You Might Want to Check the Stars Tonight

Cold and Spellbinding: An Alignment of Planets in the Sunset Sky

Feb. 17, 2012:  Note to sky watchers: Put on your winter coats. What you’re about to read might make you feel an uncontrollable urge to dash outside.

The brightest planets in the solar system are lining up in the evening sky, and you can see the formation—some of it at least—tonight. 

Go out at sunset and look west.  Venus and Jupiter pop out of the twilight even before the sky fades completely black.  The two brilliant planets surrounded by evening blue is a beautiful sight.

Amateur astronomer Göran Strand photographed Venus and Jupiter converging over Frösön, Sweden, on Feb.12, 2012. [video]

If you go out at the same time tomorrow, the view improves, because Venus and Jupiter are converging.  In mid-February they are about 20 degrees apart.  By the end of the month, the angle narrows to only 10 degrees—so close that you can hide them together behind your outstretched palm.  Their combined beauty grows each night as the distance between them shrinks.

A special night to look is Saturday, Feb. 25^th, when the crescent Moon moves in to form a slender heavenly triangle with Venus, Jupiter and the Moon as vertices (sky map).  One night later, on Sunday, Feb. 26^th, it happens again (sky map). This arrangement will be visible all around the world, from city and countryside alike.  The Moon, Venus and Jupiter are the brightest objects in the night sky; together they can shine through urban lights, fog, and even some clouds.

In March, Venus and Jupiter continue their relentless convergence until, on March 12^th and 13^th, the duo lie only three degrees apart—a spectacular double beacon in the sunset sky (sky map).  Now you’ll be able to hide them together behind a pair of outstretched fingertips. After hopping from Venus to Jupiter in late February, the Moon exits stage left, but the show is far from over.

There’s something mesmerizing about stars and planets bunched together in this way—and, no, you’re not imagining things when it happens to you.  The phenomenon is based on the anatomy of the human eye.

The fovea is responsible for our central, sharpest vision. [more]

"Your eye is a bit like a digital camera," explains optometrist Dr. Stuart Hiroyasu of Bishop, California. "There's a lens in front to focus the light, and a photo-array behind the lens to capture the image. The photo-array in your eye is called the retina. It's made of rods and cones, the organic equivalent of electronic pixels."

There’s a tiny patch of tissue near the center of the retina where cones are extra-densely packed. This is called “the fovea.”

"Whatever you see with the fovea, you see in high-definition," Hiroyasu says. The fovea is critical to reading, driving, watching television. The fovea has the brain's attention.

The field of view of the fovea is only about five degrees wide. Most nights in March, Venus and Jupiter will fit within that narrow cone.  And when they do—presto!  It’s spellbinding astronomy.

Standing outdoors, mesmerized by planets aligned in a late winter sunset, you might just forget how cold you feel.  Bring a coat anyway….

Author:Dr. Tony Phillips| Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

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Last Article Before Another Restaurant Review: 104 Ways To Break The Ice

This will be the last article before I post a restaurant review or a blog about a trip again! I just have to share this. :)

                                                       

104 Ways To Break The Ice

FEB. 14, 2012 

By JACK CAZIR

So I’m out at a bar with a friend and he tells me there’s a girl across the room that he thinks maybe made eye contact twice or might have been three times but it’s possible she was looking at someone else or something on the bar and you never really know in these situations so maybe he’ll just stay here, he says, leave her alone, since she’s probably having a nice night and he doesn’t want to ruin that and he doesn’t have anything to say anyway.

You don’t have anything to say?

See, I’ve always held the opinion that it doesn’t matter what you say, as long as you say something. The whole 99% of life is showing up thing which is I know is corny but which I also know is true. I mean, nobody in a bar, or the world in general, thinks you’re actually interested in the shoes or the weather or the New York Giants or the new season of Sherlock or how loud the place is or whatever — it’s just the necessary cover for the please talk to me I’m lonely that we’re all desperately communicating but don’t want to acknowledge. That’s just the ‘game’ people talk about, and there’s nothing wrong with it. For years I told partners I had a totally sweet saltwater aquarium in my apartment and did they want to come up and check it out? And not one person ever complained about my lack of an aquarium. All parties were just happy to have found a way around having to say, “Hey, I think you’re pretty and I want to kiss you.”

So I’ve never once had a relationship begin with something grand and romantic, like I came to expect from the movies, and I figured the same was true for most other people, as well. The opening lines of my relationships span from sweepingly idiotic to mundane, and while there are some sweet ones in there, too, they certainly don’t make up the majority — nor did they predict future success and compatibility. In fact, many of my favorite longest-lasting relationships emerged from moments that were painfully awkward — shining examples of the opposite of smooth.

So when my friend told me he had nothing to say, I told him it didn’t matter. I said: just walk over there and open your mouth. Something will come out. Trust me. You won’t say nothing. And if you do say nothing, that’s good, because we as humans don’t need your nothing-saying genes in the mating pool, anyway. And so he stepped off his stool, straightened his tie, and cleared his throat. I gave his shoulders a hearty shake, then slapped his face and spun him around, pushed him in the direction of the girl.

He stumbled but caught his footing — walked right up to her table and said,

Uhhhhhhhh, what kind of chocolate is that? Is that French? I mean is the chocolate from France?

They’re together now. He’s been in a mutually-loving relationship with that person ever since, making love — not even banging, making love – every day and sending emails like We’ll find you someone, Jack, I’m sure there’s someone out there for you, too and posting adorable pictures of themselves on the internet and the walls and anywhere which will allow it, and it’s almost too much, and it’s all because he walked over and said something. He said anything.

It’s a good example.

It’s a good example that 99% of meeting someone nice is in showing up, is in preventing yourself from overanalyzing and instead just being with them in that particular place at that particular time. That it’s never as difficult to connect with someone as it seems in your head. That love is not this impossible thing reserved for the clever — it’s the for the awkward and embarrassed and the lonely and the unimaginative and the nervous and the self-conscious and anyone who can bring themselves for a single moment to say something.

Say anything.

And I know this is true. Because I checked.

I checked one hundred different relationships for their first words. The rules were simple: the first line must be honest — what was actually said in that moment — and it must have led to love. Romantic love; the sort of love we’re all about. The kind we imagine on Valentine’s Day, wish for when we’re alone, fight tooth and claw to protect when we find it. That sort of love. And the lines below are the result. They’re the truth. They were all — each and every one of them — good enough to find someone love, and, I think you’ll find, something worth considering the next time you’re certain you don’t have anything to say.

1.    Yeah, no, that girl’s not my girlfriend or anything.

2.   Hi, I’m [someone].

3.   Hey, sorry, you probably don’t remember me but the other day you asked for a pen and I said no, and I felt like I was kind of rude, I mean I really didn’t have a pen to loan you, I just had the one and I needed it to write that, but I felt like maybe I came off rude and, I dunno, I worry a lot about that I guess, and I didn’t want you to be thinking like ‘wow that girl sure was an asshole’ all week, which you probably weren’t, I know, you probably didn’t even give it a second thought, but like honestly I was just sitting here kind of hoping you’d sit there again so I could apologize and this isn’t really turning out as planned, so sorry, for this too, and um, my name’s [Someone].

4.   So you went to school with him?

5.   Wait so it’s you who put all the Spice Girls on the juke?

6.   You sound drunk.

7.   Is this The Village? Am I in The Village right now? And am I saying that right?

8.   So, you go to an all-girls college… do you like chicks?

9.   Can I call you Trixie?

10.  Hey there — you seemed cool, thought i’d write :) what was guatemala like? i’ve never been anywhere in central or south america yet. hoping to make it to brazil one of these days. maybe we’ll talk!

An Appetizer for the 14th of February

Young Blood

A winning smile

By: Aileen Macalintal

12:57 am | Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

When I was still teaching in the University of the Philippines Los Baños, I used to tell my students the story about how I met a stranger on a bus, as an example of an autobiographical report. Semester after semester, the reactions I got were always the same: kilig. Here goes:

It was a Monday night. I boarded an HM bus in Cubao after my evening class in UP Diliman. As usual, I took the window seat and stared at the carbon-monoxide laced window. Instead of pondering Metro Manila’s pollution, I recalled an incident that afternoon: I had reserved a copy of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s autobiography at a book sale in UP, but the staff sold it to somebody else, so I ran to the ladies’ room to cry (silly, I know).

I smiled at the thought of this but quickly put on a straight face because I didn’t want to be seen smiling by myself. A guy sat beside me, but I hardly paid attention to him for I was still immersed in my thoughts on Gabo’s book and missed opportunities.

He asked whether that bus would be passing through Calamba. I found the question dumb because the Sta. Cruz signboard had “College” and “Calamba” on it, so I just nodded a little while still looking out of the window, sending the I’m-not-interested message across.

As the bus left the terminal and the conductor started collecting fares, I suddenly realized that I had no ticket. I strained my neck, looking for the conductor. The guy beside me said the conductor must have thought that we were traveling together because he gave him two tickets. I was about to raise hell but when I turned to look at him, I forgot about hell. He was so gwapo.

His eyelashes were longer than mine. His eyes were adorably big. Lips, pinkish. Nose, perfect. Complexion, smooth. And he smelled good.

Why Such Cruelty?

Dogs bound for markets in Vietnam intercepted by a Thai navy patrol on the banks of the Mekong this month

Business booming for the dog smugglers of the Mekong

For Those Who Multitask

Train Your Brain to Focus

1:32 PM Wednesday January 18, 2012 

by Paul Hammerness, MD, and Margaret Moore

Next time you are sitting in a meeting, take a look around. The odds are high that you will see your colleagues checking screens, texting, and emailing while someone is talking or making a presentation. Many of us are proud of our prowess in multitasking, and wear it like a badge of honor.

Multitasking may help us check off more things on our to-do lists. But it also makes us more prone to making mistakes, more likely to miss important information and cues, and less likely to retain information in working memory, which impairs problem solving and creativity.

Over the past decade, advances in neuroimaging have been revealing more and more about how the brain works. Studies of adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using the latest neuroimaging and cognitive testing [PDF] are showing us how the brain focuses, what impairs focus — and how easily the brain is distracted. This research comes at a time when attention deficits have spread far beyond those with ADHD to the rest of us working in an always-on world. The good news is that the brain can learn to ignore distractions, making you more focused, creative, and productive.

Here are three ways you can start to improve your focus.

Tame your frenzy.

Frenzy is an emotional state, a feeling of being a little (or a lot) out of control. It is often underpinned by anxiety, sadness, anger, and related emotions. Emotions are processed by the amygdala, a small, almond-shaped brain structure. It responds powerfully to negative emotions, which are regarded as signals of threat. Functional brain imaging has shown that activation of the amygdala by negative emotions interferes with the brain's ability to solve problems or do other cognitive work. Positive emotions and thoughts do the opposite — they improve the brain's executive function, and so help open the door to creative and strategic thinking.

What can you do? Try to improve your balance of positive and negative emotions over the course of a day. Barbara Fredrickson, a noted psychology researcher at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, recommends a 3:1 balance of positive and negative emotions, based upon mathematical modeling of ideal team dynamics by her collaborator Marcial Losada, and confirmed by research on individual flourishing and successful marriages. (Calculate your "positivity ratio" atwww.positivityratio.com). You can tame negative emotional frenzy by exercising, meditating, and sleeping well. It also helps to notice your negative emotional patterns. Perhaps a coworker often annoys you with some minor habit or quirk, which triggers a downward spiral. Appreciate that such automatic responses may be overdone, take a few breaths, and let go of the irritation.

What can your team do? Start meetings on positive topics and some humor. The positive emotions this generates can improve everyone's brain function, leading to better teamwork and problem solving.

Apply the brakes.

Your brain continuously scans your internal and external environment, even when you are focused on a particular task. Distractions are always lurking: wayward thoughts, emotions, sounds, or interruptions. Fortunately, the brain is designed to instantly stop a random thought, an unnecessary action, and even an instinctive emotion from derailing you and getting you off track.

What can you do? To prevent distractions from hijacking your focus, use the ABC method as your brain's brake pedal. Become Aware of your options: you can stop what you are doing and address the distraction, or you can let it go. Breathe deeply and consider your options. Then Choosethoughtfully: Stop? or Go?

What can your team do? Try setting up one-hour distraction-free meetings. Everyone is expected to contribute and offer thoughtful and creative input, and no distractions (like laptops, tablets, cell phones, and other gadgets) are allowed.

Shift Sets.

While it's great to be focused, sometimes you need to turn your attention to a new problem. Set-shifting refers to shifting all of your focus to a new task, and not leaving any behind on the last one. Sometimes it's helpful to do this in order to give the brain a break and allow it to take on a new task.

What can you do? Before you turn your attention to a new task, shift your focus from your mind to your body. Go for a walk, climb stairs, do some deep breathing or stretches. Even if you aren't aware of it, when you are doing this your brain continues working on your past tasks. Sometimes new ideas emerge during such physical breaks.

What can your team do? Schedule a five-minute break for every hour of meeting time, and encourage everyone to do something physical rather than run out to check email. By restoring the brain's executive function, such breaks can lead to more and better ideas when you reconvene.

Organizing your mind, and your team members' minds, will yield a solid payoff in the year ahead. Adding "high-quality focus" is a great place to start. Try holding a no-multitasking meeting and see what happens when everyone in the room gives their undivided attention. Have you ever tried this in your organization? If not, do you think it would fly?

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Learn From A Dog: 15 Life Lessons From Your Pet

We've all heard that people tend to look like their dogs (hey, there's even research to back that one up), but act like them? Hey, maybe it's time to consider it.

Dogs tend to be happy, active and well rested -- things we could all stand to learn. Read on for those and other tail-wag-worthy life lessons from your pooch.

Clean Your Plate

All too often we let our food go to waste, throwing out wilted vegetables and days-old leftovers. No canine worth his or her chunks and gravy would ever let such a thing occur! Learn from your pooch and lick that plate clean. Just make sure you portion properly before eating every last kibble and bit!