Power over others can be yours

Hi,

Body language is used every day by the police, managers, teachers, and other people in positions of authority. Those who can read body language know that:

* 55% of communication is non-verbal
* The human body can produce 700,000 different signs
* The fastest way to build a rapport with another person is to mirror their actions
* 7% of communication is verbal

'Mentalists' are people who have become experts at reading body language and use it to make appear that they are reading minds.

Fortune tellers, psychics, professional interviewers and police interrogators all use some form of mentalism.

* Cold reading: Takes cues from a person's body language, clothes, speech and ethnicity to make assumptions about a person and convince them that they know what they are thinking
* Hot reading: Requires some previous knowledge of the subject, either first-hand or through an assistant. The subject does not know that the mentalist has such previous knowledge.
* Forer effect: Psychologist Bertram R. Forer developed this technique in 1948. The mentalist makes vague statements that could apply to anyone and leads the subject to think they are tailored specifically to them.

If 55% of communication is non-verbal and 7% is verbal, what is the other 38% of communication?

Maybe that part involves bribery; doughnuts and cookies are a perfect form of communication!

It pays to know all these tricks to have power over others.

http://www.chacha.com/content/infographics/how-do-you-use-body-language-to-read-minds

Power over others can be yours, if you want that is.


Cheers

8 secrets of success

Hi,



(1) passion-we are driven by it
(2) work-nothing comes easily
(3) focusing yourself to one thing that you are doing
(4) persistence is the number one reason for success
(5) ideas-ask questions, make connections, solve problems
(6) good-get yourself good at what you are doing
(7) push yourself physically and mentally
(8) serve others something of value

Cheers

Teaching the arts and sciences

Hi,
Sciences and arts are experiences of the beauty of the environment around us.
They are interconnected, integrated and not separate as most of us teachers and students think.

Understanding + resources + will = outcome

Understanding = arts and science subjects
resources = the money, the labour and the work input
will = our vision, our aspiration, our successes
outcome = human quality of life

Mae Jamison is the first African American astronaut. Listen to her views on teaching the arts and sciences to school children.



This is what Albert Einstein said "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true arts and sciences"

Cheers

Forests are definitely worth more when alive than when dead

Hi,

“Forests are worth more dead than alive. Today we commit to change that equation,” said Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.





This week, the Indonesia President Yudhoyono pledged to stop giving permits for the destruction of virgin forests for a period of two years. 50 countries attended the conference in Oslo, Norway.

Environmentalists are very happy. Large areas of forests are cleared every year to provide wood for timer and paper industries and also to grow palm oil trees.

REDD Plus (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) is an organisation of a group of countries which agreed to provide funding to slow down deforestation in tree-rich countries like Indonesia. Forests are important in carbon dioxide removal from the air.

US $4 billion have been collected by the USA, Australia, France, Japan, Britain and Norway to save the rainforests. Google volunteered to provide satellite imaging to watch out if the two year agreements to stop cutting down rainforests is adhered to.



Cheers

Fun-filled, carefree and myopia-free childhood days

Hi,



I have always wondered why my own childhood days seemed more fun and carefree than that of my children's. Now I have found an answer. OK, maybe a partial answer.

I used to spend my early childhood outdoors, running around mostly barefooted and sun-baked. Now scientists at Sage Colleges in New York have discovered that exposure to certain soil bacteria, called Mycobacterium vaccae, can reduce anxiety and increase learning capabilities when ingested(eaten) or inhaled(breathed in). So dirt makes you happier and smarter.

Spending time in nature stimulates neuron (brain) growth ans causes serotonin levels to increase. This chemical is known to decrease anxiety and have antidepressant benefits.

"We found that mice that were fed live M. vaccae navigated the maze twice as fast and with less demonstrated anxiety behaviours as control mice," said Matthews.

The effect of the bacteria did not last for long. This means spending periods of time outdoors would need to be part of a regular routine for creating a learning environment in schools in the future.


Please read this article to find out more.

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/health-well-being/stories/breathing-soil-bacteria-makes-you-smarter

I also remembered another unrelated article which proved that spending at least one hour outdoors everyday will prevent myopia in children. We all know that the incidence of myopia or short-sightedness in Singapore is one of the highest in the world.

Here we have two reasons why people of my generation, those born in the 50s and earlier were happy, carefree and required fewer tuition classes than the the youngsters today. We played outdoors in the sun surrounded by nature.

Cheers

Synthia, the world's first man created organism

Hi,

20th May 2010 was a memorable day for mankind. It was the day when a scientist by the name of Dr Craig Venter and his team created the world's first man-made organism. The bacterium is affectionately named Synthia.

It cost the scientists US$40 million dollars and 15 years to make this synthetic cell. Dr Venter is a visionary who hopes to create many more such synthetic organisms to help mankind in:
(1) change environmental wastes into clean fuel
(2) Soak up pollution in soil and water
(3) vaccinate against diseases
(4) produce synthetic hormones, enzymes and other biological molecules

At the present, these processes and biological molecules are obtained from animals and plants. They are expensive to grow and harvest. The molecules are also not 100% human compatible. With engineered organisms human enzymes, human hormones and other organic processes and molecules can be obtained on the cheap!

22 May 2010 is the International Day for Biological diversity

Hi,

Biodiversity is has to be treasured as once it is lost, it will take ages for it to re-establish itself. I would like to share some biodiversity in my garden with you here.


Ramphotyphlops braminus is a harmless blind snake species found mostly in Africa and Asia




Slime mould (Stemonitis spp.)

Would you believe that the above photos are of a slime-mould? When the environment becomes unfavourable, the unicellular organism will gather together to form structures such as above. It was once thought to be a type of fungus because of this deceptive appearance. They are mobile and in the second photo above, it has climbed on the stems of a thaumatococcus plant to produce the spore bodies.




The Jewel Wasp, Ampulex compressa, aka Emerald Cockroach Wasp is a natural pest control in my garden. As you can see in the above two photos, the wasp is extremely beautiful, despite its unappetising (to us) diet. Actually, adult wasps feed only on nectar. The cockroach is their grub's grub.

This wasp is extremely "smart" in using its stings. It stings the cockroach twice, first in the thorax and then in the head. The first sting partially paralyses the front legs of the cockroach and the second makes the cockroach lose its instinct to escape. The cockroach becomes docile and can be led away by the antennae by the wasp.

The cockroach is brought to the burrow where the wasp lays a single egg on the cockroach's abdomen. The larva that hatches will feed on the roach in such a way that the roach remains alive for 4 to 5 days. Then the lava forms a pupa inside the roach. It will then emerge from the carcass of the roach as an adult.

The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. It is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives. The world is invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth: biodiversity

UN Secretary General Welcome Message for the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity from CBD on Vimeo.

Here are some ideas for you to celebrate ID for Biological Diversity:
Spend the day with your loved ones and friends at the Hortpark, go on the Tree Top walk from Telok Blangah to Kent Ridge, take a walk in the secondary forests in the Botanic Gardens or the MacRitchie Reservoir or the Labrador Park.

You do not have to go to far away places like the Amazon or Kalimantan to see biodiversity. Even in urban Singapore there is much to be seen. We can even train ourselves to spot them in our own gardens.

Cheers

A Biologist's Mother's Day Song

Hi,

Here is something you should send to your mother in appreciation of all that she had given you.
It is a belated mother's day gift.



Much to my surprise, some people have requested the mp3--now you can get it here:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/cadamole (it's the first song)

Lyrics:
To make one me you just add
Half of mom and half of dad
That is what I once believed
But I know now that I was wrong
I got so much more from you mom
Than just half a set of genes
I got nutrients and transcription factors
and nearly everything that matters
plus my prenatal environment (transplacental inheritance)
mRNA, mitochondria,
That back in the day once belonged to ya (they're cytoplasmic)
and I just want to thank for supplying them

Just like two strands of DNA are spirally entwined
Your nature and your nurture are inspiringly combined
Scientists remind me and I find that it is true
Slightly more than half of everything I am is thanks to you

Mitochondria power my cells
and they have DNA as well
Transcription factors modulate transcription
And since they're in the cytoplasm
The eggs the only one that has em
and sperm I guess they don't have much ambition

My sex determination gene means that I'm a guy
From you I got my X chromosome, from Dad I got my Y
X has over a thousand genes, Y has less than 92
That's why more than half of everything I am is thanks to you

I roomed in your womb for nine whole months and never paid the rent
Your glucocorticoids shaped my hypothalmic development
I took in your blood and sucked it dry of every nutrient (its gross but true)
Sometimes I wonder where the time went (where did it go)
Sometimes I wonder where it went

I know Ill never understand all you have done for me (I'm not that smart)
But since you paid for college Ill get my B. S. degree (bachelor of science)
And I have learned its not BS but absolutely true
Slightly more than half of everything I am is thanks to you.

Cheers