?GT1=43001
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/25797678/?GT1=43001
By Mike Celizic, TODAYShow.com contributor
Man in ‘Hugging Lion’ Video Reveals Its Secrets
One of Animal’s Owners Tells Story That Still Tugs Heartstrings After Decades
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The decades-old footage of a full-grown lion joyously embracing two young men like an affectionate house cat has made myriad eyes misty since it recently landed on YouTube. What is it about the old, grainy images that has attracted millions of clicks around the globe?
Is it simply that a lion, whimsically named Christian, remembered the two men who raised it and then released it into the wild? Is it nostalgia for a simpler time 39 years ago, when you could walk into Harrods department store in London, stroll through the "exotic animals" section, and buy a live lion cub?
Is it a longing for the swinging Austin Powers-era London of 1969, when you could take the beast home to a basement flat, play soccer with it in a walled garden — and even take it out to restaurants in the back of a Bentley? The answer may be all of the above.
But it may be something more: the indelible image of a creature that could kill a man in seconds behaving like a pussycat with two men it obviously loves, smack in the middle of the African bush. TODAY played part of the video last week with little comment or introduction, and when the grainy footage, originally shot on 16-mm film, was finished, Meredith Vieira was among many in the studio wiping away tears.
Swinging London
The video is the work of Anthony "Ace" Bourke and John Rendall, two Australians who in 1969 were living in a hip section of London. Nearly 40 years later, Rendall expressed astonishment that one video of his reunion with his former pet had drawn more than six million hits as of this writing. (Two other versions of the video on YouTube have drawn another six million hits combined.)
"Oh, my God," Rendall exclaimed from Australia when told how popular the video has become. "If it’s made people more aware and more interested in conservation and the protection of the environment, we’re very pleased." Back in ’69, Rendall was living on King’s Road, in the Chelsea section of London.
The center of London’s counterculture at the time, King’s Road seethed with creativity and fashion. Even Mick Jagger once resided there. "It was more of less the center of that music, art, publishing, hairdressing world," Rendall said. "It was a very exciting time to be in London." In the lingo of the day, it was wild. And it was into that milieu that Rendall and his friend Bourke would introduce something even wilder: A real, live lion.
Going to London was sort of rite of passage at the time. “We finished university in Australia,” Rendall explained. “In those days, everybody in Australia went to England as soon as they got out of university.”
Having grown up in Australia’s sparsely populated outback, the young Rendall was agog at the capital of the British Empire. Where he came from, there was one store where you could buy any color shirt you wanted — as long as it was white. “If you asked for a blue one, they said, ‘Get lost,’ ” he said, but in slightly more colorful language.
So when a friend came back from a trip to Harrods, London’s famous department store, and told a story about her trip to the pet department, Rendall was understandably fascinated.
“Harrods has always claimed that they could find anything,” he explained. “Anything you’d want, Harrods could get for you.”
His friend decided to test that. “She said she’d like a camel,” Rendall said. “Without batting an eye, the manager said, ‘Would that be one hump or two, ma’am?’ I had to see the department store that was so cool.”
So Rendall enlisted Bourke to go to Harrods with him. “We thought we’d have a laugh at this,” Rendall said, “and there were these beautiful lion cubs.”
Love at first sight
The two cubs were in tiny cages in the exotic animals section. Like a kid enthralled with a puppy, Rendall instantly became smitten and determined to rescue one of them.
“I grew up in the bush in Australia,” he told TODAY. “I was pretty shocked to see this animal, even if it was three months old, in this tiny cage: ‘This isn’t right. We really have to do something about this.’ And right there [we] decided to buy him.”
The notion that one could buy a lion and move it into an urban neighborhood seems preposterous today. But in 1969 London, the improbable was not impossible.
Bourke and Rendall did have to go through a long process to prove they could care for the animal, and there were others who wanted to buy the cub. But the two friends prevailed, and soon the basement of the custom furniture store where they worked had a new and exotic housecat.
“We persuaded the owners of the shop that it would be great publicity for the shop if we had the lion live there,” Rendall explained.
“It’s something that can never be done again,” he admitted. “You couldn’t have a lion in central London.”
The lion whisperers
Inspired by the Bible and a sense of irony, Rendall and Bourke named the lion “Christian,” and the beast soon became a celebrity. Rendall said they took a “horse whisperer” approach to raising the animal, never restraining it and never using physical force of any kind. Instead, they indicated with their tone of voice what was appropriate and what wasn’t.
“He could tell by the tone of our voice,” Rendall explained. “He knew that we wanted him to calm down, not now, let’s go, that sort of thing. We were very fortunate that we got it right. We ended up with a wonderful animal. He never bit anybody.”
The shop’s bottom floor became Christian’s den. “He had the whole of the basement. He had these toys down there — rolled-up old mattresses,” Rendall told TODAY. “He had his own kingdom downstairs, that’s where he slept.”
But when Bourke and Christian went out, Christian went with them, riding in style in the back seat of a Bentley. He even accompanied his human friends into restaurants. For exercise, they took him to a large, walled-in garden next to the furniture shop. Christian’s favorite pastime? Soccer.
After a year, Christian had grown from 35 to 185 pounds. Rendall said he and Bourke knew the lion couldn’t stay with them much longer. They weren’t worried about Christian attacking anyone, he said. It was more that he was so big he could break a window just by leaning on it. Who knew what other damage he could accidentally cause when he grew even bigger?
Fortuantely, actors Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna dropped into the furniture store one day, looking for a writing desk. They had just finished filming “Born Free,” the famous story of Elsa, a real lioness who was reintroduced to the wild. In the hit movie, the married actors played real-life naturalists George and Joy Adamson (Joy Adamson wrote the book on which the film was based).
Travers and McKenna suggested that Rendall and Bourke contact George Adamson. Soon Rendall, Bourke and Christian were all on a plane to Kenya, where they and Adamson introduced Christian to something he had never seen before: his natural habitat.
When the two friends felt sure Christian had a new family and a safe territory, they went back to their lives in London. But they kept in touch with Adamson and made a few visits to Kenya to see Christian from afar.
Emotional reunion
Their first reunion was in early 1972, a year after Bourke and Rendall left Christian with Adamson. It is this event that is shown in the grainy film that has become such a sensation on YouTube (although the captions on at least one version of the video misidentify the event as taking place in 1974.)
The now-famous footage shows the cat approaching the two men, cautiously at first. Then, as recognition begins to dawn, the lion picks up his pace and leaps into the arms of his old roomies.
The film is color, but has no sound. Subtitles have been addded to tell the story, but they’re hardly needed. There are two men in flared jeans and shaggy hair, and there is a lion. The huge carnivore approaches from a distance, slowly at first. Then recognition sets in, and soon everyone — men and beast — are hugging and crying.
But in 1974, Adamson lost touch with Christian for three months. When he told Rendall and Bourke, they decided to make one last trip to Kenya to try to say goodbye to their old friend.
The night before they landed, according to Adamson, Christian suddenly reappeared and sat on a rock outside the naturalist’s camp — as if waiting for his pals.
There was another tearful reunion and another romp. The next day Christian walked back into the bush, where his lionesses were waiting. He was never seen again — but the power of the Internet guarantees he will never be forgotten.
Now Rendall hopes that the sudden popularity of the old film will help wildlife conservation efforts. He has remained an active supporter of the Mkomazi Game Reserve in Tanzania and the George Adamson Trust. Tragically, Adamson himself was killed during local unrest 14 years after the video was shot.
Rendall doesn’t know who posted the first video on YouTube, but he doesn’t mind that they did. “It’s a lovely story and we’re delighted people are interested in it,” he said. “If they want to support the George Adamson Trust, we’re delighted.”
https://www.today.com/news/will-republican-senator-steve-daines-miss-kavanaugh-vote-attend-daughter-t138900
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:3e7a89d2-718f-4757-a754-343531dd56cd&showPlaylist=&from=IV2_en-us_hp&fg=gtlv2
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www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/2008-june.shtml
The Vitamin D
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This is a periodic newsletter from the Vitamin D Council, a non-profit trying to end the epidemic of vitamin D deficiency. If you don't want to get the newsletter, please go to the website and remove your email address. This newsletter is not copyrighted, please reproduce it and post it on Internet sites. I will post this newsletter on the website.
This month we feature a remarkable series of letters from a mother of an autistic son who treated her child with vitamin D. It is the first case report in the medical literature suggesting vitamin D has a treatment effect in autism. First a brief summary of the case report and then a more detailed exchange of emails between myself and the mother.
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John is a seven-year old boy living in the northeastern US with a long standing diagnosis of autism. Symptoms include temper tantrums, repetitive self-stimulatory behavior, impaired language, mood swings, fear of being alone, toileting problems, dysbacteriosis, and impaired muscle strength. John spends a lot of time outdoors starting in the spring and his mother noticed a distinct seasonal variation in his symptoms in that he improved in the summer and regressed in the winter.. . . .
A 25-hydroxy-vitamin D in April of 2008 was 25 ng/ml and obtained after John had begun to play outside. Due to the seasonality of John's symptoms the mother consulted me and I advised the mother to stop all products containing vitamin A including cod liver oil and begin John on 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 per day for two weeks followed by 2,000 IU per day in the form of powdered vitamin D dissolved in juice. Within a week of starting the vitamin D language began to return and he was no longer as fearful of being alone.
At the end of two weeks his language showed further improvement, he began to toilet himself, counted to 10 and knew the spelling of his name. After three weeks language continued to improve and some improvements were noted in his dysbiosis. After four weeks of vitamin D treatment, the mother noted improvements in muscle strength as well as continued improvements in language. A repeat 25-hydroxy-vitamin D is pending while John continues taking 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day.
Before you read the series of emails between the mother and myself I'd like to caution that this is only a case report of sorts and does not prove a treatment effect. Spontaneous remissions, while rare in autism, have been reported, thus the supplemental vitamin D may have had nothing to do with his improvement. If the response is due to vitamin D, there is no assurance it will prove lasting.
I think it unlikely that older autistic children or individuals with severe autism will show these sorts of apparent improvements. Furthermore, autism is a multi-factorial disease with strong genetic roots and it is highly unlikely that treatment of vitamin D deficiency in all autistic children will result in similar improvements.
Finally, I did not examine this child, and I am relying on the child's mother to report both his condition and his apparent response to vitamin D treatment. However, the mother agreed to speak with the press about her son and allow for independent confirmation of the apparent treatment response. Below are the emails, edited for brevity, clarity, and confidentiality.
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Dear Dr. Cannell:
I am writing because I believe my son John is strongly affected by vitamin D and I need some advice. John is 7 and autistic and weighs 50 pounds. We live in the northeastern part of the United States. He starts spending lots of time outside in May and continues until September. Every year, like clockwork, he has the same patterns of behavior and ability. After about six weeks of sun exposure, every July, he begins feeling much better, seems to be comfortable in his skin, does not have as much self-stimulatory behavior, can eat a variety of foods and has language. This past summer, he was using 14-word sentences. By the end of November, he can't even ask you for a cup of juice. He becomes more exclusive, has emotional highs and lows, has tantrums and is easily frustrated. His 25(OH)D level on April 15th was 25 ng/ml but he had already been going out in the sun so his level must have been lower in the winter. I have had his genetics tested (Nutrigenomic) and he has mutations in his vitamin D receptors:
- VDR Bsm/Taq ++
- VDR Fok --
- VDR Taq ++
Jane, Boston MA
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Dear Jane:
Yes, it is possible your son's autism is related to vitamin D. Such seasonality has been reported before in autism, both in an individual and in autistic children at a summer camp. Although suggestive, such seasonality does not prove a vitamin D connection. Sun exposure, unless it is full body, takes several months to get vitamin D levels above 50 ng/ml. As far as the "mutations" you list, they are actually VDR polymorphisms and not referred to as mutations although all such changes occurred through mutations at some time in the past. VDR polymorphisms are simply the different structures of the vitamin D receptor that different people have and they are widely distributed. A pilot study of actual VDR receptor mutations did not detect mutational VDR abnormalities in 24 autistic individuals but they did not assess for VDR polymorphisms. However, a highly significant association exists between one VDR polymorphism and larger head size. Mean head circumference is larger in autism. I emailed the world's foremost expert on VDR polymorphisms asking him about your son's polymorphisms and his reply, quite technical, is below.
Dear John:Thus, one of your son's polymorphisms may have less functionality but that should be easily overcome by higher vitamin D levels. The first thing to do is stop all vitamin A, multivitamins containing vitamin A, or cod liver oil and start vitamin D. Vitamin A antagonizes the action of vitamin D and he should have plenty of vitamin A if he eats colorful vegetables. I think the easiest way to give vitamin D is powdered capsules, not a cream. You can open the capsule and put the powder in about anything, such as juice. To buy the capsules, go to "Bio Tech Pharmacal" and buy both a bottle of the 5,000 and the 1,000 IU capsules. He should take one 5,000 IU capsule a day for two weeks then take 2,000 IU per day. After a month, go to the doctor and have another 25-hydroxy-vitamin D blood test. Do not let your doctor order a 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D as it will give you and your doctor false information about your son's vitamin D status. The other option is buying a Sperti vitamin D light. Daily use of the light on both sides of his trunk will raise levels fairly quickly but you should still have a 25(OH)D blood test every month to assure his levels rise to the upper level of the normal range, about 70 ng/ml. Vitamin D is very safe. Your son would have to take more than 10,000 IU a day for more than a year to have any risk of toxicity. If he improves and his level is 50 ng/ml, the next question is would he improve even more if his level was 70 ng/ml? Some lifeguards have levels of 80-100 ng/ml; normal ranges in the labs in the USA are 30 -100 ng/ml (They should be 50 -100 ng/ml.) If you have any more questions, let me know. I certainly want to know how he is doing.
I apologize for the delay in getting back to you regarding VDR polymorphisms. Initial studies by Eisman and coworkers many years ago suggested that several of the polymorphs identified above in the VDR gene (Bsm/Tag) correlated strongly with osteoporosis. Despite the hoopla, subsequent analyses by many different investigators did not really confirm these results, i.e. only a very modest (3%) correlation. This spawned multiple studies searching forcorrelations between VDR polymorph's and cancer, autoimmune disease and so forth. It is fair to say from all of these studies that the correlation is atbest weak, and in most cases non-existent. Part of this may be due to the factthat the Bsm and Taq polymorphs are located in VDR gene introns and as a first approximation cannot affect the VDR protein's function. This is not an absolute statement, however, as our work is now showing that regulatory regions that control the VDR's expression are located within introns as well as upstream. Therefore the possibility exists that these polymorphs could affect expression, although we have not found these regions to contain enhancers yet. This is clearly where gene and disease studies are going. The only polymorph that could affect function is the Fok1 site, which we identified many years ago following our initial cloning and structuralanalysis of the human VDR gene. The presence of this site leads to the expression of a shorter VDR protein (424 aa)that is purported to have a slight increase in transcriptional activity (10%?) vs the large protein (427 aa). The above analysis suggests that this polymorphis absent, leading to production of the larger perhaps less active protein. On a single patient basis, it is really difficult to conclude anything regarding thisfinding. Indeed, despite large numbers of patients, the VDR polymorph have not really revealed any significant insight. Given the summer correlations, it is probably more likely that the individual is low in vitamin D3 in winter.
Sincerely,
Professor John Doe
Sincerely,
John Cannell
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Dear Dr. Cannell:
It has been one week on 5000 IUs of vitamin D3 daily and already we're getting some language back! We haven't had original language since probably around the end of November. The only language we have had in the past five months has been verbal scripting. Today John has already told me "turn off the TV" and "clean up the water". This is all very exciting. Will it last? I will continue to keep you updated on progress and change in behavior. One more thing, all winter long he was afraid to be by himself anywhere. Now he is starting to be able to be in another room or outside by himself.
Thanks so much,
Jane
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Dear Jane:
I can't tell you how happy I am for you. I suspect John will continue to improve. Do you have any parent rating scales or does his treating pediatrician? If you have before and after rating scales or his treating doctor does then it becomes important to track his progress on an objective measure. Jane, if you are a member of any autism discussion groups, you should post about this, including doses used. If your son's case is typical, then hundreds of thousands of autistic children may be helped with vitamin D.
John Cannell
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Dear Dr. Cannell:
It has been two weeks on 5,000 IU per day and I want to inform you that we are having continued success with language. Continued in the sense that it is consistent, it wasn't just a one day fluke. In addition, he is taking himself to the bathroom; this is another thing that goes away in winter months. I usually have to catch him holding it in and then suggest he go, but now he is going completely by himself. In therapy last week, he started drawing again. He drew a bee and then ran around the room buzzing. His toileting is consistent with his therapists, not just mommy. Last night, I asked him to count to 10 for me and he did - quite enthusiastically. Then I said what does J-O-H-N spell? It took him a bit but then he said "John." Unfortunately, the last scale taken was when he was 3 when he had his first developmental evaluation. But we do track behavior and language on a weekly basis. The forms we fill out give a good indication as to how he is doing. I belong to a parent forum. It was created by a doctor named Amy Yasko. She's a PhD, a researcher, not a medical doctor. It was through her that I got John's genetics tested. She advocates vitamin D as being very crucial. I will post something on her forum for the parents there. However, if the parents on the forum are following her recommendations, they should be taking it already - 2000 IUs in winter and 1000 IUs in summer is her recommendation. I will post something on the forum to really emphasize how important vitamin D is.
Jane
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Dear Jane:
I'm glad the improvements are continuing. I see Dr. Yasko recommends 10,000 IU of vitamin A/day as well as cod liver oil. I stronly disagree. Make sure your son is taking neither vitamin A or cod liver oil. Rather, make sure he eats colored vegetables. Vitamin A interferes with vitamin D's function, especially at the doses Dr. Yasko recommends. Vitamin A antagonizes the action of vitamin D. In humans, even the vitamin A in a single serving of liver impairs vitamin Ds rapid intestinal calcium response. Furthermore, the consumption of preformed retinols, even in amounts consumed by many Americans in both multivitamins and cod liver oil appears to be causing low-grade, but widespread, bone toxicity, perhaps through its antagonism of vitamin D. In a recent dietary intake study, Kyungwon et al found high retinol intake completely thwarted vitamin Ds otherwise protective effect on distal colorectal adenoma (6) and they found a clear relationship between vitamin D and vitamin A intakes as the women in the highest quintile of vitamin D intake also ingested almost 10,000 IU of retinols/day. As early as 1933, Hess et al warned about vitamin A consumption, concluding, as to a requirement of thousands of units of vitamin A daily, the unquestionable answer is that this constitutes therapeutic absurdity, which, happily, will prove to be only a passing fad.
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The Vitamin D Council
This is a periodic newsletter from the Vitamin D Council, a non-profit trying to end the epidemic of vitamin D deficiency. If you don't want to get the newsletter, please hit reply and let us know. This newsletter is not copyrighted. Please reproduce it and post it on Internet sites. If this newsletter proves useful to a child you know with autism, the Vitamin D Council asks for a donation as we have not been able to secure a grant and our bank account balance is again below $5,000. Send your tax-deductible contributions to:
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9100 San Gregorio Road
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Crow Intelligence
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As group, Crows demonstrate admirable examples of intelligence and they are considered by many to be the most intelligent birds. They seem to show signs of planning and communication between individuals.
One of their species, the New Caledonian Crow (Corvus moneduloides), has recently been studied intensively regarding its ability to make and to use its own tools to obtain its food. It creates hooks from plant materials, and uses these self-made tools to skilfully remove grubs from logs. Crows can count slightly. For example if three people enter a bird observation hut and two then leave, they know that the hut is not empty.
Crows can learn to speak words and short sentences even clearer than parrots. All crows have the interesting habit of collecting and hiding away bright objects that they do not seem to have any particular use of, apart from their attraction to the object's brilliance. Despite their remarkable abilities though, Crows and Ravens are very rarely kept as pets or domestic animals. This may be partly due to their mischievousness, which can be annoying.
Crow Legends and Mythology
The remarkable Crows and Ravens have roles in legends and myths worldwide. Their wisdom, intelligence and flying powers were used by Ancient Gods and Kings. These birds and superstitions surrounding them also played a role in the day-to-day lives of people.
In the Nordic mythology the Raven symbolizes wisdom. The God Odin had two Ravens called Hugin and Munin who flew around gathering news of happenings in the world, and sat on the God's shoulders telling him of what they had seen. The Greek God Apollo considered the Raven to be a sacred bird.
King Arthur of the English tale of Camelot and the Round Table was said to have not died but have been transformed by magic into a Raven or Crow, although other stories, particularly in Cornwall say Arthur was turned into a Chough or a Puffin. Legend says that if all the living Ravens leave the Tower of London, a catastrophic end will come to the English monarchy, and the Tower of London will fall. The "Beef-eaters" who run the Tower therefore keep a group of Ravens there - just in case!
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Renew your scratched up music or game CD's using toothpaste!!!
IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure you are using a toothPASTE and not a gel. Gel-type toothpastes will not work. Also make sure it isn't the type that has little bits of anything in it. Many manufacturers now like putting "breath crystals" or other little speckles of junk in their toothpastes that will defeat the purpose of this process. Just make sure the toothpaste is white, and has no specks of stuff in it, and it should work fine. Why does this work? because toothpaste is an abrasive. When you smear it on the disc, it buffers the scratches out and resurfaces the entire CD along with all the scratches and blends it all in making the disc smooth. Therefor, the CD will look unscratched and the disc wont skip. WARNING: In some rare cases, this method can worsen the condition of the CD. It barely happens but be aware that its possible.
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I disagree with both of you... First you aren't damaging the sectors since they are under the layer of thick clear plastic you are rubbing. Second I doubt it is actually sanding down the surface. I think it might be similar to the turtle wax trick whereby you are merely filling the scratches. I could be wrong.
The laser reads through plastic. If the layer of plastic is scratched eccentically across the sectors (over the image underneath) than it would be harder for the laser to read through. The toothpaste is abrasive similar to a low cut car polish. It would be moreso polishing out blemishes. I'm no toothpaste expert but I can give creedence to your "filling of scratches" opinion... like your turtle wax comparison, it COULD also be putting down a protective layer over scratches.
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Your right. That is exactly what it does it fills in the cracks and the info is stored in the foil under the label if u have a scratch in the label that part in unrepairable
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He is right. My dad is a computer expert, he is correct, always move from the centre out, or outside in, as this is the way the laser reads it.
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It is supposed to scratch the disk. it is essentially sanding and resurfacing the disk just like you would do with a wood table for best results polish it with a nail buffer (note buffer not FILE)
Well... I just tried this on an old and very scratched CD which wouldn't play; it didn't remove ALL of the scratches, but it did seem to reduce them a lot. The CD works perfectly. Thank you very much for the video. :)
Before you try this on a precious disk: Make sure you are using a toothPASTE, not a gel. Gel-type toothpastes will not work. Also make sure it isn't the type that has little bits of anything in it. Many manufacturers now like putting "breath crystals" or other little speckles of junk in their toothpastes that will defeat the purpose of this process. Just make sure the toothpaste is white, and has no specks of stuff in it, and it should work fine.
Cool, that's pretty neat, I'm gona try it now!
Also cleans other stuff. My grandad showed me this twenty years ago he show me how it renews scratched watch faces ,hope this also helps some one i also clean my kids games and CDs this way thanks mark
Now I understand why his toothpaste is almost finished
Its cause I actually brush my teeth. =/
Can I use gel toothpaste or if I cant email me at olex eliacin@yahoo.com can I use it on playstation 2 games
Glad it helped you!
Thanks 4 that thumbs up
9 out of 10 dentists recomend it! :) LOL
thanx man, great work!! 5/5
All good But.... You should never rub anything abrasive onto a cd in a circular motion around the disk. It will scratch across sectors of the disk and it will probably skip even more. What you should do is rub from the centre to the outside or visa versa.... much more likely to remove the skip.
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Can the Galapagos Tortoise Bite a Human?
. . . .Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
Yes, Galapagos tortoises feed on tough plants, which they bite chunks off off, so they clearly COULD bite a human.
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It can bite, but it won't because it's docile
It has the ability to bite when it wants it just doesn't feel scared by humans because they weren't on the island for thousands of years so we don't really scare it.
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www.johnkharms.com/matter.htm
www.johnkharms.com/antimatter.htm
Does Antimatter Have Antigravity?
Why Antimatter Is Rare In The Universe?
Is Antimatter Composed Of Massive Photons?
Does the Matter Equation For Kinetic Energy As 1/2mv² Suggest Antimatter?
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.Abstract:
The proposal is put-forth that both matter and antimatter are contained in every wave of matter. The reason that the antimatter aspects of the wave (although present) are actualized much more rarely is that antimatter is a photon composite structure i.e., composed of massive photon particles.
Compared to photon holes (composing ordinary matter) which tend to attract each other, such "photon" composite structures (or antimatter) are inherently less-stable. This is due largely to the repulsive effect of photons verses the general attractiveness of photon holes.
Thus, it can be understood that antimatter is composed of massive photons, whilst ordinary matter is composed of massive photon holes; the position held in other texts. This might be viewed as a kind of unification of photons with antimatter; how they both are related to each other.
Therefore, in this proposal, individual photons are the building blocks of antimatter. From the author's view of gravity (being related to negative radiation pressure), antimatter, therefore, must contain antigravity or a positive radiation pressure effect. This becomes a possibly testable consequence of this model. Thus, antimatter has positive energy and radiation pressure, whereas ordinary matter has negative energy and pressure.
The recent experiment of colliding electrons with photons has resulted in electron-positron pairs is also discussed. Some equations and an image to further discuss the author's ideas are also put-forth within the text, as well as some of the consequences of this model. Do the equations for kinetic energy also suggest antimatter?
Furthermore, the equation for classical kinetic energy (1 / 2mv^2) perhaps suggests that one cannot speak about matter, without connecting it with antimatter; both being created in a perfect symmetry at the beginning of the Universe. That analysis is also provided within this text. Key Words: Matter, Antimatter, Mass, Photons, Photon Holes, Antigravity, Kinetic Energy
Introduction
It is usually assumed that the primary reason that there is so little antimatter in the Universe is that the irregularities in the Big Bang somehow initially created more matter than antimatter. But what if there really is the same amount of antimatter as matter at all times, but we just cannot see or measure it. The particles we think of as antimatter, although always present as aspects of the electromagnetic wave, are rarely actualized.
That is the gist of the scenario proposed here. Furthermore, such particles of antimatter (although present within the electromagnetic wave at all times) do actualize into particles much more rarely on-average because these particles are composed of photons.
These photons would have mass and be rare. These arrangements of massive photons (antiparticles) would also be inherently unstable because photons in-general are repulsive toward each other, whilst photon holes as matter in-general are not. Negative pressure photon holes, therefore, tend to attract each other and are better able to fabricate larger pieces of matter.
So, most of the constituent photons that would compose the antimatter in the Cosmos, exist better by themselves as individual entities or quanta building blocks, than as more complex particle structures. A close look at the equation for kinetic energy may in fact suggest antimatter, if one is able to see it in that fashion. That analysis is given here in this text.
The Matter/Antimatter Relationship With Photons And Photon Holes
As proposed in the author's "Photon Emission" text, the following equation describes the relationship of matter, antimatter and radiation. While in the photon emission text the photons alone are the primary focus, in this text it is the matter/antimatter relationship along with photons and photon holes. These are essentially the entities in the text that are more closely scrutinized. The author views this relationship as:
Equation # 1)--Radiation (spin polarization right-hand, in-phase, backward-in-time)--"Photon Holes"The above equation can also be understood graphically in-terms of the Maxwellian electromagnetic field as: One might picture for a moment the Y's and Z lines' above as waves in-oscillation first up and then down, and this wave propagating along in the X direction to the point of destination.
+
Matter (spin polarization right-hand, in-phase, forward-in-time)--"Photon Holes"
+
Antimatter (spin polarization left-hand, out-of-phase, backward-in-time)--"Photons" + Radiation (spin polarization left-hand, out-of-phase, forward-in-time)--"Photons"
= 0
Antimatter is always present as part of the electromagnetic wave, but due to the inherent instability and massiveness of the photon composite structures (compared to that of massive photon "hole" structures), the actualization of antimatter particles is vastly more rare in the Cosmos.
More details about the above electromagnetic field model are given in the "Space-Grid" text at the link below. Hence, it can be understood above that photons, like antimatter, have cancellation partners--the photon holes, and photon holes, when given mass by the Higgs mechanism, composes pieces of matter, whereas massive photons compose the antimatter structures.
The two-slit experiment can be understood as photons canceling with holes or matter with antimatter.
See the "Space-Grid" text also for more about the two-slit experiment. That matter is composed of photon holes is described in greater detail in the "Matter As Photon Holes" text also at the link below. From simplifying Equation # 1 above, it can be understood that the relationship of matter with antimatter might be viewed as:
Equation # 2)--Matter (spin polarization right-hand, in-phase, forward-in-time)---"Photon Holes"As we will subsequently see, the first line in equation # 1: "Radiation (spin polarization right-hand, in-phase, backward-in-time)" is equivalent to radiation traveling backward-in-time or photon holes--which may be perceptual darkness. See the "Photon Hole Darkness Hypothesis" at the link below.
+
Antimatter (spin polarization left-hand, out-of-phase, backward-in-time)---"Photons"
= 0
Moreover, matter can be understood to be composed of massive photon holes (photons traveling backward-in-time that comply with the Higgs mechanism), whilst antimatter is composed of ordinary forward-in-time massive photons. The underlying logic behind photon and photon hole with matter/antimatter can be understood as:
If: A) Photon Holes + Photons = 0More about these symmetries in the "Interesting Symmetries" text at the link below. Hence, from "B" above it can be seen that matter cancels antimatter when they do interact and annihilate. Thus, the structures that makeup matter (massive photon holes) cancel-out the structures that compose antimatter (massive photons).
And: B) Matter + Antimatter = 0
Then, by comparing # 1 and # 2---both items on left and on right: Photon Holes = Matter, And: Photons = Antimatter. So, charge may enter into this also by:
C) A Charge + Its Opposite = 0
However, this cancellation of photons and holes can never be totally efficient, so we observe only the photon remnants that are not canceled. This is because we cannot observe the leftover holes from the annihilation, unless new matter particles are also fabricated.
Thus, the leftover energy from the somewhat incomplete process of annihilation are only the photons. If, however, the annihilation is at very high-energies, the massive photon holes leftover may also form new matter particles as well. When the annihilation is at high energies, the high-speed particles can accumulate vacuum photon holes as momentum does increase (due to mc^2).
Hence, the matter may accumulate greater numbers of photon holes from the vacuum as speed increases close to c. During annihilation, these accumulations tend not to cancel-out, but may contribute to the fabrication of new particles. More about this in the "Matter As Photon Holes" text at the link below. Energy is conserved in this process, because both photons and holes leave the Universe simultaneously by cancellation.
The principle is obeyed that: Photons + Photon Holes = 0, thus, the Cosmos at all times has a zero-energy balance. This annihilation takes place at the level of spin, phase as well as the direction-in-time. There is, thus, in the image above a quite perfect and beautiful symmetry to the relationship between matter, antimatter, photons and photon holes.
The sticking point is the Higg's mechanism, which hopefully physicists will learn more about in time. This model predicts that the difference between massive bodies and those without mass has to do with the frequencies and wave phases of the particles in relationship to the Higgs or a similar mechanism. The electromagnetic grid above can be understood as a displacement of the time-direction about the zero-point of these canceling opposites.
Hence, these opposing elements arise out of imbalances in the fabric of space (which previously was equal to zero) when a charged particle sets the grid (or field) into vibration. Again, however, this balance always sums to zero. As seen in Equation # 1 above, both forward and backward-in-time quanta exist as elements (or aspects) of the electromagnetic wave traveling throughout space.
Photons are pictured by the author as minute distortions of space or equivalently as related to the quanta associated with space. See the "Photon Emission" text for further details of the author's view of photons. Link provided below.
Matter and Energy
A recent experiment by a team of twenty physicists from four institutions at the SLAC particle accelerator in California has demonstrated that it is possible, not only to convert matter into energy (which is commonplace), but also photons into particles i.e., electrons and positrons.
High-energy electrons accelerated to near the speed-of-light were collided with a tiny but powerful sliver of light from a terawatt laser lasting only about one trillionth of a second (one picosecond) ---just half a millimeter long. Packed into this sliver were more than two billion billion photons. The synchronized beams met head-on and one of the photons was knocked backward with such tremendous energy that it collided with several densely-packed photons behind it. An electron and positron were created as a result.
www.hep.princeton.edu/~mcdonald/e144/slacip.jpg
In this text, this is easily explained (and logically follows) as the collision with the electron forcing a shift in the phase of the photon it collided with. Hence, the impacted photon became essentially out-of-phase with the rest of the photons. An out-of-phase high-energy photon can be understood (as mentioned above) to be equivalent to a photon hole or a piece of matter. Note in the image above that a complete phase-shift of the grid, transforms a massive photon (or antimatter) to a massive photon hole (or matter).
By: John K. Harms, Kinetic Energy Update: August 2004
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www.lbl.gov/abc/Antimatter.html
Antimatter
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In 1930, Paul Dirac developed the first description of the electron that was consistent with both quantum mechanics and special relativity. One of the remarkable predictions of this theory was that an anti-particle of the electron should exist. This anti-electron would be expected to have the same mass as the electron, but opposite electric charge and magnetic moment.
In 1932, Carl Anderson, was examining tracks produced by cosmic rays in a cloud chamber. One particle made a track like an electron, but the curvature of its path in the magnetic field showed that it was positively charged. He named this positive electron a positron. We know that the particle Anderson detected was the anti-electron predicted by Dirac.
In the 1950's, physicists at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory used the Bevatron accelerator to produce the anti-proton, that is a particle with the same mass and spin as the proton, but with negative charge and opposite magnetic moment to that of the proton. In order to create the anti-proton, protons were accelerated to very high energy and then smashed into a target containing other protons. Occasionally, the energy brought into the collision would produce a proton-anti-proton pair in addition to the original two protons.
This result gave credibility to the idea that for every particle there is a corresponding antiparticle. A particle and its antimatter particle annihilate when they meet: they disappear and their kinetic plus rest-mass energy is converted into other particles (E = mc2). For example, when an electron and a positron annihilate at rest, two gamma rays, each with energy 511 keV, are produced.
These gamma rays go off in opposite directions because both energy and momentum must be conserved. The annihilation of positrons and electrons is the basis of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) discussed in the section on Applications (Chapter 14). When a proton and an antiproton annihilate at rest, other particles are usually produced, but the total kinetic plus rest mass energies of these products adds up to twice the rest mass energy of the proton (2 x 938 MeV).
Antimatter is also produced in some radioactive decays. When 14C decays, a neutron decays to a proton plus an electron and an electron antineutrino. When 19Ne decays, a proton decays to a neutron plus a positron, e+, and an electron neutrino.
14C --> 14N + e- + 19Ne --> 19F + e+ +The neutrino and electron are leptons while the anti-neutrino and positron are anti-leptons. Leptons are point-like particles that interact with the electromagnetic, weak and gravitational interaction, but not the strong interaction. An anti-lepton is an antiparticle. In each reaction, one lepton and one anti-lepton is produced.
These processes show a fundamental law of physics - that for each new lepton that is produced there is a corresponding new anti-lepton. Although from a distance matter and antimatter would look essentially identical, there appears to be very little antimatter in our universe. This conclusion is partly based on the low observed abundance of antimatter in the cosmic rays, which are particles that constantly rain down on us from outer space.
All of the antimatter present in the cosmic rays can be accounted for by radioactive decays or by nuclear reactions involving ordinary matter like those described above. We also do not see the signatures of electron-positron annihilation, or proton-proton annihilation coming from the edges of galaxies, or from places where two galaxies are near each other.
As a result, we believe that essentially all of the objects we see in the universe are made of matter not antimatter. Elementary particle physicists create massive particles by accelerating lower mass particles close to the speed of light, and then smashing them together.
The mass/energy of the colliding particles becomes the mass of the created particles. One method includes taking positrons and electrons, accelerating both of them, and smashing them into each other. Out of this energy, very massive particles such as quarks, tau-particles, and the Z0 can be created. Studies of such electron-positron annihilation are carried out at the Stanford Linear Accelerator and at the LEP facility at CERN.
A similar technique is used at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory except that it involves colliding protons with anti-protons. Collisions of this kind were recently used to produce the sixth type of quark, known as the top. This particle has a rest mass energy of approximately 160,000 MeV, which is nearly the same as the mass of nucleus of a gold atom!
Atoms of anti-hydrogen, which consist of a positron orbiting an anti-proton, are believed to have been created in 1995 at the CERN laboratory in Europe. Physicists are now searching for very small differences between the properties of matter atoms and antimatter atoms. This will help confirm or confound our understanding of the symmetry between matter and anti-matter.
