ScienceShot: 'Burgeroids' Cause Double Rainbows - ScienceNOW

ScienceShot: 'Burgeroids' Cause Double Rainbows - ScienceNOW

on the table eating......

Peanut Butter

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What does the Koran Say about the number seven?

Islamic Seven THE SYMBOLISM OF THE NUMBER SEVEN IN ISLAMIC CULTURE AND RITUALS Mehnaz Sahibzada Introduction Most cultures of the world hold certain numbers to be especially significant, even symbolic, and this is reflected in their religions. In the Abrahamic traditions, which originate in the Middle East, the number seven is of particular importance. Some of its significance stems from the ancient Sumerian and Babylonian civilizations, which identified seven planets and framed seven days of the week around them. Very early among Middle Eastern peoples, seven became known as a "perfect" number, symbolic of completeness and goodness. This essay will examine particularly the significance of seven-symbolism in Islamic culture and religion. History The miraj or Ascension story of the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632 C.E.), the Prophet of Islam, is of particular importance in reference to the miraculous nature of the number seven. According to Muslim tradition, the Prophet Muhammad ascended into the seven heavens during his lifetime in Jerusalem, either physically or spiritually, and came into direct contact with the divine. This is the reason why Jerusalem is one of the three important holy sites for Muslims (in addition to Mecca and Medina), and why The Dome of the Rock, a commemorative octagon building divided into seven separate panels, was built to honor the event. This story, also mentioned in the Qur'an is a favorite among Muslims, and may be one of the reasons for the popularization of the number seven in Islamic societies. Numerous examples may be cited to illustrate how Muslims reinforce the significance of the number seven in practice and belief.For example, when Muslims perform the tawaf or circumambulation around the Ka'ba in Mecca, they walk around it seven times. During the yearly Muslim pilgrimage, or Hajj, Muslims stone the statues of the devils three times using seven stones in each round. Also in the Hajj, the seven-fold run between Safah and Marwah indicates its importance. The fundamental expression of Muslim faith, the shahada, testifying to the fact that "There is no God but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God" is composed of seven words in Arabic. There are seven styles of Arabic calligraphy.omit that -it's contentious among Muslims The number seven is important to the belief system and cyclical view of time held by the Ismaili Shi'a Muslim sect, also known as the Seveners. In Sufism, or Islamic mysticism, ascetics model their sevenfold path to enlightenment after the Prophet Muhammad's Ascension into the seven heavens. The number seven, in addition to being incorporated into art and children's stories, such as "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad" from the popular Arabian Nights, also turns up time and again in rite of passage ceremonies to protect oneself from evil spirits. For example, a wedding ritual in Pakistan involves seven happily married wives touching the bride's wedding dress to ensure a happy marriage. Religious Significance The number seven is a key symbol in many Muslim cultural productions, both secular and religious, including art, architecture, folklore, literature, and ritual practices. There are approximately twenty-five references made to the number seven in the Qur'an the sacred text of Muslims. These references usually concern the seven heavens, the seven periods of creation, seven groups of things, or seven individuals, such as the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. An allusion made to the number seven in the Qur'an typically includes references to God as the all-powerful creator. Thus, the number seven is directly linked to the power of the divine and has great symbolic value as an expression of Muslim belief and the miracles of God. Comparisons to Other Religions The importance of the number seven can be seen in numerous cultural and religious traditions worldwide, such as the near-ubiquitous seven-day week which comes from the ancient Near East and has been spread throughout the world by the three Abrahamic religions.. In Judaism and Christianity, there are the seven days of creation, and in Christianity seven deadly sins and seven cardinal virtues. In Judaism, the Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, is considered a sacred day, and seven is also a key number in Jewish mysticism. The number seven is also important for Zoroastrians because it is seen as the perfect union between man and woman and the spiritual and material (the number three in reference to the masculine tri-part spiritual-soul, body, mind-and the number four in reference to the feminine material elements--earth, air, fire and water).

What Does the Bible Say About..The Number Seven? What does the number seven mean in biblical terms?

What Does the Bible Say About..The Number Seven? What does the number seven mean in biblical terms? Answer Most of the time in the Bible, seven stands for the number seven. That is, most of the time it has no more significance than as a count of something. Sometimes, however, there appears to be a special meaning to certain numbers, including seven. Three is often interpreted as being spiritually complete (the so-called Trinity, three Patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, etc). Four represents physical completion (four sides of a square room, four corners, four directions). Using this reasoning, combinations of three and four represent total completion. This would include twelve—three times four—(tribes of Israel, apostles) and seven—three plus four—(days of week). Some examples of seven used figuratively are: Psalm 12:6—“ The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” Proverbs 9:1—“Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars.” Revelation 1:4—“To the seven churches which are in Asia.” (There were more than seven, but by singling out these seven, he indicates all of the others as well.) Revelation 13:1—“ And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” (The obvious symbolism here is not completeness, but that the beast is the Roman government, since Rome was known as the city built on seven hills.) That last example shows the difficulty of taking numbers symbolically. Sometimes the symbol may be completeness. Sometimes the symbol may relate to something related directly to the number. Most of the time the number means a number.

ZOMBIES

HEALTH Zombies Upstage a Routine C.D.C. Bulletin A page from the government's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report has been getting much attention the last few days. By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. and GARDINER HARRIS Published: May 20, 2011 Pity poor Tom Skinner, a top spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who has been valiantly trying to interest reporters in a new study in the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report trumpeting "10 Great Public Health Achievements." Unfortunately for Mr. Skinner, over at his agency's public health blog, his colleagues were posting something that really got to the beating heart of morbidity and mortality: the first official C.D.C. instructions on coping with a zombie apocalypse. Yes, that's right. With a straight face, the normally staid health agency had posted a primer on how to prepare for an invasion of the brain-eating undead. "So what do you need to do before zombies ... or hurricanes or pandemics for example, actually happen?" the post said. "First of all, you should have an emergency kit in your house. This includes things like water, food, and other supplies to get you through the first couple of days before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp." The idea, said David Daigle, a C.D.C. spokesman whose portfolio includes disaster response, came up as they were discussing how to make the agency's annual "It's Hurricane Season Again" press release a little sexier. "One of the communicators mentioned that when we were tweeting about Japan and radiation releases, someone tweeted back asking us if it could set off a zombie attack," Mr. Daigle said. He took the idea to the agency's director of preparedness, Dr. Ali S. Khan, a specialist in infectious disease and a rear admiral in the Public Health Service. "Most other directors would have thrown me out," Mr. Daigle said. "He said, 'Let's form a Zombie Task Force.' " The blog post went up on Monday. "A typical post gets 1,000 hits," Mr. Daigle said. "We got 10,000, then 30,000 on Tuesday, and then it crashed the server." They found more server space, and the hits kept coming in -along with expert advice, he said. For example: Never mind the food and the shortwave radio, but what about a baseball bat and a chainsaw? (You can't kill zombies by shooting them in their unbeating hearts -you have to go for the head.) Dr. Khan said he was "gratified by the response -it's nice to see that people understand that public health includes preparedness." He would "leave it to law enforcement" to give Americans advice on arming themselves. After all, zombies need care too. "I'm a public health doctor," he said. "Even postmortem, I haven't given up on you." And how did he become such an expert? (He did mention on the blog that his favorite zombie movie was "Resident Evil.") "Oh, I spent years working on ebola, Rift Valley fever, monkeypox, prion diseases," he said. "Some of them can affect your brain." Meanwhile, the agency is living in fear of a different wave of flesh-eaters: Congressional budget cutters. With its budget under intense scrutiny, on Thursday it released the study Mr. Skinner was pushing, arguing that the agency's efforts over the last decade had saved billions of dollars and thousands of lives. Two signal accomplishments were the introduction of a vaccine against Streptococcus pneumonia, which has prevented an estimated 211,000 serious infections and 13,000 deaths, and another against infant diarrhea, which prevents an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 hospitalizations each year. A law requiring more folic acid in breads, breakfast cereals, noodles and other products led to a 36 percent drop in the number of infants born with defects like spina bifida, saving $4.7 billion, the report said. "Americans are living longer, healthier and more productive lives than ever before, thanks in part to extraordinary achievements in public health over the past decade," Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the C.D.C. director, said in an unusually direct appeal for more financing. "However, we can do much more." The Obama administration has proposed no increase in the agency's next budget. But that budget falls into the category of domestic discretionary spending, which is under broad assault by Republicans intent on slashing federal spending. The agency plans to cut spending on emergency preparedness after having spent heavily on pandemic flu and disaster planning. But the study focused on the fact that many preventable deaths come from mundane, well-known threats like infectious disease, smoking and automobile crashes. Cigarettes cause 443,000 deaths a year, and smoking among high school students declined sharply. It fell to 21.9 percent in 2003 from 36.4 percent in 1997, but then leveled off. It is now 19.5 percent, just below the incidence of smoking in adults at 20.6 percent. The decade also saw a sharp decrease in traffic deaths, mainly because of seat belts, child seats, safer cars and better roads. From 2000 to 2009, road deaths fell 26 percent, to 11 per 100,000 Americans from 14.9 per 100,000. Pedestrian deaths among children fell 49 percent, bicyclist deaths 58 percent. The decade also saw declines in deaths from heart disease and stroke because treatment and medications became better and fewer Americans smoked. Improved screening lowered the cancer death rate. Banning lead from gasoline and household paints, along with removing lead paint from public housing, cut poisoning of children. Did Mr. Skinner think anyone among the not-yet-undead would notice his agency's signal accomplishments? "I can't compete with zombies," he said. Those were the last words he said before the line went dead