Welcome! A Soapbox for Cultural commentary. oOo I use the name "Spindart"- oOo cuz I aim to be direct & on-target: oOo Personal posts, rants and raves. oOo oOo Music.Art.American Life. Faith and More. oOo oOo oOo
If you want to have lots of kids, look for a Barry WhiteoOo . . .Oh, yeah. . .Baby. . . oOo instead of a Justin Timberlake. Whaaaaaatt?!oOo Men with a deep voices have more offspring, a new study suggests.
Previous studies conducted by David Feinberg of McMaster University in Canada have shown that women are more attracted to men with deeper voices, judging them to be older, healthier and more masculine than their higher-pitched rivals.
Men, on the other hand, go for womenwith higher pitched voices because they find them more attractive, subordinate, feminine, healthier and younger-sounding. oOo and not the least bit Bimbo-ish, either. . .oOo
"We find in this new study that voice pitch is not related to offspring mortality rates," Feinberg said. [ But, did they test the survival rates of the grownups and neighbors, who had to endure the pitiful groanings of the low-pitched gutteral grunters? ] oOo
To look for any relationship between voice pitch and birth rates, the researchers studied the Hadza tribe of Tanzania, one of the last true hunter-gatherer cultures. Because the Hadza have no modern birth control, the researchers were able to compare birth rates without any outside influencing factors.oOo So their lifestyle is really a lot like ours, right? This should yield some accurate data. oOo
They found that Hadza men with deeper voices had more children than those with higher voices. ? How many, bubba? oOo
Well, I call this real Schnizz-whacky.*
This relationship could give insight into the evolution of the human voices. . .[ Duh-Oh? - Whaaaaaattt?!Wrong!Counter evidence: Even today, I still run into people with Monkey-breath, who sound like one, too! ]
The study continues, "If our ancestors went through a similar process," Feinberg said, [ Remember, we are probably "related" to those in the Hadza tribe of Tanzania -since they had no modern birth control, they had more children than we do, and could not prevent us from being born down their lineage - thus, they are our "ancestors". ]oOooOo "this could be one reason why men's and women's voices sound different."
oOo So that's the diff between M and F! . . . Don't you just love a hairy-sounding woman's voice. . . ? Oh yeah. . . Baby. . . oOo oOo
*Schnizz-whacky -- My new "Word-of-the Day". Some other time I'll get around to a definition for it. . .
LONDON (AFP) - Scientists have discovered a ground-breaking way of levitating ultra small objects, which may revolutionise the design of micro-machines, a new report says.
Physicists said they can create "incredible levitation effects" by manipulating so-called Casimir force, which normally causes objects to stick together by quantum force.
The phenomenon could be used to improve the performances of everyday devices ranging from car airbags to computer chips, say Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin from Saint Andrews University.
Casimir force -- discovered in 1948 and first measured in 1997 -- can be seen in a gecko's ability to stick to a surface with just one toe. oOo oOo
"At the moment, in practice it is only going to be possible for micro-objects with the current technology, since this quantum force is small and acts only at short ranges," Leonhardt said oOo oOo .
Astronomers have spotted a dusty disk in a four-star solar system that could be home to a planet in the making.
Using the infrared eyes of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers spotted the swirling disk around a pair of stars in the quadruple-star system HD 98800, located 150 light-years away in the constellation TW Hydrae. oOo
If a planet did form in the disk, its sky would be bathed in the light of four suns.
One pair of suns would blaze brightly, while the other pair, gravitationally bound to the first pair, would appear as little more than faint pinpoints of light. oOo Joining in the Cosmic Dance of Creation. Praise to the Lord in the sun, moon and stars! oOo
The finding will be detailed in an upcoming issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
oOo Quadruple sunsets oOo
The researchers spied two separate belts of material in the circumstellar disk. One belt sits at 1.5 to 2 astronomical units (AU) from the binary stars and likely consists of fine dust grains. The other is located about 5.9 AU away from and is probably made up of asteroids or comets. (One AU is equal to the distance between the Earth and the sun.)
A swath of near-empty space separates the two belts, inside of which a budding planet might roam. oOo "Oh give me a home, where the planets all roam. . . " oOo oOo
Wow, now THIS is exciting. You've heard of the ancient, Medieval concept of the Music of the Spheres?* Musicians have intuitivley known for centuries that what we do, the "materials" we work with, have far greater connections to universal operations of matter, energy and substance than merely emotional expression.
The roots and resonances of music reach deeply into the human ( and the physical world's?) situation. Is life merely a play acted on a stage, as Shakespeare said, "all sound and fury, signifying nothing?" oOo Or does the analogy of music woven throughout creation show that there is truly deep meaning, both within us and surrounding us, almost infinitely? [ What is the Harmony of Life? ] oOo
Astronomers have recorded heavenly music bellowed out by the Sun's atmosphere.
oOo Snagging orchestra seats for this solar symphony would be fruitless, however, as the frequency of the sound waves is below the human hearing threshold. While humans can make out sounds between 20 and 20,000 hertz, the solar sound waves are on the order of milli-hertz--a thousandth of a hertz.
The study,presented this week at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in Lancashire, England, reveals that the looping magnetic fields along the Sun's outer regions, called the corona, carry magnetic sound waves in a similar manner to musical instruments such as guitars or pipe organs. oOo oOo
Making music
Robertus von Fay-Siebenurgen of the Solar Physics and Space Plasma Research Center at the University of Sheffield and his colleagues combined information gleaned from sun-orbiting satellites with theoretical models of solar processes, such as coronal mass ejections.
They found that explosive events at the Sun's surface appear to trigger acoustic waves that bounce back and forth between both ends of the loops, a phenomenon known as a standing wave. oOo oOo
In the cosmic equivalent of a guitar pick, so-called microflares at the base of loops could be plucking the magnetic loops and setting the sound waves in motion, the researchers speculate. oOoWhile solar flares are the largest explosions in the solar system, microflares are a million times smaller but much more frequent; both phenomena are now thought to funnel heat into the Sun's outer atmosphere.
The acoustic waves can be extremely energetic, reaching heights of tens of miles, and can travel at rapid speeds of 45,000 to 90,000 miles per hour. "These [explosions] release energy equivalent to millions of hydrogen bombs," von Fay-Siebenburgen said.
"These energies are plucking these magnetic strings or standing pipes, [the acoustic phenomenon utilized in production of the extreme range of audible pipe organ tone] oOo which set up standing waves--exactly the same waves you see on a guitar string," vonFay-Siebenburgen told SPACE.com. The "sound booms" decay to silence in less than an hour, dissipating in the hot solar corona.
Remember another recent story about sound frequencies in space-- that our galaxy might be emitting the Ur "groundbass" frequency equivalent to a sub-sub-sub acoustic B-flat tone?! Sounds Astounding! :-OoOo
CANBERRA,Australia (Reuters) - Turning off the television, picking up a crossword and eating more fishoOo[Yeah!] could be the key to a better memory, an Australian survey has found.
Results of the online survey of almost 30,000 people, conducted as part of Australia's science week, also found people who read fiction had better memories than those who don't, while heavy drinkers found it more difficult to recall names. Especially right after you're soused! oOo oOo
While the test can give people an indication of their memory, the results have not been tested for statistical significance, oOo and since it was on the internet, "it is possible" [ ! ] that people could have cheated or lied. oOo I just LUV "scientific" surveys and "polls"! oOo
"So TV is not all that bad. It just might be taking time away from doing something that is a bit more active for the mind."
Health issues such as depression, obesity, lack of sleep and being stressed or worried could have an impact on a person's performance in a memory test. oOo So-- Embrace the Juice!oOo
"People have got out of the habit of covering their mouths, yet if you cough into a tissue and put it in a bin, the infection isn't going anywhere."
The retired GP stressed regular hand washing was just as important to prevent the spread of cold and flu germs, as well as to avoid food poisoning . . .
oOo How about "Back to Basics" of good nutrition and healthful eating? Better food sources with concentrated anti-oxidant and anti-inflammation properties may help to stem the tide of the avian flu if it goes wide-spread in humans. oOo oOo
oOo oOoHundreds of toads have met an unexplained explosive demise in Germany in recent days. According to reports from animal welfare workers and veterinarians as many as a thousand of the amphibians have perishedafter their bodies swelled to bursting point and their entrails were propelled for up to a metre. [vertically, one presumes] oOo oOo
TOADMEISTERS UNITE!!What shalle we do! all ye Toad princes! ex-frogs, not-yet-kissed-by-the-most-beautiful-damsel-in-distress-- grogsters, Green Party members, wartsters and Francophiles!? I myself am utterly appalled, not just from a scientific view, but as I am known (in certain cosmopolitan circles) as Dr. Toadnips, his excellency! oOo oOo
"I have never seen such a thing," said veterinarian Otto.
"I have, once" responded Mole despondently, "but only during the Great War in a fist-to-cuffs, ( and in the Normany trenches mind you.) Or was it Burgundy? I can never quite hold my wine right, you know. . ." said he, trailing off.
"Buffoons!" croaked Weasel gruffly. And he muttered away, "well I never!" and "just pass me the Fries, anyway."
I CALL UPON THE WORLD-UNITED FRONT OF ALL WARThogs, WARTBurgundians, sWARTHy MALES and SWARThmore College ALUMS to DESPERATELY UNITE IN THIS CAUSE OF VENGENCE for the imperial rights to LIVING TOAD BELCHING that is being this very hour STIFLED in the nether regions of the World.
** BE FOREWARNED O TOADYS--- it could happen wherever YOU are too! **
[ Methinks all toads should lay-off the Taco Bellow spicy chicken burritows for now and lay-low on the Pilsen, Pilsner or Grokster Grog. . . ] oOo oOo
Toad-Note: The American Federation of Toadmeisters, Anon. [AFO-TOADA] is not responsibleoOo oOo for the content of this or any other email, and anything that is said in this secret torture chamber article does not necessarily reflect the ABC's oOo [ or anyone else's ] views. oOo oOo
**No Joke** here--Look celestially on Friday, April 1 @ 10:20:41 seconds AM EST!
Get ready to Jump and maybe get a zero-gravity rush?! oOo oOo At 10:22:41 a.m. tomorrow (Friday), Mercury will be near Inferior Conjunction, Venus will be near Superior Conjunction, and Jupiter will be approaching Opposition (see a Planetary Summary chart @ heavens-above.com and you can check the alignment out + other Amazing CoOolspace stuff .
Also, the Moon should be generating a NeapTide. Since Mercury and Venus are our nearest planetary neighbors, and Jupiter is so massive (it is heavier than all the other planets, moons, comets and asteroids combined), the gravitational effects could be significantdue to this unique alignment.
In the past, when similar events have occurred, there have been reports of “a strange floating sensation”oOo oOo by individuals who jumped up exactly at the time of the eventoOo oOo (one such event occurred in April of 1976, at 4:47 a.m. EST – so most Americans were asleep in bed)!oOo oOo oOo oOo
I’m going to try to be in the Quad about 10:20 for this event tomorrow. . . You must have your watches set very preciselyoOo oOo -–get the Exact Time here. It'll be interesting to see what happens! oOo oOo oOo oOo
G. Craig Flowers, Ph.D. Professor of Chemistry and Physical Science Bluefield College Rom 8.28, Phil 4.4
