Ok this sucks... and why do they assume the thief is a male?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051220/ap_on_re_eu/toga_the_penguin
Baby Penguin Is Stolen From Zoo
LONDON - A baby penguin thought to have been snatched from a zoo as a quirky festive gift is unlikely to survive until Christmas Day, his keeper warned Tuesday.
Toga, a three-month old jackass penguin, was stolen from Amazon World on the Isle of Wight in southern England on Saturday.
Zoo manager Kath Bright said the bird, who was taken from a compound where he lived with his parents and four other penguins, would probably die of malnutrition if not urgently returned.
"Toga is very, very vulnerable. The penguin is still being fed by his parents and we don't believe it could survive more than five days," she told The Associated Press.
"The bird has already been missing for around three days and is likely to be severely dehydrated. If he isn't returned before Thursday he is likely to become so ill that even intensive care treatment won't save him."
The brown and white penguin will bite if frightened and refuses to be fed by human hand, Bright said. Toga is too young to have yet had a gender confirmed, but along with tradition, is referred to as a male, she added..
Bright said there was no sign of forced entry to the pen, but said a thief would have been able to climb into the compound and carry Toga away.
"We can't understand what may have been going through the thief's head, but we are worried someone decided a penguin would make the perfect Christmas gift," she added. "There has been a lot of attention because of the film 'March of the Penguins.' Perhaps someone saw the film and thought their wife or girlfriend would be thrilled to have one as a present."
The French movie was a box-office hit and has been credited with drawing tourists to penguin spotting sites across the world.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Stoners vs. Toddlers
This was pretty funny. The only thing that's not amusing to me is the fact that Ryan's last name is....Stoner. Our poor children!
Stoners vs. Six-Year-Olds: A Radar Investigation : In the Magazine : Radar Magazine
Stoners vs. Six-Year-Olds: A Radar Investigation : In the Magazine : Radar Magazine
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Coffee before exams?
Coffee is good for your short term memory?
CHICAGO, Nov. 30 - A cup of coffee is good for the memory, at least the short term memory, according to research reported today.
In a study of 15 healthy men ages 26 to 47, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) detected significant activity in the brain's memory centers 20 minutes after the men consumed 100 mg of caffeine, according an Austrian study reported at the Radiological Society of North America meeting here.
The activity was significantly greater than men who were imaged after consuming a matched placebo (P<0.05), said Florian Koppelstatter, M.D., of the University Hospital Innsbruck.
He said the fMRI scan detected activity in the anterior cingulate cortex of the brain, which is responsible for some short-term memory functions.
The men, all right-handed, underwent fMRI scans on two days. Half of the men were initially given water that contained a tasteless concentration of 100 mg of caffeine -- about the equivalent of two cups of coffee -- and half were given ordinary water. The groups were crossed over for the second scans.
Dr. Koppelstatter said that fMRI routinely detected activity as participants completed memory tasks during the scan, but caffeine significantly boosted brain function beyond that expected level. In addition to greater activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, men taking caffeine had increased activity in frontal cortex, and the inferior parital cortex. Moreover, since the men were all right handed, the increased activity was greater in the left hemisphere.
Twenty-minutes after consuming the drinks -- a time that Dr.Koppelstatter said was calculated as the caffeine's peak potency time in the brain -- the men underwent fMRI scans. He noted that caffeine's effect diminishes after 45 minutes.
Dr.Koppelstatter said the scans clearly demonstrated that caffeine has a definite impact on short-term memory processes. "This effect takes part in the distinct part of the working memory network that controls attention and concentration."
Michael Brant-Zawadzki, M.D., chairman of the RSNA communications committee and moderator at press conference where Dr. Koppelstatter discussed his research, said the findings will probably not surprise anyone because "we all know that coffee makes us more alert, but now we know how that works."
He said that finding also suggests a possible research target for the development of drugs to improve memory function. "It may be possible to develop drugs like caffeine that can stimulate these same brain regions," he said.
Primary source: Radiological Society of North America
Source reference:
Koppelstatter, F et al. "Influence of CAFFEINE Excess on Activation Patterns in Verbal Working Memory"
CHICAGO, Nov. 30 - A cup of coffee is good for the memory, at least the short term memory, according to research reported today.
In a study of 15 healthy men ages 26 to 47, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) detected significant activity in the brain's memory centers 20 minutes after the men consumed 100 mg of caffeine, according an Austrian study reported at the Radiological Society of North America meeting here.
The activity was significantly greater than men who were imaged after consuming a matched placebo (P<0.05), said Florian Koppelstatter, M.D., of the University Hospital Innsbruck.
He said the fMRI scan detected activity in the anterior cingulate cortex of the brain, which is responsible for some short-term memory functions.
The men, all right-handed, underwent fMRI scans on two days. Half of the men were initially given water that contained a tasteless concentration of 100 mg of caffeine -- about the equivalent of two cups of coffee -- and half were given ordinary water. The groups were crossed over for the second scans.
Dr. Koppelstatter said that fMRI routinely detected activity as participants completed memory tasks during the scan, but caffeine significantly boosted brain function beyond that expected level. In addition to greater activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, men taking caffeine had increased activity in frontal cortex, and the inferior parital cortex. Moreover, since the men were all right handed, the increased activity was greater in the left hemisphere.
Twenty-minutes after consuming the drinks -- a time that Dr.Koppelstatter said was calculated as the caffeine's peak potency time in the brain -- the men underwent fMRI scans. He noted that caffeine's effect diminishes after 45 minutes.
Dr.Koppelstatter said the scans clearly demonstrated that caffeine has a definite impact on short-term memory processes. "This effect takes part in the distinct part of the working memory network that controls attention and concentration."
Michael Brant-Zawadzki, M.D., chairman of the RSNA communications committee and moderator at press conference where Dr. Koppelstatter discussed his research, said the findings will probably not surprise anyone because "we all know that coffee makes us more alert, but now we know how that works."
He said that finding also suggests a possible research target for the development of drugs to improve memory function. "It may be possible to develop drugs like caffeine that can stimulate these same brain regions," he said.
Primary source: Radiological Society of North America
Source reference:
Koppelstatter, F et al. "Influence of CAFFEINE Excess on Activation Patterns in Verbal Working Memory"
Microsoft LIVE ideas
http://ideas.live.com/
Check out the website for Microsoft's version of Google product betas. Some sound pretty interesting. Especially the checkup center and the antivirus.
Check out the website for Microsoft's version of Google product betas. Some sound pretty interesting. Especially the checkup center and the antivirus.
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