Poisonous substances in the depths of glaciers
Melting glaciers could cause contamination Environment
Glaciers - a time bomb ticking time. The melting ice raises sea levels. But there is another danger: in the depths of glaciers over time accumulate toxic chemicals. This conclusion was reached by researchers of the Swiss Technical University in Zurich (ETH).
Especially dangerous so-called POPs (persistent organic pollutants - POPs), whose use in industrial production was banned back in the 70 years of the last century due to the fact that difficult degradable pollutants are carcinogenic and toxic substances, due to air currents may be anywhere in the world. Together with atmospheric precipitation, they get on, where and preserved under the snow.
Swiss researchers examined sediment of alpine lake Oberaar in the Swiss canton of Bern. It is under the glacier, which since 1930 has decreased by approximately 1.6 kilometers. Together with melted glacier water, poisonous chemicals penetrate into the lake and settled on its bottom.
Thus, glaciers are indirect sources of poisonous substances. And down the process of global warming on Earth increases the melting of glaciers and, consequently, the world gets another environmental problem in the form of an environmental impact long ago banned chemicals such as persistent organic pollutants (POP).

How to Indonesian rice farmers extract and enrich the oil
Recent oil mini-setup
In the eastern Indonesian island of Java, in the Bojonegoro, local residents for over 130 years, producing oil with the use of improvised drill rods and drilling rigs from the tree. The peasants, whose main occupation is the cultivation of rice, each day being pumped from the depths of two to seventy barrels of oil. And without any high-tech, and for a fee of less than two euros per shift.
Cylindrical vessel is lowered into the well to a depth of 350 meters. There he is filled with oil, mixed with water. After that, workers hauled the vessel to the surface and pour the contents of the tank-Strainer. Here is an oily liquid is for several hours, until then, until oil separates from water, after which it can simply be removed.
Until recently, the state oil company Pertamina to buy oil from peasant rice farmers. When this major consumer suspended purchases, these are likely, the last of the world's remaining oil reserves scouts showed tremendous resourcefulness. They designed a system for further processing. With accessories made from bamboo tubes and barrels of oil obtained purified diesel fuel.

Chemistry of Life
Under the power of hormones
They affect the mood, the stability of family life, professional success and even health "second half". These chemicals are literally "lead" person for life.
Humanities and biologists often argue that the same plays a crucial role in the formation of personality: genes or environment? Or maybe both? And occasionally it comes to very different internal power-on hormones, those same chemicals that transmit information between the organs and tissues of the human body.
In human life does not often happen situations where the hormones are not playing a major role. It affects the body by controlling its growth, provoking a feeling of hunger, they influence the thinking, human behavior, and even feelings of fear, hatred or love.
Moreover, hormones build character. "I am convinced that the hormones - is the key to understanding our behavior and our personality," says endocrinologist Martin Vabich from the German city of Ulm. According to him, the individual "hormonal balance" man forms his habits and character.
Currently, scientists know of about 150 of hormones, but it is supposed that it is more than them. All the hormones act the same way: with special receptors, through which they pass on their information to the cells of individual organs.
Hormones are produced endocrine glands, majority of them moved into the body by the circulatory system.
For example, the pancreas produces insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels; genitals produces female and male sex steroids, adrenal glands - the stress hormone adrenalin.
Some hormones directly affect the behavior and emotions. For example, the sex hormone progesterone has soothing effect, improves mood serotonin, cortisol is released into the situation of stress.
At the "hormonal balance" affects not only human genes, hormones, or lifestyle. Hormones never act on their own, because the work of the endocrine glands affect genes. For example, high or low levels of testosterone in men is inherited. Hormones affect and style of life: food, sports, stress, positive and negative emotions - all this affects the hormonal balance of the organism. For example, excess weight increases the level of the ostrogen.
Often occurring in the body complex interaction of genes, hormones and external influences. For example, with age in some women, so increased levels of cortisol in the blood to levels corresponding to levels of patients with depression. However, not all women with menopause suffer from a bad mood. "This requires presence of several factors," said Isabella Hoyzer, director of clinical psychiatry at the Berlin Hospital Charite, studied the work of hormones in the elderly. "Some women have a genetic propensity to depression, which could not previously apparent, but with age may be triggered by hormonal changes. Bad moods can trigger and "external" factors: the withdrawal of home grown up children or divorce.
This provoked a storm of feelings first big hormonal changes in the body: sexual maturation. Scientists are still unsure exactly how and why the hypothalamus (the region of the brain), about the eighth year of life causes an increased allocation of sex hormones in the organism. One suggestion: the selection of sex hormones starts when you reach a certain body fat content.
The girls at the same time suffer from mood changes caused by the sex hormone estradiol. The boys in the same body produces the hormone testosterone, they become young men - aggressive and decisive.
Sex hormones influence the attractiveness of the person, and the choice of partners - estradiol in women and testosterone in men lead to the formation of secondary sexual characteristics.
Oxytocin causes couples listen to each other. Hormones determine the stability of family relationships, the scientists said. Oxytocin is especially well investigated in this respect, produced in the female body. In particular, he produced a large number of the body feeding mothers. But it is also important for the partnership. This newly discovered, scientists from the University of Zurich (Switzerland). As part of the experiment they staged a debate on the sensitive issue, with one group of participants was given oxytocin, and the other a placebo. The result: those who received injections of the hormone, listening to others carefully, often accepted, and even laughed.
School performance can also be caused by hormone. For example, a large number of receptors in the brain of the ostrogen has a positive effect on learning ability. And if the thyroid gland produces not enough hormones such as T3 and T4, which regulate the following other energy metabolism in the body, decreasing the concentration.
"Parents are surprised poor grades children go to the doctor and heard the diagnosis: lack of the thyroid gland," says endocrinologist Martin Vabich. With the help of medicines hormone levels can change.
Testosterone determines professional success. Individual levels of testosterone can affect even the success of his career. Researchers from the University of Cambridge found that during the observation brokers of London Exchange. The greater the level of testosterone in the body broker in the morning - the more he has entered into transactions during the working day.
With age, testosterone levels decline. Man's body adapts to it, and the specific complaints about the state does not do. Over the years, however, together with testosterone reduced muscle mass and bone mass, decreased sexual desire.
However, the "male menopause" - is a myth, says Isabella Hoyzer. As well as the so-called "andropause", about which so much talk-called followers of the notorious "anti-aging medicine. While in the men's body is reduced allocation of testosterone gradually and imperceptibly, the female body ceases allocation of estrogen much more rapidly - so begins menopause. Most women complain at this point to the steps fever, irritability, loss of appetite and insomnia.
In such a situation can be treated by injection of hormones. But before deciding on them, should think hard: too high a risk of heart and vascular diseases of breast cancer.

Rails, rails
In the world there are several examples of outstanding achievements in the field of engineering, inserted work and boldness in the development of human nature. Beijing-Lhasa, Peru, Bolivia - these mountain railways are dazzling.
Beijing-Lhasa or Shanghai-Lhasa. China
Latest Railway, built through the picturesque province of China. The highest railway in the world. Engineering building, which ranked with the Great Wall of China. Undoubtedly, the most interesting part of the journey begins on the Tibetan Plateau, where the train overcomes the pass at an altitude of attention ... ... 5072 meters! Prior to that, the railways have not climbed so high. While passing through the mountainous areas supplied oxygen in cars. If you for freedom of Tibet - better give up the journey through this amazing creation of the Chinese masters. Tibetans have always been against the railroad.
Marias Pass. United States
One of the most popular routes in the game Microsoft Train Simulator. Real railroad in Montana. The pass was opened in 1889, engineer John Frank Stevens for a couple with Indian Koons their Blackfoot tribe. The road is difficult, especially for long freight trains. Marias Pass is the path of a passenger train with an impressive name of "empire-builders", which should be from Chicago to Portland.
Spiral Raurimu. New Zealand
New Zealand Railway miracle of engineering. During the construction of the main road of the North Island from Wellington to Auckland in the late 18 th century there was one problem: how to overcome the steep slopes separating the volcanic plateau and the valley of the Wanganui. Then the engineer Robert Holmes invented to twist in the national park Raurimu crazy rail spiral with two tunnels, three turns of 180 º and one full circle. And all this is only 7 kilometers of the road!
Uyuni, Oruro, Potosi. Bolivia
Railway, which formerly belonged to a record high - 4787 meters at the pass Condor. Starts this journey in the vast Salar de Uyuni, which is popular among tourists cemetery entire compositions with these locomotives on abandoned tracks. The road on which the walk does not even train, and some cars, rising to the very altitude city in the world - Potosi, which is located at an altitude of 4200 (!) Meters. Along the way, you can see the rare South American phenomenon - a railroad that runs right in the middle of busy streets in cities and towns.
Nose of the Devil. Ecuador
Nariz del Diablo - the main attraction of Ecuadorian railways. 100-kilometer one-track-road, starting at the Highlands in Riobamba and descend to the real jungle in Sibambe. Travel the train, which meanders along the slope of the famous South American 6 000 metres height volcano Chimborazo, tourists prefer to the roofs of cars - from there the best kind, despite the obvious climatic inconveniences. Part of the road in 1997-1998. was destroyed by El Niño, but it quickly recovered. Enjoy a ride on a rickety train from the hill is only $ 15.
Lyantas-Porterilos. Chile
One of the most clinical cases of railway construction, and general planning of industrial production. Extracted near Lyantasa iron ore cargo is sent to a branch high in the mountains to the processing plant in Porterilos to a height of 3300 meters. The road goes on completely dried mountains, where almost never rainfall. Normal rainfall, if it happens here, can suddenly washed away to lands locate right on the steep mountainside.
Lima-Huancayo-Huancavelica. Peru
It so happened that the most extraordinary railroads concentrated in South America. Another wonderful way with streamers and recurrent deadlocks, that kind of a zigzag-shaped Z, when the train rests on a dead end, going backwards down the slope next to a dead end, and then forward again. That such artful engineering tricks distinguished builders, when their path stood the steep slopes of the Andes.
Of course, besides these, there are many other interesting railway routes: Banana Express in South Africa, and Patagonian Express "train at the edge of the world" in the very south of Argentina, the great Trans-Siberian, BAM, and the Circum-Baikal railway construction 501 in Russia, the tunnels under the Channel Tunnel and under the Alps, the train to Darjeeling, Canadian, Australian, Japanese and Nigerian Railways, but this is how some other time ...

Integrated beak-conditioner
Big toucan, or Ramphastos Toco, is extremely funny bird. His bill is 50 percent of the size of the entire body. Looking at this bird of the South American tropics, could not help wonder: what has prompted nature to give birth to the creation of such a large beak?
According to one theory, a giant beak toucans need in order to obtain food from difficult places. There is also the view that the bill has an indispensable role during mating.
Finally, a group of Canadian and Brazilian biologists presented a new explanation. Experiments have shown that birds can effectively manage the blood supply of its impressive beak and, accordingly, regulate body temperature, as with the air conditioner.
In his experiment, researchers placed a few toucans in Thermal imagers the camera. Temperature in it gradually increased, and the infrared light was clearly seen as the amplified blood flow across the surface of the bird's beak, which the heat transfer in a short period of time increased almost fourfold.
As you know, birds do not sweat. But because the bill devoid of insulation, they can use it to regulate their body temperature. At night, when it becomes cool, toucans beak hidden in the feathers, to protect the body from hypothermia. However, according to scientists, bird's beak may have other functions.