Thanks to Marco for giving us the origins of the video clip…

He writes, “The car is an old Fiat (Italy brand) Uno (One). The video is taken from an old popular italian tv show “Scommettiamo che..” “We bet thah..”.”

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Did you know that there’s actually a SCIENCE about happiness? I had no idea, until I heard this young man speak at a recent conference. His name is Shawn Achor and he is a HOOT! He teaches at Harvard and has THE most popular course on campus. Over 1000 students have signed up for his course, “Psychology: Positive Psychology and the Science of Happiness”.

Course Description:

In our increasingly modern and even luxurious world, why aren’t wealth and success translating into greater happiness? Depression rates in the United States are currently eight times higher than they were during the Great Depression, and that’s just one measure of our society’s mental health. Positive Psychology is an emerging branch in social psychology that attempts to answer this paradox. Researchers in this field are also investigating whether there is a way of living and thinking that can lead not only to increased happiness, but also to a longer, healthier life. Whereas traditional psychology explores the abnormally bad or merely the average, positive psychology looks at the “growing tip” of the curve-the most happy and the most successful-to figure out what can be learned from them. This lecture examines the latest research and discoveries in the field, and explores some of the techniques that incorporate positive psychology and can lead to increased happiness and health.

Shawn Achor is the winner of over a dozen distinguished teaching awards at Harvard University. Indeed, Achor is the Head Teaching Fellow for the most popular course at Harvard, Positive Psychology, which is led by Professor Tal Ben-Shahar. Over 1,000 students a semester have signed up for the course. Beyond Positive Psychology, Achor has taught in four academic departments at Harvard, including courses in Psychology of Leadership, Personality Psychology and Business, and Human Sexuality. After receiving his BA from Harvard in English and earning a Masters from Harvard Divinity School in Christian and Buddhist Ethics, Achor has synthesized his understanding of rhetoric, religion and ethics into the field of psychology, where he is currently finishing his PhD in social psychology at Tufts. Indeed part of Achor’s interest in positive psychology stems from the fact that studies have shown many of Harvard’s undergrads suffer, at one time or another, from depression while at school. As a freshman advisor and proctor on the Harvard campus, Achor has seen this experience firsthand.

I share this information with you for a few reasons. One, when you hear this man speak, it’s impossible NOT to get excited. He’s so authentic and enthusiastic and utterly darling in his passion for helping people understand the power they have to BE happy. And he truly cares. It shines from him like a halo; he is as inspiring as he is informative. The studies they’ve conducted thus far are truly astonishing and the results of those studies will really make you rethink those moments when you’re miserable. The fact is, we CAN control our lives by readjusting how we think. The brain is actually ‘elastic’ and can be rewired! The idea of this just blew me away!

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Knowing what solar power is, thats your first step in finding solar energy. Energy from the sun is simply solar energy, it is produced when the sun is out and shining, it sends heat beaming to the earth. Where is solar energy? Its anywhere that the sun shines upon. Millions of people have throughout time saved this energy, to provide warmth in cold weather. Many years ago (thousands of years) people discovered that using thick glass or magnifying glass on certain objects that they could heat it up so hot that it would ignite. People realized the value and power of this natural energy.

One of the difficulties with catching the sun’s energy is that it is spread out, it is not directed to one area. This makes it hard to heat an object using only the suns rays. It is a fact that an object will get hot out in the sun, but there is so much more untapped potential from the sun’s rays.

What is needed is a solar collector, this will very effectively heat your room at night time, and when there is cloud cover. You need to utilize a source which will captivate the suns rays to a particular area, the sun will pass through it and go in the space. Items within the space attract and keep this heat apart from the suns rays, and cannot escape without the assistance from the source. One great collector of solar energy is glass because it lets the sunlight go through it and into the space, the suns heat cannot escape easily causing this space beneath the glass to heat up. There are items within the space to retain heat making the space warmer longer. This area has just been heated utilizing solar energy.

Sun rooms and greenhouses use glass because its a terrific common solar collector, heat is trapped in the interior after the glass attracts the suns rays, Even when the thermometer drops outside the interior stays warm.

Solar Power is everywhere that the sun light falls upon. To keep your house warm in the evening, you need direct sunlight for a great amount of time during the day, not just an hour or two, but who knows what future technology can bring, there is enough power from the sun to heat a home all night from collecting only a few hours of focused light, but we are not able to utilize it yet.

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The issue about global warming rages around us and blankets our lives with its facts and fiction. It is influenced through propaganda from both sides. Why? Each side has an agenda that seems to be backed up by facts. There is some extremely laughable information available on the internet and there is also plausible information. It is up to us to understand what applies to our daily actions and what we can do about global warming.

It is all around us. It is on the weather stations. It faces us when we decide to purchase a new car or even a cleaning product. The real issues come when trying to learn about global warming. There is a lot of conflicting information on the internet and there is not one group that can agree on all aspects of the global warming debate.

Over the past century, with out a doubt, global temperatures have risen. While the rise in temperature has been only a degree or so, the concern is whether the Earth’s temperatures will continue to rise and what impact that will have on the environment. The controversy about the warming of the earth is a result of conflicting evidence.

The fact that global warming also occurred in the prehistoric era is a scientific point. Some think a large meteor hitting the planet caused an big change in the earth’s temperature. Is that what killed the dinosaurs? Science cannot prove this conclusively yet. The political and industrial lobbies further complicate conversations about global warming. The contention of these groups is that, we currently do not know enough about the effects of global warming to limit industrial emissions.

When will we know the full facts about global warming and will the global warming issue be resolved anytime soon? Unfortunately the answer is no. There will continue to be studies performed and there will always be a measure of doubt clouding the minds of citizens around the world. Perhaps, when enough data comes through, we will be able to make a determination based on scientific fact rather than theory. Until then we can continue to monitor the progress of scientists and try to do our part in conserving the environment.

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