Unmanned aerial vehicle Bangalore

It was a dream come true for five Bangalore students when their 'baby' took off on the tarmac, which is generally used by sophisticated US naval aircraft. Not just that, by flying their unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), these students also stood first in Asia and third in the world displaying their technological prowess.
For the last one year, it has been the dream of students to build aero models. "We would take these aero models made out of thermocol out of Bangalore to fly it manually. But, we never took it seriously as to whether we can build an UAV ourselves. Then, we were doing research in IISc when we met Dr Prashanth, who heads the micro nutrient department in St John's hospital. Prashanth, who has a hobby of building UAVs, encouraged us to do UAVs and this was when we took it as a challenge and completed in three months flat. Our UAV is made of balsa wood while its wings are manufactured using thermocol. The engine is electrically powered for which we have coded to take instructions. The instructions are sent from a laptop to the autopilot device installed in the UAV. This auto pilot, we fondly call as paparazzi," explained Prasanna R, a team member.

Then with the UAV in their arms, these mechanical engineering students of M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology headed to Maryland, USA to participate in the ninth Annual Student Unmanned Air Systems (SUAS) event from June 15-19. The competition was about building an UAV capable of autonomous flight (auto piloted) and live imagery while airborne and identifying some ground targets and determining their GPS coordinates, explained Prateek Khanna, another student.

Participant Rajharsee Rahul said, "Our mission was to fly autonomously (without human intervention) using an autopilot controlled by ground station laptop and survey the given area. The competition was very tough. Students from 34 universities from across the world were participating."
In the first round, these students were shortlisted from a preliminary test while the second round was based on safety measures and the third was the actual flight session. The final round had four phases; presenting the journal paper, followed by an autonomous flight, oral presentation and image processing, added Srikanth Singh, another student.


The competition was sponsored by companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, IBM, Northrop Grumman, Compass Systems etc, said Prasanna.
The team was awarded the 3rd place for autonomous flight and 4th place in the journal paper out of 36 international teams present there. They received a cash prize of $2700 (about Rs 1,35,000).
Now, the students are planning to have an UAV club in college and share their experience with other students to ensure better performance in next year's competition. "Now, we can build an UAV in two weeks," said Vishnu B N, a team member.

Infosys techie

An Infosys techie who quit his lucrative job to become a farmer; another software engineer who spends his time quizzing when he is not programming ; an engineer who now goes backpacking around the world. These are stories of people who have stepped put of their comfort zones to not-so-comfy but much happier lives. They have also become case studies in Rakesh Godhwani's book, 'Plunge : Reinvention for the New Generation' launched on Tuesday.

"When you stop cribbing , you will discover something . There is a phase of life between 'grihasta' and 'sanyasa' called 'vanaprastha'. This is when people do things for the welfare of people and not just for their sake.

Strangely, this phase of life is disappearing. The plunge is about this period when you do something that gives you and others happiness," said IIIT-B director Prof. S Sadagopa . He recollected that Godhwani had quit his high flying IT job and made a lifestyle change. He joined the IIM-B alumni association , stopped using his car and rode around on a cycle. All for his love of teaching.


"I was a terrible writer. Sometimes I had 57 mistakes on one page. But when you want something, the whole world conspires to make it happen. The same happened to me. A friend had quit his IT job to be a farmer. I was fascinated by the story and experience of sitting at his farmhouse under a glowworm-lit evening. That's how my book began," said Godhwani who then captured several unique stories of people who made a drastic career shift.

IIM-B director Pankaj Chandra said after nearly 5 years of finishing their management course, 15 to 20% alumni become entrepreneurs which shows that many are willing to take risks and seek happiness in offbeat careers.

Let's keep things simple

Let's keep things simple this week. When it comes to personal-care products, we are big believers in streamlining what you use—see "Eight Products You Think You Need But Don't" for a refresher—buying less in general, and getting creative. We have both always loved experimenting in our kitchens and our bathrooms, checking ingredients in products we love, isolating the main ones, and then trying them on their own. Sometimes it works: A favorite hair leave-in contained aloe, for example, so one day we tried aloe alone and found that, lo and behold, it worked just fine on its own. And sometimes it didn't. Over the years we have tried dozens of DIY beauty recipes to find ones we like—and that work. Below are our favorite six. And the best thing about these is that none contains more than four ingredients, and chances are good you have them all in your kitchen already. So get cookin' and if you have your own, be sure to share it in the comments.

Simple body scrub
Many body scrubs, even the ones that claim to be sugar- or salt-based, actually contain beads made out of polyethylene, which is environmentally deplorable (it all goes down the drain, remember)—to say nothing of the preservatives, fragrance, penetration enhancers, and sulfates that typically bulk up these products. Instead, head to your kitchen. Grab a bowl and combine a quarter cup of any oil you like (I like olive best), an eighth of a cup of coarse brown sugar, same amount of salt, and an essential oil you love. Vanilla seems to me the can't-beat option for smell, but go with your favorite. And if you have dry skin, a sunburn, or eczema, leave out the salt and double up the sugar.

Honey face wash
We already told you about our new favorite homemade face wash last week but here's the recipe: In the palm of your hand, combine a tablespoon of raw, unfiltered honey with a half a tablespoon of baking soda, mix it together, and apply to damp skin. The honey is antibacterial while also soothing dry skin, and the baking soda is gently exfoliating without tearing or irritating your face. Cheap, too.

One-ingredient eye liner
For the ladies (or the gents with a flair for the dramatic) this is as easy as it gets: Grab a capsule of activated charcoal, which you can get at most pharmacies and any health food store. Instead of ingesting it for your tummy ache, dump out the contents on a clean surface, moisten the tip of a makeup brush with water, and sweep it on like you would any other eye liner. It goes on easily and lasts just as long as regular powdered liner—minus the preservatives, artificial dyes, fragrance, and other chemicals.

Perfume
Because fragrance is protected under trade secret laws, there is literally no way to know what is in that perfume or cologne you think of as your signature scent. But if a recent study is any indication (and it is), there are some things in there we shouldn't be too happy about. Instead, make your own! Combine essential oils you like—cedar, ylang ylang, vanilla, lavender, citrus oils—with a little bit of vodka, and keep it in an airtight container. You can experiment and tweak it as the seasons change—lighter in summer, heavier for winter—without having to drop another $80 on potentially dangerous chemical cocktails.


Shave oil
Outside the shower, grab an oil you like—olive, argan, jojoba, and coconut work well—slather it on the area that needs a shave, and go for it. Oils are hard for some people at first: We are hard-wired to think oils on our face are a bad idea, but if you use a skin-compatible oil like the ones listed, it won't clog pores or cause breakouts. (In fact, some people find the opposite happens!)

Yogurt face mask
This one raises some eyebrows—putting yogurt on your face sounds a little gross at first—but it can be a great skin-brightening, moisturizing mask on its own for sensitive skin. Combine a cut of yogurt with half a cup of non-instant oatmeal, mix, and apply. The lactic acid in the yogurt softens skin gently, and can be great for dehydrated and congested skin. Leave it in for 15 minutes, and rinse. No need to wash after.
This is a series inspired by No More Dirty Looks: The Truth About Your Beauty Products and the Ultimate Guide to Safe and Clean Cosmetics, a book by GOOD's features editor Siobhan O'Connor and her co-author Alexandra Spunt.

Banning texting for all drivers

A new report published by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) has concluded that distracted driving is associated with 15 to 25 percent of all crashes in the US. The GHSA made this claim after reviewing the results from more than 350 scientific papers published between 2000 and 2011. The report also included recommendations calling for banning texting for all drivers, and banning cellphone use by new drivers.

In addition to quantifying the relationship between driver distraction and accidents, the report, titled "Distracted Driving: What Research Shows and What States Can Do," also concluded distractions affect driving performance, drivers frequently are distracted as much as half the time while they are driving, drivers do pay more attention to driving and reduce their distracting activities in more risky driving situations, cell phone usage increases crash risk, and texting likely increases crash risk more than cellphone use.


The study suggests that the ban on cellphone usage by novice drivers should be for both handheld and hands-free use, since both are easily distracting for those not yet comfortable on the road.

The report was careful to add that more research was needed. "Despite all that has been written about driver distraction, there is still a lot that we do not know," GHSA Executive Director Barbara Harsha said. "Much of the research is incomplete or contradictory. Clearly, more studies need to be done addressing both the scope of the problem and how to effectively address it."

Museum in China

A museum in China has decided to duplicate renowned painter and sculptor Michelangelo's four masterpieces of bronze statues.
The statues - Day, Night, Twilight and Dawn - collected by the house of Medici, who ruled over Florence in the 15th and 16th century, will be replicated by the Heng Yuan Xiang Art Museum for the first time in China.

These masterpieces were sculpted between 1520-1534 when Michelangelo was in his 40s and 50s. It took him almost 15 years to accomplish this work.

The original sculptures are now displayed at the San Lorenzo Church of the Medicci family in Florence in Italy.

Michelangelo (1475-1564), a rennaissance painter, sculptor, architect and poet, left only a few sculptures in the world. It is thus very rare to find his works.

Museum spokesman Guo Jianchen said they will make six replica sets of Michelangelo's four sculptures. The first set will come out in August. But Guo did not reveal who will buy these replicas and at what prices.


The replication project is part of the "Italian Year in China" programme this year.

A few years ago, Thinker, a statue made by French sculptor Auguste Rodin, was also copied and acquired by a Chinese real estate company in Shanghai.

Girls love pole dance

 
A pole dancing class for children as young as three years has started at the 'Make Me Fabulous Dance Studio' in Northampton, UK. In class that cost £5 an hour, children, aged three to seven, learn moves including holding their legs in a V-shape while sliding down the pole.

 
"The girls love it. But it is not a wise idea to announce at school that you let your children pole dance," the Daily Star quoted one mother, who took her three and five-year-old daughters to the classes, as saying.

 
The dance class was advertised on a website which also promotes adult lessons, features pictures of lingerie-clad women and describes pole dances as 'sexy, relaxing and invigorating'.

Moral security plan

The regime's "moral security plan", which bans women from wearing loose headscarves and exposing skin on their legs and bans men from displaying western-style haircuts and now necklaces, is enforced by thousands of special forces.

The ban on necklaces comes after a move to criminalise dog ownership as "a blind imitation of the vulgar culture of the west", the Guardian reports.

Under Islamic law dogs are considered unclean, but a few Iranians still keep dogs as pets.

Last year Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, a prominent hardline cleric, issued a fatwa against keeping dogs.

The Irna state news agency said more than 70,000 trained forces, known as "moral police", had been sent to Teheran and other major cities to enforce the new rules.

"The enforcement of the moral security plan was requested by the nation and it will be continued until people's concerns are properly addressed," said Ahmadreza Radan, the deputy commander of the Iranian police.
The programme is supported by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but last year president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that he did not approve of the crackdown.

Remote access to the user’s computer

A computer repairman was arrested Wednesday for allegedly planting spyware on dozens of computers he fixed and remotely taking hundreds of photos of women in their homes partially clothed or naked.
Trevor Harwell, 20, a technician for Rezitech Inc., provided home computer services to users with Macintosh computers, said Fullerton Police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich.
Harwell went to elaborate lengths to ensure that he got lurid images, even convincing users through system messages that they needed to take their computers into steamy environments, such as near their showers, Goodrich said.
"While he had physical access to the computers, he would install a spyware-type application that allowed him remote access to the user's computer and webcam," Goodrich said.
He also would work on friends' computers.
"Once he had access, he would take photographs of the users, usually women," Goodrich said. "Often, the female victims were undressed or changing clothes."

He said Harwell then stored the photos on a remote server and eventually downloaded them to his own computer.
The department estimated that hundreds of thousands of images were collected as part of the investigation, and they are seeking out victims.
The lurid repair ploy first came to light last summer when a Fullerton resident contacted police about suspicious messages appearing on his daughter's computer, Goodrich said.
One message mimicked the appearance of a system message and read: "You should fix your internal sensor soon. If unsure what to do, try putting your laptop near hot steam for several minutes to clean the sensor."
The message led many victims to take their laptops into the bathroom while taking a shower, Goodrich said.

Harwell serviced computers in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Fullerton police say they have documented numerous victims, all of them women.
Still images, videos and cellphone videos of women taken surreptitiously were all seized from Harwell's computer.
Harwell was a student at Biola University at the time but no longer attends the school. Goodrich said many of the victims attended the university.
Harwell used a program called Camcapture that was installed on the victims' hard drives, Goodrich said.
Detectives also believe Harwell may have exploited Macintosh computers that were connected to Biola's internal network. The sergeant said potential victims should search the "/Library/WebServer Documents" directory for the Camcapture program.

ipad2 need kidney

 
 
A teenager in China has caused an outcry after selling his kidney to buy an iPad2.
Xiao Zheng, 17, could not afford one of the new tablet-style computers that are seen as symbols of wealth in China.
But he answered an advert offering cash to healthy people willing to have one of their kidneys removed in a gruelling operation.
His action horrified his mother and has caused outrage in China.
The teenager told Shenzhen TV in the southern province of Guangdong: 'I wanted to buy an iPad2, but I didn't have the money.
'When I surfed the internet I found an advert posted online by an agent saying they were able to buy a kidney.'
Xiao travelled to the city of Chenzhou in Hunan Province where the kidney was removed at a local hospital.
Private surgeons had hired out a room at the facility to perform the risky procedure on April 28.
He was discharged after three days and given 20,000 yuan, or £1,884, for the organ.
He bought an iPad2 and an iPhone but when he returned home his suspicious mother wanted to know where the goods had come from.
Xiao confessed to having the operation and showed her his enormous scar. He has since suffered medical complications.
'When he came back, he had a laptop and a new Apple handset,' his mother said.
'I wanted to know how he had got so much money and he finally confessed that he had sold one of his kidneys.'
Police were called but they could not trace any of the three men who had organised the operation.
A teenager in China has caused an outcry after selling his kidney to buy an iPad2.

The case has caused uproar in China with people complaining that materialism has destroyed morals in the young.
One commentator wrote, according to the Telegraph: 'This teenager's stupid behavior is a manifestation of his radically materialistic values.'
The iPad2 has been wildly popular in China with thousands of people cramming into shops to try to buy one.
Scuffles flared last month outside several Apple Stores in Beijing as people queued for the newly launched gadget.

Diet pill-Obesity in Istanbul

A diet pill that can help women drop a dress size in a matter of months could be on sale within two years.

In a large-scale study, overweight men and women who took lorcaserin for a year lost an average of 8 per cent of their body weight.

This equates to a stone for a 12st woman – and at least one dress size.
In one or two extreme cases in the 7,000-strong trial, dieters lost up to 40 per cent of their body weight, with most of the pounds melting away in the first few months.

Appetite was cut, waistlines shrunk and cholesterol and blood pressure were lowered, the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul heard yesterday. Lorcaserin's Californian manufacturer, Arena, now plans to apply for  permission to sell the twice-a-day drug in Britain early next year.

That means it could be routinely used to help win the battle of the bulge by 2013.


With Britain facing the worst weight problem in Europe and just one obesity drug on the market, some doctors argue there is an urgent need for new clinical solutions.

However, despite lorcaserin's apparent effectiveness, safety concerns prompted by tests on rats have prevented it being sold in the U.S.

The authorities there have insisted that Arena carries out more research before it gains a licence.
The drug, taken before breakfast and dinner, affects the way the brain uses serotonin, a chemical that regulates appetite, making those who take it feel less hungry.

Common side-effects in the trial were headaches, dizziness and nausea, but they tended to be temporary.

Crucially, the drug appeared to be free of the cardiac and psychiatric side-effects that have caused other obesity pills to be removed from the market in recent years.

Some have criticised the development of drugs to treat a problem which, they argue, should be addressed by healthier living.


In response, Arena's vice-president Dr Christen Anderson said: 'Diet and exercise are the cornerstone of any treatment programme but they may not be enough.

'Study after study has shown that motivation can wane and sometimes people need just a little help.

'Right now, patients have very few options. Surgery is a fairly extreme measure, so I think physicians and patients are really eager to have new tools to help battle obesity.'

It is not known how much lorcaserin will cost, but orlistat, the only diet pill currently available on prescription, costs around £1 a day.

Deep-sea explorers

Florida deep-sea explorers have asked a federal appeals court to overturn an earlier ruling that 17 tonnes of treasure recovered from a sunken Spanish galleon belongs to Spain, deepening a long-running battle over a trove worth an estimated $500 million that has unfolded not on the high seas but in federal courtrooms.

Attorneys for Odyssey Marine Exploration asked the three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the "finders keepers" rule that would give the treasure hunters the rights to silver coins, copper ingots, gold cufflinks and other artifacts salvaged about four years ago from the galleon off the coast of Portugal.

Spain's lawyers countered that US courts are obligated by international treaty and maritime law to uphold Spain's claim to the haul.

The ship, called the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, was sunk by British warships in the Atlantic in 1804 while sailing back from South America with more than 200 people on board. Odyssey created an international splash in May 2007 when it announced that it raised more than 500,000 silver coins and other artifacts from the wreck and flew the treasure back to Tampa.


Spain went to the US district court in Tampa, claiming ownership while Odyssey disputed the Spanish government's ownership of the valuable cargo. A federal judge sided with Spain in June 2009.

Technology to set up a milk dairy

Four software engineers, former employees of Wipro in Bangalore quit their jobs four months ago and made a paradigm shift right out of the world of technology. They turned entrepreneurs, and set up a milk dairy in Kodihalli village of Channarayapatna taluk of Hassan district.

In the milk business, there's no escape from mooing cows, dung and calving, but Shashi Kumar, Ranjith Mukundan, Venkatesh Sesasaye and Praveen Nale have no regrets about giving up 15 years of high-flying careers and plum salaries.

Says Shashi Kumar, "We planned to take up dairy farming as our business venture and set up Akshayakalpa Farms and Foods Ltd, headed by G N S Reddy and T Prasana, who have been in the business for many years. It has 21 partners, including the four of us. Our aim is to promote rural entrepreneurship in the agro sector to create employment and prosperity in villages, to prevent the educated unemployed from abandoning agriculture and migrating to cities."

So they applied their understanding of technology to their business, to benefit both farmers and consumers. The milk dairy will be set up at a cost of Rs 15 crore on 24 acres, and 300 marginal farmers (those with less than 4.5 acres of land) will be selected within a 15-sqkm radius of Kodihalli village to supply milk to the dairy.


"The farmers will be educated on modern cattle-rearing methods, milking machines and increasing milk production. The dairy will be set up in five months and we will be recruiting 500 villagers," says Ranjith Mukundan.

"The company will help the farmers get loans from banks to set up satellite farms and purchase cows. The milkman will sell milk directly to our company without any middlemen, the transportation of milk and regular medical check-ups of cows will be free for milkmen registered with our company," he added.

The advantages of setting up satellite farms are many - each will be equipped with sensors, GPS, pedometers and other equipment to monitor and trace the movements of cows, how much milk a cow produces every day, and to check the animals' body temperature and keep tabs on their health. All this data will be monitored by the dairy, and we have developed a software for satellite farms, Ranjith added.

Two layers of liquid metal

A buzzy startup working on a battery that sandwiches molten salt between two layers of liquid metal has gotten seed funding from Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates, reports Cnet . The company is called Liquid Metal Battery, and it's the brainchild of MIT Professor Donald Sadoway (see our 15 Questions for the Don of Liquid Metal Batteries). When I attended the Department of Energy's ARPA-E event earlier this year, Liquid Metal Battery was the company everyone was talking about. (It was one of the earliest grant winners under the ARPA-E program.)

Sadoway and his team have been working on a stable, low-cost, large-scale grid battery, and the group has been building the battery at larger and larger sizes to prove the concept — from "shot glass" scale, to hockey puck, to pizza, and eventually to ping-pong table-sized. Sadoway told us he was planning to spin off the company with some of his co-workers, and this seed round from Gates and others is no doubt to get the company up and running. Cnet says Sadoway is taking a year-long sabbatical from MIT to be the Science Advisor to Liquid Metal Battery.

Sadoway told us what drew him to use liquid metals for a grid battery was a belief that a battery based on liquid metal electrodes would be stable, and scalable at an acceptably low cost for grid storage and renewables storage applications. "That's the number one problem with storage right now. We have batteries that can cycle and do all sorts of things that will meet the technical requirements of the application, but they're far too costly," said Sadoway. Using a large pool of liquid in the battery — as opposed to many individual cells — is why Sadoway thinks the design can deliver a low-cost battery.


The project received an ARPA-E grant of $6.9 million, and Sadoway said the funds helped the team move much more quickly, including expanding company operations to hire more staff, students and post-docs. The project also received $4 million from oil company Total.

Over the past year, Bill Gates has been talking about, and investing in, green technology companies, including nuclear startup TerraPower and being an LP in Khosla Venture's fund. Gates also said at an event last year that he has invested in five battery startups. Liquid Metal Battery must be one of those. Also during that event, Gates said he thinks that battery innovation "may not be solvable in an economic way."

Robotics engineer / Artificial intelligence future

 
robots are the helping hands everyone has always wished for. Deriving its origin from the Czech word robota, meaning forced labour;Though the first thing that comes to mind vis-a-vis a robot is an imitation of a human from Star Wars, the Terminator or Star Trek it's not always a man versus machine game. Robots we encounter in our daily lives are those that perform tasks that are too dangerous, boring or onerous, thus being the helping hands.
With over a million types of robots, their presence is seen in almost every industry especially the auto, medical, manufacturing and space industry. Robots are used in industries for speeding up the manufacturing process. They are also used in the fields of nuclear science, sea exploration, servicing of transmission signals and bio-medical equipment design.
 
Created as a result of the perfect blend of the human imagination and technological developments, robots can be described better as mechanical devices that are capable of performing a variety of complex human tasks on command or by being programmed in advance. It is an artificial agent guided by computer or electric programming and is able to do tasks on its own.
A combination of intelligence, energy, movement and senses, robots require these characteristics to fulfil their purpose. The branch of study that develops these robots is robotic engineering. It deals with design and application of robots and the use of computer for their manipulation and processing.
Professor Patricia H. Reiff, director, Rice Space Institute and a professor at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, while highlighting new career trends says, "Robotics is very critical these days and one of the most upcoming career options. The expansion in space research these days will also boost robotics and its development."
To follow this career and develop an interest in robotics, an engineering background is a must. Mechatronics is the area of knowledge and practice interfacing mechanical and electronics engineering. Robotics is a subset of mechatronics, which involves automated machinery and components that move. Robotics being an inter-disciplinary course prefers students who have completed their graduation in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, instrumentation engineering or computer engineering with an interest in robotics and artificial intelligence.
Though the specialisation is offered at an undergraduate level in a few private engineering colleges across the country, it is not the preferred choice. The popularity and growing demand for robotics is at the Master's level.
A course in robotics trains and educates a student in the field of artificial intelligence, computer-aided manufacturing, computer integrated manufacturing system, computational geometry, robot motion planning, digital electronics and micro processing. The different facets of building a robot include working on developing the hardware, software, intelligence control and adaptive control of this machine.






























Robotics is not all about designing the robots. Its maintenance, developing new applications and conducting research are equally important. Specialising in design and control in robotics is close to mechanical engineering. For hardware design of robots, a B.Tech. in electrical or electronics and communication engineering forms a good base.

Computer engineers can look at hardware design in robotics and the controls part requires aspects of electrical engineering. This field also requires the application of computer-integrated manufacturing, mechanical engineering, electrical and software engineering and biological mechanics.
In India, work on robotics began in educational institutions and research centres such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and the Indian Institute of Science. Now this field is the preferred choice of many budding engineers and contests are held among students across the country to encourage talent.
 
Robotics engineering can be studied at the IITs in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. A few other institutes that offer this specialisation are the National Institute of Technology, University of Hyderabad, Jadavpur University and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science.
A specialisation in robotics is a popular choice for students going abroad to study. This field offers job opportunities and a robotics engineer can apply his mastery in diverse fields like modern warfare, surgery, nano-technology and space-exploration. Many funding programmes and scholarships are available for research and PhD. students. Developing a robot comes with the goal of finding a solution to the problem. Along with the technical know-how, interest in research is essential. This field has no boundaries and will continue to grow until the machines take over!

pole dancing primary school teachers

Drinking and pole dancing, a group of primary school teachers pose for a series of unsavoury images they saw fit to publish on Facebook.
Six female teachers, including  the deputy head, are pictured in Army gear at a raucous hen  party which parents have described as 'shocking'.
In one image one of the women, wearing a skimpy skirt, is seen with her leg wrapped provocatively around a pole.

Other photos show them flashing their knickers, downing cocktails, smoking and flicking V-signs.
Because the teachers' Facebook profiles were not set to private, the images could be seen by anyone.
A parent of one pupil at the school spotted the pictures, printed off five pages of them and posted them through neighbours' front doors.
She included a letter which read: 'If you are as appalled as I am by these images which these tramps post freely for the world to see, how safe are our children?
'Answer, not very! Children might be seeing these images.
'What does this tell you about this school and how it is being run?

'These women teach my children, but not for much longer. I  say remove the scum and get Mr Pickard [the previous head] back in to sort out this mess before it gets any worse.'
The teachers, from Langland  Community School in Milton Keynes, were on a night out in the city where they teach.
Mother-of-four Janette Bobey, 50, who received the pictures through her letter box last week, described them as shocking.
'I spoke to the school and they were aware of it and the head has spoken to the teachers and told them to be more careful,' she said.
'The majority of people I have spoken to say it was not right that those sorts of pictures were up on Facebook.
'My children have left school now, but other young children on the estate have seen the pictures.'
Four of the women have been named. They are class teacher Victoria Courtis, Key Stage 2 manager Rebecca Gilbert, foundation manager Jenna Austin and deputy head Donna Christy.
It is not known who the other two members of staff are.
One of the more explicit photos on Facebook shows Austin pole dancing.  She later commented on Facebook: 'Oh dear! Should have worn bigger  pants! Shame!'
One parent claims that when he showed the images to head Kate  Stuart he was told to 'mind his  own business'.
The father, who did not want to be named, said: 'She said what she  and her staff did out of school was up to them.
'I disagree with this as teachers are supposed to be setting a good example and they are clearly not.'
The teachers have now removed the images from Facebook and made their profiles private.
The school yesterday refused  to comment.
A spokesman for the governing body said: 'The photos in  question were taken at a private hen night attended by a small group of school staff.
'Any images posted on Facebook were only intended to be viewed among a select group of friends.
'Although these photographs were taken out of school time, it is regrettable they were published and circulated through a social networking site.'

sun, boosts the quality of sperm

Would-be fathers should make the most of the next sunny day by taking off their shirt and topping up their tan.
A study of 340 men found that vitamin D,  produced by the body when exposed to the sun, boosts the quality of sperm.
They become better at swimming towards the egg, have greater speed and are more penetrative.
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen tested the quality of sperm from 300 men chosen at random and carried out a detailed analysis of samples from a further 40 in the laboratory.
At the same time the level of vitamin D in their blood was measured. Almost half had an insufficient amount – linked to lack of exposure to natural sunlight or time in a solarium.
Sunlight is the major source of vitamin D, which helps regulate levels of calcium and phosphorus to generate healthy bones.

In addition, the number of healthy sperm in men with insufficient vitamin D was considerably lower than in those with normal levels. The ability to absorb calcium was also inhibited.
The findings, published in the journal Human Reproduction, back up previous research linking vitamin D to sperm production, and might explain why many couples seem to conceive on holiday.
Researchers discovered that almost half of the participants had an insufficient amount of vitamin D, below 50 nmol/l. The optimum level recommended by most experts is a minimum of 75 nmol/l.
The ability chemical process needed to fertilise the egg known as the acrosome reaction was also hindered. Tests conducted in the laboratory resulted in similar findings.
Dr Martin Blomberg Jensen said: 'Vitamin D levels were positively associated with sperm motility, suggesting a role for vitamin D in human sperm function.'

extra food turned out to be sordid affair

Asking for extra food turned out to be sordid affair for a Class-VII girl student who was brutally thrashed by her teacher at Government Senior Secondary School of Bayana village of Indri sub-division on Wednesday.

Errant teacher Raj Kumar not only thrashed Anu but also threw the food bowl on her face, the victim`s family alleged. Ironically, the incident happened within the days after the Haryana government announced to extend the facility of mid-day meals to the girl students of classes XI and XII.

The happening came to light on Thursday after the victim`s maternal uncle and relatives staged agitation outside the school demanding immediate action against the schoolteacher. Though the education department made a foiled attempt to cover up the issue, administration ordered a probe which would be carried out by a team headed by SDM Dinesh Kumar.

Inquiries revealed that this happened during recess time on Wednesday when all the students were having their meals. The girl narrated the incident to her uncle Parmod Kumar who began the protest next morning.

"She did not beg but rather asked for something that is meant only for students. We shall not give up until the teacher is sacked," said Parmod.

Meanwhile, principal Sushila said, "We are also probing the incident and we have assured an action against him, in case the allegations are found true." At the same time, SDM Dinesh Kumar reiterated exemplary action against the teacher after the inquiry.

women climaxing / climaxing women

Scientists have discovered the female orgasm leads to an altered state of conciousness that could help the minority of women who can not climax.

Researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands unwittingly stumbled across the results after they examined the brain scans of women taken while they orgasmed.

The team noticed that an area of the brain, known as the orbitofrontal cortex or OFC, switched off when the women climaxed.
It is estimated that one in four women in the U.S.  has had difficulty achieving orgasm in the past year, while between five and 10 per cent of women suffer from anorgasmia and can not climax at all.
Speaking to New Scientist magazine, researcher Janniko Georgiadis said the OFC may be the basis for 'sexual control', and that by 'letting go' women can induce orgasm.
He said: 'I don't think orgasm turns off consciousness but it changes it.
'When you ask people how they perceive their orgasm, they describe a feeling of a loss of control.'

'I'm not sure if this altered state is necessary to achieve more pleasure or is just some side effect.'
To create the scans, Dutch researchers strapped the women into an MRI scanner and then allowed their partners to pleasure them to orgasm, all the while taking snapshots of their brain activity.


It is hoped that by comparing the brain scans of women having an orgasm with those who cannot, scientists will be able to 'coach' those with anorgasmia into truly 'letting go'.
Kenneth Casey at the University of Michigan explained that people who suffer from chronic pain conditions can be coached to relieve some of their symptoms by altering how they thought.
Experiments proved that when people watched real-time video of their rostral anterior cingulate cortex - the site of their 'pain' - they were able to reduce their symptoms by mentally adjusting it and watching the results on screen.Mr Casey said: 'The placebo effect is an easy example of practical top-down control.
'You believe you are taking a pill that will help and somehow it does.

'In my experience, simply telling a patient that the pain they are experiencing is not harmful has an analgesic effect.'
It is hoped that by allowing women with anorgasmia to watch their brain activity in real time, they to will be able to 'train' their brain to copy the same activity of women who can experience orgasm.
Barry Komisaruk from Rutgers University in Newark also conducted experiments into the female orgasm.
He added: 'Orgasm is a special case of consciousness.
'If we can look at different ways of inducing orgasm, we may better understand how we can use top-down processing to control what we physically feel.'