List of animals that have been sent to space

Natural Space Shield

Tiny microscopic invertebrates named tardigrades, or water bears, were able to survive an open exposure to outer space for 10 days with only their natural protection available!

 

Man has been sending different animals to space ever since the dawn of space technology. Needless to say that most of these animals were destined for doom―about two-thirds of primates launched into space by the U.S. did not survive! But what prompted man to put these animals through this ordeal in the first place?

These animals were used to test whether living systems could survive spaceflights and a microgravity environment. The first animals to be flown to outer space were fruit flies. These blasted off into space on February 20, 1947, to investigate the effects of radiation exposure at such high altitudes.

These trips have helped scientists to understand motion sick in microgravity, learn about the instinctive behavior of animals in an unfamiliar environment. It also helped us humans to understand the concepts of loss of muscle, bone, and tendon mass in microgravity. Further experiments of animals in space helped us better understand muscle atrophy in people with limited physical activity.

Till date, countries like the former Soviet Union, United States, France, Iran, Argentina, China, and Japan have flown animals into space. Here are some of the animals that were sent to space.

Dogs

In the 1950s, the erstwhile USSR sent dogs on many sub-orbital and orbital space flights in order to determine if spaceflights were safe enough for humans. During this period, the Russians commissioned around 57 passenger slots to determine this. The total number of dogs that took flight in these missions were much less as some dogs were flown more than once. Most of the dogs made a safe trip back home. The fate of Laika―a stray dog from Moscow, and the first animal to orbit Earth―was sealed by the scientists as they couldn't come up with a reentry strategy for her shuttle.

Monkeys

A total of 32 monkeys have been flown into outer space by countries like the U.S., France, USSR, Argentina, and recently by Iran. Initial attempts were made to investigate the biological effects of space travel. The monkeys were anesthetized before the launch. Several species of monkeys like the rhesus monkey, cynomologus monkeys, squirrel monkeys, pig-tailed macaques were used for these experiments. Albert II was the first monkey to survive the flight to outer space, but died on impact due to parachute failure.

Cats

Two cats were sent to outer space on October 18, 1963, and October 24, 1963, by the French Centre d'Enseignement et de Recherches de Médecine Aéronautique (CERMA). One cat Félicette survived the fifteen-minute spaceflight. The other cat unfortunately did not survive the ordeal as the recovery of the capsule took a little longer than usual. Félicette had electrodes implanted into her brain that recorded all the neural impulses of her trip.

Mice

In the 1950s, the U.S. launched several mice into space. On August 31, 1950, America launched its first mouse into space. The shuttle carrying this mouse traveled 137 km above the surface on the Earth. The mouse did not survive this journey, as the parachute system of the vessel failed. Other countries that have managed to send rodents into space include Russia and China.

Spiders

On July 28, 1973, two garden spiders, Anita and Arabella were launched into space by Skylab 3. This was done to study the effects of microgravity on their ability to spin webs and hunt. Garden orb spiders were aboard on the last flight of Columbia in 2003 as well, which did not meet a successful end. In May 2011, the space shuttle Endeavour carried two golden orb spiders named Esmeralda and Gladys.
Source>
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/list-of-animals-that-have-been-sent-to-space.html

Biography of Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong is the famous American cyclist, known for winning the prestigious Tour de France cycling race for seven consecutive years. Lance was an athlete from a very early age and won many racing competitions in his cycling career. However, more than all these accomplishments, he is respected for recovering from the dangerous disease of cancer when doctors had declared that his chances of living were very low.

 

Early Life and Career
Lance Armstrong was born on September 18, 1971 in Plano, Texas to Linda Mooneyham and Eddie Charles Gunderson. When Lance was born, he was named as Lance Edward Gunderson but his father left him and his mother when he was two. Later his mother married Terry Keith Armstrong who adopted Lance and gave him his name.

From a very young age, Lance was interested in sports and took up racing, swimming and cycling. At the age of 13, he participated in the Kids Triathlon, which included 1000 meter swimming, bike ride for 15 miles and running for three miles. In the following years, he continued to take part in triathlon tournaments and became the national sprint-course triathlon champion at the ages of 16 and 17.

By this time, Armstrong realized his keen interest and passion for cycling and decided to take it up as a career. Leaving his senior high school, he went on to join the U.S. Olympics Cycling Development Team in Colorado for training in cycling. With this he started his successful cycling career where he won numerous awards like the U.S. National Amateur Champion, the First Union Grand Prix and the Thrift Drug Classic. Armstrong achieved the World Road Race Championship in 1993, becoming the youngest person to win the competition.

Cancer and Career after Cancer
While Armstrong was riding high on his success, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Armstrong's condition was very serious, as the cancer had spread to his lungs, stomach, brain and lymph nodes. Doctors had very little hope of his survival but Lance Armstrong was determined to win the battle with death. After going through a surgeries to remove the cancerous testicle and the brain tumors, he opted for a different regime of chemotherapy (from the standard one) and came out fully recovered.

Post recovery from the dangerous disease, he began his new innings in the world of cycling. He took part in the Tour de France tournament in 1999 and despite all that he had gone through during his cancer days, emerged as a winner. However, his success did not stop here. Rather, Armstrong continuously won in the tournament every year till 2005, breaking the record of cyclist champions who won the tournament for five consecutive years like Miguel Indurain, Greg LeMond, etc. After his seventh win in 2005, Lance Armstrong retired from cycle racing.

Personal Life
On May 1, 1998, Lance married Kristin Richard whom he had met a year before. Their first child, a son, was born in October 1999, whom they named Luke. In November 2001, they had twin daughters, namely Isabelle and Grace. However, Armstrong's marriage with Kristin did not work out well and they got divorced in 2003. In the same year, he met Sheryl Crow, a singer and song writer. Although they got engaged in 2005, they broke off in 2006. After this he dated Tory Burch, a fashion designer and Kate Hudson for short periods of time. After these unsuccessful relationships, Armstrong started dating Anna Hansen. The couple had a baby boy on May 9, 2009 whom they named Maxwell Edward Armstrong.

After his retirement, Armstrong gave all his time to cancer research and social activism. He has started cancer organizations which help people affected with cancer. He along with some of his companions organized a charity cycle race (Ride for the Roses) in Austin, Texas to collect money to help cancer patients. He has also penned two books It's Not About the Bike: My Journey to Life and Every Second Counts which have become best-selling autobiographies. Looking at the biography of Lance Armstrong, one can say that his life is definitely an inspiring one.

Source>
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/biography-of-lance-armstrong.html

Arguments Against Global Warming

Imagine: the year is somewhere in the future. Man's environment has undergone a dramatic upheaval. Trees are scarce and you can find them in abundance in only carefully maintained sanctuaries. The air is filled with particulate matter. Visibility has greatly diminished. The vast ocean is being pumped and the seawater is being processed in desalination plants. Tigers and lions have become extinct. The Himalayas have lost their snow cover. Antarctica has become a warm continent. Much of Asia and Africa has become uninhabitable because of very hot climate. Cancer and lung diseases are rampant. The weather has become fickle - you don't know what to expect. A cold winter spell is followed by a scorching summer, which will perhaps be followed by torrential rain.

 

Scary, right?

 

Global Warming - What is the Hullbulla All About?

 

From today's perspective, the above scenario may be classified as 'science fiction'. However, it could become our future, brought on by global warming. Global warming is the increase in the temperature of the earth's atmosphere caused by greenhouse gases. A lot has been said and heard about global warming, more so in the last few couple of decades. The proponents of global warning warn that if immediate preventive steps are not taken, global warming will have a disastrous effect on future humankind. The detractors, however, argue that the problem is grossly overestimated. They also argue that the steps to tackle the problem will hinder economic progress.

 

Some Arguments Against Global Warming

• It is argued that global warming is a minor issue because of which major issues like HIV/AIDS, Nuclear proliferation and poverty are not being devoted their deserved time and resources.
• Global warming is even argued to be merely a vested interest of scientists. It is said that scientists exaggerate the effects of global warming because they receive funds from environmental companies.
• Global warming is believed, also, to be the outcome of failed computer climate models. It is argued that these models are not able to predict even tomorrow's weather accurately, so how can they predict long-term climate change?
• It is argued that human activities are not the only cause of global warming. There are other factors involved in global warming too.
• Detractors of global warming also hold that newspapers sensationalize global warming in order to sell. They distort the picture of global warming when actually that it is not as severe an issue as they make it out to be.
• Detractors also say that since scientists have made wrong predictions before, science and scientists are not always right. Perhaps they have made an error in their calculations or drawn incorrect conclusions on available evidence, thus making global warming a virtual rather than a real problem.
• Since we don't have long term historical records of the climate that Earth has witnessed, global warming could well be only a hypothesis.
• It is argued that water vapor plays a major part in global warming. Anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, hydrocarbons and other green-house gases have only a minor role to play. In fact, some people even believe that global warming is a natural phenomenon. Man has no role to play in it. Only our environment is responsible.
• The data on temperature increase that scientists keep producing as evidence is nothing to worry about because the increase in the temperature has in fact been gradual, spread over more than hundred years. Also, the earth was warmer before. That did not have harmful consequences on humans. Why will it now? In fact people argue that the increase in temperature will help plants grow in currently cold and uninhabitable areas. The increase in the level of carbon dioxide will also stimulate plant growth.
• Another common argument against global warming is that the upsurge in solar activity has caused global warming, not anthropogenic effects of development.

One realizes that most of the arguments against global warming are factually incorrect or far fetched. People advocating these arguments have a vested interest in activities and industries that contribute to global warming. Unfortunately they are able to sway a section of the population into believing that global warming is not a serious issue. Earnest efforts must be taken to dispel these myths and make the earth a better place to live in.

Source>

Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/arguments-against-global-warming.html

How to Write a Biography

There are very few people who know how to tell a story about someone else's life. There are many aspects related to people's lives that are no more than lists or what they said or what they did. Yes, while it all may be true, is it interesting and worth telling to the world? Does it make you want to know more of their side of story? Or does it just make you want to flip to the back of the book and find out how the guy died and move on to another book? That is the difference between a life story and a great biography. If you too are wondering about 'how to write awesome biographies', this  article will prove to be a helpful aide.

What is a Biography
A biography is simply the story of a person's life. There are different types of biographies, short, long or an entire book. Short biographies contain certain basic facts about a person's life, long biographies contain basic information in detail written in form of a short story and biographies turned into a book are detailed, containing step-by-step information of the events in a person's life. The main aim of writing a biography is to explain the different events in a person's life. This may be tragic, comic, mysterious, surprising, etc. It can be about a famous personality or an infamous person. However, biographies tell us all the chronological events in a person's life. They are just like a personal diary or an autobiography. Just told by someone else after speaking to the person or researching about the person in detail.

There are five steps to writing a successful biography. These steps are essential in getting the right information and learning enough about your subject so that in the end, you put the information together in not only an organized manner, but in a way that entices the reader from one moment of the subject's life to the next until they have reached the end of the book before they even know it.

Steps Involved
When writing a biography, you first need to decide the subject on whom you wish to write. Once the subject is decided, collect as much information as possible related to the person. You can go through their letters, newspaper clippings, pictures, library, Internet, meet their friends, family, acquaintances, etc. You need to ask yourself, what makes the person so interesting and different? Highlight questions such as who, what, where, why, how. Seek out details about the person like his/her habits, likes, dislikes, interests and similar aspects. Let us learn how to write a biography on someone by going through the following steps in detail.

Step 1: Questioning
The first step is to find a subject that you wish to write a biography about, since you will be spending a lot of time on this subject you need to choose someone who you already want to know more about and someone who you find very interesting. Then you want to write several questions about their life that not only you might want to know the answers to, but that you think others would want to know the answers to also.

Some example questions might be: how was this life remarkable, terrible, awesome or other adjective you might want to use. What aspects were best for this person or others, he may have interacted with? There are those that have said you can tell a lot about a person by their enemies. Is this also true with this person? Explain, why or why not? Was your subject a hero? What do you feel a hero is? The list of possible questions is endless; however, you only need to select a few to begin with.

Write these questions in a notebook or on a computer where you can leave room for answering the answers.

Step 2: Learning
This can be the best part if your subject is still alive because this is the step that you learn the answers to the questions that you asked in the first step. You can choose to interview the person, read a book or other written material about the person. But somehow, you must learn as much as you can about this person.

Step 3: Put it all together
In this step you combine the answers to the questions in step one. Then you go about and decide what you will keep, what you will throw out and which new information provides new insights into this person or supports your answers or opinion about this subject.

Step 4: Organization
In this step you will organize it in an understandable order. It doesn't necessarily have to be chronological, but it does need to be organized in some order. Take all your information together and tell the story. Put it into paragraphs in the order you have decided upon and use anecdotes and transitions from one stage of the person's life to another.

Step 5: Editing
Editing your work is of the utmost importance; you need to check your spelling, grammar, paragraph organization as well as how your sentences flow from one to another. You also need to make sure that when you read it then you are able feel what you want the reader to feel.

Therefore, the steps in writing a biography are asking questions, learning the answers to your questions, putting the answers with the questions and lastly organizing them in an interesting story and then editing the whole. The editing consists of clarifying your content, organizing the points you wish to make, write so that your voice shows up in your writing, passionate words where you feel passion, sympathetic words where you feel sympathy, help the reader to feel what you feel by using correct vocabulary.

Make sure the sentences flow smoothly and show what you want to express. You can also do this by checking to see that your punctuation is correct and by double checking your grammar and spelling. With these points in mind, try writing an awesome biography about someone who fascinates you.
Source>
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-to-write-a-biography.html

What Does an Infinity Ring Symbolize?

Infinity Rings Aren't Eternity Bands!
Most people get confused between the two, often mistaking them to be the same. While the symbolism of both rings is almost the same, the difference lies in their make. Unlike infinity rings where the infinite design stays at the central location, eternity bands have the design throughout the ring, completely encircling the finger.Giving a ring to your love symbolizes a lot in itself! However, these days couples don't just settle for any ring. Gold, in itself, is not unique anymore, diamonds―though fascinating―have become highly common. Now, couples are looking for something beyond aesthetic and monetary value, something that has a deep meaning, a symbolism in the true sense of the word.

Perfectly fitting this requirement is the infinity ring, which, as the name symbolizes, means an infinite relationship with the person to whom you choose to give this ring. With relationships becoming more and more unstable, and promises proving to be futile in the long run, a ring worn with a belief that it will, in a way, remind each other of the commitment and love they have for each other, is truly essential. The following section will give an in-depth understanding of what this ring signifies.

Meaning and Symbolism of an Infinity Ring
The word 'infinity' is derived from the Latin word infinitas, which translates to 'the state of being without finish', or in simple words, something that never ceases to exist. This is one reason why this ring is so popular among lovers, because it reflects that they share a love bond so strong that no matter what comes, it will never break or never cease to exist. If you pay attention to the meaning of the 'infinite' symbol, there are various beliefs associated with the same since time immemorial.

The Number 8 Connection
You must have noticed for sure that this symbol resembles a lot to the number 8. In fact, it is 8, just a little narrower. The number 8 is considered to be extremely auspicious in China. Even in Christianity, it represents resurrection and regeneration. If you observe carefully, it is written in a continual pattern which has no beginning and end. Also, if you pay a close attention to the way we write this number, you will observe that, it begins from the top, goes all the way to the bottom, and comes back to the highest point again. This symbolism also gives infinity rings an interesting meaning―irrespective of the ups and downs in life, there will be no end to this bond, and finally, it will reach the heights of success and love.

The Egyptian Sign
It is believed that the Egyptians were the first one to use the ancient symbol, Ouroboros, which was later used by other cultures as the symbol of infinity. The word is derived from the Greek words, 'oura' meaning tail, and 'boros' meaning eating. Yes, the symbol is nothing but that of a serpent eating its own tail. Serpents are representatives of reincarnation. Their periodic skin-shedding has been viewed by many as a sign of rebirth through death, or to be more specific, a new beginning after an end, which technically means that there is no end at all! The alchemists of the past also considered this to be a sign of unity. Therefore, a ring bearing the infinity sign also reflects unity among the wearers.

The Celtic Association
Who doesn't know the most well-known patterns that symbolize eternity―the Celtic knots! The characteristics of these knots are the same as the infinity symbol, which makes these patterns very popular in jewelry making, especially the ones made for couples. In fact, most of them incorporate the infinity symbol around the famous Claddagh rings, which are the epitome of symbolizing love. Generally, they consist a heart that represents love, and crown that symbolizes loyalty, and two hands holding the heart that represents friendship―the true definition of love, we must say!

If you and your mate share an extremely strong bond, a connection that seems far beyond this life, then this ring is a perfect choice to express your relationship. Also, if you are one of those lucky couples who think that they are 'made for each other' in the true sense of the phrase, and within a few months or years, it seems that you have known each other since time immemorial, there is no better ring to symbolize this. May your love grow and continue to thrive each day, and forever.

Source>
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-does-an-infinity-ring-symbolize.html

Reasons Why Penguins Can't Fly Revealed

Swimming Champs!

Penguins can swim underwater at a speeds between 15 and 25 mph. Emperor penguins can dive to a depth of more than 500 meters.

 

Penguins are aquatic birds found in the southern hemisphere. These birds easily attract our attention owing to their unique form and body features. Although penguins are placed under the category of birds, their appearance is more like aquatic creatures. Also, their wings are smaller in proportion to the size of their body. They are flightless birds with flipper-like wings.

 

A research was conducted by a team led by Kyle Elliott from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, to find out why penguins cannot fly. The conclusion derived from these research activities was that a penguin's flippers are better suited for swimming and diving. It is difficult to fly with the help of such flippers. In fact, the flippers of penguins were never meant for flying. Their sole function was to assist penguins to swim efficiently. In other words, penguins would have developed much better wings if they had chosen flying over swimming.

 

Comparison Study

A study was conducted on guillemots to obtain an insight on why penguins cannot fly. Researchers have agreed upon the fact that a bird's wings cannot perform both, swimming and flying. It is assumed that, at a certain point in the process of the evolution of wings, penguins had to choose between flying and swimming; they chose swimming.

 

 

1. Murre
2. Cormorant
3. Penguin

The research conducted on cormorants and murres proved to be of great help in understanding why penguins can't fly. Both these birds have an anatomical structure similar to that of penguins. Recorders were fitted on murres to measure the depth, time, and temperature of dives. On the other hand, cormorants were fitted with data-loggers to record temperature, depth, and changes in acceleration that takes place while diving.

Thick-billed Murre (Uria lomvia)

This bird is also known as Brünnich's Guillemot. The murre flaps its wings to wade through water at the time of diving. Tests conducted on murres revealed that they needed 30% greater energy than penguins of the same size.

Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus)

The Pelagic Cormorant is found off the Pacific coast. The cormorant uses its webbed feet to propel itself through water. The energy costs of diving in these cormorants were higher than that of penguins as well as murres.

Penguin  The wings (flippers) of penguins are suited for swimming; it is evident from how their physical features have evolved over the course of time.The wingspan of a penguin is smaller than that of most birds. One of the benefits of having such wings is that the drag experienced while swimming is reduced to a great extent.

One of the differences observed in the flight of a penguin and that of other aquatic birds is that a penguin employs a beating motion of its wings. Most aquatic birds move underwater by means of the paddling movement of their webbed feet.
The body of a penguin is bulkier than that of other aquatic birds. It helps it dive deeper and keep its body insulated from the surroundings.

Energy Burned in Flying

The comparison of the energy burned in flying to that at rest should help understand whether a bird is an efficient flyer or not. A murre spends 31 times as much energy while flying than at rest. The energy spent is quite high if compared to most flying birds. Thus, we can conclude that murres waste a lot of their energy in their flight. Penguins, on the other hand, have totally given up on flying, to conserve energy.

Conclusion

Penguins lost their ability to fly in the course of evolution, millions of years ago. So how (or rather why) did they lose this ability. The explanation presented by researchers is that penguins are efficient swimmers, and they gave up flying for the sake of swimming. Murres, on the other hand, can fly as well as swim; however, flying comes at the expense of a large amount of energy spent. Thus, we can say that murres are yet to make up their mind whether to fly or to swim.

So what is the significance of studying the thick-billed murre's flight. This comparative study helps us understand that in spite of higher flight costs, murres did not shed their flying instinct. This is because, even if flying is a laborious activity for the murres, they benefit from it in different ways. Flying allows them to flee predators. The action of flying also helps them move between their nests and foraging grounds. It might be one of the reasons why murres didn't give up flying, even if this activity consumes a lot of energy.

Finally, we can say that penguins were smart enough to shed their flying instinct to survive in the predominantly aquatic surroundings of the Southern Hemisphere. They have evolved into efficient diving creatures.

Source>
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/reasons-why-penguins-cant-fly-revealed.html

2015 MTV VMAs Fashion hits and misses

 

It was easy to get distracted during the 2015 MTV VMAs -- whether by Kanye West promising to run for president in 2020 or Nicki Minaj igniting a new feud with host Miley Cyrus. But we couldn't possibly lose sight of the wacky, wild and cool style at the big show in Los Angeles on Aug. 30, 2015. Join Wonderwall.com as we take a journey through the night's fashion hits and misses, starting with Gigi Hadid. The drop-dead gorgeous model may be the only person able to pull off this bold yellow Emilia Wickstead dress without looking like Big Bird. And how sexy is her high middle slit? Click through for a closer look at Gigi ...

Source>http://goo.gl/M8NWJ9