Someone asked me what kinda music I listen to when I'm stressed.

While the list is big, here's one that may help you, my blog readers, nix away some stress.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3S4dBk4E1g&ob=av3e

Enjoy!

So I began to wonder yesterday about what could be the loudest possible noise on earth; so I googled my question and this is what I came up with.



Top Ten Loudest Noises (Increasing order)

10. Rock Concert/Speakers:

A 400,000 Watt rock concert or a similar set of speakers mounted in a vehicle can reach ear-splitting decibel levels. Is it any reason most promoters recommend you wear ear protection to stave off the 135-145 decibel sound waves?


9. Fireworks

Though not typically heard up close, fireworks are still explosions and are very loud. The sound heard from the sky is pretty loud, though not damaging, but at the bursting point the decibel levels reach a staggering 145-150. Even tests are performed under strict sound proofing to avoid any ear injury.



8. Gunfire

Gunfire for anyone unfortunate enough to be standing near it can be quite damaging to the ears registering at a quite loud 145-155 decibels. This is the very reason why you should always wear ear protection when on a firing range.





7. NHRA Dragsters

Sitting next to a dragster as it fires up its engines and screams down the raceway can be more than just loud; it can be damaging to your entire body. At the 155-160 Decibel range not only will it severely to permanently damage your hearing, but it also vibrates your vision and makes it temporarily difficult to swallow. That’s why no one stands next to them.







6. Space Shuttle Launch (And my favorite)

When the rockets fire, it is wise and, in fact, fully enforced, that you stand at least a half-mile away lest you get inundated by 165-170 decibels of painful sound. Unlike many other loud noises, the shuttle rocket sound is constant as it creates the thrust necessary to lift it from the ground.





5. The Blue Whale

Blue whales mostly emit very loud, highly structured, repetitive low-frequency rumbling sounds that can travel for many miles underwater. These songs may be used for communicating with other blue whales, especially in order to attract and find mates. The call of the blue whale reaches levels up to 188 decibels. This extraordinarily loud whistle can be heard for hundreds of miles underwater. The whale is the loudest, and, the largest animal on earth.

4. Volcano – Krakatoa

The 1883 the Krakatoa eruption ejected more than 25 cubic kilometres of rock, ash, and pumice and generated the loudest sound historically reported at 180 Decibels: the cataclysmic explosion was distinctly heard as far away as Perth in Australia approx. 1,930 miles (3,110 km), and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius approx. 3,000 miles (5,000 km).

3. 1-Ton TNT Bomb

Standing as close as 250 feet away from the impact, the resulting explosion from a 1 ton bomb creates a decibel count of 210. Without sufficient hearing protection, not to mention a complete sound-resistant bunker surrounding you, you could quite literally die from the intense vibrations that would literally shake you apart. Unless, of course, you were under the bomb.

2. 5.0 Richter Earth Quake

A sufficient enough quake to rend the ground in twain and destroy buildings, whole rock, and human life reaches a decibel level of 235. If you are caught in the epicenter and are unlucky enough to not be above the ground in a plane or helicopter, the intense noise and vibrations could kill you long before death by any falling object.

1. Tunguska Meteor

The Tunguska event was a massive explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya (Under Rock) Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai of Russia, at 7:40 AM on June 30, 1908. The explosion was most likely caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet fragment at an altitude of 5 to 10 kilometers (3–6 mi) above Earth’s surface. It was measured with the similar impact of a 1000-Mega-ton bomb with a decibel rating 300-315. This is often considered to be the loudest single-event in history.

Bonus: Lake Taupo Eruption

Lake Taupo is a large lake in the middle of the North Island of New Zealand. The lake is the caldera that resulted from a massive volcanic erruption in 180 AD. It is New Zealand’s largest eruption in 20,000 years. It ejected around 120 cubic kilometers of material, of which 30 cubic kilometers were ejected in the space of a few minutes. It is believed that the eruption column was 50 kilometres high, twice as high as the eruption column from Mount St. Helens in 1980. The resulting ash turned the sky red over Rome and China. This eruption was reportedly heard in China. Lake Taupo today, is one of New Zealand’s popular tourist attractions for its beauty and swimming. The fact that the lake is the largest fresh water lake in Australasia, and approximately the same size as Singapore, ensures it is a huge ‘must do’ component to many tourists.

>Look there, ohonekanobione, what is that?
>That looks like a small cone.
>But it's swaying in the wind!
>You're right, it is!
>There seems to be so many of them, where are we?
>This is all alien to me; I have no idea whatsoever.
>Let's move faster, press the booster switch and increase throttle.
> I am, I am, but the apparent laws of motion seem to be different here.
>Let me handle it, you look out and make sure we're not being tracked or followed.
>Okay, krastymoki, but it does seem harder to exit than enter.
>I know, just make sure we don't lose altitude, who ever is down there will not like us snooping on them.
>Look, I can see some lights down below, what are they?
>They seem to be moving like us, but only they are lower in altitude than us.
>Yes, weird things going on down there!
>Hey, what is that?
>What is what, Ohonekanobione?
>Seems to me like a giant object flying far away from us.
>Ho boy, is this a weird place or what!
>You bet! I have never seen anything like this before.
>Me neither, but we have been given orders and we have to execute them.
>I wonder why Mastekyuman assigned us this task?
>I wonder too, I feel safer at home than wandering so far.
>I'm just glad, Mastekyuman didn't tell us to explore this place by walking.
>Me too, I don't feel safe even up here.
>This place looks so primitive, nothing like our place huh?!
>Oh yeah, we are miles ahead, this is just one big disappointment.
>What say we leave some mark on that ground there and vamoose?
>Good idea, what kinda mark should we leave?
>Hmm, try concentric circles with smaller circles around it.
>Okay, done.
>Let's scoot!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>What was that, Rick?
>Alert the control tower!
>I saw them beaming at some trees earlier and then shine rays on a field nearby.
>Alert the chief, I think we have a UFO situation here.
>Okay, keep your eyes on the radar and keep me posted.
>Sure thing.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


>Hey, they are beaming on us.
>Forget these primates, let's get out of here.
>Sure, weird planet huh, Ohonekanobione?
>Yes, our planet is a lot safer, and I don't think these people like us very much.
>Yeah, weird, and all we came to do was extend a hand of friendship.
>Guess that's outta the window.
>Yeah, let's tell the chief that this Blue planet is the least intelligent planet and that we found nothing significant except beings with 2 legs, 2 hands, 1 head; unlike us with 1 leg, 3 hands and 2 heads.
>Haha, Blue planet people sure are weird.

atomic no 64 - Gd

Since I saw a funtional stirling engine recently, I made the mistake of entering the search term "perpetual motion" on youtube.com.

Then I lost an hour of my life looking at videos claiming to make perpetual motion engines out of natural magnets. These videos fascinate me because I presume they are all fake.

It seems to me that if any of these devices worked I wouldn't have to hunt around on youtube to find them. I'd already have one in my dad's garage charging his electric car.

So what is up with these videos?

One theory is that all of the inventors started out seriously trying to build perpetual motion machines, realized at some point they couldn't do it, and decided to salvage something out of the effort by making fake videos and getting some attention.

Another theory is that the so-called inventors never intended to do anything but create fake videos. But it sure seems like a lot of work for that. That option seems unlikely to me.

Lastly, we must entertain the possibility that the laws of physics have some sort of loophole, inventors sometimes find it, and the big corporations send around hit men every time it happens. That's why you never see the invention beyond youtube.com or some local news show. But that seems unlikely too. So it remains a mystery.

As I was googling around on this topic, I discovered that there is an element called gadolinium (Gd) that is attracted to magnets up to about room temperature, then it abruptly loses its attraction.

It seems to me you could build a generator using that principle. All you need is an external source of heat, and not much of it, to power the thing.

A natural magnet could attract the gadolinium, which creates some mechanical energy, and some portion of that energy could be used to introduce heat from the outside that makes the gadolinium non-magnetic and puts the device back to its original position.

Some of that energy from the return trip would turn off the outside heat source and the process repeats forever. It would only operate at about room temperature, but that's still pretty nifty.

The inside of my house, for example, is always at about room temperature, so there is no shortage of that environment.

Yeah, I know, someone probably already invented it.

Pre-historic Kalmadi does it once more...

Noted Egyptologist Dr Hammerschmidst has claimed that a pre-historic equivalent of the Commonwealth Organizing Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi had managed to stall the construction of pyramids in 2750 BC

This startling claim was made in a book written by him called ‘Dummy mummies’ launched at a well-attended function in New York last week.

The book lists out a series of incidents that happened when the Egyptians were constructing the first set of pyramids. Amranakhalmadee, the corrupt Senior Supervisor of the pyramid project spent money by the donkey loads and missed many deadlines before his luck finally ran out.

“The domestic media of those days, represented by heavy limestone tablets came down heavily on Amranakhalmadee following which he lost the blessings of the royal family, soon enough. That is before he met with a gory end,” Hammerschmidst said.

According to Hammerschmidst, Amranakhalmadee swindled money, cut corners by using sub standard construction material and extended projects indefinitely to mint more money.

In the end, a publication published on red algae from an area now in Saudi Arabia took up the issue, causing much embarrassment to the Egyptian royal family. The domestic media took the cue and launched a relentless campaign for removing Amranakhalmadee.

Amranakhalmadee was then summoned by the family and banished to one of the pyramids under construction at that point of time He was supposed to spend the rest of his life there in solitary confinement as a punishment for his crimes.

But fate had other plans, as Amranakhalmadee died the very next day, when the ceiling of the poorly constructed pyramid collapsed on him, while he was shaving. Spin doctors of the royal family then took over and ensured that all references to the Egyptian pre-historic Kalmadi were removed.

"This should serve as a warning to all the Kalmadis out there who are out to make a fast buck by trading national pride for millions. Such guys will meet the same fate as Amranakhalmadee and there are no two ways about it", Hammerschmidst said.

Egyptian government has banned the sale of the book and is considering legal action against Hammerschmidst for making 'unsubstantiated claims' in his book.

"Comparing the supervisors of ancient Egypt with Kalmadi is downright disgraceful, depressing, demeaning and mortifying and I am stopping here since I have run out of synonyms.

There was no such character in our country at any point of time in history and the story that we have heard in the press and in blogs about Amranakhalmadee is a figment of the author's imagination.

His story is as real as Pakistan's commitment to the war on terror," a senior Egyptian diplomat in New Delhi told Humor Unplugged over a Skype chat.

Tired of not knowing what kinds of foods to eat? Not sure how much fat, calories and sodium you should be consuming everyday? All the tips you need are here....

In addition to regular exercise, you'll also want to add some fat burning foods to your diet to help trim your waistline.

Foods that are high in protein and fibre are the best kinds of food to eat if you want to burn fat around your middle.

Did you know that it takes more energy to digest protein than it does to digest fat? So the more protein you eat, the more calories your body burns.

Eggs
Eggs are super high in protein and can help you burn that unwanted belly fat. They contain the vitamin B12 – a great supplement for breaking down fat cells.

You may have heard all the warnings about eggs and your health. That's because a couple of eggs will put you over the recommended daily amount of cholesterol.

Well, more recent studies have shown that dietary cholesterol has a minimal impact on blood cholesterol. Dietary fat is the real culprit. It's what raises your bad cholesterol levels.

However, if you're still worried about your overall cholesterol intake from eating too many eggs, you can remove the yolk and still benefit from the high protein contained in eggs.

Low fat dairy products
According to an article in Obesity Research, women who ate low-fat dairy products, such as nonfat yogurt and low-fat milk, three to four times a day, lost 70 per cent more fat than low-dairy dieters.

In another study done at Purdue University those who consumed 3 cups of fat-free milk gained less weight over the course of 2 years than those on low calcium diets.

So, not only do dairy products help you strengthen your bones, they can also play an essential role in burning that unwanted body fat.

If you are a regular consumer of milk and other dairy products, that's great, just watch your proportions and perhaps switch over to the low or no fat varieties.

Beans
While beans are often associated with the gastrointestinal disturbances they may cause, they are also very good sources of protein, fibre and iron.

Some of the best kinds of beans to eat are:
- Navy beans
- White beans
- Kidney beans
- Lima beans

And as always, limit baked and refried beans in your diet as refried beans contain tons of saturated fat, while baked beans are usually loaded in sugar. Sure, you'll be getting your protein but you'll also be consuming a lot of fat and sugar that you don't need.

Here's something else to remember. Be sure to cook your beans thoroughly because our digestive tracks are not adapted to breaking down some proteins that are contained in certain beans.

Tip: A vegetable called Edamame (pronounced ed-uh-ma-may) – an organic soybean in a pod often served at Japanese restaurants.

All you do is boil them for three minutes, add a pinch of salt and eat the soybeans out of the pods. They are surprisingly tasty and very good for you. One serving contains 10 grams of soy protein. The best place to find them is at a store that sells organic foods.

Oatmeal
While it may not be the tastiest thing you can eat, oatmeal definitely has some great nutritional qualities.

You may have noticed that many of the oatmeal brands are now boasting that eating more oatmeal will help lower your cholesterol level. That's because oatmeal is loaded with soluble fibre which helps reduce blood cholesterol by flushing those bad digestive acids out of your system.

The best kind of oatmeal to eat is unsweetened and unflavoured. While it's tempting to select the apples and cinnamon flavour and load it with butter and sugar – you really lose out on all the health benefits. If you must sweeten your bowl of oatmeal, do so by adding fruit.

Or add a spoonful of honey (much better for you than sugar) and a handful of raisins or dried cranberries.

Oatmeal is also beneficial in fighting colon cancer and heart disease.

Olive oil
Certain fats are good for you and your body needs them. Olive oil is one of those 'good fats'. In fact, it's so good that it helps you burn fat and keeps your cholesterol down.

Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat, a type of fat that researchers are finding provide outstanding health benefits. One ounce of extra virgin olive oil contains about 85 per cent of the daily value for monounsaturated fat.

So instead of taking a swig of orange juice in the morning, many dieters are picking up a bottle of extra virgin olive oil.

Whole grains
These days everyone seems to be screaming "No carbs!" It's as if the world has gone no-carb crazy and everyone is running from sliced breads and pastas.

Well the truth is, your body needs carbohydrates. If you go without them completely your body will start to crave them. So it's not a good idea to exclude all carbs because the right kinds are actually good for you.

It's the processed carbohydrates that are bad for you – the white breads, bagels, pastas, and white rice to name a few.

The above foods have all been processed, thus stripping out all the nutrients leaving you with loads of starch.

The key is to eat 'whole grain' foods because they haven't been processed and contain the fiber and minerals your body needs.

So don't be fooled by a loaf of bread labeled 'wheat'. Regular wheat bread is still lacking in vitamins and minerals. Manufacturers add molasses to it so it turns brown.

Don't let them trick you. The only kind of bread that's good for you is the kind that's labeled 'whole grain'.

Meat and fish
Turkey and beef are great for building muscle and boosting the immune system, but as always you have to be careful as:

Basted turkeys are usually injected with fatty substances while beef contains saturated fat. If you are going to eat beef, be sure to consume the leanest cuts you can find by looking for 'loin' or 'round' on the labels.

Salmon and tuna are also good sources of protein. They both contain omega-3 fatty acids which may sound bad, but are actually healthy fats. These two foods are also good for giving your immune system a nice boost and should be consumed at least thrice a week.

hecking an ego on the go ...

It's nearly impossible to overtake someone on the roads these days, especially when both parties are on bikes, and even more especially when the bikes are among the more powerful bikes on the market today (loosely, those with engine capacities of 150cc and above), without seemingly causing untold agony and hurt to the ego of the person being overtaken.

I'm not on the road to race. If I overtake someone, it's because of that person being at that place at that time, causing him (or her) to be overtaken.

I would've done the same had that person not been there on the road getting overtaken by me.

So it's not a race, nor an ego boost for me. I am just riding, on my way to wherever I want to go. It's as simple as that!

It surprises me how easily this fact is lost on all of the wannabe road-racers and their egos. Can't a guy just weave through traffic at a little more than "normal" speed just for the heck of it? Does every such instance have to mean that it's a challenge to yet another street race?

I'm not a racer, nor do I pretend to be one. If I am really good at racing, I'll make that my profession, and spend my "off the job" days practicing at some race track.

However, that doesn't mean that I can't sometimes go beyond my comfort zone on the road when conditions permit. It seems like I'll have to carry a disclaimer board every time I want to do this, to prevent unnecessary risk to other road users.