Jay to the World

The Charles Schulz Philosophy

2011-07-03T07:56:00.000-07:00

The Charles Schulz Philosophy
(This is marvelous!! Scroll thru slowly and read carefully to receive and enjoy full effect)

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip.

You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them.

Just read the e-mail straight through, and you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.

4 Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.

These are no second-rate achievers.

They are the best in their fields.

But the applause dies..

Awards tarnish..

Achievements are forgotten.

Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson:

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the
most credentials, the most money...or the most awards.

They simply are the ones who care the most

Pass this on to those people who have either made a difference in your life,
or whom you keep close in your heart, like I did

'Don't worry about the world coming to an end today.

It's already tomorrow in Australia !'

''Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!"

The Charles Schulz Philosophy

2011-07-02T20:31:00.001-07:00

It's already tomorrow in Australia !'

''Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!"

‘I’ll Play With you’ - The ultimate book on child’s play

2011-04-23T16:26:00.000-07:00

A little book that teaches how to bring immense joy to children. This is the book “I’ll Play With You” by Adelina Gotera, and it’s a sure-fire sensation.

It’s filled with down-to-earth wisdom that will captivate the hearts of parents, grandparents, teachers and caregivers of children.

The book is the memoir of Ms Adelina Gotera, an early childhood educator based in Vancouver, Canada.

In his latest work – which will soon be distributed worldwide – Ms. Adelina explains how to bring out the best in every child through the best medium possible – play.

In Ms. Adelina’s world populated with smiling babies and toddlers, play becomes magic. The preschool children’s brainpower levels up as their bodies ooze with energy and vitality. They learn and develop new skills using their hands, and sometimes their feet as well.

Ms. Adelina’s easily comprehensible narrative guides the reader to the various forms of play best suited for young children. They include pretend play, music and movements, dress up or dramatic play, cooperative games, science fun play, sensory play, and indoor/outdoor fun plays.

The author says the book does not only explain how to provide entertainment to young children but also how to develop their motor, creative, cognitive and social skills.

“I'll Play With You” is scheduled to be published on or before September this year. Readers may visit the author’s website, www.readadream.com, for updates.

Here are excerpts from the book:

“One day in our afternoon outside play, five year old Jonathan was quietly sitting on a bench, watching the children played “hide and seek” with me.

I went to him and asked, “Do you want to join us, Jonathan?”

He looked at me seriously and said, “Kids do not play with adults. Kids play with kids.”

“Well, Jonathan, we are having so much fun playing. I am sure you will have much fun too if you join us.”

“No!” Jonathan said angrily. I smiled at him and left.

The next day during our outdoor play time, Jonathan approached me while I was making paper airplanes for some of our preschoolers.

“Teacher, please make me a paper airplane too.”

“Sure,” I answered smiling.

Jonathan’s paper airplane flew up high but it got stuck on one branch of the apple tree. He ran to me.

“Teacher, please get my paper airplane.”

Stamping my feet and slowly walking towards the tree, I pretended to be a giant.

“Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump……” In a big, deep voice, I chanted.

“I am a giant! I am a giant! I am a giant! My big hands can get a stuck airplane on a branch of a tree.”

I got the paper airplane, made faces, pretending it was very heavy…and gave it to Jonathan. He was laughing heartily and happily shouting

“You be the giant again teacher! I will be the driver of the airplane.”

“The driver of an airplane is called a pilot,” I explained.

“Yes, teacher, I am the pilot. My airplane was flying high and suddenly went down…. down a mountain and got broken. Then the giant helped me. He fixed my airplane.”

The dramatic play with Jonathan was repeated about five times with some changes in the plot as suggested by the child. He was happily smiling each time we ended the outdoor play for the day.

After a number of play episodes with Jonathan, I’ve observed that he became more approachable and friendly with his peers in contrast to his quiet and aloof attitude in the past. Gradually, he was listening and expressing his thoughts verbally with his peers. He showed self-confidence in communicating verbally with them. My play episodes with Jonathan functioned as fun practice training and prepared him for social interactions with his peers.

“Being good through play”

Max, a 4-year old boy, demonstrated a series of violent interactions with his peers. He was usually quiet and played alone. Most often, he grabbed toys, threw them, and hit any child near him.

My special friendship with Max started one day during our outdoor morning play. He was surely not in a good mood. He was walking alone and looked sad and angry. The teachers were closely watching him, anticipating a violent outburst. I came near, looked at him and sang “I’m going to catch you”. He looked straight to my eyes and after some quiet moments, he ran, climbed up our tree-house and shouted, “Catch me if you can teacher!” I chased him, ran and climbed up the tree-house too. Soon the other children joined the chasing game. It was a tiring morning but surely a satisfying one with the joy and laughter shared with the children, particularly Max.

The chasing game with Max continued each day that we were outside. Max could change the plot but chasing or catching each other was a significant part of the game.

The fun continued indoor. Max liked to mold shapes of animals and sea creatures with play dough. With play dough cutters, Max and the other children molded the dough into shapes of snakes, rabbits, sea horse, starfish, crabs, etc. Holding their creations, the children creatively expressed their imaginations in a dramatic play. It was spontaneous and fun.

Max was beginning to interact positively with his friends. He began to show enthusiasm in arts. One day, he painted a colorful picture of a house with a big door. With pride, he showed it to me. Looking at the picture with excitement, I said. “Max, please give me the key to the door. It is such a beautiful house and I must go inside!” He laughed and climbed on me. Whenever he climbed on me, it was time for me to hold him and play “peek-a-boo, which was moving his head sidewards while I moved my head in opposite sidewards direction alternately. It was a joy to see him laughing heartily and happily.

NAP TIME WITH NATHAN

Nap time was noise time for three-year old Nathan. He liked to make animal sounds which disturbed the other children who were ready to rest and take a nap.

Supervising Nathan at nap time was a big job for teachers. One afternoon, I

went to him, gently rubbed his back and whispered, “Rest now, close your eyes. I’ll play with you outside if you will rest and be quiet.” He looked at me, held my hand and said, “Promise, you’ll play and chase me outside?” I nodded. We made a “pinky swear” deal by putting our little pinky fingers together. After a while, the child closed his eyes and nap.

True to my promise, I played with Nathan in our afternoon outside play. True to his promise, he did not disturb the other children anymore at nap time. He quietly rest and nap with the other children while eagerly awaiting our afternoon outdoor play.

As observed, Jonathan, Max and Nathan were able to adapt positive behaviors through play. A sad or traumatic past experience usually gives stress and negative emotion to the child which can result in misbehavior. Through fun play with an understanding and creative adult, the child becomes happy. The fun play fills him with positive emotion. He can now express himself or his inner feelings better. The more the child can express his inner feelings, the less intense the negative inner feelings become. Through repeated fun play, the negative inner feelings become positive, understanding feelings, resulting in a child adaptive and positive behavior.

Philippine Ombudsman Impeached | Socyberty

2011-03-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

Philippine Ombudsman Impeached | Socyberty

Major Quake in Philippines Feared | Scienceray

2011-03-21T18:36:00.000-07:00

Major Quake in Philippines Feared | Scienceray

Abu Sayyaf Bandits Go on Kidnap Spree in Philippines | Newsflavor

2011-03-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

Abu Sayyaf Bandits Go on Kidnap Spree in Philippines | Newsflavor

Philippines Bows to China as Executions Loom | Newsflavor

2011-03-18T01:45:00.000-07:00

Philippines Bows to China as Executions Loom | Newsflavor

Conquering a child’s fear of death

2011-02-23T07:06:00.000-08:00

A children’s book like no other, “Grandma Lives In Us” by Adelina Gotera provides a powerful antidote to the poisonous fear of death that so often stunts a child’s behavioral growth and personality development.

It tackles the hot-potato subject of death head-on minus the hair-raising shock effect seen in horror or ghost stories.

Reading the book, a child is led to a gentle realization of how death is intertwined with life, providing him with an effective shock-absorber and learning tool in coping with such an event when it hits home.

For parents who are at a loss on how to properly introduce the subject of death to their young children without inducing fear or stoking grief, the attractive, colorfully designed and easily readable little book serves as a magical key to open their mind to the full realization of the fact that death is just like birth, a natural process of life that should not be traumatic at all.

“Grandma Lives In Us” is a book that conquers the fear of death among children.

The book was a Finalist in the Canadian Poetry Institute’s Fall 2009 short story contest and was featured in the “Golden Roads Anthology of Short Stories.”

The 30-page soft-cover book is published by the Read A Dream Publications, (ISBN 978-0-9866296-0-0).

How Adelina, the author, described her work:

“The theme of ‘Grandma Lives In Us’ is death. Although rarely uses as a theme in children’s stories, this book presents death to children in a fascinating way.

The death of a loved one can happen to anytime to a family.

How can we turn this mournful event into a coming of age moment for our children? Demonstrations of love and affection by the adult members of the family and friends are crucial to the child at these sad moments. These loving gestures encourage the child to accept the sad event gracefully knowing that the love and affection of a dear family member who passed away still exists and lives in the family.

Love is magical, transforming sad events to cherished moments.

Express love and affection to a child in all the ways you can at this difficult time. Although you are grieving too, you can do it.

Let this book help ease the pain of grieving. By reading together, you and your child can discover a more lighthearted view of this sad situation and come one step closer to full acceptance.”

What readers are saying about “Grandma Lives In Us”:

● “Adelina's book cleverly deals with the sensitive subject of death in a way children can understand and relate to. This book would be a wonderful companion to any child upon the death of a loved one.”

● “A thoughtful way to introduce children to the idea of death and dying. Lovely and expressive illustrations.”

● “A skillfully executed storybook to help a young child get through the loss of a loved family member.”

Q & A With The Author

QUESTION: Why did you choose death as the central theme of your first book?

ANSWER: I work with children, and on a regular basis, I visit a nearby public library to borrow books for them. I found out that there are only few books for children which deal with death as a theme. Further, this story just came into my mind a day after my mother's death a year ago. The adult characters in the story were actually my brothers and sisters, scene one actually happened.

Q: How will your story make a difference in the lives of children?

A: When a family struggles with the death of a member, the child in the family should not be taken for granted. He/she suffers too just like the adults in the family. I thought that focusing and celebrating the qualities of the deceased member and seeing them in every living member of the family would make the child accept the death of the deceased person because he/she lives on with each living member of the family, with all these similarities of qualities, characters or personal appearance.

Q: What do you think is an effective approach of a parent to a child in the death of a dear and close member of the family?

A: At this sad moment in a child's life, the adults should demonstrate love and understanding. Let the child cry, let her release his/her sad emotions. I thought that the child should know the truth, that a beloved member will not be with the family anymore. If the child is ready, the qualities of the deceased person can be discussed and compared with other living members of the family. Discussion here should be light and joyful, it can also be silly as children love to listen to something silly and funny.

About The Author

The author Adelina Gotera is formerly a member of the faculty of the College of Business Administration, University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. She is a licensed Early Childhood Educator and a Special Needs Educator in British Columbia, Canada. Presently, she is a Strong Start Centre Facilitator at Brentwood Bay Elementary School in British Columbia, Canada.

Having worked with children for more than 13 years, she wrote stories and considered them as an expression of love and care for all children.

Availability/Contact/Further information

Adelina Gotera is available for radio or print interviews in Canada, USA and the Philippines.

For more information, or to receive a review copy of the book, please call Ms. Adelina Gotera at tel. no.1-250-652-6656 or email adelina.gotera@gmail.com.

To purchase online, please visit www.readadream.com/store.

Rid your home of negative energy

2008-02-02T18:49:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been to a place where you feel uncomfortable but you can’t figure out why you’re feeling that way? If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. Many people feel uncomfortable in certain places and they can’t explain why.

People could offer you various explanations for this. But consider this possibility: Perhaps that particular space where you feel ill at ease is a repository of negative energy. Maybe somebody who died or who was ill had occupied that place for quite some time.

Homes and spaces often take on the energy of their previous occupants — and you don’t have to believe in Feng Shui or any Eastern philosophy or creed to realize this.

Okay, since we’re not debating about beliefs here, let’s forget about why this difficult-to-explain thing happens.

What is important is to make your space – which could be your own home — more comfortable so you can feel more at ease.

Reiki guru and Feng Shui master Gi Santos says in this case it is wise to perform space cleansing.

Okay, you don’t have to believe everything Gi says. But some of his pointers are quite practical.

For example, he says if you have a bunch of old items and junk in your office desk which were left by previous occupants of that desk, it is possible that some negative energy is coming from these old items. Better get rid of those trash.

On a larger scale, if you have had a spate of bad luck and find that your life has been a constant struggle, it’s possible that you have some negative energies hanging around that are making your house “yin” – or negative in energy.

In this case, you really have to do a thorough space cleansing. And the best time to do that is during the Lunar New Year on Feb. 7, 2008.

Even if you are a skeptic, it would do you no harm to try these six space cleansing techniques on or before Feb. 7.

STEP 1. Clear stale energies from the house.

If you recently moved, you might be feeling some of the residual energy from past residents. If that’s your case, then consider using this technique: open everything that is closed. In short, you should open all doors, all windows, all cabinets, all boxes, anything that is closed should be open.

Then, walking from the front door and in a clockwise pattern, circle each room and go into the next while ringing a bell. Be sure to ring the bell in the corners of rooms and in closets where negative energy can remain trapped. You may want to proceed through the other five steps before closing everything up again.

STEP 2. Use salt to cleanse an area.

Another tip is to use salt to remove negative energies. You can wipe the walls with salt or sprinkle salt into the corners of the room. Be sure to sweep up the salt and throw it into the trash outside of your house afterwards.

STEP 3. Feed your ghosts rice.

If you feel extreme negative energy, you can also try sprinkling rice around the perimeter of your home beginning at the front door and walking in a clockwise fashion until you come to the door again. The rice will draw the energy outside and away from the interior of your home.

STEP 4. Scent the air to rid negative energies.

Smoke from incense or from herbs such as lavender will drive away problems. Eucalyptus scent will be conducive for healing while mint will attract prosperity. The scents of incense or herbal essential oils are all excellent ways to introduce beneficial energy.

STEP 5. Light and sound.

Light and sound are two very effective “yang” treatments that help to dispel negative energies. Tinkling windchimes and bright crystal rainbows or lit chandeliers are both excellent ways to introduce beneficial — and cleansing — energy to your space. But do not overdo!

If you have done all five steps, it’s time to close up all the doors, windows, cabinets, and drawers, and then proceed to Step 6.

STEP 6. Take a salt bath.

In the process of cleansing your home, it might also be a good idea to cleanse yourself as well. It is possible that you are bringing negative energy home from work or from the outside world. Soak in a tub with sea salt or dry-scrub with aromatic, purifying sea salt and wash your body in the shower afterwards. Salt will purify you and remove negative energies from your body. This is especially helpful if you work in a hostile or gossipy environment and will help you rid the energy from your body.

Remember: Negative energy grows and grows. That’s why it’s important to stop it immediately. To ignore it is to cause more negative energy to build and this can affect your health, your career, your finances, and your relationships.

Regardless of your beliefs, if your space doesn’t feel quite right, consider these tips to help you clear out the negative energy in your house and invite the good energy back inside.

Holy Clone! They've Done It On Human Embryos

2008-01-24T18:20:00.000-08:00

They have done it – make an extraordinary “xerox machine” that could virtually produce copies of real humans – with flesh and bones and all internal organs!

First, US scientists were able to make dead hearts beat again (see my previous blog on that). Now, they’ve gone beyond further – take the first step towards making human clones!

In a development that could rock the foundations of morality, ethics, religion and science, scientists in California have announced that they have produced five human embryos that are clones of two men.

Their work was published online Thursday by the journal “Stem Cells.”

If verified, the team at Stemagen Corp. of La Jolla, California, would be the first to prove they have cloned human beings as a source of stem cells, the master cells of the body — which scientists hope to harness to repair devastating injuries and cure diseases.

Dr. Samuel Wood, a co-author of the new paper and chief executive of Stemagen Corp., said he and his colleagues are now attempting to produce stem cell lines from the embryos.

The scientists say stem cells from cloned embryos could provide a valuable tool for studying diseases, screening drugs and, perhaps someday, creating transplant material to treat conditions like diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.

But critics are raising hell. The process “involves creating human lives in the laboratory solely to destroy them for alleged benefit to others,” said Richard Doerflinger, spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Other critics worry about the health risks and the exploitation of large numbers of women who would be asked to provide eggs for the embryos.

As to be expected, the Catholic Church wasted no time in condemning the cloning of human embryos, calling it the “worst type of exploitation of the human being.”

“This ranks among the most morally illicit acts, ethically speaking,” said Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Vatican department that helps oversee the Church’s position on bioethics issues.

Sgreccia said the cloning research was unjustifiable and unnecessary, given advances in similar research that bypasses the controversial use of embryos.

“There isn’t even — I won’t say the justification, because it’s never justified — but not even the pretext of finding something (new),” he told Vatican radio.

There are several types of stem cells. Embryonic stem cells, made from days-old embryos, are considered the most powerful because they can give rise to all the cell types in the body.

Other teams have made stem cells they believe are similar to embryonic cells using a variety of techniques, including reprogramming ordinary skin cells into what are called induced pluripotent stem cells.

Sgreccia said, given the alternatives, he could not understand why scientists wanted to use human embryos — which the Roman Catholic Church believes should be protected.

Stemagen Corp. said it used a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT, which involves hollowing out an egg cell and injecting the nucleus of a cell from the donor to be copied — in this case, the skin cells from the two US scientists.

It is the same technique used to make Dolly the sheep in 1996, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult.

Scientists are justifying cloning as a way to create a “human repair kit.” In other words, scientists could clone our cells and fix mutated genes that cause diseases.

With cloned human embryos, scientists can grow replacement organs, such as hearts, livers and skin. They can also be used to grow neurons to cure those who suffer from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or Rett Syndrome.

Others see cloning as a way to aid couples with infertility problems, with the conceived child being a carbon copy of the husband. The procedure would involve injecting cloned cells from an infertile male into an egg, which would be inserted into the wife’s uterus.

Another use for human cloning could be to bring deceased relatives back to life. One family could clone their deceased daughter or son or any another member using preserved skin cells.

But as in all things that look too good to be true, human cloning has lots of dangerous loopholes.

For all the good things cloning may accomplish, opponents say that it will do just as much harm.

The dangers posed by human cloning are such that, although there’s no federal law banning cloning in the United States, several states have passed their own laws to ban the practice. In Japan, human cloning is a crime that is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The United Kingdom has allowed cloning human embryos but is working to pass legislation to stop total human cloning.

Ian Wilmut, one of co-creators of Dolly, has even said that human cloning projects would be criminally irresponsible. Cloning technology is still in its early stages, and nearly 98 percent of cloning efforts end in failure. The embryos are either not suitable for implanting into the uterus or they die sometime during gestation or shortly after birth.

Those clones that do survive suffer from genetic abnormalities. Some clones have been born with defective hearts, lung problems, diabetes, blood vessel problems and malfunctioning immune systems.

With the latest development on human cloning, expect the debate on the issue to intensify.

Scientists Make Dead Hearts Beat Again

2008-01-24T18:02:00.000-08:00

Move over, Doctor Frankenstein. Today’s scientists can now bring back to life a dead heart – minus the nasty stitches and the monstrous-like character you made.

Yes, it’s true. In a discovery that could rock the foundations of medicine and religion worldwide, US scientists have announced that they have found a way to make a dead heart pump blood and beat again. In essence, Man has virtually conquered death!

In an Agence France Presse (AFP) story today, Jan. 14, reporter Marlowe Hood said “US scientists have coaxed recycled hearts taken from animal cadavers into beating in the laboratory after reseeding them with live cells.”

“If extended to humans, the procedure could provide an almost limitless supply of hearts, and possibly other organs, to millions of terminally ill people waiting helplessly for a new lease on life,” the AFP report said.

While man has tinkered with the human heart many times before to prolong life, this is the first time that scientists have succeeded in bringing life back to an already dead heart.

No, the latest experiment was not done on a human heart but rather on the heart of a laboratory mouse.

There were also reports that the same experiment has been done on a pig – whose heart closely resembles ours in size and complexity.

The scientists call the heart-reviving procedure “decellularisation.”

“The idea would be to develop transplantable blood vessels or whole organs that are made from your own cells,” said lead researcher Doris Taylor, director of the Center or Cardiovascular Repair at the University of Minnesota.

In the experiment, the scientists stripped away the heart of the experimental rat using powerful detergents, leaving only a bleached-white matter composed of proteins secreted by the cells.

The “skeletal heart” was then injected with a mixture of cells taken from newborn rat hearts and placed in a sterile lab setting.

After only four days, contractions started, and on the eighth day, the hearts were pumping, according to the study, published in the British journal Nature Medicine.

Imagine, just eight days, and life was reborn!

Naturally, the scientists were stunned. “When we saw the first contractions, we were speechless,” said Harald Ott, a surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“We certainly were surprised that it worked so well and so quickly,” Taylor told AFP. “There are so many places this could have gone wrong.”

In humans the objective would be to inject stemcells drawn directly from the recipient of the donated organ, thus eliminating the danger that the new heart would be rejected by the immune system.

Recent breakthroughs in stemcell research from non-embryo sources mean that new tissues should be easy to generate, according to the scientists.

They are now working on making revived hearts more efficient, and have even transplanted some of these hearts into the abdomens of rats and connected them to the animals’ aortas, a standard way of testing whether a donor organ can keep an animal alive.

And the wonder of it all is that this is just the first step in conquering new heights in medicine, in virtually reshaping the world we live in.

Decellularisation of the heart could lead to engineering other body organs, according to the study.

“It opens a door to this notion that you can make any organ: kidney, liver, lung, pancreas — you name it and we hope we can make it,” Taylor said.

Wow.

More Cosmic Villains and Weirdos

2008-01-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

What a violent universe we live in!

It turns out that the invisible rogue black holes swirling around our very own galaxy, the Milky Way, and eating everything in their path are not the only villains in the universe. What I wrote earlier turned out to be just the 10-seconder teaser of an epic horror documentary on the universe.

Expounding more on the latest astronomical findings, Vanderbilt University astronomer Kelly Holley-Bockelmann said scientists have discovered an approaching gas cloud with a mass 1 million times that of the sun – and it’s heading right to our Milky Way galaxy at hyper-speed – 150 miles per second!

When the humongous gas cloud hits our galaxy, expect the Fireworks of all fireworks. It will “really light up the neighborhood,” says astronomer Jay Lockman at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in West Virginia. The collision will cause the formation of news stars, he adds.

But, hey, don’t lock yourself in the closet just yet! The galactic danger is still 47 quadrillion miles away. Moreover, the gas cloud will hit a part of the Milky Way far from Earth and the biggest collision will be 40 million years in the future. In short, it’s too far to affect even the grandchild of the grandchild of the grandchild of the grandchild of your own grandchild!

The giant cloud has been known for more than 40 years, but only now have scientists realized how fast it’s moving. So fast, Lockman said, that “we can see it sort of plowing up a wave of galactic material in front of it.”

During their annual meeting this week, US astronomers also revealed other forms of cosmic brutalities.

They unveiled a giant map of mysterious dark matter in a supercluster of clashing galaxies. The gravitational force between the clashing galaxies can cause “slow strangulation,” in which crucial gas is gradually removed from the victim galaxy.

Then there’s the process the astronomers called as “stripping” which is a more violent process. Here the larger galaxy rips gas from the smaller one.

Another phenomenon is called “harassment,” which is a quick fly-by encounter, said astronomer Meghan Gray of the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

Aside from the thugs and villains roaming around the universe – the macroscopic equivalent of the terrorists plaguing our world – the astronomers also revealed other eye-popping discoveries:

• Photos of “blue blobs” that astronomers figure are orphaned baby stars. They’re called orphans because they were “born in the middle of nowhere” instead of within gas clouds, said Catholic University of America astronomer Duilia F. de Mello.

• A strange quadruplet of four hugging stars, which may eventually help astronomers understand better how stars form.

• A young star surrounded by dust, that may eventually become a planet. It’s nicknamed “the moth,” because the interaction of star and dust are shaped like one.

• A spiral galaxy with two pairs of arms spinning in opposite directions, like a double pinwheel. It defies what astronomers believe should happen. It is akin to one of those spinning-armed flamingo lawn ornaments, said astronomer Gene Byrd of the University of Alabama.

• The equivalent of post-menopausal stars giving unlikely birth to new planets. Most planets form soon after a sun, but astronomers found two older stars, one at least 400 million years old, with new planets.

“Intellectually and spiritually, it’s awe-inspiring,” said J. Craig Wheeler, president of the astronomy association. “It’s a great universe.”

As astronomers continue to unravel more and more of the mysteries of the Universe, I feel luckier every day that I spend life on Earth, regardless of the many challenges and conflicts and difficulties all around me. And we should all be. We’re alive to marvel at the spectacle of the Universe, while others who aren’t with us anymore cannot do so.

If only for this fact, we should all strive harder to keep ourselves healthy, so that we may witness more of the wonders of the universe in our lifetime.

Thank God, We're Not Food For Black Holes

2008-01-23T19:28:00.000-08:00

We should all go down on our knees, and thank the Almighty, “Oh, thank you, dear Lord, we’re not in the path of those planet-chomping invisible rogue black holes.”

Yesterday, Jan. 9, US astronomers announced that hundreds of invisible rogue black holes may be roaming around our Milky Way galaxy – our own neighborhood in the Universe — waiting to engulf stars and planets that cross their path.

The astronomers believe these “intermediate mass” black holes are invisible except in rare circumstances and have been spawned by mergers of black holes within globular clusters — swarms of stars held together by their mutual gravity.

Lest they caused global panic, the astronomers hastened to add that these black holes are unlikely to pose a threat to Earth, although they may engulf nebulae, stars and planets that stray into their paths.

“These rogue black holes are extremely unlikely to do any damage to us in the lifetime of the universe,” said Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

“Their danger zone, the Schwarzschild radius, (or gravitational radius) is really tiny, only a few hundred kilometers. There are far more dangerous things in our neighbourhood.”

She didn’t elaborate what other “dangerous things” await planet Earth. Whew! They must be too scary to reveal.

Anyway, Holley-Bockelmann and her colleagues at the University of Michigan and Penn State University simulated what would happen if intermediate mass black holes combined with stellar-sized black holes, which are plentiful in globular clusters.

Using sophisticated computer modeling, they calculated that these mergers would generate hundreds of mid-size black holes, and that the force of their combinations would catapult them out of the globular cluster at speeds of up to 4,000 kilometers per second.

That would leave these black holes, each weighing several times the mass of the sun, to careen around interstellar space, unattached to any stellar system, at high speeds. Hence the term rogue.

Bockelmann presented her findings Wednesday at the 211th American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin, Texas.

Indeed, we can consider ourselves the luckiest creations of the Universe. We live in a self-sustaining world (at least for now) in a part of the universe quite far from where all sorts of riotous actions are taking place. Despite all the conflicts, all the sadness, all the miseries all around us – we still have I-Pods, cellphones, laptops, music, movies, caring families, and true friends to share our lives with. Aren’t we so lucky?