Thursday, November 5, 2009

Kilimanjaro Snow May Vanish In 20 Years

photo: independent.co.uk

The "Snows of Kilimanjaro" will then exist only as a memory - and the title of a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Scientists at the Ohio State University predicted that the ice sheets of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest mountain peak, will melt in the next twenty years due to global warming. Scientists made their forecast after combining data from aerial photographs and ground measurements of ice thickness.
The ice that was present in 1912 gradually decreased by 85% by 2000, and by 2007 another 26% of the amount in 2000. This was the first time that the volume of the ice in Kilimanjaro was measured. The tests were conducted by Lonnie Thompson, a professor at Ohio State University. Professor Thompson said that the scientists have also detected elongated bubbles in the surface of the ice field, which occur when the ice melts and refreezes. There is no evidence this melting and refreezing has occurred at any other period going back 11,700 years.
"The fact that so many glaciers throughout the tropics and subtropics are showing similar responses suggests an underlying common cause," Thompson said.
Change in cloudiness and weather could have also been factors in the retreat of the ice, especially in recent decades, scientists said. These findings were first published in the journal proceedings of United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS) on November 3, 2009.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Boring

Really, I feel boring with my job and tasks. Everyday likes yesterday (not everyday likes Sunday). Always prepared report, meeting, meeting, and meeting…. Sometimes meeting result nothing. Meeting sometimes make you feel sleeping and bored. Like today, I have no interest with the meeting. My boss feels the same. Because he is my supervisor, he has authority to order me follow the meeting. Like told before, there have no result. Always talk but no action. Now I make report for my boss. But I still remember quotation from Og Mandino quotes (American Essayist and Psychologist, 1923-1996): “The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them. Even the most tedious chore will become endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to fulfilling your dreams.”
Ok, I try to enjoy my job.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

StressWatch By Michael Mathis And Gerda Hopfgartner

photo: techmagnews.com

Designed by Michael Mathis & Gerda Hopfgartner, the StressWatch has a black bar graph to show your stress levels. Functions like the heart rate and the body`s temperature are monitored. The readings are taken via the lower part of the bracelet and the data gets transformed to guidelines for relaxation. The guidelines are the well-being waves, visualized on the display, the stress line, displayed on the black bar graph, as well as the heart rate and the body`s temperature, located into the clock face. The blues and greens that you see there means that you are mellow, but pink, red or orange means you are stressed, you need to change your breathing and your focus. As you slow down your breathing and find your optimal breathing rate, you will literally see a change of the graphic chart. So the alarming well-being waves transform into smooth one with cool colors and the stress line decreases back to the relaxing indication. The gadget can also tell the current time. Unfortunately, it is only a concept. There is no info on when this gadget will be available for purchase.