I have always known there was something wrong with me from the time I was a child. When I was about 10 or 11 years old, my mom took me to see a therapist. After about a half dozen sessions of me sitting there with my arms crossed and silent the entire time, my mom quit taking me. When I was 12, I lost my grandmother who meant more than life itself to me. My grandmother had mental health issues in her past and seemed to understand that there was something "different" about me, but genuinely loved me nonetheless. She took an interest in me, spent considerably more time with me than her other grandchildren, and took care of me. Her death marked a turning point in my life that has been a downhill roll over since.
My first suicide attempt was when I was 19. Like an idiot, I took about 2 handfuls of 800mg prescription Motrin which resulted in throwing up blood. That was the first of many hospitalizations to come. I was diagnosed then as being Bipolar which just seems to me to be a catchall diagnosis. I took medication for a period of time before giving up on the process. In 2002, I was formally diagnosed by a psychologist who took his time diagnosing me only after having seen me for a period of a few months. While I had at least some hope before for help to be received by being Bipolar, that changed once I got the BPD diagnosis.
Fast forward a few years and at 22 years of age, I became a mother. I was not prepared to be a mother or that the partner I was with would be as unsupportive as he was. When my daughter was 4 years old, I lost custody for the first time for more than a year. When she was 11, I lost custody again but I regained custody after about 4 months. In 2010, I lost custody again and eventually ended up with my daughter in a guardianship situation in which I have had very little time to see her. Two weeks ago, I attempted to contact the guardian to visit and I have not heard anything back. To say that I have been in a severe emotional tailspin ever since would be an understatement.
I've been through years and years of therapy and medication only to see no improvement in my condition. I've read everything I can about BPD hoping to get some sort of insight and find ways of coping. In early 2011, I tried committing suicide and very nearly succeeded. I took handfuls of anti anxiety medication, narcotic pain meds, and sleep meds. I woke up a week later, intibated, from a coma and in full liver failure. Apparently, I was shocked my the electric paddles from the paramedics to restart my heart. I was so angry at having woken up and I still am. Immediately after I left the hospital, my brother filed a restraining order against me which caused me to lose my home. Over the course of the year, I lost my fiance, several close friends, my albeit rocky relationship with my brother, 2 substantial car accidents, and most of the money I had saved. My aunt took me in and I have been living here since. Several months ago, my brother found out I was attending church and started going to the same one. One evening as he left, he told me he loved me. I felt anger and rage inside me, from his audacity to say he loved me. Someone who loved me would never have turned their back on me. I stuck with him through his lifes trials and he apparently refused to for me.
Ever since losing custody of my daughter permanently about 2 months ago, I've realized that absolutely everything in me has died. I hardly leave the house, rarely answer the phone, and try not to ever mention anything about how I am feeling because I have become sick to death of hearing "it will all be okay", "time heals all wounds", "turn to the Lord..." I feel more disconnected than ever from God and my faith and I was raised in church. I went from being an amazingly social person who volunteered, worked, went to school, etc. into absolutely nothing. My suicidal thoughts are constant and can overwhelm me at any moment, in the grocery store, driving, waking me in the middle of the night, etc. In some silly way, at least I felt whole before, but now I feel as if I am in a million little pieces ever so carefully being held together by a string. My health has declined significantly in the last year and a half. I wish every day that I was able to have ended it a year ago because living in such unbearable gut wrenching pain is not a way to live.
NEW YORK ? Earnings season may be only half over, but the focus on profits should subside next week as investors turn their attention to the coming election and Friday's jobs report, the last major data release before the Nov. 6 contest.
More bellwether companies are scheduled to report results in what will be another "peak week" of the earnings season. Such a flurry of numbers normally holds Wall Street's attention and can lead to market swings. But volume and volatility may be slight next week, with market participants opting to remain on the sidelines ahead of the jobs data and the election.
The U.S. government's October jobs report will give a snapshot of the current labor market. It could also give a bit of a lift to President Barack Obama, should it come out better than anticipated, or help Republican candidate Mitt Romney ? if it is worse than forecast.
Polls currently indicate that President Obama is a slight favorite to win on Nov. 6, but the race will be tight. The most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll of likely voters shows the president ahead ? 47 percent to 46 percent.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 1.5 percent this week, largely because of a spate of earnings disappointments. The Dow Jones industrial average slid 1.8 percent this week, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 0.6 percent.
What's notable, however, is that rebounds have been brief and quick to attract sellers.
Eyes on the election Some investors cited the approaching election as a barrier to committing new capital to the market.
"Not many people have the stomach to plop down their bets when polling is so close," said Hayes Miller, the Boston-based head of asset allocation in North America at Baring Asset Management. "For the most part, investors will wait and see what happens."
Miller, who helps oversee more than $50 billion in assets, said the trend of caution would be especially pronounced in the health care, financial and energy sectors ??three areas that may face different regulatory outlooks, depending on the election's outcome.
"These are the ones really in play," he said.
Expectations for the next nonfarm payrolls report, set for release on Friday, are by no means certain, either. Analysts expect 124,000 jobs were added in October ? up 10,000 from September. However, the unemployment rate is also seen ticking higher ? to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent.
A payroll surprise in either direction could further cloud expectations for the election's outcome.
"A big change in payrolls could cause some uncertainty over the winner," said Jerry Harris, president of asset management at Sterne Agee, in Birmingham, Ala. "I don't expect a big surprise, but while the S&P doesn't seem especially vulnerable at these levels, I don't think it is in a hurry to go up, either."
The market will also have to contend with the weather. Hurricane Sandy is expected to hit the U.S. East Coast early in the week. New York City officials were considering closing down bus and subway lines next week.
At the New York Stock Exchange, the plans call for business as usual. The exchange issued a statement on Friday saying it has contingency plans to have the market running, adding that it has back-up power generation facilities. The Big Board will make accommodations for critical staff and traders.
Rival marketplace NASDAQ OMX said in a statement that it has plans to make sure its systems are ready. It will communicate with its members before, up to and after the storm.
Goldman Sachs & Co. told employees in an internal memo Sunday that the firm will be open for business on Monday, though only employees "critical" to operations will be asked to get to downtown Manhattan, and then only if they can do so safely.
Goldman will have other employees working from Greenwich, Connecticut, and Princeton, New Jersey, and many employees will work from home as well, the memo said.?
Disappointing earnings While the market at large may be waiting on news events, individual stocks could still be volatile as earnings season grinds along. More than half of the S&P 500 components have reported results so far. Next week, though, will bring reports from some marquee names such as Dow components Chevron and Pfizer, as well as S&P 500 stalwarts Visa, Ford Motor and Starbucks.
This earnings season, a number of high-profile companies have missed estimates, including this week's sour notes from Apple, United Technologies and DuPont.
With 54 percent of the S&P 500 companies having reported results so far, 62.5 percent have topped earnings expectations, under the 67 percent average over the past four quarters. Just 37 percent have topped revenue forecasts, well under the 55 percent over the past four quarters.
The earnings disappointments led to some intensive selling, driving the Dow industrials down 243.36 points on Tuesday alone.
The S&P 500 has ended down in five of the past seven trading sessions. Those declines have pushed the benchmark S&P under its 50-day moving average of around 1,434, leading some analysts to believe it may be ready for a bounce.
"We'll use any pullback as an opportunity to buy," said Chip Cobb, senior vice president at Bryn Mawr Trust Asset Management in Bryn Mawr, Pa. "Even though we've seen a number of companies miss expectations and be overly cautious, we're focusing on how a majority have beaten."
Cobb said next week he was especially looking to results from U.S. Steel. Its stock is down almost 20 percent so far this year.
"Steel companies have been participating really poorly, and I'm anxious to see if that will continue," he said.
More business news:
Follow NBCNews.com business onTwitter and Facebook
If you'd wanted to watch Aereo's unique antenna-to-internet TV streaming until today, you had to tune in from an iOS device or Roku box. That's not a lot of choice for placeshifting, is it? A fresh update to the company's streaming service has widened the choices considerably for New Yorkers to include all the major browsers on Macs and Windows PCs. As long as you're using a recent version of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera or Safari, you can catch up on Ion or Telemundo while you're checking email. About the only restrictions left are the continued lack of Android support and occasional lawsuits from traditionalist broadcasters.
ST. LOUIS (AP) ? Giants manager Bruce Bochy expects Marco Scutaro to be in his lineup card for Game 3 of the NL championship series, two days after St. Louis sluggerMatt Holliday plowed into the San Francisco second baseman.
"I think so. It feels much better," Scutaro said Tuesday night after participating in a workout at Busch Stadium. "I thought it was going to be worse. Normally, the next day is when you feel it the most."
Neither seemed too interested in any talk of retaliation.
"What's on our mind is to go out and play our best ball," Bochy said Tuesday night, a day before the best-of-seven series resumes at Busch Stadium with the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals tied at one game apiece. "That's over. You have to move on."
Scutaro said a shutout from Matt Cain would be perfect and knew nothing about get-even plans. If Matt Holliday approached him before the game, he joked that the Cardinals slugger would be in for a fight.
The recollection of the play was vivid.
"All of a sudden, I just saw this train coming," he said. "I didn't have time to do pretty much anything. I don't even know how I threw the ball to first, but I think I did, huh?"
He added that if Holliday had slid any farther, "probably you're going to make it to shortstop."
Results of an MRI exam showed Scutaro has a strained left hip after Holliday's late slide while busting up a double play. Bochy said Scutaro also had a sore left knee, and the manager had planned on holding him out of practice after the team flight arrived from the West Coast.
"We're being hopeful he can go," Bochy said. "I will say he's more optimistic about where he's at right now than when it first happened."
Cain, who will face fellow 16-game winner Kyle Lohse, said little about any possible animosity. Cain added that he wouldn't be afraid to throw inside against Holliday.
"You've got to go out there and pitch your game," Cain said. "If something gets away from me inside, that's kind of part of the game. You can't have a fear of doing that."
The 36-year-old Scutaro was an unexpected find for the Giants, batting .362 with 40 runs and 44 RBIs in 61 games after being acquired in late July from the Rockies for a minor league infielder. He's batting .250 with three RBIs in the playoffs, but has stepped it up in the NLCS, going 4 for 8 with two RBIs.
"He's driven in a lot of two-out runs and gotten rallies going for us as well," Cain said. "He's been really, really big for us."
Bochy reiterated his opinion that Holliday had made an "illegal slide," but said he hadn't talked with St. Louis manager Mike Matheny or anyone else on the Cardinals.
"I don't think there was intent, to be honest, hurting somebody," Bochy said. "But it was late. Marco was behind the bag, he really didn't hit dirt until he got behind the base.
"And the second baseman, he's in a position there where there can be some damage done, as we saw. He came out of this plenty good considering how hard he got hit."
Added Scutaro: "I don't know too much about sliding rules, but I think it was a little late. I don't think he was intentionally doing it."
Scutaro came out of Game 2 in the fifth inning because he was having trouble running, particularly side to side. He said his leg had gone numb, too.
Pain in the left knee developed on Tuesday, and Scutaro said both the hip and knee were stiff during the workout. If he can't start, Ryan Theriot would play second.
St. Louis didn't work out Tuesday after a late-night return flight to the Midwest. The exception was a 49-pitch simulated game by Jake Westbrook, who is recovering from a strained right oblique and is hopeful of rejoining the staff if St. Louis makes it to the World Series.
After Game 2, Holliday said he relayed an apology of sorts to Giants catcher Busty Posey before his next at-bat.
"I told Buster to tell Marco I wish I had started my slide a step earlier," Holliday said. "I wanted him to know I wasn't trying to hurt him. When a guy has to leave the game, I feel bad."
Holliday also defended his hard-nosed approach.
"When I'm at first and see a grounder to short, I'm just trying to make sure they can't turn the double play," Holliday said. "He was right on second base. I hope he's OK. He's a good guy."
Back at home, where Holliday will get cheers instead of boos, Matheny said what happened is just part of the game.
"To me, what I see is a guy who I've never seen one act of trying to hurt anybody," Matheny said. "And I would never believe that's what he was trying to do. I know what Matt's intentions were and he was thinking about his team at the time."
Lohse hopes to end a string of early exits for Cardinals starters in Game 3. He's all about efficiency, avoiding extended at-bats and letting hitters get themselves out.
St. Louis has gone three straight games without a starter getting an out in the fifth inning. Matheny said travel days during the postseason lessen the burden and keep pitchers fresh. Still, he'd rather not keep making those early trips to the mound.
"You have strong starting pitching, you have an opportunity to be successful," Matheny said. "Otherwise, you're fighting an uphill battle all the time and it seems like you're constantly coming back."
Lohse needed just 87 pitches to complete a strong seven-inning outing his last time out. He did not get a decision in a 2-1 loss to the Nationals in Game 4 of the NL division series. Lohse worked six innings or longer and threw fewer than 100 pitches 11 times during the regular season.
"It's not really a secret: I rely on getting first-pitch strikes, getting ahead of the guys and making them hit my pitch," Lohse said. "That's my version of pitching to contact. I'm not out there trying to strike guys out. I want them out in three or four pitches and move on."
He'll try not to carry any extra burden into this start.
"We've had our ups and downs as the rotation goes," Lohse said. "You can't put more pressure on yourself to go out there and do more. I can't go out there and try to throw seven innings all at once."
Cain was ex-Cardinals manager Tony La Russa's choice as the NL All-Star game starter in July. The right-hander hasn't gone deep in either of his postseason starts, giving up six runs over 10 2-3 innings.
Cain struggled against the Cardinals this year, going 1-1 with a 6.94 ERA in two starts, and is 2-3 with a 4.94 ERA overall in eight starts.
Cain recalled a start in 2006 or '07 when Albert Pujols "took me to Big Mac Land."
"I haven't had a ton of starts in this ballpark," Cain said. "I think the biggest thing is just making good pitches, and at times I didn't make good pitches against these guys."
The Giants' probable pitchers for Games 4 and 5 remain "TBA" for now according to Bochy, who said he'd reveal his choices after Game 3 depending on who he used in that game.
"I have not named a starter, really, because I don't have to right now," Bochy said. "That's my biggest reason. And we'll see what happens tomorrow."
George Zimmerman is seen in a photo shortly after he shot and killed Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., in February.
A Florida judge has set June 10, 2013 as the start date of the murder trial of George Zimmerman.
Zimmerman, 29, a former neighborhood watch volunteer, is charged with second-degree murder for shooting and killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26.
Zimmerman claimed self-defense in the case and has pleaded not guilty.
Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter
Attorneys in the case said they estimate the trial will last three weeks, and Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda said he expected the jury selection would take longer than the trial itself, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Circuit Court Judge Debra Nelson was appointed to the case in late August after the former judge in the case made disparaging remarks about Zimmerman?s character and advocated for additional charges against him during a bond hearing.
A hearing is set for Friday for Nelson to hear arguments on several new motions, including the defense asking for more time to interview state witnesses, reported NBCMiami.com.?
Zimmerman, whose father is white and whose mother is Peruvian, says he shot Martin, who was black, in self-defense after following him in a gated community in Sanford. Police questioned Zimmerman but initially decided against pressing charges.
The lack of an arrest or charges sparked protests nationwide, with critics alleging that Zimmerman confronted Martin because of his race. Zimmerman's supporters denied that.
The decision whether to arrest Zimmerman was delayed for several weeks because Zimmerman had indicated that he would argue self-defense under Florida's so-called Stand Your Ground law, which shields subjects from prosecution if a judge determines that the shooting was justified to protect life or property.
Zimmerman is currently out of jail on bail. He and his wife, Shellie, who is charged with perjury in the case for her claims that the couple had no money at a bond hearing, are both living in hiding in Seminole County, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
More content from NBCNews.com:
Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
LUXOR, Egypt (AP) ? A teacher in southern Egypt punished two 12-year-old schoolgirls for not wearing the Muslim headscarf by cutting their hair, the father of one girl said Wednesday, in an incident that stokes concerns over personal rights following the rise of Islamist political movements.
The governor of Luxor province where the incident occurred called the teacher's actions "shameful" and said she had been transferred to another school. But rights groups say that some Islamic conservatives have been emboldened by the success of groups like Muslim Brotherhood and the ultraconservative Salafi trend in parliamentary and presidential elections and have been increasingly brazen about forcing their standards on other Egyptians.
The incident follows a surge in legal cases against Egyptians, mostly Christians, who allegedly showed contempt for religion. The trial of one, Alber Saber, opened Wednesday but was postponed.
It also comes amid a fierce debate over how the role of religion will be defined in the country's new constitution. The preponderance of Islamists on the panel drafting the document has alarmed liberals and religious minorities.
In the village of Qurna in Luxor province, 500 kilometers (300 miles) south of Cairo, Berbesh Khairi El-Rawi said the teacher forced the two girls to stand with their hands above their heads for two hours and then cut their hair in their school.
El-Rawi, the father of one of the two girls, told The Associated Press that he filed a complaint after the Oct. 10 incident with the prosecutor's office in Luxor. He had no further comment.
The prosecutor's office declined to comment on the case. Provincial governor Ezzat Saad confirmed the teacher had been transferred for a "shameful" act but did not otherwise comment.
The teacher, Eman Abu Bakar, could not be reached. She told the Egyptian semi-official newspaper al-Ahram that the amount of hair she cut off of the girls' heads "did not exceed two centimeters" (one inch).
Abu Bakar was quoted as saying she only resorted to cutting her students' hair after warning them repeatedly to cover their heads. After these repeated warnings, a student handed her a scissors from his bag, and that he and other students asked her to "implement" her threats.
In a photo published by Al-Ahram, Abu Bakar is shown wearing the niqab, a garment that covers everything but a woman's eyes.
Most Muslim women in Egypt wear the headscarf, but increasing numbers now wear the more conservative niqab.
Ziad Abdel Tawab of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights said the incident was alarming but not surprising.
"Whether in schools or outside schools, the general sentiment is that any abusive action, if it is justified as protection of Islam, is tolerable," he said.
Meanwhile, a Cairo court postponed proceedings in the trial of 27-year-old Coptic Christian activist Alber Saber, who faces charges of insulting religion, to November 14.
Saber was arrested last month after neighbors complained he had posted an anti-Islam film that has sparked protests across the Muslim world to his Facebook page, but investigators didn't find them. Nonetheless, Saber was put on trial and now faces a six-year prison sentence and fines.
His lawyer Ahmed Ezzat said in an emailed statement that all proceedings against Saber have involved serious legal breaches that should result in the nullifying of any evidence put forward against him.
Ezzat also said that after Saber's arrest on September 13, a police officer incited others detained in the station to attack Saber, resulting in detainees beating him and cutting him with a razor blade. A police officer at the station denied the report, speaking anonymously as he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui of Amnesty International said in a statement Wednesday that blasphemy cases like the one against Saber "set a dangerous precedent for the Egyptian authorities' tolerance of freedom of expression in the country."
"Criticism of religions and other beliefs and ideas is a vital component of the right to freedom of expression," Sahraoui said. "Laws - such as blasphemy laws - that criminalize such criticism violate human rights."
The rights group said that Saber's lawyers "fear for his safety in prison and outside if released. They also fear for the safety of his mother and sister who have been threatened and forced to leave their home which was surrounded by angry mobs."
In another incident that raised concerns over the freedom of expression, a top parliamentarian suspended the editor-in-chief of a state-owned newspaper for publishing a report deemed an offense to the military.
Ahmed Fahmy, the head of the Islamist-dominated Shura Council upper house of parliament, named a replacement for Gamal Abdel-Rahim after his paper, al-Gomhuria, published a Wednesday report claiming that authorities would soon bar the country's former top military leaders from traveling abroad pending an investigation into alleged corruption and the deaths of protesters during their 17 months in power.
The paper quoted an unnamed judicial source. The report was later denied by the Ministry of Justice, and a member of the armed forces protested what he called an "offense" to the military, the state Middle East News Agency said.
The move to replace Abdel-Rahim prompted criticism from journalists and media watchdog groups. Although the state-owned media formally belong to the Shura Council, which appoints the editors, journalists say it is not the business of the council to take disciplinary measures for publishing offenses.
A group of Abdel-Rahim's colleagues gathered at the paper's offices to protest the decision and declared a strike. Abdel-Rahim told them that he will not abide by the decision. He said that Egypt's union of journalists should decide if there is to be an investigation into the matter.
Fahmy, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party, could not be reached for comment.
The state-owned papers, run for years by secular-leaning editors, had a reputation as a mouthpiece for President Hosni Mubarak, who was deposed last year.
Gamal Eid, the head of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information media watchdog, said the decision was "arbitrary" and is a continuation of the same "mistakes" of the previous regime.
___
Associated Press writer Maggie Fick contributed reporting from Cairo.
ScienceDaily (Oct. 17, 2012) ? It takes both teeth and jaws to make a pretty smile, but the evolutionary origins of these parts of our anatomy have only just been discovered, thanks to a particle accelerator and a long dead fish.
All living jawed vertebrates (animals with backbones, such as humans) have teeth, but it has long been thought that the first jawed vertebrates lacked pearly gnashers, instead capturing prey with gruesome scissor-like jaw-bones.
However new research, led by the University of Bristol and published October 17 in Nature, shows that these earliest jawed vertebrates possessed teeth too indicating that teeth evolved along with, or soon after, the evolution of jaws.
Palaeontologists from Bristol, the Natural History Museum and Curtin University, Australia collaborated with physicists from Switzerland to study the jaws of a primitive jawed fish called Compagopiscis.
The international team studied fossils of Compagopiscis using high energy X-rays at the Swiss Light Source at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland, revealing the structure and development of teeth and bones.
Lead author, Dr Martin Ruecklin of the University of Bristol said: "We were able to visualise every tissue, cell and growth line within the bony jaws, allowing us to study the development of the jaws and teeth. We could then make comparisons with the embryology of living vertebrates, thus demonstrating that placoderms possessed teeth."
Co-author, Professor Philip Donoghue of the University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences said: "This is solid evidence for the presence of teeth in these first jawed vertebrates and solves the debate on the origin of teeth."
Co-author Dr Zerina Johanson from the Natural History Museum said: "These wonderfully preserved fossils from Australia yield many secrets of our evolutionary ancestry but research has been held back waiting for the kind of non-destructive technology that we used in this study. Without the collaborations between palaeontologists and physicists, our evolutionary history would remain hidden in the rocks."
Professor Marco Stampanoni of the Paul Scherrer Institut said: "We performed non-invasive 3D microscopy on the sample using synchrotron radiation, a very powerful X-ray source. This technique allows us to obtain a perfect digital model and very detailed insight views of the old fossil without destroying it. Normally, our method delivers very high spatial resolution on tiny samples. For this experiment we modified our setup and reconstruction algorithms in order to expand the field of view significantly while keeping the spatial resolution high."
This work was funded by the EU Framework Programme 7, the Natural Environment Research Council and the Paul Scherrer Institut.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Bristol.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Martin R?cklin, Philip C. J. Donoghue, Zerina Johanson, Kate Trinajstic, Federica Marone, Marco Stampanoni. Development of teeth and jaws in the earliest jawed vertebrates. Nature, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nature11555
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Business Advice Forum is an online community, of website owners, small business owners and those considering starting their own business. Visitors can read the forum posts, however as a member you could ask business questions, discuss business issues, new business ideas, share business advice, post ads in our advertising forum sections and get help with building and promoting your website.
Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please click here to join our community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.
Glaciers cracking in the presence of carbon dioxidePublic release date: 10-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Bishop michael.bishop@iop.org 01-179-301-032 Institute of Physics
The well-documented presence of excessive levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere is causing global temperatures to rise and glaciers and ice caps to melt.
New research, published today, 11 October, in IOP Publishing's Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, has shown that CO2 molecules may be having a more direct impact on the ice that covers our planet.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute for Technology have shown that the material strength and fracture toughness of ice are decreased significantly under increasing concentrations of CO2 molecules, making ice caps and glaciers more vulnerable to cracking and splitting into pieces, as was seen recently when a huge crack in the Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica spawned a glacier the size of Berlin.
Ice caps and glaciers cover seven per cent of the Earthmore than Europe and North America combinedand are responsible for reflecting 80? per cent of the Sun's light rays that enter our atmosphere and maintain the Earth's temperature. They are also a natural carbon sink, capturing a large amount of CO2.
"If ice caps and glaciers were to continue to crack and break into pieces, their surface area that is exposed to air would be significantly increased, which could lead to accelerated melting and much reduced coverage area on the Earth. The consequences of these changes remain to be explored by the experts, but they might contribute to changes of the global climate," said lead author of the study Professor Markus Buehler.
Buehler, along with his student and co-author of the paper, Zhao Qin, used a series of atomistic-level computer simulations to analyse the dynamics of molecules to investigate the role of CO2 molecules in ice fracturing, and found that CO2 exposure causes ice to break more easily.
Notably, the decreased ice strength is not merely caused by material defects induced by CO2 bubbles, but rather by the fact that the strength of hydrogen bondsthe chemical bonds between water molecules in an ice crystalis decreased under increasing concentrations of CO2. This is because the added CO2 competes with the water molecules connected in the ice crystal.
It was shown that CO2 molecules first adhere to the crack boundary of ice by forming a bond with the hydrogen atoms and then migrate through the ice in a flipping motion along the crack boundary towards the crack tip.
The CO2 molecules accumulate at the crack tip and constantly attack the water molecules by trying to bond to them. This leaves broken bonds behind and increases the brittleness of the ice on a macroscopic scale.
###
Notes to Editors
Contact
1. For further information, a full draft of the journal paper or contact with one of the researchers, contact IOP Press Officer, Michael Bishop:
Tel: 0117 930 1032
E-mail: Michael.bishop@iop.org
Carbon dioxide enhances fragility of ice crystals
2. The published version of the paper 'Carbon dioxide enhances fragility of ice crystals' (Zhao Qin and Markus J Buehler 2012 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 45 445302) will be freely available online from Thursday 11 October.
Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
3. This weekly journal is concerned with all aspects of applied physics research, from magnetism, plasmas and semiconductors to the structure and properties of matter.
IOP Publishing
4. IOP Publishing provides publications through which leading-edge scientific research is distributed worldwide. IOP Publishing is central to the Institute of Physics (IOP), a not-for-profit society. Any financial surplus earned by IOP Publishing goes to support science through the activities of IOP. Beyond our traditional journals programme, we make high-value scientific information easily accessible through an ever-evolving portfolio of community websites, magazines, conference proceedings and a multitude of electronic services. Focused on making the most of new technologies, we're continually improving our electronic interfaces to make it easier for researchers to find exactly what they need, when they need it, in the format that suits them best. Go to http://ioppublishing.org/.
The Institute of Physics
5. The Institute of Physics is a leading scientific society promoting physics and bringing physicists together for the benefit of all.
It has a worldwide membership of around 40 000 comprising physicists from all sectors, as well as those with an interest in physics. It works to advance physics research, application and education; and engages with policymakers and the public to develop awareness and understanding of physics. Its publishing company, IOP Publishing, is a world leader in professional scientific communications. Go to www.iop.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Glaciers cracking in the presence of carbon dioxidePublic release date: 10-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Bishop michael.bishop@iop.org 01-179-301-032 Institute of Physics
The well-documented presence of excessive levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere is causing global temperatures to rise and glaciers and ice caps to melt.
New research, published today, 11 October, in IOP Publishing's Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, has shown that CO2 molecules may be having a more direct impact on the ice that covers our planet.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute for Technology have shown that the material strength and fracture toughness of ice are decreased significantly under increasing concentrations of CO2 molecules, making ice caps and glaciers more vulnerable to cracking and splitting into pieces, as was seen recently when a huge crack in the Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica spawned a glacier the size of Berlin.
Ice caps and glaciers cover seven per cent of the Earthmore than Europe and North America combinedand are responsible for reflecting 80? per cent of the Sun's light rays that enter our atmosphere and maintain the Earth's temperature. They are also a natural carbon sink, capturing a large amount of CO2.
"If ice caps and glaciers were to continue to crack and break into pieces, their surface area that is exposed to air would be significantly increased, which could lead to accelerated melting and much reduced coverage area on the Earth. The consequences of these changes remain to be explored by the experts, but they might contribute to changes of the global climate," said lead author of the study Professor Markus Buehler.
Buehler, along with his student and co-author of the paper, Zhao Qin, used a series of atomistic-level computer simulations to analyse the dynamics of molecules to investigate the role of CO2 molecules in ice fracturing, and found that CO2 exposure causes ice to break more easily.
Notably, the decreased ice strength is not merely caused by material defects induced by CO2 bubbles, but rather by the fact that the strength of hydrogen bondsthe chemical bonds between water molecules in an ice crystalis decreased under increasing concentrations of CO2. This is because the added CO2 competes with the water molecules connected in the ice crystal.
It was shown that CO2 molecules first adhere to the crack boundary of ice by forming a bond with the hydrogen atoms and then migrate through the ice in a flipping motion along the crack boundary towards the crack tip.
The CO2 molecules accumulate at the crack tip and constantly attack the water molecules by trying to bond to them. This leaves broken bonds behind and increases the brittleness of the ice on a macroscopic scale.
###
Notes to Editors
Contact
1. For further information, a full draft of the journal paper or contact with one of the researchers, contact IOP Press Officer, Michael Bishop:
Tel: 0117 930 1032
E-mail: Michael.bishop@iop.org
Carbon dioxide enhances fragility of ice crystals
2. The published version of the paper 'Carbon dioxide enhances fragility of ice crystals' (Zhao Qin and Markus J Buehler 2012 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 45 445302) will be freely available online from Thursday 11 October.
Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
3. This weekly journal is concerned with all aspects of applied physics research, from magnetism, plasmas and semiconductors to the structure and properties of matter.
IOP Publishing
4. IOP Publishing provides publications through which leading-edge scientific research is distributed worldwide. IOP Publishing is central to the Institute of Physics (IOP), a not-for-profit society. Any financial surplus earned by IOP Publishing goes to support science through the activities of IOP. Beyond our traditional journals programme, we make high-value scientific information easily accessible through an ever-evolving portfolio of community websites, magazines, conference proceedings and a multitude of electronic services. Focused on making the most of new technologies, we're continually improving our electronic interfaces to make it easier for researchers to find exactly what they need, when they need it, in the format that suits them best. Go to http://ioppublishing.org/.
The Institute of Physics
5. The Institute of Physics is a leading scientific society promoting physics and bringing physicists together for the benefit of all.
It has a worldwide membership of around 40 000 comprising physicists from all sectors, as well as those with an interest in physics. It works to advance physics research, application and education; and engages with policymakers and the public to develop awareness and understanding of physics. Its publishing company, IOP Publishing, is a world leader in professional scientific communications. Go to www.iop.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The fashion, the photos, the writing, the social media ? that?s all the fun stuff about blogging. But if you want your blog to be a?serious business, it?s time to get serious about how to protect yourself in the eyes of the law. To get an expert opinion, IFB asked Brittany Rawlings,?an attorney that deals with fashion professionals and entrepreneurs and helps them with her website?FashionBoss, for some basic legal advice to help get you get started. [Note: This advice is based on laws in the United States.]
Here?s what you need to know to protect yourself legally?
?
See Yourself As An Entrepreneur
If your blog is a business, you should see yourself as an entrepreneur ? and with that, you should take the proper precautions a traditional business would. For example:
You should establish a corporate structure for liability and accounting. For instance, are you a LLC, a sole proprietor, or something else? Figure out how you want to establish your business.
You should also make sure your business operations and dealings are safeguarded by valid contracts; such as employment agreements, independent contractor agreements, web design agreements,?confidentiality agreements, sponsorship agreements, advertising and affiliate agreements. Everything should be written out and signed. Verbal agreements may seem easy now, but can be difficult to hold up in a court of law.
Furthermore, if you?re using a web developer and/or web designer to create your blog, a work for hire agreement may not be enough. Bloggers should seek a copyright assignment of their website in order to properly commercialize their blog, as well as warranty the ownership of the site.
Protect Yourself From The Internet
Since your business exists on the internet, this means you must also be wary of legal issues inherent of the internet. This means that proliferation of proprietary content and images are easily subject to copying, downloading, altering, sharing and misappropriating. It?s YOUR work, you don?t want anyone stealing it and getting away with it, right?
Since the Internet is so accessible, it has increased opportunities for the following:
copyright and trademark infringement;
violations of rights of privacy, publicity;
added exposure to defamation claims through the use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogs;
cybersquatting, meta-tag infringements, and domain name infringements
How can I fight against these possible situations of unwanted infringement?
How do I know if someone has violated my copyright?
The following may be grounds for copyright and trademark infringement, as well as privacy and publicity violations.?Without the permission of the blogger:
A third party ?does not have the right to reproduce,?distribute or publicly display your work (ie. written original articles or photographs)
Or utilize your name and likeliness, your work, or any other proprietary information
How do trademarks work?
By registering trademarks, you are protecting your domain name, logo, and/or symbols.
Also, you should state your registered trademarks on your site. One way to do it is by writing something similar to the following: ?All content and materials available on ________, including but not limited to text, graphics, website name, code, images and logos are the intellectual property of ____________, and are protected by applicable copyright and trademark law. Any inappropriate use, including but not limited to the reproduction, distribution, display or transmission of any content on this site is strictly prohibited, unless specifically authorized by ___________.?
?
Need more help? Visit Brittany?s website, FashionBoss, or?email her at brittany[at]fashionboss.com with the subject ?IFB fashion law inquiry? for a discounted rate!
Though Stephan Bonnar has UFC 153 and Anderson Silva on his mind, he has another concern when he's in Brazil this week. Bonnar's wife Andrea is pregnant and due at the end of the month. Since babies are born on their own schedule and not the UFC's, Bonnar has a contingency plan ready to go for the event Andrea goes into labor earlier than expected.
Bonnar took White up on his offer, but the Bonnars still have another plan in place, according to TMZ.
Andrea says Stephan?plans to video conference in to his wife's birth if he can't make it in time -- but she adds, "We're trying to avoid even thinking about that."
Their son's birth will be forever connected to Bonnar's last-minute fight with Silva. After featherweight champion Jose Aldo's injury threatened UFC 153, Bonnar stepped up to fight Silva, the middleweight champion and pound-for-pound king at light heavyweight.
There is a chance their son will be connected to Bonnar's most famous fight, as well. As Iole also mentioned, Stephan and Andrea are considering naming their son Griffin Bonnar in honor of the Bonnar-Forrest Griffin bout at the first "Ultimate Fighter" finale.
The British pianist Stephen Hough has been delighting audiences round the world for the past 30 years. His latest album, the third in a series of national music, features French composers. The recording is superb with fine presence and balance.
He has the rare gift of technical mastery combined with great sensitivity. For example, listen to his interpretation of the hugely demanding ?R?miniscences de La Juive? by Liszt followed by gentler pieces by Faur? and Poulenc. The 17 tracks make for a delightful recital of 19th and 20th century French music, some well known like ?Clair de Lune? by Debussy and some rarities such as ?Automne? by Chaminade.?
These days, everyone is all about intermittent fasting. The talk centralizes around the physiological and psychological benefits of skipping meals, like not having to carry around twelve Tupperware containers filled with six meals to last an eight hour shift. And how it increases insulin sensitivity, which, when combined with matterful training, creates an ideal?environment?for partitioning. (Read: more muscle gained, less fat gained.)
Yes, fasting ? of all sorts of durations ? is something I?m just about two years of experimentation into. And while I?ve seen incredible physical gains, there are some ?things? fasting does that few people talk about. Some of these ?things? are good. Others, bad.
You live and learn, as they say. But I just wish someone would have told me the following 9 things before embracing an intermittent fasting lifestyle.
People think intermittent fasting means you can eat anything in infinite quantities.
Not so much.
Overall caloric intake stays the same, but since there?s usually a reduced meal?frequency, the size of meals increase to?accommodate? Most former fasters are those that used to eat six, eight small meals daily. When they turn to intermittent fasting, it?s more like two, three meals daily.
For those that eat a lot of food, these two ? three meals?must be hearty.
Nate Green recently released a pretty cool experiment he did with his Precision Nutrition team and Martin Rooney. Check out the website:?Bigger Smaller Bigger. On the first day of the ?bigger? phase, Nate complained about having to eat four pieces of toast and porridge for breakfast.
For pieces of toast?
After two years of intermittent fasting, eating four pieces of toast feels like eating one Ritz cracker.
Here?s what I ate for dinner the other night: chicken, meatloaf, rice, potatoes, vegetables. Yes, that?s a ?big? meal. But if you?re a faster that?s relatively lean and looking to add muscle, you?re going to be cramming some food into your mouth.
?Wait, what do you mean you don?t drink coffee? All big time intermittent fasting dudes drink it. It?s like a rite of passage.?
That?s what I told John Romaniello after he told me he didn?t really drink coffee.
Years ago, I downed coffee before doing fasted morning aerobic work. Every sip forced a gag reflex.?Today, I can?t live without the stuff. Addiction is an understatement. And it feels?oh so good.
A comical, yet fairly accurate, look at intermittent fasting is such: skip breakfast, drink coffee instead, have your first meal at lunch. In addition to coffee having some physiological effects on mobilizing fat in a fasted state, it also fights hunger ? something most people used to eating a big breakfast need.
Over time, it becomes less of a drink and more of a meal. And then you suddenly become one of those idiots standing in line at Starbucks salivating over the stuff, even though a few months prior you couldn?t understand why anyone with a semblance of sanity would buy Starbucks.
I used to be one of them: people that whine and cry without breakfast.
?I?m so hungry, blah blah blah.?
Well, those people get annoying. Not because they?need breakfast or anything, but because they can?t live without hunger for more than five minutes without erupting into emotional depression.
Shows you how lucky some of us are, living most of our lives fed plentifully.
I?m glad I?m not one of those whiners anymore. There?s something serene about being OK with a little rumble in the stomach.
Right now, I eat two meals per day. I?want to eat three, but I can?t. I blame it on the Warrior Diet.
Created by Ori Hofmekler, the Warrior Diet, in its simplest use, is eating one gigantic meal at night. I tried this for two weeks. That?s all. Just two weeks. My life has never been the same. Everyday becomes Thanksgiving. You want more and more and more, and you find yourself eating even though you?re stuffed to the gizzards.You get used to being either absolutely full or?absolutely?empty.
After stopping this one meal scheme, smaller meals don?t sustain you ? they just make you hungrier. The only thing you think about is when the next meal is.
(This makes ?cheat meals? especially dangerous, as you often find yourself overeating to the point of?vomiting. It isn?t fun.)
Over time, I?ve broken free from this. But my current diet (you can find the old one here: The Diet to End All Diets), is still a?manipulation?of the Warrior Diet. Most of my calories are condensed into one bigger meal late in the day.
Surprisingly, despite the cited turmoil,?I love eating this way. I learned how to cope with smaller meals (and even eat one or two of them per day, depending on the day) and not?over stuff?myself. It?s working out nicely with my lifestyle and physique, so perhaps the glass is half full?
After you get over the whiny, ?Wahh I?m hungry, I can?t function,? phase, morning fasting is awesome.?You?re alert. You?re energetic. You?re ready to get shit done. Since I depend on my brain to function at a pretty high level, this is awesome.
Part of me wonders whether or not this is just a crackpot theory though. I think this benefit gets boosted because the opposite ? being stuffed ? is like a coma for creativity and energy. And when you?re fasting and eating bigger meals, you?re going to be stuffed often. This leaves the fasting window the most productive?feeling.
Regardless, I enjoy it. And it works for me and my schedule.
Combine the fast with coffee for creativity on steroids. +10 EXP.
My beginnings with intermittent fasting weren?t?glamorous. With a broken foot, I couldn?t stand upright for more than a few minutes without blood pooling to my foot and painfully expanding it inside of its cast. How was I supposed to cook? Answer: I wasn?t. So, I?didn?t.
Prior to this, I loved breakfast. When I was an intern, driving down to sports facilities at 5:30AM, I woke up at 4:30AM just to make myself a gigantic breakfast.
But the timing of breakfast no longer appeals to me. (The food does though. I always eat breakfast for dinner.) From fasting and getting accustomed to eating bigger meals, breakfast becomes a bigger meal. And since bigger meals curtail energy and creativity, you feel like garbage from the beginning of the day onward.
Who wants that?
Goku ate big meals. Just sayin??
+++++
Got anymore? What are some unexpected things that came about on your fasting journey? I?d love to hear them below, so drop some (spirit) comment bombs.
And be sure to let others know what they?re getting into with fasting. Use some of the nifty buttons on the side or bottom of this post to do your crew justice.
?
Image credit: coffee, baby, brain fight, coffee and art
UPDATE: Well, this adds a new wrinkle to Matheny?s decision. According to Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jaime Garcia was pulled from the game because he aggravated a previous shoulder injury. He has been sent for an MRI.
8:13 PM: After being outmaneuvered by Davey Johnson in the Cardinals? Game 1 loss to the Nationals yesterday, Mike Matheny made an interesting call in the bottom of the second inning this afternoon.
His starter, Jaime Garcia, labored over the first two innings, giving up one run on two hits and three walks while throwing 51 pitches. Meanwhile, the Cardinals had two runs home in the bottom of the second and the chance for more against Jordan Zimmermann, who was on the ropes. After the Cardinals squandered a number of scoring opportunities yesterday, Matheny wasn?t going to let it happen again, so he sent Skip Schumaker up as a pinch-hitter for Garcia. The Cardinals ended up scoring two more runs in the second inning and well, they never really stopped.
The Cardinals poured it on again Zimmermann and the Nationals, collecting 13 hits and four home runs as part of a 12-4 win. Carlos Beltran had a pair of home runs and drove in three while Daniel Descalso and Allen Craig added solo homers.
Lance Lynn wasn?t all that great in relief of Garcia, allowing back-to-back homers to Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche in the fifth inning, but he ate up three innings before handing the ball to the rest of the bullpen. Joe Kelly, Edward Mujica, Mitchell Boggs and Trevor Rosenthal then held the Nationals to just one run over the final four innings to lock down the victory.
The NLDS is now tied 1-1 and will resume Wednesday in Washington, D.C. for Game 3. Edwin Jackson, who was a member of the Cardinals? World Series team last year, is scheduled to pitch for the Nationals while Chris Carpenter is expected to pitch for the defending champs.
Please give a warm welcome to Andy Gerber, who will be joining Bois de Jasmin?s team. Andy?is a student with a love of reading, writing, cooking, collecting and drinking tea, and growing plants of all kinds. At a young age, he has developed a natural affinity to everything botanical, and his fascination with scents has never waned since. As Andy says, ?I will always remember the day when I fell in love with the amazing world of fragrance, which happened, coincidentally, in a greenhouse. As I stood, sniffing, among a collection of scented herbs, violets, and roses, I felt an unexpected wave of euphoria?I came to a sudden realization of how moving and joyful fragrance is.? He will be sharing his knowledge of teas, fragrant beauty care, and aromatic plants with us.
If any edible could be deemed the closest link between food and fragrance, it would have to be tea. Teas display aromatic profiles that often rival perfumes in complexity, containing many of the same volatile compounds as a bottle of fragrance. Notes of honeysuckle and peach might sound more fitting in a fragrance description, but in the world of tea, recognizable floral, woody, and fruity notes like these occur naturally and add interest and subtle depth. It comes as no surprise that perfumers like Jean-Claude Ellena of Herm?s and Mathilde Laurent of Cartier are self-admitted tea enthusiasts, who reach for tea as both a satisfying beverage and as an artistic inspiration.
Of all teas, though, white teas are one of the most interesting options available on the market. White teas, grown primarily in China?s Fujian province, are made from the downy leaf buds of Camellia sinensis plants, the same plant used to make black, oolong, and green teas. The leaf buds emerge early in the harvesting season and must be plucked within only a few days before they unfurl into new leaves. After plucking, the buds are allowed to wither for a few days in the sun before they are dried. After drying, the processing is finished and the final product is a long, thin and silvery bud covered with fuzzy hairs. The handling of white tea is delicate and very minimal, in order to preserve the gentle flavors of the tea and keep the leaves intact. The plant material allowed in the production of white tea is thus chosen with the utmost care and attention to quality, as no broken, blemished, or mature leaves are used.
As a result of this centuries old process, white teas are arguably the most subtly nuanced teas of all, with a delicate flavor to match the light processing methods used in their production. Unlike the harsh, bitter black tea one might brew from a grocery store teabag, white tea is mild, smooth, and delicate, with a pale colored brew and leaf. Many, upon trying white tea for the first time, remark that it tastes bland and watery, but to me some of the most interesting flavors are found in white teas. The flavor of most white teas is subtle but lingering, and all of the beautiful natural nuances become increasingly apparent the more one drinks this special class of teas.
If you are unfamiliar with white tea or aren?t sure which kinds to try, I have selected four varieties below that are good starting points. As always, make sure to buy quality, loose leaf tea, as this will produce the best result. I especially recommend the teas from Art of Tea, which offers all of the types of white tea I have described below at a great price. In brewing white tea, I recommend steeping the tea leaves in filtered or bottled water that is 170-180? Fahrenheit (76-82? Celsius); hot, but not boiling. Water that is cooler than this will not allow the flavors of the tea to properly infuse into the water, and water that is hotter will destroy the delicate flavors of the tea. I also advise against putting the tea into a tea ball, as these do not allow the leaves to properly expand and infuse into the water, resulting in a less flavorful and bitter cup.
Instead, start by heating your water, using a thermometer to check that it is at the correct temperature. Then, rinse a teapot or heatproof cup (I personally like to use a gaiwan, a traditional Chinese tea brewing vessel) with the water, swirling around until the exterior of the vessel feels warm. Next, scoop in about 2? teaspoons (about 2 grams) of white tea for every 8oz (about 240mL) of water used, and then pour the water over the tea. Allow it to steep for 1-3 minutes, according to taste. When you are satisfied with the flavor, strain the tea as you pour it into cups. I like to use a small mesh strainer for this. When tasting, use both your nose and taste buds to enjoy the full spectrum of flavors in white tea. Enjoy!
Silver Needle (Baihao Yinzhen)
Silver Needle white tea is among the most prized of all white teas for its excellent flavor and quality. The dry leaf smells woodsy and sweet, and appears as long, thin, fuzzy and silvery in color. When brewed, the resulting light golden infusion has a mild, slightly sweet aroma of fresh hay with a refreshing taste. The flavor is mild, and exhibits the same dominant hay-like notes of the aroma, with a peachy dryness and a delicate sweet aftertaste that lingers nicely. This white tea is very nice at any time of day, as it has a soft and lasting flavor that seems to be well liked by all, even those who are typically non tea-drinkers. A quality silver needle tea should not taste too green or grassy, as this is indicative of lower quality. In addition, another sign of quality is indicated by the downy hairs present on the tea leaves, which should float on the surface of the freshly brewed cup. I highly recommend this tea to anyone who is new to white tea, as this is the quintessential white tea, serving as a good standard of comparison to other types, such as those described below.
Jasmine Silver Needle
As the name suggests, this white tea is made from silver needle tea that is scented with fresh jasmine flowers. The aroma of the dry leaf is of dry, sweet jasmine. While the dry leaf smells heavenly enough, the aroma significantly opens up when the tea is brewed, showcasing a green, banana-like sambac jasmine note that lingers in the air beautifully. The white tea serves as a nice, refreshing base to the dominant jasmine flavor of the tea, which tastes fresh, bright, and crisp. It is impossible to try to drink this tea without wishing its beautiful scent could be bottled. The jasmine flavor and aroma is so smooth and natural, and comes across so purely set against the almost nonexistent background flavor of white tea. I highly recommend this white tea especially, as it is simply too beautiful to go unnoticed.
White Peony (Bai Mu Dan)
White Peony differs from Silver Needle in that this tea is comprised of not only leaf buds, but also the uppermost new leaves below each leaf bud. This difference results in a richer, deeper flavor than Silver Needle. I was just introduced to this type of white tea recently, and I found that I liked it as much if not more than Silver Needle. As the name suggests, it does have a slight peony aroma and flavor when brewed, which is very lovely, but it should be noted that this flavor note is naturally occurring, not added as for a jasmine tea. This tea is nicely floral and slightly earthy, with a beautiful subtle depth. What I loved about this tea especially was its lasting, sweet finish, which lingers even better than the finish of Silver Needle.
White Monkey Picked
This interesting tea derives its name from legends, which suggest that trained monkeys once harvested the leaves. While today this is certainly not the case, this tea is delightful and extremely refreshing. The leaves of this tea are slightly green in appearance, and the flavor of the tea is likewise very similar to a very light green tea. This tea tastes grassier, greener, and more astringent than other white teas I?ve tried, but it retains its similarity to white teas in its striking floral notes and relatively mild flavor. One of the predominant notes of this white tea is honeysuckle, which tastes beautiful against the green overtones. White Monkey Picked tastes extremely fresh, and I think it would be wonderful as an iced tea.
What about you? Do you enjoy having a cup of tea? And if so, what is your favorite kind?
PS: Andy is a student, so he will reply to your comments when he gets home from his lectures in the evening.
Photography by Andy Gerber (except for #1, which is by Victoria).
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 10-Oct-2012
Share ] 
ince your business exists on the internet, this means you must also be wary of legal issues inherent of the internet. This means that proliferation of proprietary content and images are easily subject to copying, downloading, altering, sharing and misappropriating. It?s YOUR work, you don?t want anyone stealing it and getting away with it, right?
Though Stephan Bonnar has UFC 153 and Anderson Silva on his mind, he has another concern when he's in Brazil this week. Bonnar's wife Andrea is pregnant and due at the end of the month. Since babies are born on their own schedule and not the UFC's, Bonnar has a contingency plan ready to go for the event Andrea goes into labor earlier than expected.
