Posted by Nirav Ashara in Cold, Cool. Tips, Drinks, Recipes, Summer on Saturday, April 21, 2012
This Summer Try These Recipes To Keep Cool
Guava Fruit Punch
YIELD: Makes 4 servings
-
INGREDIENTS:
1-1/2
cups boiling water
2
decaffeinated tea bags
3
slices fresh ginger
2
cups guava juice
3/4
cup pineapple juice
1
to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Ice cubes
Mint sprigs
PREPARATION:
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
| Serving Size: | |
| Protein | <1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 24 g |
| Calories | 97 |
| Sodium | 15 mg |
DIETARY EXCHANGE:
| Fruit | 1-1/2 |
Strawberry Delights
YIELD: Makes 4 servings
-
INGREDIENTS:
2
cups low-fat strawberry ice cream
1
cup sliced fresh strawberries
2/3
cup cold fat-free (skim) milk
1/4
cup cold orange juice
1/8
teaspoon ground cinnamon
Additional fresh fruit
Mint sprigs
PREPARATION:
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
| Serving Size: 1 cup Strawberry Delight (without fruit garnish) | |
| Fiber | 1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 25 g |
| Cholesterol | 11 mg |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Total Fat | 2 g |
| Calories from Fat | 14 % |
| Calories | 133 |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Sodium | 62 mg |
DIETARY EXCHANGE:
| Fat | 1/2 |
| Fruit | 1/2 |
| Starch | 1 |
Banana Split Shakes
YIELD: Makes 4 servings
-
INGREDIENTS:
1
small (6-inch) ripe banana
1/4
cup skim milk
5
maraschino cherries, drained
1
tablespoon light chocolate syrup
1/8
teaspoon coconut extract
4
cups low-fat chocolate frozen yogurt
PREPARATION:
Tip: For a low-fat shake, chop 3 large, peeled bananas. Place in resealable plastic bag and freeze until solid. (This is a great use for over-ripe bananas). Blend with milk, cherries, chocolate syrup and coconut extract. It will not be as thick and frosty, but will be lower in calories and fat.
Snowbird Mocktails
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
YIELD: Makes 10 servings
-
INGREDIENTS:
3
cups pineapple juice
1
can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1
can (6 ounces) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/2
teaspoon coconut extract
1
liter (about 32 ounces) ginger ale, chilled
Orange slices (optional)
Marachino cherries (optional)
PREPARATION:
Tip: Store unopened cans of sweetened condensed milk at room temperature for up to 6 months. Once opened, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Cranberry Sangría
YIELD: Makes about 7 cups (10 to 12 servings)
-
INGREDIENTS:
1
bottle (750 mL) Beaujolais or dry red wine
1
cup cranberry juice cocktail
1
cup orange juice
1/2
cup cranberry-flavored liqueur (optional)
1
orange,* thinly sliced
1
lime,* thinly sliced
PREPARATION:
Sparkling Sangría: Just before serving, tilt pitcher and slowly add 2 cups well-chilled sparkling water or club soda. Makes about 9 cups (12 to 15 servings).
Icy Mimosas
YIELD: Makes 6 servings
-
INGREDIENTS:
3
cups frozen Tropic Ice mix, crushed (recipe follows)
6
frozen whole strawberries with stems attached
3
cups diet ginger ale or Champagne
6
wine goblets, preferably frozen
6
cloth napkins (optional)
PREPARATION:
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
| Serving Size: 1 cup | |
| Sodium | 41 mg |
| Protein | <1 g |
| Fiber | <1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 10 g |
| Calories from Fat | 1 % |
| Calories | 44 |
DIETARY EXCHANGE:
| Fruit | 1 |
Posted by Nirav Ashara in How Airline Crews Work
How Airline Crews Work
Modern airplanes are phenomenal pieces of technology, but they're not worth much if you don't have somebody who can fly them. The skills and expertise of veteran pilots are crucial to airline organizations, as well as to getting you where you need to go. The flight-attendant crew is also an important element in the flying process: Attendants try to keep everything running smoothly on each flight, and they deal with the desperate situations that arise when things don't go according to plan.
In this article, we'll take a look at the unique world of airline crews to find out who's working on a typical flight and see what their duties are. The life of an airline crew member can be tiring and frustrating, but it is rarely boring. When these people come into work (in an office that cruises a mile or more above the ground), they might very well be headed to the other side of the world.
Pilots
You wouldn't get very far on a flight without pilots: They are the people who put all that sophisticated equipment to work. On commercial airlines, there are always at least two pilots, and on many flights, there are three. All airline pilots have had extensive training and flying experience, often as part of military service. The road from the first training flight to the airline cockpit is a long and difficult one, but for many pilots, this is the only way to go. To learn more about this career path, check out How Becoming an Airline Pilot Works.
On an airliner, the pilot in command is called the captain. The captain, who generally sits on the left side of the cockpit, is ultimately responsible for everything that happens on the flight. This includes making major command decisions, leading the crew team, managing emergencies and handling particularly troublesome passengers. The captain also flies the plane for much of the trip, but generally trades off with the first officer at some point.
The first officer, the second in command, sits on the right side of the cockpit. He or she has all of the same controls as the captain, and has had the same level of training. The primary reason for having two pilots on every flight is safety. Obviously, if something happens to the captain, a plane must have another pilot who can step in. Additionally, the first officer provides a second opinion on piloting decisions, keeping pilot error to a minimum.
Most airliners built before 1980 have a cockpit position for a flight engineer, also called the second officer. Typically, flight engineers are fully trained pilots, but on an ordinary trip, they don't fly the plane. Instead, they monitor the airplane's instruments and calculate figures such as ideal takeoff and landing speed, power settings and fuel management. In newer airliners, most of this work is done by computerized systems, eliminating the need for the flight-engineer position. In the future, it will be phased out entirely.
All three pilots in the flight crew have equal levels of training, but they usually have varying degrees of seniority. At most airlines, the career track is based almost completely on length of service. To become a captain, you have to rise through the ranks and wait until it's your turn and a position opens up. Seniority also dictates the sorts of planes a pilot flies, as well as his or her schedule. Pilots who are relatively new to the airline will fly reserve, meaning they do not have a set flying schedule. A reserve pilot may have "on call" duty for 12 hours or longer at a stretch. In this time, the pilot has to be packed and ready to fly, because the flight scheduler might page them at any moment. If a pilot is called in, he or she reports to the airport immediately for a flight assignment (for many airlines, the pilot must be ready to go within an hour of being paged). Reserve pilots are called up when the scheduled pilot becomes ill or can't make the flight for some other reason. The life of the reserve pilot is largely unpredictable: Pilots might spend several days on reserve and never get paged, or they might get paged every day. And when they report for duty, they could be flying over to the next state or they might be putting in a three-day trip to another part of the world. With this hectic schedule, it's no wonder flights are occasionally delayed while waiting around for crew members to arrive.
Pilots with more seniority pick out a regular flight schedule, called a line. Pilots holding a line live a more "ordinary" sort of life, in the sense that they know ahead of time when they'll be working. But even these pilots spend a lot of time away from their families, and they never know what delays they'll encounter. In the United States, a pilot's scheduled flight time should not exceed 8 hours in a row for domestic flights or 12 hours for international flights. In actuality, however, pilots may work for more than 16 hours straight, since flights are often delayed or extended.
A pilot typically arrives at the airport at least an hour before departure (two hours for international flights). Most airlines have a computerized check-in system in the pilot's lounge. This gives the pilots the details of the flight, including the weather, the number of passengers on board and the other crew members who will be working. In order to keep everything in one place, pilots generally keep their flight papers and any other information in a large briefcase.
In the time before take-off, a pilot reviews this information, works out the flight plan, files it with air traffic control and meets with the rest of the crew. Once the airplane has landed, the captain meets with the arriving flight crew to find out if they experienced any irregularities. The first officer performs a general inspection of the plane to make sure everything is in good order. After this walk-through, the pilots meet in the cockpit and make sure all of the instruments and controls are working properly.
Before takeoff, the captain must sign the flight release, a document attesting that the crew is fit and that the pilots have reviewed the flight information. While they're preparing for takeoff, the pilots will receive an up-to-date weather report and passenger count and a pre-departure clearance form. To make the paperwork easier, many cockpits are equipped with a built-in printer that receives information from the gate agents and the control tower.
When the paperwork is finished, the attendants secure all the doors and the captain gives the go-ahead for "pushback" (pushing the plane back from the gate so it can move onto the runway). Then, the pilots simply wait their turn and follow the air traffic controller's instructions for takeoff.
In an uneventful flight, takeoff and landing require the most intensive piloting. In modern airliners, the pilot's main responsibilities are to monitor the automatic systems to make sure the plane is flying correctly and to alter the course as needed. In an emergency, of course, things can get a lot more hectic. All airline pilots have extensive training in dealing with the unexpected and keeping a cool head in precarious situations. Fortunately, it is only on rare occasions that pilots have to put this training to work, but they must be ready to leap into action at all times.
The life of flight attendants -- the crew members who take care of the passengers -- is also filled with unpredictability. In the next section, we'll look at the work that flight attendants do on a flight, and we'll find out what it takes to become a flight attendant.
Flight Attendants
On a commercial flight in the United States, there must be one flight attendant for every 50 passengers. These attendants have a variety of responsibilities in their work, which begins before the first passenger boards and continues through the entire flight. Before boarding, the whole crew meets, the captain reviews the flight schedule and any safety concerns, and the lead attendant assigns each attendant to a particular section of the plane. Before the plane takes off, the attendants must:
- Greet passengers and direct them to their seats
- Help passengers stow their carry-on luggage
- Make sure passengers near the emergency exits are prepared to help out in an emergency
- Run over safety procedures or show a safety video
- Check every seat to make sure all passengers are buckled-in and that their seats are in the right position
- Lock the doors and arm them so that the emergency slides will inflate if they are opened
After they have worked through this checklist, flight attendants strap themselves into their jump seats. Once the plane levels off, the attendants prepare food and drinks, load the refreshment and meal carts, and serve the passengers.
Posted by Stuff Blogger in Why don't we live underground? on Saturday, July 25, 2009
Why don't we live underground?
Washington serves as a catchall term for the seat of power in the United States. It's taken on a single collective identity, as in "Washington's decision to send a senior diplomat to nuclear talks with Iran" [source: Reuters]. Canada has a catchall town too -- Ottawa -- and during the Cold War, Washington and Ottawa worked closely to defend their shared continent from Soviet attack.
The one and only way in or out of NORAD's Cheyenne Mountain control center.
The most prominent result of this joint defense venture was NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Cultivated from a three-tier radar detection system spanning Canada from its southern border to the Arctic Circle, NORAD was an integration of both nations' detection systems into one comprehensive network. It was helmed through two controls centers: one in Canada and one in the United States. Washington placed its high value target inside one of the most secure locations on earth -- deep within Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado.
After carving out 700,000 tons of the mountain's granite innards and securing the only egress into the command center with two 3.5-feet thick steel blast doors, the U.S. military was confident the base could withstand a direct nuclear strike [source: The Gazette, DTIC].
The confidence in the security afforded by subterranean structures isn't exclusive to the United States. Chairman Mao constructed an underground city beneath Beijing following a border dispute with the Soviets in 1969. In the current unpolarized world, the seats of power are splintered, with the most powerful wielding information rather than intercontinental ballistic missiles. But the mentality that subterranean equals security has remained a constant.
There are companies that operate the networks the citizens of the world use to circumvent the Internet. And there are others that maintain those same people's credit histories and other sensitive information. Both of these powerful industries have determined that subterranean locations are the best sites to store their golden geese. Underground structures are less susceptible to physical intrusion and natural disaster. They also offer constant temperatures, and since subterranean buildings aren't susceptible to the fickle nature of aboveground weather, they require less energy.
One wonders with the benefits offered underground why we don't live there.
Underground Living: A Slap to Darwin's Face
We construct our houses aboveground and our skyscrapers into the air for a reason. Mostly it's because we were designed (or evolved) to thrive in the topside environment. We gain physical and mental health from the sun, air and flora and fauna we share the aboveground world with. Should a massive shift to subterranean dwelling take place among humanity, we would essentially be challenging evolution to do its worst. And evolution's worst generally results in costly damages to a species -- like extinction, say.
Humans are diurnal creatures, meant to be active when the sun's up and asleep at night when it goes down. We actually have a circadian rhythm, a biological clock that dictates our slumber patterns based on the cycle of the sunrise and sunset. We're inextricably dependent on the sun.
Nineteen-year-old Shao Ling struggles with rickets, which has kept her height at about two feet (06.m). She suffers from congenital rickets, but the developmental disease can also be the result of a vitamin D deficiency.
That link becomes clear through vitamin D. This essential ingredient for human physiological function prevents rickets (improper and weak development of bones) in children and bone loss in the aged. It's also been linked to metabolic and immune system function and reduction in hypertension. So we need vitamin D , and the curious part is that it's the only vitamin humans require that we don't derive from other sources like food or Vitaminwater. We actually produce vitamin D within our cells through photosynthesis, a process that's impossible without ultraviolet radiation (UVR) accepted from the sun through our skin.
We also produce serotonin through sunlight. This hormone is largely responsible for our positive moods, and people who don't produce enough due to a lack of exposure to sunlight can become depressed, a condition referred to as seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
Air is another important ingredient for proper functioning of the human body. Above ground, it's found in aces. The human lung has developed to accept the mixture of elements (mostly nitrogen, some oxygen and traces of argon and carbon dioxide) at the atmospheric pressure found around sea level. Dwelling too long tens or hundreds of feet below sea level, like via scuba, can result in the components of air separating from the blood, becoming bubbles. This creates the life-threatening situation called the bends. The same pressure from the force of gravity is found in the Earth's crust just as it is in the oceans. Miners must utilize the same type of decompression staging as they return to the surface, and, upon rescue, trapped miners are hurried off to a decompression chamber to readjust to sea level atmospheric pressure in the same way rescued divers are.
Of course, there's something to be said for adaptation. Without it, evolution wouldn't exist at all, and a move underground would simply accelerate the process. On the other end of the atmospheric pressure spectrum, generations of humans who've lived at high altitudes, like Tibetans and Andeans, have acclimated to the thinner air. They've adapted to derive more of the scarce oxygen from the air into the bloodstream than sea-level denizens. Underground, our fellow mammal, the mole, evolved to produce and circulate a larger amount of blood and oxygen-rich hemoglobin than similarly sized aboveground counterparts.
Humans could arguably thrive below ground using our most favored adaptation tool: technology. Why wait for eons of evolution to take place and risk the whole survival of the fittest aspect when we can simply whip an environment into the one we desire?
That's precisely what some people who've made the move underground have been forced to do. Rather than adaptation, however, it's generally viewed as addressing design challenges.
Earth-sheltered Homes: How Deep is Your Love?
The fantasy-drenched concept of a race of humans living below ground is actually an old one. Indigenous tribes have long recognized the climatological and security benefits afforded by living underground. Modern versions of these dwellings are already underway in some quarters. Homes are being constructed below ground, as are other facilities, like the underground Marin County Jail, designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In creating these subterranean dwellings, measures are being taken to ensure a future sketch of humanity doesn't depict sheet-white, blind creatures that suffer from rickets and crippling depression and subsist on a diet of worms plucked from dirt walls. Even when living below ground, we must find ways to harness the essentials that we need to survive.
This modern subterranean dwelling is a fresh take on an ancient idea.
Water's not a problem; 30 percent of the freshwater on Earth can be found underground at any given time in the form of aquifers. This source is constantly replenished by precipitation trickling through the soil, which acts as a purifier [source: USGS]. Air doesn't operate the same way as water below ground. The density of soil makes it difficult to breathe, and less air is found below ground, which explains why you suffocate shortly after being buried alive.
This little problem and the need for sunlight are addressed through the atrium or courtyard design of earth-sheltered homes. These homes are built below ground on all sides, save for an entrance that usually looks like a door planted in the side of the hill. The only exposed area of the structure is a central atrium or courtyard, which allows air and sunlight into the home. In subterranean homes without any exposed areas, ventilation systems and shaft skylights serve the same purposes as an atrium.
Sunlight will stream into a much more massive underground structure in Japan through a pair of covered domes, the only feature that will divulge the subterranean city beneath. Due to their immense population sharing a proportionately small land mass, the Japanese are unsurprisingly at the cutting edge of underground construction. Their biggest project is the double-domed Alice City, based around two central shafts plunged 500 feet (152 m) below ground. The shafts allow light to enter and serves as the nucleus for an ant farm of office space, entire shopping malls and residences. Necessities like ventilation, power generation and waste are all handled on-site below ground [source: Time].
Alice City is not yet constructed, though slightly less ambitious projects are operating around Japan. Through ventures like underground offices and shopping malls, the Japanese are hammering out the problems with subterranean living. A television studio 66 feet (about 20 m) beneath Tokyo's street level addressed the problem of a sense of isolation among workers by simulating the weather aboveground. A fire in the subterranean mall that took the lives of 15 people in 1980 taught designers to keep the air thinner to reduce smoke and invest more heavily in fire sensors and sprinkler systems in underground structures than they do in aboveground ones [source: Time].
The Japanese are also hammering out the intricacies of growing food below ground through the Pasona O2 project. The Pasona staffing agency created a working underground farm in an unused bank vault located beneath the company's offices, five stories below ground. Using hydroponics and artificial lighting systems, the company is successfully growing crops like tomatoes, strawberries and rice [source: Trends in Japan].
Population trends suggest the globe will experience as many as nine billion people packed across its surface by 2050 [source: U.S. Census Bureau]. With space aboveground at a premium, subterranean living could become more than just viable, it may become a necessity.