for frieda

[craig johnston]

here's a present from me to frieda.
dunno why, just wanted to share:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/Images/land_ocean_ice_lights_2048.jpg

[Smartypants]

Why does all of Puerto Rico seem as brightly lit as New York City?

[Frieda]

that's pretty, thank you :)

i can't believe there's so many places where it's actually dark at night.. here the sky is bright orange! on clear nights in the winter sometimes you see orion and ursa minor and major and the pleiades but that's about it!

[craig johnston]

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/Images/land_ocean_ice_2048.jpg

[Hyakujo's Fox]

Why does all of Puerto Rico seem as brightly lit as New York City?

Apparently Puerto Rico has a higher population density than any US state other than New Jersey. Nice bit of trivia.

http://www.census.gov/popest/gallery/maps/Maps_State2004.pdf

[Frieda]

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/66677main_image_feature_221_jwfull.jpg

[Frieda]

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/10329main_MM_Image_Feature_45_rs4.jpg

[Frieda]

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/45506main_MM_Image_Feature_73_rs4.jpg

[Frieda]

look how beautiful everything is!

[Frieda]

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/107640main_pia06176-516.jpg

[craig johnston]

look how beautiful everything is!

yes!! let's have a 'look how beautiful everything is'
thread to combat all the bitching and negativity.
:)

[Frieda]

hey, that was a genuine "look how beautiful it is"!

i mean, just look!

[zero]

eyyvrithin'
is
BYOOOOOOOOOOOOOTIFOOOOL
in it's own waaaaaayy
LIKE A STARRY
summer niiiieeeeeeght

[Large Marge]

http://img90.exs.cx/img90/938/saturn4bh.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

[craig johnston]

yeah frieda, i know, but i thought it'd be groovy anyway.
;)

apparently, this is viamin c:

http://www.beat-ernst-basel.ch/bilder_d/hoff1_vitc.jpg

[craig johnston]

http://education.gsfc.nasa.gov/experimental/July61999siteupdate/inv99Project.Site/Other/AURORA.jpg

[Frieda]

that's so pretty! i've always wanted to see that! http://www.zefrank.com/bulletin/images/smilies/smile.gif


here the sky is like this on one side (the greenhouses):
http://img207.exs.cx/img207/4592/kassen015lk.jpg

http://img207.exs.cx/img207/4738/kassen060wf.jpg

http://img207.exs.cx/img207/6300/kassen100wc.jpg

and like this on the other side (the airport):

cloudy night:
http://img207.exs.cx/img207/6480/schiphol19uj.jpg

hardly any clouds:
http://img207.exs.cx/img207/6555/schiphol21ij.jpg

[craig johnston]

help! the airports on fire!
:eek:

[Frieda]

mmm sometimes tourists call the emergency number because they think there's a fire

[craig johnston]

and now frieda will perform an amazing trick!

:D ............

[Frieda]

http://img167.exs.cx/img167/2325/galaxy7cg.jpg

[Frieda]

http://img167.exs.cx/img167/9581/crabnebula33yo.jpg

[zero]

.

http://globaldyn2.ipnstock.com/dyn_images/420/60/6864200001.JPG



.

[Hyakujo's Fox]

 
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0210/Andromeda_gendler_sm.jpg
 

[Coffee]

I <3 this thread.

http://www.astrocruise.com/m51.jpg

[Clytie]

http://arania.kamiki.net/Gift%20art%20and%20Commissions/Spinizuey's%20Awesome%20Sabin%20copy.jpg

[craig johnston]

http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/images/d5/carinay.jpg

[craig johnston]

http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/images/d5/dumba.jpg

http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/images/d6/04086a.jpg

http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/images/d2/hh666_400.jpg

[Hyakujo's Fox]

It's not how I'm feeling, on my mind, nude, in a stairwell, bent, upside-down. It's not a dog or a hat. So Frieda will have to have it. :)

http://www.slack.org.uk/photography/berrow99/hatbuggy.jpg

[Frieda]

that's cool fox :) love it!

[craig johnston]

http://www.mountainfilm.co.uk/photocomp/august2004/slides/Landscape%20-%20Wasdale%20-%20Alistair%20Eagles.jpg

[craig johnston]

http://www.mountainfilm.co.uk/photocomp/august2004/slides/Landscape%20-%20sand%20dunes,%20sossuvlei,%20namibia%20-%20christine%20coleman%20jpeg`.jpg

[Coffee]

It just needs a pirate flag to be perfect.

http://www.hazegray.org/features/tallships2000/part3/Oosterschelde1.jpg

[craig johnston]

http://www.aerialarts.com/db_Hunters_Moon_72_dpi1.jpg

[craig johnston]

http://www.aerialarts.com/db_Flowers_20031.jpg

[Coffee]

http://dailypoetics.typepad.com/daily_poetics/carved_angel_wings_coxandcox.jpg

http://www.skytribe.co.za/Freebies/Backgrounds/wings.jpg

[zero]

.



http://www.backpackingfun.com/willowcreekani360x240.gif



.

[Frieda]

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0504/enceladus_cassini.jpg

[craig johnston]

SPACE (http://home.comcast.net/~danglover/Images.htm)

[trisherina]

Today in History - May 4

By The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 3, 2005; 8:00 PM

Today is Wednesday, May 4, the 124th day of 2005. There are 241 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On May 4, 1945, during World War II, German forces in the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany agreed to surrender.

:)

[Frieda]

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/galleries/lilypad/images/primary/NGM1980_01p135.jpg

[Frieda]

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/galleries/lilypad/images/popup/NGM1980_01p139up.jpg

[zero]

.

http://images01.ipnstock.com/dyn_images/420/60/1978600201.JPG


.

[Hyakujo's Fox]

&nbsp;
http://homepage1.nifty.com/albedo-kobayashi/cloud-kansuihei-arc-1-1.jpg
&nbsp;

[Frieda]

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/123816main_image_feature_376_ys_4.jpg

[trisherina]

check out the films (http://www.strandbeest.com/#)

Theo Jansen is occupied with the making of a new nature. Not pollen or seeds but plastic yellow tubes are used as the basic material of this new nature. He makes skeletons which are able to walk on the wind. Eventually he wants to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives.

[Frieda]

amazing! thanks :)

[trisherina]

Marijuana Compound Spurs Brain Cell Growth
By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter, Forbes.com


THURSDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- When it comes to the controversy surrounding medical marijuana, an international team of researchers is busy stirring the pot by releasing findings that suggest the drug helps promote brain cell growth while treating mood disorders.

According to the study in rats, a super-potent synthetic version of the cannabinoid compound found in marijuana can reduce depression and anxiety when taken over an extended period of time.

This mood boost seems to be the result of the drug's ability to promote the growth of new brain cells, something no other addictive drug appears able to do, the researchers say.

The findings, which appear in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, remain preliminary, however.

"Our results were obtained from rats, and there's a big difference between rats and humans," said study co-author Dr. Xia Zhang, of the neuropsychiatry research unit in the department of psychiatry at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada. "So, I don't really don't know yet if our findings apply to humans. But our results indicate that the clinical use of marijuana could make people feel better by helping control anxiety and depression."

The new findings come on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June granting federal authorities the power to stop doctors from prescribing marijuana. That decision also bars individuals from cultivating the herb for medical purposes.

The decision overrides laws currently on the books in 11 states which had legalized the use of marijuana for patients receiving a doctor's approval. According to the ruling, the Supreme Court justices made their decision on the basis of interstate commerce regulations rather than on an evaluation of the pros and cons of medical marijuana use.

But does medical marijuana work? To help settle that question, Zhang's team focused on the potential of a synthetic laboratory-produced form of the cannabinoid compound naturally found in the marijuana plant.

Humans and other animals also naturally produce the compound, and are known to have cannabinoid receptors lying on the surface of cells in the nervous system and the immune system.

Prior research has shown that, when exposed to cannabinoids, these receptors can provoke an anti-inflammatory and anti-convulsive response. They can also instigate a range of psychotropic effects such as euphoria.

The current study focused on a particular formulation of synthetic cannabinoid known as HU210 -- a compound which Zhang described as the most powerful cannabinoid in the world.

The authors explored both the short-term and long-term effects of exposure to HU210 in rats.

To measure the drug's short-term response, they gave adult rats a single injection of HU210. To study the same drug's effect over the longer term, the researchers gave a separate group of adult rats twice-daily injections of the cannabinoid over a two-week period.

Autopsies revealed that by the end of the 10-day HU210 treatment regimen, new neurons had been generated and integrated into the circuitry of the hippocampus region of the rat's brains. This process, known as neurogenesis, was still in evidence a full month after treatment had been initiated.

Neurogenesis was not triggered in response to brain cells being killed through cannabinoid exposure, the researchers add. In fact, HU210 injections did not appear to prompt any loss of neurons in the hippocampus.

Cannabinoid use appeared to boost mood, as well: According to the scientists, behavioral tests suggest that long-term treatment reduced the rodent's anxiety- and depression-linked behaviors.

For example, one month post-treatment, treated rats deprived of food for 48 hours were quicker than similarly deprived, non-treated rats to begin eating food when it was finally offered to them in an unfamiliar environment.

The researchers believe treated rats may have been less anxious in the manner they handled this novel situation. They stress the results were not related to cannabinoids' appetite-stimulating effects, since the treated rats' eating behavior was similar to that of untreated rats when they were offered food in a familiar setting.

Treated rats also responded in a less anxious manner to swimming and climbing tests, and displayed shorter periods of immobility compared with untreated rats. The latter finding was interpreted to mean that HU210 had an antidepressant effect on rats receiving the cannabinoid over the longer term.

However, while long-term administration of higher doses worked to reduce anxiety and depression, lower doses did not appear to have the same effect, the researchers added.

Zhang and his associates credit cannabinoid-linked neurogenesis with the apparent mood shifts seen in the animals.

The hippocampus area of the brain where the neuronal growth occurred is key to the regulation of stress and other mood disorders, Zhang's team point out. This region is also important to the control of cognitive processes such as learning and memory.

Among the common addictive drugs, marijuana alone appears able to promote neurogenesis when used over time and in the right dosage, the researchers say. In contrast, prior research has demonstrated that chronic administration of cocaine, opiates, alcohol and nicotine inhibits brain cell growth.

"If our results can be confirmed in humans, we should anticipate the chronic use of marijuana as a medical treatment for anxiety and depression," Zhang said.

However, he cautioned that "this treatment is not the same as smoking marijuana. Whether smoking marijuana can produce the same effect, we just don't know."

Dr. Perry G. Fine, a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Utah School of Medicine Pain Research Center, said more than enough data has already been gathered to confirm medical marijuana's potential benefits.

"It's great that there's new science, but to me this is no longer an epiphany," he said. "It's just proving what's been long-suspected. We're behind the curve with the cannabinoids largely because of the stigma of marijuana going years and years back."

"I think most people with clinical expertise in the area of palliative medicine know that if patients had access to all the tools we currently have, we could certainly do a whole lot better to help people live with multiple chronic diseases," he added. "The social policies are way behind our technology, and that's where we need some catching up."

[Jack Flanders]

Wasn't sure if you have seen this pix already.

[NimbleMarmoset]

does this guy look like?!. . . . oh, no. . . could it be?

http://static.flickr.com/34/64232864_fe7de3b7c4_o.gif

[Brynn]

http://www.gemini.edu/images/albums/album04/Trapezium.jpg

[Frieda]

a real transformer (http://robot-fan.net/spot/spot067.html)

[zero]

.
. (http://www.retrojunk.com/)

.

[Frieda]

cool :)

[Red Princess]

..no see. How's it going?

[daverbee]

Frieda, empty your mailbox!

[craig johnston]

http://www.clairity.org/images/sm/window%20crystals/crystal-feathers.jpg

[Odbe]

http://i13.tinypic.com/4hj2179.jpg

[Frieda]

the powers of ten (http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=6945724039283018435&q=powers+of+ten)

filmed all the way into space and back into the smallest particle we know of, truly amazing!

[Frieda]

the picture below was taken by Voyager I, as it turned for a last glimpse on our solar system, this is earth:
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/2225/voyagerel4.jpg

here's what Carl Sagan writes about it in his book Pale Blue Dot:


We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam.

The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.

Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity -- in all this vastness -- there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

[rapscalious rob]

http://www.its-lala.com/SMemotionalpalette.jpg

[Hyakujo's Fox]

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AJzU3NjDikY"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AJzU3NjDikY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

[Jack Flanders]

So cool!!!!

[Jack Flanders]

WEED!

http://www.jdbshow.com/images/wtf/wtf320.jpg

[trisherina]

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/savatheaggie/ulmaris/morepics/newulmaris24.jpg

for many many more details, click "Next" (http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1570997) -- in my case, repeatedly, mouth slightly agape.

Then, for the truly intense:

Andrastavia (http://www.ozbricks.com/andrastavia/03optionbarextra2.html)

[Frieda]

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/1639/img8330ti2.jpg

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/8845/bloodmoonul6.jpg

moon eclipse, right now, northern europe & part of north america. go outside and watch. NOWWWW!

[Jack Flanders]

Wahhhh!! It's cloudy here, dammit!!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Tunesmith]

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42639000/jpg/_42639541_lowredmoona.jpg

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42639000/jpg/_42639493_sequence.jpg

Saw it on Saturday on the way back from playing tennis. We were almost in a car crash, cause we were watching the eclipse :D

[zero]

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YHx9GglJYAg"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YHx9GglJYAg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

[Frieda]

:) :) :)

[Frieda]

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/176502main2_hst_dark_ring_1_250px.jpg



NASA on dark matter (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/news/dark_matter_ring_feature.html)

[brightpearl]

light from brand new stars, shining just for frieda
http://www.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/Thumb_BU_graphic_v2.jpg

[Jack Flanders]

kissass :)

[Tunesmith]

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0705/catseye2_hst.jpg

Cat's Eye Nebula

Beautiful. I love our universe.

Hope you like, Frieda :D

[Frieda]

destruction and creation frozen in time, a ripple, silence just before the blast hits you.

a single moment, millions and millions of years ago. we're witnesses from another era.



thank you :) :) :)

[Tunesmith]

the Aurora Borealis, as seen from space:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/aurora_img_2005254.jpg

[Jack Flanders]

Soooo cool!! (Where's the north pole on the photo?) :o

[Tunesmith]

Hmm, I dunno...

I know it's layered, but I think it's in the center of the aurora.

edit: Oops, my bad! :o It's actually the Aurora Australis... :rolleyes: (Sorry Jack!)

[Frieda]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/

science explained


here's one for our local hive mind junkies: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3410/03.html

[brightpearl]

^Oooohh, thanks Frieda!! That's really interesting!

[lapietra]

http://www.its-lala.com/BigKiss.jpg

[Stephi_B]

Happy Perseid nights over the NL!
http://www.tboeckel.de/EFSF/efsf_ps/perseiden_06/4480_net_2.jpg
:)

[T.I.P.]

<img src="http://www.lies.com/sts107/hires/s107e05485.jpg" width="1100">

[trisherina]

Here's a wildly addictive new game for you:

Gimme Friction Baby (http://mirror3.cgdc3.fizzlebot.com/?gameID=2)

[Frieda]

whooaaaagh that's addictive-- i just wish i'd score over 6! :eek:

[trisherina]

The Ratman got 32. I haven't passed 12. :o

[Hyakujo's Fox]

Here's a wildly addictive new game for you:

Gimme Friction Baby (http://mirror3.cgdc3.fizzlebot.com/?gameID=2)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAARGH! (7)

[trisherina]

^^ (I got 18) :)

[Hyakujo's Fox]

20

http://i14.tinypic.com/6d0t4xi.gif

[Jack Flanders]

I'm in trouble now!!! :( Cool game!!!!

[zero]

.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/images/mira/mira1_strip.jpg

<----------------------------- 13 light years ----------------------------->


http://www.sketchzilla.com/madlibs/pill.gif (http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/15aug_mira.htm?list709865)

[lapietra]

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1415/850430591_29bcbd6192.jpg

[Stephi_B]

http://web.njit.edu/~jcl7/Old/big/Glory2.jpg

[seebe]

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1415/850430591_29bcbd6192.jpg
Awesome

[T.I.P.]

http://www.wildflowerdesire.com/images/HurricaneKatrinaFireBall.jpg

[rapscalious rob]

http://www.its-lala.com/galaxy_laser_etching.jpg (http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/90a9/)

[rapscalious rob]

http://www.its-lala.com/zalman1.jpg

The Zalman TNN 500AF - A high-end, completely noiseless computer enclosure.

[brightpearl]

^I love TIP's storm cloud up there.

This octo's name is Frieda. Seriously.
http://www.usnewslink.com/oldserver/Frieda.jpg

[trisherina]

For when you have time (http://www.marioferrari.org/lego_mindstorm.html#section1) to spare.

[brightpearl]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/22/33232951_03df2bfe86.jpg

[Stephi_B]

Star "Jewel Box" (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/10/071002-star-picture.html)

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/10/images/071002-star-picture_big.jpg

:)

[brightpearl]

last few seconds are the best
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HUe2HcFUPSo"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HUe2HcFUPSo" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

[brightpearl]

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20071011/capt.sge.ijs72.111007045428.photo00.photo.default-512x353.jpg
"This handout computer graphic image by designer Koki-woong shows a toilet-shaped house in Suwon, 40 kilometers south of Seoul. The house owned by South Korean sanitation activist Sim Jae-Duck will be open on November 11 to mark the launch of the World Toilet Association."

[Stephi_B]

http://www.vlib.us/web/opte.org.jpg

3d map of the www (http://www.vlib.us/web/worldwideweb3d.html), colours mark the different domains

[craig johnston]

http://www.contentimages.de/content/GlobalPictureGallery/80/78286080_1192457892317.jpg

[Stephi_B]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFH1bXg3ni8

[Stephi_B]

http://space.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn12837/dn12837-1_600.jpg

Comet brightens mysteriously by a factor of a million

22:04 25 October 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Maggie McKee

A comet usually too faint to be seen with the naked eye has brightened by a factor of a million since Tuesday, suggesting its surface may have cracked open and expelled clouds of dust and gas. Astronomers are scrambling to observe the strange object, which is likely to fade in the coming days and weeks.
Comet 17P/Holmes, which orbits the Sun every seven years on a path that takes it from the distance of Jupiter's orbit to about twice that of Earth's, is usually 25,000 times too dim to be seen with the naked eye. But since 23 October, it has brightened by a million times and now resembles a bright yellow star.
"This is equivalent to the planet Saturn suddenly becoming as bright as the Full Moon," David Morrison, senior scientist at the NASA Astrobiology Institute in Moffett Field, California, US, wrote in an email newsletter.
Comets do sometimes show extreme changes in brightness. They are thought to occur when the Sun's heat vaporises newly exposed ice on the comet, blasting dust off its surface. Sunlight reflecting off the dust increases the comet's brightness.
Fresh ice
So it is possible that a crack has opened up on the comet's nucleus, which is less than about 3 kilometres across, exposing fresh ice to the Sun.
This is not the first time the comet has been caught brightening. In fact, it had brightened to become faintly visible to the naked eye when it was discovered by an observer named Edwin Holmes in 1892. It faded, then brightened again the following year before returning to obscurity.
Astronomers observed it during its close passes with the Sun in 1899 and 1906, then lost it again until 1964, when Brian Marsden, former director of the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts, US, correctly predicted its position.
"Since then, it's been behaving well – until now," says Marsden.
Comet Holmes can be found in the constellation Perseus.

[brightpearl]

This is for limb pain after amputation rather than what you have, but I wonder if it might have some effect? They seem related to me, in some way.

By Gene Emery
Wed Nov 21, 5:07 PM ET

BOSTON (Reuters) - Viewing the reflected image of an intact limb in a mirror can fool the mind into thinking that a lost leg or foot still exists, dramatically relieving phantom limb pain, researchers reported on Wednesday.

At least 9 out of 10 amputees report feeling sometimes-severe pain in the missing limb, often the result of a sensation that the arm or leg is stuck in the wrong position. The sensation can be excruciating and pain drugs often do little to help.

But some studies have suggested that using a mirror to trick the mind into thinking the lost limb is still there may help. Doctors do not understand why it works, but it appears to help a confused brain reconcile sensations coming from the severed nerves.

Dr. Jack Tsao, a Navy neurologist at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, asked 22 volunteers, most of whom had lost part of a leg in Iraq, to try one of three therapies.

With the mirror technique, patients saw a reflected image of their intact limb as they spent 15 minutes a day trying to move legs and feet. The setup gave the illusion that the missing limb was present and moving normally.

Another group looked at a mirror covered by an opaque sheet as they tried to perform the same task. A third group was asked to close their eyes and spend 15 minutes imagining their limb moving normally.

During the first four weeks of treatment, pain intensity dropped dramatically in the mirror group, going from an average score of 30 to about 7 on scale up to 100. Every person in that group reported less pain.

For those looking at the covered mirror, their average pain score increased to about 60, in part because only one volunteer said he felt less pain while three said their pain became worse.

Among people who imagined their limb moving, the pain score increased to about 60 after the first week, but then rapidly diminished.

Then, during the next four weeks, all the patients were switched to the mirror technique. Their pain scores diminished significantly in eight out of nine cases.

"The majority of people got some relief. The range went from some relief to completely gone," Tsao said in a telephone interview. "We were surprised that the effect was so strongly positive.""

The team is planning a similar test in people who have lost arms.

The idea of mirror therapy has been around for at least a decade, but it has not been widely adopted because "there's never been a controlled study done before," Tsao said.

The technique may relieve pain by helping the brain reconcile what the body is feeling with what the eyes are seeing, Tsao said.

"Although the underlying mechanism accounting for the success of this therapy remains to be elucidated, these results suggest that mirror therapy may be helpful in alleviating phantom pain in an amputated lower limb," his team wrote in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine.

"It's certainly my hope that more rehab centers will try this," Tsao said.

[Stephi_B]

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0712/HindsVariable_goldman800.jpg
T Tauri and Hind's Variable Nebula

[zero]

.

http://www.sketchzilla.com/madlibs/pill.gif (http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2007/12/13/top-ten-astronomy-pictures-of-2007/)

[T.I.P.]

sexxyy Boris Antonov

http://bottum.home.mindspring.com/fantasy/Antonov225-999.jpg

[T.I.P.]

fastest metro ever

http://www.bangkokbob.net/images/antonov.jpg

[T.I.P.]

Optimus "not really in his" Prime rides the Antonov

http://www.oeken2cvbenin.nl/afbeeldingen/fotos/antonov.jpg

[Stephi_B]

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0801/cena_comp.jpg

[trisherina]

http://data.tumblr.com/u69Ix9iWT402tc4btvDMZE5y_500.jpg

[T.I.P.]

today i felt the urge to send Frieda a hug

* HUG *

[Frieda]

aw :):)

[Stephi_B]

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0803/VelaMosaicL_gendler800.jpg

[trisherina]

the latest peep show (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2008/03/21/GA2008032101983.html?sid=ST2008032102694)

[Frieda]

^ neat! amazing how creative people are,wow!

[zero]

http://images.pingmag.jp/images/title/living-world.jpg

[brightpearl]

I hope you find this soothing and happy-inducing.
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aapFyEyTzN0&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aapFyEyTzN0&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[Frieda]

cool

i'd never heard of a humuhumunukunukuapua'a before! :D

[trisherina]

thank you for your kind attention to this matter (http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2008/05/21/birth-cry-of-a-supernova/)

[brightpearl]

Lego Rorschachs (http://mocpages.com/moc.php/57470)

[brightpearl]

http://www.richardcorman.com/images/portrait_fireman.jpg

[Frieda]

o yea.

definitely a fine fireman :D

[YsaPur EsChomuw]

http://www.butterflysweets.com/images/cakes/pirate%20cake.jpg

[Hyakujo's Fox]

http://www.snorgtees.com/images/PirateEncyclopedia_Fullpic_1.gif

[YsaPur EsChomuw]

http://newsdesigner.com/blog/images/pirate.jpg

[Frieda]

:D

[rapscalious rob]

The new Neo FreeRunner, by Open Moko
http://www.imagechicken.com/uploads/1214965929025292000.jpg (http://www.openmoko.com/product.html)

[12"razormix]

<object width="425" height="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6KUJE2xs-RE&hl=de&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6KUJE2xs-RE&hl=de&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="425"></embed></object>

[Frieda]

oo oooo oo

:) :D

[YsaPur EsChomuw]

Aww, Frieda, it's David Hasselhoff's birthday and you're not here to celebrate! :eek:

http://www.strangeproportion.com/images/David-Hasselhoff.jpg

[Stephi_B]

Ah, looks he's anyways still stuck in some traffic jam on the outskirts of Amsterdam

http://www.automotiveblogger.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/knight-rider.jpg

;)


(He has on the 17th actually, or? The calendar entry confused me a bit ;) My boss' birthday is today btw :))

[YsaPur EsChomuw]

Hehh, I didn't even notice it wasn't the seventeenth today! I've lost track of days and dates since I'm on holiday. :D

[Frieda]

heyy it's tomorrow, did the calendar fwk up?? :confused:

[Frieda]

ok the calendar keeps fwking up??

[lapietra]

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/the_large_hadron_collider.html

http://cache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/lhc_08_01/lhc1.jpg

[lukkucairi]

I spent Saturday night after the Man burn thinking about the $hrine and my dad, and in the morning I was so concerned with the possibility that I had left a burn scar (http://www.burningman.com/installations/burn_scar_prevention.html)after the $hrine burn that I went to look for the guy who was my burn lead, Moonfire - (he helped me out so much with my almost-inadequate burn platform) - I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to fix the situation.

I found him grieving, working on a boat-shrine to go in the Temple - for his son who had committed suicide last February - jumped off the Golden Gate bridge. I'd gone out all upset about my own shit, and I ended up helping Moonfire out with his.

When I went to look, by the way, there was absolutely no sign of a burn scar on the playa - nothing at all to clean up, nothing to be concerned about at all. My whole trip out that morning seemed to have been about me finding this guy, grieving his son.

So I sent him my video of the Temple burn - and another crazy connection: I didn't realize at all at the time but the whole beginning portion of that video is a long distance tight-angle shot of Moonfire setting light to his son's shrine at the Temple. It's almost the entire first two minutes. I had no idea. I didn't see the boat-shape until I read this email. But it's there, and one of the figures lighting it is Moonfire.

A


>>>>>

On Mon, Sep 8, 2008 at 5:23 PM, <moonfire> wrote:


Was this your video. I'm pretty sure I am there in the beginning lighting my son's shrine.

I talked to many people and am asking are you going next year?........are you interested in working with me on the Bridge of Fire?


On Mon 09/ 8/08 8:40 AM , "lukku" sent:

http://vimeo.com/1669661

love and hugs


>>>>>

Moonfire is designing a burn for his son, which is the Bridge of Fire he's writing about. Yes, I will help, in whatever way I can.

[brightpearl]

sweet (http://www.etoday.ru/uploads/2008/04/22/VinDiesel.jpg)

[zero]

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KfDm7mIJH9c&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KfDm7mIJH9c&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[brightpearl]

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/images/2008/11/25/hubblemammothstar1.jpg

The one in the middle is 50x the size of the sun. (http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/11/hubble-captures.html)

[Hyakujo's Fox]

&nbsp;

<object width="600" height="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1250929&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;sho w_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;ful lscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1250929&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;sho w_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;ful lscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="600" height="400"></embed></object>

&nbsp;

:)

[lukkucairi]

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0901/spectra_vlt_big.jpg

[lukkucairi]

captured lightning (http://capturedlightning.com/frames/Z02A.jpg)

[brightpearl]

LOS ANGELES – Justin Timberlake and David Beckham don't have any real-life beef with each other, but cartoony characters resembling the famous crooner and soccer player will face off — along with 16 other A-list impersonators — in the upcoming Wii boxing game "Ready 2 Rumble Revolution" from publisher Atari and developer AKI.

Besides the Timberlake and Beckham copycats, players can don boxing gloves as a lanky Brad Pitt ringer named Fight Clubber or a flabby John Travolta lookalike dubbed Fever Friction. Other characters resemble such famous faces as Sylvester Stallone, David Hasselhoff, James Brown, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Shaun White, Simon Cowell and Antonio Banderas.

"We went with a decent mix of mostly modern, mainstream people that I think much of the younger generation will recognize and know, but then we also went to the other end and grabbed characters that we think some of the older people will recognize as well," said "Ready 2 Rumble Revolution" producer Todd Slepian of the game's casting choices.

[YsaPur EsChomuw]

http://trendycakes.com/images/skull.jpg

Friiiiieda, where are you? Lookee here, a lovely pirate cake with almond teeth for you.

[Stephi_B]

comet Lulin close and in green for you:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/02/23/article-1152682-03A1CA57000005DC-661_468x309_popup.jpg

:)

[β cyg]

for my aunt frieda
:)
http://spacecollective.org/partymarty/2251/When-I-Heard-the-Learnd-Astronomer

[YsaPur EsChomuw]

http://kingdomofstyle.typepad.co.uk/my_weblog/images/2008/08/01/898.jpg

[Hyakujo's Fox]

delicious space news (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5191040/Astronomers-find-Milky-Way-could-taste-of-raspberries.html)

[brightpearl]

^Awright, now they are just making sh*t up.

[Hyakujo's Fox]

next you'll be saying there's no such place as the lollipop planet... :rolleyes:

[Frieda]

cool! :):):)

[madasacutsnake]

Frieda, is that you?

http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/fail-owned-pirate-fail1.jpg?w=500&h=420

[YsaPur EsChomuw]

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SfqppcQtaDI/AAAAAAABAAE/IsfLtVAQ0ts/s640/t7ukieryjrsthfgf.jpg

[zero]

http://www.sketchzilla.com/madlibs/pill.gif (http://vimeo.com/4505537?pg=embed&sec=&hd=1)

[YsaPur EsChomuw]

http://kingdomofstyle.typepad.co.uk/.a/6a00d8341c2f0953ef01156f6fe5c6970c-800wi

http://kingdomofstyle.typepad.co.uk/.a/6a00d8341c2f0953ef011570660d68970b-800wi

[zero]

http://www.sketchzilla.com/madlibs/pill.gif (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-china-ikea25-2009aug25,0,3900096,full.story)

[YsaPur EsChomuw]

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01508/bag_1508542i.jpg

[Frieda]

^ :eek: :eek: :eek: WANT ONE!

[zero]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/03/1460041264522805.jpg (http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/15/zero-watch-concept-perfects-the-minimal-timepiece/)

^

[brightpearl]

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CIwr-dyIsn8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CIwr-dyIsn8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Oh, and also this:
Dr. William "Snapper" Foster returns (http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/04/david-hasselhoff-returning-soap-opera).

[YsaPur EsChomuw]

http://hellabiens.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/white-calla-lilies-main-web1.jpg