Monday, February 26, 2007

Yoga

Yoga meaning union in Sanskrit is a family of ancient religious practices that originated in India, where it remains a vibrant living habit and is seen as a means to enlightenment. Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Raja Yoga are considered the four main yogas, but there are many other types. In other parts of the world where yoga is popular, notably the West, Yoga has become linked with the asanas of Hatha Yoga, which are popularly considered there as fitness exercises and also form the basis of an increasing business.
Yoga as a means to enlightenment is central to Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and has influenced other religious and spiritual practices throughout the world. Ancient Hindu texts establishing the basis for yoga include the Upanishads, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the Bhagavad Gita, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and many others, which state the criteria of having successfully mastered a particular yoga technique.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Blood

Blood is a highly focused circulating tissue consisting of several types of cells suspended in a fluid medium known as plasma. The cellular constituents are: red blood cells, which carry respiratory gases and give it its red color because they are have hemoglobin (an iron-containing protein that binds oxygen in the lungs and transports it to tissues in the body), white blood cells (leukocytes), which fight disease, and platelets, cell fragments which play an important part in the clotting of the blood.
Medical terms associated to blood often begin with hemo- or hemato- (BE: haemo- and haemato-) from the Greek word "haima" for "blood." Anatomically, blood is well thought-out a connective tissue from both its origin in the bones and its function.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Submarine

A submarine is a expert watercraft that can work underwater at very high pressures beyond the range of unaided human survivability. Submarines, first commonly used in World War I, are used by all major navies today, especially the American, Russian and British navies. Civilian submarines and submersibles are used for marine and freshwater science and for work at depths too large for human divers.
Submarines are always referred to as "boats" excluding in some formal documents. The term U-Boat is occasionally used for German submarines in English. This comes from the German word for submarine, 'U-Boot', itself an short form for Unterseeboot ('undersea boat').
Submarines encompass one of the biggest ranges in capabilities of any vessel. They range from small one- or two-man vessels that can check the sea floor for a few hours to the Russian Typhoon class, which can remain submerged for half a year and carry nuclear missiles capable of destroying several cities. There are also specialized submarines such as rescue submarines (like the DSRV or Priz) and tiny one-person human power-driven subs intended for competitions between universities. An older device for use in underwater exploration, salvage, building and rescue is the diving bell.
The word submarine was an adjective meaning "under the sea". Some firms who make diving gear but not parts for submarines, called their work "submarine engineering". "Submarine" as a meaning of submersible craft originated as short for "submarine boat" and older books such as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea always use this term. Also, some people simply say 'sub' as a substitute of saying the entire word 'submarine'.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Jewellery

Jewellery is factually any piece of fine material used to decorate oneself. Although in earlier times jewellery was created for more convenient uses, such as wealth storage and pinning clothes together, in recent times it has been used almost completely for beautification. The first pieces of jewellery were made from likely materials, such as bone and animal teeth, shell, wood and engraved stone. Jewellery was often made for people of high importance to show their status and, in many cases, they were covered with it.Jewellery is made out of almost every material recognized and has been made to garnish nearly every body part, from hairpins to toe rings and many more types of jewellery. While high-quality and artistic pieces are made with gemstones and valuable metals, less pricey costume jewellery is made from less-valuable materials and is mass-produced.Form and function Kenyan man exhausting tribal beads.Over time, jewellery has been used for a number of reasons: Currency, wealth display and storage, purposeful Symbolism Protection and Artistic display Most cultures have at some point had a practice of observance large amounts of wealth stored in the form of jewellery. Numerous cultures move wedding dowries in the form of jewelry, or create jewelry as a means to store or display coins. on the other hand, jewellery has been used as a currency or trade good; a mostly poignant example being the use of slave beads.
In creating jewellery, a variety of gemstones, coins, or other valuable items can be used, often set into precious metals. Common expensive metals used for modern jewellery include gold, platinum or silver, although alloys of nearly every metal known can be encountered in jewellery -- bronze, for example, was common in Roman times. Most gold jewellery is made of an alloy of gold, the purity of which is affirmed in karats, indicated by a number followed by the letter K. For example, ordinary gold jewellery ranges from 10K (41.7% pure gold) to 22K (91.6% pure gold), while 24K (99.9% pure gold) is considered too soft for jewellery use. Platinum alloys variety from 900 (90% pure) to 950 (95.0% pure). The silver used in jewellery is usually sterling silver, or 92.5% fine silver.Other generally used materials include glass, such as merged glass or enamel; wood, often carved or turned; shells and other natural animal substances such as bone and ivory; natural clay, polymer clay, and even plastics.
Jewellery and society
One universal issue is control over who could wear what jewellery, a point which indicate the powerful symbolism the wearing of jewellery evoked. In ancient Rome, for instance, only convinced ranks could wear rings; later, sumptuary laws dictated who could wear what type of jewellery; again based on rank. Cultural dictate have also played a important role; for example, the wearing of earrings by Western men was considered "effeminate" in the 19th and early 20th centuries. on the other hand, the jewellery industry in the early 20th century launched a crusade to popularize wedding rings for men — which caught on — as well as appointment rings for men , going so far as to make a false history and claim that the practice had Medieval roots. By the mid 1940s, 85% of weddings in the U.S. feature a double-ring ceremony, up from 15% in the 1920s.Religion has also played a role: Islam, for instance, consider the wearing of gold by men as a social taboo,and many religions have edicts against extreme display.

Sunday, February 04, 2007

The Real Miracle

As far as Miracles is concern, turning salty seawater in to sweet water is quite amazing. Regardless of the scientific clarification being doled out—surplus freshwater flowing from the Mahim River into the sea—the thousand mass to Mahim Creek near the beachfront in Mumbai will pretty see the ‘transubstantiation’ as the deed of the late Haji Maqdoom Baba, whose shrine is in the area. Mass hysteria, of course, is only a term to clarify the hordes of believers filling plastic bottles and drinking the water. But the real miracle would be if those glugging the ‘miraculous’ water manages to flee succumbing to serious gastric illness.
The water of Mahim Creek, sweetened or otherwise, is dirty and would scandalize not only the likes of Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment. Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and officials of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai have already request to people not to drink the water. Industrial waste is not the finest ingredient for a miracle. But telling this to goggle-eyed people facing even more goggle-eyed TV cameras is as worthwhile as persuasive people that a Ganesh idol sipping milk is caused by suction and not godly lactose tolerance.
Fortunately, rumors of the sweetened water turning back to its original brackish form might stop a future surge. Now we only wait for the real miracle of no one complaining of sickness.