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The term sprog is not an unusual phrase to hear in Glasgow, Many men who have a pregnant wife/girlfriend are often asked "so when she gonna drop the sprog then?" It probably sounds strange to everyone from outside Glasgow/West of Scotland but....Quote:
Originally Posted by starrwriter
Drop the sprog! I love it. Sounds so reptilian.Quote:
Originally Posted by kilted exile
China Aims to Put Man on Moon by 2020
HONG KONG - Fresh from its second manned space mission, China's space program wants to be able to put a man on the moon and build a space station in 15 years, an official said Sunday.
"I think in about 10 to 15 years, we will have the ability to build our own space station and to carry out a manned moon landing," said Hu Shixiang, deputy commander of China's manned space flight program.
But the goal is subject to getting enough funds from the government, Hu said, explaining that the space program must fit in the larger scheme of the country's overall development.
Hu was in Hong Kong with the two astronauts who conducted China's second successful manned space mission in October. He spoke during a televised question-and-answer session with executives from various television stations and newspapers.
Nie Haisheng and Fei Junlong circled Earth for five days aboard the Shenzhou 6 capsule, traveling 2 million miles in 115 hours, 32 minutes. China's first manned mission was in 2003, when astronaut Yang Liwei orbited for 21 1/2 hours.
China wants to master the technology for a space walk and docking in space by 2012, Hu said. He said China was developing its space program at its own pace, not in competition with the United States. "It's not the competition of the Cold War era," he said.
Hu stressed China's intention to use space exploration for peaceful ends, saying the government "is willing to work hard with people around the world for the peaceful use of space."
He said Chinese space officials want to study the possibility of making rockets with the capacity to carry spacecraft weighing 27.5 tons — three times the capacity of their existing rockets — but the government hasn't approved the funding.
Hu dismissed suggestions the space program is too costly for a country that, despite rapid economic growth, is still struggling to eradicate rural poverty.
He noted the recent space mission cost $111.4 million, compared to the $23.5 billion that China spent on combating pollution last year.
source
Some couples may disagree, but romantic love lasts little more than a year, Italian scientists believe. The University of Pavia found a brain chemical was likely to be responsible for the first flush of love.
Researchers said raised levels of a protein was linked to feelings of euphoria and dependence experienced at the start of a relationship.
But after studying people in long and short relationships and single people, they found the levels receded in time.
The team analysed alterations in proteins known as neurotrophins in the bloodstreams of men and women aged 18 to 31, the Psychoneuroendocrinology journal reported.
They looked at 58 people who had recently started a relationship and compared the protein levels in the same number of people in long-term relationships and single people.
In those who had just started a relationship, levels of a protein called nerve growth factors, which causes tell-tale signs such as sweaty palms and the butterflies, were significantly higher.
Of the 39 people who were still in the same new relationship after a year, the levels of NGF had been reduced to normal levels.
Report co-author Piergluigi Politi said the findings did not mean people were no longer in love, just that it was not such an "acute love".
Stable
"The love became more stable. Romantic love seemed to have ended."
And he added the report suggested the change in love was down to NGF.
"Our current knowledge of the neurobiology of romantic love remains scanty.
"But it seems from this study biochemical mechanisms could be involved in the mood changes that occur from the early stage of love to when the relationship becomes more established."
However, he said further research was needed.
Dr Lance Workman, head of psychology at Bath Spa University, said: "Research has suggested that romantic love fades after a few years and becomes companionate love and it seems certain biological factors play a role.
"But while we are a pair-bonding species, there is some doubt over whether this is within monogamous relationships or not.
"Different societies have different practices and trends."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4478040.stm
To my knowledge, such a phenomenon hardly needs a scientific study to identify. I mean, anyone who's been in a relationship can likely attest that the first few months in the average relationship tend to have a certain emotional rush to them (the 'new-relationship smell') that, without a certain element of compatibility, tends to diminish over time.
It's been done. For all of you love junkies:Quote:
Originally Posted by RobinHood3000
http://www.oxytocin.org/oxytoc/index.html
Shoppers at a kitchen store were left open-mouthed when a video promoting an onion chopper cut to hardcore porn. Dave Casson, who owns the Cook Shop in Macclesfield, Cheshire, put the video on in his store to show customers how the new chopping device worked.
But halfway through, viewers' eyes were left watering when the scene switched to a very different kind of action.
Mr Casson, 50, said: "We had a few old ladies in and I knew straight away it wasn't going to be good for business."
The video had been sent by Mr Casson's suppliers as a promotional tool for the kitchen utensil, to be played in his shop in the Cheshire town.
Most of our customers are middle-aged and really don't expect something like this
Dave Casson
"The tape looked very professional when we got it from the company we deal with and we just put it in," he said.
"It was supposed to just be on a continual loop, so it would start playing over and over again.
"For some reason it didn't work."
A few minutes in, the footage of the Swedish-made onion chopper stopped and, after a short time on a menu screen, cut to the pornographic movie.
"Somebody must have taped it over the other movie and it went on to that," added Mr Casson.
"Most of our customers are middle-aged and really don't expect something like this."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/m...er/4494660.stm
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: Yikes. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
Maccelsfield heh? thats only about an hour from my house, maybe Ill go have a nosy pity its too far for the local papers to pick up, maybe the Cheshire monthly will??
hah! Ive been to their library (actually thought of applying there but 4 hours comuting every day from 7 in the morning and not be home till after 10 was too much) and they have the biggest "romance" selection I have seen anywhere and I think Ive been now to nearly everyone of the major libraries in cheshire.
Good scifi/fantasy too.
Beautiful building though and town and they have these gorgeous cobbles everywhere and I sooo want to live there one day.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...anfront203.jpg
In the dense central forests of Borneo, a conservation group has found what appears to be a new species of mammal.
WWF caught two images of the animal, which is bigger than a domestic cat, dark red, and has a long muscular tail.
Local people, the WWF says, had not seen the species before, and researchers say it looks to be new.
The WWF says there is an urgent need to conserve forests in south-east Asia which are under pressure from logging and the palm oil trade.
The creature, believed to be carnivorous, was spotted in the Kayan Mentarang National Park, which lies in Indonesian territory on Borneo.
The team which discovered it, led by biologist Stephan Wulffraat, is publishing full details in a new book on Borneo and its wildlife.
"You don't find new mammals that often, and to do so must be extraordinary," said Callum Rankine, head of the species programme at WWF-UK.
"We've got camera traps there, which are passive devices relying on infra-red beams across forest paths," he told the BBC News website.
"Lots of animals come past - it's much easier than pushing through the forest itself - and when an animal cuts the beam, two cameras catch images from the front and back."
So far, two images are all that exist. But they were enough to convince Nick Isaac from the Institute of Zoology in London that the animal may indeed be new.
"The photos look most like a lemur," he told the BBC News website. "But there certainly shouldn't be lemurs in Borneo."
These long-tailed primates are confined to the island of Madagascar.
"It's more likely to be a viverrid - that's the family which includes the mongoose and civets - which is a very poorly known group," Dr Isaac said.
"One of the photos clearly shows the length of the tail and how muscly it is; civets use their tails to balance in trees, so this new animal may spend chunks of its time up trees too."
That could be one reason why it has not been spotted before. Another could be that access to the heart of Borneo is becoming easier as population centres expand and roads are built.
The WWF says this is the heart of the issue. It accuses the governments of Indonesia and Malaysia, which each own parts of Borneo, of encouraging the loss of native jungle by allowing the development of giant palm oil plantations.
Last week Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, chief minister of Sarawak, the larger Malaysian state on Borneo, said that such claims are unfounded and part of a smear campaign.
He told the BBC News website that palm oil plantations are mainly sited on land which had previously been cleared for cultivation or are in "secondary jungle".
But the WWF says species like the new viverrid - if new viverrid it be - are threatened by such development.
It is concerned that other as yet unknown creatures may go extinct before their existence can be documented.
The group is planning to capture the new species in a live trap so it can be properly studied and described.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4501152.stm
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...meonbus203.jpg
Falling asleep on the bus is about to become easier as a new scheme providing short-term housing aboard double deckers is to be launched.
Eight buses have been refitted with kitchens, bathrooms and living space.
The buses, with solar panels and recycling bins, will be lent to a London homeless charity over Christmas.
Double Decker Living, a new London company, aims to provide alternative housing for the homeless and key workers such as NHS staff on call.
The idea for the bus, which can house up to five people, was prompted by the phasing out of the Routemaster, the distinctive hop-on, hop-off red London bus.
Life skills
"The double decker is such an iconic London image, we wanted to see what we could do with it," said Jason Hart of Double Decker Living.
"Everyone I speak to laughs because it sounds so strange but once they see it for themselves, they become very enthusiastic about the idea."
For the first stage of the project - to be launched on 19 December - Leyland Olympian double deckers are being used, but plans are under way for a Routemaster version.
Centrepoint charity for young homeless people will use the buses as teaching venues for life skills classes, covering topics such as cooking and interview preparation.
Wow, What a bus!
* gets life plan list out pencils in LIVE IN LONDON at least for 9 months *
:D
A teenager who fled the Taleban regime has made history by being the first Muslim to represent England in the Miss World beauty contest in China. Hammasa Kohistani, 18, had been third favourite but Misses Iceland, Mexico and Puerto Rico were voted top three.
Islamic extremists had sent her death threats for taking part in the competition, watched by two billion.
Miss Kohistani, who was born in Uzbekistan, fled Afghanistan with her parents in 1996.
She went to the UK via Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Dubai.
She recalls seeking cover in her Kabul apartment block, as a child, when it came under attack from bombs and bullets.
On arriving in Britain, Miss Kohistani's father Khushal set up a takeaway food business while her mother Layla worked as an interpreter.
Spotted on the London Underground at the age of 14, the A-level student speaks six languages and has modelled for Gap and Superdrug.
She has also been offered a part in a Bollywood film.
Miss Kohistani said: "This is a real life fairy story that couldn't happen in any other country.
"So many people from so many nations have been interested in my progress, because I am not what was expected."
Among those Miss Kohistani beat to the Miss England crown was another Muslim entrant, Sarah Mendly, 23, who was voted Miss Nottingham.
Miss Mendly had been among the favourites but Liverpool's Islamic institute called on her to pull out because contestants are often scantily clad.
A total of 102 contestants are in the Miss World final - now in its 55th year - including Miss Wales Claire Evans, 22, and 23-year-old Miss Scotland Aisling Friel.
Nigeria hosted Miss World three years ago and around 250 people died in riots after a journalist infuriated Muslims by suggesting the Prophet Mohammed might approve of the contest.
On Saturday Unnur Birna Vilhjalmsdottir, Miss Iceland, was crowned Miss World 2005.
The runner-up was Miss Mexico, Dafne Molina Lona, while Miss Puerto Rico, Ingrid Marie Rivera Santos, came third.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/4515836.stm
A strong earthquake has hit north-eastern Afghanistan, the US Geological Survey (USGS) has said. The tremor of 6.7 magnitude struck the mountainous Hindu Kush region bordering Pakistan early on Tuesday, it said.
Residents in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where tens of thousands died in October's earthquake, fled their homes, reports say.
The tremor was also felt in India's capital, Delhi. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The earthquake in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the USGS said.
The tremor was felt in Pakistan's cities, including Muzaffarabad and Balakot, that were devastated by the 8 October earthquake, local television reported.
More than 73,000 people were killed in the earthquake which left at least three million people homeless, according to officials in Pakistan.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4523250.stm