SmashingLists

Month: August 2012

  • Top 10 Most Interesting Shakespearean Deaths

    The Bard is often praised for his beautiful verse, and the depictions of romance and fantasy contained within his plays. But he’s equally famous for the gruesome and creative deaths he inflicts on his characters. Some are taken from history or myth, others are from Shakespeare’s own imagination. From poison to drowning, there’s a myriad of interesting ways to die in our Top 10 Most Interesting Shakespearean Deaths.

     

    10. King Hamlet

    In Shakespeare’s longest play, there are lots of interesting deaths. But my personal favorite comes right at the start, with the death of King Hamlet, the father of our Danish hero. In fact, the King is dead at the opening of the play but in great Shakespearean tradition, he appears again as a ghost. And in this case, he’s all too ready to spill the beans on how he died. The perpetrator was his brother Claudius and the method of dispatch was poison in the ear as he slept. Yes, in the ear. Poisoning someone’s food is obviously far too straightforward and common, but a drop of ear-poison? Genius!

    The ghost doesn’t hold back on describing his death – it’s probably quite a relief to be able to talk about it someone – and Shakespeare gives over a full 50 lines to it (no wonder the play’s so long). But the key bit is here:

    “Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
    With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,
    And in the porches of my ears did pour
    The leperous distilment; whose effect
    Holds such an enmity with blood of man”

    Juice of cursed hebenon! What a way to go…poor Hamlet senior.

     

    9. George, Duke of Clarence

    Another of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, Richard III is a little incomprehensible to anyone who doesn’t have an intricate knowledge of British medieval politics, thanks to everyone having similar names and the crown constantly passing from one side to the other in a most annoying fashion. But the character we’re focussing on is the Duke of Clarence, also known as the title character’s little brother.

    You have to feel for George – both of his brothers got a shot at being King and what did he get? Locked in the Tower of London on a trumped up charge and eventually brutally murdered. But at least his death was memorable – stabbed and then drowned in a butt of malmsey wine. He also gets a really, really long death scene with the murderers repeatedly telling him to prepare to die, while he monologues on and on. It’s almost an anti-climax when one of them finally decides to do it:

    “Take that, and that: if all this will not do, (Stabs him) I’ll drown you in the malmsey-butt within.”

    Farewell Clarence!

     

    8. Lady Macbeth

    Another play with a fair helping of both deaths and ghosts, it seems strange that the death of one of the main characters happens off-stage in a slightly oblique way. But Shakespeare did enjoy a good bit of obliqueness. The death of the Queen is announced to Macbeth in Act 5, Scene 5 with an underwhelming “The queen, my lord, is dead”, to which he replies that he basically has a lot of other stuff going on in his life right now and doesn’t really care. The exact cause of death is unknown, but it’s assumed she killed herself (probably by throwing herself off the battlements of the castle) after a slow descent into madness. An interesting way to deal with such an important character.

     

    7. Romeo and Juliet

    Another famous play, another suicide or two. No-one ever claimed that Shakespeare was uplifting, did they? These two die as a result of teenage love and, quite frankly, teenage overreaction. If they’d just told their parents from the start that they wanted to date, maybe they could have all sat down together and worked something out? But no, there are duels (that end with the death of the wonderful Mercutio, as well as the snidey Tybalt), secret marriage and exile before Juliet decides that the rational solution to all this is to fake her own death. Romeo rushes off and kills himself over this before he really has time to think it through (or indeed wait for the messenger who would have cleared the whole thing up) and, upon waking, Juliet decides to kill herself too, forgetting that she’s only about 14 and probably would have met someone else soon anyway. Maybe that nice chap Paris? Oh wait no, he got killed pretty arbitrarily by Romeo a few minutes beforehand.  It’s all a bit unnecessary really, but that’s the nature of tragedy for you…

     

    6. Coriolanus

    As we get into the more obscure plays, the deaths get more obscure too. Take the jolly romp of Coriolanus, about a Roman commander who makes enemies of pretty much everyone, including his own son. It’s pretty inevitable that he’ll die at the end, and he senses it might be coming when he’s surrounded by a baying crowd shouting for his death. Coriolanus offers a suggestion of what they might want to do “Cut me to pieces, Volsces; men and lads”, which is quickly taken up the crowd shouting “tear him to pieces!”. That’s led some people to think that he is literally cut into pieces by his killers, but the stage direction given just after his death by stabbing suggests not – “AUFIDIUS stands on his body” implies that there’s still a body to stand on. Pity – it would have been more interesting if he’d actually been dissected at the end.

    5. Timon of Athens

    Another death which makes you think that Shakespeare just couldn’t quite be bothered. Timon of Athens is an allegory which stands up well in our credit-crunched times – it’s about a man who gives generously, but also borrows excessively and ends up in massive amounts of debt. Plagued by his financial troubles, Timon goes to live in a cave, far away from mankind, and just kind of dies there. His epitaph reads:

    “Here lies a wretched corse, of wretched soul bereft:
    Seek not my name: a plague consume you wicked caitiffs left!
    Here lie I, Timon; who, alive, all living men did hate”

    So, Timon died of bitterness and living in a cave. Must try harder with these deaths, Shakespeare!

     

    4. Hector

    Troilus and Cressida has never been the most popular Shakespeare play, and is largely unsure of whether it wants to be a tragedy or a comedy, with some bawdy humor taking place alongside the big issues of love and death. And the ending is strange, with Troilus and Cressida being split up and Cressida betraying him for another. There’s no real resolution to that situation, and then the Trojan hero Hector gets killed too, just to make sure the audience are thoroughly depressed when they leave. But what a death! Not only does he get to be killed by the great Greek hero Achilles (who spends much of the play sulking in a tent), he also gets dragged around Achilles’ horse to really drive the message home to those Trojans. The last two lines of the play are “Come, tie his body to my horse’s tail/Along the field I will the Trojan trail”. It may be a depressing death, but at least it’s a heroic one.

     

    3. Cleopatra

    In case you haven’t had enough of suicide by now, here’s another one. But this one takes on the unusual method of clown+snake. By Act 5 of the play, Cleopatra is feeling a little fed up – her lover Antony has killed himself and Caesar has arrived to claim her as his own, and parade her through the streets of Rome. Determined to stop that happening, she instead elects to kill herself. Her first attempt fails when her knife is taken away from her, but when she succeeds it’s in the most theatrical style possible.

    She dresses in her finest robes, and agrees to see a “rural fellow”, described in the script as a clown. He has a basket of figs, but it also contains the “pretty worm of Nilus” – a venomous snake, whose bite is almost certain to kill. Cleo puts on her crown, kisses her handmaiden (who falls down dead) and then applies an asp to her breast, with the words “With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate/Of life at once untie” and a slightly disturbing analogy about the snake being like a baby. Then she applies another asp to her arm and dies mid-sentence. Her other handmaiden follows suit, which leads to this most poetic exchange on Caesar’s servant’s return:

    Dolabella: How goes it here?

    Second Guard: All dead.

    Truly a master of words was Shakespeare!

     

    2. Cloten

    Set in Roman-occupied Britain, Cymbeline is a fiendishly complicated play including a foolish bet between two men that goes awry, lost heirs to a kingdom and the Shakespearean staple of a girl dressing as a boy. The girl in question is Imogen, daughter of King Cymbeline. She is hiding out in a cave in Wales, with her brothers (although she doesn’t know they are her brothers), when her stepbrother Cloten comes to find her, with the intention of raping her on her lover’s corpse. Such a lovely character deserves a horrible death and he gets it, with his head lopped off by one of Imogen’s long-lost brothers after insulting him with cusses like “rustic mountaineer”.

    Confused yet? It gets more confusing. At this point, Imogen has taken some medicine which is actually poison, but which is actually not poison. She dies but doesn’t really die, and is placed next to the body of Cloten. Which leads to one of the all-time greatest Shakespearean moments as she wakes up next to a headless corpse, thinking it’s her lover (aptly named Posthumus). Her words of grief are, again, quite special:”O Posthumus! alas/Where is thy head?/Where’s that? Ay me!/Where’s that?”

    Cloten’s death, along with some of the others on this list, was imaginatively re-enacted in the Vincent Prince film “Theatre of Blood“.

     

    1. Chiron, Demetrius and Tamora

    A triple bill of death to finish with, from the blood-soaked Titus Andronicus. The play starts with General Titus Andronicus returning from war with a lot fewer sons than he started with, and it’s no spoiler to say that he loses a few more along the way. There are 14 deaths altogether, including one near the end where someone is buried up to his neck and left to starve. But for sheer creativity, our number one slot goes to the fate of brothers Chiron and Demetrius and their mother Tamora.

    Queen of the Goths Tamora is a prize brought back from war by Titus,who resents him for sacrificing her eldest son (this is not a good play to be a son in). Her sons take vengance by brutally raping Titus’ daughter and removing her tongue and hands so she can’t tell anyone. But Titus finds out anyway, and exacts an even worse fate on the brothers…by having them baked into pies and fed to Tamora. He unveils this plot in the final scene, as she’s just finishing up the pies with this speech:

    “Why, there they are both, baked in that pie;
    Whereof their mother daintily hath fed,
    Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred.
    ‘Tis true, ’tis true; witness my knife’s sharp point.”

    before stabbing her. He himself lasts another line before being stabbed, after which follows a bloodbath worth of Tarantino. Any student who thinks Shakespeare is tame really needs to read this play!

  • Coolest Weapons in Video Games

     

     

    5. Railgun


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    Game: Quake 2

    Back when men were men and sniper weapons always fired into the exact middle of the screen, the Railgun was the ultimate skill-based player’s dream. Quake 2 added much-needed depth to the first person shooter genre with trick moves and ways to accelerate movement (which were all accidental additions that weren’t originally intended). But there’s nothing like being in the middle of a 50-mile-an-hour dive for the Red Armor when that spiral trail suddenly appears in the air and you turn into a heap of bloody chunks. Well, it’s even better when you’re delivering the hot death. Any way you look at it, this gun came before all that goofy “cone of fire” stuff with crosshairs that lurch and weave like a first-time drunk kid at a LAN party. Wherever you put the crosshair was exactly where the particle trail would go. It was glorious.

     

    4. Thunder Fury


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    Game: World of Warcraft

    Few weapons in World of Warcraft are certifiably better than the game’s Epic items (the ones with the purple text). The best of which has gotten into more than just a few players’ hands is Thunderfury, a Legendary weapon (using orange text on its items stats). Thunderfury started out ridiculously powerful, and even after getting toned down a lot by Blizzard, remained for quite a while as one of the best single items in the game. Even after The Burning Crusade was released and people started plowing through the content, the Thunderfury was still in the hands of any top-level Warrior. It wasn’t until Blizzard came in again and specifically had to “nerf” the Thunderfury again that players begrudgingly put it away in their banks and start working on picking up new swords.

     

    3. Portal Gun


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    Game: Portal

    In Portal, the player controls the protagonist, Chell, from a first-person perspective as she is challenged to navigate through a series of rooms using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (portal gun or ASHPD). The portal gun can create two distinct portal ends, orange and blue. The portals create a visual and physical connection between two different locations in three-dimensional space. Neither end is specifically an entrance or exit; all objects that travel through one portal will exit through the other. Only one on the list this is a weapon though but not of destruction and way too cool.

     

    2. Cerebral Bore


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    Game: Turok 2

    The Turok games were always a little bit of a joke, but they always had the most awesome weaponry. Back when we were still firing our goofy rockets and railguns, Turok was blowing up whole sections of levels with massive explosions that filled the screen and more. But it was the second game’s Cerebral Bore that really got our attention. Just home it in on an enemy’s head and fire, and the tiny projectile would burrow into an enemy’s skull and start drilling. Not more than a few seconds later, the head explodes in a shower of blood. Few gamers had seen this level of gore and violence on the Nintendo 64, and not many games have topped it since.

     

    1. Gravity Gun


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    Game: Half-Life 2

    The Gravity Gun is on this list for a very good reason; it turned everything around you into a weapon! Being able to wield almost every object and piece of debris you came across as a killing tool opened up a ton of different ways to take out your enemies, resulting in endless joy as you used rotary blades, explosive barrels, and even washing machines to put the hurt on the bad guys. Not only did it serve to satisfy our undeniable love of throwing things at other things, it also allowed for some of the most creative physics-based puzzles in gaming. In a time when all first-person shooters had nothing but your generic pistols, shotguns, and rocket launcher, Valve gave us a unique, game-changing weapon that allowed us to tap into our creativity and kill enemies in ways we never had before. From dropping heavy objects on unsuspecting enemies to using a toilet seat to block incoming bullets, the Gravity Gun rightfully earns our spot as the coolest weapon in gaming history.

  • Top Ten Strange Ingredients that Can be Listed as Natural

    It seems today everybody is trying to eat more natural. We flock to fancy stores and look for the word organic on every single thing we pick up. It’s become a little bit of a competition for some people. We just love to say that we only eat natural products. But what exactly does natural mean? Here are the top ten super funky ingredients that manufacturers are allowed to list as natural. How many of these of you eaten today?

     

    10. Castoreum:

    If you are a fan of raspberry flavored sweets, you might want to look away. This is because the ingredient castoreum is a common additives to enhance the depth of flavor and sweetness of raspberry. Unfortunately, the source of this ingredient is not so sweet. That’s because this ingredient is created by processing the anal glands of beavers. Apparently chewing all that wood is great for making super delicious candy.

     

    9. Carminic Acid:

    It’s always nice to see when something only has natural colors listed as ingredients. Who wants all that food dye anyway? This ingredient is one that is commonly found in candy and other brightly colored foods. It creates a lovely red hue and is completely sourced out of natural ingredients. Those ingredients, however, are thousands of tiny dead insects that have been boiled and crushed down. The resulting liquid is carminic acid.

     

    8. Shellac:

    If you love shiny food such as the coating on candies and sprinkles, you probably consume quite a bit of this ingredient. This thick glaze is sourced from the excretions of the female lac beetle. As a bonus, it is also commonly used to seal furniture

     

    7. Lanolin:

    Do you know what makes your bubblegum sticky? You might reply that it is a colloidal substance that is sourced from a tree. Trying to convince yourself of that will probably make you feel much better when you realize that most commercial bubblegum, as well as vitamin D3 supplements, are actually given their gummy texture using lanolin. This substance is created out of the oils that are located inside a sheep’s wool. Breast-feeding mothers may also note that lanolin is often sold to soothe cracked nipples and make it easier for a baby to latch

     

    6. Allura Red AC:

    The food industry is amazing at giving ingredients names that sounds so much better than what they actually are. This ingredient sounds like some advanced additive that will increase the nutritional value of anything it’s in. It’s actually just coal tar. The product of the process that turns coal into coal gas is frequently used as a food coloring for sodas and candy.

  • 10 Skills a Man Must Possess – Page 2 of 2

    5. Cooking and Kitchen Chores


    Wives cooking for you and waiting at home are now times of yore. They have to go office like you, they are as busy as you so either you’d have to share the work or if you are single you have to be dependent on yourself, remember your mom will one day stop leaving cute notes on the food she left for you in fridge. Buying outdoor food for daily basis is I would say stupidity since you’ll be prone to Diabetes always so you better cook yourself and if you are married and she works then don’t be authoritative to be a man, you’ll have to share the chores with her equally and honestly hunting or relying on barbecue only neither brings you even close to a cook nor you can live healthy with it.

     

    4. Teach your Kids (if you have)

    Okay so mommy might not be there always, so before moving on to teaching the kids, you should teach yourself how to change diapers and clean poos and poops. Now when your child is growing up, it’s the daddy’s responsibility to cast a line but be sure to lend them a hand and teach them the rough stuff like how to change a tire, throw a spiral, fly a stunt kite, drive a stick shift, parallel park, tie a bowline or necktie and to ride a bike so that you can be a good daddy.

     

    3. Good Conversation and Making Out


    A good conversation is a skill. An ideal form of communication is an art that many men don’t possess. For a successful conversation, the partners must achieve a workable balance of contributions, which a man has to allow and not to dominate. He should know the interests of others to pick up a mutually interesting topic. A man should know how to do this and keep a handful of humor and in-jokes, he should also be aware of the most current affairs. And remember its the good conversation that matters the most in making a relation successful and yes making out and making love skills do matter when you have to make up a permanent bond.

     

    2. Deal Emergency and First Aid


    Now this could mean life or death. We shall not state this with restraint about the possible significance of this skill. You should know how to perform a hand’s only-CPR, reverse hypothermia and perform the Heimlich. Dressing wounds and contusions are a must know. You never know when the weird things can happen, it would be really good for you and others if you knew the basics to treat frostbite, a burn, help a seizure victim, treat a snakebite and remove a tick. Not only this skill would make you the hero but it will keep everyone around you safer.

     

    1. Master Key Workshop Tools for Indoor Fixing Things


    With our lives becoming more driven by technology, blue-collar labor has been replaced with more white-collar employment, and teenagers are becoming better at programming Web sites than swinging hammers. But a man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with a WD-40, a vice grip and a roll of duct tape as said by Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino. Calling a professional would cause you a many bucks not only when you are starting your home but every now and then since most household problems, from grating doors to leaky faucets, can be fixed easily by anyone with a clue. Grab and learn some basic workshop tools so that you can patch a radiator hose, paint n’ frame a wall, fix a faucet cartridge or a windowpane, shovel the right way, change a single-pole switch and sharpen a knife. Fixing things by yourself will save you a lot of greens and be more satisfying than calling in a professional.

    And by the way, here we shall include ironing and folding a shirt and sewing a button to a shirt, reading an electric meter and growing food at your backyard are essentials. Don’t get too scared with all this since these are basics to start an independent living unless you are rich born. Be a real man and start paddling canoes to get ready to move the heavy stuff!

  • Top 10 Strange World Customs

    Our world is one of constant parallels. As all we as a species know, planet Earth has spent the last few million years undertaking a comparatively brand new adventure, of which human beings have played a leading role. Slowly spreading from our humble primitive beginnings to establish ourselves as the dominant animal species amongst a million others, humankind has made a huge impact on the planet. Whilst it must be said that we should strive to take the good with the bad, this is not always easy- and the unending list of predicaments we are faced with is unlikely to cease anytime soon. With this, all that one may really do is educate and immerse themselves into those areas which stimulate or indeed affect them, as much as humanly possible during the little time we’re given. This merely reflects my own personal opinion (at the moment anyway), and I am certain that each of you reading this will have your own thoughts to bring to the table. Whilst we’re in the spirit then, let us take a look at some of the most interesting cultural customs of our beautiful world.

     

    10. Camel Wrestling


    This ancient tradition is indigenous to the Aegean region of Western Turkey, and is believed to have originated with the Turkic tribes of the area over 2,000 years ago. Basically, it involves exactly what you may already think it does- 2 camels wrestling. Whilst the practice may seem a little unethical in our current politically correct climate, it is widely popular across much of Eurasia and is undeniably defended by the fact that camels are extremely prone to such activity whilst in the wild. Wrestles usually involve two males, who are encouraged into conflict through mutual introduction to a female on heat. We’re not so different, so it would seem.

     

    9. Thumb Pointing


    Indonesia is a nation rich in history and culture. Spanning across over 17,000 islands of varying size, the country is a Republic, and has a population of some 238 million people- making it the fourth most populous nation on the planet. Despite subject to Dutch Colonialism for a large part of its recent history, Indonesia is nonetheless a nation which has managed to thrive in an independent light- especially since its independence following the Second World War in 1945. Home to a large number of ethnic groups, religions and did I mention OVER SEVENTEEN THOUSAND ISLANDS, Indonesia has developed many pioneering customs and inventions. One which I particularly like however is the substitution of the forefinger with the thumb when pointing at another person. In Indonesia it is practiced heavily, as the classic way is deemed rude.

     

    8. Lentils to see in the New Year


    Not many can argue with the opinion that Lentil soup is both tasty and wholesome, however I, as I’m sure many of you, have encountered those who never fail to try. Such is the reputation of the bean (at least in its soup-form) in the South American nation of Brazil, that it is tradition to see in each New Year with a meal based around the dish. Whilst a menu item somewhat unfitting with Brazils colourful and fun-loving character, it is deemed to be a symbol of wealth amongst the countries natives. Hence, ushering in each new year is seen as placing a positive omen on a family for the imminent 12 months ahead.

     

    7. Gurning


    A strange yet undeniably hilarious custom, gurning is a practice believed to have originated in rural England. The concept is rather simple: put your head through a horse collar and pull the most ridiculous face you can. Whilst far from being the most innovative or life altering of creations to have arisen from the UK, gurning has reached a worldwide level, with men, women and children from all areas of the world even competing at a World Gurning Championship. And just to clarify, yes- I am being serious.

     

    6. Zwarte Piet


    A particularly bizarre character, Zwarte Piet is native to Dutch/Belgian folklore. Accompanying Santa Claus (or Sinterklaas) on his mission to bring love, joy and festive cheer to the children of these nations, the characters translates to ‘Black Pete’, and, as you may have gathered from the image above- he often finds himself at the centre of the odd controversy or debate. Originating from an era of the Dutch nation’s inherently racist and prejudiced past, in which it was deemed perfectly fine for a white person to adopt ‘blackface’ in the name of celebration of performance, Zwarte Piet is looked upon with much more animosity these days. Understandable, really.

    5. Polterabend


    Moving on from the racist history of central Europe, let us move on to one of the more plainly bizarre and humorous traditions to have been spawned by this area of our planet. Polterabend originated in Germany and consists of an engaged couple cleaning up copious amounts of smashed up stuff. Yup, that’s pretty much all there is to explain here. During the time leading up to their marriage, friends and family of the couple arrange a time to meet up and break a whole load of, well, general items, with the sole view that the bewildered (I’d be?) couple must then clean the lot of it up. The tradition is intended to strengthen the pairs ability to work as team through all manner of difficult situation before entering wedlock.

     

    4. Keep Your Feet to Yourself…


    I often muse over the fundamental differences between certain sects of humanity, and how an aspect as simple as geographical location can go so far into influencing the tendencies and traits associated with the people native to a particular area. Take for example, the relaxed approach to shoeless-ness in many parts of Mediterranean Europe (Italy, Greece) in comparison to some areas in the East, in particular Thailand. The Thai people place a special emphasis upon the two polar areas of the human body, namely the head and the feet. Whilst the head is considered fully sacred, the feet are considered filthy and inadequate- as a result, it is deemed highly insulting to reveal the soles of your feet in any kind of public setting.

     

    3. Day of the Geese


    Many, many popular world customs involve the utilisation, in one way or another, of animals. Most notably, those traditions are native to nations, or at least areas of nations, that are considered historically feudal or agricultural. One such custom is the annual Spanish tradition entitled the ‘Day of the Geese’. Originating in the quaint, attractive and quiet fishing town of Lekeitio, in the north of the country, the ‘fiesta’ centres around a bunch of men attempting the perilous and demanding task of springing up from boats in the towns harbour and attempting to detach a gooses head from its body. It is believed that the tradition arose as a method with which young men were challenged to prove their worth amongst females, and used to be practiced all over the nation. Oh, and they used to use live geese.

     

    2. The Tooth fairy


    Originating in early European folklore, the Tooth Fairy is a figure of child’s fantasy said to leave monetary reward in exchange for each one of a child’s milk teeth. Whilst this is a tradition widely known and practiced now in the western world, or Anglosphere; the origins of it are thought to extend right back to the Viking era. Aside from other fictional figures synonymous with childhood in these parts of the world, such as the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy is unique in the sense that there are no certain specifications to which she (or he) is said to adhere. This relates not only to appearance and mannerism, but to conduct and method of visitation.

     

    1. Krampus Night


    Portrayed as the polar-opposite of good old Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus), Krampus is a figure of Alpine folklore that is said to act against the deeds of Santa during the Yuletide season. A character known to citizens of such nations as Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Hungary, Krampus is most commonly ‘celebrated’ on the evening of December 5th, each and every year. Whereas Santa Claus acts as a motive for encouragement in the never-ending struggle to get kids to behave for at least one month out of the year, Krampus achieves the same results, however through the method of sheer unrelenting terror. Each year on December 5th, many people take the streets looking like the dude in the picture above, and the people of each nation involved in the festivities feast and get merry. Sounds like a good time, if you like a spot of fancy dress anyway.

  • Top 10 Theories on Beginning of Life on Earth

    The details of the origin of life are unknown, but the basic principles have been established. There are basically two schools of thought which are further divided into many about the origin of life. One suggests that organic components arrived on Earth from space, while the other argues that they originated on Earth.

     

    10. Panspermia


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    Panspermia is the hypothesis that life exists throughout the Universe, distributed by meteoroids, asteroids and planetoids. Panspermia proposes that life that can survive the effects of space, such as extremophile bacteria, become trapped in debris that is ejected into space after collisions between planets that harbor life and Small Solar System Bodies (SSSB). Bacteria 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 planets’ surfaces, the bacteria become active and the process of evolution begins.

    Recent probes inside comets show it is overwhelmingly likely that life began in space, according to a new paper by Cardiff University scientists.

     

    9. Biopoesis

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    In natural science, abiogenesis or biopoesis is the study of how biological life arises from inorganic matter through natural processes, and the method by which life on Earth arose. Most amino acids, often called “the building blocks of life”, can form via natural chemical reactions unrelated to life, as demonstrated in the Miller–Urey experiment and similar experiments that involved simulating some of the conditions of the early Earth in a laboratory. In all living things, these amino acids are organized into proteins, and the construction of these proteins is mediated by nucleic acids, that are themselves synthesized through biochemical pathways catalysed by proteins. Which of these organic molecules first arose and how they formed the first life is the focus of abiogenesis.

     

    8. Cosmogeny


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    Cosmogeny, is any theory concerning the coming into existence or origin of the universe, or about how reality came to be. In the specialized context of space science and astronomy, the term refers to theories of creation of (and study of) the Solar System. Attempts to create a naturalistic cosmogony are subject to two separate limitations. One is based in the philosophy of science and the epistemological constraints of science itself, especially with regards to whether scientific inquiry can ask questions of “why” the universe exists. Another more pragmatic problem is that there is no physical model that can explain the earliest moments of the universe’s existence  because of a lack of a testable theory of quantum gravity, although string theorists and researchers in loop quantum cosmology believe they have the formulas to describe it within their field equations.

     

    7. Endosymbiosis


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    The endosymbiotic theory was first articulated by the Russian botanist Konstantin Mereschkowski in 1905. According to this theory, certain organelles originated as free-living bacteria that were taken inside another cell as endosymbionts. Mitochondria developed from proteobacteria (in particular, Rickettsiales or close relatives) and chloroplasts from cyanobacteria. It suggests that multiple forms of bacteria entered into symbiotic relationship to form the eukaryotic cell. The horizontal transfer of genetic material between bacteria promotes such symbiotic relationships, and thus many separate organisms may have contributed to building what has been recognised as the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) of modern organisms.

     

    6. Spontaneous Generation


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    Until the early 19th century, people generally believed in the ongoing spontaneous generation of certain forms of life from non-living matter. This was paired with the belief in heterogenesis, e.g. that one form of life derived from a different form (e.g. bees from flowers). Classical notions of spontaneous generation, held that certain complex, living organisms are generated by decaying organic substances. According to Aristotle it was a readily observable truth that aphids arise from the dew which falls on plants, flies from putrid matter, mice from dirty hay, crocodiles from rotting logs at the bottom of bodies of water, and so on. Spontaneous generation or Equivocal generation is considered obsolete by many, regarding the origin of life from inanimate matter, which held that this process was a commonplace and everyday occurrence, as distinguished from univocal generation, or reproduction from parent(s). The theory was synthesized by Aristotle, who compiled and expanded the work of prior natural philosophers and the various ancient explanations of the appearance of organisms; it held sway for two millennia. It is generally accepted to have been ultimately disproven in the 19th Century by the experiments of Louis Pasteur. The disproof of ongoing spontaneous generation is no longer controversial, now that the life cycles of various life forms have been well documented. However, the question of biopoesis or abiogenesis, how living things originally arose from non-living material, remains relevant today

     

    5. Clay Theory


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    A model for the origin of life based on clay was forwarded by A. Graham Cairns-Smith of the University of Glasgow in 1985 and explored as a plausible illustration by several other scientists, including Richard Dawkins. Clay theory postulates that complex organic molecules arose gradually on a pre-existing, non-organic replication platform—silicate crystals in solution. Complexity in companion molecules developed as a function of selection pressures on types of clay crystal is then exapted to serve the replication of organic molecules independently of their silicate “launch stage”.

     

    4. Theory of Consecutive Creations


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    The idea of extinction paved the way for the theory of catastrophism or “consecutive creations”, one of the predecessors of the evolution theory. Catastrophism is the idea that Earth has been affected in the past by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope. This view holds that the present is the key to the past, and that all things continue as they were from the beginning of the world. According to this theory, since each catastrophe completely destroyed the existing life, each new creation consisted of life form different from that of previous ones. French scientists Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) and Orbigney (1802 to 1837) were the main supporters of this theory.

     

    3. Materialistic Theory


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    According this theory, the origin of life on earth is the result of a slow and gradual process of chemical evolution that probably occurred about 3.8 billion years ago. Chemical evolution refers to molecular evolution is the process of evolution at the scale of DNA, RNA, and proteins. Molecular evolution emerged as a scientific field in the 1960s as researchers from molecular biology, evolutionary biology and population genetics sought to understand recent discoveries on the structure and function of nucleic acids and protein. Some of the key topics that spurred development of the field have been the evolution of enzyme function, the use of nucleic acid divergence as a “molecular clock” to study species divergence, and the origin of noncoding DNA.

     

    2. Organic Evolution


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    Speciation stretches back over 3.5 billion years during which life has existed on earth. It is thought to occur in multiple ways such as slowly, steadily and gradually over time or rapidly from one long static state to another. Evolution (also known as biological or organic evolution) is the change over time in one or more inherited traits found in populations of organisms. Inherited traits are particular distinguishing characteristics, including anatomical, biochemical or behavioural characteristics, that are passed on from one generation to the next. Evolution has led to the diversification of all living organisms, which are described by Charles Darwin as “endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful”.

     

    1.  Theory of Special Creation


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    According to this theory, all the different forms of life that occur today on planet earth, have been created by God, the almighty. Adam and Eve were, according to the Book of Genesis, Bible and Quran the first man and woman created by the God. Life on earth began from them according to Christians, Muslims and Jews. The 3 religions have a common agreement on the fact God created the universe in seven days, reserving for his sixth-day labor the climax of creation: man and woman. On the seventh day God rests and so establishes the holiness of the Sabbath. God fashioned a man fom the dust and blows the breath of life into his nostrils, then planted a garden (the Garden of Eden) and caused to grow in the middle of the garden the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. God set the man in the garden “to work it and watch over it,” permitting him to eat from all the trees in the garden except the Tree of Knowledge, “for on the day you eat of it you shall surely die.” God brought the animals to the man for him to name. None of them were found to be a suitable companion for the man, so God caused the man to sleep and created a woman from a part of his body (Tradition describes the part as a rib). The Quran says that Adam initiated the fruit eating and that both Adam and Eve (Hawa) ate the forbidden fruit, for which God later forgave them, and then sent both of them down to earth as his representatives. The Hadith (the prophetic narrations) and literature shed light on the Muslim view of the first couple. The concept of original sin does not exist in Islam, as Adam and Eve were forgiven after they repented on Earth, according to the Quran. One of the differences between the Qur’an and the book of Genesis is that it does not recount the Genesis narrative in which Eve leads Adam to transgress God’s laws; they are simply both held responsible and thus sent to earth.

  • 10 Most Revolutionary Keyboards – Page 2 of 2

     

     

    5. Virtual Laser Keyboard


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    The Virtual Laser Keyboard (VKB) leverages the power of laser and infrared technology and projects a full-size keyboard onto any flat surface. As you type on the laser projection, detection technology based on optical recognition enables the user to tap the images of the keys, complete with realistic tapping sounds, which feed into the compatible Bluetooth-enabled PDA, Smartphone, laptop or PC.

     

    4. Logitech G19 Gaming Keyboard


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    Sophistication reaches new levels with the Logitech G19 Gaming Keyboard. 2 USB ports allow data transfer to and from peripherals at unprecedented speeds. Upto 5 keys to be simultaneously pressed, thereby allowing execution of multi-key complex moves. The G19 Keyboard has Tiltable, 320 x 240 px, color GamePanel LCD which shows unprecedented levels of information—both in- and out-of-game—including game stats, system information, VOIP communication data, video playback, image slideshows, and many other items. User-selectable back lights allows playing in the dark.

     

    3. Senseboard


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    Senseboard is based on  tools that will translate your finger movements. The idea is now working well and can be used. This is one step ahead than the laser projection keyboard. A prototype was created in 2001 and now it is a reality! The Virtual Keyboard is used with the QWERTY touch typing scheme

     

    2. Optimus Maximus


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    This keyboard, called the Optimus Maximus, is the dream of any heavy computer user. The Optimus Maximus keyboard contains a small organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display behind each key so that each keys appearance and mapping can be changed at will. Optimus’s customizable layout allows convenient use of any language—Cyrillic, Ancient Greek, Georgian, Arabic, Quenya, hiragana, etc.—as well as of any other character set: notes, numerals, special symbols, HTML codes, math functions and so on to infinity which means this allows you to ultra customise your setup to your taste like changing QWERTY keys to someother layout like the Optimus Tactus but the difference lies in the uber awesome OLED magic. It looks stunning and the minute you see it, you realize that you are looking at a device that has some actual richness of personality and could provide a richer experience.

     

    1. Xynergi Keyboard


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    The Xynergi keyboard is part of a desktop media production center package. These $28,000 keyboards from Fairlight aren’t made for you, they’re designed for media professionals who need different keys for different tasks. It’s the world’s first “Self Labeling Illuminated Computer Keyswitch Technology,” beating the full-sized Optimus keyboard. Fairlight designed Xynergi to meet the needs of small, professional media editing studios. With Xynergi, engineers can capture audio, manipulate individual tracks, add effects, mix multiple tracks together and edit video files. While the device’s complexity and price tag mean the average consumer isn’t going to buy it, Xynergi might be a good choice for someone with a small recording studio or media companies that need an interface that will let them edit audio and video quickly.

    Also published on Rewrite Tech