Archive for May, 2009

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How Chinese Calendars Work

Sunday, May 31st, 2009

Many people do not understand exactly what Chinese calendars really are, but to be honest, it is very close to the Western calendar, it has just been in place for longer. 2600 B.C is when the first Chinese calendar was introduced and it is the biggest chronological calendar on the books to date. Emperor Huang Ti was the person that discovered the cycle of the zodiac which the Chinese Lunar calendar centers itself around, basically, the moon cycle is what this particular calendar goes by.

One of the main differences between the Chinese and Western calendars is the naming of the years. Under the Lunar calendar, the twelve years are named after an animal. There is a legend which states that, before leaving the earth, Buddha had all of the animals come to them. However, only twelve came to say good bye to him. He rewarded them by naming a year after each one. They were named according to the order in which they arrived.

This is why the Chinese Animal zodiac and the calendar are interconnected. A lot of people believe that the year and animal in which you were born determines your personality. It can influence many aspects of your life.

A large part of the world’s population is Chinese. Clearly, a lot of people thus also follow the Chinese calendar. It is mainly used to determine when that culture’s celebrations, festivals, holidays, and special occasions occur. For everything else, the Chinese people actually follow the Gregorian calendar.

Modern science has definitely affected the Chinese calendar in many different ways. This particular calendar is based around the cycles of the moon and the longitude of the sun, so you can see how transforming this piece of history into something science-related could do nothing but help it.

Let us consider the phases of the moon first. They are extremely important. Under the Chinese calendar, the coming of the new moon means that a new month is starting. Conversely, the sun’s longitude helps to determine important periods of time - the Principal Terms.

Most people recognize this calendar because of the zodiac animals used. Those children who are born in 2009 will belong to the Ox. Those who were born in 1988 - twelve years ago - were also born under the sign of the Ox.

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Is swimming pool chemical Simazine dangerous?

Sunday, May 31st, 2009

The chemical Simazine, which is used in products to clean swimming pools and stop the growth of Algae is recieving calls to be made illegal. Simazine has been banned in the United States since 1994 after it showed it had links to causing cancer, but is still used in Australia. A report from the Australian pesticides and veterinary medicines authority (APAVM) makes claims that the levels of the chemical are far higher than the recommended allowed daily intake (ADI) health limit.

While the report didnt show that children exposed to the chemical have any lasting health problems, supporters of the ban are claiming with the levels over the ADI, the effects in later life for children could be dangerous. William Bliss, whose company Wobelea manufacturers products that contain the chemical Simazine, claim that people are over reacting. ‘For arguments sake, you would have to drink all the water in an Olympic pool, say 500,000 litres, to get anywhere near a toxic dose’.’

The investigation will determine if any new information has come to light reguarding the effects of the chemical, but while this is happening products containing Simazine will still be made available, which has angered campaigners. The chemical is banned in the United states and not used at all in European countries, which asks the question why are questionable swimmming pool chemicals still used in Australia? If the product is banned then the Australian government has said that it will move to ban the chemical and pull products containing the drug from the public domain.

Last month in Tasmania, there was panic in the local area after traces of this chemical and Altrazine were found in the supplies of drinking water. Though the levels of the chemicals found in the water sources has been said to be minute, there should not be any in drinking water sources at all.

Need pool accessories or swimming pool solar heating? Look no further

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A New You - With Chakra Meditation!

Friday, May 29th, 2009

Meditation is considered as a powerful form of self-realization and self-healing. There are various methods by which you can meditate, but perhaps, the most potent of all is the Chakra Meditation.This process can also be called chakra balancing or chakra healing.

Chakra Meditation; Basics

Quite simply, Chakra Meditation or Chakra Balancing refers to the process of balancing and energizing all the 7 energy centers (Chakras) in order to align the flow of energy through them. This is also known as Chakra Healing. These 7 energy centers, or the Chakras, are:

*Root Chakra governing your general health, prosperity and well being is located at the base of the spine and related to the element Earth.

*Orange or Naval or Sacral Chakra located at the center of abdomen and related to the element Water. It governs our emotions and sexuality.

*Solar Plexus or Power Chakra located just above the naval region and related to the element Fire. It governs our will power, autonomy, and metabolism.

*Heart Chakra located at the center of the chest and related to the element Air. It governs love, compassion, and relationships in our lives.

*Power Chakra, also called the Solar Plexus, is situated just above the naval region. It is related to the Fire element, which governs our will power, metabolism, and autonomy.

*Orange Chakra, also called the Naval or Sacral Chakra, is situated at the center of abdomen. It is related to the Water element, which governs our sexuality and emotions.

*Crown Chakra governing your wisdom and knowledge is located at the top of the head and related to the element thought.

A concentrated mind working towards the achievement of synchronized movements of these seven Chakras in the body can truly bring incalculable rewards in ones life. The body, mind, and soul would become stress-free and youll emerge as a better-informed human being who can easily see the spiritual side to every materialistic possession in this world. One can also achieve natural healing for bodily and mental ailments just by bringing the seven energy centers in consonance with each other.

Chakra Meditation Techniques

Chakra Meditation involves three techniques in this order:

*Grounding Technique, which aims at making the body feel connected with Earth. You just need to visualize a root growing from your body and entering into the Earth. This requires intense focus and mental presence during the act of visualization.

*Centering Technique. This technique is vital as it prepares your body to receive the benefits of Chakra Meditation. Again, the application of this technique is not too difficult. Just take 4-5 deep breaths and feel every body part from head to toe getting relaxed. This process involves tightening and relaxing each body part from toe, and then visualizing the act of a potter who centers a pot on the pottery wheel.

*Relaxation Technique, which is the final step in Chakra Meditation. There is no hard and fast rule to relax your body. Everyone has his or her own method of relaxation.

One of the popular methods of Chakra Meditation is detailed below:

*Sit or lie down in a position that is most comfortable for your body.

*Close your eyes and loosen your clothing. The idea is to be in a natural state without any kind of artificial compulsion on the body and mind.

*Breathe in a relaxed manner, which is neither too fast nor too slow. Let the breath come naturally!

*Feel every part of your body from toe to the crown in that direction. Feel the earth you are lying on or the sofa you are seated on, feel the clothes you are wearing. Feel completely present with yourself and relaxed.

*All the negative thoughts and emotions should not be avoided. Let them be! With time and regular practice, these thoughts will disappear automatically. Rather, when no such negative emotion disturbs you, that is the time when you should consider that you have perfected the art of Chakra Meditation.

*Feel every subtle inner detail and let your awareness travel freely from one body part to the other.

This exercise can be done at any time of the day and for any duration of time. However, the longer the better!

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Do Anything You Want With Remote Viewing

Friday, May 29th, 2009

The ability to reach higher levels of vibrations in our thought patterns is what remote viewing is all about. Everyone is born with the ability for psychic awareness and anyone can learn remote viewing. However, for most people the ability is lost or forgotten as they grow up or because it was never perfected and practiced. Often paranormal ability is discouraged as well.

Although, it is not clear exactly how remote viewing works or a scientific why as to how it works, it is possible to Learn Remote Viewing. It is however, categorized as a paranormal experience, much like astral travel, lucid dreaming and other controlled mind experiences. For many individuals, the idea is an odd one, although these are all occurrences or experiences that do come naturally to humankind.

Remote viewing is nothing new. It has been known about for a long time. When different countries discontinued and declassified their remote viewing programs they became available to the public. This is how we know that many countries made use of this psychic ability as part of the security measures. The people involved in these governmental programs were just ordinary people who had never had any former training in utilizing the inborn and natural remote viewing abilities.

This tells us that anyone can become a remote viewer. With practice, you can use remote viewing at will. You will have to be patient; it won’t happen overnight. You need to develop this skill just as you would any other (you can’t learn to walk a tightrope overnight either, after all). You’ll need to be dedicated and patient to become an expert remote viewer.

Keep in mind that since this is mind power you are using and cultivating that when you decide to remote view it will use up some of your energy and can leave you feeling tired. Therefore, you should try to pace yourself during your remote viewing sessions.

One of the most important things you will need to consider while you learn remote viewing is to learn how to meditate and visualize. Learning how to do these things help you to calm you mind and relax your body, making you more receptive to an out of body experience such as remote viewing. Learning how to visualize and meditate can aid you in reaching your goals of being able to remote view.

It is very important that you understand that the principle of practice makes perfect applies very much when it comes to being able to remote view as well. The more you practice the quicker and better you will be at doing it. It does not matter what psychic ability you want to perfect, practice is always necessary.

You will learn how to quite your mind and then focus your concentration intensely on a person, place or thing that is in another area than where you are currently. It is the ability to perceive, view or see something from a distance.

As you begin to learn remote viewing, you may find that the images which come to you are out of focus or blurred. This will improve over time as you gain more experience in remote viewing. Try to make a point of noticing everything you can about whatever you see.

The more often you practice, the better you will become at understanding what you are seeing. Be sure to keep a record of your remote viewing experiences, as this will help you to learn more about yourself and the types of methods that work best for you. It can also help you to figure out more about your own self and the world you live in when you record your progress in a remote viewing journal.

Should it be something you choose to do, remote viewing can also help you to link your mind with the universal consciousness. Remote viewing offers endless possibilities for exploration of different places and even galaxies! You will be able to look back into the past or even ahead into the future.

You will be able to see much when you remote view, so it could prove helpful to keep a pen and paper handy for you to sketch what you see. It is important that you take note of everything that you may see, including various shapes and colors. So it is important that you take note of everything.

There are various resources available to help you to learn remote viewing. Online or offline, you can find various books to help you. Also hypnosis recordings are a great help to retrain your subconscious mind. You should also check out something called ‘binaural beat’ audios which can instantly get your brainwaves into the correct frequency for psychic powers such as remote viewing to be possible.

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Your Science Fair Project - Step 1 - Picking the Right Kind of Experiment

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Science fair projects are always a highlight of the school year - one of those times that students can demonstrate their capabilities and creativity. Sometimes, it is hard just to get started on your science fair project. Before you can plan your project, and even before you pick a topic, you must first understand the different types of science fair projects. Take the time to choose the right type of science fair project, so that your time and effort are not wasted doing the wrong things.

Three basic kinds of projects are used in science fairs: models, demonstrations, and investigations. When picking among them, there are two things to consider. First, read the science fair rules to find out what type of project is required, and be sure to confirm it with your teacher. Second, if you have a choice, pick the type that will enable you to show what you’re best at.

The Model Building Method

The model building method is the kind of project which, as the name implies, enables you to construct a model, to scale whenever possible, to illustrate a specific scientific principle. This can often be a real working machine, such as a simple crystal radio set, or a straightforward model, such as one of the solar system. Many of us have seen the model of an erupting volcano in which the chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar causes realistic looking ‘lava’ flows down the sides of a ‘mountain’. Building models is a lot of fun, but don’t expect it to win your high school science fair. Models are most often used in elementary school fairs. Having said that, though, there can be some spectacular models produced by higher grade level students; especially if the model is actually demonstrating something new.

The Demonstration

The demonstration or descriptive method of research is again fairly self-explanatory. You could display your collection of rocks or other items related to a particular topic (like geology), and describe how they are related in your report, speech or on a display board. Alternatively, you might produce a poster or visual display about a topic on which you have carried out extensive research -climate change is understandably very popular at the present time. When you do this kind of project, you are not doing anything new, but only explaining or illustrating known scientific principles.

The Scientific Experiment (Investigation)

It is with the third of the possible methods that you can provide what most science fairs for older students are looking for - proper scientific experiments using scientific methods to construct and test a hypothesis and draw conclusions from it. If you want to go on to state or national science fairs, or are interested in a career in science, then this is an area to look into. And the choice of science fair project topics is limitless. Biology, chemistry and physics projects are common, but if your interest lies elsewhere, consider geology, environment, meteorology, or even sports science. Develop a hypothesis around your interest, and then find a method of testing it. If you have trouble thinking of an interesting topic, books and web sites can offer helpful ideas. Just make sure it is unique is some way if you want a chance of winning.

Remember, it is important to keep your teacher informed about your progress, and confirm that you know the rules and requirements for your science fair. Then, whichever kind of project you choose, you can proceed confidently and enjoy the entire process!

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