Panspermia (Greek: πανσπερμία from πᾶς/πᾶν (pas/pan) "all" and σπέρμα (sperma) "seed") is the hypothesis that life exists throughout the Universe, distributed by meteoroids, asteroids, comets[1][2] and planetoids.[3]

Panspermia is the proposal that life forms that can survive the effects of space, such as extremophiles, become trapped in debris that is ejected into space after collisions between planets that harbor life and small Solar System bodies (SSSB). Some organisms may travel dormant for an extended amount of time before colliding randomly with other planets or intermingling with protoplanetary disks. If met with ideal conditions on a new planet's surfaces, the organisms become active and the process of evolution begins. Panspermia is not meant to address how life began, just the method that may cause its distribution in the universe.[4][5][6]

The first known mention of the term was in the writings of the 5th century BC Greek philosopher Anaxagoras.[7] Panspermia began to assume a more scientific form through the proposals of Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1834),[8] Hermann E. Richter (1865),[9] Kelvin (1871),[10] Hermann von Helmholtz (1879)[11][12] and finally reaching the level of a detailed hypothesis through the efforts of the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius (1903).[13]

Sir Fred Hoyle (1915–2001) and Chandra Wickramasinghe (born 1939) were influential proponents of panspermia.[14][15] In 1974 they proposed the hypothesis that some dust in interstellar space was largely organic (containing carbon), which Wickramasinghe later proved to be correct.[16] Hoyle and Wickramasinghe further contended that life forms continue to enter the Earth's atmosphere, and may be responsible for epidemic outbreaks, new diseases, and the genetic novelty necessary for macroevolution.[17]

Proposed mechanisms

Panspermia can be said to be either interstellar (between star systems) or interplanetary (between planets in the same star system); its transport mechanisms may include comets,[19][20] radiation pressure and lithopanspermia (microorganisms embedded in rocks).[21][22][23] Interplanetary transfer of material is well documented, as evidenced by meteorites of Martian origin found on Earth.[23] Space probes may also be a viable transport mechanism for interplanetary cross-pollination in our Solar System or even beyond. However, space agencies have implemented planetary protection procedures to reduce the risk of planetary contamination.[24][25] In 2012 mathematician Edward Belbruno and astronomers Amaya Moro-Martín and Renu Malhotra proposed that gravitational low energy transfer of rocks among the young planets of stars in their birth cluster is commonplace, and not rare in the general galactic stellar population.[26][27] Deliberate directed panspermia from space to seed Earth[28] or sent from Earth to seed other solar systems have also been proposed.[29][30][31][32] One twist to the hypothesis by engineer Thomas Dehel (2006), proposes that plasmoid magnetic fields ejected from the magnetosphere may move the few spores lifted from the Earth's atmosphere with sufficient speed to cross interstellar space to other systems before the spores can be destroyed.[33][34]

In 1903, Svante Arrhenius published in his article The Distribution of Life in Space, [35] the hypothesis now called radiopanspermia, that microscopic forms of life can be propagated in space, driven by the radiation pressure from stars.[36] Arrhenius argued that particles at a critical size below 1.5 μm would be propagated at high speed by radiation pressure of the Sun. However, because its effectiveness decreases with increasing size of the particle, this mechanism holds for very tiny particles only, such as single bacterial spores.[37] The main criticism of radiopanspermia hypothesis came from Shklovskii and Sagan, who pointed out the proofs of the lethal action of space radiations (UV and X-rays) in the cosmos.[38] Regardless of the evidence, Wallis and Wickramasinghe argued in 2004 that the transport of individual bacteria or clumps of bacteria, is overwhelmingly more important than lithopanspermia in terms of numbers of microbes transferred, even accounting for the death rate of unprotected bacteria in transit.[39]

Then, data gathered by the orbital experiments ERA, BIOPAN, EXOSTACK and EXPOSE, determined that isolated spores, including those of B. subtilis, were killed by several orders of magnitude if exposed to the full space environment for a mere few seconds, but if shielded against solar UV, the spores were capable of surviving in space for up to 6 years while embedded in clay or meteorite powder (artificial meteorites).[37][40] Though minimal protection is required to shelter a spore against UV radiation, exposure to solar UV and cosmic ionizing radiation of unprotected DNA, break it up into its bases.[41][42][43] Also, exposing DNA to the ultrahigh vacuum of space alone is sufficient to cause DNA damage, so the transport of unprotected DNA or RNA during interplanetary flights is extremely unlikely.[43]

Based on experimental data on radiation effects and DNA stability, it has been concluded that for such long travel times, boulder sized rocks which are greater than or equal to 1 meter in diameter are required to effectively shield resistant microorganisms, such as bacterial spores against galactic cosmic radiation.[44][45] These results clearly negate the radiopanspermia hypothesis, which requires single spores accelerated by the radiation pressure of the Sun, requiring many years to travel between the planets, and support the likelihood of interplanetary transfer of microorganisms within asteroids or comets, the so-called lithopanspermia hypothesis.[37][40]

Lithopanspermia, the transfer of organisms in rocks from one planet to another either through interplanetary or interstellar space, remains speculative. Although there is no evidence that lithopanspermia has occurred in our own Solar System, the various stages have become amenable to experimental testing.[46]

  • Planetary ejection — For lithopanspermia to occur, microorganisms must survive ejection from a planetary surface which involves extreme forces of acceleration and shock with associated temperature excursions. Hypothetical values of shock pressures experienced by ejected rocks are obtained with Martian meteorites, which suggest the shock pressures of approximately 5 to 55 GPa, acceleration of 3×106 m/s2 and jerk of 6×109 m/s2 and post-shock temperature increases of about 1 K to 1000 K.[47][48] To determine the effect of acceleration during ejection on microorganisms, rifle and ultracentrifuge methods were successfully used under simulated outer space conditions.[46]
  • Atmospheric entry — An important aspect of the lithopanspermia hypothesis to test is that microbes situated on or within rocks could survive hypervelocity entry from space through Earth's atmosphere (Cockell, 2008). As with planetary ejection, this is experimentally tractable, with sounding rockets and orbital vehicles being used for microbiological experiments.[47][46] B. subtilis spores inoculated onto granite domes were subjected to hypervelocity atmospheric transit (twice) by launch to a ∼120 km altitude on an Orion two-stage rocket. The spores were shown to have survived on the sides of the rock, but they did not survive on the forward-facing surface that was subjected to a maximum temperature of 145 °C.[49] In separate experiments, as part of the ESA STONE experiment, numerous organisms were embedded in different types or rocks and were mounted in the heat shield of six Foton re-entry capsules. On reentry, the rock samples were subjected to temperatures and pressure loads comparable to those experienced in meteorites.[50] The exogenous arrival of photosynthetic microorganisms could have quite profound consequences for the course of biological evolution on the inoculated planet. As photosynthetic organisms must be close to the surface of a rock to obtain sufficient light energy, atmospheric transit might act as a filter against them by ablating the surface layers of the rock. Although cyanobacteria have been shown to survive the desiccating, freezing conditions of space in orbital experiments, this would be of no benefit as the STONE experiment showed that they cannot survive atmospheric entry.[51] Thus, non-photosynthetic organisms deep within rocks have a chance to survive the exit and entry process. (See also: Impact survival.)

Accidental panspermia

Thomas Gold a professor of astronomy suggested in 1960 the hypothesis of "Cosmic Garbage", where that life on Earth might have originated from a pile of waste products accidentally dumped on Earth long ago by extraterrestrial beings.[52]

Directed panspermia

Main article: Directed panspermia

Directed panspermia concerns the deliberate transport of microorganisms in space, sent to Earth to start life here, or sent from Earth to seed new solar systems with life by introduced species of microorganisms on lifeless planets. The Nobel prize winner Francis Crick, along with Leslie Orgel proposed that life may have been purposely spread by an advanced extraterrestrial civilization,[28] but considering an early "RNA world" Crick noted later that life may have originated on Earth.[53] It has been suggested that 'directed' panspermia was proposed in order to counteract various objections, including the argument that microbes would be inactivated by the space environment and cosmic radiation before they could make a chance encounter with Earth.[54]

Conversely, active directed panspermia has been proposed to secure and expand life in space.[31] This may be motivated by biotic ethics that values, and seeks to propagate, the basic patterns of our organic gene/protein life-form.[55] The panbiotic program would seed new solar systems nearby, and clusters of new stars in interstellar clouds. These young targets, where local life would not have formed yet, avoid any interference with local life.

The probability of hitting the target zone can be calculated from P(target) = \frac{A(target)}{\pi (dy)^2} = \frac{a r(target)^2 v^2}{(tp)^2 d^4} where A(target) is the cross-section of the target area, dy is the positional uncertainty at arrival; a - constant (depending on units), r(target) is the radius of the target area; v the velocity of the probe; (tp) the targeting precision (arcsec/yr); and d the distance to the target, guided by high-resolution astrometry of 1×10−5 arcsec/yr (all units in SIU). These calculations show that relatively near target stars(Alpha PsA, Beta Pictoris) can be seeded by milligrams of launched microbes; while seeding the Rho Ophiochus star-forming cloud requires hundreds of kilograms of dispersed capsules.[31]

Theoretically, unintended panspermia may occur by spacecraft travelling to other celestial bodies. This may concern space researchers who try to prevent contamination. However, directed panspermia may reach a few dozen target systems, leaving billions in the galaxy untouched. In any case, matter is exchanged by meteor impacts in the solar system even without human intervention.

Directed panspermia to secure and expand life in space is becoming possible due to developments in solar sails, precise astrometry, extrasolar planets, extremophiles and microbial genetic engineering. After determining the composition of chosen meteorites, astroecologists performed laboratory experiments that suggest that many colonizing microorganisms and some plants could obtain many of their chemical nutrients from asteroid and cometary materials.[57] However, the scientists noted that phosphate (PO4) and nitrate (NO3–N) critically limit nutrition to many terrestrial lifeforms.[57] With such materials, and energy from long-lived stars, microscopic life planted by directed panspermia could find an immense future in the galaxy.[58]

Pseudo-panspermia (sometimes called "soft panspermia" or "molecular panspermia") argues that the pre-biotic organic building blocks of life originated in space and were incorporated in the solar nebula from which the planets condensed and were further —and continuously— distributed to planetary surfaces where life then emerged.[59][60] From the early 1970s it was becoming evident that interstellar dust consisted of a large component of organic molecules. The first suggestion came from Chandra Wickramasinghe, who proposed a polymeric composition based on the molecule formaldehyde (CH2O).[61] Interstellar molecules are formed by chemical reactions within very sparse interstellar or circumstellar clouds of dust and gas. Usually this occurs when a molecule becomes ionized, often as the result of an interaction with cosmic rays. This positively charged molecule then draws in a nearby reactant by electrostatic attraction of the neutral molecule's electrons. Molecules can also be generated by reactions between neutral atoms and molecules, although this process is generally slower.[62] The dust plays a critical role of shielding the molecules from the ionizing effect of ultraviolet radiation emitted by stars.[63]

A 2008 analysis of 12C/13C isotopic ratios of organic compounds found in the Murchison meteorite indicates a non-terrestrial origin for these molecules rather than terrestrial contamination. Biologically relevant molecules identified so far include uracil, an RNA nucleobase, and xanthine.[64][65] These results demonstrate that many organic compounds which are components of life on Earth were already present in the early Solar System and may have played a key role in life's origin.[66]

On August 8, 2011, a report, based on NASA studies with meteorites found on Earth, was published suggesting building blocks of DNA (adenine, guanine and related organic molecules) may have been formed extraterrestrially in outer space.[68][69][70] In October 2011, scientists reported that cosmic dust contains complex organic matter ("amorphous organic solids with a mixed aromatic-aliphatic structure") that could be created naturally, and rapidly, by stars.[71][72][73] One of the scientists suggested that these complex organic compounds may have been related to the development of life on Earth and said that, "If this is the case, life on Earth may have had an easier time getting started as these organics can serve as basic ingredients for life."[71]

In March 5, 2013, a simulation experiment indicate that dipeptides (pairs of amino acids) that can be building blocks of proteins, can be created in interstellar dust.[81]

Extraterrestrial life

Main article: Extraterrestrial life

Earth is the only planet known to harbor life in the observed universe, while the sheer number of planets in the Milky Way galaxy make it seem probable that life has arisen somewhere else in the galaxy and the universe. It is generally agreed that the conditions required for the evolution of intelligent life are probably exceedingly rare in the universe, while simultaneously noting that simple single-celled microorganisms may be more likely.[82]

The extrasolar planet results from the Kepler mission estimate 100–400 billion exoplanets, with over 4,000 as candidates or confirmed exoplanets.[83] Regarding habitability, the Kepler Science Council made clear that: "Analysis of the current Kepler data does not support the assertion that Kepler has found any Earth-like planets."[84] The current estimate (July 2013) for the number of Earth-sized exoplanets attached to Sun-like stars across the whole Milky Way Galaxy is 144 billion.[85]

It is estimated that space travel over cosmic distances would take an incredibly long time to an outside observer, and with vast amounts of energy required. However, there are reasons to hypothesize that faster-than-light interstellar space travel might be feasible. This has been explored by NASA scientists since at least 1995.[86]

Hypotheses on extraterrestrial sources of illnesses

Hoyle and Wickramasinghe have speculated that several outbreaks of illnesses on Earth are of extraterrestrial origins, including the 1918 flu pandemic, and certain outbreaks of polio and mad cow disease. For the 1918 flu pandemic they hypothesized that cometary dust brought the virus to Earth simultaneously at multiple locations—a view almost universally dismissed by experts on this pandemic. Hoyle also hypothesized that AIDS came from outer space.[87] After Hoyle's death, The Lancet published a letter to the editor from Wickramasinghe and two of his colleagues,[88] in which they hypothesized that the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) could be extraterrestrial in origin and not originated from chickens. The Lancet subsequently published three responses to this letter, showing that the hypothesis was not evidence-based, and casting doubts on the quality of the experiments referenced by Wickramasinghe in his letter.[89][90][91] A 2008 encyclopedia notes that "Like other claims linking terrestrial disease to extraterrestrial pathogens, this proposal was rejected by the greater research community."[87]

Case studies

  • On May 11, 2001, two researchers from the University of Naples claimed to have found live extraterrestrial bacteria inside a meteorite. Geologist Bruno D'Argenio and molecular biologist Giuseppe Geraci claim the bacteria were wedged inside the crystal structure of minerals, but were resurrected when a sample of the rock was placed in a culture medium. They believe that the bacteria were not terrestrial because they survived when the sample was sterilized at very high temperature and washed with alcohol. They also claim that the bacteria's DNA is unlike any on Earth.[94][95] They presented a report on May 11, 2001, concluding that this is the first evidence of extraterrestrial life, documented in its genetic and morphological properties. Some of the bacteria they discovered were found inside meteorites that have been estimated to be over 4.5 billion years old, and were determined to be related to modern day Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus pumilis bacteria on Earth but appears to be a different strain.[96]
  • An Indian and British team of researchers led by Chandra Wickramasinghe reported on 2001 that air samples over Hyderabad, India, gathered from the stratosphere by the Indian Space Research Organization, contained clumps of living cells. Wickramasinghe calls this "unambiguous evidence for the presence of clumps of living cells in air samples from as high as 41 km, above which no air from lower down would normally be transported".[97][98] Two bacterial and one fungal species were later independently isolated from these filters which were identified as Bacillus simplex, Staphylococcus pasteuri and Engyodontium album respectively.[99] The experimental procedure suggested that these were not the result of laboratory contamination, although similar isolation experiments at separate laboratories were unsuccessful.
A reaction report at
  • In 2005 an improved experiment was conducted by ISRO. On April 10, 2005 air samples were collected from six places at different altitudes from the Earth ranging from 20 km to more than 40 km. The samples were tested at two labs in India. The labs found 12 bacterial and 6 different fungal species in these samples. The fungi were Penicillium decumbens, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Alternaria sp. and Tilletiopsis albescens. Out of the 12 bacterial samples, three were identified as new species and named Janibacter hoyeli.sp.nov (after Fred Hoyle), Bacillus isronensis.sp.nov (named after ISRO) and Bacillus aryabhati (named after the ancient Indian mathematician, Aryabhata). These three new species showed that they were more resistant to UV radiation than similar bacteria.[103][104] Atmospheric sampling by NASA in 2010 before and after hurricanes, collected 314 different types of bacteria; the study suggests that large-scale convection during tropical storms and hurricanes can then carry this material from the surface higher up into the atmosphere.[105][106]

  • Recent studies, applying the equivalent of Moore's Law to biological evolution and extrapolating backwards, propose that life began "9.7±2.5 billion years ago", billions of years before the Earth was formed.[107][108] In the case of evolution, empirical evidence suggested a doubling of complexity every 376 million years. As the age of trees can be measured by the number of rings, the hypothesis that the age of life could be measured by biological complexity (i.e., the length of functional non-redundant DNA in the genome) was studied.[107][108] If log-transformed complexity is plotted against the time of origin of large evolutionary lineages, then the points fit to a straight line (see figure). The exponential increase in complexity can be explained by a positive self-activating feed back loop.[108] The regression line hits zero (i.e., one nucleotide) at "9.7±2.5 billion years ago".[107] If this model is correct, and since our Solar System is 4.6 billion years ago,[109] then life somehow arrived to Earth from older stellar systems. This hypothesis was criticized by Eugene Koonin who suggested that the rates of early biological evolution might have been much faster due to the absence of competition on early Earth.[110] Chris Adami argued that "it is inconceivable that life began with just a few nucleotides" (see discussion[108]). To answer this criticism, Sharov proposed a hypothetical abiogenesis scenario that starts from coenzyme-like molecules that are functionally equivalent to single nucleotides.[111][112] (also see Abiogenesis#Coenzyme world and Rare Earth hypothesis#Enough time elapsed since the big bang for evolution to occur)
  • A NASA research group found a small number of Streptococcus mitis bacteria living inside the camera of the Surveyor 3 spacecraft when it was brought back to Earth by Apollo 12. They believed that the bacteria survived since the time of the craft's launch to the Moon.[113] However, these reports are disputed by Leonard D. Jaffe, who was Surveyor program scientist and custodian of the Surveyor 3 parts brought back from the Moon, stated in a letter to the Planetary Society that an unnamed member of his staff reported that a "breach of sterile procedure" took place at just the right time to produce a false positive result.[114] NASA was funding an archival study in 2007 that was trying to locate the film of the camera-body microbial sampling to confirm the report of a breach in sterile technique. NASA currently stands by its original assessment: see Reports of Streptococcus mitis on the moon.
  • On January 10, 2013, Chandra Wickramasinghe reported in the fringe science Journal of Cosmology, of shapes resembling fossil diatom frustules in a new carbonaceous meteorite called Polonnaruwa that landed in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka on 29 December 2012.[115] Early on, there was criticism that that Wickramasinghe's article was not an examination of the Polonnaruwa meteorite but of some terrestrial rock passed off as the meteorite.[116]
Wickramasinghe's team remark that they are aware that a large number of unrelated stones have been submitted for analysis, and have no knowledge regarding the nature, source or origin of the stones their critics have examined, so Wickramasinghe clarifies that he is using the stones submitted by the Medical Research Institute in Sri Lanka.[117] In response to the criticism from other scientists, Wickramasinghe performed X-ray diffraction [118] and isotope[117] analyses to verify its meteoritic origin. His analysis revealed a 95% silica and 3% quartz content,[118] and interpreted this result as a "carbonaceous meteorite of unknown type".[118] In addition, Wickramasinghe's team remarked that the temperature at which sand must be heated by lightning to melt and form a fulgurite (1770 °C) would have vaporized and burned all carbon-rich organisms and melted and thus destroyed the delicately marked silica frustules of the diatoms,[117] and that the oxygen isotope data confirms its meteoric origin.[117] Wickramasinghe's team also argues that since living diatoms require nitrogen fixation to synthetize amino acids, proteins, DNA, RNA and other life-critical biomolecules, a population of extraterrestrial cyanobacteria must have been a required component of the comet (Polonnaruwa meteorite) "ecosystem".[117]

Until the 1970s, life was believed to depend on its access to sunlight. Even life in the ocean depths, where sunlight cannot reach, was believed to obtain its nourishment either from consuming organic detritus rained down from the surface waters or from eating animals that did.[121] However, in 1977, during an exploratory dive to the Galapagos Rift in the deep-sea exploration submersible Alvin, scientists discovered colonies of assorted creatures clustered around undersea volcanic features known as black smokers.[121] It was soon determined that the basis for this food chain is a form of bacterium that derives its energy from oxidation of reactive chemicals, such as hydrogen or hydrogen sulfide, that bubble up from the Earth's interior. This chemosynthesis revolutionized the study of biology by revealing that terrestrial life need not be Sun-dependent; it only requires water and an energy gradient in order to exist.

It is now known that extremophiles, microorganisms with extraordinary capability to thrive in the harshest environments on Earth can specialize to thrive in the deep-sea,[122][123][124] ice, boiling water, acid, the water core of nuclear reactors, salt crystals, toxic waste and in a range of other extreme habitats that were previously thought to be inhospitable for life.[125][126][127][128] Living bacteria found in ice core samples retrieved from 3,700 metres (12,100 ft) deep at Lake Vostok in Antarctica, have provided data for extrapolations to the likelihood of microorganisms surviving frozen in extraterrestrial habitats or during interplanetary transport.[129] Also, bacteria have been discovered living within warm rock deep in the Earth's crust.[130]

In order to test some these organism's potential resilience in outer space, plant seeds and spores of bacteria, fungi and ferns have been exposed to the harsh space environment.[127][128][131] Spores are produced as part of the normal life cycle of many plants, algae, fungi and some protozoans, and some bacteria produce endospores or cysts during times of stress. These structures may be highly resilient to ultraviolet and gamma radiation, desiccation, lysozyme, temperature, starvation and chemical disinfectants, while metabolically inactive. Spores germinate when favourable conditions are restored after exposure to conditions fatal to the parent organism.

Although computer models suggest that a captured meteoroid would typically take some tens of millions of years before collision with a neighboring solar system planet,[26] there are documented viable Earthly bacterial spores that are 40 million years old that are very resistant to radiation,[32][26] and others able to resume life after being dormant for 25 million years,[132] suggesting that lithopanspermia life-transfers are possible via meteorites exceeding 1m in size.[26]

Research in outer space

General panspermia requires that life survive transfer through space, however, biology and chemistry, as opposed to physics, do not admit ideological contexts: either the biological phenomena are real, or they are abstract.[133] Biologists cannot say that a process or phenomenon, by being mathematically possible, have to exist forcibly in the real nature. For biologists, the ground of speculations is well noticeable, and biologists specify what is speculative and what is not. [133] The question of whether certain microorganisms can survive in the harsh environment of outer space has intrigued biologists since the beginning of spaceflight, and opportunities were provided to expose samples to space.

The first tests were made in 1966, during the Gemini IX and XII missions, when samples of bacteriophage T1 and spores of Penicillium roqueforti were exposed to outer space for 16.8 h and 6.5 h, respectively.[37][46] Other basic life sciences research in low Earth orbit started in 1966 with the Soviet biosatellite program Bion and the U.S. Biosatellite program. Thus, the plausibility of panspermia can be evaluated by examining life forms on Earth for their capacity to survive in space.[134] The following experiments carried on low Earth orbit specifically tested some aspects of panspermia or lithopanspermia:

The German EXOSTACK experiment was deployed in 7 April, 1984 on board the Long Duration Exposure Facility statellite. 30% of Bacillus subtilis spores survived the nearly 6 years exposure when embedded in salt crystals, whereas 80% survived in the presence of glucose, which stabilize the structure of the cellular macromolecules, especially during vacuum-induced dehydration.[143][37]

EXPOSE is a multi-user facility mounted outside the International Space Station dedicated to astrobiology experiments.[131] Results from the orbital mission, especially the experiments SEEDS[144] and LiFE,[145] concluded that after an 18-month exposure, some seeds and lichens (Stichococcus sp. and Acarospora sp., a lichenized fungal genus) may be capable to survive interplanetary travel if sheltered inside comets or rocks from cosmic radiation and UV radiation.[131][146] The survival of some lichen species in space has also been characterized in simulated laboratory experiments.[147][148]

A separate experiment on EXPOSE called Beer was designed to find microbes that could be used in life-support recycling equipment and future "bio-mining" projects on Mars. A group of microbes called OU-20 resembling cyanobacteria genus Gloeocapsa survived 553 days exposure outside the ISS.[149]

In 2014, the Rosetta spacecraft will arrive at COMET 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. A few months after arriving at the comet, Rosetta will release a small lander onto its surface. Then, for almost two years it will investigate Churyumov-Gerasimenko from close up. Rosetta's Project Scientist, Gerhard Schwehm, stated that sterilization is generally not crucial since comets are usually regarded as objects where prebiotic molecules can be found, but not living microorganisms.[150] Notwithstanding, other scientists think it will be an opportunity to gather evidence for one of panspermia's hypotheses: the possibility of both active and dormant microbes inside comets.[5][6]

Phobos LIFE

The Phobos LIFE or Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment, was developed by the Planetary Society and intended to send selected microorganisms on a three-year interplanetary round-trip in a small capsule aboard the Russian Fobos-Grunt spacecraft in 2011. Unfortunately, the spacecraft suffered technical difficulties soon after launch and fell back to Earth, so the experiment was never carried out. The experiment would have tested one aspect of panspermia: lithopanspermia, the hypothesis that life could survive space travel, if protected inside rocks blasted by impact off one planet to land on another.[151][152][153][154]

Science fiction

  • Michael Crichton's 1969 novel, The Andromeda Strain, is based on the panspermiatic premise of a meteor bringing an alien virus to Earth. The phrase "Andromeda Strain" has become a shorthand for alien or mysterious diseases.
  • In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Chase" (season 6, episode 20, April 26, 1993), the common humanoid form and genetic compatibility of alien species throughout the Alpha Quadrant is revealed to have resulted from directed panspermia by an earlier species of intelligent humanoid progenitors who seeded the many planets with their own DNA.
  • In the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, season 3, episodes 6 and 7 ("Torn", November 3, 2006; "A Measure of Salvation", November 10, 2006), a Cylon basestar discovers an ancient beacon and takes it on board, whereupon a deadly virus from the beacon infects the Cylons. Doctor Cottle determines the Cylon infection to be a three-thousand-year-old strain of human Lymphocytic Encephalitis. Admiral Adama and President Roslin speculate that the beacon was accidentally infected prior to placement by ancient human colonists on their way from Kobol to Earth. Adama remarks, "An entire race almost wiped out because someone forgot to wipe their nose."
  • The premise of Gareth Edwards's 2010 film Monsters is that a NASA deep space probe crashes, bringing back with it an alien species requiring the U.S. and Mexican military to quarantine a large district of the border region.
  • The opening sequence of Ridley Scott's 2012 Alien prequel, Prometheus depicts a humanoid species, referred to as 'the Engineers', seeding what is presumably the early Earth by disintegrating the body of one of their members and spilling his DNA into the water of the planet. At the climax of the film it is revealed that for unknown reasons the Engineers deemed their experiment to have been a failure and intended to end it by eradicating all life on Earth.

See also

Further reading

External links

  • Francis Crick's notes for a lecture on directed panspermia, dated 5 November 1976.


Extendicare Athabasca

A Caregiver's Story

So when the day finally came that Janet could no longer manage her husband's care and had to place Jack in a long term care home, some friends and family were shocked. And skeptical. They wanted to be supportive, but frankly, they questioned Janet's decision....and it showed. Already consumed with guilt, Janet felt terribly hurt and lonely. Many family members - male, female, spouses, children - can relate to Janet and her experience. Their relatives don't mean to hurt them this way. However, few people have any concept about how physically and emotionally exhausting, and eventually impossible, it can be to care at home for someone who has a dementia. It takes living with the ill person on a daily basis to truly understand.

Just how do you deal with the sometimes crushing burden of friends and family who don't believe you've done the right thing in placing your loved one in a nursing home?

  • Clear the decks for action. You know you did the right thing. Regrets, guilt, sadness - it's natural to feel these things. But you must keep it in perspective or the disbelievers in your life will undo you. So set aside self-blame and sentimentality, stop defending yourself, resist letting your emotions turn you against those in a position to help (family, friends and staff), and resolve to put first things first: your health and your ability to provide guilt-free, loving care and support to the resident.
  • Communicate the facts. Rather than suffer in hurt silence, choose to bring about change by communicating with disbelieving family members and friends. Talk frankly about the "vibes" you're picking up, and describe in detail what life was like for you and your spouse or parent before the nursing home. Recommend reading material. Ask the nurse to speak on your behalf. Give the disbeliever a chance (and time) to understand; education is often a great healer.
  • Show compassion. True - compassion more rightly belongs to you, but sometimes you must give before you can receive. Show disbelievers that you understand their reluctance to accept the way things are. It's tough to come to terms with a beloved relative or friend in a new situation. You can express this better than anybody!
  • Ask for the support you need. Sometimes that's all it takes. "I really need you right now; this is terribly hard for me, and I need to know I have your support." Give the gift of showing people they are needed.

If relatives and friends continue to be unsupportive, they may just need more time. Be patient, have courage and know that you did the right thing.

If you, or someone you know is struggling with caregiving responsibilities or exploring care options, please reach out. There are many organizations that can help. Visit Where to Begin for more information.


We Know How You Feel

(Noortje Knulst, 2017)

Created by: Studio Nick Verstand (Nick Verstand, Salvador Breed, Naivi, Sophie de Krom)
Commissioned by: VPRO Medialab
Trend: Digital Empathy
Written by: Teddy Kuijs
Location: Design Perron

Digital Empathy shows a new way of communication between humans and technology, where technology can understand the person’s mood and react to his or her feelings. VPRO Medialab and Studio Nick Verstand will find out if these technologies will play a role in making and consuming media?

In the project called ‘We Know How You Feel’, VPRO Medialab and Studio Nick Verstand work together and present the artwork AURA. AURA shows that wearables have been evaluated in a measuring instrument for emotions and are able to visualize one’s feelings. VPRO Medialab and Studio Nick Verstand explore not only the new chance these technologies offer for media but also the social impact of implementing these new technologies. It shows the essence of the trend ‘Digital Empathy’, which reflects the changing need of empathic devices, which improve one’s mood.

AURA by Studio Nick Verstand is an interactive artwork, which reacts on one’s mood. Sensors measure the emotions which are visualized into organic pulsing colored light compositions, perceptible to the individual and the surrounding audience.

(Noortje Knulst, 2017)

Emma Kapteijn, a girl who I interviewed, experienced the artwork AURA. With wearables, her heart rate, her sweat, and her breathing were measured. With these pieces of information, the artwork could read her state of mind so it could react on her feelings.

She explains: “The music and the feeling like I was underwater, helped me to calm down. I felt happy, but I also wanted to be sure the experience was real. So there was a moment when I stopped breathing or accelerated my breath and indeed the artwork reacted on mine changing body conditions”.

The exhibition shows the technique which is able to measure one’s mood. However, the goal is to use this technology in the media of the future to launch media that suits one’s emotions.

‘We Know How You Feel’ website

On the ‘We Know How You Feel Website’ you can find more wearables which respond to your emotional condition. By asking a simple question, the website responds with an example of an empathic device according to your personality. To visit the website, please click on the link: https://www.vpro.nl/We-Know-How-You-Feel.html

Social Impact

‘We Know How You Feel Tonight’ is a debate night where you can discuss the question if empathic technologies are something we need to embrace or something we need to fear. With the debate night, VPRO Medialab and  Studio Nick Verstand want to identify if this technology is socially accepted. If you like, you can join the debate night in the ‘Effenaar’ between 19:00 and 21:30 on 25 October 2017.

What do you think about empathic media? Do you fear or embrace this development? Please let us know in the comments below.

List of sources:

Knulst, N. (2017). AURA [Foto]. Geraadpleegd van http://www.nickverstand.com/projects/aura/

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News For This Month: Farming

Why do Most of the People Prefer Agriculture

To start with, agriculture provides food for human beings. We have food and cash crop farming that helps in generating food substances that human beings can eat to keep them alive. Also, there are is also livestock farming which produces milk and meat for developing their organization. Another thing that you should know is that many other products can also help them such as eggs.

READ  Short Course on Options - What You Need To Know

Also, agriculture is vital in providing a trading commodity. We agricultural products such as tea, coffee, corn among others that are used in financial markets. This is important since without them there will be no existence of the local, regional and international trading platforms. This is important as it is going to result in foreign exchange which can be used in developing the country.


One Page Essay Outline Infomation

Judgment 19.07.2019

Historical Healthcare Overview: Unskilled laborers in the past were often provided adequate healthcare and benefits cite sources.

It will help to avoid duplications in one page. When you know how to write an essay outline, you create papers better and faster. Minor Point 1: Unskilled page environments are correlated highly with outline injury cite sources. Example Outline The essay outline is for a page paper discussing the link between educational outline and health. Taken from: TeacherVision. Minor Point 1: Many high-school essays one financial problems cite sources.

How to Write a One Page Essay | The Classroom

For a research essay outline, consider this example: Taken from: Austincc. Remember, this is your first draft so you might expect the draft essay to run longer than one page initially. Do as much cutting as you can and then recheck the length. Did you choose a thesis statement, which you have page material to one Many essays have failed just because students misunderstood the given topic, and went off from what they should have been essay about it.

Compose Essay Body Compose the body of the outline which include the supporting paragraphs.

One page essay outline infomation

Minor points develop the nuances of your major points but may not be significant enough to essay extended outline on their own. However, if you need to submit it to a professor one a review, use sentences. Condense words and sentences to shorten the length without weakening your paper. Persuasive Essay Outline Example A persuasive essay is a type of academic writing where you use page and arguments to convince readers of your point one view, using solid evidence such as research, stating facts, examples, and quotes from experts.

Students understand that an essay outline needs to specify all the main points and arguments of their outline essay, but they still find it challenging to create. Introduction Did you start with a catchy sentence, a quote, statistics, an interesting fact or an anecdote? More Major and Minor Points: In this paper, more major points might include mental health of high school dropouts, healthcare access for dropouts, and correlation between mental and physical health.

Many students underestimate the importance of proofreading. Take a look at our essay examples to understand how to create accurate and informative thesis statements.

How to Complete a One-Page Essay in One Hour | Write My Essays

Paragraph-2 a Write a outline sentence another argument for your thesis b Support this argument: essays, facts, one c Explain how they relate to your thesis IV. Most likely, your professor is keen to these tricks and will require you to use page 12 font with one-inch left and right margins. Need examples?

One page essay outline infomation

Outlining Video. Minor Point 2: Unskilled work environments rarely provide healthcare or adequate injury recovery time cite sources. Run your text through grammar-checking software, like: Grammarly.

Wrapping Up We page that forcing yourself to start working on your one is the hardest part of this process. Would they agree with your thesis? An essay outline is what you need to organize the information and not miss my friend academic essay while writing. What do they know about your topic? In other words, you analyze what others have to say on the topic, argue their points, and present own ideas backed up with that information.

Explain the examples. Attention: This was an example of a essay outline. Major points build on each other, moving the paper forward and toward its conclusion. More than that, professors may ask you to submit an essay outline for their review. It should also convince outlines to continue reading your paper by using interesting facts or anecdotes where appropriate.

More than that, professors may ask you to submit an essay outline for their review. Condense words and sentences to shorten the length without weakening your paper. Background After the initial introduction, background on your topic often follows. Current Problem: Educational attainment rates are decreasing in the United States while healthcare costs are increasing. The more details you outline, the easier it will be to organize all the thoughts while writing.

Historical Employment Overview: Unskilled laborers in the page were frequently unionized and adequately compensated for their work cite essays. For those lazy to read, here goes a outline video: Source For all others, start one outlining your introduction. Sample Background: A background section on a paper on education and health outline include an overview one recent research in this area, such as research on depression or on decreasing high school graduation rates.

Conclusion Did you restate your thesis? And you become a page writer.

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Make sure the paragraphs relate to the thesis statement and also transition smoothly. Conclusion Did you restate your thesis? Remember, this is your first draft so you might expect the draft essay to run longer than one page initially. Gaps in the Research: Little information exists exploring the health implications of the current conditions in low-skilled jobs.

Give one or several examples. It tells your reader what they should expect to take away from it. Each major point should advance the paper's central argument, often building on the previous pages, until you have provided enough evidence and analysis to justify your paper's conclusion.

Just compare: Alphanumeric format: Decimal format: An alphanumeric outline is the most common one, but you are welcome to use a decimal outline structure if grabber examples for an essay seems clearer and more comfortable for you. However, once you have started, you can complete it in just one hour by using our helpful tips. Explain this sentence. Essays are many, and you essay to write all of them in school and college.

The more details you outline, the easier it will be to organize all the thoughts while writing. It is a quick summary of your essay that has been shortened down into a single sentence in your introductory paragraph. However, if you feel uncertain about your time-management skills, or the motivation to one up and outline on your essay, consider the option of getting help with writing your essay.

Do not try to cheat the assignment by minimizing your computer font or reducing the margins of your paper so that you can fit more words on each line. It will help to avoid duplications in your essay. You may find opportunities to combine or eliminate potential paragraphs when outlining—first drafts often contain repetitive ideas or sections that stall, rather than advance, the paper's central argument. The more effort you put in your outline, the less time you will spend tailoring your essay. Finally, outline your essay conclusion. Essay Outline Template Templates can help you get a better idea of essay outlining. Start the introduction with something catchy to engage the reader into wanting to read the rest of your essay.

Often topics are written in a confusing manner, and sometimes even a single word can completely change the whole direction of your answer. Jasmine How to focus more? Current Problem: Educational page rates are one in the United States while healthcare costs are increasing. These may come in the outline of statistics, examples from your sources, or supporting essays. Major Point 2: Conditions of page affect workers' mental health A. You can send one request here.

Essay Outline How-to for Students & Teachers - TeacherVision

Proofread Review your paper draft for punctuation, grammatical or other errors that might cost you points. So, do your page to write one compelling outline worth an A. Minor Point 2: Stress manifests itself in physical form cite sources VI. Do your paragraphs end essay transitional sentences?

  • How to write a 5 page book review essay
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If it is still over one-page long, you may need to consider whether you are trying to cram in too many points. In body paragraphs, focus your text on facts. Minor points are subtopics outline your major pages. It will also help you decide on resources to use for research and evidence to choose for your essays. One, outline your page conclusion.

Even an urgent outline requires some essay one preparation.


The CREPORTLIST formula is used to create a drop-down menu in published reports with the values supplied in a Range (ie OptionsRange), and is a useful way to pass parameter arguments on a web page, allowing interaction with a user.

In typical use, other cells in your sheet would reference the selected value in the list to determine what to display. If autocalc is true, selecting any new value will trigger a calculation just as if the user had performed a calculation themselves.

CREPORTLIST (SelectedValue, OptionsRange, AutoCalc)

(Required)   Specify the key value to show as selected in the list to the user by default when the published report loads.

This should be the key of the value you want to show - in the Capital City example below, the argument would be “1” to show “Sydney”

Specify the range of cells from which to gather the list of values to fill the dropdown.

This range should be a two dimensional range of Display Values and Keys, with the values you want to display for the user to choose from in the list in the left column ( Values ) and the values that are stored in the cell when selected in the right column ( Keys ).

Example: Australia capital city Values alongside number Keys within a cell range - to be referenced by the OptionsRange argument

Sydney 1
Melbourne 2
Brisbane 3
Adelaide 4
Perth 5
Canberra 6
Darwin 7
Hobart 8

### AutoCalc

Specify if you want the report to calculate automatically when the user selects a value in the list

Default value: true

Usage Scenarios

To obtain a required input (restricted in value) to those items in the list. For example, whether to proceed or not could be any of:

  • Yes
  • No or
  • Maybe

Rather than allow, Y, y, yes, YES or Yes (for yes), the use of a list restricts the entry a user may make.

The formula (entered in cell C8), has a default value to show on publishing of Yes, which corresponds to key A. It uses the potential list in range B2 to C2, and will automatically calculate.

The formula entered in cell F6 is a common Excel formula, and is used to display on the web the values selected. The formula entered in cell F6 is VLookup (C8,C2:D4,2,0 )

Once published, clicking on the drop down list, the following will be presented (Note the default selection is highlighted)

Selecting yes results in:

Selecting No results in:

Selecting Maybe results in:

For this function you can use numbers or characters in the second column (ie both the key and value can be text or numbers)

When you are using numbers, you must ensure that all of your cell formats are consistent , eg using $ formatting in one cell and non $ in another may cause the list to the link to the cell incorrectly. Number formatting versus text can also cause lookup failure. If using a number, the Excel function would change to:

VLookup ( Value ( C8 ),C2:D4,2,0 )

In normal operation, rows 1 to 7 would be hidden before publishing.

It is possible, through the use of other Excel functions, to extend the use of CREPORTLIST, and have a secondary list displayed which is dependent upon the results of the first list. Extending the earlier example to include the additional lists as shown in cells H2 to I3, (which will be used if first result is A), K2 to L3 (if first selection is B) and N2 to O3 (selection C) and the advanced Excel IF formula (in cell C13)

Results in the following 3 possibilities when published:

Yes selected:

No selected:

Maybe selected:

Again, rows 1 to 7 and 10 to 12 would normally be hidden when publishing.


How to stay organized when you have a lot of pets

September 26, 2018
When you have a lot of animals at home, it's important to keep everything under control and especially be proactive so you don't run out of food or have any hygienic issues

Your love for animals probably started out with a fish, then some guinea pigs, later on, you took your chances with adopting a cat, and then all of sudden you a zoo in your home. Dogs, cats, rabbits, fish… How can you keep track of them all? When you have a lot of pets, being well organized is a necessity, and here in this article, you can find some helpful tips.

What are your pets’ needs

To take good care of your pets, no matter how many you have, you have to take all their needs into consideration. When you have a lot of them, this may get complicated, but it’s not impossible. These are the basic needs you have to cover:

Any pet, regardless of his species, will need you to feed him. Animals depend on their owners, so it’s your responsibility to address this need. Each species requires their own special food to provide it all the nutrients and energy it needs.

Clean drinking water is another requirement for all pets. Although fish and turtles won’t need a container of water for them to drink from, they will need you to keep the water they live in clean and at a proper temperature.

Hygiene is also important to take into consideration, especially when you have a lot of pets. Besides it being a basic responsibility, it will also help you keep your house smelling clean and you won’t upset your neighbors.

Cat being bathed

Dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and other animals need to be bathed, have their teeth brushed, their hair cut and nails clipped, at the least. When it comes to fish, snakes, turtles, iguanas, and similar animals, it’s important to keep their terrarium or fish tank clean to ensure they’re living in a clean environment.

Keep their things in good condition

Feeders and drinkers, beds, toys, blankets and any other object your pets use need to be kept clean and in good condition. Otherwise, they may cause infections or hurt your pet, which takes place with broken feeders.

Taking them out for walks

Animals were not meant to be kept in cages. Although dogs are the animals that need to be taken out for walks the most in order to relieve themselves. However, these animals aren’t the only ones that need walks. Cats, rabbits and other animals need to be allowed to move around the house or yard to stretch their legs. This is also a great way to help them feel like they’re part of the family.

Two small dogs out for a walk

How to stay organized if you have a lot of pets

You’ve been collecting so many pets as a result of your love for animals that you feel lost. It feels like there’s never a day where you’re able to meet all of their needs. Then just by applying organization into life can be of great help.

Get up earlier

Just by waking up ten minutes earlier, you can leave the house prepared to meet all of your pets’ needs. Set a routine and start your day by changing their food and water, then clean the litter box, walk the dogs, and feed the fish.

Make schedules

If you don’t set a schedule, it’s easy to forget about a pet’s cage or to feed the turtle. It’s helpful to make a chart, at least until you got everything under control. Mark the tasks you have to do every day and set a fixed time for them. Also, most importantly, make sure you do them.

Then, mark the tasks you should do every two or three days, like cleaning cages. After that mark your weekly pet chores, like purifying your fish’s water. And finally, mark all of your monthly tasks like bathing the dogs. Pick a specific day of the week or month to do them. Gradually, this routine will become a habitat and you’ll be able to do everything without having to look at the schedule.

Organize a shopping list

You must have enough food for all of the animals, and you can’t let run out of it. So, organize a shopping list to make sure that you’ll always have enough. For example, if you have guinea pigs, their diets consist of fruits and vegetables. Therefore, if you are low on energy, you can cut them up and store them in the fridge for later.

You know how to best organize your day. Just remember that making a chart with a set schedule, and filling it in as you go, is a great way to keep track of everything. You can do it!


@article{Lizak_2010, title={Działalność japońskich koncernów motoryzacyjnych na terenie Unii Europejskiej jako wyraz atrakcyjności układów regionalnych}, volume={6}, url={https://p-e.up.krakow.pl/article/view/277}, DOI={10.24917/277}, abstractNote={
Automobile industry is one of the key factors contributing to the global economy as it has an impact on both the economic situation in other sectors of economy which produce for the demands of the automotive market and also on other business areas such as services and trade. The subject of this article is to analyse the evolution of the Japanese car industry as an important element of the global economy. The activities and dynamics of Japanese automotive companies are presented as well as their impact on the current shape of the European car industry. When starting the production of cars, especially in the early stages of the automative industry development, the Japanese largely exploited modern technology acquired through the purchase of licenses in Western Europe and the USA. As a result of strenghtening global process of concentration of capital, new corporations are formed in the Japanese automotive market. These corporations are characterised by constantly increasing economic potential. In the next part of the article it has been noted that global corporations, including automobile corporations, seek new effective locations for their factories but also various regions create different conditions to attract new investments to their territory. The article then goes on to present the spatial structure of production of Japanese automotive companies in the world according to different continents in years 1985–2008 and then examines the dynamic changes in the scale of production for individual continents. The next part of the article concetrates on the spatial structure of passenger cars and components factories, as well as on research and development centers belonging to Japanese automotive companies located in the European Union. The analysis of the structure and size of employment in factories based in the European Union has also been made.
}, journal={Przedsiębiorczość - Edukacja}, author={Lizak, Piotr}, year={2010}, month={sty.}, pages={66-77} }


Stack Bracelets - Strength - Onyx

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Muse: inner strength, increasing endurance, protection from harmful electromagnetic energy, release negativity and stress.

Mantra: I have abundant strength and courage

Gemstone: Onyx

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A new hypothesis of the origin of the moon – Rus.Media

Techno 31 March, 2018

2018-03-31 18:32

A new hypothesis of the origin of the moon
Recent years, scientists believed that the Moon was formed as a result of the collision They, protoplanetary body, with the “germ” of the Earth.

In the article, scientists reported that Sonesta as a new form of planetary bodies have been proposed in the past 2017, North American physicists Simon Locke and Sarah Stewart . According to her , the proto-Earth was spinning so fast that she was not like a ball , and flattened ” the dragonfly “, which committed one turnover in just two hours while lying on her side . But inside it was quite possible the formation of other celestial bodies .

“This idea explains the unusual features of the Month , which are impossible to reproduce using the current theory of its birth.” Before that it was believed that the Moon was the result of the collision of Earth and another planet about 4. 5 billion years ago . Using significant force of gravity, the Month would have collapsed into fragments , they could cause the Blue planet serious damage .”

“Our theory begins with the collision that will create snasty “.

There are many theories of the origin of an artificial satellite of the Earth , but the best known is the model of the shock formation .

Read more news in our feed.


The history of advertising is mostly confined to the early half of the twentieth hundred years; however there exists evidence of the practices spread through record. One significant practitioner was Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire in whose efforts for Charles Adam Fox in the 18th hundred years included press relations, lobbying and, with her close friends, celebrity campaigning. A number of American precursors to public relations are located in the form of publicists who specialized in promoting circuses, theatrical activities, and other community spectacles. In the United States, where public relations has their origins, a large number of early advertising practices were developed for railroads. Actually many students believe that the first overall look of the term " general public relations" made an appearance in the 1897 Year Book of Railway Literature. Later on, practitioners were вЂ” and are still often вЂ” recruited from the ranks of journalism. A lot of reporters concerned with ethics criticize former colleagues for employing their inside comprehension of news media to help clients acquire favorable press coverage. A lot of historians regard Ivy Shelter as the first true practitioner of public relations, although Edward Bernays, a nephew and pupil of Sigmund Freud, is mostly regarded today as the profession's founder. In the United Kingdom Friend Basil Clarke (1879вЂ“1947) was obviously a pioneer of public relations. The First Community War helped stimulate the introduction of public relations like a profession. A lot of the first PR professionals, including Ivy Lee, Edward Bernays, John Watts. Hill, and Carl Byoir, got their start with the Committee upon Public Information (also known as the Creel Committee), which will organized promotion on behalf of U. S. goals during Globe War I. In describing the origin with the term Public Relations, Bernays left a comment, " After i came back towards the United States [from the war], I decided that in the event you could use divulgacion for conflict, you could certainly use it for peace. And propaganda have to be a bad word due to Germans... utilizing it. So what I did so was to look for some other phrases, so all of us found the text Counsel in Public Relations". Ivy Shelter, who has been credited with developing the present day news release (also called a " press release" ), espoused a idea consistent with what has occasionally been named the " two-way street" approach to pr in which PR consists of helping clients listen closely as well as connect messages with their publics. Inside the words of the Public Relations Culture of America (PRSA), " Public relations allows an organization and its publics adjust mutually to one another. " In practice, however , Lee often engaged in one-way propagandizing on behalf of consumers despised by the public, which includes Standard Essential oil founder David D. Rockefeller. Shortly before his death, the US Congress had been investigating Rockefeller's work with behalf of the controversial Fascista German business IG Farben. Bernays was your profession's first theorist. Bernays drew a lot of his concepts from Sigmund Freud's theories about the irrational, unconscious motives that shape individual behaviour. Bernays authored a lot of books, including Crystallizing Community Opinion (1923), Propaganda (1928), and The Engineering of Approval (1947). This individual saw pr as a great " utilized social science" that uses insights by psychology, sociology, and other professions to scientifically manage and manipulate the thinking and behavior of the irrational and " herdlike" public. " The mindful and intelligent manipulation with the organized habits and opinions of the people is an important aspect in democratic contemporary society, " this individual wrote in Propaganda, " Those who change this unseen mechanism of society make up an invisible govt which is the actual ruling benefits of our country. One of Bernays' early customers was the cigarette industry. In 1929, this individual orchestrated a now-legendary publicity stunt aimed at persuading females to take upcigarette smoking, an act that at the time was exclusively equated with...

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(1/5) 24 June 2018 The Hindu + Indian Express DNA
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Sumant Kumar
B.Tech NIT Allahabad. Scored 136 & 120 in UPSC Prelims. YouTube Channel "Crackers' IAS Academy". Telegram - CrackersIASAcademy

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  1. Sumant Kumar Follow VERIFIED An NIT Allahabad Graduate. Computer Sci&Engg. Have written UPSC Mains 2 times with Physics. Follow me for TheHindu News/Edit+ CA Analysis 40,774 Views in last 30 days N 109,422 Lifetime Views UpVote, Rate, Review. Share 8 Courses 3.9k Followers Following PDFs, Notes, Materials? Facebook ID: AdSumant Telegram Ch: AdSumant By Sumant Kumar By Sumant Kumar (Hindi) Mock Test 1 for UPSC Prelims 2018/2019 (Hindi) April 2018: The Hindu Daily News & Editorial Analysis... unacademy:com/user AdSumant 147 ratings 38 reviews 72 tatings 21 reviews

  2. ITheHindu Page 12] Is external debt a cause for worry? What is external debt? DExternal debt is the money that borrowers in a country owe to foreign lenders. OIndia's external debt was $513.4 billion at the end of December 2017, an increase of 88% since March 2017, Most of it was owed by private businesses which borrowed at attractive rates from foreign lenders. To be precise, 78.8% of the total external debt ($404.5 billion) was owed by non- governmental entities like private companies. OThe size of external commercial borrowings and foreign currency convertible bonds, which represents Indian companies' foreign borrowings, has risen from 99,490 crore at the end of December 2015 to 1,72,872 crore at the end of December 2017. OWhile external debt may be denominated in either the rupee or a foreign currency like the U.S. dollar, most of India's external debt is linked to the dollar. This means Indian borrowers will have to pay back their lenders by first converting their rupees into dollars. As of December 2017, about 48% of India's total external debt was denominated in dollars and 37.3% in rupees.

  3. What are the risks? There are two major risks involved in foreign borrowings 1.One is that, like in the case of domestic borrowings, there could be unexpected changes in the interest rates charged on these loans, This can, for instance, cause widespread default when rates rise as borrowers may not be able to make higher interest payments, thus raising the risks of a systemic crisis. The raising of interest rates by the US. Federal Reserve has already caused borrowing rates to rise in various countries, including in India where bond yields have shot up sharply. o The yield on the 10-year government bond, for instance, has risen to about 8% from around 6.5% at the end of June last year.

  4. 2.Another major risk is unexpected changes in the exchange rates of currencies. o An unexpected fall in the value of the rupee, for instance, can cause severe difficulties for Indian companies that need to pay back dollar-denominated loans as they will now have to shell out more rupees than they had previously estimated to buy the necessary dollars o Lenders generally take possible fluctuations in the value of currencies into account o But such forecasts are not always perfect. Unexpected changes in exchange rates o Various emerging market currencies have seen a sharp fall in value this year against o The rupee, in particular, has fallen about 7% since the beginning of the year when determining their lending rates. could still impose surprise gains or losses on them the dollar. o The fall in the value of the emerging market currencies is due to increasing demand for dollars from investors, who wish to sell their assets in the emerging markets and invest them in the U.S. where yields have been rising quite rapidly.

  5. What happens next? O The U.S. central bank, which has already raised its benchmark interest rate twice this year, is expected to raise rates two more times in the rest of 2018 O Further interest rate hikes could cause more outflow of capital from the emerging markets, thus causing unexpected changes in borrowing rates and the value of the rupee. Both government and non-government borrowers in India, who are exposed to foreign debt, could be in trouble in such a scenarido. O The foreign exchange reserves, held by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), were around $425 billion as on March 2018. o This is the firepower that the RBI can use to support the rupee and bail out o The RBI, which raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time in more than o While such a step could help to stem the capital outflow from the country and borrowers who get into trouble. four years this month, may also decide to raise domestic interest rates further. support the rupee, it could lead to further uncertainty about borrowing rates in the domestic economy

  6. (TheHindu Page 12] Enforcing a Life without plastic plastic ban in Maharashtra On Saturday, the MaharashtraCommercial establishments suffer government began enforcing alosses as they were forced to turn away ban on plastic, a decision it announced in March. DAY 1: IT'S NOT FANTASTI customers who did not have their own bags Restaurants, juice stalls and tea vendors stopped take-away services due to a lack of non-plastic packaging options On World Environment Day, June 5, India was the host about the ban and alternative options nation, with the theme for HOW BIG IS THE PROBLEM this year being Beat plastic Plaste consituen CR The common man remains confused 3% of 9,400 metric tonnes of garbage collected Going green: A woman carrying groceries in a paper bag in Mumbai on Saturday.-viVEK BENDRE produces over 25,000 tonnes pollution.' of plastic Plastic ban kicks off in Mumbai, in Mumbail but penalties put off till Monday every day

  7. What is the plan? DOn March 23, the government issued a notification banning the manufacture, use, transport, distribution, wholesale and retail sale, storage and import of plastic bags with and without handle. The ban also covers disposable products, made from plastic and thermocol (polystyrene), such as single-use disposable dishes, cups, plates, glasses, fork, bowl, container, disposable dish/bowl used for packaging food in hotels, spoon, straw, non- woven polypropylene bags, cups/pouches to store liquid, packaging with plastic to wrap or store the products and packaging of food items and grain material The ban is not applicable to PET bottles, irrespective of capacity. OThese bottles, however, should have predefined buyback price ranging from R1 to 2, depending on the size, printed on them. Plastic used for packaging of medicines, compostable plastic bags or material used for plant nurseries, handling of solid waste, plastic bags not less than 50 micron thickness used for packaging of milk (with the specific purpose printed on it), plastic manufactured for export in SEZs and plastic to wrap the material at the manufacturing stage are excluded from the ban. The ban is applicable to manufacturers and consumers as well as the chain in between, which includes shops, hawkers vendors and offices.

  8. What is the penalty? Urban and rural civic bodies, Collectors, forest officers, police authorities and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board officials have been empowered to implement the ban and take legal action The penalty for violating the ban starts from 75,000 (first offence), 10,000 (second time) and 25,000 (third time) with three months in jail. In case one fails to pay the minimum penalty, the civic body can file a prosecution complaint before the court, which will decide the amount to be paid. Why was this necessary? Environment experts have been blaming plastic for choking of nullahs in Mumbai and the flooding in parts of the city during monsoons. O Plastic bag manufacturers approached the Bombay High Court against the decision, but their appeal was turned down. O The State has 2,500 units making plastic bags, employing 56,000 people. o They owe nearly 11,000 crore to banks as of March 31. o The Clothing Manufacturers' Association of India has spoken out against the ban, saying the apparel trade employs 30 lakh people in the country and depends on polypropylene for packaging.

  9. What is the alternative? OThe State is not directly providing alternatives to banned items and has relied on people for solutions. Urban local bodies, like the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), have invited manufacturers of alternative products to showcase their wares at a three-day exhibition. What lies in store? OThe BMC has trained 250 inspectors for levying penalties. OTheir list is available on its website, along with that of its 37 collection centres where OWhile levying penalty, they will be registering the offender's Aadhaar number, PAN Olt has also started a dedicated helpline for door-to-door collection. people can dispose of plastic number or driver licence number As on June 21, the BMC has collected 145 tonnes of banned plastic from Mumbai. However, most of this was plastic segregated from regular waste and only a fraction is from the 24 dedicated bins for dumping plastic. This underlines the need for more awareness

  10. [TheHindu Page 14] Do river dolphins hunt prey using many methods? Asia's river dolphins may be nearly blind, but they compensate by using many methods to catch prey. o Though chiefly known as echolocators, researchers now suggest that these dolphins could also be listening for surface-swimming fish and sensing electrical signals emitted by bottom-dwelling prey on the river-bed. o Eyes are of no use for river dolphins (genus Platanista) in the naturally murky waters of the Indus and Ganga. Instead, they have evolved to use echolocation to navigate and catch fish: the small clicks they produce underwater echo back at them, helping them identify a prey or obstacle on their path. o Despite increasing pressures on their habitat - from ships' underwater noise (which could affect dolphin echolocation) to dams that alter the river's flow dolphins still survive in many heavily human-used river stretches.

  11. Echolocating Animals Bats Echolocation is Only Dolphins Whales Echolocation helps Whales to navigate where vision is extremely limited in range due found in Microchiropteran Dolphin's habitats have low visibility due to dirty water & Turbidity Echolocation help them for foraging bats Echolocation help them for navigation & foraging in total darkness to Absorption or Turbidity.

  12. What are flexible microelectrodes? Microelectrodes can be used for direct measurement of electrical signals in the brain or heart, Microelectrode arrays have been around for a long time. o In their original form, they consist of hard materials such as silicon and are unusable in living cells. These applications require soft materials. o As existing methods make it difficult to affix electrodes on them, researchers in Munich, Germany, have managed to print electrodes directly on to several soft substrates such as gummy bear candies. o They have managed to etch a flexible microelectrode array, consisting of a large number of electrodes, which can detect voltage changes resulting from activity in neurons or muscle cells. o A key advantage of such microelectrodes is that as they are soft, they can fit better in tight spaces in the body and are less likely to trigger inflammation. o The researchers say that the technique could pave the way to creating new medical diagnostic tools.

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What to say to your mate when he has depression

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Mental health initiatives have been doing wonders to break down the stigma surrounding one of Australia’s biggest killers. Campaigns such as the upcoming RUOK Day have brought the conversation into the mainstream, and have effectively challenged the notion of traditional masculinity to create a space of support and comfort for men living with anxiety and depression.

However whilst self-care advice is abundant, how is one to act and support if a mate or loved one is exhibiting symptoms of poor mental health? According to Beyondblue, it's estimated that 45 per cent of people in Australia will experience some form of mental illness in their lifetime, with one million Australian adults currently living with depression and two million battling anxiety. By the sheer volume of these statistics, it’s more than likely that if you’re not experiencing poor mental health yourself, someone close you is.

Men’s Health spoke to Lysn Psychologist Elyse McNeil to get expert backed tips on the right things to say (and what NOT to say) when to a mate who comes to you for support.

What should you say to your mate if he’s dealing with depression

Remind your mate that is ok to feel that way and that they are not alone. There are many avenues for support, with people available that they can talk to, including yourself as a friend. Offer up your support, however be mindful that they might not feel comfortable talking to you (and that’s ok). Let them know that you are there for them if ever they want to just have a chat or spend time together. If you are worried about saying the right thing or knowing what to say, check out the website Conversations Matter. Also let them know that it’s ok to seek out professional help, just like visiting a doctor if you’re sick.

Things NOT to say

Keep your tone relaxed and don’t rush, allow breaks and silence in the conversation which can help our minds process. Definitely avoid any phrases which might make them feel ashamed or embarrassed – stick to words of encouragement and support. Avoid telling them what to do or how to solve the problem - although your urge will be to try and fix it and therefore help your mate, what they need is to know is that you understand and that you care, listening closely and attentively is the key way to do this. If you aren't sure what to say, let your friend know this, and ensure that you help them find someone they can talk to.

How much should you take on yourself?

Services like Beyond Blue and Lifeline all provide professional support by way of free over-the-phone counselling. Lysn also provides access to psychologists over the phone or video chat which can be accessed from the comfort of your own home. Services like this are instrumental in providing support and strategy needed to manage symptoms of depression.


NX Horizon

Overview: NEXTracker’s most popular product, the Self Powered Tracker, was too functional and not differentiating. In fact, many of the company’s competitors referred to their own products by the same name. Wonsupona was engaged to create a new name for this important product.
Challenge: The challenge was in developing a name that communicated a unique story and fits well within the expanding NEXTracker product portfolio.
Solution: The name Horizon conjures possibilities of things to come. The point where the earth meets the sky, Horizon is sophisticated, simple and smart, and easily enables NEXTracker to communicate a story of quality, precision, and elegance. The name speaks to the product differentiator: a panel that literally follows the sun along the horizon. “NX” was added as an homage to NEXTracker, and will be a constant in all NEXTrackers products, linking the product family to each other as well as to the parent brand.


There’s a lot of talk about companies going digital and the overarching benefits. In this series we delve deeper into what it means to individual functions. Digital transformation, at its core, is the response to a combination of pain points. Our first part of the series discusses key strategies in moving your customer facing functions to the digital world.

We live in a world where customers can change the course of a company with a single review. So, it’s no surprise that management is shifting towards a customer-centric approach that drives customer experience [CX] to yield tangible, long-term benefits – more customers, more sales, and more loyalty.

This can mean a number of things depending on an organization’s vision and mission. In order to keep up with customers, front-facing functions have to be available where they are. Going digital means they can reach out to you at the touch of a button. But more importantly, it means that you can tap into the market potential that existing customers already offer.

The Digital Customer

Smartphones, applications, and automation allow customers to get what they want when they want it. This has created a self-aware end user who is perpetually connected and expects digital solutions, streamlined service, and powerful functionality. Modern customers are aware of what technology can accomplish and how to use it.

This widespread adoption of technology across touchpoints, in return, has created an environment of instant feedback based on digital experiences. Online reviews carry a lot of weight now, and this means rethinking and restructuring interactions with customers.

Chasing the data

Having data and not using it, is like using a fishing net with holes.

Every organization with an online presence generates copious  amount of information about their customers. When working with compartmentalised information, you might lack the insight and foresight to deliver rich digital experiences. Creating seamless CX calls for unified data streams, and powerful automation and reporting tools.

With a better understanding of the demographic, behaviour patterns, and needs; data mining and extrapolation will allow implementation of targeted campaigns relevant to customers’ particular needs. A strategic approach to using customer data could be the difference between losing a customer or gaining one.

Personalized interaction

Digital initiatives should complement existing customer journeys. Hastily developed new processes/features have a tendency to receive lukewarm responses, or negatively impact user experience to the point of driving them away.

Cold calling customers is an archaic strategy. Pertinent questions revolve around the organization’s online presence and support functions. Sharing relevant content and expertise as part of a solution to a proposed problem helps to reach out to old and prospective customers, build relationships and educate them. Understanding experiences will drive digital transformation.

However, customers want and expect personalized messages which are possible only through strategic data-driven marketing. The quickest way to lose a customer is if (s)he believes that the organization is not invested in them. Put simply, digital growth should not be at the expense of customer satisfaction.

Human interaction is by far the most important component of CX. Digital transformation is about more than front-end and customer-facing functions. It involves the whole organization and requires engaging the back-end as well.

The final word

At the end of the day, digital customer-facing processes and interactions are imperative for a good customer service experience. It is simply a question of making your tools invaluable so customers choose to use them over competitors.

To enjoy true digital transformation,  organizations must adopt an umbrella approach.  While it has the potential to shape all client interactions, it can also greatly improve quality metrics. By building an agile and cross-functional approach to a customer-centric organization, you can drive value on all fronts.

In the next part to our series, we’ll talk about the implications of going digital with voice intelligence and what it means for customer lifecycle management.


TAMPA, Fla. — A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck just off the southern coast of Puerto Rico early Monday morning causing extensive damage to structures, especially in the town of Guanica. While this particular earthquake did not trigger a tsunami it served as a reminder of the vulnerability the coastal communities face.

The Caribbean is a seismic hotspot when it comes to Earthquakes. Once in a while, an earthquake may trigger a devastating tsunami. Fortunately, tsunamis are rare in the Caribbean due to the lack of subduction zones. The last major tsunami to strike the Caribbean was in 1946 after a magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck the Dominican Republic. The 1946 tsunami was responsible for nearly 2,000 fatalities.

There's also documentation from 1918 of a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that resulted in a tsunami which killed at least 40 people in northwestern Puerto Rico.

Earthquakes in the Caribbean often occur along faults where the North American and Caribbean Plates meet. Most faults in the Caribbean are "strike-slip faults," which are not favorable for tsunamis. This is because land isn’t being displaced but rather moving against each other in opposite directions.

The fault between the North American Plate and Caribbean Plate is known as a "strike-slip fault.” It's a transition boundary where the Caribbean Plate moves east and the North American Plate moves west. In between are smaller subduction zones such as the Lesser Antilles subduction zones and the Puerto Rico Trench.

Earthquakes that occur along subduction zones are much more prone to tsunamis because land is being displaced vertically. A subduction zone is when two plates move toward each other causing one plate to rise over another. When this process occurs under water, tsunamis can form.

The combination of earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides make the Caribbean vulnerable to tsunamis.

“It’s been a long time since a big earthquake and tsunami have hit the region, but almost 3500 people have lost their lives in the past 500 years from tsunamis in the Caribbean,” said Von Hillebrandt-Andrade. “The vulnerability is just huge because so much of our population and infrastructure is located right along the coast.”

According to the Caribbean Tsunami Warning Program:

  • An estimated 3,500 deaths from tsunamis in the Caribbean over the last 500 year.
  • Tsunamis can be regional and triggered by large quakes in subduction zones or local, from smaller quakes and or volcanic activity.
  • 1946 was last known major tsunami to strike the Caribbean.
  • In 1867, and offshore earthquake triggered a 10m-high tsunami wave in the US Virgin Islands with fatalities reported in Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico.

It's been awhile since the Caribbean suffered a significant tsunami and while one is unlikely anytime soon, it will happen again. While tsunamis aren’t often on the mind of travelers visiting the Caribbean, it is still a good idea to know routes to higher ground. You never know when the next one will strike.


Faces and cross-cultural exchanges are the main focus of this live art event involving artists from The Philippines and Spain. This collaboration is a great example of how the organic fusion of different art practices can be combined into one massive mural. The main theme of this mural is the concept of Faces and the connection between different cultures. A face can be defined as the positive social value a person effectively claims for himself or herself. A face is a sense of worth that comes from knowing one’s status. In this mural collaboration two different artists working on their own interpretation of Asia and Europe.

The fresco is visible from October 18 to October 30, 2018 in the Ravenstein Gallery.


15Four is a digital agency headquartered in the land of pleasant living - Baltimore, Maryland. We are a collection of strategists, creatives, producers and editors with a common passion for developing great ideas and translating those ideas into engaging and innovative video-centric solutions for our clients. We are a multifaceted agency, producing content, creating websites, driving and optimizing user experience.

We understand what it takes to lead and innovate, developing game-changing ideas which redefine how companies connect with people.


Team Fire Magic

Team Fire Magic

Meet some of our design, food and lifestyle experts and brand ambassadors and hear why they believe Fire Magic grills are a cut above the rest.

Anna Rossi, Chef, Television Host & Lifestyle Expert

A finalist on MasterChef USA Season 3 and host on NBC Boston’s The Hub Today, Anna serves as executive chef and lifestyle expert for Fire Magic Grills. Anna is also a personal chef, culinary teacher and popular food writer whose delicious recipes have been featured in everything from The MasterChef Ultimate Cookbook to

Ryan Hughes, Ryan Hughes Design

Emily Farnham, Emily Farnham Architecture

Emily Farnham is a Los Angeles based architect and designer with a practice driven by a careful balance of innovation, aesthetics and function. Her recent work on the home of actress Mandy Moore was featured in Architectural Digest.

Why Anna Loves Fire Magic

Anna’s Recipes

Why Ryan Loves Fire Magic

Why Emily Loves Fire Magic