Cleopatra, the first tycoon in the history of human kind!

With the wealth that was worth today’s hundred billion dollars, this Egyptian queen was also and the first victim of tabloid writing: the myth of her as a "queen of whores” was created by her biggest adversary, Emperor Octavian.

She was a child of incest, born as a goddess, queen at the age of 18 and the richest leader in the Mediterranean before she turned 20.  When she was 21, she slept with the most powerful ruler of that time to protect the best interests of her country. She married her own brothers when she needed them and killed them when they ceased to be useful. She became a mother of four children, and never had family problems, because the fathers of her children, already married, lived on the other side of the sea. We are talking about Cleopatra, the last in line of the great Egyptian Pharaohs.

She was not Egyptian, as many believe – she was Greek. Her hair was not black, it was more likely the color similar to mead. Although she is remembered as a seductress, it is difficult to speak of her as beauty by Hollywood standards. She was nothing like, for example, Angelina Jolie: she was tiny, like a little bird, and had a distinctive hooked nose. She spoke several languages and was a gifted speaker. She loved sex, but she loved more a good conversation. She wasn’t a nymphomaniac - she lost her innocence with Julius Caesar. If she and her ancestors were killing each other, they didn’t think of it as a crime; if they practiced incest, there was no word for it in their time.

Cleopatra VII was already in her time (she was born in 69 BC) something that we call today “celebrity”. During her lifetime, myths, rumors and speculation surrounded her, and they followed her name even when she died. If she was, with the wealth that was worth today’s hundred billion dollars, the first tycoon in the history of human kind, she was also and the first victim of tabloid writing.  The myth of her as a “queen of whores”, which follows her name to this day, was created by the Romans, who preferred to deal with her looks and alleged lust more then with her extraordinary intellectual capacity.

In her latest book “Cleopatra. A Life”, American historian and Pulitzer Prize winner, Stacy Schiff claims that the idea of sexually insatiable queen, dangerous and starved with blood and power, was created by Cleopatra's biggest adversary, Emperor Octavian.

Cleopatra grew up in a luxury of Alexandria. A whole squad of servants and teachers took care of her. Thanks to them, she gained an excellent education, which was generally Greek. Her schoolbooks were works of two historians, Herodotus and Thucydides. She mastered the oratory skill and spoke at least nine languages. 

Such education was not reserved just for her. Women in Egypt always had a lot of rights, and in Cleopatra’s time, their independence was almost equal to that which exists today. When it comes to marriage, women themselves chose their husbands, and in case of divorce, to which they also had the right, the stronger half had to support his ex-wife until he pays of the dowry. Woman’s property was sacrosanct, and in divorce proceedings, the court was always on the side of women and children.

Schiff states that women had very active role in social life: they were able borrow money, to be priestesses in temples, they initiated court proceedings and steered boats.  They dealt with a variety of jobs and were more than successful. It is believed that women possessed a third of Egypt’s wealth.  Herodotus wrote that Egypt is a country in which "women urinate standing up, and men sitting down".

Cleopatra came to the throne at a time when Egypt began to decline, and Rome was expanded to its borders. However, despite that decline, in the height of her power she ruled over the entire eastern coast of the Mediterranean. Schiff says that she was more than capable ruler: she was skillful, cunning, she knew how to suppress the rebellion and to relieve hunger, how to manage money and when to build a fleet.

According to her father's will, Cleopatra shared the throne with her ten-years-younger brother Ptolemy XIII, with whom she was married. It is likely that even her parents were brother and sister, because in Egypt, incest was a tradition for centuries.  Cleopatra's ancestors, Greeks from Macedonia, adopted that tradition and they have ruled Egypt since the death of Alexander the Great. Schiff says that this means that Cleopatra was Egyptian, just as much Elizabeth Taylor was. 

However, Cleopatra didn’t want to share the throne with her brother. She got rid of Ptolemy XIII in a civil war while they were still teenagers, and later on the rest of her closest family – she poisoned her second brother, with whom she was also married, and after him her own sister, which was showing way too much ambition.

Besides being a skilled ruler, she was adorned and with persistence and enthusiasm. When she ended in exile because of her manipulations, she returned to the palace, from which she was thrown out, smuggled in a sack. Julius Caesar was already in the palace, because he used political turmoil to rule over Egypt.  Although it is concluded that the royal couple was tied with their charisma and intellect, and that there was a strong sexual attraction between them, it still isn’t possible to find an answer to a question how did Cleopatra succeeded to persuade Caesar to support her and independent Egypt. Whatever she did, it will still remain recorded in history that Cleopatra saved her country by seducing Caesar.

Very soon, they had a son whom Cleopatra named Caesarion - Little Caesar. She presented her lover to her people by sailing the Nile with him for nine weeks. Whether because of Cleopatra or something else, Caesar was fascinated with Egypt. Alexandria, from where Cleopatra ruled her Empire, was wonderfully beautiful city, with fascinating mechanical wonders such as hydraulic lifts and machines that used coins to work.  In short, Rome was a simple province in comparison to the capital of Egypt. However, Caesar was not just thrilled with architectural solutions. Inspired by Egypt, on his return to Rome he launched a series of reforms, laid the cornerstone of the public library, asked for a census and envisioned a series of constructions that were similar to the sophisticated Egyptian dams and dikes.

When Caesar was killed in 44 BC, Cleopatra enthroned Caesarion as the ruler. But she still needed the support of Rome, and that is, Mark Antony. Cleopatra mesmerized the new Roman ruler, who was considered as a great womanizer, to such extent that Mark Antony gave her the library at Pergamom, Cyprus and almost all cities on the Phoenician coast.

Cleopatra remained with him for ten years. Mark Antony, in contrary to Roman custom, even demanded to be buried in the same grave with her. Death eventually separated them.

In a civil war for power over Rome, Octavian defeated Mark Antony. After that, Mark Antony committed suicide. After his suicide, Cleopatra tried to negotiate with the new Emperor her future and the future of her children - Caesarion and three other she had with Mark Antony. Despite all her intelligence, skill and education, she wasn’t successful. Octavian killed Caesarion as the oldest child, and spared the lives of younger children.

Cleopatra ended her life by committing a suicide.  According to legend, she poisoned herself. At the time of her death, she was only 39 years old.

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Zuma Fact: #123: Grapes!

Grape is the first fruit that man started to grow.

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People's Artist – Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin

The famous Russian opera singer, Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin (1873-1938), was a very rich man - a real millionaire. But then came the October Revolution and almost everything he had was taken from him.

However, Chaliapin continued to appear on stage, but his fees were no longer the same. More precisely, instead of the money he was paid "in kind". For example, six month after the Revolution, the former millionaire would a get bag of flour, a little bit of ham and sugar, and a sack of potatoes after he held a concert.

This doesn’t mean that the new Soviet government did not respect him and appreciate him. On the contrary! Chaliapin was among the first people who were declared as People's Artists.

Even on that occasion, instead of monetary prize, he was awarded with – food.

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Zuma Fact: #122: Dangerous crocodiles!

In Africa, crocodiles kill more people then lions.

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KKK – From murderers to folklore society

Racist movement that has done most terrible crimes in the United States, in the twenties and sixties of the 20th century, still exists. But Ku Klux Klan never recovered after a group of enthusiasts from the FBI broke their backbone in Mississippi.

Although Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1865 (in the defeated South after the Civil War, as a direct consequence of the abolition of slavery), this movement was relatively quiet until the turbulent twenties of the last century. Then, some of their worst crimes they committed in the sixties. In spite of having its supporters in all forms of government (even in the Oval Office), the backbone of the Klan was broken in the late sixties in Mississippi after which KKK never recovered, although they still exist today.

The first reports of BOI (Bureau of Investigation) agents, a small unit whose work depended mostly on the enthusiasm and good will of several dozen young men who wore hats and were clumsy on the trigger, said that radical members of KKK were organizing and meeting secretly. They also noticed that KKK members were following a series of hidden symbols and protocols, and that they are prone to violence and lynching. Their goal was clear: racism, segregation and destruction of the black race. Ties with the police, judiciary, and rich industrialists from the South were confirmed, but not proven.

Crimes committed during the twenties were horrible: hanging of innocent people, stamping, cutting of limbs and the expulsion of all those who oppose KKK. All of this was enhanced with intimidation tactic, which became a symbol of the Klan - burning of crosses and white hoods.

- A journalist from New Orleans brought me a letter from the Governor of Louisiana, John. M. Parker. The Governor has been unable to use either the mails, telegraph, or telephone because of interference by the Klan. The governor is seeking assistance because local authorities are absolutely inactive. He fears that judges, prosecutors and police officers, all of them, are corrupted - J. Edgar Hoover informed the Bureau and initiated the first federal investigation of the Klan. In the letter Hoover received it was stated that the Klan has completely taken over the entire northern half of the country and are killing all those who oppose them.

In the sixties, KKK was responsible for the death of many people. Their motive was the so-called Freedom Summer, a movement that aimed to register all dark-skinned citizens of Southern states in the electoral roll, and to give them a right to vote.  With that, a campaign of terror began. One of the persons that were thorn in the eye of KKK was New Yorker Michael Schwerner (1939-1964). Schwerner organized boycotts of all shops that did not allow African-Americans to enter. Three months later his body was found buried behind a local farm. 21 suspects were arrested, including Sheriff Cecil Price, his deputy and Baptist minister Edgar Ray Killen. After three years of trials, seven of those suspects were convicted, but none of them for the murder of Schwerner.

The anger of the nation resulted in Civil Rights Act of 1964, which abolished segregation.

The hunt for the white hoods started in 1966, after an attack on Vernon Dahmer, famous human rights activist. He died of severe burns a day after his house was firebombed by the supporters of KKK. More than 120 witnesses, informers and moles assisted the FBI investigation. Imperial Wizard of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi, Samuel Bowers, who ordered the attack on Dahmer, surrendered himself. He was soon sentenced to seven years in prison and the Klan began to lose its breath.

Bowers and Killen, leaders and one of the main ideologists of KKK movement, were persecuted and often ended up in detention. The Klan never again resurrected, at least not in the form he had in the twenties and sixties.

The FBI estimates that there are currently several hundred small and uninteresting branches of KKK in the U.S.. It is estimated that they have about 8,000 members in 179 communities. They are mostly posing for tabloids and organizing marches with skinheads.

FBI agents were constantly in fear of revenge

James Ingram (1932-2009), former FBI agent, who, in the period of 1975-1983, worked on the most serious cases of racial murders in Mississippi during sixties, said that agents were constantly in fear of revenge of the Klan. 

“Agents would always watch. They’d look underneath their cars to make sure we did not have any dynamite strapped underneath … Then you’d open your hood and make sure that everything was clear there. We had snakes placed in mailboxes. We had threats. We infiltrated the Klan in many ways. We had female informants. … And we had police officers that were informants for us.”

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Zuma Fact: #121: Sputnik 1!

The first Earth-orbiting artificial satelite, Sputnik 1, was lunched from the USSR on October 4, 1957.

Sputnik 1 weighed only 85 kilograms.

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Statue – Gioachino Rossini

Parisians, fans of the famous Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), were so enthusiastic about his operas that they decided to raise a statue with his image while he was still alive.

They collected twenty thousand francs and started to confer which sculptor should they hire to do it.

However, Rossini arrived at that moment and interrupted their argument with the following words:

"Give me the twenty thousand, and I'll stand on the pedestal myself!”

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Zuma Fact: #120: The power of first lasers!

The power of first lasers was measured with a number of razor blades through which one laser beam can pass (that is, burn through).

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Hotel nomad – Vincent van Dijk

When he moved to Amsterdam because of his job, Vincent van Dijk couldn’t find an apartment to rent. Now he lives in another hotel everyday …for free.

Amsterdam, the capital of Netherlands, has long had a problem with living space. When Vincent van Dijk wanted to move there, he had real problems finding an apartment. In fact, he never found one. Instead, he hit on a clever idea. 

Amsterdam has around 365 hotels, like the number of days in the year. So he’s been staying among them every day and reporting about them.

When he had to move to the Dutch capital because of his job, Vincent couldn’t find neither a house nor apartment to rent. Because of that, he decided to live in hotels. Soon he started to write a blog about his experiences in each hotel he visited. The blog became so popular that he is now planning to write a book about hotels in Amsterdam.

Dijk has already spent a night in more than 350 hotels in less than a year. The idea to spend every night in another hotel came when he realized how hard it is to rent an apartment in Amsterdam.

Like many other good stories, so has this one started by accident and even in a bit of trivial way. In the fall of 2009, after an unsuccessful search for an apartment, Vincent van Dijk found himself without a roof over his head, and with a bunch of luggage and various other personal belongings. He had no other option but to go to a hotel. After that first one, came another, and another, and so on.

- One day I was still sleeping in my bed and a cleaning lady came and took away my sheets. She didn’t realized that I was still in bed.  I started laughing and thought, “Oh, my God, this is a nice story to write about” – says Dijk.

From the initial idea, a real and genuine project started to arise. Vincent van Dijk began to write stories about hotels, of course, from his own perspective, and to publish them on his blog. He would simply call a hotel and ask them if they would like from him to write some story about them.  According to this 36-year-old, most of them were instantly thrilled. Many saw this as an advertising opportunity. Because of the global crisis, many hotels had less number of visitors than before - despite the fact that almost five million tourists annually visit Amsterdam.

Although he is not a classic controller or someone who tests hotels, he writes interesting stories about them and his opinion is very important to hotel owners and managers. His stories have gained great popularity among the hoteliers, who are now always asking each other: "Has he visited you already? And? What did he say? "

At first, Vincent made plans for weeks ahead in which hotel he is going to sleep. Now he is more spontaneous. So far, luck was with him and he always managed to get a free room. Not only that – because of the stories he writes, not only that he doesn’t have to pay for staying, he even enjoys all privileges of a VIP customer. Upon his arrival, hotel managers personally greet him.  Some of them are preparing even royal apartments for him.

Van Dijk’s life has changed completely. Although he still doesn’t know what he will do when his project ends, he is certain in one thing – he will never again be able to live in a normal house. This is how he explained why he fell in love with the life of a hotel nomad:

  - I feel much better, somehow more balanced than before, even dough I work sometimes and up to 18 hours a day. I haven’t been ill a single day since I’m doing this. It's really incredible. I think I really changed.  Besides, in the beginning I carried all my stuff with me, all my diplomas, books, photos. In the meantime, I threw away everything. I don’t need it. I live like some Zen Buddhist priest.

He refused hotels from Paris, New York and Rio

The name of the most popular blog about hotels in Amsterdam is “Amsterdam slaapt”. Vincent van Dijk updates it every day with interesting new stories. His stories became known and outside of Netherlands, and he received several invites to come and write about hotels in Paris, New York and Rio de Janeiro. However, he refused them. He wants to stay in Amsterdam and turn his stories into a book. He called many hotels and suggested the idea to write a book about hotels in Amsterdam. They were all delighted with his plan.

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Zuma Fact: #119: Panda population!

There are less than 1000 Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca, literally meaning "black and white cat-foot") living in the world today.

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Artistic vanity – Gore Vidal

After one international meeting of writers in Sofia (Bulgaria), British novelist Anthony Powell (1905-2000) was surprised when he saw that American writer Gore Vidal (1925) is curiously flipping through Bulgarian daily newspapers searching for culture articles.

- Here I am! I knew it! - enthusiastically shouted Vidal.

When he saw that Powell was staring at him with puzzled look, Vidal explained to him what was going on:

- I just love it when my picture comes out in some newspaper. That is why I always sit down next to a man wearing a turban. Photographers always take pictures of them. The same happened here. I was sitting next to a writer from India – and they took picture of me.

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Zuma Fact: #118: Senegal Bushbabies!

 

 

The most ruthless enemies of Senegal Bushbabies (Galago senegalensis, also known as Senegal Galagos), a type of small nocturnal primates, are Western chimpanzees.

Anthropologists have discovered that these great apes are hunting Galagos with spears made of branches.

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The Era of Terminators – In 2045, computers will rule humans!

In two decades, scientists will create a replacement for the vital organs, which will extend the life of humans to immortality. By 2045, artificial intelligence will do things that are unimaginable to human brain.

Everything became clear in 1996, when the world chess champion Garry Kasparov lost a match against "Deep Blue", a computer developed by IBM. In a thrilling finale, while it was one to one in wins and three draws, Kasparov made a mistake in the opening, and symbolically, in the name of humanity, lay down his arms before the superior enemy.

Chess analysts claimed that human is the favorite against the computer, because even though machine calculates combinations a hundred million times faster than human, humans are dominant in terms of strategy and intuition. And that, of course, applies not only to chess.

A man made the machine to make his life easier, but the question is just how long a man will be able to control the machine that is many times more powerful and more capable than he is. In undeveloped countries, where cell phones are still a luxury and the peak of technological progress is  a very strong bulb which makes it easier for workers to see when they are working, there is still no such threat. But scientist in Western Countries are already trying to predict when will the time come when computers will rule humans.

It is already difficult to imagine some thing from our life for which there still isn’t a machine that is doing it much easier and more efficiently. It is even possible to make love through the machine, but what is more startling in terms of future is the fact that computers are creating computers. Machines, therefore, are already becoming a civilization for themselves. The question is, will the machines, with the development of artificial intelligence, become able to make decisions like humans and start to multiply out of our control like in the scenario of the science-fiction movie “The Terminator". There are less and less of those who have doubts that the time of Terminators will indeed come, and the question that dominates now is when this will happen. 

Raymond Kurzweil, one of the world’s most renowned inventors and futurists, a man who had, for the last thirty years,  the most accurate predictions of technological advances, stunned the world and determined that year – 2045. This is the year when the so-called singularity will happen, which is a term coined by American scientists and stands for the moment when technological progress will break through all boundaries and when the machines will create a world that the human brain cannot even imagine. Scientifically, singularity is the era in which the intelligence will become "non-biological” and trillions of times more powerful than it is today. Singularity will create a civilization which is out of our biological capabilities, and which surpasses human creativity.

Bill Gates apparently also believes that this is not solely science fiction theory. He termed Raymond Kurzweil, one of the main proponents of this theory, as the most competent person when it comes to predicting the future of artificial intelligence. And Kurzweil claims that computers will develop artificial intelligence equal to humans in 20 years, and according to his predictions, by 2045 the amount of artificial intelligence will be billions of times greater than the total human biological intelligence on our planet.

Many computer experts agree that it is not a question whether the computers will rule the world but when will it happen, because technology is developing so rapidly that even now the power of computers doubles every year and a half.

The holder of artificial intelligence is a computer that has hardware and software. We have a similar thing in humans. Our body is the hardware, which is, conditionally speaking, empty, but had been sufficiently prepared to receive the basic informations. In a similar way, empty computer knows in the beginning how to open the CD door, how to power the cooler, and many other things. Those things work like human lungs, kidneys, heart… So, the computer is initially empty, but there are built-in sensors thanks to whom he can learn.

That this is a serious problem shows and the fact that in America a lot of people are already researching the problem of singularity.  Kurzweil  is one of the founders of Singularity University, which was established at NASA, and sponsored by Google. There is even Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence in San Francisco, where Peter Thiel works, former director of PayPal and one of the" early investors” in Facebook. So, this story also includes and the rulers of modern IT world.

We can only assume what kind of capabilities the computers will have in the coming decades. The problem with software programs is that they are already showing signs of unpredictability. The software programs are becoming unpredictable in the same way the human brain can be unpredictable. If you are a programmer then you have a better insight in this problem. If you create a program, abandon him and start working on him after some time, you can’t be sure what will happen if you change some line of code. Unfortunately, no one can claim that he is fully controlling the software system, that is, that he knows exactly what will the computer do at any time.

If the moment comes when a man will cease to be the creative element and when his function are given to the computers, then we can say that the end of humankind as we know it is certain. When computers start to think creatively, a man will lose all his function. We are already teaching computers to discern, to think. We ask them questions on which they are responding - "If something is like this, then this is the case”. Such questions are present more and more, and the computer, based on acquired knowledge, is beginning to discern what is best for him. That is already a phase in the development of an independent being. Today, computer is a defective being that lacks many things, but in time, he will certainly begin to learn because he already has cameras and import mechanisms, he is present on the internet, and it is only a matter of time when he will start to function independently. Computer is already helping humans to make a new computer. It is easy to create a 10 times better computer with the help of earlier generation of them. But what will happen when these 10 times better computers start to create even better ones?

We are already teaching computers to have a self-preservation instinct. However, with the development of software and networks, it is just a matter of time when a man will become a reckless excess for them. Besides that, it is clear that even among programmers there are those who are transferring their own destructiveness on a computer program. It is hard to predict how will such program develop itself and behave in the future. People are already fighting wars with computers, and that makes us fear that, maybe, we will eventually have war between them and us.

Additional problem is that today's generation of children is increasingly replacing their real world with virtual world, and they are beginning to think with the brain of computer. The computers, in a way, are already ruling humans because they are organizing our life. They are organizing human work, and even leisure. People are becoming slaves of the Internet and are showing real signs of addiction. Can you just imagine what happens to a man when his data from the computer is erased?  He begins to panic; he doesn’t know what to do. So, it isn’t a question whether do computers will rule, but more important, how will we adapt to them. They are already, in a way, our masters. We can actually see that in the latest generations of our children, which, by the age of 3 or 4, already know how to operate with these gadgets. Everything is beginning to adapt to the computers, ranging from advertising on television, to new social networks that have completely absorbed us. In the last ten years, we have all used internet because it allows us to contact others in every part of the world in a matter of seconds, which is really amazing. Those who will have informations ,will rule the world. And the computes are in huge advantage over us. Computers have long ago entered into all spheres of social life, and it is difficult to predict what consequences will that produce in the future. The strength of individual social networks is quite incredible. Today, we can freely say that the three largest countries in the world are China, India and Facebook.

Human civilization is developing in such direction that it is a question of day when we will be surrounded with super-intelligent cyborgs. There is also a possibility that our biological intelligence will be able to "attach" itself to the artificial, which will allow us to extend our life with software, perhaps even to the limits of immortality.

With the development of artificial intelligence, the futurist are mostly dealing with the question of life extension. Kurzweil predicts that in 20 years, people will be able to become immortal. He claims that with the speed the science is developing, especially with the development of nanotechnology, the scientist may create the majority of vital organs in two decades. He illustrates that with the fact that we have already created the artificial pancreas and various nerve implant that are built into the damaged parts of the brain. His theory is also suggesting that nanobots, or microscopic robots, will be able to replace our blood cells.

"Ultimately, nanobots will replace blood cells and do their work thousands of times more effectively. Within 25 years we will be able to do an Olympic sprint for 15 minutes without taking a breath, or go scuba-diving for four hours without oxygen. Heart-attack victims – who haven't taken advantage of widely available bionic hearts – will calmly drive to the doctors for a minor operation as their blood bots keep them alive. Nanotechnology will extend our mental capacities to such an extent we will be able to write books within minutes. If we want to go into virtual-reality mode, nanobots will shut down brain signals and take us wherever we want to go” - says Kurzweil.

It could be possible that people, who think like this, just watched too much "Star Wars" when they were little. On the other hand, statistics say that there are already some 30,000 patients suffering from Parkinson's disease with neurological implants. Experiments with robots that drive cars are nearly done, and in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq additional 2000 robots fought along with soldiers.

The biggest problem is that there is only one way for human species to predict how far the artificial intelligence of computers will develop - to be smarter than them.

Raymond Kurzweil – The body of Woody Allen, the head of the Terminator

Raymond Kurzweil, the scientist who claims that in 2045 the artificial intelligence will rule humans, is one of the world's greatest inventors. He has 39 internationally recognized patents and 19 honorary doctoral titles. He invented the first text-to-speech machine that allows blind people to understand written text and his first customer was Stevie Wonder. Ten years ago, the former U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded him with the National Medal of Technology. He is the author of several books on artificial intelligence. American TIME magazine once wrote that in real life he is nonchalant figure who could pass as a younger brother of geeky Woody Allen.

Computer binary code is a "little child" in comparison to human cell

In the scientific world, there are and those who give grains of optimism for humanity. It is believed that there are things and processes in the human organism that computers will never be able to copy. Biologist Dennis Bray appeared last year at the Singularity Summit, and argued what cells can do that robots can’t. 


“Living cells are crammed full of molecules-especially proteins but also RNA molecules- that act as biochemical switches. Most are allosteric and modifiable- formally equivalent to transistors- and linked into extensive networks through diffusion limited binding events and biochemical reactions. Computational molecules perform tasks such as amplification, feedback inhibition, oscillation, coincidence detection, and memory storage. But although biological components act in ways that are comparable to those in electronic circuits, they are set apart by the huge number of different states they can adopt. Multiple biochemical processes create chemical modifications of protein molecules, further diversified by association with distinct structures at defined locations of a cell. The resulting combinatorial explosion of states endows living systems with an almost infinite capacity to store information regarding past and present conditions and a unique capacity to prepare for future events.”

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Zuma Fact: #117: The oldest written constitution still in use!

 

 

 The oldest written constitution, still in use, is the constitution of United States of America. It was adopted on September 17, 1787.

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Brazil's crusade for Olympics

When Brazil won the organization of Football World Cup and Rio the 2016 Olympic Games, the Brazilian statesmen were thankful to FIFA and IOC. These two organizations closed their eyes to the fact that Rio is the city with the highest murder rate in the world, and the authorities have no control over favelas, which are run by local gangs and almost represent a country in the country.

In efforts to change that, the Brazilians have hired Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, as a consultant. Known for being able to calm things even in Harlem, Giuliani’s job is to use his know-how in Brazil.  Giuliani is known for his strategy of "zero tolerance", according to which everyone who breaks the system must be punished, from the Mafia to the sellers of hot dogs on the street.

There is just one catch – New York is not Rio and Harlem is not Brazilian favelas. Police actions there are not just fight against crime, they are literally war against crime. Police entry into favelas is referred in local media as "liberation of territory".

The operation of the police and the army against gangs in November 2010, on the territory of Complexo do Alemão, the complex of 15 favelas, was the biggest operation in the history of liberation of favelas. Unfortunately, this operation showed that even Giuliani’s "zero tolerance" will not that easily set things right in the favelas . This historic operation was named “reconquista”(reconquest), because the Brazilians are doing exactly that, reconquesting their occupied territory. 

Complexo do Alemão is one of the most famous favelas. Until the operation in November 2010, it was controlled by the Red Command, a gang of over a thousand drug dealers and arms merchants. However, Giuliani’s "zero tolerance" is now only functioning if the military and the police constantly keep favelas under siege. But even that is not easy to do because of the "philosophy of favelas”. Favelas are not just some hovels framed in the squatter settlements – they have become a way of life.

After five day of heavy fire, the Governor of Rio triumphantly announced the liberation of Complexo do Alemão territory. What remained in the shadow of that triumph was the fact that more than 40 people, some of whom were civilians, were accidentally caught in the crossfire, and were killed. The Brazilian media were fascinated with the fact that the police and army, for the first time, acted as one.

This attack forced the opposing gangs to unite, for the first time in history. This means that real fights are yet to come. The bandits have already started to burn cars and city buses.  The criminals are using this tried recipe for years.  Whenever the police tries to enter one of their favela, they start with the riots.

The Mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, says that, in this way, they are trying to create a picture for the public that will suggest that the authorities have no control.  "We do not want peace with criminals and terrorists. This time we will not retreat”, harshly says Paes.

A large number of criminals fled to the favelas on the hills above Rio, carrying heavy weapons. The picture of them fleeing was like a withdrawal of an army. Heavily armed police forces are now patrolling the streets of liberated favelas . On the other hand, heavily armed drug traffickers and their troops are now patrolling gang-controlled favelas, in expectation of more attacks.

The Brazilian police have trained a special unit, just for fights in the favelas. The operation from November 2010 is considered their best performance so far.  However, there are very few of those who believe that this country can keep fighting these criminals to the end.

Antonio Carlos Costa, director of Rio de Paz, anti-violence NGO, said that Rio needs more police officers that are better trained and better paid. "There is no way they can pacify all the communities. If you push the traffickers out of one area, they naturally just flow to another" – he said.

A growing number of people believe that Brazil needs to try a strategy of total isolation of favelas before the Olympic Games, rather than bring them in line. For example, in Alemao favela about 120,000 people live in ramshackle hovels, often with no electricity and no water, and they do not know of a different kind of life. Kids who are growing up there know that they have only two choices in life - to play football or to be criminals. If they don’t start playing for Barcelona, they will be playing with cocaine. And this cannot be corrected in 5 or less years.

In 2009, just two weeks after the announcement that Rio won the organization of Olympic Games, gangs knocked down a police helicopter. This caused a series of police raids in which about thirty people were killed. In August 2010, thirty-five people were imprisoned in a hotel with five stars – criminals from favela did this, while fleeing from the police. About sixty "to the teeth" armed criminals were returning from some party in the early hours. They were headed towards their ”base”, Rocinha, which is the biggest favela in Rio. The police spotted them and intercepted. Fifty of them managed to escape, but ten couldn’t so they rushed into an exclusive hotel and took hostages.

Jenson Button, famous Formula 1 driver experienced the spirit of favela on his own skin. When he was in Brazil for a race at Interlagos, he was attacked on the streets by armed bandits. He barely escaped alive.

Elza Santiago, a member of women’s cooperative that sells handcrafted goods to raise funds for education programs offered to women and children, thinks that everything will return the way it was when the Olympic Games are over. “Our people don’t have water. We’re walking up the hill to our favelas with water because we don’t have any. No one is talking about the Olympics, that is our Olympics.”

City of God

Favelas emerged in the late 19th century when the first black slaves were winning their freedom. Later, the favelas spread in several waves, especially as people from rural areas came to the city in search of a better life, and found only the misery of favelas. And once you enter a favela, it is hard to leave. Today, only in Rio there are more than a thousand favelas. There are mostly along the perimeter of the city, and in the case of Rio, that means surrounding hills.

Brazilian authorities have several times tried to implement some kind of slum urbanization (that is why some of favelas have stronger walls), but the spirit of favelas has proven to be indestructible. Drugs, crime and life on the street is the only thing the people who live there know. Some studies show that only 15 percent of the population in Rio’s favelas has expressed a desire to leave them.

Favelas, though not in a construction sense, follow the trends, so today 97 percent of homes have a television, 94 percent a refrigerator, and about 48 percent have a washing machine. About half of the people there have a mobile phone and 12 percent of homes have a computer.

Most accurate impression of favela is shown in the famous Brazilian film "City of God", about life in the favela of the same name - "Cidade de Deus". That film was often compared to Scorsese’s “GoodFellas”, but Scorsese’s movie begins with “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster" and characters from the "City of God" had no choice.

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Zuma Fact: #116: The French and snails!

The French are true connoisseurs when it comes to snails. They are preparing them in many different ways and every year they are consuming about 25 000 tons of various types of these mollusks.

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Insomnia, please go away...

You can’t fall asleep, you have trouble maintaining sleep, or you’re waking up too soon? You probably have one of the ten most common types of insomnia. Because of that, you need to watch what you eat and drink, get rid of stress and be as relaxed as possible.

You can’t fall asleep, you have trouble maintaining sleep, or you’re waking up too soon? If you are lying awake for hours at night, it doesn’t immediately mean that you suffer from insomnia, but you are probably close to that diagnosis. 

Insomnia can manifest itself in many ways. Experts who are dealing with sleep disorders are trying to discover the underlying causes of insomnia that are caused by various medical and psychological conditions. Here are ten most common types of insomnia.

1. General insomnia

Insomnia is generally defined as a disturbance of sleep during which the person cannot sleep, is having difficulties to maintain sleep or is waking up too early.  This disorder is also known as poor sleep quality.

2. Acute insomnia

Acute or short-term insomnia is often caused by stress. Sleep problems disappear when stress ceases or when you put it under control. Sleep disturbance doesn’t  have to occur only when  something negative is happening to you. It can be caused and with positive things. Positive things may produce stress caused by great excitement.

3. Behavioral insomnia in childhood

This type of insomnia occurs when children do not go to bed at specific time. If they are sent to bed every night at specific time, they tend to sleep according to specific schedule. If there is no specific schedule, they can be dragged awake throughout the night.

4. Idiopathic insomnia

This type of insomnia is an ongoing sleep disorder that begins in childhood and continues later in life. There is no explanation of what is causing it, but it was determined that it is nothing of the following: other sleep disorders, health problems, stress, psychological problems and drugs.

5. Insomnia due to substances

This type of insomnia is directly related to the use of some of the following substances: drugs, caffeine, alcohol and certain foods. If this is really your case, the problem will vanish when you stop using some of those substances.

 6. Insomnia due to health problems

This insomnia is caused by certain mental health disorders. How will the sleeping problem progress, depends on the state of mental health. Insomnia should be a separate part of the treatment, in addition to treatment of mental disorder that some person maid have. However, this type of insomnia is treated only if it is a big problem and if the doctor assesses that it requires a special treatment.

7. Inorganic or indeterminate insomnia

When all known substances and other physical causes are ruled out, then we have this type of insomnia. This means that the cause of it is psychological factor. Inorganic or indeterminate insomnia is a diagnosis that is used on an interim basis, until the exact cause of insomnia is determined  or when the patient doesn’t meet any criteria that can link him to some other type of insomnia.

8. Organic or determined insomnia

This insomnia is caused with health disorders, physical conditions and substances to which we expose ourselves. Detailed examinations are necessary to detect the real cause. Until we find out what is causing it, we call that type of disorder organic insomnia.

9. Paradoxical insomnia

It embodies several types of insomnia, but there are no objective indicators that there exists a sleep disorder. Although a person maid complain about sleep disorder, there are no serious consequences that affect that person during the day. People who have this type of insomnia often report little or no sleep for several nights. The main characteristic is overestimation of time necessary to fall asleep, and underestimation of total sleep time.

10. Psychophysiological insomnia

This insomnia is associated with excessive concern about inability to fall asleep. It can occur suddenly as a result of some event or gradually during several years. People who have this disorder are too concerned about their insomnia and fatigue that occurs the next day because they didn’t get any sleep. As a result, they become tensioned and anxious every time they go to bed. They can have disturbing thoughts that are related to insomnia and efforts to fall asleep. The more they think about it, they are becoming more strained, which in turn reduces the likelihood of falling asleep.

Tips – Don’t look at watch, sit down in a chair and read a book

Don’t do this at night if you have insomnia:

-    Do not constantly watch at the clock.
-    If you can’t sleep, don’t lie awake in bed for more than 15 minutes - sit down in a comfortable chair.
-    Do not turn on bright lights - dim lighting, light from the TV or monitor is better.
-    Don’t do anything too stimulating, do something that relaxes the brain - read a book or watch a TV show.

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Zuma Fact: #115: The loudest animal in the animal kingdom!

The voice of blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus, is the loudest sound recorded in the animal world. It can be heard at a distance of 1,600 kilometers.

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Diplomatic scandals from Top Gear's kitchen!

Top Gear trio raced with an aircraft, went to France with a tank, blew "Yugo" ... Now they have insulted Mexicans, and fled from robbery in Albania with Zastava 101.

It is known that international scandals usually occur because of spy affairs. But even TV shows can cause them. And that exactly happened with a mega popular show Top Gear, which deals with the world of motor vehicles.

Hosts of this high-octane show have fueled Mexico by not sparing the dictionary of political incorrectness. The famous and nutty trio of Top Gear predicted that Mexican sports car Mastretta was going to be like Mexicans, "a lazy, feckless and flatulent oaf with a moustache, leaning against a fence asleep, looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat".

Ambassador of Mexico in London, Eduardo Medina-Mora, reacted immediately, protesting that his country was described as "lazy and irresponsible”. BBC apologized, but the stars of Top Gear didn’t. Their unofficial boss, Jeremy Clarkson, said that Mexicans have no sense of humor. He added that "Mexico doesn’t participate in the Olympics because everyone who can run, jump and swim has already crossed the border", referring to illegal immigrants who are fleeing to the United States.

Almost immediately after that, stellar trio "dived" into another international excess. While shooting in Albania, they called this land a nest of mafia car thieves. However, Albanians didn’t react.

In the same show, Serbia was also “scratched” through Zastava 101. Hosts of Top Gear staged a bank robbery, after which Clarkson escapes from police in a Mercedes, Hammond in Rolls Royce while May is left in the lurch and stack with "Zastava 101", which happens to have Kosovo plates. Otherwise, this was not the first appearance of the Serbian car. Yugo 45 was Clarkson’s target in one show, which he destroyed with a tank, and before that, he tested it, proving that even cyclists can be faster than "Yugo”.

For years now, Top Gear is world’s best show about motor vehicles, and its not watched only by those who are interested in four-wheelers. Since 40 percent of their audience are women, this form has shown that shows about motor vehicles can be interesting and to the broadest range of viewers.

Top Gear trio, which consists of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, is known for original ideas. In the show about Romania, they raced in Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Ferrari through the poorest parts of that country. They raced with the French fast train in Aston Martin. They even put a nun to drive a monster truck. They had raced with planes and helicopters, and they even landed with parachute into a moving car. The favorite part of the show is the one where celebrities participate. They drive laps on the racetrack in the car assigned to them, and are trying to break a record of their predecessors.

Of course, everything that is worth, costs a lot. Top Gear’s annual budget is around 46.5 million euros! It also includes salaries, which are annually around 14 million. Since they are making 20 episodes per year, it means that each episode costs an average of 1.6 million euros. These figures have leaked from BBC and the producers have never publicly disclosed the actual costs.

Top Gear is for years the most watched show on BBC and has about 350 million viewers worldwide. Of course, the backbone of this TV show is the mentioned trio.

Jeremy Clarkson

Head of Top Gear is accused of homophobia, sexism, racism, and he is often labeled as an ultra-rightist. He started as a salesman selling toys, but soon he abandoned that job. His television career began in 1989, in the 10th season of Top Gear. Besides the popularity and nasty labels, in his career he managed to receive and honorary doctorate from Oxford University. Clarkson has caused many scandals with his behavior. The most famous one is when he made disparaging remarks aimed at Gordon Brown, in February 2009, calling him a "one-eyed Scottish idiot" and accused him of lying.

James May

The second member of this crew is known for reaching a speed of 417.6 km/h with Bugatti Veyron Super Sport (the fastest road-legal car in the world). Also, he made a successful visit to the North Pole and, along with his friends, he became one of the first persons who came to the freezing point by car. His education has nothing to do with motor vehicles. James May studied music at Lancaster University.

Richard Hammond

The youngest member of this trio. After graduating, he started working for BBC where his first job was reading an ad for the sale of sheep, on the radio. He later went to work as a PR for Ferrari and Renault. In September 2006, while shooting an episode for the show, he was driving a car at the speed of 464 km/h. During the ride, a tire on the front right wheel broke, and he hit the ground with his head. It was a true miracle that he survived because, at the time of the accident, he was moving at a speed of 373 km/h.

The Stig mystery - Phantom in the white is Ben Collins.

Stig is the fourth and unidentified character in the show. He always appeared with a helmet, hiding his identity. Mystery over the identity of Stig lasted seven years. Speculations about the true identity of white phantom have been a hot topic of the media, who brought news that Michael Schumacher, and even actor Roan Atkinson, is hiding behind the Stig's helmet. But then it was discovered that Stig is a stunt and rally driver Ben Collins, who dubbed in the James Bond films.

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