Human Body Facts

In my book called Readers Digest Pathfinders: The Human Body.  The following facts are:

1. Your body has a lifesaving trapdoor called the epiglottis.  It closes so no food can get out, otherwise it would be a trainwreck.
2. Most of your tastebuds are on your tongue, but you have them in your mouth and throat, too.  Each of your tastebuds detects one specific taste (sweet, sour, bitter, salty).
3. Girls become women and boys because of their sex hormones.  Girls become women around 10 or 11 and 12-14 for boys.  Girls develop breasts and broader hips and begin to menstruate and boys grow facial hair and their voices deepen.  In this cycle of life, both can produce children.

Children in Myanmar

Children in Myanmar

Today in Myanmar, some inroads are being made in advancing children's rights and improving the provision of basic social services for children. Nevertheless, disparities remain pronounced throughout the country, with children and women in remote areas often being particularly underserved.
While progress has been made in improving children's health through child immunization and nutrition initiatives, Myanamr continues to have high infant and under-five mortality rates, with 50% of all child deaths attributable to preventable causes. One in three children under five years of age are still malnourished, and youth are particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.

Although water and sanitation coverage has substantially increased in recent years, many households still lack access to safe water and sanitary facilities, and water-born diseases remain a major killer of children under five years of age throughout the country. Parasite infections resulting from impure water are exacerbating child and infant malnutrition, and poor sanitary conditions are providing breeding grounds for disease.
Today, primary school enrollment rates are high, and more schools are being constructed. However, less than half of all children in Myanmar currently complete primary school. Many school expenses must be borne by students' families, presenting an insurmountable financial obstacle for many improverished households. Classroom facilities are often poor and under-equipped, and attrition rates among teachers are high due to low pay, poor working conditions and long separations from their families.
In recent years there has been a growing recognition of the importance of child protection intiatives. Nevertheless, high primary school dropout rates and widespread poverty have had the effect of rendering large numbers of Myanmar's children and youth vulnerable to various forms of exploitation.

In recent years there has been a growing recognition of the importance of child protection intiatives.

Many children are employed in factories, teashops and other business enterprises where they work long hours under arduous conditions, for very little pay. Other children take to the streets to beg, some run afoul of the law, and others are conscripted despite national laws prohibiting this practice. Many of these children are vulnerable to trafficking, and many trafficked children and women are forced to work in the commercial sex industry.

Despite these challenges, there is reason for hope. UNICEF in Myanmar is working with its partners to help children and their families surmount the problems that they face, and more fully realize their rights to health, education, equality and protection.

Kitchen experiment

Here's what you need to do:
Check with a grown-up before you start.
Gather a bunch of things from your kitchen that you'd like to test. We suggest:

White Vinegar

Lemon Juice

Other Fruit Juices (like orange, pineapple, apple)

Liquid Soaps (like clear soaps for hands, laundry, dishes)

Clear Soda

Water

Check out the instructions for Cabbage Juice Indicator. Test each of your items in this experiment and record the results on your Chart.

Check out the instructions for Polishing Pennies. Use your Cabbage Juice data to figure out which of your items will shine up a dull penny. Mark your predictions on your Chart.

Now test your items in the Polishing Pennies experiment. Record your data on your Chart. How does it compare to your predictions?
Grab that Chart and head on back to the ZOOM Web site to submit your results and claim your

World's Youngest Doctor.

Who is the youngest doctor in the world?


Balamurali Ambati became the youngest doctor in the world after graduating at age 17 from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in 1995. He completed an ophthalmology residency at Harvard University and a fellowship in cornea and refractive surgery at Duke University. He practices and teaches at the University of Utah.

Suzann Pershing graduated from Sonoma State University in 2002 when she was 14 and from Medical School of South Carolina when she was 18. She is currently a resident of ophthalmology at Stanford University.

Recently in June 2008, Heenal Raichura, MBBS, B.Sc., from Britain (United Kingdom) became one of the youngest doctors in the world at the age of 22, with additional degree of BSc. (Anatomy and Developmental Biology) from the University College of London, having spent 6 years at the University.

Heenal entered St. George's Medical School at the age of 16. In UK, the minimum age requirement for admission to a medical school is 18 years, and the course is of 5 years. Any extra degree would require studying for further period.

Had Heenal Raichura not done additional B.Sc degree, she would have been qualified as a doctor at the age of 21 instead of 22.

I love this bunny and cat.

Relocated sea turtles because of oil spill

Sea Turtle Relocation

The oil in the Gulf has become a huge threat for nesting sea turltles along the coast. And today for the first time ever, sea turtle eggs were excavated and are being transported to the east coast.
Story 2 Comments Photos Font Size: The oil in the Gulf has become a huge threat for nesting sea turltles along the coast. And today for the first time ever, sea turtle eggs were excavated and are being transported to the east coast.

More than 200 sea turtle eggs left Port St. Joe around 1:30 today and are currently en route to Cape Canaveral. While moving these delicate eggs across the state is risky, experts say its the best option to give these turtles any chance of survival.
One by one experts slowly and very carefully dug up sea turtle eggs which are being transported to Cape Canaveral.
It's a process that has never been done before.
And while sea turtle experts know this process is risky, it's better than sending the hatchlings into oil.
"The little hatchlings are very sensitive. They go out there to these areas. They go way out into the current, and there's a lot of oil out there even thought it has not hit the coast." says Thomas Strickland, Interior for Fish & Wildlife & Parks.
Sea turtle eggs normally have to survive predators and beach erosion. Now they have to survive the journey across Florida.
"As we're relocating them of course there are threats with digging them up and jamming the eggs. We dont want anything to disturb the embryo inside. We dont want it to become detached from the inside of the egg. So that process has to be done extremely carefully." says Sea Turtle Conservancy Director David Godfrey.
Volunteers assisted with the process, slowly transporting the egg filled coolers into the air controlled fed ex truck which transports them to their new temporary home.
"It's hard because these turtles, they will come back to this beach. They nest at the beach they were born at, so it hard to see them go and the possibility that they will not return to this beach to nest."
says turle patrol volunteer, Jessica MacKenzie

Cool lego creations!

MY TOP TWO #1 DREAMERS

"LOGIC WILL GET YOU FROM A TO B. IMAGINATION WILL TAKE YOU ANYWHERE." Albert Einstein

"BE WHO YOU ARE AND SAY WHAT YOU FEEL, BECAUSE THOSE WHO MIND DON'T MATTER AND THOSE WHO MATTER DON'T MIND." Dr. Seuss

I swam for the first time by myself, yesterday!

I LOVE TO SWIM.

I SWIM EVERYDAY AND WOULD LIVE IN THE POOL IF I COULD.

Donate

I am sending my bottle return money to help poor kids.