Idioteex

Archive for July, 2010

Each summer, the Walnut Hill School, in Natick, MA, offers young artists from all over the world an extensive summer school for the arts. Students can study ballet opera theatre, visual arts, or writing & publishing.  The programs in the summer school for the arts provide students with individualized instruction, group classes, and opportunities for performances and exhibitions. Students live in residence halls on Walnut Hill’s 30-acre campus. Proximity to Boston and Cambridge allows summer school participants many opportunities to attend concerts and performances at some of the most highly acclaimed cultural and educational institutions in the world.

There are three summer dance programs offered:  a dance program for 7-10 year olds, the summer youth dance program for 10-13 year olds, and the summer dance program for 13-17 year olds.   Serious, aspiring dancers are taught by world-renowned artists, in a demanding yet supportive atmosphere.  Walnut Hill Alumni include famous dancers, including Gillian Murphy, principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater.

The opera programs involve a trip to Europe, where students expand their minds by exploring the culture of their art. Opera students participate in intensive study on campus, travel to La Scala opera house and the Verona Opera Festival in Italy, and return to perform at Walnut Hill.  Writing & Publishing students study poetry, prose, and playwriting, travel to England, and then present their own work back on campus.

Summer visual arts students explore drawing, painting, and new technologies. They work in a professional studio environment with experienced artist/teachers.  Students use a range of techniques to explore their creativity and imagination.

In addition, the Sphinx Performance Academy for aspiring minority musicians, and the Chinese Performing Arts Academy for Asian students interested in Eastern music and performing arts, are offered during the summer.  Read more...

The number of different types of animals in existence may be as high as thirty million. Another 1.5 million animals are identfied every year. Scientists use an efficient classification system to organise these animals into groups; each type of animal is then given a species name and placed into the most closely related group.

Modern scientific classification dates back to the work of a Swedish botanist and explorer called Karl Linnaeus (18th Century). He devised a system whereby all organisms are classified by two part scientific names written in Latin. The first part of the name refers to the genus to which the animal belongs and the second part denotes its species; Scientists all over the world understand this system which remains in force to this day. As well as labelling all living things it shows exactly where a species fits into the living planet.

Species is the base unit in scientific classification. Species are organised into groups called genera and these are organised into families. This system of groups continues working upwards through orders, classes, phyla and finally into kingdoms. Kingdoms are the largest group and also the highest level in the hierarchy.

Each of the groups in the hierarchy has a common ancestor, which becomes increasingly remote from a species with each higher level of the hierarchy. Identification of the groups is an important part of the classification process and often involves difficult and complicated research.

Traditionally species are defined as groups of living things that share a set of characteristics and that are able to interbreed in the wild. It is sometimes difficult to determine if a group fits the definition so scientists prefer to determine species by examining genetic data. However genetic data does not solve all the classification problems because it still has to be decided if two animals’ genes are close enough to warrant their being classed as one species.  Read more...

The number of different types of animals in existence may be as high as thirty million. Another 1.5 million animals are identfied every year. Scientists use an efficient classification system to organise these animals into groups; each type of animal is then given a species name and placed into the most closely related group.

Modern scientific classification dates back to the work of a Swedish botanist and explorer called Karl Linnaeus (18th Century). He devised a system whereby all organisms are classified by two part scientific names written in Latin. The first part of the name refers to the genus to which the animal belongs and the second part denotes its species; Scientists all over the world understand this system which remains in force to this day. As well as labelling all living things it shows exactly where a species fits into the living planet.

Species is the base unit in scientific classification. Species are organised into groups called genera and these are organised into families. This system of groups continues working upwards through orders, classes, phyla and finally into kingdoms. Kingdoms are the largest group and also the highest level in the hierarchy.

Each of the groups in the hierarchy has a common ancestor, which becomes increasingly remote from a species with each higher level of the hierarchy. Identification of the groups is an important part of the classification process and often involves difficult and complicated research.

Traditionally species are defined as groups of living things that share a set of characteristics and that are able to interbreed in the wild. It is sometimes difficult to determine if a group fits the definition so scientists prefer to determine species by examining genetic data. However genetic data does not solve all the classification problems because it still has to be decided if two animals’ genes are close enough to warrant their being classed as one species.  Read more...

iPod movie downloads are darlings of new generation iPod owners. The latest generation of iPods can do much more than just playing iPod music. Video iPods can play hours of iPod video easily. With a storage capacity of anything between 30G to 80G, you can easily store dozens of full length videos, movies, TV shows and clips to watch while on the move or working out at the gym. Question is where and how can you find good and cheap iPod movie downloads.

Up till now, iTunes has always been the favorite haunt of iPod lovers for iPod movie downloads. The interface is easy, and the search and find functionality is user-friendly. This coupled with the wide range of the latest iPod movie downloads like Pirates of the Caribbean is but one common title you can find on top of many others. Once you find the movie title, downloading and synchronizing takes only a short while. While it is so convenient to use, the movies cost $9.99 and beyond. While it is considered cheap years ago, by today’s standard, it is not. This is a big hurdle to those who want to build a huge movie collection.

If you are one of those who genuinely want to collect iPod movie downloads but simply cannot afford such huge expenses, then look around for iPod movie downloads sites. There are dozens of sites around. Some charge by the same manner as iTunes except that they are much cheaper for per movie download. Others follow a membership site model. These sites are different in the sense that they charge you a membership fee instead of a per-download pricing. With the membership, you get to download as many movies as you wish at your own convenience without restrictions. Typically, you can find them at no more than $40 in most cases.  Read more...

Zoopharmacognosy: Nature’s Pharmacy used by animals

Author’s name: Prof. Pradeep Mishra, Bhupesh C Semwal, Sonia SIngh*  

Introduction: Self-medicating behavior is a topic of rapidly growing interest to behaviorists, parasitologists, ethnobotanists, chemical ecologists, conservationists, and physicians.  Scientists from various disciplines are currently exploring the possibility that many species use plants, soils, insects, and fungi as ‘medicines’ in ways that guard against future illness (preventive medicine) and/or relieve unpleasant symptoms (curative or therapeutic medicine).  It is important to note that the scientific study of animal self-medication is not based on an assumption that animals possess an innate ‘wisdom’ by which they flawlessly know what is good for them.  Self-medication strategies are survival skills honed by natural selection.  In most cases self-medication could be motivated by a desire to immediately reduce unpleasant sensations.  Some species, particularly great apes, show an intention of purpose in their medication and in these cases the term ‘zoopharmacognosy’ was coined to describe the process by which wild animals select and use specific plants with medicinal properties for the treatment and prevention of disease1.

                  In other words we can say that, “Zoopharmacognosy” refers to the process by which animal self-medicate, by selecting and utilizing plants and soils and insects to treat and prevent disease. Coined by Dr.Eloy Rodriguez a biochemist and professor at Cornell University,  the word is derived from roots zoo (”animal”), pharma (”drug”), and gnosy (”knowing”)2. Since ancient times people have recorded observations of animals apparently healing themselves with natural medicines.  Many herbs still retain a common name that infers this use: dog-grass (Agropyron repens), catnip (Nepeta cataria), and horny goat weed (Epimedium sp.), to name a few.  However, these observations remain largely unexplored by science.  Many stories of animal self-medication are clearly designed to inform and communicate herbal lore rather than fact.  Others are simply misinterpretations of animal behaviour.   Read more...