Nebraska Boy, 11, Wins Geography Bee

Article taken from AOL.com

WASHINGTON (May 21) - Quick: Cochabamba is the third-largest conurbation in what country?

Your answer might be, "Huh?" But 11-year-old Akshay Rajagopal answered "Bolivia" to clinch the 20th annual National Geographic Bee on Wednesday.

A conurbation is a large, densely populated urban area -- and Cochabamba is the third-largest one in the South American country.

Akshay's correct answer capped a two-day event in which he got every question right. A sixth-grader at Lux Middle School in Lincoln, Neb., he won a $25,000 scholarship.

Along the way, Akshay answered questions that included the westernmost Asian national capital (Ankara in Turkey), the country where Makossa is a popular type of music (Cameroon), and the location of Tillya Tepe (it's in Afghanistan).

"Some of them were hard but others were OK," Akshay said as he held an oversized check. "I think I was just lucky."

As he blitzed the competition, his family looked on from the front of the auditorium at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington. He boned up for several months by studying geography DVDs and textbooks.

"He's been interested in geography since he was 5," said his mother, Suchitra Srinivas.

One student from every U.S. state and territory, along with a student from a military family, took part in the competition run by National Geographic. Akshay was the youngest of the 10 finalists, all boys.

"Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek, who has moderated the bee for all 20 years, called it the "national annual humiliation," exposing that a group of middle schoolers has vastly more knowledge of geography than most of the nation.

"The kids never cease to amaze us," Trebek said.

The runner-up was 13-year-old Hunter Bledsoe, 13, a student at Hewitt Trussville Middle School, Trussville, Ala.

Akshay, whose hobbies include collecting coins, is considering some kind of career that involves geography, but he has plenty of time to make up his mind. For now, he just likes to study the globe.

"I get to learn about the world and how it works, which is cool," he said.

The eight other finalists, and their schools, are: Nikhil Desai, 13, Challenger School, Newark, Calif.; Benjamin Geyer, 14, British School of Washington, Washington; Erik Troske, 14, Barker Middle School, Michigan City, Ind.; William Lee, 13, Joyce Middle School, Woburn, Mass.; Isaac Pasley, 14, West Junior High School, Columbia, Mo.; Joseph Perea, 13, home schooled, Eureka, Mont.; Milan Sandhu, 13, Ross A. Lurgio Middle School, Bedford, N.H.; and Taylor Morris, 13, Charles D. Owen Middle School, Swannanoa, N.C.


Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

During an Earthquake Remember

Just a reminder due to recent events...

F.Y.I. Where to be During an Earthquake Remember that stuff about hiding under a tabel or standing in a doorway?? Well, this guy has a completely reverse opinion. This is very interesting, different from what we were all taught.

Boy! Is this ever an eye opener. Directly opposite of what we've been taught over the years! I can remember in school being told to, "duck and cover" or stand in a doorway during an earthquake. This guy's findings is absolutely amazing. I hope we all remember his survival method if we are ever in an earthquake!!!

Please read this and pass the info along to your family members; it could save their lives someday!

EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE: "TRIANGLE OF LIFE"

My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of theAmerican Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world's most experiencedrescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake.I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teamsfrom 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am amember of many rescue teams from many countries. I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. Ihave worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except forsimultaneous disasters.

The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico Cityduring the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under its desk. Every childwas crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived bylying down next to their desks in the aisles. It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn't at the timeknow that the children were told to hide under something.

Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilingsfalling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving aspace or void next to them. This space is what I call the "triangle of life".

The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less theobject compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability thatthe person who is using this void for safety will not be injured. The nexttime you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the "triangles" yousee formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see,in a collapsed building.

TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY

1) Most everyone who simply "ducks and covers" WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE are crushed to death. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed.

2) Cats, dogs and babies often naturally curl up in the fetal position.You should too in an earthquake. It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.

3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in duringan earthquake. Wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake.If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created.

Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brickbuildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries butless squashed bodies than concrete slabs.

4) If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simplyroll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve amuch greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on The back of the door of every room telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake.

5) If an earthquake happens and you cannot easily escape by getting outthe door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next toa sofa, or large chair.

6) Most everyone who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse iskilled. How? If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward orbackward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!

7) Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different "moment offrequency" (they swing separately from the main part of the building).

The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into eachother until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who geton stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads - horriblymutilated. Even if the building doesn't collapse, stay away from thestairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if thestairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later whenoverloaded by fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety,even when the rest of the building is not damaged.

8) Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or Outside Of Them If Possible- It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather thanthe interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of thebuilding the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked.

9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above fallsin an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happenedwith the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway. The victims ofthe San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They wereall killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and sitting orlying next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived if they hadbeen able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. All thecrushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for the cars that hadcolumns fall directly across them.

10) I discovered, while crawling inside of collapsed newspaper officesand other offices with a lot of paper, that paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper.Spread the word and save someone's life... The Entire world isexperiencing natural calamities so be prepared!

"We are but angels with one wing, it takes two to fly"In 1996 we made a film, which proved my survival methodology to becorrect. The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul , University ofIstanbul Case Productions and ARTI cooperated to film this practical, scientifictest.

We collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside. Tenmannequins did "duck and cover," and ten mannequins I used in my"triangle of life" survival method. After the simulated earthquake collapse wecrawled through the rubble and entered the building to film and document theresults. The film, in which I practiced my survival techniques underdirectly observable, scientific conditions , relevant to building collapse, showed there would have been zero percent survival for those doing duckand cover.

There would likely have been 100 percent survivability for people usingmy method of the "triangle of life." This film has been seen by millionsof viewers on television in Turkey and the rest of Europe, and it was seenin the USA , Canada and Latin America on the TV program Real TV

Reasons for sleeping and waking up early.

Evening at 9 - 11pm: is the time for eliminating unnecessary/toxic chemicals (detoxification) from the antibody system (lymph nodes). This time duration should be spent by relaxing or listening to music. If during this time a housewife is still in an unrelaxed state such as washing the dishes or monitoring children doing their homework, this will have a negative impact on health.

Evening at 11pm - 1am: is the detoxification process in the liver, and ideally should be done in a deep sleep state.

Early morning 1 - 3am: detoxification process in the gall, also ideally done in a deep sleep state.

Early morning 3 - 5am: detoxification in the lungs. Therefore there will sometimes be a severe cough for cough sufferers during this time. Since the detoxification process had reached the respiratory tract, there is no need to take cough medicine so as not to interfere with toxin removal process.

Morning 5 - 7am: detoxification in the colon, you should empty your bowel.

Morning 7 - 9am: absorption of nutrients in the small intestine, you should be having breakfast at this time. Breakfast should be earlier, before 6:30am, for those who are sick. Breakfast before 7:30am is very beneficial to those wanting to stay fit. Those who always skip breakfast, they should change their habits, and it is still better to eat breakfast late until 9 - 10am rather than no meal at all.

Sleeping so late and waking up too late will disrupt the process of removing unnecessary chemicals. Aside from that, midnight to 4:00 am is the time when the bone marrow produces blood. Therefore, have a good sleep and don't sleep late.

TAKE CARE ABOUT YOUR HEALTH

Live Life Without Limits!

Ratan Tata in 'world's biggest brains' list

Article taken from Rediff.

After being chosen as one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine, Ratan Tata of Indian conglomerate Tata Group has been named among the biggest brains in business by another US publication.

The list of '73 Biggest Brains in Business,' compiled by business publication Conde Nast Portfolio, features Tata -- for his $2,500 car, Nano -- along with the likes of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and chief executive of investment bank Goldman Sachs Lloyd Blankfein.

"Brilliance comes in many forms, whether it is founding a startup that kicks sand in Microsoft's face or creating an affordable car for the developing world. A small number of innovators influence the rest of the influencers in business," the magazine said in the accompanying report.
The list published in the latest issue of the magazine is further classified into five groups -- game changers, connectors, tastemakers, rebels and upstarts.

About Tata, the magazine said that he believes the future of the auto industry rests in the hands of people who do not yet drive.

Tata Group, which recently snapped up British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover, has unveiled Tata Nano -- the world's cheapest car.

"The model won't be sold in the United States but has the potential to radically alter the market for manufacturers here. Tata-inspired followers are already revving up their engines: Nissan-Renault partnering with India's Bajaj Auto [Get Quote] to develop a car by 2010 that will sell for less than 3,000 dollars.

"But except for Ford India, US companies can't produce a model this cheaply. Which means they risk being run over," the magazine noted.

Last week, Time magazine had named Ratan Tata as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Apart from these three names, others who have featured in the game changers category are JP Morgan Chase head Jamie Dimon, World Bank managing director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt, software designer and co-founder of FriendFeed Paul Buchheit and anatomy professor at the University of Wisconsin James Thomson.

The magazine talked to CEOs, economists and power players to prepare the list.

The connectors group, which includes Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Bin, is described as those people "who know everyone who matters and can get them on the phone."

Another name in this group is Nobel Prize winner and Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus, whose microfinance initiative has assisted about 7.5 million small business owners in Bangladesh.

Designers and style setters are classified as tastemakers, which include the likes of BMW's chief of design Chris Bangle and well known media anchor Oprah Winfrey.

Those who find a place in the upstarts category include Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott and artist Yue Minjun.

"The kind of brilliance were looking at is not measured in IQ. It manifests itself in work that is changing entire industries and influencing others," the report added.

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING

Article taken from Facebook Network

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING
(Written by a former child)
A message every adult should read, because children are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking I heard you say a prayer, and I knew there is a God I could always talk to and I learned to trust in God.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give of your time and money to help people who had nothing and I learned that those who have something should give to those who don't.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't feel good and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw that you cared and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I looked at you and wanted to say, "Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking."

Each of us (parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher or friend) influences the life of a child.

How will you touch the life of someone today?