SPIRIT News

"Tweet" added to dictionary as verb

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:55:00 GMT

The Oxford English Dictionary is acknowledging that tweeting isn't just for the birds. In its latest update, the dictionary revamped the entry for "tweet" to include its social networking usage.

It now includes the definition as a verb and reads, "To make a posting on the social networking service Twitter."

A new word normally needs to be in use for 10 years before Oxford considers it for the dictionary, but its chief editor says they made an exception this time.

Oxford adds and revises words four times a year.

The fruit bowl that warns you BEFORE your food goes moldy

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:36:00 GMT

Picking what you think is a ripe, juicy peach from your fruit bowl - only to discover its mouldy and furry underneath - may soon be a thing of the past.

Scientists have developed a fruit bowl fitted with a sensor that monitors the levels of a chemical released during the fruit's ripening process.

When these levels of the chemical (called ethylene) increase, it acts as a trigger that the fruit is beginning to rot and the system lights up to alert the owner that the fruit must be eaten soon.

The bowl was designed by design student Jagjit Chodha, of London's Brunel University.

It was inspired by statistics that show 440,000 tonnes of fruit is wasted each year from homes in the UK.

Chodha's device is just one of the highlights of this year's Made in Brunel Design and Engineering Show being held at The Bargehouse at the Oxo Tower in London from 13 to 16 June.

The exhibition showcases the innovations of designers from Brunel University’s School of Design and Engineering.

Other highlights of the show include a device that measures how much breast milk a baby is consuming, a watch that helps to relieve stress and a device that helps disabled people use deodorant.

The Smartphone by 2018?

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:31:00 GMT

In many ways, the evolution of the smartphone since the debut of the original iPhone in 2007 has been a predictable straight line —bigger screen, more powerful processors, longer battery life, faster data connections, higher-resolution cameras and more apps. But recent advances have signaled a potential sea-change in smartphone evolution. We’re talking bendable screens and other radically different designs, eye control and security, and Dr. McCoy-like tricorder functions. Here are 15 smartphone features to expect in the next five years.

Where We're Headed: Bluetooth 4.0 has triggered an explosion in wearable sensors that transmit biomedical (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure), exercise (e.g., distance walked, calories burned) and environmental (e.g., temperature, humidity) data to a smartphone — but each of these sensors requires a separate app. Samsung has already begun to build some sensors into the Galaxy S4, but in five years, expect a smartphone to win the “Star Trek”-inspired Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE.

Prediction: By the end of this decade, we'll be sporting wearable sensors imbedded in shoes, glasses, belts, watches and clothing. These sensors will not only enable us to monitor all of the aspects of our bio and environmental conditions by waving our iPhone 10 or Samsung Galaxy S9 over us — Dr. McCoy-style — but prescribe preventive, precautionary and curative actions.

The signs of drowning may not be what you think

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 14:19:00 GMT

Parents who want to keep their kids safe in pools, lakes and rivers this summer should heed this warning from the U.S. Coast Guard: If your child looks like they are quietly treading water, they may actually be drowning.

An article in the Journal of U.S. Coast Guard Search and Rescue titled “It Doesn’t Look Like They’re Drowning” breaks down the signs of what is called Instinctive Drowning Response. The article was written in 2006, but it received new life this week in a post on Slate.com – written by one of the original authors – which has spread quickly across social media.

Most people would assume that a drowning person would be splashing, waving and yelling for help. Aviation Survival Technician First Class Mario Vittone and Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D say that’s not possible during Instinctive Drowning Response.

Bottom line: The quiet person who looks like they are simply treading water, with their head back and mouth open, is more likely to be drowning. It’s something to think about when normally loud children are playing in the water.

This list is an excerpt from the original 2006 Coast Guard article.

Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary, or overlaid, function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.
Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.
Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.
From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response, people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.

Vittone says the best test is to ask a person in the water if they are OK. If all you get back is a blank stare, you may only have seconds to rescue them.

A person splashing around and calling for help could still be in trouble, but Vittone and Pia say those people are in aquatic distress, which means they can still assist themselves. However, that phase doesn’t last long.

Austin Children's Museum renamed the Thinkery

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 21:24:00 GMT

AUSTIN -- The Austin Children's Museum is about to go through a whirlwind of change.

Besides being moved to the Mueller area later this year, the museum will also be renamed the Thinkery.

Museum officials said Tuesday that the museum will be a hybrid of technology and science, where children and families will have a new experience each time they visit. The Thinkery will focus on "STEAM" learning: science, technology, engineering, art and math, as well as healthy living.

The 40,000 square foot building will have unique exhibits with programs for kids six months to 11 years.

“After six years of planning and fundraising, our dream is finally becoming a reality thanks to the generous supporters who strongly believe in our mission to equip and inspire creative problem solvers,” said Executive Director of Austin Children’s Museum Mike Nellis.

The Austin Children's Museum will close its Colorado Street doors on Sept. 1.

The Thinkery will open in Mueller on Dec. 7 with a grand opening celebration. Go here for more information.

How to help Oklahoma tornado victims

Tue, 21 May 2013 14:15:00 GMT

American Red Cross
The Red Cross has set up shelters in various communities. You can donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund here, and the organization also suggests giving blood at your local hospital or blood bank.

If you're searching for a missing relative, check Red Cross Safe & Well's site. And please register if you're within the disaster region. The site is designed to make communication easier after a tragedy like this.

If you want to send a $10 donation to the Disaster Relief fund via text message, you can do so by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999. As in the case with other donations via mobile, the donation will show up on your wireless bill, or be deducted from your balance if you have a prepaid phone. You need to be 18 or older, or have parental permission, to donate this way. (If you change your mind, text the word STOP to 90999.)

Phone: 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767); for Spanish speakers, 1-800-257-7575; for TDD, 1-800-220-4095.

Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief
This organization says donations will "go straight to help those in need providing tree removal services, laundry services and meals to victims of disasters."

It is requesting monetary donations (It says clothing is NOT needed). For more information, and to donate, visit Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief's website.

You can send checks to: BGCO, Attn: Disaster Relief, 3800 N. May Ave., Oklahoma City, OK., 73112.

Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is organizing disaster response units to serve hard-hit areas in central Oklahoma, including Moore, where it is sending mobile kitchens that can serve meals to 2,500 people a day, and to South Oklahoma City.

Supporters can donate online via the organization's website, SalvationArmyUSA.org. You can also text the word STORM to 80888 to make a $10 donation via cellphone.

If you want to send a check, the Salvation Army asks that you put the words "Oklahoma Tornado Relief" on the check, and mail it to: The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 12600, Oklahoma City, OK., 73157.

Phone: 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769).

United Way of Central Oklahoma
A disaster relief fund is being activated as of May 21 so that individuals can specifically donated to tornado relief-and-recovery efforts, the organization says on its site.

"Financial contributions are the best way to help unless otherwise requested." Donations can be made online at

United Way of Central Oklahoma’s Disaster Relief Fund is open. Donations may be made online here. Checks, with a notation of "May Tornado Relief" can also be sent to the United Way of Central Oklahoma, P.O. Box 837, Oklahoma City, OK , 73101.

Feeding America
Through its network of more than 200 food banks, Feeding America, whose mission is to "feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks," says it will deliver truckloads of food, water and supplies to communities in need, in Oklahoma, and will also "set up additional emergency food and supply distribution sites as they are needed." You can donate online here.

Phone: 1-800-910-5524.

Operation USA
The international relief group, based in Los Angeles, says it is "readying essential material aid — emergency, shelter and cleaning supplies" to help Oklahoma's community health organizations and schools recover.

You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word AID to 50555. Checks should be sent to: Operation USA, 7421 Beverly Blvd., PH, Los Angeles, CA 90036

Phone: 1-800-678-7255.

New Thinking on Swaddling Infants

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:54:00 GMT

Check out almost any newborn baby picture, and if it was taken in a U.S. hospital, chances are the infant will be wrapped up in a familiar white flannel blanket with a blue-and-pink stripe.

That could be about to change as a blanket alternative—known as a wearable blanket or a sleep sack—makes inroads in hospital maternity wards as part of a campaign to promote safer sleep for babies.

More than 4,500 infant deaths each year occur suddenly due to factors including accidental suffocation and heart malfunctions and are broadly categorized as Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths, or SUIDS. Roughly half can't be explained after investigation and are classified as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS. SIDS rates have declined more than 50% since 1999, as research has shown putting babies on their backs to sleep decreases the risk and a national education campaign has emphasized the importance of consistently doing so.

At the same time, rates of deaths classified as accidental suffocation have risen, and many SUIDS cases are linked to unsafe sleep environments, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The American Academy of Pediatrics' 2011 guidelines warning against loose crib blankets are part of an expanded "Safe to Sleep" program sponsored in part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Swaddling infants in a blanket is an age-old practice that can help comfort a fussy baby. But incorrect swaddling can be a health threat: Too loose, and a blanket can unwind and hinder breathing; too tight, and it can cause serious hip problems. The International Hip Dysplasia Institute recommends that infants' legs should be able to bend up and out at the hips, not tightly wrapped straight down and pressed together.

Infant sleep sacks, with fabric flaps that swaddle the baby's arms to the body and close securely, are meant to make swaddling safer and easier by giving babies a secure feeling and freedom of leg movement without danger of loose fabric around the head. As part of safe-sleep education programs, 1,000 hospitals are receiving free annual allotments of SleepSack-branded wearable blankets based on birth rates from Halo Innovations Inc., of Minnetonka, Minn. Company founder, Bill Schmid, lost a daughter to SIDS in 1991.

At Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, baby blankets now are used only to dry off and present newborns to parents. After that, the newborns go into sleep sacks. Sarah Scherbring, a first-time mother who delivered her son, Owen, at the hospital in January, calls the safe-sleep information from prenatal classes "very eye-opening." As a result, she avoided overstuffed bedding she had been thinking about buying in favor of an undecorated crib with a firm mattress and a tight flat sheet.

"These infant deaths are preventable accidents that remain a silent epidemic in our country," says Michael Goodstein, a member of the AAP's task force on SIDS and a neonatologist at York Hospital in York, Pa. "Wearable blankets are completely appropriate in place of a blanket," he says, as long as the size is appropriate and it doesn't result in overbundling, which overheats infants and increases the SIDS risk. In Pennsylvania, a 2010 law requires hospitals to provide information on SUIDS and SIDS risks and to ask parents to sign a voluntary acknowledgment form.

Amanda Albright, who gave birth to triplets in January at York, says nurses and doctors "were very hands on" about instructing her and her husband how to use sleep sacks and avoid putting other items in the crib. They have lined up two cribs with no extra bedding along their bedroom wall for daughter Macy and son Reid, and have a third ready for Lena, who is still in the neonatal intensive care unit. They won't be sleeping with the babies, Ms. Albright says. "It is very intimidating at first to learn about the risks, and there are some that you can't control," she says. "But we have to practice the prevention steps that we do know about."

Halo and others sell wearable blankets at retail as infant sleepwear priced from $25 to $30. In 2006, Mr. Schmid began offering newborn-size sacks at no charge to hospitals that pay shipping costs. Hospitals can buy replacements at just over cost and at a discount to give or sell to new parents. Halo gives some proceeds to SIDS research and prevention groups such as First Candle, of Bel Air, Md., and it provides hospitals educational materials from First Candle promoting sacks over blankets. Halo says the groups use its funding at their own discretion and it isn't aware of specific studies linking wearable blankets to a lower risk of SIDS.

Medline Industries, of Mundelein, Ill., supplies about 40% of hospital baby blankets and says sales of its 60-year-old Kuddle-Up line of familiar striped blankets, caps and other pediatric apparel are up about 5% this year. Medline sells the blankets to hospitals for $1.50 to $2.50 each and recently began offering a sack-type garment for $7.50 to $8.50.

Jennifer Walrich, Medline senior product manager, says while the company isn't seeing an "overwhelming trend" in hospital requests for sleep sacks, there is definite interest. "If the blankets were to go away in five years, we will always have another product that fits their needs," she says. Safe-sleep guidelines don't specifically recommend eliminating swaddling in blankets, she notes, but rather warn that blankets shouldn't be allowed to come loose in a crib.

Still, nurses who have long prided themselves on their blanket-swaddling technique—sometimes called "baby origami"—now are delivering stern warnings about how easily blankets can get loose. Karen Shirley, director of maternal-newborn services at HCA Inc.'s Chippenham Hospital in Richmond, Va., says some babies "are like little Houdinis. One minute you think you've swaddled them tightly, and the next minute they don't have one part of the blanket left on them."

With their Velcro closures and zippers, the Halo sleep sacks can't be sent through hospitals' industrial laundries, the way blankets are, and instead must be sent out for special washing, adding to costs. But given the risks of loose blankets, "it's the only way to go," says Marilyn Maggioncalda, clinical nurse specialist in the neonatal intensive care unit at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Mich. Her unit puts new babies into sleep sacks while they're in the hospital and sends each one of them home with a free sack of their own.

SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal
MORE INFO: CLICK HERE

FreshPaper claims to keep produce fresh longer

Mon, 13 May 2013 17:33:00 GMT

Tossing out fresh fruit and vegetables that have gone bad feels like throwing money down the drain. A new product called FreshPaper claims to keep produce fresh for two to four times longer. It’s made from a mixture of spices, including fenugreek, which supposedly inhibits bacteria growth.

Consumer Reports wanted to check it out. Testers placed two sets of blueberries and strawberries with FreshPaper into a fridge—one set in its original store packaging, the other in airtight plastic containers. In a different fridge they placed another set of berries without FreshPaper.

Testers checked the fruit every day. The FreshPaper did not appear to have any effect on the blueberries. After two weeks all the blueberries looked pretty much the same - no matter which container.

The strawberries in their original store packaging without FreshPaper showed some mold growth. The strawberries with the FreshPaper didn’t have any mold, but they were starting to spoil—same as the berries without the paper.

As for the strawberries in the airtight containers, almost three weeks later the ones with the FreshPaper and the ones without the FreshPaper showed signs of spoilage.

Consumer Reports says that your best bet is to store fresh produce in a cool, dry place. And no matter how great it looks in the store, resist the urge to buy more than you need.

Complete Ratings and recommendations on all kinds of products, including appliances, cars & trucks, and electronic gear, are available on Consumer Reports’ website.

'Clutch' idea could keep teens safer on the road

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:55:00 GMT

Dealers say most parents go for the automatic, as that's what they're kid probably trained on in driver's ed. Sixteen-year-old Riley Johnson's parents went the opposite direction. The shifting of the gears on the Mazda 3 requires Riley to stay busy. “I'll always have my hand in the middle dash area,” he said. “I can't really drink anything, until like I'm at a stop light or anything.”

Dad helps deliver baby boy in Sam’s Club parking lot

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:26:00 GMT

When Fritz Rosales and Josephine Rosales, who was in labor, realized they wouldn't make it to the hospital in time, they pulled into a Sam's Club parking lot to deliver their fifth child.

CBS-Sacramento interviewed the proud parents. Fritz Rosales explained that events seemed to conspire against them. First, they needed to stop at a gas station for fuel. Then, they came across a slow-moving train at a railroad crossing.

"It was probably going 25-30 miles per hour, and it was probably a 90-car train," Fritz told CBS-Sacramento. "Then, just as soon as that train cleared the crossing, another train came along the same track. I was like, 'Are you serious?'"

It was at this point they realized the baby wasn't going to wait. "The first thing that came to my mind was Sam's Club," Fritz told the station.

Fritz pulled into the parking lot, dialed 911 and told an ambulance where they were, then set about delivering the baby, whom he and Josephine named Alexander (not Samuel).

Fritz said that at first the baby wasn't breathing. Alexander then started crying, and mom and dad knew things were going to be OK. Josephine told CBS-Sacramento that she's relieved everything worked out and Alexander is healthy.