Education beyond text books

By Ananda KANNANGARA

Minister of Education, Bandula Gunawardane stressed the need for children to have a comprehensive knowledge of development activities that is being carried out in the country by the Government to enhance the knowledge gained at school.

He said that as most children are fully focused on school education with the intention of getting through examinations they are unaware of the world around them and have no knowledge of the development activities carried out in the country.

As the Government has initiated numerous projects that has made inroads in the economic,cultural and social development of the country, children need to know of the progress Sri Lanka is making in these spheres too.

The Minister called upon parents to think positively and encourage their children to indulge in various social activities to enhance their knowledge in these areas.

"Children are the leaders in tomorrow's world .They must broaden their knowledge by not only through school text books but also by learning about the economic and social affairs taking place in the national and international arena," he said recently at a school function.

He also called upon parents to take their children to places such as newly constructed power generation plants and also religious places to broaden their knowledge .

He said he was glad to note that many schools had organised trips to the north giving school children from the south an opportunity to interact with the children in those areas and also learn about their lifestyle and traditions.

Such tours he pointed would aid in bridging the gap between different communities and promoting ethnic harmony.

Spider silk's extreme strength unveiled

Spider thread has five times the tensile strength of steel and is stronger then even the best currently available synthetic fibers.

Scientists have now succeeded in unveiling a further secret of silk proteins and the mechanism that imparts spider silk with its strength.

"The strength of spider dragline silk exceeds that of any material produced in laboratories, by far.

All attempts to manufacture threads of similar strength have failed thus far," explains Professor Horst Kessler, Carl von Linde Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study at the TU Muenchen (TUM-IAS).

In collaboration with the work group of Prof. Thomas Scheibel, who was a researcher at the TU Muenchen until 2007 and who now holds a chair of the Institute of Biomaterials at the Universitaet Bayreuth, Professor Kessler's team has been researching for years to unveil the secret of spider silk.

How do spiders manage to first store the silk proteins in the silk gland and to then assemble them in the spinning passage in a split second to form threads with these extraordinary characteristics? And what exactly gives the threads their tremendous tensile strength? Scientists have now come one step closer to answering these key questions for the production of artificial spider silk.

Spider threads consist of long chains of thousands of repeating sequences of protein molecules. These silk proteins are stored in the silk gland in a highly concentrated form until they are needed.

The long chains with their repeating sequences of protein molecules are initially unordered and must not get too close to each other as they would immediately clump up.

Only in the spinning passage, just before being used, are the threads oriented parallel to each other and form so-called micro crystallites that are, in turn, assembled to stable threads with cross links.

- ScienceDaily

It's time to celebrate Ramazan Festival

'Eid ul Fitr,' the Ramazan Festival celebrates the end of Ramazan, a period of fasting. It is a happy occasion when Muslims mark the accomplishment of fasting and thank Almighty Allah for giving them the self control to succeed. Eid ul Fitr is the day of thanksgiving to Allah, for giving his servants the opportunity to fast and the worship in the month of Ramazan.

The festival being at the first sighting of the new moon. Muslims after attending special morning prayers will visit friends and family. During the visits people wear best clothes and special foods will be served to the guests. Exchanging Greetings of "Thakabal Allahu Wa Minka" (O Allah accept us and others)

Ramazan festival after a month a long fasting, generates immense satisfaction among the children and adults purely due to completion of fasting on the command of Almighty Allah.Let our fervent prayer on this holy day of Ramazan be for peace, harmony, tolerance, understanding and brotherhood.We wish our Muslim readers a very happy "Eid Mubarak"

NEWS IN BRIEF

by Rohana JAYALAL

Oldest human dwelling identified

Excavations in Haldummulla in Badulla district have led to the discovery of the oldest human dwellings identified on the island so far according to Professor Raj Somadeva of the Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology at Kelaniya University.

The archaeological site in Koswatta, Haldummulla, is situated 850 metres above sea level and it is the highest ground that remains of ancient human dwellings so far reported. The archaeologists have recovered the foundations of four houses and believe more remain under the soil. The second phase of excavations which started last year are now under way . They are scheduled to end in the next two weeks. Many pieces of red-colored pottery, clay beads, and ironware are among the findings.

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Southern Expressway nearing completion

The Ministry of Highways will open the country's first toll highway,the Southern Expressway in the second week of September, under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Ministry of Highways sources said. According to the sources , preparations are being made to unveil a commemorative plaque at Karandeniya in the Galle district. The opening ceremony is to be held in the rest area set up at Nayapamula off Baddegama in the Galle district.

Construction on the highway began in 2006 at a cost of $800 million. The last phase of 30 kilometres from Pinnaduwa in Galle to Godagama in Matara is now being constructed.