September 30, 2006
phloem
DEFINITION: (noun) The food-conducting tissue of vascular plants, consisting of sieve tubes, fibers, parenchyma, and sclereids.
SYNONYMS: bast.
USAGE: "Girdling" a tree, or cutting through its phloem tubes, results in the starvation of the roots and, ultimately, the death of the tree.
Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi
Rumi was a great Persian poet and Sufi mystic. His Masnavi-ye Manavi is a 6-volume poem regarded by many Sufis as second in importance only to the Qur'an; it is often called "Qur'an-e Parsi" (The Qur'an in Persian). Rumi's influence spread to Persian-speakers in Afghanistan and central Asia, and beyond, to Turkey and India. His followers founded the Mevlevi order, whose members use dancing and music as part of their spiritual method and are popularly known by what name?Released by Origin Systems
Ultima Online (UO), a popular massive multi-player online role playing game (MMPORG), is credited with popularizing the genre. There were games prior to UO that allowed hundreds of people to play at the same time, but this MMPORG can be played simultaneously by thousands of players worldwide through various game servers called "shards." Over 1,000,000 paid accounts have been created since the game launched in 1997. In July 2003, at the peak of its popularity, UO had how many subscribers?A Plant with a Nose?
The parasitic dodder plant, which feeds on tomatoes, onions, and carrots, has long posed a problem for farmers. Now researchers found that the dodder "senses" its prey and knows to grow in its direction. When researchers placed scent chemicals from a tomato on rubber, 73% of dodder seedlings headed in that direction. It is still unclear how the plant "smells" the chemicals given off by the host plant.Ilan Ramon
Ilan Ramon was Israel's first astronaut. As a pilot in the Israeli Air Force, he fought in the Yom Kippur War and took part in the bombing of Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor. He went on to serve as payload specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia and was killed when the craft disintegrated during re-entry. Despite being a secular Jew, Ramon chose to observe Jewish law while in orbit, feeling he represented "all Jews and all Israelis." What objects did Ramon take with him into space?September 29, 2006
Low Birth Rate=Higher IBS Risk
Norwegian researchers report that low-birth-weight babies appear to be at significantly higher risk of developing IBS , a chronic bowel ailment characterized by gas, diarrhea, and constipation . In the study, a research team tracked the health of 3,334 twin pairs and found that the risk of developing IBS was 2.5 times greater among those whose birth weights were below 1,500 grams (3.3 pounds) at birth.cornet
DEFINITION: (noun) A wind instrument of the trumpet class, having three valves operated by pistons.
SYNONYMS: trumpet, trump, horn.
USAGE: The cornet, a transposing instrument, has a less brilliant tone but greater agility than the trumpet.
Miguel de Cervantes
Cervantes was a Spanish author best known for Don Quixote de la Mancha, his novel about an aging knight. A superb burlesque of the popular romances of chivalry, the work was an enormous success and has had an indelible effect on the development of the European novel. Cervantes himself led an eventful life; he was imprisoned several times, captured by pirates, and sold as a slave. What statesman is said to have learned Spanish so that he could read Don Quixote in the original?Japan Resumes Diplomatic Relations with China
In 1972, Prime Minister of Japan Tanaka Kakuei's visit to China culminated in the signing of the Joint Communique, a historic document that ended nearly 80 years of enmity and friction between the two states. In the statement, Tokyo recognized the Beijing government over the Taipei government as the sole legal government of China, while China waived its demand for war indemnities from Japan at the intergovernmental level. What was the total dollar amount of these reparations claims?Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian sea, off the coast of Albania. The second largest of the Ionian islands, Corfu rises 2,980 ft (910 m) at Mt. Pantokrator in the northeast but is largely a fertile lowland producing olive oil, figs, wine, and citrus fruit. The island has been identified with Scheria, the island of the Phaeacians in Homer's Odyssey. It was settled around 730 BCE by Corinthian colonists. What Empress of Austria commissioned the building of a summer palace there?- » About
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