Vasco da Gama

(1460-1524) The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama led an expedition at the end of the 15th century that opened the sea route to India by way of the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. He was born about 1460 at Sines. He was a gentleman at court when he was chosen to lead the expedition to India. Many years of Portuguese exploration down the West African coast had been rewarded when Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. The Portuguese then planned to send a fleet to India for spices and to outflank the Muslims in Africa. Vasco da Gama was placed in command of the expedition. Four ships left Lisbon on July 8, 1497--the Sao Gabriel, on which da Gama sailed, the Sao Rafael, the Berrio, and a storeship. They stopped in the Cape Verde Islands; from there they did not follow the coast, as earlier expeditions had, but stood well out to sea. They reached the Cape of Good Hope region on November 7. The ships rounded the Cape on November 22. The expedition stopped on the East African coast, broke up the storeship, and reached Mozambique on Mar. 2, 1498. There they were assumed to be Muslims, and the sultan of Mozambique supplied them with pilots, who guided them on their journey northward. They stopped in Mombasa and Malindi before sailing to the east. They crossed the Indian Ocean in 23 days, aided by the Indian pilot Ibn Majid, and reached Calicut on May 20, 1498. The local ruler, the Zamorin, welcomed the Portuguese, who at first thought that the Indians, actually Hindus, were Christians. After one further stop on the Indian coast, the Portuguese set out to return with a load of spices. They took three months to recross the Indian Ocean, however, and so many men died of scurvy that one of the ships, the Sao Rafael, was burned for lack of a crew. The expedition made a few stops in East Africa before rounding the Cape of Good Hope on Mar. 20, 1499. The ships were separated off West Africa in a storm and reached Portugal at different times. Da Gama stopped in the Azores and finally reached Lisbon on Sept. 9, 1499. Da Gama's success led to the dispatch of another Portuguese fleet, commanded by Pedro Alvares Cabral. Some of the men Cabral left in India were massacred, so King Manuel ordered da Gama to India again. He was given the title of admiral and left Portugal in February 1502 with 20 ships. Da Gama's mission was a success, and the fleet returned to Lisbon in October 1503. Da Gama then settled in Portugal, married, and raised a family. He may have served as an advisor to the Portuguese crown and was made a count in 1519. King John III sent him to India in 1524 as viceroy, but he soon became ill and died in Cochin on Dec. 24, 1524. Vasco de Gama was an important explorer and made a very important trip around the tip of Africa. He had a hard voyage, but made it back successfully. He was brave and a good leader.

The Planets

Our solar system has eight planets which orbit the sun. In order of distance from the sun they are; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto, which until recently was considered to be the farthest planet, is now classified as a dwarf planet. Additional dwarf planets have been discovered farther from the sun than Pluto.

A list of the 8 planets of the solar system, from the smallest diameter to the largest:

1. Mercury - 4,900 km in diameter
2. Mars - 6,800 km in diameter
3. Venus - 12,100 km in diameter
4. Earth - 12,800 km in diameter
5. Neptune - 49,500 km in diameter
6. Uranus - 51,100 km in diameter
7. Saturn - 125,000 km in diameter
8. Jupiter - 143,000 km in diameter

The benefits of a Banana

Bananas consist mainly of sugars (glucose, fructose and sucrose) and fiber, which makes them ideal for an immediate and slightly prolonged source of energy.

Reducing Depression
Bananas contain tryptophan, an aminoacid that can be converted to serotonin, leading to improved mood

Anemia
Bananas are relatively high in iron, which helps the body’s hemoglobin function

Constipation and Diarrhea
Due to their content in fiber, they help restore a normal bowel function. In addition, diarrhea usually depletes your body of important electrolytes (of which the most important is potassium, contained in high amounts in bananas). They also contain pectin, a soluble fiber (hydrocolloid) that can help normalize movement through the digestive tract.

Eyesight Protection
Research published in the Archives of Ophthalmology has proven that adults consuming at least 3 servings of fruit per day have a reduced risk (by 36%) of developing age-related mascular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.

Healthy Bones
Bananas are an exceptionally rich source of fructooligosaccharide, a compound that nourishes probiotic (friendly) bacteria in the colon. These beneficial bacteria produce enzymes that increase our digestive ability and protect us from unhealthy bacteria infections. Thanks to fructooligosaccharides, probiotic bacteria can increase both in number and functionality, increasing our body’s ability to absorb calcium. In addition, green bananas contain indigestible short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that are very nutrient to the cells that make up the mucosa of the stomach. These cells, when healthy, absorb calcium much more efficiently.

Healthy Kidney
About 190,000 cases of kidney cancer are diagnosed each year. Research published in the International Journal of Cancer has shown that daily consumption of whole fruits and vegetables, especially bananas, is highly protective to kidney health. The results show that, over a long timeframe (13.4 years), women eating more than 2.5 servings of fruits and vegetable per day cut their risk of kidney cancer by 40%. Among the fruits, bananas were especially protective. Women eating bananas four to six times a week halved their risk of developing the disease compared to those who did not eat this fruit. The conclusion of the study is that frequent consumption of fruits and vegetables, especially bananas, cabbage and root vegetables, may reduce risk of kidney cancer. This is because bananas and many root vegetables contain especially high amounts of antioxidant phenolic compounds, while cabbage is rich in sulfur, necessary for effective detoxification of potential carcinogens.

Blood Pressure
Bananas are extremely high in potassium (about 4673mg), yet very low in sodium (1mg), thus having a perfect ratio for preventing high blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Heartburn
Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness
Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood-sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Smoking
Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. They contain vitamins B6 and B12 they contain,as well as potassium and magnesium: these substances help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Ulcers
This is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicle cases. It also helps reduce acidity and reduces irritation. Bananas stimulate the cells on the internal stomach lining to produce a thicker mucus (which protects against acid). Additionally, bananas contain protease inhibitors that help eliminate bacteria in the stomach that have been pinpointed as a primary cause of ulcers.

Nerves
Bananas are high in B vitamins that have been shows to improve nerve function.

Mosquito Bites
Many people report that rubbing the inside of a banana peel on a mosquito bite is very effective in reducing itching and swelling

Stress Relief
Bananas are high in potassium, which helps normalize the hearthbeat and regulate the body’s water balance. During periods of high stress, our body’s potassium levels tend to be rapidly depleted: eating bananas is a healthy way to rebalance them without using drugs

Stroke Risk
According to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can reduce the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%.

History of MORINGA OLEIFERA (Murunga kirai)

Facts on Farts

The gas in our intestine comes from several sources : air we swallow, gap seeping into intestines from blood, gas produced by chemical reaction in our guts and gas produced by bacteria that living in our guts. The composition of fart gas is highly variable. Most of the gas especially oxygen, is trapped by body before it gets into intestine. By the time gas reaches the intestines , most of the nitrogen is left in large intestine. Moreover, the chemical reaction between stomach acid and intestinal fluids may produce hydrogen gas, which is also being a product of bacteria action. Bacteria is also produce hydrogen and methane.

The longer a fart is held in, larger the proportion of inert nitrogen because the other gases tend to be absorbed into bloodstream through the wall of intestine. A nervous person who swallow a lot of air and who moves stuff through his digestive system rapidly may have a lots of oxygen in his/her farts because his body didn't have time to absorbs the oxygen.

If both parents are methane producers , their children have a 95 percent chance of being producers as well. Some researchers suspect a genetic influence, whereas others think the ability is due to environmental factors. However, all methane gas comes from bacteria and not form body cells.

NASA's Juno Spacecraft Launches to Jupiter - 05.08.11

NASA's solar-powered Juno spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 9:25 a.m. PDT (12:25 p.m. EDT) Friday to begin a five-year journey to Jupiter.
Juno's detailed study of the largest planet in our solar system will help reveal Jupiter's origin and evolution. As the archetype of giant gas planets, Jupiter can help scientists understand the origin of our solar system and learn more about planetary systems around other stars.

Juno will cover the distance from Earth to the moon (about 250,000 miles or 402,336 kilometers) in less than one day's time. It will take another five years and 1,740 million miles (2,800 million kilometers) to complete the journey to Jupiter. The spacecraft will orbit the planet's poles 33 times and use its collection of eight science instruments to probe beneath the gas giant's obscuring cloud cover to learn more about its origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere, and look for a potential solid planetary core.

With four large moons and many smaller moons, Jupiter forms its own miniature solar system. Its composition resembles that of a star, and if it had been about 80 times more massive, the planet could have become a star instead.

Sultan Kösen - Tallest man in 2011

The 2010 edition of Guinness Book of World Records lists Sultan Kosen (born 10 December 1982) as the tallest living man as well as having the largest hands (11.22 inches) (28.5 centimeters) and largest feet (14.4 inches) (36.5 centimeters) when last measured on 8 February 2011.

According to Guinness, Sultan Kosen is the tallest living human reaching an average height of 8'1" (2,46.5 m) when measured by GWR in Ankara, Turkey, in February 2009. He takes over the title from China's Bao Xishun, who stands 'just' 2.36 metres (seven feet 8.95 inches). However, Sultan Kosen was still growing and at a more recent meeting with then tallest man of the U.S. George Bell, Sultan Kosen was measured at 8'2" tall. On 8 February 2011 Sultan Kosen was measured in Ankara, Turkey at 8 feet 3 inches (251.4 cm).

Personal details :

Sultan Kosen was unable to complete his schooling because of his extreme height, but works occasionally as a farmer to support his family. Sultan Kosen has three brothers and a sister, who are all normal-sized, but his rate of growth surged from the age of 10 because of a tumour which caused too much growth hormone to be released from his pituitary gland. The tumour was successfully removed in surgery and he was thought to have stopped growing last year (2008). He uses walking sticks and tires quickly if he is standing. Another pretender to the tallest title, Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk, who claims to be 10.5 centimetres taller than Sultan Kosen, fails to qualify for the record because he refused to be measured by Guinness World Records officials. Guinness editor-in-chief Craig Glenday travelled to Turkey to personally validate Sultan Kosen's height under strict guidelines, measuring him three times in one day because bodies expand and shrink throughout the day.