Topics

196

Salad / Onions in Salads: Soak Them in Water First

« on: June 28, 2015, 12:36:42 PM »

There's nothing wrong with a good hunk of onion in a salad: it's crunchy, and filled with pungent flavor. However, when that strong flavor takes over the dish, not to mention the next few hours of the victim's mouth, that's when one starts to push those crisp onion slices off to the side of the plate. But there's a great way to have your onion and eat it too!
Soaking onions in ice water for 10 or 15 minutes mellows out the flavor to take that sharp edge, and accompanying aftertaste. It's a trick restaurants use, and you can achieve the same results, too. [Coll.]

197

Fruit / A new generation of jackfruit includes smaller varieties

« on: June 28, 2015, 12:33:37 PM »

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a tropical tree native to western India that has been cultivated in Florida for more than a century. But now, with superior varieties available and growing techniques updated, it’s time to take advantage of its potential for production.
[Coll.]

198

Eyes / Avocado compound holds promise for treating leukemia

« on: June 28, 2015, 12:30:50 PM »

They are responsible for one of our favorite Mexican dips and can brighten up any salad, but a new study finds there may be much more to avocados; a compound found in the fruit could help tackle acute myeloid leukemia. [Coll.]

199

Cancer / Could the magnolia tree help combat head and neck cancers?

« on: June 28, 2015, 12:28:55 PM »

Head and neck cancers are responsible for the deaths of more than 20,000 people in every year, highlighting the need for new prevention and treatment strategies for the cancers. Now, a new study reveals how a compound found in the bark and leaves of the magnolia tree could provide just that. [Coll.]

200

Reduce Fat /Weight Loss / Ways to Lose Weight Fast

« on: June 28, 2015, 12:26:15 PM »

Fitness means being in good physical condition, being healthy, having more energy and better sleep patterns. A person who is fit is also able to carry out tasks more easily. Fitness may help prevent certain diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and heart disease. You do not have to be an athlete to be fit. A brisk half-hour walk every day can help you reach a good level of fitness. Staying active and fit can also help you manage your weight and reduce the risk of obesity. [Coll.]

201

Astronomy / How the brightest lights in the universe 'flicker'

« on: June 28, 2015, 12:21:20 PM »

Active galactic nuclei are the brightest objects in the universe. They are not lit up permanently, but rather 'flicker' extremely slowly. This insight helps researchers better understand the influence these nuclei and black holes have on their host galaxy. [Coll.]

202

Nutrition and Food Engineering / Exercising early in life yields rewards in adult years

« on: June 28, 2015, 12:18:19 PM »

What impact can exercise done early in life have on the propensity for exercising during the adult years? Researchers did experiments on mice in the lab to find out. They found that early-age exercise in mice has positive effects on adult levels of voluntary exercise in addition to reducing body mass -- results that may have relevance for the public policy debates concerning the importance of physical education for children. [Coll.]

203

Life Science / How creative are you? Depends where you're from

« on: June 28, 2015, 12:15:38 PM »

With the 'creative class' on the rise, many businesses are trying to capitalize on imagination and innovation. But when it comes to creative juices, some societies have a faster flow than others. That's because, as new research suggests, creativity is tied to culture. [Coll.]

204

Football / Copa America 2015 : Brazil 3 - 4 Paraguay, Dunga's side go out on penalties.

« on: June 28, 2015, 11:59:12 AM »

Paraguay beat Brazil 4-3 in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw on Saturday to advance to the semi-finals of the Copa America. Midfielder Everton Ribeiro and striker Douglas Costa each missed penalties for Brazil, and Derlis Gonzalez converted the winning spot-kick for Paraguay, setting up a match against Argentina on Tuesday. Chile will face Peru on Monday in the other semi.
It was the second consecutive time that Paraguay eliminated Brazil on penalties in the quarter-finals of the South American tournament.
[Coll.]

205

Cricket / গাঙ্গুলির বাংলাদেশ বন্দনা

« on: June 28, 2015, 11:55:03 AM »

মাশরাফিদের কাছে ধোনিদের ওয়ানডে সিরিজে হারের কারণ খুঁজছে ভারত। সৌরভ গাঙ্গুলিও তা খুঁজছেন; তবে দারুণ খেলা বাংলাদেশকে প্রশংসা করতে ভোলেননি ভারতের এই সাবেক ক্রিকেটার।তিন ম্যাচের ওয়ানডে সিরিজের প্রথম দুটিতে হেরে বাংলাদেশের কাছে ভারতের প্রথমবারের মতো সিরিজ হার নিশ্চিত হয়ে যায়। তৃতীয় ওয়ানডেতে মান বাঁচানো জয় পায় মহেন্দ্র সিং ধোনির দল। উত্তরসূরিদের খেলায় হতাশ হওয়া গাঙ্গুলি বাংলাদেশের প্রশংসা করে বলেন, “এটা হতাশাজনক (সিরিজ ফল)। কিন্তু বাংলাদেশ অসাধারণ ক্রিকেট খেলেছে এবং তাদের কৃতিত্ব দেওয়া উচিত।” [Coll.]

206

Astronomy / Monster black hole wakes up after 26 years

« on: June 28, 2015, 11:27:15 AM »

Artist’s impression of a black hole feasting on matter from its companion star in a binary system. Material flows from the star towards the black hole and gathers in a disc, where it is heated up, shining brightly at optical, ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths before spiralling into the black hole. Part of the disc material does not end up onto the black hole but is ejected the form of two powerful jets of particles. On 15 June 2015, the black-hole binary system V404 Cygni started showing signs of extraordinary activity, something that had not happened since 1989. The system consists of a black hole about twelve times more massive than the Sun and a companion star about half as massive as the Sun. [Coll.]

207

English / Voice of the rain

« on: June 27, 2015, 11:19:55 AM »

I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain,
Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,
Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely form'd, altogether changed, and
yet the same. [Walt Whitman]

208

Football / Copa América quarter-final: Argentina beat Colombia

« on: June 27, 2015, 11:08:12 AM »

Carlos Tevez scores the winning spot kick as Argentina beat Colombia 5-4 on penalties after a goalless draw that his side had dominated throughout.

209

Cricket / Bangladesh thrive on captain Mashrafe

« on: June 25, 2015, 09:31:01 PM »

Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza’s leadership qualities came to the fore from last November, and saw his team win 10 matches at home on the trot either side of a successful World Cup campaign.
Mashrafe uses his cricketing brain to stay a step ahead of the game, reading the situation correctly more often than not.
As Bangladesh’s ODI captain, Mashrafe played 21 matches so far. He won 15 games and lost 6. His winning percentage of 71.42 is the best among all former Bangladeshi captains.
During the second game against India, Mashrafe took a gamble and bowled Nasir Hossain as an attacking off-spinner. The move paid off brilliantly.
Nasir took the crucial wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli in his opening spell and gave away only 33 runs in ten, tight overs.
Mashrafe was aware of India’s recent problems with off-spinners, particularly against Moeen Ali in England and Nathan Lyon in Australia.
"Actually before the India series I saw a statistic that in the last year they have been weak against offspinners," Mashrafe said.
"They have given most of their wicket to offspinners. So from that aspect, I think Nasir is one of the best offspinners for Bangladesh in ODIs. I had only one offspinner in my hand and I wanted to use him." Bangladesh skipper added.
Mashrafe said that contributing with the ball has helped Nasir build his confidence as a batsman too.
"Even in the World Cup he bowled well and I like that he believes that he can bowl 10 overs.”
“At this moment I believe that he is doing well with the bat. In the last match he came down the track and hit a six. That is good intent," Mashrafe said to the press.
Under Mashrafe’s leadership, Bangladesh has been playing a fearless brand of cricket of late and can fight back even when the chips are down.
Whenever India seemed to have the upper hand during the two games of the series, Bangladesh found a way to counter their threat and be on top.
"I think the boys are playing fearless cricket," Mashrafe said.
"This is the significant change. The boys are not scared to play shots. They are not scared to put the slips on so I think that sort of cricket has changed. Cricket is all about mind games. I think we are all playing good cricket at the moment, especially with our head in the right place."
[Shaquib Tayeem Ahmed] [Coll.]

210

Cricket / Mustafizur Rahman Destroys Indian Batting, Does an Encore of Fifers

« on: June 22, 2015, 09:42:02 AM »

Mustafizur Rahaman may well have become Team India’s No. 1 bowling adversary. The Bangladesh pacer claimed his second fifer in only his second international match to leave Men in Blue stunned.

[Collected]