Now there is a reason to laugh everyday

Laughter is as good as exercise in promoting health and a sense of well-being, a new study says.

Lee S. Berk, preventive care specialist and researcher at Loma Linda University's Schools of Allied Health (SAHP) and Medicine, and Stanley Tan have come up with the study.

They have been studying the human body's response to mirthful laughter and have found that laughter helps optimise many of the functions of various body systems.

Berk and his colleagues were the first to establish that laughter helps optimise the hormones in the endocrine system, including decreasing the levels of cortisol and epinephrine which lead to stress reduction.

They have also shown that laughter has a positive effect on modulating components of the immune system, including increased production of antibodies and activation of the body's protective cells, including T-cells and especially Natural Killer cells' killing activity of tumour cells.

Their studies have shown that repetitious 'mirthful laughter,' which they call Laughercise, causes the body to respond in a way similar to moderate physical exercise, says a Loma Linda release.

Laughercise enhances your mood, decreases stress hormones, enhances immune activity, lowers bad cholesterol and systolic blood pressure, and raises good cholesterol (HDL).

As Berk explains: 'We are finally starting to realise that our everyday behaviours and emotions are modulating our bodies in many ways.' His latest research expands the role of laughter even further.

Berk along with Jerry Petrofsky at Loma Linda University presented their findings at the Experimental Biology conference in Anaheim, CA.

A Car that gives out oxygen!!

Taking cue from the plants' ability to photosynthesise, Chinese automaker Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation has developed a new concept car that could take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.

SAIC, which has a partnership wtih General Motors in China, showed designs for the photosynthesizing YeZ Concept Car recently at Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

YeZ (pronounced "yea-zi") is Mandarin Chinese for "leaf," and it is the apt title for the open buggy-like vehicle, which has a roof shaped like a leaf only, reports Discovery News.

The technical details haven't been articulated, but according to a report in Xinhua, YeZ designer Ma Zhengkun has said that the roof "absorbs solar energy and transforms it into electricity while spinning rotors on the four wheels generate power from the wind."

According to CNET Asia blogger Juniper Foo, the two-seater car would have a "metal-organic framework," which would work to absorb CO2 and water, turning them into electricity that would get stored in a lithium-ion battery.

The New iPhone 4G!!?!

Almost a month after an iPhone 4G prototype was found in a US bar, reports of discovering a second next-generation prototype of the gadget in Vietnam are making rounds.

The secret gadget, identified by technology experts as being similar to a version found recently in a Silicon Valley bar, was given to a mobile phone accessory dealer in Ho Chi Minh City.

However, it remains unclear how the device, which has a front facing camera and has the distinctive Apple markings, arrived in Vietnam or if it is actually an Apple product.

Some claimed it might be a fake Chinese model, reports the Telegraph.

And if the discovery is confirmed, it would mark a second serious breach in Apple's legendary wall of secrecy in as many months.

In March, a technology news blog, Gizmodo, published details of an "invaluable" 4G prototype after it bought it from a blogger who found it in the American bar.

It created a furore after details emerged last week that Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder, personally tried to stop its publication.

Lawyers for the 55-year-old multi-billionaire claimed publication of the new generation phone's secret features would be "immensely damaging" to the technology giant.

The website, which is owned by Gawker Media, was handed to the website by a 21 year-old blogger, Brian Hogan, who sold it for 5,000 dollars.

And now, a Silicon Valley police task force is investigating the website after the company, roughly valued at 242 billion pounds, claimed the prototype had been stolen.

The latest pictures and video of an iPhone 4G were published online by the Vietnamese Web site Taoviet last week after they were posted by the dealer, Tran Manh Hiep.

The phone in the photos, are almost identical to the one which was lost in March and published by Gizmodo, the New York-based website.

Apple is due to release the 4G iPhone in the summer.

The Black box

Usually painted bright orange to help easy retrieval, a black box is a combination of two devices mounted at the rear of an aircraft not the cockpit, since that is the area normally least affected during air crashes, experts explain.

It is called black box because of the tragic circumstances in which the system is generally retrieved and has nothing to do with the colour of its outer casing.

In aviation parlance, it is actually a loose term used for two crucial pieces of equipment -- the digital cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder -- that give crucial inputs to investigators on the causes of air mishaps.

One device digitally records all conversations inside the cockpit and those with the air traffic controllers, among its other uses, and gives vital clues to the cause of any air disaster.

The other has the history of the aircraft's flight details, such as acceleration, engine thrust, airspeed, altitude, rudder position, which are also vital for crash probes.

A sturdy system the size of a shoebox, it has a reflective tape on its exterior and can withstand extreme temperatures. It has a solid steel encasing and heat-resistant material to withstand heavy impact and razing fire, the experts said.

The box also has an underwater locating device, which gets activated immediately upon contact with water and helps in its retrieval should an aircraft sink in a water body.

'The recorded data can be analysed for the purpose of checking deviations in flight parameters beyond acceptable limits which are critical to flight safety,' says one of the manuals compiled by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Experts at the DGCA will decode the black box from the Air India aircraft in the national capital. If for some reason, the data retrieval becomes difficult, they will take the help of aircraft manufacturer Boeing.

The US-based manufacturer has already dispatched a team of experts to assist in the technical investigations.

Jose Mourinho likely to join Real Madrid

After guiding Inter Milan to a Champions League final win over Bayern Munich that sealed his second career Treble, Jose Mourinho admitted he was 'more likely to leave than stay' and is interested in joining Real Madrid.

The Portuguese became only the third coach to win Europe's premier competition with two different clubs - he won it with Porto in 2004 - and now he wants to go one better.

'I want to be the only coach to win the Champions League with three different clubs.'It's more likely that I will leave rather than stay. The Champions League I won at Porto (2004) was my last game there and this time it will almost certainly be my last game for Inter. I want another challenge in my career,' Mourinho was quoted as saying by Rai TV.

'It's not definite that I'll go but I want new risks, new experiences, and now is the moment to decide.'

He also hinted that Real Madrid are willing to take him.

'Great season, incredible season. But at this moment I have not many words to describe how I feel because it's almost for sure that I will leave. Real Madrid is the only club that wants me. It is an enormous club, a club that wants the same as me; I want to win, I want to feel important, I want to keep winning.

'My target now is to win another championship where I have never won it and another Champions League... And then I return to England,' said Mourinho.

Air India flight crashes during landing in Manglore

The Mangalore crash may not have come at a more inopportune time for National Civil Aviation Company of India or NACIL, the firm that runs national carrier Air India. Decades of mismanagement and under-investment had saddled the Maharaja with losses of over Rs 12,000-crore and a debt burden of around Rs 17,000-crore. With aggressive competition from private airlines chipping away at its once dominant market position, NACIL had been kept alive by government grants, even while the airline's management had been given a stiff deadline to effect a turnaround in its ailing finances only last year.

State-owned Air India faces the challenge of saving its brand and reputation following the crash of its no-frills flight to the coastal city of Mangalore from Dubai. While the reason for the crash is yet to be established, travellers generally associate a disaster with the brand for a long time.

"With this brand equity of the airline would further go down," aviation expert Jayesh Desai said. Faced with mounting losses, the airline had asked the government to help it stay afloat. The government has provided Rs 800 crore to the flag carrier in February against the airline's demand of Rs 5,000 crore. NACIL was formed in August 2007 after the merger of Indian and Air India.

The tragic incident on Saturday morning is expected to damage the airline's reputation even as it was getting busy to mend its badly battered financials and operations. There were signs of revival as NACIL started cutting its losses in the past few months on the back of an economic recovery and a concomitant growth in air traffic. "The incident would have an impact on the airline if the investigation shows that there was negligence on part of airline or pilot training was inadequate," Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) India head Kapil Kaul said.

A senior aviation industry official said pilots needed special clearance for flying to and from the two south Indian cities of Calicut and Mangalore. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna told news agencies, "It was known and generally understood that the Mangalore airport and the runway is a very tricky runway and the skills of the pilot would be put to the maximum test while landing in Mangalore. Our worst fears have come true."

A Bajaj Allianz executive said insurance companies may ask for a higher premium from the airline the next time it goes for fleet insurance. Asked if there were various instances of B737-800 aircraft crashing, Boeing India president Dinesh Keskar said, "There has certainly not been any other case in India."

Keskar said that a Boeing team from Seattle, the headquarters of the American planemaker, would fly to India as soon as practically possible to help the investigators.

Light shedded on the evolution of Lizards

London, May 10 (ANI): A new research has confirmed that competition, and not predation, is the primary selective force in island lizards.

In one of its kind ecological field experiment, entire islands in the Bahamas were wrapped with netting, snakes introduced to two other islands and the fitness of hundreds of lizards was measured using treadmills.

The research has resolved a long-standing question about the evolution of lizards.

As part of their research, Ryan Calsbeek and Robert Cox of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, excluded predators from two small, uninhabited islands in the Bahamas by wrapping the islands - about 1000 square metres each - with netting to keep out predatory birds. Meanwhile, they enhanced predation on two other islands by introducing lizard-eating snakes.

Also, they seeded one of each pair of islands with high densities of Anolis sagrei lizards, and the other with lower densities of the animals.

Before release, they marked and measured each one and tested its stamina by running it to exhaustion on a treadmill.

"Your Lance Armstrong lizards can run about 7 minutes. Your overweight field-biologist lizard runs for about 2 minutes. We spent several hours a day just running the animals, and we did that day in and day out for several weeks," New Scientist quoted Calsbeek, as saying.

After a period of four months, the experts returned to the island and recaptured every remaining lizard.

Larger, longer-legged and higher-stamina lizards had survived better than smaller, wimpier ones on higher-density islands where competition was more intense, they found.

However, these traits did not affect the chance of survival in the face of predation. This supports the idea that competition, and not predation, is the primary selective force in these island lizards, says Calsbeek.

David Reznick, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Riverside, said: "To me, that's surprising. I would have thought that predation would matter."

The study has been published in the Journal Nature.

Facebook Danger

Facebook may be enthralling and captivating, but it carries dangers that are far from obvious.

An expert in online privacy has drawn attention to the five dangers of sharing information on social networking site Facebook.

Joan Goodchild, senior editor of CSO (Chief Security Officer) Online, claims marketing efforts by the company often results in a compromise on account holders' privacy, reports CBS News.

Goodchild noted five risks of using Facebook on 'The Early Show on Saturday Morning.' They are:

1.Your information is being shared with third parties

2. Privacy settings revert to a less safe default mode after each redesign

3. Facebook ads may contain malware

4. Your real friends unknowingly make you vulnerable

5. Scammers are creating fake profiles

Earlier this week, 15 privacy and consumer protection organizations filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, alleging that the site manipulates privacy settings to make users'' personal information available for commercial use.

India hoping for a miracle

Facing the risk of an early exit, India will not only have to produce a miracle against Sri Lanka in their last Super Eights match in St Lucia on Tuesday but also hope for a favour from Australia if they aspire to enter the semifinals of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup.

After slumping to the 49-run loss against Australia in their first Group F Super Eight match, India's semifinal hopes received a severe battering yesterday when Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men fell short by 14 runs against the West Indies.

Despite the two defeats, India are mathematically still in the fray for a semifinal place. But for that to happen, Dhoni's men will first have to beat Sri Lanka tomorrow and then hope Australia drub the West Indies by a big margin, which will see three teams locked with same points in Group F.

In such a scenario, the net run-rate (NRR) will be brought into action to pick which one of these three teams -- India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies -- qualify for the semi-finals.

To make matter worse for India, they would have to win by a handsome margin against the islanders tomorrow to bolster their net run-rate, which is a dismal -1.578.

Despite losing to Australia by 81 runs yesterday, Sri Lanka have a NRR of -0.600 while the West Indies' NRR is -1.057.

India could have avoided this mathematical dilemma had their batsmen executed better skills or been prudent while handling short balls.

Cramped for time and space, they have injudiciously played the pull shot, though not being physically and technically well equipped to challenge such hostile deliveries.

As the frazzled Indian stars may have realised by now, merely throwing the bat around at short balls, without getting inside the line or under the ball, doesn't fetch runs.

It needs grit, gumption, skill and prudence to face such adversity, especially on a bouncy and fast track.

"When we step out of the sub-continent and play on bouncy tracks, we get into trouble. In the other forms of the game, we can let the ball go by. But you can't afford to let the ball sail past you in the Twenty20 format as the pressure will increase," said India skipper Dhoni, lamenting his batsmen's inability to combat the short-pitched deliveries.

However, India can take heart from the fact that they will be playing the Lankans at the less-boucy Beausejour Cricket Ground here where they recorded both their victories in the first round.

To top it, though Sri Lanka have three quicks in Lasith Malinga, Chanaka Welagedara and Angelo Mathews, they certainly would not be as devastating as the Australian or the Caribbean pacers.

Most importantly, India will have to get over the two defeats and play positively tomorrow to achieve their goal of comprehensively beating Sri Lanka and then hope the NRR could possibly provide them the leeway to enter the semifinals.

But considering the way his batting order has performed, Dhoni is not too optimistic of India making the last four stage of the tournament.

"Hoping to qualify from this situation (two defeats) would be asking for too much. We will go out and play positive cricket. If we can win, we will take it as a consolation," Dhoni had said, reflecting the sodden mood of the camp.

As statistics reveal, only two batsmen -- Suresh Raina (101) and Rohit Sharma (79 not out) have scored in the excess of 50 runs in the event, belying Dhoni's belief that his batting line-up has the fire-power and depth to surpass targets of 160 to 170.

However, trouncing Sri Lanka is not going to be a lark in the park, as Kumar Sangakarra's men would come all guns blazing to qualify for the semis, especially after slumping to the morale-shattering defeat againstAustralia last night.

The Lankans would be eyeing nothing less than a victory to avoid any mathematical equation and if they do so, the Islanders, in all probability, will face Engalnd in the first semifinal on May 13.

Teams (From):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, R Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Yuvraj Singh, Piyush Chawla.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Dinesh Chandimal, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Suraj Randiv, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Thissara Perera, Thilan Thushara, Chanaka Welegedara.

Match starts at 10.30 pm (IST).

New Zealander turns Bull poo into paper

Wellington, May 9 (ANI): A Kiwi artist is said to have found a way to turn bull manure into writing paper.

Andrew Reilly, from Bulls, Rangitikei, New Zealand, found that he had an affinity for papermaking during his studies towards his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Whanganui UCOL.

In his research, he found different cultures were making paper from many fibrous materials, including kangaroo poo, wombat faeces and elephant manure.

Back home, he got a couple of bull farmers to allow him to clear their paddocks, but figuring out how to turn raw poo into paper took a bit longer - 15 months in fact, for the smooth transformation to be honed.

First Reilly has to rehydrate the bull patties, covering them with litres of water in plastic buckets and leaving them to soak.

"There's fibre from grass in there, the bull doesn't actually process the fibre," Stuff.co.nz quoted Reilly as explaining.

"It needs a good couple of weeks to soften up the fibre and start breaking down," he said.

After a fortnight, during which the mixture is stirred occasionally, he sieves the waste from the fibre, the mixture is then cooked in a caustic solution, washed, blended, bleached, sieved out onto a wire frame, and set out to dry.

Most of the paper Reilly manufactures for his business Tenax papers is made from the more conventional material harakeke, or New Zealand flax.

He hopes the bull paper will be a hit with tourists or backpackers, who may be looking for a quirky gift. It's also proven popular with those looking for an original, handmade effect.

"I have had people who have bought it not because it's bullshit, because they think it's beautiful," he said.

And if not, at least friends are amused with being able to legitimately call him a "bullshit artist", he added.