath. AMA stated that “Carbon dioxide draws mosquitoes from up to 35 metres.” There is also some interesting fact showed by AMA about female side. It states that “When female mosquitoes sense carbon dioxide they usually adopt a zigzagging flight path within the plume to locate its source.”

            However, there are variations in even this attractant. If there is a group it will attract them from one person to another because in a group, carbon dioxide will be more and thus it will be more attractive target than just a single person. If we talk about a pregnant woman, she will definitely attract more mosquitoes as she tends to exhale more carbon dioxide.

Movement, sweat and heat – Mosquitoes are also attracted to visual stimuli and heat besides carbon dioxide. So if a person is very active (like playing football, badminton or other games), his/her increased exhalation, movement, sweat and heat generated in body likely to attract more mosquitoes over the person who is sedentary. Unless, that is, that sedentary person is drinking beer. A study on the same was published by National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). They measured ethanol content in sweat production and skin temperature before and after ingestion of 350 ml of beer (ethanol concentration of 5.5%) by volunteers and compared with a control subject. The result shows that the percentage of mosquitoes increased and by a large number after beer ingestion.

Blood type – Another attractant is the blood type a human have. It really doesn’t matter how much care you do to avoid to be bitten by mosquitoes. You may become a primary target to them if you have the right blood. Yes, it is true and has been proved by another NCBI study. According to them, people with type O blood attract more mosquitoes as compared to person with other blood types.

Smelly feet – A person does have a great control over this attractant that came from sweaty or unclean feet. USDA research, which equated the smell with that of Limburger cheese to which mosquitoes are highly attracted, showed that carbon dioxide was combined with smelly socks proved highly attracted to many common species of disease transmitting mosquitoes.

Information gathered from results and studies done by

       ·         USDA/ARS

       ·         NCBI

       ·         AMA

Unknown Facts About Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona

At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time (12:55 p.m. EST) on December 7, 1941, Japanese fighter planes attacked the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, launching one of the deadliest attacks in American history. The assault, which lasted less than two hours, claimed the lives of more than 2,500 people, wounded 1,000 more and damaged or destroyed 18 American ships and nearly 300 airplanes. Almost half of the casualties at Pearl Harbor occurred on the naval battleship USS Arizona, which was hit four times by Japanese bombers.

USS Arizona

1. Twenty-three sets of brothers died aboard the USS Arizona.

There were 37 confirmed pairs or trios of brothers assigned to the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941. Of these 77 men, 62 were killed, and 23 sets of brothers died. Only one full set of brothers, Kenneth and Russell Warriner, survived the attack; Kenneth was away at flight school in San Diego on that day and Russell was badly wounded but recovered. Both members of the ship’s only father-and-son pair, Thomas Augusta Free and his son William Thomas Free, were killed in action.

Though family members often served on the same ship before World War II, U.S. officials attempted to discourage the practice after Pearl Harbor. However, no official regulations were established, and by the end of the war hundreds of brothers had fought—and died¬—together. The five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, Iowa, for instance, jointly enlisted after learning that a friend, Bill Ball, had died aboard the USS Arizona; Their only condition upon enlistment was that they be assigned to the same ship. In November 1942, all five siblings were killed in action when their light cruiser, the USS Juneau, was sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

2. The USS Arizona’s entire band was lost in the attack.

Members of U.S. Navy Band Unit (NBU) 22, all of whom were killed in action aboard the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor. (Credit: Naval History and Heritage Command)

Almost half of the casualties at Pearl Harbor occurred on the naval battleship USS Arizona, which was hit four times by Japanese bombers and eventually sank. Among the 1,177 crewmen killed were all 21 members of the Arizona’s band, known as U.S. Navy Band Unit (NBU) 22. Most of its members were up on deck preparing to play music for the daily flag raising ceremony when the attack began. They instantly moved to man their battle positions beneath the ship’s gun turret. At no other time in American history has an entire military band died in action.

The night before the attack, NBU 22 had attended the latest round of the annual “Battle of Music” competition between military bands from U.S. ships based at Pearl Harbor. Contrary to some reports, NBU 22 did not perform, having already qualified for the finals set to be held on December 20, 1941. Following the assault, the unit was unanimously declared the winner of that year’s contest, and the award was permanently renamed the USS Arizona Band Trophy.

3. Fuel continues to leak from the USS Arizona’s wreckage.

On December 6, 1941, the USS Arizona took on a full load of fuel—nearly 1.5 million gallons—in preparation for its scheduled trip to the mainland later that month. The next day, much of it fed the explosion and subsequent fires that destroyed the ship following its attack by Japanese bombers. However, despite the raging fire and ravages of time, some 500,000 gallons are still slowly seeping out of the ship’s submerged wreckage: Nearly 70 years after its demise, the USS Arizona continues to spill up to 9 quarts of oil into the harbor each day. In the mid-1990s, environmental concerns led the National Park Service to commission a series of site studies to determine the long-term effects of the oil leakage.

Aerial view of the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The ship’s wreckage has been leaking oil, visible in the upper left, for nearly 70 years.

Some scientists have warned of a possible “catastrophic” eruption of oil from the wreckage, which they believe would cause extensive damage to the Hawaiian shoreline and disrupt U.S. naval functions in the area. The NPS and other governmental agencies continue to monitor the deterioration of the wreck site but are reluctant to perform extensive repairs or modifications due to the Arizona’s role as a “war grave.” In fact, the oil that often coats the surface of the water surrounding the ship has added an emotional gravity for many who visit the memorial and is sometimes referred to as the “tears of the Arizona,” or “black tears.”

4. Some former crewmembers have chosen the USS Arizona as their final resting place.

The bonds between the crewmembers of the USS Arizona have lasted far beyond the ship’s loss on December 7, 1941. Since 1982, the U.S. Navy has allowed survivors of the USS Arizona to be interred in the ship’s wreckage upon their deaths. Following a full military funeral at the Arizona memorial, the cremated remains are placed in an urn and then deposited by divers beneath one of the Arizona’s gun turrets. To date, more than 30 Arizona crewmen who survived Pearl Harbor have chosen the ship as their final resting place. Crewmembers who served on the ship prior to the attack may have their ashes scattered above the wreck site, and those who served on other vessels stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, may have their ashes scattered above their former ships. As of November 2011, only 18 of the 355 crewmen who survived the bombing of the USS Arizona are known to be alive.

5. A memorial was built at the USS Arizona site, thanks in part to Elvis Presley.

Elvis Presley performs a benefit concert at Pearl Harbor’s Bloch Arena on March 25, 1961, which raised more than $50,000 for the construction of a national memorial at Pearl Harbor. (Credit: Getty Images)

After the USS Arizona sank, its superstructure and main armament were salvaged and reused to support the war effort, leaving its hull, two gun turrets and the remains of more than 1,000 crewmen submerged in less than 40 feet of water. In 1949 the Pacific War Memorial Commission was established to create a permanent tribute to those who had lost their lives in the attack on Pearl Harbor, but it wasn’t until 1958 that President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation to create a national memorial. The funds to build it came from both the public sector and private donors, including one unlikely source. In March 1961, entertainer Elvis Presley, who had recently finished a two-year stint in the U.S. Army, performed a benefit concert at Pearl Harbor’s Block Arena that raised over $50,000—more than 10 percent of the USS Arizona Memorial’s final cost. The monument was officially dedicated on May 30, 1962, and attracts more than 1 million visitors each year.