Serendipity

  

One day in 1945, a man named Percy Spencer was touring one of the laboratories he managed at Raytheon in Waltham, Massachusetts, a supplier of radar technology to the Allied forces. He was standing by a magnetron, a vacuum tube which generates microwaves, to boost the sensitivity of radar, when he felt a strange sensation. Checking his pocket, he found his chocolate bar had melted. Surprised and intrigued, he sent for a bag of popcorn, and held it up to the magnetron. The popcorn popped. Within a year, Raytheon made a patent application for a microwave oven.

Xenophobia - Is Breivik mad, bad and a psychopath?

Psychiatrists in Norway who examined him say he’s as sane as you or me. But that verdict was immediately questioned by two eminent figures as Breivik went on trial for the murder of 77 people: the psychiatrists Dr Raj Persaud and Dr Ramon Spaaij, an expert on so-called “lone wolf” killers.



The Singularity

Human history has been characterized by an accelerating rate of technological progress. It is caused by a positive feedback loop. A new technology, such as agriculture, allows an increase in population. A larger population has more brains at work, so the next technology is developed or discovered more quickly.  In more recent times, larger numbers of people are liberated from peasant-level agriculture into professions that entail more education. So not only are there more brains to think, but those brains have more knowledge to work with, and more time to spend on coming up with new ideas.

A Tale of Two Easters

Why one faith and two celebrations?

Easter is not only a movable holiday but a multiple one: in most years Western Christian churches and Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on different dates. In 2012, for example, Easter will be celebrated on April 8 by Western churches and April 15 by Orthodox churches. But in 2011, the two celebrations occured on the same date, April 24.

Superstition

Christian Northeast/New York Times

Pick up any dictionary, and look up the work superstitious and you'll find a definition that goes something like this: 

excessively credulous belief in and reverence for supernatural beings.

or

a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event, or a practice based on such a belief.

The questions is, are those beliefs incredulous and/or unjustified?

Top 10… foods to forage

Thanks to modern agricultural methods, foraging – once a part of the majority’s daily life – has faded away, replaced by regular trips to the supermarket instead. Recently, however, there has been a revival of interest in raiding nature’s larder thanks to increased awareness of the health benefits of wild food, not to mention the TV exploits of Bear Grylls, Ray Mears and co. But foraging is about more than just food. It gets us out into the countryside and helps to cultivate an intimate appreciation of nature, re-establishing a connection severed by modern urban life.

Ideas4Greece

We are all aware of the challenging times Greece is presently facing. That is why we developed the Ideas4Greece campaign. We believe this is the best way to initiate a global discussion and bring awareness to the issues of a country we all cherish so much.  We call you and all members of the Greek diaspora from all corners of the world to share your idea on how to help Greece by answering this question: “if you had the power to change something in the country what would it be?”. Upload your video (up to 2 minutes) stating your idea, via twitter, Facebook or by leaving a comment on this page. Greece needs us so lets be there for her. 

Show your support and share you thoughts on how Greece can thrive again. Let your voice be heard and inspire others to speak up for a good cause.

Google Art Project Offers Digital Tour of Greek Museums

 

Google is extending its artwork collection by including, among others, the Museum of Acropolis, the Museum of Cycladic Art and the Benaki Museum, in its Google Art project. This project offers a virtual and online presentation of hundreds of museum exhibits from around the world.

Zombie Madness!

Zombies are everywhere! Not just on game consoles or your local movie screens, they've  take over television with Frank Darabont’s adaptation of The Walking Dead comics on Foxtel. Though zombies have been a part of popular culture for almost half a century, there’s simply no doubt that they are currently a prevalent topic of entertainment and media coverage these days. It’s as if a virus was released into the media back in the 1960′s that is spreading and taking hold of more creative properties every year.

Controversial new book claims Greeks to be amongst first settlers of New Zealand

Investigations into this unusual rock carving have uncovered that an ancient Greek celestial calendar had been carved into it. The rock carving dubbed Jesus Watch by those who found it was discovered on a Northland farm recently. stuff.co.nz

A new 378-page book released recently, is causing a series of debates on the issue of the first settlers of New Zealand.

According to the authors of the book, Maxwell C. Hill, Gary Cook and Noel Hilliam, “To the End of the Earth” reveals evidence that the Greeks, Egyptians and Spanish were the first to set foot on New Zealand, and not Captain James Cook and Abel Tasman.