Making poisonous darts in a rainforest

Taman Negara National Park spans more than 2,500 square miles and is the oldest officially protected area in Malaysia.It is also Malaysia's largest national park and has been developed into a major destination for ecotourism.

Malaysia country profile

Malaysia boasts one of south-east Asia's most vibrant economies, the fruit of decades of industrial growth and political stability. Its multi-ethnic, multi-religious society encompasses a majority  Muslim population in most of its states and an economically-powerful  Chinese community. Consisting of two regions separated by some 640 miles of the  South China Sea, Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and three federal territories. It is one of the region's key tourist destinations, offering excellent  beaches and brilliant scenery. Dense rainforests in the eastern states of Sarawak and Sabah, on the island of Borneo, are a refuge for wildlife and tribal traditions. Although since 1971 Malays have benefited from positive discrimination in business, education and the civil service, ethnic Chinese continue to hold economic power and are the wealthiest community. The Malays remain the dominant group in politics while the Indians are among the poorest.Ethnic Malays comprise some 60% of the population. Chinese constitute around 26%; Indians and indigenous peoples make up the rest. The communities coexist in relative harmony, although there is little racial interaction - and the overturning of a ban on the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims in December 2009 highlighted the religious divide in the country. The country is among the world's biggest producers of computer disk drives, palm oil, rubber and timber. It has a state-controlled car maker, Proton, and tourism has considerable room for expansion. Malaysia's human rights record has come in for international criticism. Internal security laws allow suspects to be detained without charge or trial.

Disc dogging championship attracts crowds in Budapest

Funny, healthy and light. The perfect game for both dog and owner
Watch this!
Look how happy they seem.
Pleasing their owners, exercising and having fun is the best for these dogs.

Furry victims of the recession

POOR INNOCENT ANIMALS!

Shelters often have a harder time finding homes for grown cats than kittens

On Saturday 21 August, International Homeless Animals' Day, pet-lovers around the world  held vigils for and celebrations of their furry friends. But this year the celebrations have taken a more sombre tone.

The recession that has devastated so many families and individuals has affected their pets as well.

Across the US, the numbers of animals in pet shelters has swelled as owners find themselves unable to care for their pets.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals (ASPCA) estimates that in 2009, around a million pets were at risk of losing their homes.

When families are having a hard time making ends meets, many make the decision to relinquish their pets. Although most pets are passed on to friends and relatives, a large number end up in shelters.

Scotland,the Last Great Wilderness

Dark chocolate can be good for the heart, study says

Higher cocoa content in the chocolate is associated with greater heart benefits

Older women who eat dark chocolate once or twice a week could be lowering their risk of heart failure, says a US study.

It found those eating chocolate once or twice a week cut the risk of developing heart failure by a third, but those eating it every day did not benefit.

The Boston study, in a journal of the American Heart Association, looked at nearly 32,000 Swedish women aged between 48 and 83 over nine years.

Dieticians say eating chocolate too often can be damaging and unhealthy.

The study notes that one or two 19 to 30 gram servings of dark chocolate a week led to a 32% reduction in heart failure risk.

This fell to 26% when one to three servings a month were eaten.

But those who ate chocolate every day did not appear to reduce their risk of heart failure at all.

Continue reading the main story

The researchers conclude the protective effect of eating chocolate reduces as more or less is eaten than the optimum one to two servings a week.

'Flavanoids'

Too much chocolate is unhealthy because it contains high levels of sugar and fat which can make people put on weight, the researchers say.

But chocolate also contains high concentration of compounds called flavonoids which can lower blood pressure and protect against heart disease, previous studies have found.

The researchers behind this study say this is the first time long-term effects related specifically to heart failure have been shown.

"Whilst antioxidants in chocolate may be helpful to your heart, they can also be found in fruit and veg - foods which don't come with the saturated fat and high calories."

Victoria Taylor

British Heart Foundation

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Kaiser the rare giraffe revealed to public

One of the world's rarest giraffes has been born in captivity in the UK and has been shown to the public for the first time.

The Rothschild Giraffe, called Kaiser, was born two weeks ago at Longleat safari park and measures six feet tall.

The future of the species hangs in the balance in the wild with only around 600 left in Africa.

In Wiltshire, it's hoped that Kaiser will play a crucial role in future breeding programmes.

Will Glennon reports

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Cute, isn't it?

If flour + sugar + children = mess, why let them bake?

Baking is a strange alchemy of butter, sugar, flour and heat. It's a popular rainy day school holiday activity, but does making biscuits and cupcakes really teach children how to cook?

A simple, yet perfect, answer as to why we should bake. But too few people make the time.They work, they've forgotten how, they don't know what to make or where to start, and, well, then there's the mess.

Bring it on - we all need to have more fun and we should definitely be a bit more messy. Children have a lot to teach us and Pheroza has hit this nail on the head with this one.

More than just biscuits to eat

Lesley BallHome economist

"Cooking goes to the heart of our understanding of food. A simple cake or biscuit uses everyday ingredients: flour from wheat fields, butter from a cow, eggs from a chicken.

When a child tries a key skill like rubbing in - mixing flour and butter by hand - all manner of emotions come out. It's soft, squidgy, silky, yucky! Sadly mud pies have had their day, hence the consternation when some touch the ingredients - they've been taught it's dirty.

A recipe's alchemy is obvious as soon as the first ingredients are in the bowl. Creaming butter and sugar makes a pale golden mixture. Adding self-raising flour instantly produces air bubbles.

Following recipes helps with reading and maths, weights and measures - useful skills in and out of the kitchen.

Baking also helps children develop motor neurone skills, listening and concentration.

Help! I have a teenager! How to ride the rollercoaster

The years between ten and fifteen can be a turbulent time for everyone, with school pressures, anxieties about appearance and increasing independence.

• Your ability to adapt and change will be tested in the coming years as your child starts the transition to adolescence and adulthood. You may find your values rejected, and your authority challenged.
• Making the transition from child to adolescent may be challenging and difficult. The guide book changes with puberty!
• They get a bad press, but life with teenagers can be a joy. Find out how your child can be influenced by friends and how to support your teenager if they're being bullied.
• Help for you and your child as they move through secondary school.
• Information on how to manage with your teen's anti-social behaviour.

Want to read more? CLICK HERE

'Jarhead' bear gets out of a jam in Florida

Poor Jarhead!


A bear cub in Florida, which had a plastic jar stuck on its head for at least 10 days, has now been freed.

The cub was in a life-threatening situation because it could not eat or drink

The cub, affectionately nicknamed "Jarhead", got its head stuck in the container while rooting through rubbish around the town of Weirsdale.

The cub was days away from death as he had not been able to eat or drink, biologists who rescued the bear said.

They sedated the mother bear before grabbing the cub, pinning his ears back and prising off the container.

Residents began calling the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) at the end of July to report sightings of the bear cub with his head stuck in a jar.

The cub, his mother and two siblings regularly foraged in the bins around Weirsdale.

'Tough little bear'

Biologists set traps in different areas, but the wary bears kept clear.

After eight days of sightings, two days went by without any reports of the bear family, and the scientists feared the cub could have starved to death.

But on Friday, the bears returned.

The FWC team, including a specialist bear-response agent, went to the scene.

They shot the mother with a tranquiliser dart before wrestling Jarhead to the ground long enough to get the plastic container off his head.

"But the tough little bear lived up to its US Marine moniker and did not give up without a fight," the FWC said on its website.

The scientists then placed the sleeping mother in a trap, where the three cubs eventually joined her.

After a day under observation in the trap, the bear family were released and have not been seen since - a result the FWC describes as "good news indeed"

Childhood stress leads to adult ill health, studies say

Stress in childhood has long-term effects say psychologists

Adversity and stress early in life leads to long-term ill health and early death, a group of psychologists warn.

A series of studies suggest that childhood stress caused by poverty or abuse can lead to heart disease, inflammation, and speed up cell ageing.

The American Psychological Association meeting heard that early experiences "cast a long shadow" on health.

One UK expert said more and more evidence was suggesting a physical impact of stress in childhood.

In one study, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh looked at the relationship between living in poverty and early signs of heart disease in 200 healthy teenagers.

They found that those from the worst-off families had stiffer arteries and higher blood pressure.

The Last Airbender- Official trailer

WALES (CYMRU) in Great Britain, is one of United Kingdom 4 countries

Wales is a beautiful country- a natural paradise for many species of animals and plants. Let´s preserve it!

Baby boomers: 4 sisters, 4 births, 4 days

The same obstetrician delivered three of the babies in a suburban Chicago hospital

Four sisters from one family have each given birth within four days.That's four sisters, four babies, four days.The same obstetrician delivered the babies of three of the sisters — 27-year-old Lilian Sepulveda, 29-year-old Saby Pazos and 24-year-old Leslie Pazos — in the same suburban Chicago hospital on Friday and Saturday. A fourth sister, Heidi Lopez, gave birth on Monday in California.

Family members say the women didn't plan the timing. Obstetrician Dr. Jean Alexandre, who delivered the three babies in suburban Chicago, calls the births "very unusual but wonderful at the same time."

Rare white tigers born in a German Zoo

Watch how cute they are! Wouldn't you like to have one?

Tornado destroys Minnesota farmhouse- Scary !

Rubik's Cube quest for speedy solution comes to an end

A 30-year quest to find the minimum number of moves needed to solve every one of the billions of configurations for a Rubik's Cube may have ended.

Any scrambled cube can be solved in 20 moves or fewer, researchers claim.

The international team used a bank of computers at Google to help crank through the solutions.

The figure is known as "God's number" because an all-knowing entity would know the optimal number of steps needed to solve the puzzle.

"We now know for certain that the magic number is 20," Professor Morley Davidson, a mathematician from Kent State University, told BBC News.

The results suggest that there are more than 100,000 starting positions - of a possible 43 billion billion - that can be solved in 20 moves or less.

However, the majority of solutions take between 15 and 19 moves to solve.

Related stories

• Super solution for Rubik's cube
• Teenager grasps top Rubik's title

The Anglo-Saxons- History games and Activities

Click on the link to play some games about the Anglo-Saxon People

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/anglo_saxons/

King Alfred The Great was a fantastic saxon king who ruled in England.

Alfred the Great reigned from 871 to 899

King Alfred The Great was the only English monarch honoured with the title of Great. He lived and reigned during the 9th century as he was born in 849. He was a very educated man.

At the age of four, Alfred went to see Pope Leo IV in Rome for instruction. The Pope later adopted King Alfred as his spiritual son. Most of the Pope's instruction to Alfred was concentrated on Christianity and not the liberal arts. This instruction was well suited for his future role as he would spend most of his reign defending the Christian Anglo-Saxons.

Although Alfred's greatest achievement during his reign was the defeat of the Danes, he also had other accomplishments. He pushed for better education and helped make learning important in the lives of the people of his land. This was necessary during his reign because education had declined due to the fact that the Danes were looting the monasteries and churches which were the center of education. Alfred believed that learning "makes life more rewarding and enjoyable;...the worst thing of all is ignorance" (Alfred University). He also kept the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and established a code of law based on the teachings of the Bible. This helped maintain social order.

Supertramp in Portugal!

The Supertramp are celebrating their 40th anniversary, so they are giving 2 concerts in Portugal: one in Lisbon at the Pavilhão Atlântico on 12th September and  another one in Oporto at Pavilhão Rosa Mota on 14th of the same month.
The Supertramp are a British progressive rock band that released a series of top-selling albums in the 1970s and early 1980s. 
Their early music included ambitious concept albums, from which were drawn a number of hits including "Goodbye Stranger", "Bloody Well Right", "The Logical Song", "Breakfast in America", "Dreamer", "Give a Little Bit", and "Take the Long Way Home". Supertramp attained superstardom in the United States, Canada, most of Europe, South Africa, Australia and Brazil, although they were not quite as popular in the UK. Nonetheless, the album Breakfast in America was a big hit there, reaching number three on the UK charts and featuring two top 10 singles.
On the stage they will play for 2 hours classics such as Bloody Well Right, Dreamer, From Now On, Goodbye Stranger, The Logical Song, Rudy, among many others.
The tickets cost between €30 e €40.

Giant Picasso painting at the V&A, London

Picasso's largest ever work on canvas was created as the front cloth for the Ballets Russes performance of Le Train Bleu in 1924. It forms part of a forthcoming exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Pablo Picasso- the Spanish painter

Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known asPablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. He is best known for co-founding the Cubist movement and for the wide variety of styles embodied in his work. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and Guernica (1937), his portrayal of the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

Is competitive eating the world's weirdest sport?

The sport is popular in the US and growing in the Far East

The arrest of Takeru Kobayashi, who has avoided punishment after appearing in court to face charges that he disrupted a competitive eating contest, has intensified interest in one of the world's odder sporting phenomena.

Most of those who attend a competitive eating contest for the first time are surprised by one thing.

The contestants are not fat.

At 5ft 8in (173cm) and 132lb (60kg), Takeru Kobayashi is on the slender side, but that does not stop him eating inordinate amounts of hot dogs.

At Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on 4 July last year, he ate 64 hot dogs in 10 minutes. But that was only enough to come second.

Joey "Jaws" Chestnut chewed his way through 68. On the day, there are certain tricks. Dunking hot dog buns in water makes them easier to eat, and drinking hot water throughout makes food settle better in his stomach. Certain foods are harder to gorge on than others - he recently had difficulties at events featuring crab cakes, and chocolate bars.