9 steps can help you detect a lie...

Do you know how to tell if someone is lying to you? These 9 steps can help you detect a lie...watch the video for a more detailed explanation of each step.

 

 Step 1: Watch their hands

Step 2: Follow their eyes

Step 3: Note their words

Step 4: Check their smile

Step 5: Note their posture

Step 6: Pause before responding

Step 7: Note the details

Step 8: Change the subject

Step 9: Teach your liar a lesson

Have you ever caught someone in a lie? How did you know they were lying? How did you react?

Perfect Kissing Guide, Even For Experienced Kissers

Perfect Kissing Guide, Even For Experienced Kissers

1. Kissing It Softly

Start kissing slowly, gently and passionately. After that, keep it up.

2. The Strawberry Kiss

Recent studies indicate that eating a strawberry before kissing will make your kissing experience into a real magic, as the strawberry have a huge impact on your lips sweet sensor.

3. Love Is Hurt

Use your other body parts while you kiss. Touch her/his hair, hold him/her back, touch his muscles and more. This action releases tons of endorphins, which makes you feel so good...

4. Nibble It a Little Bit

Nibble each other lips (gently of course) will boost your kissing experience and even the after kissing celebrations...

5. Moisturize Your Kiss

It's well known that dry lips will destroy every kiss, avoid it by using some lip moisture once in awhile.

6. Hip, Lip - Hop!

Get your hips closer, it will ignite some fire between you... Smoking!

7. Same Same But Different

Mimic each other "moves", whether s/he bite your lips, puting the tongue inside and more.

8. Tongue It Up

Take your tongue for a ride over your partner's front teeth. It might sound disgusting, but you should expect for an overwhelming response.

9. Lips Is The Obvious

Kiss on other body parts as well - neck, shoulders, ears.... it's up to you.

10. Keep It Fresh

No matter which tactic you are using, nothing will work if your teeth will be smelly and dirty. Brush your teeth twice a day! (At least...)

http://www.viralands.com/

5 meaningful ways to express to show your beloved your true feelings

5 meaningful ways to express to show your beloved your true feelings

45 Ultimate Tips For Men

1. Buy high quality tools, so you only have to buy them once.
2. Keep a change of clothes at work.
3. Never hit anyone unless they are an immediate threat.
4. Every hat should serve a purpose.
5. Never take her to the movies on the first date.
6. Learn to wet shave.
7. Nothing looks more bad ass than a well-tailored suit.
8. Shave with the grain on the first go-around.
9. Always look a person in the eye when you talk to them.
10. Buy a plunger before you need a plunger.
11. Exercise makes you happy. Run, lift, and play sports.
12. Brush your teeth before you put on your tie.
13. A small amount of your paycheck should go directly to your savings account every month.
14. Call Mom and Dad every week.
15. Never wear a clip-on tie.
16. Give a firm handshake.
17. Compliment her shoes.
18. Never leave a beer unfinished.
19. If you aren’t confident, fake it. It will come around.
20. You can tell the size of a man by the size of things that bother him.
21. Be conscious of your body language.
22. The only reason to ever point a gun at someone is if you intend to shoot them. Period.
23. Always stand to shake someone’s hand.
24. Never lend anything you can’t afford to lose.
25. Ask more than you answer. Everybody likes to talk about themselves.
26. Never have sex with anyone that doesn’t want it as much as you.
27. Go for women out of your league. You may end up surprised.
28. Manliness is not only being able to take care of yourself, but others as well.
29. Go with the decision that will make for a good story.
30. When you walk, look straight ahead, not at your feet.
31. Nice guys don’t finish last, boring guys do.
32. Find your passion and figure out how to get paid for it.
33. Don’t let the little head do the thinking for the big head.
34. No matter their job or status, everyone deserves your respect.
35. The most important thing you can learn is personal responsibility. Bad things happen, it’s your job to overcome them.
36. The first one to get angry loses.
37. A man does what needs to be done without complaining.
38. Never stop learning.
39. Always go out into public dressed like you’re about to meet the love of your life.
40. Don’t change yourself just to make someone happy.
41. If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.
42. Luck favors the prepared.
43. Women find confidence sexy as hell.
44. Do whatever you want to do, but be the best at it.
45. No one is on their deathbed wishing they spent more time at work.

Most Useful Life Hacks

• If your cab driver asks if you're from around here, say yes. They hike up the price, and take routes that are out of the way, for out-of-towners.
• Throw your shirt in the dryer for 15 minutes with a few ice cubes to get rid of wrinkles.
• Chew the same flavor of gum while you are studying, and while you're being tested to aid your memory.
• Use a Ketchup bottle as a batter dispenser next time you make pancakes. Not only can you control the size better, it's also an easy cleanup.
• If you bought something on Amazon, and the price is reduced within 30 days, email them and they will credit you the difference!
• Rubbing a lime on your forehead will cure your headache (...or it will help, at least.)
• Before your next trip to the zoo, look up the color of the zoo keepers uniforms. The animals are more familiar with these people and will be much friendlier to you.
• Embarrassed about buying something? Buy a birthday card with it.
• A trip to Walmart is an instant self esteem boost.
• Plug what ingredients you have in your house into www.SuperCook.com and they will give you a list a recipes you can make with them.

• If a gas pump handle is broken, place your gas cap in the handle for hands free pumping.
• A handicapped parking spot needs a sign to be valid. If it just has a wheelchair painted on the ground.
• Use a garbage bag in place of a garment bag to move clothing on the hanger.
• Running low on battery? Put your phone on Airplane mode and it will charge up faster.
• Wrap a rubber band around a paint can to get the excess paint off the brush.
• Fold your receipt around the gift card to always know the balance.
• You can separate egg yolks from egg whites with a water bottle.
• To download a YouTube video, just add 'ss' to the URL between www. and YouTube.
• Use a spring from an old pen to keep your charger from bending and fraying.
• Having a hard time opening that jar lid? Use duct tape and pull to the left.

• If a disk is skipping, rub a peeled banana over it to seal the scratches.
• Include an embarrassing detail in a lie you're trying to tell. No one would doubt something that makes you look silly.
• If you are ever trapped in your car underwater, use the headrest to break the wind shield.
• Slowly tilt your head from side to side to rid yourself of car sickness.
• The length of a yellow light is 10% of the speed limit, AKA, if the limit is 40 MPH, you have 4 seconds once the green light turns yellow.
• Use chapstick on paper cuts (after you clean it).
  
• When ordering ice coffee, order your ice in a separate cup. You'll get more coffee for your dollar.
  
• If you say the wrong thing on a voicemail, press the # button to erase it and re-record your message.
• Save the envelopes from your parking tickets. Next time you're in a non-parking zone slip the envelope under your wiper. This one isn't 100% fool proof, but it might discourage them from checking your plate!
• Flip a coin next time you have to make a hard decision. It won't tell you what to choose, but it will tell you if you're disappointed in the outcome, revealing what you really want.

Body Language !!

Body Language - How People stand could say a lot about what they're thinking and feeling 

23 Meaningful Relationship Goals..

23 Meaningful Relationship Goals That Have Zero To Do With Getting Engaged Or Married

1. Figuring out how to say “I love you” without any words at all.

2. Learning how to speak with your eyes so fluently that words are rendered entirely unnecessary during significant moments.

3. Realizing just how much you prefer sleeping together over sleeping alone, even if one of you is a total cover hog or a spastic mid-sleep kicker.

4. Getting a whiff of the “morning” version of your significant other and appreciating their stinky ripe smell because it’s just so wonderfully familiar.

5. Being able to go to the bathroom with the door wide open without feeling at all embarrassed.

6. Reaching the point where you know in your heart that you’re not going to break up, even during the nastiest fights.

7. Recognizing that your passion for each other sometimes translates into fuming anger, and that that’s okay.

8. Feeling nothing but love when your partner accidentally says or does something remarkably stupid.

9. Feeling incredibly defensive when an outsider says or does something borderline offensive towards your significant other.

10. Wanting to beat the shit out of anyone who dares to be a jerkface to the person you love, even if the guilty party is a close friend or family member.

11. Being open and honest enough about sex stuff that you can freely discuss your solo sex routines and all other intimate acts and desires.

12. Truly appreciating each other’s shortcomings, whatever they may be, just as much as you value each other’s most appealing qualities.

13. Realizing that you really do like staying in together just as much (or more, even) than going out at night.

14. Regularly conspiring to “Houdini” from parties, recognizing that you’d rather play Scrabble and get drunk together in the comfort of your home than interact with others.

15. Catching yourself saying something supremely cheesy (like, out-of-character corny) to your partner, and actually meaning it.

16. Establishing a bond so strong and trust so deep that it’s tough to make each other jealous. For instance, neither of you feels all that threatened when the other hangs out with a hot member of the opposite sex.

17. Reaching the carefree stage when it doesn’t matter how attractive you feel or don’t feel on any given day because your boyfriend or girlfriend chooses you daily and makes you feel special no matter what you look like.

18. Smiling upon noting that your boyfriend or girlfriend is your number one most contacted person via email, and consistently dominates your call history. Who else do you really need to communicate with anyway?

19. Realizing that you have so many sexy photos and videos of each other saved on your computers that breaking up isn’t even an option anymore because you’re both armed with so much potential blackmail material.

20. Saying the exact same thing simultaneously because you’re spending that much time together and your personalities have pretty much fused into one.

21. Ditching your friends and family without feeling at all guilty or experiencing a hint of FOMO because there’s nothing you’d rather do than be with your person.

22. Discovering that you’re capable of disagreeing on important “issues” without wanting to rip each other’s heads off, literally or figuratively.

23. Recognizing that the peaceful calm you experience in each other’s company is insanely pleasant and definitely irreplaceable.

World Oceans Day 2016: Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet

8th June is each year World Ocean Day. It is a United-Nations-recognised day of ocean celebration and action. This year's theme is Healthy oceans, healthy planet. This includes the promotion to prevent plastic pollution.

World Oceans Day, held every June 8th, is the United Nations-recognized day of ocean celebration and action. People all over our blue planet organize celebrations – which can be a huge event in your community, a special announcement, or anything in between – to support action to protect the ocean.

This year, under the theme of Healthy oceans, healthy planet, we’re promoting prevention of plastic pollution.

The World Oceans Day is coordinated by The Ocean Project, working in partnership with the World Ocean Network, Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and many other partners in its network of 2,000 organizations.

Thousand events in 2015
The world celebrated "Healthy oceans, healthy planet" in the first year of a two-year theme for World Oceans Day. Nearly 1,000 events were held at aquariums, zoos, museums, recreational centers, youth clubs, schools, businesses, and countless individuals marked the day by doing something to keep our ocean healthy.

Thousands took The Better Bag Challenge for World Oceans Day – promising to use reusable bags rather than disposable plastic bags for a year to help address the problem of marine debris.

Take action
Explore the website of World Oceans Day — developed as a free resource for everyone around the world to use — and learn how you can organize an event for World Oceans Day, mark the day in a special way, or just take action for the ocean on your own in June and throughout the year.

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More information
World Oceans Day
www.worldoceansday.org

You are Special if you have those Two Special Holes

Believe it or not, you can spot a healthy body by only looking at one point. But of course, rarely anyone knows that, so people, despite their size, have no idea how to find out how healthy they are.

Well, there is one certain way to find out whether a body is truly healthy or not, and you would have never guessed what it is.

We have all noticed the two parallel holes on the bottom of our back. Has anyone wondered what they mean? First, not many people know, but they have a name, they are called Venus holes (or Venus dimples)

Of course, this is when you’re found in women. When they’re found in men, they are called Apollo holes. Their exact location is where the pelvis is being connected by the two bones.

And only people with predispositions of ligaments with an appropriate size can brag with the fact that they have them. This is all a matter of genetics, so one cannot simply decide to have them or not to have them.

And do you have any idea what they stand for? They are a sign of a healthy body. They are also a sign of proper circulation and a maintained health.

Furthermore, they are also a sign that a person can easily achieve an orgasm. One thing you have to know is that the Venus or Apollo holes are created in a place where there are no muscles, so it is basically impossible to create them if they are not there.

There are no exercises powerfull enough to create these holes. The only way these holes may become visible is if you exercise plenty, and exercise every single part of the body.

When the body loses the fat, these two holes may appear. Thus the previous fact that the holes are a sign of a good, healthy and a properly functioning

English is tough stuff - English pronunciation test

English pronunciation test

While most of you non-native speakers of English speak English quite well, there is always room for improvement (of course, the same could be said for every person for any subject, but that is another matter). To that end, I'd like to offer you a poem. Once you've learned to correctly pronounce every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world.

If you find it tough going, do not despair, you are not alone: Multi-national personnel at North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters near Paris found English to be an easy language ... until they tried to pronounce it. To help them discard an array of accents, the verses below were devised. After trying them, a Frenchman said he'd prefer six months at hard labor to reading six lines aloud. Try them yourself.

English is tough stuff

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.

I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it's written.)

Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;

Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,

Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;

One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.

Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.

Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation's OK
When you correctly say croquet,

Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.

River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.

Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,

Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.

Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.

Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.

Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.

We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;

Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.

Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.

Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.

Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.

Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.

Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.

Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.

Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.

Pronunciation -- think of Psyche!
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won't it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?

It's a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.

Finally, which rhymes with enough --
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!

(Apparently excerpted from The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenité.)

Striking Ultra-HD Footage Of Earth From The International Space Station

Striking Ultra-HD Footage Of Earth From The International Space Station

Astronauts in the ISS can simply glance out of their portholes and watch thousands of miles of earth pass below.

Via NASA Johnson

The 7 Habits of Socially Connected People

Some people may be naturally gregarious and easily find themselves socially connected. For most of us, feeling truly integrated into a social scene takes some effort. Luckily, there are predictable patterns to social success. Do certain things, and people will be drawn to you.

Below are seven skills that all socially successful people possess:

1. They focus on quality over quantity.
   People who feel socially connected may have a thousand Facebook friends and even more Twitter and Instagram followers, but they know deep down that this is not the heart of their social circle. In other words, they know that most social media friends are acquaintances at best.
   While having many acquaintances is certainly not a bad thing, those who succeed socially understand that acquaintances need to eventually turn into actual friends if they want to feel truly tied to that friend group. They don’t settle for quantity, they always go for quality.
2. They prioritize face-to-face interactions.
   Most socially connected people recognize that maintaining relationships requires a bit of effort, and one of the efforts they prioritize is seeing other people in person. While in-person interactions can feel much less efficient than online or phone interactions, there’s a value to in-person communication that socially successful people understand. It’s how you start seeing people as just that — people!
3. They share.
   To feel socially connected to others, it’s vital to feel seen by the people around you. But to feel seen, you have to let others get to know you. Socially connected people understand this and are willing to share at least bits and pieces of personal information with others. This doesn’t mean oversharing to complete strangers. It simply means making yourself a little vulnerable to those you want to feel close to.
4. They listen.
   While introverts often have a hard time feeling as socially connected as extroverts, it’s definitely not a given that the most extroverted person in the room is also the most socially connected. He may garner a lot of attention, but if an extrovert can’t learn a bit about those around him by quietly listening to them, those around him will hardly feel close to him. Listening to others makes people want to be around you, and wanting to be around each other is the essence of feeling connected.
5. They ask questions.
   Socially connected people get that, fundamentally, all social interaction is about demonstrating interest in one another. If you don’t act like you’re interested in those around you, you’ll come across as aloof, cold, possibly even rude.
   The easiest way to demonstrate interest in others is to ask them questions. The most socially successful people ask factual questions (“What do you do for work?”) but they also ask questions that are more subjective (“How do you like what you do for work?”). These two types of questions used in conjunction accelerates feelings of connectedness.
6. They see past differences.
   As you learn more about those around you through listening and asking questions, it’s inevitable that you’ll notice some differences between you and them. Be it politics, religion, or lifestyle choices, differences will arise.
   Socially connected people realize that nobody will be and act and look exactly like them, so they make an effort to not let differences stand in the way of closeness. They understand that fundamentally we’re all human, and we can all naturally relate to one another.
7. They don’t worry about rejection.
   It’s perfectly natural to fear rejection when entering a new social group or meeting a new person you really like. The leap that socially connected people make is that while they likely feel this fear, they don’t worry about it.
   In other words, they don’t dwell in the fear and allow it to turn into an unproductive rumination on everything that could go wrong. Instead, they identify the people they want to be close to and march bravely into that relationship despite any fears that may arise.

These seven habits of socially connected people are straightforward and easy to get started on right away. Pick the one you think would have the biggest impact on your social life and give it a try!

- Kira Asatryan

How to Boost Your ‘Happy Hormones’

After experiencing depression while training to become a physician, I developed an interest in happiness and have studied, and taught, ways to create positivity and joy.

A study published in Psychological Science in 2008 found that certain inherited genes seem to account for 50 percent of our happiness. But even if your natural tendency is to be more down than up, you can make choices that will help you experience a brighter, happier life.

Hormones and neurotransmitters moderate our feelings of well-being, and lifestyle factors affect them. Here are five of the main hormones and neurotransmitters, plus ways to boost them. However, if you feel consistently unhappy, see your doctor.

1. Dopamine

This neurotransmitter drives your brain’s reward system. If you are praised at work for doing a good job, you’ll get a delicious dopamine hit’resulting in feelings of well-being. It also drives pleasure-seeking behaviour. Boost it by setting realistic goals (e.g., tidying your desk or sticking to your workout schedule) and achieving them. And seek out pleasurable healthy activities that have a positive impact on your life.

2. Serotonin

This mood-boosting neurotransmitter was made famous by SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) antidepressants, which increase the brain’s serotonin levels. The most effective and natural way to boost serotonin is by exercising daily; that’s one reason a brisk walk does wonders for your mood.

3. Oxytocin

Both a neurotransmitter and a hormone, oxytocin is often called ‘the love hormone.’ Researchers from Claremont University in California have done extensive research on its impact on women, linking oxytocin release to life satisfaction levels. It may play a greater role in women’s physiology and happiness compared to men’s. Spending time with loved ones and being kind to others stimulates oxytocin. Don’t you feel good just reading that? Stress blocks the release of oxy­tocin, so manage your stress, too.

4. Estrogen

It helps form serotonin and protects you from irrita­bility and anxiety, keeping your mood steady. Estrogen decreases with menopause, and lifestyle factors such as smoking and extreme exercise can also lower it. The estrogen/progesterone imbalance in perimenopause can also negatively affect mood. Stress management can balance them, since stress hormones, such as cortisol, interfere with the secretion, action and function of the two hormones.

5. Progesterone

This helps you to sleep well and prevents anxiety, irritability and mood swings. Levels drop as women enter perimenopause after age 35 or 40, and this can be accelerated by excess stress and unhealthy foods. Experts such as Dr. Sara Gottfried, author of The Hormone Cure, saytaking care of yourself and eating right is your first defence for balancing hormones before trying hormone replacement therapy, including bioidentical progesterone and estrogen. Talk to your doctor to learn more.

Natural Ways to Boost Your Happy Hormones

‘ Listening to music is a fabulous way to get a hit of dopamine: In a 2011 study published inNature Neuroscience, McGill University researchers reported that listening to music you love (especially if it gives you ‘chills’) creates a boost in feel-good dopamine.

‘ Carbohydrates increase serotonin levels, which partly explains why we crave sweet, starchy foods when we are feeling down. For the best mood boost with the least negative impact, choose healthy, high-fibre sources of carbs such as dense whole-grain bread or quinoa.

‘ Get a boost of oxytocin by doing pleasurable things such as spending time cuddling with your partner, your kids or your pet.

‘ Increase estrogen with stress-relieving activities such as yoga, meditation, taking a hot bath’or whatever works for you.

‘ Keep progesterone levels at optimum levels by eating well and avoiding saturated fat and sugar, getting regular physicals and avoiding stress.

 - BY DR. SUSAN BIALI

This article was originally titled “The chemistry of happiness” in the October 2014 issue of Best Health.

You won't believe these... Amazing Trivia

The longest word in the English language, with all of the letters in alphabetical order is "Almost".

Mel Blanc, voice artist speaking Bugs Bunny, was allergic to carrots.

DMT (Dimethyltryptamine) is the strongest psychedelic on the planet, this chemical naturally occurs in the human brain and spine.

If you dig a hole straight through the earth and fell through it, the time it would take for you to reach the other side is 42 minutes.

The highest mountain in Denmark is only 568 ft (173 m).

After the Revolutionary War it became illegal to speak English in Virginia. You could only speak American.

In England, in the 1880's, "Pants" was considered a dirty word!

Chicago has the largest cookie factory, where Nabisco made over 4.6 billion "Oreo" cookies in 1997.

The flea can jump 350 times its body length.

In China, September 20 is "Love Your Teeth Day."

It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is shake and the 46th word from the last word is spear.

Good Night and Sleep Tight

In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight."

World Radio Day 2016

13 February is World Radio Day — a day to celebrate radio as a medium; to improve international cooperation between broadcasters; and to encourage major networks and community radio alike to promote access to information, freedom of expression and gender equality over the airwaves. This year, the UNESCO theme for World Radio Day is “Radio in Times of Emergency and Disaster”. Radio still remains the medium that reaches the widest audience worldwide, in the quickest possible time.
Through World Radio Day celebrations around the world, UNESCO will promote radio in times of emergency and disaster, and put forward the following messages:

1. Freedom of expression and journalists’ safety should be disaster-proof.

2. Radio empowers survivors and vulnerable people, whose right to privacy is to be respected.

3. Radio has social impact and provides access to information. People’s right to information should be protected even in times of emergency and disaster.

4. Radio saves lives.

5. The immediate accessibility of radio frequencies is essential to saving lives. These frequencies should be protected so they are available in times of emergency.

On 13 February, international broadcasters will broadcast live on UNESCO’s dedicated website,www.worldradioday.org.

Through National Commissions for UNESCO Field Offices and partner organisations, World Radio Day will be celebrated worldwide. UNESCO will also provide copyright free articles, audio and video messages from opinion leaders, celebrities, and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors related to radio for use by broadcasters on World Radio Day.

UNESCO invites all countries to celebrate World Radio Day by planning activities in partnership with regional, national and international broadcasters, non-governmental organizations, national authorities, the media and the public.

Links: 

World Radio Day 2016

10 most important things you need to know about Zika virus

The Zika virus (yellow) is strongly suspected of causing birth defects. 

[Science Photo Library]

What is Zika virus?

Zika virus is a mosquito-transmitted infection related to dengue, yellow fever and West Nile virus.

Symptoms are mild and include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis (red eyes).

Just one in five people infected becomes ill. Hospitalisation is uncommon and deaths are rare.

How does it spread?

Zika is primarily spread through the bite of an infected Aedes species of mosquito.

Pregnant women can also pass the virus to their babies during pregnancy but how and when this happens is unclear.

Those infected can pass the virus on through a mosquito bite for about seven days after infection.

There are no reports of transmission through breastfeeding, but in a few cases the virus has been reported to have been passed on through blood transfusion and sexual contact.

Where is Zika?

The latest outbreak is in 23 countries in the Carribean, Central America, South America, Mexico and Puerto Rico. 

Past outbreaks have been in Gabon, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Côte d'Ivoire, the Central African Republic, Cambodia, Micronesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia. 

How did Zika get to Brazil?

Nothing has been proven but Zika may have been brought to Brazil by participants of the Va’a World Sprint Canoeing World Championships, held in August 2014.

Athletes came from French Polynesia, New Caledonia, the Cook Islands and Easter Island.

It has also been suggested that Zika was brought by Asian tourists attending the 2014 FIFA World Cup, raising concerns that the Olympics, starting in Rio de Janeiro on August 5, will result in further spread of the virus.

How is Zika diagnosed?

A blood or tissue sample from the first week in the infection must be sent to an advanced laboratory.

The virus can be detected through sophisticated molecular testing that seeks out the active virus, which lasts in the body for about a week.

Research is being done to develop a rapid test which could look for antibodies after a patient has recovered from the virus, making it possible to test for immunity.

How is Zika treated?

There is no vaccine or specific medicine currently available and treatment is normally focused on relieving the symptoms.

Can a vaccine be developed?

In theory a vaccine is possible but development testing and trials for human vaccines normally take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

A number of companies, including Inovio, Hawaii Biotech, GSK and Sanofi are developing or considering working on a vaccine. 

Last year Sanofi received approval for the world’s first dengue vaccine.

Dengue is closely related to Zika but Sanofi is cautious about whether it could be adapted.

“There are too many unknowns about Zika to reliably judge the ability to research and develop a vaccine effectively at this time,” it said in a statement.

What is microcephaly and how is it linked?

Microcephaly is a birth defect characterised by incomplete brain development and an unusually small head.

It is a life-long condition with no cure or standard of treatment, and is linked with conditions such as seizures, developmental delays and intellectual problems.

Microcephaly is normally uncommon. In the US, there are typically between two and 12 cases per 10,000 newborns. 

The condition is being reported in the worst Zika-affected areas in Brazil at dramatically higher rates: 100 cases for every 10,000, or 1 percent of births.

Research from Brazil has suggested there is a correlation between the location and timing of this Zika outbreak and the increase in cases of microcephaly, but there is currently no proof that the virus causes the birth defect.

However, Zika virus has been found in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women with the virus and in the placentas and brains of miscarried fetuses with microcephaly. The World Health Organisation's Director-General Dr Margaret Chan says a causal link is "strongly suspected".

Why was the potential link between Zika and birth defects not previously observed?

In areas where Zika has been active for decades, such as Central Africa and Asia, most people are infected early in life, so the risk of infection during pregnancy is small.

The population in the Americas has not had exposure to the virus until now.

This means more women are now being exposed to the virus for the first time during pregnancy, possibly increasing the risk of birth defects.

This is why public health officials are telling women to avoid getting pregnant, at least until they have had the virus, or Zika has been brought under control.

Can GM mosquitos stop the virus?

British biotech company Oxitec has produced genetically modified Aedes aegyptimosquitoes by introduing two genes into its DNA.

One of them makes its eggs glow under UV light, helping with identification.

The other causes ithe mosquito's offspring to die.

Oxitec says that by releasing the GM mosquitos into infected areas populations of Aedes aegypti can be reduced by more than 80 percent, thereby reducing transmission of Zika.

Oxitec says there is no way the mosquitos' modified DNA can transfer into humans or other mammals and insects, but public fears over genetic modification mean the technique is controversial.

Source: Al Jazeera