Wassup, Biology?

2011-04-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

The Book Castles Die...

It is heart-rending to see the demise of the once-great Border's Books. The company is closing 200 stores, has $1.29B in debt and $1.27B in assets. Border's always struck me as a more genteel, understated version of Barnes & Noble. The ambiance is muted, the interior decoration elegant but not bold and the coffee shop a milder Seattle's best vs. the hustle and bustle of a Starbuck's inside Barnes & Noble.

I felt more comfortable sitting at Barnes & Noble for many hours reading books on topics ranging from ancient history to comics, while exploring the recesses of my own mind during challenging periods every year. Border's was a place where I went in, bought something, and got out.

Perhaps Barnes was more welcoming and had a sense of openness to students and itinerants. But I do feel bad that the great book castles - places where one was able to relax, browse, even read entire books - with access to coffee and restrooms - are closing one by one. A sense of community existed among bibliophiles - people who love books - and a sense of shared nerdiness. Will it be replaced by groups of people reading Kindles, while sitting together in a common area? I wonder.

The library is dead, so is the book castle. What's next in the world of shared spaces for reading?

2011-03-10T16:43:00.001-08:00

Fascinating Infographic on College in America

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2011-03-08T12:24:00.000-08:00

An Ancient Text on Politics from India - Arthashastra

The Arthashastra is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy which identifies its author by the names Kautilyaand Viṣhṇugupta, who are traditionally identified with Chāṇakya (c. 350–283 BC),who was a scholar at Takshashila and later the prime minister of the Maurya Empire.

Because of its harsh political pragmatism, the Arthashastra has often been compared to Machiavelli's The Prince.

Is there any other book that talks so openly about when using violence is justified? When assassinating an enemy is useful? When killing domestic opponents is wise? How one uses secret agents? When one needs to sacrifice one's own secret agent? How the king can use women and children as spies and even assassins? When a nation should violate a treaty and invade its neighbor? Kautilya — and to my knowledge only Kautilya — addresses all those questions. In what cases must a king spy on his own people? How should a king test his ministers, even his own family members, to see if they are worthy of trust? When must a king kill a prince, his own son, who is heir to the throne? How does one protect a king from poison? What precautions must a king take against assassination by one's own wife? When is it appropriate to arrest a troublemaker on suspicion alone? When is torture justified? At some point, every reader wonders: Is there not one question that Kautilya found immoral, too terrible to ask in a book? No, not one. And this is what brings a frightful chill. But this is also why Kautilya was the first great, unrelenting political realist.

—Boesche (2002, p. 1)

Thus, Max Weber observed

Truly radical 'Machiavellianism', in the popular sense of that word, is classically expressed in Indian literature in the Arthasastra of Kautilya (written long before the birth of Christ, ostensibly in the time of Chandragupta): compared to it, Machiavelli’s The Prince is harmless.

—Max Weber, Politics as a Vocation (1919)^[16]

However, the scope of the work is broader than usual accounts indicate, and in it can also be found compassion for the poor, for slaves, and for women. For instance he advocates what is now known as land reform, and elsewhere ensures the protection of the chastity of female slaves.

Books of Arthashastra

Arthashastra is divided into 15 books:

1 Concerning Discipline
2 The Duties of Government Superintendents
3 Concerning Law
4 The Removal of Thorns
5 The Conduct of Courtiers
6 The Source of Sovereign States
7 The End of the Six-Fold Policy
8 Concerning Vices and Calamities
9 The Work of an Invader
10 Relating to War
11 The Conduct of Corporations
12 Concerning a Powerful Enemy
13 Strategic Means to Capture a Fortress
14 Secret Means
15 The Plan of a Treatise

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2010-11-22T05:49:00.000-08:00

Twenty questions about the lead-up to the Civil War

1. Question: Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a book by this title, which revealed the cruelty of slavery and helped to open the eyes of many. Hundreds of thousands of copies were published and it went on to have a huge historical impact.
Answer: "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

2. Question: True or false. Fugitive Slave Law was enforced more strictly after people read Beecher Stowe's book.
Answer: False

3. Question: True or false. Harriet Beecher Stowe had witnessed slavery first hand while living on her family's plantation.
Answer: False

4. Question: Written by Hinton R. Helper, this book was banned in the South. It suggested that those who suffered most from slavery were not the slaves, but rather the white people who did not own slaves.
Answer: "The Impending Crisis of the South".

5. Question: Having originally been excited about the Kansas-Nebraska split, what angered Southern people?
Answer: Newcomers were crossing from Nebraska to Kansas, some being abolitionists. The South assumed that they intended to take slavery out of Kansas and were furious.

6. Question: What incident involving abolitionist John Brown made the free-soil party look bad in 1856 and started a Civil War in Kansas?
Answer: He led an attack on five men who presumable supported slavery, actually chopping them up at Pottawatomie Creek.

7. Question: When Kansas tried to apply for statehood, those who were proslavery created a document called _____________________. It said that people could vote only "with" or "with no" slavery, rather than on the whole constitution. Consequently the polls were boycotted and the proslavery men got their way.
Answer: Lecompton Constitution.

8. Question: Who essentially stopped the Lecompton Constitution from going into effect by insisting on popular sovereignty? In other words, he insisted that people be able to vote on it, and when they did, it did not pass.
Answer: Senator Stephen A. Douglas.

9. Question: Kansas remained a territory until what year? a. 1858. b. 1860. c. 1861. d. 1863.
Answer: C. 1861

10. Question: He was a Senator from Massachusetts, who was strongly disliked in the political circle, and was a passionate abolitionist. He delivered a scathing message against proslaverites and was consequently physically attacked by a South-Carolina Congressman. a. Stephen A. Douglas. b. Charles Sumner. c. Preston S. Brooks. d. John Brown.
Answer: B. Charles Sumner

11. Question: He was a South Carolina Congressman who attacked a Senator from Massachusetts, and though what he did was frowned upon by the North, he was reelected to Congress. a. Stephen A. Douglas. b. Charles Sumner. c. Preston S. Brooks. d. John Brown.
Answer: C. Preston S. Brooks.

12. Question: Who did the Democrats nominate for president in 1856?
Answer: James Buchanan.

13. Question: What was the biggest issue of the 1856 presidential election?
Answer: Slavery

14. Question: Ex-president Millard Fillmore was nominated by this secretive party, which was opposed to immigrants and catholics.
Answer: American party (or Know-Nothing party).

15. Question: On March 6, 1857, the Supreme Court made a history changing decision, which may have ignited the Civil War. A black slave, having lived on free soil for years, sued for his freedom, but was denied it on the basis that he was not a citizen, but only a slave.
Answer: Dred Scott decision.

16. Question: During the financial crash of 1857, who was most affected by the resulting hardships? a. North. b. South. c. Both. d. Neither.
Answer: A. North

17. Question: After debating for years, Congress tried to pass the Homestead Act, but president Buchanan vetoed it. What would the plan have done had it been allowed to go into action? a. Given free land to farmers. b. Sold the land to farmers for a profit. c. Made the land available for $0.25 per acre. d. Gave pioneers 160 acres of land for farming.
Answer: C. Made the land available for $0.25 per acre.

18. Question: Give one economic platform of the Republican party during the election of 1860.
Answer: Farms for farmless people. Or Protection for unprotected Northernites.

19. Question: This lawyer from a poor Kentucky family, was largely self-educated and very honest. He had served only one congressional term before being nominated for Republican Senator in Illinois in 1858.
Answer: Abraham Lincoln

20. Question: How did John Brown die?
Answer: Intending to get an uprising of armed slaves to stand up against the South, he attacked an arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and killed several innocent people. Captured by Robert E. Lee, he was hanged for murder and treason, becoming somewhat of a martyr for the abolitionist cause.

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2010-11-14T20:19:00.001-08:00

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2010-10-30T23:08:00.000-07:00

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2010-09-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

Enolates and Amines

1. Enolate anion is formed by treating acetaldehyde with__________.
Ans: base
2. Enolate anion is a hybrid having an electronegative ________atom.
Ans: oxygen
3. Enolate anions are synthetic reagents which react at ________bonds in the chemical reactions.
Ans: carbon
4. Write the name of this structure.
Ans: Enolate Anion
5. _________________is produce if any reaction with the enolate anion occurs at the carbonyl oxygen.
Ans: Vinyl ether
6. If any reaction with the enolate anion occurs at ___________it leads to alkylation.
Ans: α-carbon
7. The counterion reduces the collision with the_________________.
Ans: oxygen
8. If an enolate anion were to react at the________________, the product would contain a C = O π bond.
Ans: alpha carbon
9. Complete this equation
Ans: The product of two acetones is a β-hydroxyketone.
10. When catalyzed by base the Aldol reactions are_______________.
Ans: reversible
11. Formaldehyde does not produce an enolate anion because it has no_____________.
Ans: α-hydrogen
12. Draw the structure of Benzaldehyde.
Ans:
13. ______________ charge into the nitro group causes acidity of the α-hydrogen of a nitroalkane.
Ans: Negative
14. In the intramolecular aldole reactions smaller rings form faster than larger rings because the reacting
groups are___________ together.
Ans: closer
15. Isopentenyi pyrophosphate has the carbon skeleton of___________, the unit into which terpenes can be divided.
Ans: isoprene
16. Enamines are superior to enolate anions as they are ________basic and consequently give higher ratios of substitution to elimination products.
Ans: less
17. Enamines undergo ________when treated with acid chlorides and acid anhydrides.
Ans: acylation
18. The acetoacetic ester synthesis is useful for the preparation of monosubstituted_____________.
Ans: acetone
True and False
1.Enolate anions can act as nucleophiles in sulfonate reactions.
Ans: True.
2. The majority of positive charge of an enolate anion is on the carbonyl oxygen.
Ans: False. The majority of negative charge of an enolate anion is on the carbonyl oxygen.
3. Li+ is a counter ion always associated with the enolate anion.
Ans: True.
4. The counter ions are tightly bonded with the alpha carbon in the enolate anions
Ans: False. The counter ions are tightly bonded with the oxygen atom.
5. Enolates are larger aggregates containing several counterions associated with several enolate oxygen atoms.
Ans: True.
1. Enolate anion is formed by treating acetaldehyde with__________.
Ans: base
2. Enolate anion is a hybrid having an electronegative ________atom.
Ans: oxygen
3. Enolate anions are synthetic reagents which react at ________bonds in the chemical reactions.
Ans: carbon
4. Write the name of this structure.
Ans: Enolate Anion
5. _________________is produce if any reaction with the enolate anion occurs at the carbonyl oxygen.
Ans: Vinyl ether
6. If any reaction with the enolate anion occurs at ___________it leads to alkylation.
Ans: α-carbon
7. The counterion reduces the collision with the_________________.
Ans: oxygen
8. If an enolate anion were to react at the________________, the product would contain a C = O π bond.
Ans: alpha carbon
9. Complete this equation
Ans: The product of two acetones is a β-hydroxyketone.
10. When catalyzed by base the Aldol reactions are_______________.
Ans: reversible
11. Formaldehyde does not produce an enolate anion because it has no_____________.
Ans: α-hydrogen
12. Draw the structure of Benzaldehyde.
Ans:
13. ______________ charge into the nitro group causes acidity of the α-hydrogen of a nitroalkane.
Ans: Negative
14. In the intramolecular aldole reactions smaller rings form faster than larger rings because the reacting
groups are___________ together.
Ans: closer
15. Isopentenyi pyrophosphate has the carbon skeleton of___________, the unit into which terpenes can be divided.
Ans: isoprene
16. Enamines are superior to enolate anions as they are ________basic and consequently give higher ratios of substitution to elimination products.
Ans: less
17. Enamines undergo ________when treated with acid chlorides and acid anhydrides.
Ans: acylation
18. The acetoacetic ester synthesis is useful for the preparation of monosubstituted_____________.
Ans: acetone
True and False
1.Enolate anions can act as nucleophiles in sulfonate reactions.
Ans: True.
2. The majority of positive charge of an enolate anion is on the carbonyl oxygen.
Ans: False. The majority of negative charge of an enolate anion is on the carbonyl oxygen.
3. Li+ is a counter ion always associated with the enolate anion.
Ans: True.
4. The counter ions are tightly bonded with the alpha carbon in the enolate anions
Ans: False. The counter ions are tightly bonded with the oxygen atom.
5. Enolates are larger aggregates containing several counterions associated with several enolate oxygen atoms.
Ans: True.

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2010-09-02T22:31:00.000-07:00

25 Questions in Organic Chemistry

PERIODIC TABLE
1. The three forms of elements at room temperature and pressure are __________, ____________ , ____________ .
Answer: solids, liquids, gases

2. How will you show that though elements are different as a group they show same property?
Answer: Elements of the same group for example fluorine ,chlorine , iodine combine with sodium in a ratio 1:1 to form NaF , NaCl ,NaBr, and NaI. These all are white solids that dissolve in water and conduct electricity. This shows that though elements are different as a group they show same property.

3. Periodic table was first proposed by ________________ .
Answer: John Newlands

4. The elements were arranged by John in the increasing order of ___________ .
Answer: atomic mass

5. The pattern designed by Newlands is called ---------------
Answer: law of octaves

6. According to Newlands elements of a row have similar ___________
Answer: physical and chemical property.

7. ___________ was the first to in vent periodic table.
Answer: Mendeleev

8. Moseley’s periodic table is based on _____________
a. Atomic number
b. Atomic mass
c. Molecular number
Answer: atomic number

9. How does Mendeleev ‘s table differ from Moseley’s table
Answer: In Mendeleev’s table which is arranged according to the increasing order of atomic mass all the elements do not fit inside whereas in Moseley’s table all elements fit inside as they are arranged according to the increasing order of atomic number.

10. Define periodic law
Answer: Periodic law states that when the elements are arranged according to their atomic number elements with similar properties appear at regular intervals.

11. The electrons in the outermost energy level are called __________ .
Answer: valence electrons.

12. True or false:
Elements with same valence electrons have similar property.
Answer: True, because only valence electrons participate in a reaction , they have same property.

13. Why do elements in the far left have one valence electron while that in the far right has eight electrons?
Answer he s and p orbital’s are filled in a sequential order. As they are arranged in the increasing order from left to right in the table the far left element has one electron and the far right has eight electrons.

14. Elements in the same period have _____________ occupied energy levels.
Answer: same

15. What do you mean by an element is placed in period 2?
Answer: It means the element’s electrons occupy two principal energy levels including the 2s and 2p orbital.

16. A periodic table is required to tell to which element
Answer: False, based on its electronic configuration its position can be predicted.

17. What do you understand from the fact that the electronic configuration of germanium
Is [Ar} 3d10 4s2 4p2
Answer: It means a. its principal quantum number is 4
b. It has four occupied energy levels.
c. It is placed in the period 4

18. What is the basic information you get from a periodic table?
Answer: The atomic number, symbol, name, atomic mass, electronic configuration of an element can be known.
The macronutrient essential for muscle action is ____________-
Answer: magnesium

19. The macronutrient essential for nerve action is __________-
Answer: potassium

20. The element that is required in small quantities for human life is ___________
Answer: micronutrients

21. The main group elements are also called _________________
Answer: representative elements

22. The main group elements have their outer most configuration as ___________
Answer: s and p orbitals

23. What are the elements that are found most abundantly in the earth?
Answer: silicon, oxygen

24. The main macronutrients our body needs are _____________
a. Hydrogen , oxygen , carbon
b. Potassium , magnesium , calcium
c. Titanium , germanium , silver
Answer: a

25. Why does potassium react with water?
Answer: Potassium is a alkali metal which tends to lose its outer most one valence electron easily to attain the stable configuration. Hence it reacts readily with water.

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2010-08-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

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2010-08-18T14:43:00.000-07:00

25 Questions on Social Psychology

1. Question: What is social psychology?

Answer: The study of the way that people relate to one another, influence each other and the way they think.

2. Question: People tend to explain behavior either by assuming it is part of a person's disposition or as a result of the situation. This explanation is called the _________________.

Answer: Attribution theory

3. Question: The frequent tendency to overestimate personality traits as being the main influence on behavior, while underestimating the influence of a given situation is called _______________________.

Answer: The fundamental attribution error

4. Question: Where would the fundamental attribution error be strongest?

a. In East Asian cultures

b. In tribal cultures

c. In Western cultures

d. In teenagers of any given culture.

Answer: C

5. Question: Our feelings, which come out of what we believe, and make us respond in a certain way to the object of our judgment are called ______________.

a. Attitudes

b. Judgments

c. Convictions

d. Predispositions

Answer: A

6. Question: Explain foot-in-the-door phenomenon

Answer: When a person agrees to a small favor or request, their tendency is to agree to agree to do something even bigger later. The smaller act makes the bigger one easier to agree to.

7. Question: A set of norms about particular positions we assume such as being married, starting a new job, etc. They tell us how we should behave in those positions and are called _____________.

a. Attitudes

b. Roles

c. Obligations

d. Responsibilities

Answer: B

8. Question: Leon Festinger proposed a theory, which explained that due to a feeling of discomfort for actions that are troubling, we might change our attitudes to fit our actions. This theory is called _____________________.

Answer: Cognitive dissonance theory

9. Question: People who tend to be most empathic to others and are liked by people, tend to

a. Unconscioulsy repeat most things the people around them say

b. Unconsciously mimic gestures and actions of the people they are around

c. Go out of their way to analyze what the people they speak to say

d. Put on a fake appearance of happiness to not bring people down.

Answer: B

10. Question: The adjustment of one's thinking and acting to match that of a group is called ________________.

a. Adaptation

b. Conformity

c. Personality camoflauge

d. Dissonance

Answer: B

11. Question: Which of the following factors is not likely to increase conformity?

a. The person is made to feel insecure and not confident of their answer

b. Person comes from a culture in which social standards are highly valued

c. Only one other person in the group has dissented

d. The group's status is one of appeal and power

Answer: C

12. Question: Explain normative social influence.

Answer: The influence, which comes from our attempts to avoid rejection or to fit in socially by getting approval.

13. Question: When we are willing to accept the opinions of other people concerning reality, we are being influenced by ____________________.

Answer: Informational social influence

14. Question: Stanley Milgram assigned volunteers to role or teacher, while confederates sat in a chair, attached to electric shocks. The teacher had to ask questions and administer electric shock to other person for wrong answers. What did this experiment show?

a. Most people are unwilling to cause pain to others, even if the other person is a stranger

b. Most people complied with the commands and felt little remorse

c. Most people agreed to continue experiment only if they assumed person was in perfect health and would not be negatively affected in the long run

d. Most people complied with the commands despite feeling stress and discomfort

Answer: D

15. Question: True or False. In Milgram's experiments, when subject complained of a heart condition, the 'teacher' was more sympathetic and felt more reluctant to administer shocks.

Answer: False.

16. Question: When such experiments were conducted in highly intellectual places such as a prestigious university, the people complied with commands to give shocks

a. Less often than other places

b. More often than other places

c. Same as anywhere else

d. Depended on whether person was a student at such university

Answer: B

17. Question: The occurence of performing better on fairly simple tasks, while someone else is present, is called _____________________.

Answer: Social facilitation

18. Question: True or false. Performance on high skill tasks is hindered by the presense of other people.

Answer: True

19. Question: A person is likely to exert less effort when doing a task as part of a group versus alone. This occurence is called _______________________.

Answer: Social loafing

20. Question: A person who seems to lose their self-restraint when in a group, and participate in something they might not usually, such as a food fight, is feeling riled up, but also invisible as a result of being in a group. This is called ___________________.

a. Deindividuation

b. Polarization

c. Dissociation

d. Loafing

Answer: A

21. Question: A person who is identifiable or alone, is ___________ likely to cause injury to others.

a. More

b. Less

c. Just as

d. Not at all

Answer: B

22. Question: As a result of discussion within a group on a topic agreed upon by the group ____________________ occurs, meaning that opinion is enhanced.

Answer: Group polarization

23. Question: In a high school where students are highly prejudice against a particular race, over time their prejudice is likely to

a. Lessen

b. Strengthen

c. Stay the same

d. Disappear

Answer: B

24. Question: Explain groupthink

Answer: The tendency, without strong opposition, to go ahead with group consesus in order to keep harmony, but ignoring realistic alternative

25. Question: True or False. A minority or individual almost never has the same power as a majority when it comes to making change happen.

Answer: False.

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2010-08-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

Collage for Learning Psychology

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2010-08-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

iPhone app for studying College Biology 101

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2010-08-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

iPhone apps from Crush That Test

Crush That Test Announces the release of iPhone applications for College Biology, College Psychology and College US Government

Redwood City, Calif., Aug 6, 2010 – Building on the foundation of deep research into learning styles and adaptive learning, Crush That Test, LLC. has released iPhone applications for College Biology 101, College Psychology 101 and College US Govt. 101 at http://itunes.apple.com/app/college-psych-101/id383031225?mt=8 designed for college students in their freshman and sophomore years.

The revolutionary applications are designed to be more appealing, interactive and engaging to capture and keep the attention of media savvy college students who are often exposed to a wide array of online learning solutions. Crush That Test Flashcards for Biology 101, for instance, assist students study faster and retain more biology concepts, particularly among those who struggle with memorization.

“An excellent GPA in college has become a requirement, not an option, for admission into the top graduate schools and to secure jobs in today’s tough economy. We are very excited about our eFlashcards and their potential to help students succeed in their quest for AP success,” said Crush That Test’s Senior Project Manager Jenya Mendelenko. “We have received rave reviews of our eFlashcards from students at a top University in Texas, who have said that they saw a direct improvement in their academic achievement. Early adoptions by students all over the world will allow us to work with experienced AP teachers who will help us demonstrate online learning’s clear strengths.” Using research-based methodologies, eFlashcards and eStudyguides at http://www.crushthattest.com engage all learners with media-rich content and comprehensive knowledge in Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, US Government, French, Physiology and US History. Organic Chemistry, Physics, and other subjects will follow in the coming weeks. The new iPhone-based courseware also provides anytime, anywhere access and empowers students to choose their preferred learning approach, thereby making lessons more personalized and has the greatest educational impact for each student.

“Numerous national studies show that the U.S. is experiencing near crisis proportions of students who are not proficient in the sciences as they enter college” said Crush That Test’s President and CEO, Sundar Nathan. “We built the new iPhone applications specifically to help students, colleges and professors meet the challenges of college admissions. Based on our initial feedback from pre launch demonstrations, educators and students are finding that it does that very well.” More than 500 teachers and 3000 students recently participated in customer advisory panels to review the new Crush That Test eFlashcards and eStudyguides.

Among those were a group of students whose feedback can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vedx0uwo__s

About Crush That Test®

Crush That Test, LLC. has offices in Redwood City, California, Austin, Texas and Chennai, India. The company is a cutting-edge publisher of online learning solutions that make learning easier and more efficient with their patented and scientifically proven tools

Best iPhone apps at AppStoreHQ

2010-08-05T08:51:00.001-07:00

Leadership Secrets from Ancient India - the Mahabharata War

Winning Strategy in the MAHABHARATA

View more presentations from Yaswanth Ravella.

2010-07-19T17:44:00.000-07:00

PHYSICS IS BEAUTIFUL - A COLLAGE in VUVOX...

2010-07-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

Hilarious Parody of the Old Spice Commercial!

2010-07-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

A ridiculously good read!

Amazon.com: SuperFreakonomics eBook: Levitt, Steven D., Dubner, Stephen J.: Kindle Store http://amzn.to/crdu3C

SuperFreakonomics challenges the way we think all over again, exploring the hidden side of everything with such questions as:

How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa?
Why are doctors so bad at washing their hands?
How much good do car seats do?
What's the best way to catch a terrorist?
Did TV cause a rise in crime?
What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common?
Are people hard-wired for altruism or selfishness?
Can eating kangaroo save the planet?
Which adds more value: a pimp or a Realtor?

Levitt and Dubner mix smart thinking and great storytelling like no one else, whether investigating a solution to global warming or explaining why the price of oral sex has fallen so drastically. By examining how people respond to incentives, they show the world for what it really is – good, bad, ugly, and, in the final analysis, super freaky.

Freakonomics has been imitated many times over – but only now, with SuperFreakonomics, has it met its match.

2010-07-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

I'll BET you didn't know about THESE dead presidents!

There have been many Presidents of the United States since the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, but few people realize that the Presidential history also includes a series of Presidents who lead the Colonies long before the United States was founded as a free nation. Even though the colonies were controlled by King George III, the Congress which governed the colonies under the King was lead by a President. By the time July 2, 1776 rolled around and the Declaration of Independence was signed, the colonies had already had two Presidents, Peyton Randolph and Henry Middleton. John Hancock was President during the year the United States declared our Independence from Britain.

John Hancock was, for all intents and purposes, the first President of the confederacy from 1776 through 1781. John Hancock was one of the first true patriots who led the fight for independence from the crown. It is for good reason that his signature comes first on the Declaration of Independence. He led the revolution in Boston and fought against the crown ahead of all other patriots. King George wanted John's head from the very moment the Declaration was delivered to the King. Once the revolution was won, all members of the new congress finally signed their names to the Declaration of Independence in 1771, and all 13 states ratified the new Confederacy in 1781.

Once Lord Cornwallis surrendered in 1781, Thomas McKean became the elected President of Congress. From 1781 through 1789, Presidents John Hanson, Elias Boudinot, Thomas Mifflin, Richard Lee, John Hancock, Nathaniel Gorham, Arthur St. Clair, and Cyrus Griffin, all served terms. Finally, George Washington was elected in 1789. By all accounts, George Washington was the certainly the first President who brought the States together as a united country.

George Washington's life leading up to his presidency was interesting. He impressed people around him, not with great speaking ability or charisma, but with his good sense and patriotic views. He started his military career as a young man on the Frontier. He fought with French soldiers at the start of the French and Indian War. After bravely leading the British to safety after a battle in Virginia, Washington was promoted to command Virginia's military. After winning various battles and bringing peace to Ohio, at twenty-seven years old, he married Martha Dandridge Custis, and retired to a plantation onMount Vernon. After farming for a number of years, in 1775 when he went from serving in the Continental Congress to once again commanding an army, but this time it was the Continental Army against the British in Boston.

After a number of crushing defeats before Washington's troops crossed the Delaware, Washington turned his troops around on Christmas night of 1776, in one of the greatest military operations inAmerican history. On that night, Washington's troops crossed back over the Delaware and overpowered the garrison at Trenton, and subsequently overtook the garrison at Princeton as well. After gaining Cornwallis' surrender in Yorktown, the Revolutionary war was won. Once again, Washington retired to his plantation on Mount Vernon.

The First "United States" President

Washington watched public affairs with dismay, as the union was weakened with debts from the war, inability to collect revenue, and overall impotence of the Confederation Congress. Washington wrote to James Madison that Congress needed a powerful Constitution. In 1787, Washington went to Philadelphia to attend the convention set up to modify the Articles of Confederation. After the Constitution was approved, the first presidential election was held, and despite his desire to retire once again to Mount Vernon, he received a vote from every single voter. George Washington remains the only president in U.S. history who has been voted for president unanimously by the people.

Please visit ListofPresidents.net for a great list of resources about United States Presidents!

2010-07-10T04:55:00.000-07:00

Teaching History with Classroom Games

Teaching history with classroom games can be fun as well as educational.

Games are a useful addition to the history lesson plan in that they break the routine of book-based activities. They also make for more interaction between students and teachers while promoting team work within the lesson when group activities are involved.

The kind of games incorporated into the lesson depends on the age-group of the students involved. There are also other considerations to take such as the budget of a given institution. Will there be finances available for the purchase of game-based educational technology and software?

Expensive educational software is not necessary for effective educational playing in lessons. Fill-in-the blanks questionnaires, word games, trivia tests and even guess who identification games can be prepared simply and cost effectively on the teacher’s computer and then either printed out and given to students or electronically sent to the students emails before lessons on history PowerPoint lessons.

History PowerPoint lessons are among the most popular form of educational technology for presenting classroom games. Not only can they be stored easily on CD-ROMs, but they can also be circulated among students electronically and also saved for next year’s class.

There are also games in which students imagine themselves as archaeologists recreating the past or explorers unearthing new continents in 3D form are examples of activities popular with most age groups. It is also advisable to spend time before the lesson finding your way around the site and what it involves. This will help you to be on your toes when students ask questions during the lesson.

The best thing about classroom games is that they are so versatile. The same format of activities can be used for U.S. History lesson plans as for World History lesson plans.

Professionally made classroom games can be purchased over the internet, and emailed directly to you. They can be re-used every year, giving teachers a lot of mileage from a single purchase. Also, given the hours it would take a teacher to produce the same materials, the prices are low.

They can be bought along with complete PowerPoint lesson plans, which is like having a "classroom in a box" with packages that include lessons, games, exams and more.

Besides being able to hold the attention of students, they are linked to national history standards and major state standards, which helps with state test prep, and can improve students' state test scores.

Classroom games are fun and educational and can be especially effective when combined with professionally produced PowerPoint materials.

Written by Muireann Prendergast. MultiMedia Learning LLC provides history classroom games, World history PowerPoints, as well as, and U.S. History PowerPoints. Learn more at http://www.multimedialearning.org.

2010-07-10T04:12:00.000-07:00

What the &^%$%$ do we know about Quantum Physics?

Perhaps at the last cocktail party you were at, you heard some hot-shot talking about quantum physics. "So basically," he said, "this scientist, Schroedinger, put his cat in a box with a vial of poison gas. The vial was set to break in an hour. Until you open up the box, you can't say "the cat is alive" or "the cat is dead." The cat is, as quantum physicists would say, in a state of quantum indeterminacy. Therefore, the breaking of the vial doesn't kill the cat, the conscious observation does."

Still with me? Disgruntled physicist Stephen Hawking, decades in the future, retorted, "Whenever I hear about Schroedinger's Cat, I reach for my gun." But because guns don't kill people, it's actually the conscious observation that kills, this leads to a whole new set of fascinating questions. If conscious observation has the power to change our reality, what does this mean for the world?

We all know Einstein's infamous equation E=MC2, and some of us know that it proves the correlative nature of matter and energy. Matter becomes energy and vice versa - this is the engine of the universe. The smallest particles in quantum physics are quanta - tiny bits of energy. Therefore, all the matter that comprises our bodies consists of quanta, which follow the rules of quantum physics.

Look through that guy at the cocktail party. He is just a collection of elementary particles of energy. As you will soon see, thinking of the world as energy leads to some very interesting consequences. Matter seems so immutable, but energy, with energy we can have fun.

By observing the world as patterns of energy, you are given an "in" into the underpinnings of reality. If you don't want someone to exist, simply will them out of your observation. Leave the room. Quit the job. Poof! Negative situation no longer exists. You don't need to reach for your gun.

This is supported by the ground-breaking Two-Slit experiment. A fixed electron gun fires electrons through a wall with two slits at another wall behind. The particles go through the slits, but then land willy-nilly all over the back wall, as if they were waves of light. Only when photons are shot at the electrons, illuminating them, do they behave like particles should. This proves that electron guns don't kill people; it's the act of using them in ridiculous experiments to prove confusing hypotheses that does.

We Are Always Observing Ourselves and the World

More to the point, observation, thought and energy change the world. How many times have we thought or worried about a hypothetical situation, only to see it happen? "See, I told you the hamster would escape!" Maybe the hamster didn't have to escape. Before he ran out of he cage, he was in a state of quantum indeterminacy between "caged" and "escaped." Your constant worried energy acted like a stream of protons that weighed their quantum probability toward "escaped," so then the next time you opened their home...they were gone. When energy underpins everything, all thoughts from your energetic vantage point create reality.

I am no scientist. I am a business owner and a writer, but quantum physics, both in its popular interpretation and in its deeper scientific implications, is somewhat beyond me. But hey, it's not about me. Quantum physics is about you, and what you take from the ideas involved. Now you know enough about it so that at the next party, you can be that guy or girl talking quantum physics. You too can experience the feeling of having your quanta erased from existence by the disgruntled party guest that you once were when that person turns his or her back on you, effectively taking charge of reality in order to make out with your significant other.

You can take advantage of Quantum Physics For Dummies to start altering your thinking in order to get different results. However, you still need to be in the right environment. This author recommends visiting Quantum Physics For Dummies blog post to see how you can apply these principles to change your life.

2010-07-09T10:23:00.000-07:00

From Gene to Protein: Twenty questions about Translation in Genetics

1. Why do dwarf peas fall to make their own gibberellins?
Ans. The dwarf peas are missing a key protein, as enzymes required for gibberellins synthesis.

2. The process by which DNA directs protein synthesis is called ________,which includes two stages called transcription and __________.
Ans. gene expressions , translation

3. Dwarf peas lacks the growth hormone called ________, which stimulates the normal elongation of stems.
Ans. gibberellins.

4. In a hereditary condition called alkaptonuria why the urine becomes black colour?
Ans. The urine becomes black colour because it contains the chemical alkapton, which darkens upon exposure to air.

5. Most nutritional mutants can survive on a complete growth medium, minimal medium supplemented with all 20 amino acid and a few other nutrients. (true/false)
Ans. true

6. Give two example of nonenzyme protein?
Ans. The structural protein of animal hair and hormone insulin.

7. Translaction is the actual synthesis of a polypeptide which occurs under the direction of _________.
ANS. m RNA

8. Each nucleotide along a DNA strand has A,G,C or T as its base and each nucleotide along a RNA strand has A,G,C or U as its base. (true/false)
Ans. true

9. The bridge between DNA and protein synthesis is the ______________
Ans. nucleic acid RNA.

10. If each nucleotide base were translated into an amino acid, only ________ of 20 amino acid would be specified.
a. 5
b. 4
c. 8
d. 15
Ans. b

11. Triplets of nucleotide bases are the largest unit of uniform length that can code for all the amino acids.(true/false)
Ans. false

12. RNA -------DNA-----PROTEIN (true/false)
Ans. false

13. Transcription occurs in ________ and m RNA is transported to the cytoplasm where translation occurs.
Ans. nucleus

14. Each RNA transcript can be translated repeatedly. (true/false)
Ans. true

15. Why a m RNA molecule is complementary rather than identical to its DNA template?
Ans. An m RNA molecule is complementary rather than identical to its DNA template because RNA bases are assembled on the template according to base pairing rules.

16. During _________ the gene determines the sequence of base along the length of an m RNA molecule.
Ans. transcription

17. The m RNA base triplets are called _________
Ans. codons

18. It takes 300 nucleotides along an m RNA strand to code for a polypeptide that is _________ amino acid long.
a. 200
b. 150
c. 100
d. 300
Ans. c

19. During translation the sequences of codons along an m RNA molecule is _______ or _________ into a sequence of amino acid making up a polypeptide chain.
Ans. decoded , translated

20. Like a new strand of DNA, the RNA molecule is synthesized in an antiparallel direction to the template strand of DNA. (true/false)
Ans. true

For more information about Translation from Gene to Protein, go to:

http://www.crushthattest.com
http://www.menteon.com

2010-07-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

First Recording of Mahatma Gandhi ever...

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He pioneered satyagraha—resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, a philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa, or total nonviolence, which helped India to gain independence, and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is often referred to as Mahatma Gandhi ([məɦaːt̪maː]; Sanskrit: महात्मा mahātmā or "Great Soul", an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore),^[1] and in India also as Bapu (Gujarati: બાપુ, bāpu or "Father"). He is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence.

Gandhi first employed civil disobedience while an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, during the resident Indian community's struggle there for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he organised protests by peasants, farmers, and urban labourers concerning excessive land-tax and discrimination. After assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns to ease poverty, expand women's rights, build religious and ethnic amity, end untouchability, and increase economic self-reliance. Above all, he aimed to achieve Swaraj or the independence of India from foreign domination. Gandhi famously led his followers in the Non-cooperation movement that protested the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (240 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930. Later, in 1942, he launched the Quit India civil disobedience movement demanding immediate independence for India. Gandhi spent a number of years in jail in both South Africa and India.

2010-07-06T05:31:00.000-07:00

College Psychology 101 - 20 Questions about Consciousness

1. Question: Briefly explain the history of studying consciousness in psychology.

Answer: Psychology began as a study of consciousness, but as behaviorism emerged, consciousness was pushed out. Neuroscience with its advances brought consciousness back in focus after the 1960.

2. Question: Define consciousness

Answer: Awareness of our own selves and the environment in which we live

3. Question: Conscious awareness is focused on a certain stimulus through ___________.

Question: Selective attention

4. Question: When we focus our attention on something in particular, we may not notice something else in our sight. This is a result of ____________________.

Answer: Inattention blindness

5. Question: If a person giving directions to another, fails to notice that something importation is suddenly different about the person to whom they are speaking, they are experiencing what?

a) Choice blindness

b) Change blindness

c) Inattention blindness

d) Hallucinations

Answer: B

6. Question: The _____________ exists when out attention is drawn to a stimuli that stands out as different from others.

Answer: Pop-out phenomenon

7. Question: _____________ processing allows us to process some information simultaneous and even unconsciously.

a) Serial

b) Complete

c) Parallel

d) Subconscious

Answer: C

8. Question: This type of processing lets us solve new problems and requires more attention.

a) Serial

b) Parallel

c) Selective

d) Complete

Answer: A

9. Question: True or False. Dolphins can sleep with one eye open and with only half of their brain.

Answer: True

10. Question: Our biological clock is otherwise called our _________________, and is the way our bodies are synchronized with the night/day cycle of 24 hours.

Answer: Circadian rhythm

11. Question: Typically, as we get older, our high energy peaks change from __________ to _____________.

a) Late night to early mornings

b) Mid day to late night

c) Early morning to late night

d) They don’t change

Answer: A

12. Question: The control for our circadian clock is located in what part of the brain?

Answer: Hypothalamus (or suprachiasmatic nucleus)

13. Question: The production of melatonin, the sleep inducing hormone is __________ in the morning and _______ at night.

Answer: Low, high

14. What is the function of SCN – suprachiasmatic nucleus?

Answer: It controls the production of melatonin and our circadian clock.

15. Question: What is the effect of artificial light on sleep?

Answer: It disrupts and delays our sleep

16. Question: We pass through _________ stages of sleep, about every ________ minutes.

Answer: 5 stages, 90 minutes

17. Question: This sleep stage includes vivid dreams and eyes tend to move almost nonstop.

Answer: REM sleep

18. Question: Why might REM sleep also carry the name Paradoxical Sleep?

Answer: Because the muscles seem to be almost fully relaxed while other systems remain active, and brain activity is energetic.

19. Question: While relaxed, but still awake, our brain produces slow _____________.

Answer: Alpha waves

20. Question: True or False. If we pay close attention, we will be able to identify the exact moment we transition into sleep.

Answer: False. We cannot tell

2010-07-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

20 questions in Organic Chemistry

1. What is Organic Chemistry?

Answer: Organic chemistry is the chemistry of the compounds of carbon.

2. What are the two classes of chemical compounds?

Answer: Inorganic compounds and organic compounds.

3. Where do the inorganic compounds come from?

Answer: Inorganic compounds are those obtained from minerals.

4. Where do the organic compounds come from?

Answer: The organic compounds are obtained from vegetable or animal sources, in other words, from material produced by living organisms.

5. What common aspect can be found in all organic compounds?

Answer: They all contain the element Carbon.

6. How most organic compounds are obtained these days?

Answer: Most compounds are synthesized from other organic compounds. Some are synthesized from inorganic substances like carbonates or cyanides.

7. What are the two largest reservoirs of organic material?

Answer: petroleum and Coal (fossil fuels).

8. Mention some of the alternative sources of power.

Answer: Solar, Geothermal, Wind, Waves, tides and nuclear energy.

9. Where do the fossil fuels originally come from?

Answer: They come from Biomass.

DID YOU KNOW: The number of compounds that contain carbon is many times greater than the number of compounds that do not contain carbon?

10. What is special about carbon atoms?

Answer: Carbon atoms have the tendency to attach to one another greater than any other atom. They form chains, long and short, or rings of all sizes; the chains and rings may also have branches and cross-links.

11. Apart from itself, which atoms does carbon attach itself to?

Answer: They are usually attached to hydrogen, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorous among many others.

NOTE: Each different arrangement of atoms corresponds to a different compound and each compound has its own set of characteristic set of chemical and physical properties.

12. What are the various fields in which organic chemistry is used?

Answer: It is the chemistry of drugs and dyes, paper and ink, paints and plastics, gasoline and rubber tires, food we eat and clothes we wear. In fact, living organisms are also chiefly made of organic compounds.

13. What is Structural theory? Mention its importance.

Answer: The structural theory is the framework of ideas about how atoms are put together to make molecules. It has to do with the order in which atoms are attached to each other, and with the electrons that hold them together. It has to do with the shapes and sizes of the molecules that these atoms form, and with the way that electrons are distributed over them.

14. How are atoms and molecules represented?

Answer: The atomic nuclei are represented by letters or plastic balls, and the electrons that join them by lines or dots. A molecule is often represented by a picture or a model or a combination of pictures or models.

15. What information does a good molecular model portray?

Answer: a good molecular model tell us a good deal about the compound, how to go about making it, what physical properties to expect of it- melting point, boiling point, specific gravity, the kinds of solvents the compound will dissolve in, whether it will be colored or not, the kind of reagents it will react with and the kinds of products formed and whether it will react slowly or rapidly.

16. What is a chemical bond?

Answer: A chemical bond represents the forces that bind the atoms together.

17. What are the two kinds of chemical bonds?

Answer: The two kinds of chemical bonds are ionic bond and covalent bond. Both these bonds arise from the tendency of atoms to have their outer shell filled with electrons to achieve stability, as in the noble gases.

18. What is an ionic bond?

Answer: Ionic Bonds are formed from transfer of electrons. The electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged ions is called an ionic bond. Such bonds are typical of salts formed by the combination of an electropositive element with an electronegative element. Example lithium fluoride.

19. What is a covalent bond?

Answer: Covalent bonds are formed from sharing of electrons. The electrostatic attraction between each electron and both nuclei results in a covalent bond. Example HF, H₂O, NH₃, CH₄ and CF₄

20. What is Quantum mechanics?

Answer: It is the theory developed in 1926 by Edwin Schrodinger which deals with the mathematical expressions to describe the motion of an electron in terms of its energy. These equations were named as wave equations because electrons show properties of not only particles but also of waves.

For more information, go to http://www.crushthattest.com

2010-07-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

56 men who signed the declaration of independence...

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!

It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games.

http://www.crushthattest.com has more on US History.