1795 time capsule opened

More than 200 years after Samuel Adams and Paul Revere first buried it in Boston, it took an hour to remove all the objects crammed inside a tiny time capsule.

Onlookers anxiously watched the unveiling Tuesday, worrying the items might not have weathered the years very well.

"Could we actually go through the whole box, or would things prove too fragile to take out?" said Malcolm Rogers, director of Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. "It was like brain surgery, with history looking down on us."

Piece by piece, Pam Hatchfield, head of objects conservation for the museum, removed each item, whispering "wow" as she first caught a glimpse of some of them.

Among the stash Hatchfield removed from the 1795 time capsule: Five folded newspapers, a Massachusetts commonwealth seal, a title page from Massachusetts colony records and at least 24 coins.

 http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/11/us/boston-time-capsule-paul-revere-sam-adams/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

What would you put inside a time capsule and why? Write 200 words

CNNGo in Seville: Tapas, DJs and the best sunset view

Seville (CNN)"Go to the street" is a common saying in Seville, because that's where the real action lies in the capital of southern Spain's Andalusia region.

This month, CNNGo heads to the vibrant city to sample its street life -- and the meals from breakfast to late night tapas that feed its daily eating out rituals.

From its Roman origins more than 2,000 years ago to a tangle of Moorish and Christian influences, Seville has a rich history, which explains the city's layers of enchanting architecture.

Sevillianos work hard to stay true to the city's flamboyant reputation as the center of the flamenco scene.

They also take pride in enjoying slow living.

Here are five of the locations in the show:

Plaza de Espana and Maria Luisa Park

 Built as the centerpiece of the Ibero-American Expo of 1929, the plaza and its impressive building stretches around a 500-meter canal crossed by four bridges.

Small boats can be rented to row around the Plaza, or visitors can hop on a horse carriage and ride through the adjoining Maria Luisa Park, the greenest area of Seville.

Plaza de Espana is also known from several Hollywood movies.

It's been used over the decades as a location for films such as "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Star Wars."

Plaza de Espana and Maria Luisa Park, Seville, Spain

Metropol Parasol

The Metropol Parasol started as a controversial project to revitalize a parking lot at Seville's Plaza del Encarnacion and to provide a gateway into the city's northern half.

The 30-meter-high structure sits in stark contrast to the surrounding traditional buildings, towering over them like giant fungi, earning it the nickname "Las Setas" -- the mushrooms.

The Parasol acts as a welcome relief from the sun in the summer months and protects the Roman ruins underneath the building that were only discovered during excavations.

From the rooftop, there's an unrivaled 360-degree view of the city.

Metropol Parasol, Plaza de la Encarnacion and Avenida de María Luisa, Seville, Spain; +34 606 63 5214

EME Catedral Hotel Rooftop Terrace

 This five-star modern boutique hotel in the heart of the city has a rooftop bar that looks directly onto Seville's most iconic landmark -- the Cathedral, or Catedral de Sevilla.

The EME terrace is the perfect spot to watch the sun go down and enjoy a cocktail to the beats of resident DJs.

EME Catedral Hotel Rooftop Terrace, Calle Alemanes 27, Seville, Spain; +34 954 56 0000

Red House Art & Food

 Known as a creative art space, this cafe and performance venue is unique in Seville.

Almost everything is for sale -- from the prints on the walls to the comfy sofas where customers spread out to enjoy afternoon coffee and cake.

Products in the cafe are almost all locally produced.

It has a trendy alternative feel when the DJ arrives and a new crowd settles in for the evening.

Red House Art & Food, Calle Amor de Dios 7, Seville, Spain; +34 692 23 9404

Mamarracha Tapas Bar

 One of the hottest tapas bars in town is abuzz with Sevillianos and tourists who keep coming back for the fashionable cuisine.

It has a modern yet rustic interior style with a featured garden wall.

The owners -- Argentinian Juan Manuel Garcia and his partner Andaluza Genoveva Torres Ruiz -- have worked for many international names including Gordon Ramsay in Los Angeles.

Mamarracha Tapas Bar, Calle Hernando Colon, 1, Seville, Spain; 
 http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/11/travel/cnngo-in-seville/index.html?hpt=travel_hp_row1right

Where do you usually go to have tapas in Seville? Which Spànish restaurants do you go to?

How extreme fear shapes what we remember

Many of us will experience a significant trauma in our lives, says Lesley Evans Ogden. Yet could there be ways to avoid reliving the memories?
t was no ordinary honeymoon. After boarding their flight in Canada on the evening of 23 August 2001, newlyweds Margaret McKinnon and her husband were heading for Lisbon, Portugal. As Air Transat flight 236 soared over the mid-Atlantic, McKinnon went to the lavatory. Nothing inside it was working. “It seemed odd,” she says, but she didn't think a lot of it.
Returning to her seat, the crew served breakfast, but then announced that they would be making an emergency landing. She remembers thinking it seemed early to be arriving in Lisbon. “I didn't really understand at the time what that meant,” she says. She soon found out. Crew instructed passengers to put on their life jackets. The lights flickered, then extinguished. The cabin depressurised. Oxygen masks deployed.
The plane’s systems had shut down after a catastrophic leakage of fuel. “They were shouting that we would be ditching into the ocean,” McKinnon recalls.
After a half hour of preparing for the worst, McKinnon recalls somebody yelling that they’d made it to land. It was the Azores, an isolated archipelago some 850 miles (1,360km) off the Portuguese coast. The pilots had established contact with Lajes, a joint military-civilian air base. Following a harrowing 360 degree spin and several sharp turns to reduce altitude, the crew shouted “brace, brace, brace” as the officers brought the plane to a bumpy landing. Fires licked across the plane’s wheels.The stunned passengers and crew descended escape slides and ran across a field to a safe distance, towards American soldiers with guns. Two serious and 16 minor injuries were sustained during evacuation down the chutes, but all 293 passengers and 13 crew survived.
But for many the flight didn’t end there. For some – including McKinnon – the terrifying experience replayed vividly as intrusive memories and nightmares in the months that followed.
The experience inspired McKinnon, now a clinical psychologist, to study what trauma does to the brain – how it changes what we remember and why some people experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In recent years, she and a number of other researchers have been trying to understand what makes fearful experiences seem to become imprinted so deeply in our brains. And if they can understand why trauma has such a profound and lasting effect on us, perhaps they can find ways to help people cope better with the aftermath.
Fearful imprint
The link between fear and memory has intrigued researchers and clinicians for decades. Yet the data is conflicting. “Some studies have found that during the recollection of traumatic events, recollection is enhanced. It's very vivid, people recall many details, and people don't seem to have difficulty remembering,” says McKinnon. Other studies have found that recollection of traumatic events can be very impoverished and fragmented, with “a detail here, a detail there, that don't really fit together”, she explains.
More:  http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150205-how-extreme-fear-shapes-the-mind

Tell me the worst experience in your life. 200 words

Bleep blorp: New Japanese hotel to be staffed by robots

We're not sure if the robotic staff at a planned hotel in Japan will be tucking guests into their beds at night, but they'll be performing plenty of other traditional hospitality tasks.

Huis Ten Bosch, a theme park modeled after the Netherlands in Japan's Nagasaki Prefecture, has announced plans to open a hotel with robot staff and other advanced technologies.

The hotel will be called Henn-na Hotel, which translates as Strange Hotel.

According to the park, the first phrase of the two-story hotel will open on July 17 with 72 rooms.

The second phrase will be completed in 2016 with an additional 72 rooms.

Operating under the motto "A commitment for evolution," the hotel will feature three "actroids" (robots with strong human likeness) that will act as receptionists. 

 hey'll be able to engage in intelligent conversations with human guests.

The hotel will also employ four service and porter robots, and others engaged in menial tasks such as cleaning.

High-tech features keep prices low

"We'll make the most efficient hotel in the world," boasts huis Ten Bosch Hideo Sawada

Sawada says he hopes robots will eventually run 90% of the property.

"In the future, we're hoping to build 1,000 similar hotels around the world," says Sawada, according to Japan Nikkei´s News

Other features will help make Henn-na the most futuristic low-cost hotel in the industry, according to the company.

Guestroom doors will be accessed by facial-recognition technology.

Amenities provided in rooms will be kept minimal. Guests can request items through a tablet when needed.

Instead of air-conditioning, a radiation panel will detect body heat in rooms and adjust the temperature.

Solar power and other energy-saving features will be used to reduce operating costs.

Bid for your room

Room rates will vary depending on demand.

Instead of being presented with a fixed price, guests will bid for rooms during peak season. The highest bidders will secure rooms, though there will be a price cap on bidding.

The hotel says room fees at opening will be from JPY7,000 ($60) for a single room to JPY18,000 ($153), the highest possible price after bidding, for a triple room.

Superior and deluxe rooms will cost more.

Guests can already reserve rooms online through the hotel's website.

How would a school staffed by robots be?  200 words

Be my valentine!!!!

A current of excited energy collects in the air as hands clutching bouquets of red roses and pink greeting cards rush by. It’s February 14th, Valentine’s Day in the United States, a day devoted to love.
Americans celebrate the holiday in a variety of ways, though offering small tokens of affection like flowers and sugary confections is most common.
In many U.S. elementary schools, for example, students use craft items like colored markers, construction paper and glue to fashion handmade cards for their parents. The children also distribute candy and small Valentine’s Day cards to other students in class. The small cards often display a contemporary theme valued by the child, such as a beloved pop singer or favorite cartoon character.
Sending “candygrams” is another popular Valentine’s Day activity. Prevalent among secondary school and college students, candygrams are sweets like heart-shaped lollipops or boxes of chocolate. Students purchase the candy beforehand, then the goods are delivered to their friends on Valentine’s Day. Candygrams may include a heartfelt note or remain anonymous. The sale’s proceeds normally go toward funding student activities like a class gift or spring dance.
Older adults commemorate the holiday in more traditional ways. Sending Valentine’s Day cards to friends and loved ones remains the most widespread custom. Americans send more greeting cards on Valentine’s Day than any other holiday except Christmas.
Americans also give their loved ones flowers. While red roses have been the traditional front-runner, more Americans are choosing alternatives like red tulips or lilies.
And what would a holiday be without food? While some couples enjoy a special meal at their favorite restaurant, most American couples give their significant others boxes of chocolates.
But the feelings of love and appreciation extend beyond couples. Some Americans treat their relatives, friends and even pets to little tokens of affection on Valentine’s Day.
Like many American customs, the traditions of Valentine’s Day trace back to earlier times and other cultures. Named after St. Valentine, this romantic holiday has roots in Christianity. The Catholic Church recognizes three different St. Valentines, all martyred in ancient times. Consequently, there are several theories about St. Valentine’s life and how he became associated with love and the month of February.
According to one legend, a Roman emperor declared young men could not marry — he thought single men made better soldiers. Despite the decree, St. Valentine continued to marry young couples. After learning of this defiance, the emperor sentenced St. Valentine to death.
Another tale paints a different picture. This story claims St. Valentine was sentenced to death for helping Christians escape from harsh Roman prisons. While awaiting execution, Valentine fell in love with the jailor’s daughter. Before his death, he supposedly sent her a love note signed “from your Valentine.”
The authenticity of these legends is questionable. We do know that one of the Valentines, Valentine of Rome, was buried on February 14, which is how the date came to be associated with his name.
February was also significant to the ancient Romans. They held a fertility festival during the middle of the month. This is the earliest merging between February and romantic sentiment, although the holiday’s evolution from a religious observation to a romantic celebration occurred mainly during the Middle Ages. At that time, there was a common belief that February 14 marked the beginning of bird mating season. This association between the birds’ mating habits and St. Valentine’s Day resulted in the romantic undertones we know today.


Write a love letter to a member of your family or to your beloved. 200 words.