2008: March 20th Good News (63 Year Old Solves Math Riddle; Lucky Horse Shoe Thrower Wins $1 Million; more...)

Good Afternoon All,

Forgive me if I get my time zones mixed up. It is 6:36 am on Friday the 21st here in Korea...But I think I have it right...about 4:36 pm on Thursday the 20th Central time?
Anyway, I found a bunch of great articles today. In fact I even included one older article (17 March) because I had missed it due to being in the air that day.

This article is about a guy who threw a horseshoe for the first time in 30 years, and won 1 million dollars!!! COOL! These type of stories make me feel like there is spiritual justice in the world, and reaffirm my belief in a supreme plan. This guy was just a normal joe, and he plans to use his money to help his family. That's the kind of person that TOTALLY deserves to win a surprise contest like this one. As this article was published on the 17th, it is the last article under honorable mentions.

Interestingly, many of todays articles are about accomplishments of older people. In addition to the article mentioned above, there is an article about a 75 year old man who wants to regain his title as the oldest man to climb mount everest; an article about an 88 year old man who is the world's oldest school pupil; and an article about a 63 year old man who solved a math riddle that others had spent up to 8 years on and not been able to solve, even with computer assistance (he solved it in one year).

Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy today's posts as much as I enjoyed finding and reading them. Tah-tah for now, and see you tomorrow! :)




Today's Top 5:
1. Ex-guard Unlocks Math Riddle (News 24)
2. World's Oldest Pupil Keeps On (Attending School) (News 24)
3. Dollar Climbs Against Euro (Agence France-Press)
4. Light Bulb Recycling (Honolulu Star Bulletin)
5. Lyme Disease Can Be Prevented With New Shot, Study Suggests (Science Daily)



Honorable Mentions:
1. 75-year-old climber leaves for Everest (Yahoo News)
2. Ancient Sea Reptile from Alberta Oilsands Yields Research Bounty (CBC Canada)
3. Exclusive Rug to be Made for Charity (Scoop News NZ)
4. Lucky Horseshoes Win Man $1m (News.com Au)




Today's Top 5:

1. Ex-guard Unlocks Maths Riddle
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2292122,00.html
20/03/2008 20:40 - (SA)

Jerusalem - A mathematical mystery that has baffled the top minds in the esoteric field of symbolic dynamics for nearly four decades has recently been cracked - by a 63-year-old former security guard.
Avraham Trakhtman, a mathematician who worked as a labourer after immigrating to Israel from Russia, has succeeded where dozens have failed, solving the elusive Road Colouring Problem.
The conjecture essentially assumes that it is possible to create a "universal map" that would direct people to arrive at a certain destination, at the same time, regardless of their original location. Experts say this proposition, which seems to defy logic, could actually have real-life applications in the fields of mapping and computer science.
"In math circles, we talk about beautiful results - this is beautiful and it is unexpected. Even in layman's terms it is completely counterintuitive, but somehow it works," said Stuart Margolis, a colleague who recruited Trakhtman to Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv.
He said the discovery was especially remarkable given Trakhtman's age and background. "The first time I met him he was wearing a night watchman's uniform," he said.
The Road Colouring Problem was first posed in 1970 by Benjamin Weiss, an Israeli-American mathematician, and a colleague, Roy Adler, who worked at IBM at the time.
The long road
Weiss said he believed that given a finite number of roads, one should be able to draw up a map, coded in various colours, that would lead to a certain destination regardless of the point of origin.
For eight years, he tried to prove his theory. Over the next 30 years, some 100 other scientists attempted to as well.
All failed, until Trakhtman came along and, in eight short pages, jotted the solution down in pencil last year.
Trakhtman said it took him a year to solve the problem. But that wasn't nearly as impressive as the journey he took to get to his current lofty position.
Originally from Yekaterinburg, Russia, Trakhtman was already an accomplished mathematician before he came to Israel in 1992, at the age of 48. But like many immigrants in the wave that followed the break-up of the former Soviet Union, he too struggled to find work in the Jewish state and was forced into stints working maintenance and security before landing a teaching position at Bar Ilan in 1995.
'A matter for mathematicians'
The soft-spoken Trakhtman declined to discuss his arduous odyssey, saying those were the "old days". He said he was "lucky" to be recognised, but played down his recent achievement as a "matter for mathematicians" and said it hasn't changed him a bit.
"The solution is not that complicated. It's hard, but it is not that complicated," he said in heavily accented Hebrew. "Some people think they need to be complicated. I think they need to be nice and simple."
Trakhtman's solution is available for viewing on the internet and will soon be published in the Israel Journal of Mathematics.
Weiss said it gave him great joy to see someone solve his problem, adding that Trakhtman's solution "is something that is understandable."
Joel Friedman, a math professor at the University of British Columbia, said probably everyone in the field of symbolic dynamics has tried to solve the Roadmap Colouring Problem at some point, including himself. He said people in the related disciplines of graph theory, discrete math and theoretical computer science have also tried.
"The solution to this problem has definitely generated excitement in the mathematical community," he said in an e-mail message.



2. World's Oldest Pupil Keeps On (Attending School)
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2291995,00.html
20/03/2008 20:19 - (SA)

Eldoret - Kenya's post-election crisis has forced the oldest schoolboy on the planet, 88-year-old peasant farmer Kimani Maruge, into a refugee camp - but there's still no dampening his quest for knowledge.
From his white tent at an agricultural showground housing 14 000 displaced people, Maruge rises each morning to collect his books, don his uniform - shorts and all - and walk 4km to his beloved Kapkenduiywo Primary School.
"I had to come here when people started fighting and burning houses," said Maruge at the end of the day, as rain beat on his tarpaulin tent provided by the Red Cross.
"But I have not stopped studying. School is too important."
Members of his Kikuyu tribe, who have moved in recent decades into the mainly Kalenjin area of Eldoret in west Kenya to farm, were attacked by gangs after the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki in December.
Kibaki, a Kikuyu, has now reached a power-sharing deal with the opposition, but Maruge and many of the more than 300 000 refugees around the country are still scared to return home.
More than 1 000 people died nationwide in the crisis.
Walks to and fro daily
Maruge said: "I want them to relocate me to a safe environment like Nairobi where I can continue studying with security and all the proper materials."
At first, he went to a special school set up for refugees in the showground, but he pined for Kapkenduiywo.
So now he walks, with a limp, to and fro each day between the camp and the primary school.
"It is hard. There is no one to help me walk. I go alone. But the urge to learn keeps me going."
Unlike many other Kikuyus here, Maruge's house was not burned - perhaps a mark of respect by the community for a man who has achieved global fame and been honoured by the United Nations as the most-senior schoolboy alive.
At the camp, policemen greet him as 'Mzee' - a Swahili term for a respected elder - children shout his name, and mothers stop to smile as he walks by.
Illiterate all his life, the great-grandfather, who has outlived 10 of his 15 children, jumped at a belated opportunity to educate himself when Kibaki introduced free primary schooling across the east African nation in 2003.
A veteran of Kenya's 1950s anti-colonial Mau Mau revolt, Maruge says he was inspired to start learning when he suspected a preacher was misinterpreting the Bible.
Trip to New York
Although continuing to live humbly, Maruge has become something of a national celebrity and poster boy for free education campaigners worldwide.
The highlight of his life was a UN-sponsored trip to New York.
In his small tent piled high with clothes, pots and other belongings brought from his house, Maruge proudly shows off certificates and photos to a visitor.
Then, as children swarm around and shout his name joyfully, he leans forward and pleads quietly: "If you see people, tell them the kids here need help."




3. Dollar Climbs Against Euro
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5im39VfCaIremiasxV_MTw2zUfJBg
20 March 2008

LONDON (AFP) — The dollar climbed further away from its record low point against the euro on Thursday, lifted by negative eurozone data, analysts said.
But its rebound could be short-lived, one analyst commented.
In European trading, the euro fell to 1.5475 dollars from 1.5618 in New York late on Wednesday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar rose to 100.02 yen from 99.01 on Wednesday.
Japan's financial markets are closed on Thursday and will reopen Friday.
Earlier this week, the euro had surged to a record high point of 1.5905 dollars on Monday while the dollar fell to a 12-year low of 95.75 yen, also on the same day, a bottom not seen since September 1995.
Since then, the dollar has recovered against the euro and yen after the US Federal Reserve slashed its base federal funds rate by three-quarters of a point to 2.25 percent in a bid to ease a growing credit crisis that is threatening to freeze up financial markets.
A sustained dollar rebound is however unlikely because of continued worries about the fallout from the US housing market meltdown, despite the Fed rate cut.
"The Fed still needs to cut rates. I'm not convinced that the bottom for the dollar has occurred," said Richard Grace, chief currency strategist with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.
World financial markets remain jittery over the global credit squeeze which has already sunk US investment bank Bear Stearns and British retail bank Northern Rock.
Meanwhile, a survey showed on Thursday that eurozone activity slowed in both the manufacturing and services sectors.
The 15-nation eurozone's purchasing managers' index (PMI), compiled by NTC Research, slid to 51.9 points in March, compared to 52.8 points in February, according to a first "flash" estimate.
"The further fall in the euro-zone composite PMI in March supports other evidence that the (eurozone) economy slowed further in first quarter," said Capital Economics analyst Ben May.
In commodity markets, gold prices continued to fall from recent record heights. On Monday, gold hit 1,032.70 dollars per ounce after the euro struck an historic peak against the US currency.
Dollar-priced goods benefit from a weak US currency because it makes them cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies, thereby encouraging demand.
In London on Thursday, the euro changed hands at 1.5475 dollars against 1.5618 late on Wednesday, at 154.76 yen (154.67), 0.7819 pounds (0.7868) and 1.5678 Swiss francs (1.5618).
The dollar stood at 100.02 yen (99.01) and 1.0130 Swiss francs (0.9986).
The pound was at 1.9792 dollars (1.9849).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold stood at 912.55 dollars per ounce, down from 958.50 dollars late on Wednesday.




4. Light Bulb Recycling
http://starbulletin.com/2008/03/20/news/story12.html
By Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.com

Residents can recycle their compact fluorescent light bulbs with free mail-away kits from Hawaiian Electric Co.
HECO began offering 1,000 free RECYCLEPAK Consumer CFL recycling kits for residents yesterday. The kits, which cover shipping and recycling costs, are available at HECO's customer service centers at 900 Richards St. and 820 Ward Ave. The kit holds six to eight standard-size CFLs, or 10 to 12 mini- or specialty-size CFLs.
At a news briefing at the Hawaiian Electric Building, spokesman Darren Pai said he hopes the promotion will encourage the public to recycle CFLs.
Though CFLs can be disposed of in household waste in Hawaii, Grace Simmons, supervisor of the Hazardous Waste Program at the Department of Health, recommended recycling due to the small amount of mercury, 5 milligrams, contained in each bulb, about the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen. In comparison, a thermometer contains 500 milligrams of mercury.
Concerned customers also wanted to reduce the impact on Hawaii's landfills and the environment, prompting HECO to search for a convenient recycling option.
"People have been buying them up in droves, but we also know that they are very concerned about recycling," Pai said.
Last year, 700,000 CFLs -- energy-efficient light bulbs that use one-fourth the energy of an incandescent bulb -- were purchased on Oahu, a fivefold increase from the 140,000 sold the previous year, according to HECO officials.
An agreement was reached in November between Veolia Environmental Services, a mainland-based recycling company, and the U.S. Postal Service to allow the recycling kits to be shipped through the mail from Hawaii.
The recycling kits will be sent to a recycling center in Phoenix operated by Veolia Environmental Services. The bulbs are separated, crushed and recycled for other industrial services. "Ninety-nine percent of the CFL material is reclaimed during the recycling service," Pai said.
There are no recycling sites for CFLs in the state. Environmental groups like the Sierra Club's Hawaii Chapter supported House Bill 2504, recently passed by the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment, which proposes to phase out and ban lighting products with lead and mercury and to have the Department of Health develop a statewide recycling program for fluorescent bulbs.
But the Department of Health opposed the measure due to concerns over personnel and funding to support the program.
Residents who are not able to obtain a free recycling kit can buy one for $20 online at http://www.prepaidrecycling.com/ or call (888) 669-9725.
Get your kit» What: Hawaiian Electric Co. is giving away 1,000 free RECYCLEPAK Consumer CFL recycling kits for compact fluorescent lights or energy-saving light bulbs.» Where: The kits are available at HECO's customer service locations Monday through Friday during business hours, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 900 Richards St. and from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 820 Ward Ave.
» Each family will be limited to one recycling kit. Only unbroken bulbs will be accepted. The kit will be shipped through the U.S. Postal Service.
» Residents who are not able to obtain a free recycling kit can purchase one online at prepaidrecycling.com or by calling (888) 669-9725. Cost is $20 per kit and includes shipping, handling and recycling fees.
For more information, call 543-7511.





5. Lyme Disease Can Be Prevented With New Shot, Study Suggests
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080319193029.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 20, 2008)

Lyme disease is the blight of countryside users but it may be prevented with a single injection, according to research published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology.
The US saw nearly 20,000 cases of Lyme disease in 2006 and there are up to 2,000 cases a year in the UK, a figure that is increasing steadily. Now scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, have developed an injection that protects against two severe diseases transmitted by tick bites: Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis.
"Along the North-eastern seaboard of the US, ticks are often co-infected with the bacteria that cause Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis," says Dr Nordin Zeidner. "Currently there is no vaccine to protect against either organism. We have shown that a single injection of sustained-release antibiotics can prevent both diseases in mice."
A single dose of doxycycline given orally is only 20-30% effective at preventing these diseases in mice. The researchers found that a new formulation of doxycycline hyclate that is programmed to release the drug over a 20 day period is 100% effective.
"The underlying copolymer formulation has been in use for over 20 years. It has no adverse effect on humans and it can be programmed to release a drug over several weeks to several months," says Dr Zeidner. "We plan to test the doxycycline formulation to develop different release kinetics and delivery methods. For example, a slow release patch could be used in conjunction with current recommended protection against ticks, such as repellents and personal tick checks."





Honorable Mentions:

1. 75-year-old Climber Leaves for Everest http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080320/ap_on_re_as/japan_everest
By CHISAKI WATANABE, Associated Press Writer
Thu Mar 20, 5:31 AM ET

TOKYO - Two years ago, Yuichiro Miura lost his title of oldest man to climb Mount Everest to someone just three days older. Now, the 75-year-old wants it back.
ADVERTISEMENT But his trek may be undone by political turmoil.
Yuichiro Miura hopes to scale the world's highest peak from the Chinese side — which lies in Tibet, where recent demonstrations sparked a government crackdown that forced foreigners from the region.
Miura, who has a permit to scale Everest from Chinese mountaineering authorities, left on Thursday for Nepal, where he will acclimatize before heading to Tibet's regional capital of Lhasa, his office said in a statement.
Last week, peaceful protests in Lhasa against Chinese rule turned violent. China says 16 were killed, but Tibetan exile groups' claims that 80 died in the riots.
The region "has the history of unrest and it is regrettable something like this happened," Miura told reporters in comments broadcast on Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
"No formal verdict has been made as to how the situation in China and the Tibet Autonomous Region would affect expeditions including ours," the statement said.
Miura's plans might also run afoul of a Chinese move to ban all mountaineers from climbing Everest during the first 10 days of May, when the Olympic torch is scheduled to make the journey. The climber has set May 16 as his target date for reaching the top, and could postpone it to as late as May 31.
Miura is famous for having skied down Everest in 1970, a feat captured in an Oscar-winning documentary. In 2003, he became the oldest man to summit the 29,035-foot Himalayan peak, at the age of 70.
But he was eclipsed in 2006 by fellow Japanese climber Takao Arayama, who was just three days older than Miura when he summitted. Katsusuke Yanagisawa took the crown in 2007, at 71.
The 75-year-old says he is in good shape. "I feel like I am in my 40's or 30's, so I want challenge regardless of my age," he told reporters before boarding a plane.




2. Ancient Sea Reptile from Alberta Oilsands Yields Research Bounty
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/03/20/nicholls-plesiosaur.html
Last Updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 11:14 AM MT

A reptile that once prowled the seas where Alberta's oilsands are now located has been named after a paleontologist who studied prehistoric ocean life.
In a paper that formally describes the carnivorous aquatic predator, paleontologists from the University of Calgary have named the 2.6-metre-long plesiosaur Nichollsia borealis in memory of Elizabeth (Betsy) Nicholls.
The skull of Nichollsia borealis is on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alta. (Royal Tyrrell Museum) Nicholls, who died of breast cancer in 2004, was a former curator at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller. One of her biggest projects was describing the largest-ever prehistoric marine reptile, a 23-metre-long ichthyosaur, found in northern B.C. in 1999.
Former U of C graduate student Patrick Druckenmiller and biological sciences professor Anthony Russell wrote the paper published in the current issue of the German research journal Palaeontographica Abteilung.
Even though the fossils were unearthed in 1994, Russell said a new species' name must be formally published before it can be shared with the public.
"We chose this name because Betsy was a key player in the study of marine reptiles, a mentor to me, a former student of Tony, and a great person," said Druckenmiller in a news release Thursday.
"We felt it was a fitting way to honour both her memory and her accomplishments in paleontology."
The plesiosaur fossils were uncovered about 60 metres below the surface in a Syncrude mine near Fort McMurray. The specimen, now on display at the Royal Tyrrell, is largely complete, except for its left forelimb and shoulder blade.
The Nichollsia borealis lived about 112 million years ago, around the same time that dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
Considered one of the most complete and best-preserved plesiosaurs from the Cretaceous Period, the Nicollsia borealis fills a gap of 40 million years that plesiosaur researchers previously did not know much about.
"I was able to have its three-dimensional skull CT-scanned so we can see the details of the insides of its braincase. This has helped us understand this animal in more detail than almost any other plesiosaur ever found," said Druckenmiller, who is now curator of earth sciences at the University of Alaska Museum.
The researchers credited Syncrude with helping them in the study of fossils found in the ancient sea floor now being mined for oilsands.
"At the Syncrude site, the people who are operating the excavating equipment are perched up in these massive machines, so one scoop of this excavating device takes 100 tonnes of rock at a time," said Russell.
"So the operator is astute enough and has good enough eyesight to be able to see there's something important, significant and that we should shut things down for a while, get this out of there and then let the operation start up again."




3. Exclusive Rug to be Made for Charity
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0803/S00201.htm
Wednesday, 19 March 2008, 4:34 pm
Press Release: Designer Rugs March 19, 2008

Kiwi Designers Put Their Hand Up To Design Exclusive Rug For Charity

Leading Kiwi fashion designers are set to showcase their creativity with the design of an original and exclusive rug to raise money for their nominated charity.

The brainchild of premium rug company Designer Rugs, the Designer Rugs charity auction has secured the creative talents of Air New Zealand Fashion Week 2007 designers Zambesi, Cybèle, NOM*D, and State of Grace, along with WORLD and Crane Brothers, who will all create a unique single edition rug never to be reproduced.
A silent auction – set to take place in August 2008 – will offer punters the opportunity to own a true collectors piece. All monies raised by the silent auction will go to the charity chosen by each fashion designer.
Zambesi designer Liz Findlay has chosen The Child Cancer Foundation as Zambesi’s nominated charity and says her design inspiration came from an iconic Zambesi image representing their philosophy of freedom, permanence and evolution.
“The colour palette and poetic imagery echoes the vast landscape and rugged coastline of New Zealand, its beauty and its isolation,” she says.
Air New Zealand Fashion Week success story Cybèle Wiren has chosen Women’s Refuge as her nominated charity and says she is looking forward to the challenge of designing for a new medium.
“For me the idea of a beautiful warm rug represents safety and comfort in the home. Every year Women's Refuge works toward providing safety and comfort for thousands of women and children and to help them live free from violence and fear,” she says.
Murray Crane, designer for Crane Brothers, says his decision to take part in the Designer Rugs charity auction came from a desire to achieve something interesting while raising money for a good cause.
“Anything that supports and promotes creativity is extremely important both spiritually and culturally,” he says.
Crane says he chose his nominated charity ARTSPACE because of their ongoing support and commitment to New Zealand artists and their vision for the future.
NOM*D designer Margi Robertson says she was excited to be asked to work with Designer Rugs, given that Nom*D is a brand that always presents a graphic image within the collection.
Robertson says Hospice is NOM*D’s chosen charity as it is one she has had personal experience with.
Established fashion designer Sherilyn Catchpole from State of Grace says she loved the idea of designing in a large scale and a totally new medium in support of worthy charities.
“I like to challenge myself and explore new creativity in different formats,” she says. Catchpole has nominated Save The Children as her chosen charity.
Liana Lorenzato, Marketing Manager for Designer Rugs, says she is thrilled the Designer Rugs charity auction initiative has been brought to New Zealand.
“We are really excited to be working with talented New Zealand designers and we can’t wait to see their finished products!” she says.
The New Zealand event builds on the phenomenal success of its Australian counterpart, which raised over $50,000 for charity. The Fashion Design Rugs event, spearheaded by Designer Rugs in Australia, secured leading Australian designers such as Collette Dinnigan, Alice McCall, Akira Isogawa and Easton Pearson and benefitted nominated charities such as GREENPEACE, Amnesty International and UNICEF.
For more information visit http://www.designerrugs.co.nz/
-Ends-



4. Lucky Horseshoes Win Man $1m
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23388481-13762,00.html
From correspondents in Los Angeles
March 17, 2008 01:37pm

A PUNTER has become a millionaire after winning a horseshoe pitching contest and has celebrated by buying drinks for every person that witnessed the event.
John Placzankis, who said he hadn't tossed a horeshoe in 30 years, beat out four others for the $US 1miilion ($1.07million) prize by pitching a perfect ringer in his only try.
Mr Placzankis, 41, told the crowd of 15,660 at California's Santa Anita race track that "the drinks are on me".
Mr Placzankis was one of five horse racing fans who had their names drawn as finalists. He said he tried to loosen up ahead of time by knocking back two beers. "I had a couple of beers but they didn't have any effect,'" he said.
Mr Placzankis, who went from warehouse manager to millionaire in just a matter of minutes, said he plans to help his family out with the money.
"I am going to take care of my mum back home," he said. "I will pay some bills and take care of my nieces and nephews."
Asked what he was thinking as he prepared to make his shot, he said, "I was just trying to relax. I'm pretty calm. I was just trying to throw it like a softball. I didn't want to go over the line."