Saturday, April 19, 2008

Big Brains - Intelligence ?

Jeanna Bryner
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com

If this were true, then perhaps big-headed people wouldn't be so pea-brained.

This question is mired in many unknowns. For one, scientists still debate over the definition of intelligence. For any IQ definition, how do you measure it? Further, do differences in IQ show up in daily life? And finally, does more brain tissue or a heftier brain equate with higher IQ?


One thing scientists do agree on: A big brain alone doesn't equate with smarts. If it did, elephants and sperm whales would win all the spelling bees. Rather, scientists look at brain mass relative to body mass in order to make any speculation about a creature's cognitive abilities.


So while an elephant noggin, at 10.5 pounds (4,780 grams), could squash a human think box in a purely physical battle of brains, you and I take the cake in a war of wits. Our brains, which weigh an average of 2.7 pounds (1,200 grams), account for about 2 percent of body weight, compared with an elephant's under one-tenth of a percent.


Studies have shown that across species relatively large brains "do seem to provide some complex cognitive skills, such as innovative solutions to ecological problems, more efficient resource mapping and food acquisition, and more complex social strategies (such as deception)," said Nancy Barrickman, a graduate student in Duke University's Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy.


Differences in brain size within a species, such as humans, are relatively small, making it difficult to tease out the effects of brain size and the effects of other factors. For instance, the difference in intelligence between an organism with, say, a brain that's 1,100 grams and one that's 1,400 grams (which could be found in humans) is confounded by other variables, including differences in density of neurons, other structural brain differences and socio-cultural factors.


And the debate continues ...


Brain size has nothing to do with scores on standardized intelligence tests, according to a brain-scan study of young children.


Michael McDaniel, an industrial and organizational psychologist at Virginia Commonwealth University, has claimed that bigger brains do make for smarter people. Many researchers, however, disagree with McDaniel's conclusion. His research, published in 2005 in the journal Intelligence, suggested that across all age and sex groups, brain volume is linked to intelligence.


Men are smarter than women, according to research published in 2006, which the study researchers say could be due to men having relatively larger brains, a difference of about 0.2 pounds (100 grams). Another scientist put forth several socio-cultural factors that would make the men-smarter results null.


Average brain weights for primates (not relative to body size):

Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) - 0.77 pounds (350 grams)
Mountain gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei) - 0.95 pounds (430 grams)
Mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) - 0.004 pounds (2 grams)

Sizing up brains for the rest of the animal kingdom, would include:

Sperm whale - 17 pounds (7,800 grams)
Walrus - 2.4 pounds (1,100 grams)
Domestic cat - 0.06 pounds (30 grams)

If brain size had anything to do with innovation and creativity, some scientists expected to see a link between the so-called Mind's Big Bang (the emergence of bone tools and cave paintings that occurred between 50,000 and 70,000 years ago) and the emergence of modern-size human brains.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Sourav Ganguly [Dada] - Rare pictures



"I used to write essay's of her homework, when I was in school"..after all she is my wife....



"This is me at 5"




"I can play it as well as cricket".... Believe me



"alone together in pair.........in my home...at behala"



The two big families of Indian cricket together..now that's a rare one.....



"One my first tours of England (under 18) at age of 16.....ajay,sachin,vinod were there with me....






Now that's the most rare one.........me on the right and my gr8888 partner "chhotobabu" on the left".......

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Indian Festivals - for year 2008

WebSite for details on Indian festivals

http://festivals.iloveindia.com/festival-calendar.html

Mild Recession warning - 2008 and 2009 ?

IMF urges Japan to loosen its credit grip

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) The International Monetary Fund urged Japan Wednesday to maintain its growth-oriented monetary stance and consider easing its credit grip further because the global economy is at risk of a recession.

In its twice-yearly World Economic Outlook report, the IMF said the U.S. economy is likely to enter into a "mild recession" in 2008 due to the fallout from its subprime mortgage meltdown, which may globally cause a $945 billion hit. It also pointed to a "25 percent chance" of a global recession in 2008 and 2009.



The IMF projected the U.S. economy to grow 0.5 percent in 2008, down 1.0 point, and 0.6 percent in 2009, down 1.2 points from its previous forecasts released in January.

As for Japan, the IMF trimmed its growth estimate to 1.4 percent for 2008, down 0.1 point, and to 1.5 percent for 2009, down 0.2 percentage point from the January forecasts.

Despite robust growth in the final quarter of 2007, Japan's growth momentum entering 2008 "appears to have slowed with deteriorating business and consumer confidence, and export growth shows signs of moderating," it said.

"In light of the prevailing head winds to growth, monetary policy should maintain its accommodative stance and could be eased further in the face of a serious downturn," it said.

Earlier in the day, the Bank of Japan decided to hold the key short-term interest rate steady at 0.5 percent in a widely expected move. The rate has remained at that level since February 2007.

Noting the overall balance of global risks "remains tilted to the downside," the IMF cut its global outlook to 3.7 percent for 2008, down 0.5 point, and to 3.8 percent for 2009, down 0.6 point.

The fresh projections would mark the lowest global growth since 2002, when the world economy grew only 3.1 percent. But the report warned that the worst may still lie ahead.

"The IMF staff now sees a 25 percent chance of growth slowing to 3 percent or less in 2008 and 2009, equivalent to a global recession," it said.

"The greatest uncertainty comes from the still-unfolding events in financial markets, particularly the potential for the deep losses related to the U.S. subprime mortgage sector and other structured credits to further impair financial system capital and cause the current credit squeeze to mutate into a credit crunch," it said.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

6 Blunders That Ruin Retirement Plans

6 Blunders That Ruin Retirement Plans

By Katy Marquardt

Regular contributions to an IRA or 401(k) are a good start, but accumulating money is only part of the retirement-planning equation. Securing a comfortable retirement is a tricky process that requires careful planning; a few bad moves can cost you dearly in the long run. Here are six common missteps:

1. Not having a plan: A third of adults have no financial plan for retirement, according to a recent survey conducted for TD Ameritrade. Of the remainder of those surveyed, 46 percent said they have a written retirement plan, and 20 percent said they have a plan in their head. "So many people who have undersaved choose to ignore the issue rather than sit down and create a plan," says Joe Heider, president of Dawson Wealth Management in Cleveland. "It's almost like a fear of going to the doctor."

Retirement calculators are a start. Free counsel might be available through your employer's investment-advice program; otherwise, an investment adviser can help you plot your financial moves. Services range from a one-time financial checkup to a comprehensive plan that includes asset allocation and estate planning.

2. Underestimating life expectancy: Retirees are living longer these days, thanks to more healthful lifestyles, medical breakthroughs, and healthcare reforms. In 1955, Americans lived to be an average of 69.6 years old. The average life expectancy rose to 75.8 years by 1995 and to 77.9 years by 2005, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Keep in mind that life expectancies are averages; many of today's retirees will live well into their 80s and beyond. Rosanne Grande of R. W. Rogé & Co. on New York's Long Island says her firm's plans run to age 100. "We invest for the long term, not the short term, now that people are living 30 and 40 years into retirement," Grande says.

One side note: As retirees' expectations about longevity increase, so does the role of the financial adviser. Grande is one of a growing number of registered financial gerontologists, who specialize in serving older clients.

3. Low-balling your spending: Would-be retirees tend to be too conservative when projecting their annual expenses in retirement, Heider says. "Chances are, a couple retiring in their early to mid-60s is going to spend almost as much in retirement as they did during their working career," he says. Spending in some categories, like travel, may increase. "For most people, spending on discretionary items and travel actually goes up in the early years of retirement," Heider adds.

4. Failing to plan for unexpected extras: Many people have a basic retirement plan in their head, with a general idea of their assets, monthly expenses, pension income, or Social Security income, Grande says. "But what they fail to factor in is extraordinary cash-flow needs, such as boomerang children living at home or extended care for aging parents," she says. A leaky roof or termite infestation could also put a dent in your budget. For such surprise expenses, Grande recommends building a little extra padding into your plan. Think of it as an extended emergency fund.

5. Overlooking rising healthcare costs: A 65-year-old couple retiring this year will need about $225,000 just to cover medical costs in retirement, according to Fidelity Investments. This figure, which assumes retirees don't have employer-sponsored healthcare coverage, represents a 5 percent increase over 2007 and a whopping 41 percent jump from 2002. Meanwhile, the number of large employers offering retiree health benefits is falling.

Employers are also increasingly shifting more costs to retirees through higher premium contributions and cost-sharing requirements. "It's scary, and it's very hard for most people to realize that the cost of the medical plan is going to go up 8 to 12 percent each year," says Ellen Jordan, senior vice president with Bryn Mawr Trust Wealth Management in Bryn Mawr, Pa.

6. Ignoring inflation: Don't underestimate the impact inflation will have on your retirement plan. If you're 65 today, an expense that currently costs $100 will cost $180 by the time you're 80, assuming an inflation rate of 4 percent. Plan your retirement with the assumption that the cost of living in your later years will considerably outpace that of your earlier years. Grande uses a 4 percent inflation estimate in her clients' plans.

http://www.bankrate.com/usn/cgi-bin/retire.asp?nav=grn&page=calc_home