Is there another mysterious Planet in Our Solar System?

In the infinite depths of space, all matter is in motion. As if moved by gears, all the planets of solar system orbit the sun, moving in their predictable elliptical paths. But something seems to be affecting the orbital path of Uranus. The seventh planet from the Sun. Some astronomers are convinced that there could be another celestial body near by. Is it possible that our solar system could have another planet?

In our solar system there are four like planets whose surfaces are solid Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The four giant planets with fluid or gaseous surface (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune). Out of these Uranus the seventh planet from the sun, behaves in a strangest way. Uranus takes 84 years to orbit the sun; because of the 98’ degree tilt of its axis, twenty four years of day alternate with 24 years of Night and the poles receives more heat than its equator. Uranus orbital path is so irregular that it has been rich source of information for astronomers. Its striking deviation led to the discovery of Neptune in 1846 and Pluto in 1930.

But the unusual orbital path of Uranus can not simply be attributed to the influence of Neptune and Pluto and about 2% of its deviation cannot be explained. It seems Uranus is being attracted by and unknown celestial body of about the same mass as the planet itself- which is 14 times greater than the mass of the earth. In other words there may be another planet in addition to the known planets.

If a mysterious celestial body exists how do we explain the fact that the most powerful telescopes have not yet detected it? The answer is simple. If there is another planet we would have to look for it at the furthest reaches of our solar system at least four thousand million kilometers beyond Pluto. This distance makes the observation difficult. The only certain thing about it is, it is not a giant planet. If it is comparable to Saturn or Uranus; Astronomers would have found that.

Since research has produced no evidence; scientists are working on other hypotheses. Photo graphs mad in stellar observatory on the island of Hawaii between 1992 and 1994 indicates at least six celestial bodies at a distance of several thousand million kilometers. If their existence is conformed these stars may prove that another Planet could never have formed beyond Neptune and Pluto because there is too little matter at that distance, and its concentration is too low; But for some astronomers, such as Clyde Tom Bough- who discovered Pluto in 1930- there is a reason enough to believe in the existence of a Mysterious planet.

The mystery in the Lost World of Movile Cave

The inhabitants of Movile caves are blind virtually colorless and live in an almost un breathable atmosphere. The accidental discovery of this subterranean “Island of life”

Cut off from the rest of the world for hundreds of thousands of years, affords biologists an unprecedented opportunity to study how animals adopt to hostile living condition.

In1986 Rumanian Speleologist Christian Lascu was probing a cave system in the Dohruja region of eastern Rumania, wearing a protective suit; he plunged into a pool of sulphurous water and worked his way along a passage in the lime stone rock, When he surfaced in a muddy cavity, he could hardly believe his eyes; in an atmosphere heavy with sulphur and containing almost no oxygen, he found an extraordinary animal world .Luscu saw spiders, isopods, other crustaceans, millipedes and worms. Each of a kind not found any where else on the earth. The cave explorer had discovered Movile Cave an oasis of life cutoff from the rest of the world for thousands of years.

As news if Lascu’s discovery spread biologists from all over the world began to assemble to the site. Tests determined that subterranean cavity, situated beneath a layer of about 25m of lime stone was lined with a thick layer of clay which had cut it off from the surface for at least 5, 00,000. The cave dwellers had been isolated since primeval times, forming a closed system of life.

The main question was how the animals got there. According to geological evidence, the cave was created when a crest region-easily eroded lime stone layers- collapsed during an earth quake about five million years ago. It is possible that the inhabitants of Movile were trapped in the cave by the sudden geological event. By that time the climate was very different and Europe was covered with tropical forests. The human species had not yet developed bur that was already a rich and varied animal world. It is quite possible that the creatures of Movile cave included some of these archaic organisms. Other organisms were able to enter the cave until around 500000 years ago at which time Movile was sealed off by a thick layer of clay. Today about sixty species exists there, about half of which ere previously unknown to science.

Over Million of years, the community had to adapt to the difficult conditions in the cave. Most of the animals are white or very pale in color, for their skins have lost ability to produce pigments. Deprived of the space to fly so the insects lost their wings. While in the complete darkness beetles and spiders went blind.

One of the most astonishing things about this unique, micro world is the animal’s diet, because there is no plant to eat, so called sulphur Bactria has become the basic food. The bacteria form a jelly like film on the surface of the water and serve as a breeding ground for fungi. The fungi are consumed by insects that would normally live on worms and plants. They are in turn become the prey of carnivores animals, and so the food chain is closed again.

So far it is unclear how the animals successfully adopted to the sulphurous atmosphere which contains almost no oxygen. Special metabolic adaptations must have evolved but the processes involved require more study.

Little known facts about brain II

Despite growing knowledge about our body still do not under stand, how the brain assign different tasks to its two halves. Research has focused on linking specific areas of brain to certain function. But now the Broca’s method has been replaced by the study of living brain.

The PET technique involves the injection of harmless radio active glucose onto the blood stream. A brain area where the glucose is observed in greater amount indicates an increased activity.

The Doctors are now able to examine impaired brain functions in living patients for example a man who has vision in one eye, though both eyes were healthy can diagnosed with a localized affliction of the right half of the brain. It was also possible to identify the damaged brain area of a man who could not recognize the members of the family.

New technology allows scientists to identify the brain’s main sensory regions, the control area of our movements and other areas that are responsible for vision and speech. Research suggests that each activity correspond not just one zone but to a series of specialized zones, which came in to play when these activities performed.

It has been possible to identify the distinct vision zones that are independently analyze the form color and dimensions of an object and construct a coherent image of it. If any one of the decoding element malfunctions then our perception of an object will be faulty.

As our knowledge grows the mapping of brain is becoming more and more detailed. The fact remains though that each person’s brain is unique. Along side the differences between individuals, there are also differences of sex age etc.

Last but least, women make use of both halves of the brain more often than men, who tend to rely on the left half. Nevertheless, the more we discover about the brain the more we came to appreciate the miracle of human thought. The Planum temporale a small zone associated with language, which is found in both halves of the brain is more develop in the left side in 90% of right hander, but 70% of left hander have an equal development in both sides.

Little known facts about brain-I

In1861 the Doctor named Paul Broca in France conducted an autopsy of a body. There was some thing special about the man who died. That man was Leborgne lived in Paris, simply known as Tan Tan. As the two syllables tan tan were the words he could say, but he could understand exactly what was told to him. Apart from that he read newspapers, played chess etc as a normal man. So Borca wanted to find out whether Tan Tan really was insane.

Here I wish to tell few words about Dr. Paul Broca(1824-1880). He was the first to recognize that mental capacity is linked with specific areas of the brain.

In 1860, another case that was decisive importance in understanding human thought process was that of an epileptic person named Kevin. Doctors served his corpus callosum the slab of nerve fibers that connect the two halves of the brain. But instead of cure, new complication arouse, Kevin could only laugh when he was instructed to do so by speaking in his right ear. His left ear was functionally intact. Further more, he no longer recognized familiar faces when they appear in his right field of vision. This is an unfortunate personal impairment was a boon to the scientists. This impairment provided vital clues about how the two hemispheres of our brain interact to perform their tasks

Every muscle in left or right half of our body is controlled by nerve cells in the opposite half of your brain. The reason for this is that each part is responsible for specific task. The analysis of shapes in space, recognition of faces, the memory of sound and music awareness, are all assigned to the right hemisphere. The left is responsible for the task such as smiling, doing calculation and logical problem solving. This hemi sphere of the brain also governs the learning of language as well as written and spoken language.

Even though each half of the brain has its specific functions both halves work in co ordination to control the tiniest nuances of our behavior. The necessary connection is made through the corpus callosum, the slab of nerves discussed earlier. Why Kevin could not recognize a person sitting on his right is that the left half his brain which receives visual information could not communicate with the right half of the brain which is responsible for recognizing faces.

If one half of the brain is injured the opposite side can be replace it to a certain extent particularly in young people. Research indicates that there are large numbers of cerebral areas which do not have a specific functions are activated by nerve cells. It seems that non functional areas serve as reserve tissue.

Terror Justice in Medieval Europe: The Vemgerichts

If any one is summoned to appear before a court in a democratic world today they can be fairly sure that the court procedure will be quite clean but this was not the case in the Medieval Europe. During the Middle Ages Jurisdiction was divided between many individual. Judgment was pronounced according to a variety of laws, and crimes of the some were unpunished. As a result the nobles were took charge of protection their own rights and the bloody feuds were the order of the day.

In 13^th century, In Europe there was no strong imperial power which increased the in severity in matters of law. By that time a form of Jurisdiction developed in WestPhalia, in West Germany, Which gained more influence for the next 200 years. The Veme meaning either cooperative or punishment coupled with the word Gericht or law, a new court was born.

The vemgerichts are the local court6 administered by the noble men. The “Jurisdiction of Blood” – the authority to sit in judgment over life and death- had been granted to these men by the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. In 13^th century courts came under the control of a Bishop or a Prince. He authorized the noble man to occupy the bench and to pass judgments with the help of several lay judges. Normally there may be seven judges and if the criminal was caught red handed then three lay judges was sufficient. The lay judges must be of good reputation and they had to born in West Phalia.

Most of the cases investigated by the Vemgerichts were murder and robbery not only denying recourse to legal action, the judgments of Vemgerichts could only be acquittal or death. The deliberation took place according to the rules only known to the judges. The public was excluded. The execution of death sentence was carried out on spot, using a rope strung up on the tree next to them.

The secrecy behind the proceedings gave rise rumors. The lay judges were secret group of masked hench men and they were making their judgments and they were making their judgment in remote places mostly under lime tree. It was commonly known that many of the accused were tortured during the trials. Even though these courts became very popular and the criminals of far off places brought to the Vemgerichts for trials. If the accused did not appear, they become vervemt and these out laws could be executed as soon as the lay judges caught them. Because of their power the courts grew strong and many Vemgerichts became corrupt characters.

But by the 15^th century the legal agreement between the cities and the princes reduced their powers and reputation so that the vemgericht lost their fame and importance.