ScienceDaily (Apr. 16, 2008) — The world's oldest recorded tree is a 9,550 year old spruce in the Dalarna province of Sweden. The spruce tree has shown to be a tenacious survivor that has endured by growing between erect trees and smaller bushes in pace with the dramatic climate changes over time.

For many years the spruce tree has been regarded as a relative newcomer in the Swedish mountain region. "Our results have shown the complete opposite, that the spruce is one of the oldest known trees in the mountain range," says Leif Kullman, Professor of Physical Geography at Umeå University.

A fascinating discovery was made under the crown of a spruce in Fulu Mountain in Dalarna. Scientists found four "generations" of spruce remains in the form of cones and wood produced from the highest grounds.

The discovery showed trees of 375, 5,660, 9,000 and 9,550 years old and everything displayed clear signs that they have the same genetic makeup as the trees above them. Since spruce trees can multiply with root penetrating braches, they can produce exact copies, or clones.

The tree now growing above the finding place and the wood pieces dating 9,550 years have the same genetic material. The actual has been tested by carbon-14 dating at a laboratory in Miami, Florida, USA.

Previously, pine trees in North America have been cited as the oldest at 4,000 to 5,000 years old.

In the Swedish mountains, from Lapland in the North to Dalarna in the South, scientists have found a cluster of around 20 spruces that are over 8,000 years old.

Although summers have been colder over the past 10,000 years, these trees have survived harsh weather conditions due to their ability to push out another trunk as the other one died. "The average increase in temperature during the summers over the past hundred years has risen one degree in the mountain areas," explains Leif Kullman.

Therefore, we can now see that these spruces have begun to straighten themselves out. There is also evidence that spruces are the species that can best give us insight about climate change.

The ability of spruces to survive harsh conditions also presents other questions for researchers.

Have the spruces actually migrated here during the Ice Age as seeds from the east 1,000 kilometres over the inland ice that that then covered Scandinavia? Do they really originate from the east, as taught in schools? "My research indicates that spruces have spent winters in places west or southwest of Norway where the climate was not as harsh in order to later quickly spread northerly along the ice-free coastal strip," says Leif Kullman.

"In some way they have also successfully found their way to the Swedish mountains."

The study has been carried out in cooperation with the County Administrative Boards in Jämtland and Dalarna.



Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416104320.htm

MS Allure of the Seas is a cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. Together with her sister ship, Oasis of the Seas, she holds the record for the largest passenger ship ever constructed, although the Allure is 50 millimetres (2.0 in) longer than the Oasis, making her technically the largest despite the fact that both ships have identical superstructures.[8] Designed under the name "Project Genesis", she was ordered from Aker Finnyards in February 2006 and her construction began at the Perno shipyard in Turku, Finland, in February 2008.[9] She was named in May 2008 after a contest was held to name her and her sister.[10] The keel of the Allure of the Seas was laid on 2 December 2008, shortly after the shipyard had been acquired by STX Europe

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Allure_of_the_Seas

Most children fathered
Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif, Morocco

Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif set this sex record in the 17th century when he added a whopping 1,042 recorded offspring to his harem of about 500 wives. He had been a busy boy -- what with all those weddings, births and, no doubt, a few funerals. If you’re wondering who this guy is, he was the second ruler of the Moroccan Alaouite dynasty. He is known as a great figure in Moroccan history, but not only for his contribution to the birth statistics; he contributed to the lasting respect of Moroccan independence.

Amazingly, the woman to give birth to the most children was a peasant’s wife from Shuya (east of Moscow); in 27 births between 1725 and 1765, she expelled 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets.

According to recent research, women's breasts are getting bigger and bigger.

A recent research commissioned by Bodyfashion Promotion in the Netherlands found that Dutch women are getting bigger breasts and 32 percent of them now have a D-cup or bigger compared with 20 percent five years ago.

Some 42 percent of women aged 30-39 have D-cup breasts and feel in general okay about that. Women with a large bra size are now the largest group in the Netherlands.

In the Western world, breast size has been increasing for the past 10-15 years. Beside the natural changes, there has been a boom in plastic surgery aimed at women. Women's magazines and television program are full of stories related to breast implants or other non-surgical procedures for more shapely and proportionate bodies through plastic surgery breast lift procedures procedures. In addition, the availability of better bras that can create remarkable improvement in a woman's appearance.

In a survey by Allure, 70% of women wanted bigger or rounder breasts, although more than half of American men were satisfied with their partner's breasts size.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Asheville police said they arrested a woman during an anti-topless protest.

According to police, during the protest a "topless advocate" ran into the group and removed her shirt.

The woman, Molly Sara Rosch, 20, was asked to leave the rally by officer after she address the group in an aggressive manner.

Officers said a short time later the woman returned to the rally and started arguing with protestors.

Police arrested the woman after she "stood up and exposed her lower private parts to the crowd."

She was taken to the Buncombe County Detention Center and given a $300 bond.

Sunday's protest came one week after a "go topless" rally, where women went topless to protest that in most cities it is illegal for a woman to go topless, but not men.

In Asheville it is legal for women to go topless.
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Read more: http://www.wyff4.com/news/29009236/detail.html#ixzz1WQNe5vlB

Plastic surgery is being opted for increasingly by older people, with 83-year-old Marie Kolstad being the latest person to take the plunge.

Ms. Kolstad, a widow who lives in Orange County, Calif., underwent a three-hour breast lift with implants on July 22, coming to a cost of about $8,000, reports The New York Times.

Reasoning why she underwent the procedure, at her age, she said, “your breasts go in one direction and your brain goes in another.”

“Physically, I’m in good health, and I just feel like, why not take advantage of it?” said Ms. Kolstad, who works full-time as a property manager.

“My mother lived a long time, and I’m just taking it for granted that that will happen to me. And I want my children to be proud of what I look like,” she said, The New York Times reports.

Kolstad is one of many septuagenarians, octogenarians and even nonagenarians who are polishing the sheen of their golden years with a little help from the plastic surgeon.

Gilbert Meyer, a retired film producer in Boynton Beach, Fla., who gave his age only as “over 75,” decided to have some work done last year.

Meyer saw Dr. Jacob Steiger, a facial plastic surgeon in Boca Raton, Fla., for an eye and neck lift, spending $8,000, The New York Times reports.

“I was looking at myself in the mirror and didn’t like what I was starting to see and did something about it,” Mr. Meyer said. “Why not look as good as you can when you can?”

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, in 2010 there were 84,685 surgical procedures among patients age 65 and older.

Do you think you can be too old for Plastic Surgery? Lets discuss in our forums at "Breast Augmentation for 83 year old woman."

ShoreTel is pleased to be hosting this year’s conference at the historic Hilton Chicago, right in the heart of downtown.

Who should attend?

•Partner owners and senior management

•Partner sales and marketing representatives

•Partner sales engineers

Why should you attend?

•Participate in sales and technical training sessions.

•Get valuable, up-to-date competitive information.

•Network with other industry experts.

•Celebrate your accomplishments at the Annual Awards Dinner

•Join your colleagues at the second annual "Shamble" golf tournament. (Monday pre-conference)

We are again offering complimentary sales and technical training on the Monday and Tuesday leading up to the conference. Be sure to sign up early as these classes were in high demand last year!

The conference activities will kick off on Tuesday evening with our Welcoming Event and Innovation Center! We are expecting over 40 technology partners who will be with us to showcase their products and services. You won’t want to miss this opportunity!

Wednesday and Thursday will offer 2 full days made up of presentations by ShoreTel Executives and our Marketing team; as well as breakout sessions that will provide something for everyone.

As always, a highlight of the conference is the Wednesday night Awards Dinner. This is an incredible evening to celebrate the best and brightest. All of our partners have been working hard this year and this special event gives our community a chance to recognize those that have gone above and beyond.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Chicago!

 
http://www.cvent.com/events/2011-champion-partner-conference/event-summary-71abe25ba44c4a3cb9261aef4250885d.aspx