Lion

By António & Eddie (11º9)

Orca / Killer Whale

By Jorge, Luís & Ricardo (11º7)

Grizzly Bear

By Carina Gomes, Rocio & Sónia (11º6)

Ring-Tailed Lemur

White Tiger

By Cláudia & Ricardo (11º9)

Ocelot

Zebra

By Catarina & Tânia (11º7)

Asian Tiger

Puma

Giant Panda

Tiger

Posted by João Luís Franco

Arctic Fox

Chimps

African Elephant

Cheetah

Shark

Polar Bear

Red Wolf

Dolphin

Penguin

Leopard

Florida Panther

Lynx

Sea Turtles

300 years of FOSSIL FUELS in 300 seconds

Ecological Footprint Quiz

Ecological footprints measure humanity's demands on nature. Everything we do has consequences...

Ever wondered how much “nature” your lifestyle requires?

You’re about to find out.

The Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates the amount of land and ocean area required to sustain your consumption patterns and absorb your wastes on an annual basis. After answering 27 easy questions you’ll be able to compare your Ecological Footprint to others’ and learn how to reduce your impact on the Earth.

What the future of our environment holds

Jalil Boston
7th Grade
Slauson Middle School

Twenty years from now, I’ll be 32 years old, forced to raise kids where they can’t play outside, where they can’t even stand in the sunlight without worrying about skin cancer, and can’t make a simple trip to the grocery store without having to be concerned about acid rain.

The constant fear of super tornadoes, flash floods and season long droughts because of global warming will be yearly occurrences (the Winter temperatures average record highs, while the summers are dry and the heat index averages 105 degrees Fahrenheit in the Midwest states).

What can we do to prevent this from happening? Here’s my idea…my parents have taught me a lot about accountability. For instance, take my room. If it is messy with clothes and trash everywhere, I’m unable to be comfortable, I can’t invite my friends over and every thing is just a big mess. It soon becomes embarrassing for anyone to see, even me. I couldn’t just leave my room messy like that because I didn’t feel like cleaning it up. Eventually, my parents would punish me for having such a dirty and unkempt room.

With natural disasters like tsunamis, hurricanes and wild fires we should have learned one thing: The way we treat the earth is exactly the way it will treat us. The earth, just like my room, it is not enough to mess it up and then clean it up, we have to prevent the mess from happening and be held accountable. If we continue on our current environmental path, we have yet to see the worst of mother nature.

I do things for the environment like recycle newspapers, bottles, old computers, cell phones, soda cans, and liquid containers. My family and I do things like reduce the amount of gas use, air-conditioning, burning oil and reduce the amount of times we use aerosol cans. My family doesn’t smoke, we have plants all over our house, we car pool when it’s necessary and take the city bus when it is accessible.

Each year, global warming will continue to get worse if we are effortlessly making the little progress we are now. While recycling and reducing the usage of our natural resources helps me do my part, I feel the biggest thing I could do is ask our government to require that more individuals, families, cities and states be held accountable for the poor care of the environment.

I feel that children and adults alike have a voice in this matter, as this planet is something that we all inherit from one generation and pass on to the next.

http://www.theride.org/pdf/BugWinningEssay.pdf (abridged)

Students of 11 teachers from seven Ann Arbor Public Schools participated in the essay contest. From more than 200 entries, a group of 13 finalists was selected .

Slauson Middle School seventh-grader Jalil Boston (second from left) receives congratulations from his teacher, Teresa Schneider (far right) and his father, Heath Boston, after learning from AATA Manager of Community Relations Mary Stasiak (left) that his essay on environmental stewardship was chosen for top honors in AATA's recent competition.

Humans! (cartoon)

"Humans! - A Green Natural Funny Cartoon by Reza Rasoli"

WASTE LAND (official trailer)

WASTE LAND Official Trailer from Almega Projects on Vimeo.

Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of "catadores" -- self-designated pickers of recyclable materials.

Muniz's initial objective was to "paint" the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives. Director Lucy Walker (DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND, BLINDSIGHT, COUNTDOWN TO ZERO) has great access to the entire process and, in the end, offers stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.

Deforestation in the Amazon

By Rhett A Butler

Between May 2000 and August 2006, Brazil lost nearly 150,000 square kilometers of forest—an area larger than Greece—and since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed. Why is Brazil losing so much forest? What can be done to slow deforestation?

Why is the Brazilian Amazon being Destroyed?

In many tropical countries, the majority of deforestation results from the actions of poor subsistence cultivators. However, in Brazil only about one-third of recent deforestation can be linked to "shifted" cultivators. Historically a large portion of deforestation in Brazil can be attributed to land clearing for pastureland by commercial and speculative interests, misguided government policies, inappropriate World Bank projects, and commercial exploitation of forest resources. For effective action it is imperative that these issues be addressed. Focusing solely on the promotion of sustainable use by local people would neglect the most important forces behind deforestation in Brazil.

Brazilian deforestation is strongly correlated to the economic health of the country: the decline in deforestation from 1988-1991 nicely matched the economic slowdown during the same period, while the rocketing rate of deforestation from 1993-1998 paralleled Brazil's period of rapid economic growth. During lean times, ranchers and developers do not have the cash to rapidly expand their pasturelands and operations, while the government lacks funds to sponsor highways and colonization programs and grant tax breaks and subsidies to forest exploiters.

A relatively small percentage of large landowners clear vast sections of the Amazon for cattle pastureland. Large tracts of forest are cleared and sometimes planted with African savanna grasses for cattle feeding. In many cases, especially during periods of high inflation, land is simply cleared for investment purposes. When pastureland prices exceed forest land prices (a condition made possible by tax incentives that favor pastureland over natural forest), forest clearing is a good hedge against inflation.

Such favorable taxation policies, combined with government subsidized agriculture and colonization programs, encourage the destruction of the Amazon. The practice of low taxes on income derived from agriculture and tax rates that favor pasture over forest overvalues agriculture and pastureland and makes it profitable to convert natural forest for these purposes when it normally would not be so.


A Closer Look at Brazilian Deforestation

Today deforestation in the Amazon is the result of several activities, the foremost of which include:

1. Clearing for cattle pasture
2. Colonization and subsequent subsistence agriculture
3. Infrastructure improvements
4. Commercial agriculture
5. Logging

Severn Suzuki speaking at UN Earth Summit 1992

Raised in Vancouver and Toronto, Severn Cullis-Suzuki has been camping and hiking all her life. When she was 9 she started the Environmental Children's Organization (ECO), a small group of children committed to learning and teaching other kids about environmental issues. They were successful in many projects before 1992, when they raised enough money to go to the UN's Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Their aim was to remind the decision-makers of who their actions or inactions would ultimately affect. The goal was reached when 12 yr old Severn closed a Plenary Session with a powerful speech that received a standing ovation.

Where most of us are happy to do lip service, she went onto study Ecology and Evolutionary Biology – and today, is an Environmental Activist, Television Host and Author, all in the name of preserving the environment.

On the 10th anniversary of this speech in 2002, she wrote a wonderful piece for TIME Magazine titled, ‘The Young Can’t Wait.’

You can read it here.

HOME

A film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Short version: 92’

2009, France, digital

Film company: Elzevir Films – EuropaCorp

Distributor in France: EuropaCorp Distribution

SYNOPSIS

The appearance of life on Earth was the result of a balance between elements that took billions of years to stabilize. Humans have profited from the lavish resources of the Earth, but have changed the face of the world by the use they have made of it. The harnessing of petroleum and its subsequent over-exploitation are having dramatic consequences for our planet. Human beings must change their behaviour and their way of life before it is too late for them, their descendants and life on Earth.

"We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate.

The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being.

For this purpose, HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because Home is a non-profit film.

HOME has been made for you : share it! And act for the planet."

Yann Arthus-Bertrand

HOME official website

http://www.home-2009.com

PPR is proud to support HOME
http://www.ppr.com

HOME is a carbon offset movie
http://www.actioncarbone.org

More information about the Planet
http://www.goodplanet.info

Climate change

Climate change

View more presentations from jardimsara.

Check what you know about environmental threats and disasters

1. Review the common terms and expressions that refer to the environmental threats and disasters.

2. Check what you have learned so far by choosing the term or expression corresponding to each definition in the form below.

3. Once you have finished, you can submit/send your form.

Why the Ocean Matters

A Way Forward: Facing Climate Change

Global Warming

Why care about water?

What on EARTH are we doing?

One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth forever.

 Ecclesiastes

No, not forever. At the outside limit, the earth will probably last another 4 billion to 5 billion years. By that time, scientists predict, the sun will have burned up so much of its own hydrogen fuel that it will expand and incinerate the surrounding planets, including the earth. A nuclear cataclysm, on the other hand, could destroy the earth tomorrow. Somewhere within those extremes lies the life expectancy of this wondrous, swirling globe. How long it endures and the quality of life it can support do not depend alone on the immutable laws of physics. For man has reached a point in his evolution where he has the power to affect, for better or worse, the present and future state of the planet.

Through most of his 2 million years or so of existence, man has thrived in earth's environment -- perhaps too well. By 1800 there were 1 billion human beings bestriding the planet. That number had doubled by 1930 and doubled again by 1975. If current birthrates hold, the world's present population of 5.1 billion will double again in 40 more years.

The reason is not so much the sheer numbers, though 40,000 babies die of starvation each day in Third World countries, but the reckless way in which humanity has treated its planetary host.

A stubborn seven-week heat wave drove temperatures above 100 degrees F across much of the country, raising fears that the dreaded "greenhouse effect" -- global warming as a result of the buildup of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere -- might already be under way. Parched by the lack of rain, the Western forests of the U.S. went up in flames. And on many of the country's beaches, garbage, raw sewage and medical wastes washed up to spoil the fun of bathers and confront them personally with the growing despoliation of the oceans.

Similar pollution closed beaches on the Mediterranean, the North Sea and the English Channel. Killer hurricanes ripped through the Caribbean and floods devastated Bangladesh, reminders of nature's raw power. In Soviet Armenia a monstrous earthquake killed some 55,000 people. That too was a natural disaster, but its high casualty count, owing largely to the construction of cheap high-rise apartment blocks over a well-known fault area, illustrated the carelessness that has become humanity's habit in dealing with nature.

 
The further depletion of the atmosphere's ozone layer, which helps block cancer-causing ultraviolet rays, testified to the continued overuse of atmosphere-destroying chlorofluorocarbons emanating from such sources as spray cans and air- conditioners. Perhaps most ominous of all, the destruction of the tropical forests, home to at least half the earth's plant and animal species, continued at a rate equal to one football field a second.

What would happen if nothing were done about the earth's imperiled state? According to computer projections, the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere could drive up the planet's average temperature 3 degrees F to 9 degrees F by the middle of the next century. That could cause the oceans to rise by several feet, flooding coastal areas and ruining huge tracts of farmland through salinization. Changing weather patterns could make huge areas infertile or uninhabitable, touching off refugee movements unprecedented in history.

Toxic waste and radioactive contamination could lead to shortages of safe drinking water, the sine qua non of human existence. And in a world that could house between 8 billion and 14 billion people by the mid-21st century, there is a strong likelihood of mass starvation.

Let there be no illusions. Taking effective action to halt the massive injury to the earth's environment will require a mobilization of political will, international cooperation and sacrifice

We owe this not only to ourselves and our children but also to the unborn generations who will one day inherit the earth.

Source: Online Time Magazine (abridged)

Celebrate the 10th anniversary of the European Day of Languages with us!

At the initiative of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, the European Day of Languages has been celebrated every year since 2001 on 26 September.

Throughout Europe, 800 million Europeans represented in the Council of Europe's 47 member states are encouraged to learn more languages, at any age, in and out of school. Being convinced that linguistic diversity is a tool for achieving greater intercultural understanding and a key element in the rich cultural heritage of our continent, the Council of Europe promotes plurilingualism in the whole of Europe.

Learn more about this, click here.

For some language fun, click here.

Self-evaluate your language skills here!

 

A day at the beach (logic problem)

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, four couples decided to spend the day at the beach. They had a great day of fun in the sun. At one point, each couple went off on their own for a while to enjoy their favourite beach activity.

Determine each couple's full names (one man's name is Hank), the color of each woman's bathing suit, and each couple's favorite activity.

1. Mark Collins and his wife were not the couple that liked to swim in the ocean. Rachel wasn't wearing a green bathing suit.

2. Mr. Bailey and his wife collected shells, but they didn't have blue bathing suits. Tabitha's husband wasn't Mark.

3. Peter's last name wasn't Delgado and his wife didn't wear a green bathing suit.

4. Sally and Peter were not the couple that liked to climb on the rocks along the shore's edge.

5. The woman in the red bathing suit loved swimming in the ocean. Louis, whose last name wasn't Colby, enjoyed sunbathing with his wife. Tabitha didn't wear the purple bathing suit.

6. Vanessa, whose last name wasn't Collins, went swimming with her husband.

Try to solve this problem and check the answer with your English teacher.

Describing a place

“Descriptive writing is an art form. It’s painting a word picture so that the reader ‘sees’ exactly what you are describing.”

Brenda Covert

(High school teacher)

What’s the big deal about writing descriptively?

For one thing, it’s much more than page-filling fluff.

Descriptive writing imprints images into the reader’s mind, making you feel as though you’re “right there.” It‘s all about engaging the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch to transport the reader and stir emotion. By choosing vivid details and colourful words, good writers bring objects, people, places, and events to life. Instead of merely telling you what they see, they use their words to show you.

Writers use this powerful method to make their pieces memorable—even brilliant—rather than dry and boring. In many ways, description is the most important kind of writing you can teach your children because it supports other reasons for writing such as storytelling, informative reports, or persuasion.

Vivid writing is especially important when describing a place—whether to describe a vista for a travel guide or flesh out a scene in a novel.

Master storyteller Charles Dickens was also a master of using description to create a particular mood or idea.

It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever, and never got uncoiled. It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye, arid vast piles of building full of windows where there was a rattling and a trembling all day long, and where the piston of the steam-engine worked monotonously up and down, like the head of an elephant in a state of melancholy madness. Charles Dickens, Hard Times

Here, a ninth grader draws on all five senses to describe a place and set an effective mood.

Moist and salty, a chilly breeze blows in across the swells, bringing with it the pungent smells of seaweed and fish and making me pull my jacket a little closer. Sea spray transforms into fiery prisms as the waves splash against the shore, catch the last golden rays of sun, and toss them up like liquid crystals.

Read more here.

Going back to school after the holidays

Going back to school after the holidays can be difficult. You might be really excited to get back to school, catch up with all your friends and start the new school year.

Or you might be sad that days of sleeping in, going to the beach, and having extra time on your hands are over until the next holiday.

No matter what you might be feeling, here are a few tips that can help you get back into the right headspace for going back to school and get you motivated for the new school year.

Some suggestions for making the move back to school as stress-free as possible are:

Set yourself some goals for the year - A good way to get motivated for the new school year might be to think about the things you might like to achieve during the year. These might be school related goals - for example, to get good marks in English and Maths. Or, they might be more personal goals, for example to get your drivers licence.

Get involved - A good way to get back into things at school and to make new friends is to become involved in activities that interest you. This way you are meeting people whom you have things in common with. You may want to get involved in:

• sport (most schools offer a range of different team sports)
• music
• debating
• Student Representative Council.

Breaking the ice - It is possible that you will find yourself in classes with people you don't know very well when you go back to school. Often other people are feeling nervous about making new friends. It can sometimes take someone to suggest doing something to break the ice. You may like to ask someone in your class to kick the footy or head down the street together.

It is often easy to identify different groups within schools: popular, academic, sporty, rebellious, etc. However, interacting with anyone (no matter what group they sit in at lunchtime) can help you to be more open-minded.

Express yourself - Being able to express how you are feeling may help to release some of the tension you may feel. There are a number of ways that you are able to express yourself safely, such as exercise, writing in journal, or share your experiences and find support.

Have something to look forward to - Sometimes it is helpful to plan ahead so that you have something to look forward to. You may want to plan to catch up with friends after school or plan to do something special over the weekend.

And there are always next holidays to look forward to!

Your holiday checklist

Planning and preparing for a big break is really important and taking a few minutes out to get organised can save money, stress and hassle.

So what are the things you need to remember?

Creating a checklist of things you need to take on your holiday can save you a lot of time money.   Bob Atkinson, a travel expert, givse his advice and tips to make your holiday plain sailing...

And don't forget... Enjoy your holidays!

Effects of Technology

By karina.g, Houston

The majority of people living in America use some sort of technology. Some of the most technological inventions include iPods, computers, and cell phones. This type of technology is said to be resourceful and helpful in meeting new people, and basically in developing social skills. However, I believe it does the opposite of what most technology users think. Although technology is resourceful, it is time consuming and it negatively undermines face-to-face social skills with family and friends.

Non-internet users have been tested to see how using the internet influenced their lives. According to Alfonso,”They also reported spending less time talking with their families, experiencing more daily stress, and feeling more lonely and depressed. These results occurred even though interpersonal communication was their most important reason for using the internet.” This experiment showed how much of a negative impact Internet had on their lives. The excessive usage of the Internet stocked up these people’s lives. Quality time was taken over by typing something to someone instead of talking to the person face-to-face and spending valuable time. According to Nie and Hillygus the difference of the time spent with family and friends between internet users and non-internet users is tremendous. The Internet is resourceful, but the time usage should be limited, because it consumes time that matters, when one should be doing more important things.

Another technological social blocker is the iPod. For example,”Oh, I was listening to my iPod. My bad” (Song 1). The truth is the moment one person places headphones in their ear, it is the moment they create a “don’t talk to me” bubble around themselves. It deteriorates conversation and social interactions that could have caused a good relationship. Instead of creating a relationship one chooses to listen to that special song that could be done on one’s own time.

Those for Internet usage believe,” The Internet can foster openness, and a greater sense of ease and comfort in dealing with others...can even provide opportunities by those who are too depressed to conduct a social life in the real world” (Coget, Yutaka 1). In my response, this isn’t completely true. If someone has low courage and they build this “relationship” on the Internet, when the time comes for in-person interaction, they would be extremely nervous. The reason for this is on the internet you don’t really see how one looks or how one responses to actions. Internet interaction don’t really mean much, those face-to-face interaction are the ones that count for something.

Several people believe that iPods bring people together more than anything. According to Harris,”Once a month, Playlist host iPod Dj nights at a London bar. On these nights, the guests are the entertainment...and make it a social event.” I believe this contains logical fallacies, selective sampling and hasty generalization. Not everyone goes to a bar and gets together jamming to the music from iPods. ONe of the main qualities about an iPod is one can listen to tunes with one’s self. When one does this in public places it limits social interactions, so iPods generally divide people more than bring them together.

In conclusion, although technology is resourceful, it is time consuming and it negatively undermines face-to-face social skills with family and friends. Overall computers and ipods waste valuable time. This is so important because technology detracts from important things in life, like family and friends relations, which are the most important things in a person’s life. 

The family of the future

As part of our Welcome to the Future special report, we recently asked for our readers' thoughts on the future of the family.

This week, we are publishing a selection of their e-mails, which predict a range of changes, from more single men adopting children to a resurgence in traditional family values to declining birthrates to the increased acceptance of gay marriage.

Family life in the coming years will look more like it did in the past. With rising costs of housing, land, and utilities, more extended families will be created. Grandmothers and grandfathers will live with mothers, fathers, and children to help make ends meet. Maleesha, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Unfortunately, I feel that the family of the future will be spinning in their own personal electronic worlds. iPods, gaming, Blackberries, computers, etc. This is sad to me because we will have lost the era of actually sitting down and spending quality time with our family members without the interruption of things that can be plugged in.
April Trice, Albany, Georgia

Today, we see women waiting till their late 30s and 40s to have children. This is going to lead to problems in the teen and college years, when parents begin to feel their age while children need their support the most. This will lead, in turn, to a reverse trend, in which the next generation seeks family first. Younger parents will also foster an increase in the average family size, up from two now to three or more in the future.
Summer Shidler, Madison, Wisconsin

More single guys will become dads by adoption. This is a win-win situation for kids sitting in orphanages or foster care and for the potential dads out there who want to be parents, but don't want to get married. Single women have been doing this for years. This is one of the last ways that the definition of family can change in large numbers. I am a single guy and have two boys I adopted from Vietnam in 1998 and 2001.
Kevin McGarry, Arlington, Virginia

Read more here.

Amazing Concept Cars for 2057

These are some of the most recent concept cars from the last LA auto show.

Manufacturers like Honda, Mazda, Toyota, Volkswagen, General Motors, Nissan and Mercedes Benz have come up with revolutionary designs that are fit fot the probable roads of the future.

The coolest future cars

Designs for futuristic vehicles have been around for decades. Many of those speculative wonders of the past are now actually realistic and even available (for a price). Here are four of the coolest FutureCars you can own today.

by Aaron Turpen

The Flying Car

The dream of climbing into the family commuter and zipping off down the street only to take to the air and fly effortlessly to your destination is now reality. Several iterations of the flying car have been attempted and even been somewhat successful over the years.

Flying cars are nothing new to FutureCars, of course. But until now, they have not been commercially available.

 

Personal Hovercraft

Hovercraft have populated movies since the first working prototypes were created in the 1930s. Action stars like Jackie Chan have featured them in their movies and a growing and popular sport of hovercraft racing has recently taken off.

Most hovercraft are large, commercial machines with a hefty price tag. A new market of personal hovercraft, however, has emerged. These range from single-rider options such as the AirBoard to the multi-occupant units like the Hov Pod. Some are meant as watercraft, others as land-only, but all hover over the ground and have the extreme coolness factor associated with hovercraft.

One thing's for sure: put any type of hovercraft in your driveway and you attain instant James Bond status in the neighborhood.

Monocycle

Many motorized unicycles, single-wheeled scooters, and even one-wheel motorcycles have been attempted and marketed. But the monocycle, which has normally been only in the realm of pedaled vehicles, has finally been commercialized in a self-propelled machine.

The Wheelsurf is a single-seat monocycle that goes up to 25mph thanks to its 31cc Honda engine. It's not street legal, but at those speeds, it's not much of a stretch to call it a motorized bicycle or low speed urban vehicle.

Want to turn heads? Then the motorized monocycle is for you.

Personal Submarines

If you're more of the Jules Verne, underwater type, then this is your lucky century. Personal submarines are no longer for deeply-funded scientific expeditions or questionable sci-fi movies. Now, assuming you've got the cash, you can buy your own 1, 2, or even 6 passenger submersible and go down 100 ñ 1,000 meters into the deep.

Hoping to discover new worlds (or undiscovered treasure ships) beneath? Now it's possible, Captain Nemo.

Read more about this, here.

World of Domotics



Domotica / Domotics?

DOMus infOrmaTICS

Information technology in the home (domus is Latin for home).

Although remote lighting and appliance control have been used for years, domotics is another term for the digital home, including the networks and devices that add comfort and convenience as well as security. Controlling heating, air conditioning, food preparation, TVs, stereos, lights, appliances, entrance gates and security systems all fall under the domotics umbrella.

Safe and comfortable

Continuing to live independently. And feeling safe and at ease in your own home. That is what many older people want. But an ´ordinary´ home is then often not adequate. The thresholds are too high, you are afraid to open the door at night, the curtains are too heavy to close and it´s too dark to feel safe. We want to get away from that. A lot needs to be done to make a home truly suitable for each person´s specific needs. But it can be done! Thanks to Domotics.

What is Domotics?

Domotics is a contraction of the words domus (Latin for house) and robotics automation). Domotics is the combination of technology and services for improved living in the areas of safety, comfort and technical management. It is therefore a complete system, not just a remote control. Things happen automatically, because they are required or because you didn´t remember to do them yourself. But you don´t need to worry that you will no longer have control over things. Everything can also be operated by hand, or the settings can be changed. Tools to serve people.

What is a domotics home?

A domotics home is a ´smart home´ which also takes account of the advancing years of its occupier. The structural provisions meet the standards of the Senioren quality mark: so you don´t need to move as you get older! Safety and comfort are the key. The facilities have been made as user-friendly as possible. A domotics home means that you can carry on enjoying life, and that technology is great fun to use.

What can you see in a domotics home?

For example: as you enter the house, you switch off the burglar alarm. This automatically switches on the passive alarm. The house then checks that you remain active and have not fallen or become unwell. If that happens, help is summoned automatically, for example from the home care service. When you go to sleep, you can use a simple button above the bed to turn the passive alarm and the bedside light off, activate the burglar alarm, switch off any lights left on in other rooms, and lower the central heating thermostat by a couple of degrees.

Other examples of domotics

If someone calls at the door, that person´s image will appear on your TV. You talk to this person using the telephone, and open the door using one of the buttons on the phone. Or the lights in the hall and bathroom can switch on automatically when you enter those rooms. You can switch all the lights in the house on or off with a single remote control. Shutters and curtains can also be closed and opened using a remote control.

Revolutionary: voice control!

If most people consider remote controls to be new, voice-activated control is altogether revolutionary. In a domotics home lights can switch on or off and curtains can open or close, all on commands given in your own voice. But various things in the home can also be controlled from elsewhere without you needing to be present, by talking to your home by telephone: switch on the video recorder, increase the temperature, switch off the coffee machine, etc., etc. The options are limitless.

Teenagers and Texting: Hazardous or Harmless?

Cell-phone texting has become the preferred channel of basic communication between teens and their friends, with cell calling a close second. One in three teens sends more than 100 text messages a day, or 3000 texts a month. Some 75% of 12-17 year-olds now own cell phones, up from 45% in 2004. Those phones have become indispensable tools in teen communication patterns, and for many parents, teens' attachment to their phones is an area of conflict and regulation.

Teens are texting almost 80 messages a day – at school, on the bus, during dinner, and in bed late at night, and the number of teen texters are on the sharp rise since 2006. As of 2009, more than half of teens (54%) were found to be daily texters.

Do you remember back then when chatting on the Internet was the trend?  Well, with mobile phone technology bringing you the ability to send text to other phones, chatting has gone mobile. Like its predecessor, texting can be quite dangerous and hazardous especially when children do it with reckless abandon, most especially teens. In fact, many children have regressed in their development because of texting.

It calls parents and professionals to wonder, what effect is this having on teens’ education, health and well-being? Do you think teen texting is harmless or harmful?

Cell phones and radiation - how safe are cell phones?

Cell phones are almost as common as pocket change these days. It seems nearly everyone, including an increasing number of children, carries a cell phone wherever they go. Cell phones are now so popular and convenient that they are surpassing landlines as the primary form of telecommunication for many people.

Yet, as cell-phone use continues to grow, so does concern about the possible health risks of prolonged exposure to cell-phone radiation. Is Growing Cell-Phone Use Increasing Health Risks?

Do Cell Phones Cause Cancer?

Wireless cell phones transmit signals via radio frequency (RF), the same kind of low-frequency radiation used in microwave ovens and AM/FM radios. Scientists have known for years that large doses of high-frequency radiation—the kind used in X-rays—causes cancer, but less is understood about the risks of low-frequency radiation.

Studies on the health risks of cell-phone use have produced mixed results, but scientists and medical experts warn that people should not assume no risk exists. Cell phones have been widely available for only the past 10 years or so, but tumors may take twice that long to develop.

Because cell phones haven’t been around very long, scientists haven’t been able to assess the effects of long-term cell-phone use, or to study the effects of low-frequency radiation on growing children. Most studies have focused on people who have been using cell phones for three to five years, but some studies have indicated that using a cell phone an hour a day for 10 years or more can significantly increase the risk of developing a rare brain tumor.

What Makes Cell Phones Potentially Dangerous?

Most RF from cell phones comes from the antenna, which sends signals to the nearest base station. The farther the cell phone is from the nearest base station, the more radiation it requires to send the signal and make the connection. As a result, scientists theorize that the health risks from cell-phone radiation would be greater for people who live and work where base stations are farther away or fewer in number—and research is beginning to support that theory.

In December 2007, Israeli researchers reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology that long-term cell-phone users who live in rural areas face a "consistently elevated risk" of developing tumors in the parotid gland compared with users who live in urban or suburban locations. The parotid gland is a salivary gland located just below a person’s ear.

And in January 2008, the French Health Ministry issued a warning against excessive cell phone use, especially by children, despite the lack of conclusive scientific evidence linking cell-phone use with cancer or other serious health effects. In a public statement, the ministry said: "As the hypothesis of a risk cannot be entirely excluded, precaution is justified."

How to Protect Yourself from Cell-Phone Radiation

General recommendations to minimize the potential health risks include talking on cell phones only when necessary, and using a hands-free device to keep the cell phone away from your head.

If you’re concerned about your exposure to cell-phone radiation, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires manufacturers to report the relative amount of RF absorbed into a user’s head (known as the specific absorption rate, or SAR) from every type of cell phone on the market today.

Teens and the Internet: how much is too much?

Most stories about adolescents and the internet underscore the very real dangers of cyberbullies, sexual predators, and on-line scams that imperil unsuspecting, vulnerable teens. Another risk? The teens themselves. Many spend hours on-line, e-mailing, instant messaging, downloading music, and updating Facebook pages, with some visiting game sites, shopping, and gambling on-line. All of this access can be dangerous; those who abuse the internet can become trapped in a cyber riptide of sorts, pulled in further and further as their time on-line increases, their school performance declines, and their family and peer relationships begin to suffer.

Take Melanie (not her real name), a sixteen-year-old Greenwich Village student, who spent up to seven hours a day updating her Face book page and instant messaging with friends. When her previously high grades began to drop, her parents confiscated her desktop, and Melanie threatened to leave home.

"For an entire year I saw nothing but the back of my daughter's head," Melanie's dad explains. "So I took the computer away. When she became inconsolable and accused us of ruining her social life--she couldn't update her Face book page--we knew there was a serious problem."

Turned out, Melanie was down and out over a flirtation with a boy that had gone nowhere. Once she and her parents began to talk about what was bothering her, their home situation improved dramatically.The family worked it out and she stayed put--with the help of intensive outpatient therapy.

Was Melanie's a case of harmless teen tweeting and more, or a sign of a dangerous problem? Many parents wonder, how much on-line activity is too much? Though internet addiction is not yet a bona fide psychiatric diagnosis, psychiatrists and psychologists are calling for more research, so they can include it in future editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel (DSM), the bible and last word on diagnosis and disorders for therapists, hospitals, clinics, and insurers.

Who is at risk?

Experts agree teens who struggle with internet overuse do not fit a single profile. Heavy users can be socially linked-in, popular adolescents who make good grades. They might spend hours chatting online with friends, posting photos and updates on social media sites. On the other end of the continuum are the isolated, socially anxious teens. They might be teased, bullied, and avoid school altogether. Desperate to meet people and connect, they might surf the web and visit chat rooms and game sites to the exclusion of all else.

How to determine if a teen has a problem?

 While all may seem well, overuse of the internet might be hidden behind deeper problems such as depression, anxiety, substance use or eating disorders, and learning or conduct problems.

Often the problem becomes first apparent in the school setting. "Parents might first notice slippage in school performance. They eventually throw up their hands when any attempt to regulate computer use or limit access quickly devolves into defiance and angry outbursts," says Dr. Eric Teitel, a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Manhattan, and a faculty member of the NYU School of Medicine.

In older adolescents (18-25), the profile might differ-though just as with a younger adolescent you might first notice absenteeism from work or school. For people in this age group, internet use is frequently intertwined with sex, gambling, eating disorders, or drug problems, as well as depression or anxiety. Others might spend hours playing on-line poker or shopping, and become increasingly single-minded and isolated.

Teens might be on-line because they are already depressed, anxious, and lonely. Or they might become so, if forced to give up their habit. Signs and symptoms of withdrawal anxiety in a child include: difficulty concentrating, pacing, irritable and stressed mood, and fidgeting.

Other signs your child could have a problem with internet overuse? In addition to a decline in school performance and grades, signs might include repeated surfing or e-mailing during class time, difficulty concentrating and falling asleep in class, hours of night-time use, frequent complaints of being tired, school lateness or absenteeism, and withdrawal from all activities such as sports practices, friends, social engagements and music lessons. Racking up bills for such things as on- line gambling or shopping is also a sign a child is spending too much time on-line.

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