Two-thirds of world's resources 'used up'

The human race is living beyond its means. A report backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries - some of them world leaders in their fields - today warns that the almost two-thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure.
Read on...

Black holes 'do not exist'

Black holes are staples of science fiction and many think astronomers have observed them indirectly. But according to a physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, these awesome breaches in space-time do not and indeed cannot exist.

I read the book "A brief History of Time" some 10 times to understand the concept and now someone denies the very exsistence......
Well, Nature has this report.

How [not] to handle a crashed PC!!!

This report has been shamelessly taken from Animesh's blog :).
MSNBC News takes a look into - Frustrated consumers make things worse after computer crash. There are nice incidents quoted. I also felt that the frying pan was the best example but the worst part was that the frying pan got spolied!!
Read on...
Here are the slashdot comments.

B'lore + Beijing > US

That's what the world will see if the largest hardware maker and biggest software brains join together.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabo will go straight to Bangalore on April 9, 2005 and spend the weekend before he arrives in New Delhi in what is being seen as a landmark visit and later what would transpire in the Capital bound to bring bonhomie in the Sino-India relations.
Times of India has this news.

New twist to Netaji death mystery

A third inquiry set up by the Indian government to probe the mysterious death of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose may be preparing to say that the legendary hero probably never died in a 1945 plane crash.
Well according to me people like Netaji never die :).
Times of India has this report.

Future Computing

Exploiting the quirks of the quantum world could revolutionize computing, allowing information processing at speeds beyond the wildest electric dreams of your humble PC. Quantum bits will use the most fundamental characteristic of atoms and light to store information and perform calculations. Meanwhile, new materials will improve conventional computers by helping to miniaturize components and handle data with laser beams instead of electrical circuits .
Nature magazine has a full section on this happening phenomenon.

How Kids Set the (Ring) Tone

In a wireless world, teenagers are driving the hottest new technologies since the dotcom era.
Now the big shot fathers are coming to thier kids for expert advice about innovation.
Time has this nice article.

World's tallest building to come up near Delhi?

The world's tallest 135-storey building may soon come up in Noida satellite township on the outskirts of Delhi if all goes according to plan.
Rediff has this story.

Doctors reattach boy's foot, hands!!

An operation to simultaneously reattach an Australian boy's foot and both his hands after a freak basketball accident was a success with the boy's fingers and toes alive and pink, surgeons said on Monday
CNN has this news of this first of its kind surgery.

Another Tsunami!!!

A 8.2 quake off Sumatra's coast has shook tremors in hearts for another Tsunami. Although the Science and Tech secy says that there is no threat to India, evacuation has started on TN coast, A&N and Sri Lanka.
Rediff has the full story....

Elephants do impressions

They say that elephants never forget. Now the creatures have shown that, when it comes to the fine art of vocal mimicry, they're not averse to learning new tricks either.
Nature reports this interesting fact about Elephants doing excellent mimickery. Read on...
Click here to hear a recording of Mlaika's truck-like calls.

A five acre land plot just for $140!!!

An entrepreneur in Hyderabad seems over the moon.
"If it is not possible [to live on the moon] during my life time, may be in the next generation," says Rajeev V Bagdi, who bought the plot of land on the moon through an Internet transaction for $ 140.
Rediff has this interesting article. Read on...
I am also planning to make a house once I return back from Chile;)

Make peace. End the drama of death in Kashmir!!!

Mohammad Maqbool Wani has assisted on more than 18,000 autopsies during the 15 years of separatist violence in Kashmir
"I have answered my gory call of duty for years. I would wait for the news of dead bodies. It was traumatic. So many human beings dying due to the sensless violence. I thought I had nerves of steel; but slowly it was getting tougher to handle," Wani told rediff.com.
Read on.

Was Taj Mahal a Shiv temple?

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vinay Katiyar on Wednesday claimed that the Taj Mahal in Agra was actually a Shiva temple built by Raja Jai Singh and was named 'Tejo Mai Mahal'.

I believe Indian Politicians have a habit of raising controversies in the country.
Rediff has this story.

Time slots for adult movies on TV soon

India's I&B ministry considering time slots for adult movies on TV.
Rediff has this story.
Well, this can be debatable in terms of as to whether this is good or bad for society. What do you say???

IITian cracks UP urban legend

The 'muhnochwa' (face-scratcher) that rocked the state two years back, was nothing but the 'ball lightning' phenomenon, says an IITian who did a research on the menace.
Times Of India has this story.

When Bad Bugs Go Good!!

In the ultimate inside job, cancer doctors are now recruiting—and rejiggering—microbes to destroy malignant cells from within.
Time has this story.

Another prey(or predator) of Racism!!!

A student who authorities said killed nine people Monday before turning the gun on himself apparently disliked interracial mixing, according to postings on a neo-Nazi Web site.
CNN has this report.

India Changes Patent Law!!!

My friend Parul Dhagat gave me the pointer to this debatable news.....
India changed its pharmaceutical patent law to conform to the U.S.-European system, just ahead of a Jan. 1 World Trade Organization deadline -- meaning that most new medicines (patentable in 1995 or later) will be priced out of reach of the great majority of people in India -- and in Africa and other poor regions as well.
Read on and do post a comment writing as to what do you think for the same?

NASA plans for the unthinkable

When Discovery is launched in a few months, a four-man rescue squad will be standing by.
It's a plan for the unthinkable.
The plan may need president's approval too!!!

CNN reports this mission.

Hollywood is in love with Indian Animation!!!

India's animation sector is witnessing a major boom. Overseas entertainment giants like Walt Disney, Imax and Sony are increasingly outsourcing cartoon characters and special effects to India.
Other companies are outsourcing animation from India for commercials and computer games. So what makes India a hub for animation? Why is the sector experiencing exponential growth?
In this special series, rediff takes a look at what makes India shine in the world of animation.

Part I: If it's animation, it must be India!
Part II: Few can match India!
Part III: Animation in India: Some woes too

One more kudo for India.... :)

Story of a classmate!

For long-time SAS user Linda Adams it meant an end to more than a year of unemployment; for Prakash Gurumurthy it meant a job right out of school. As these users found out, in today's competitive job market, becoming professionally certified can help you stand out from the crowd. Read this story.
Prakash Gurumurthy(GP as we call him) happens to be my classmate and a very good friend from college. We were among the toppers from the bottom ;).

Lost and found

For a few minutes, after the water had receded far from the shore and before it came raging back as a tsunami, the fishermen stood along the beach and stared at the reality of generations of legends.
CNN has this report.
I miss Chennai now :-(. Hope to see this magnificent scene once I get back...

Murder or Help??? [Part I]

Members of Congress on Friday stepped up their efforts to keep a severely brain-damaged Florida woman alive, as a deadline neared to have the woman's feeding tube removed.
CNN has this report.
What do you think? Do post your comments.

Inzamam-ul-Haq - The Bengal Tiger!!!

Strange it may sound to Inzamam-ul-Haq, a West Bengal family has claimed that the Pakistani skipper is its descendant and is even preparing to hand him his "rightful share of the family property".
Times of India has this wierd news.

Roti, Kapda, Makan..... aur CAR!!!

Tata has announced the venture of a car which will cost only Rs 1 lakh!!
Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata says, does indeed lie at the bottom of the pyramid and discusses his group's plans to get to it, including a fundamental re-look at how products/services are produced.
Rediff has a nice interview with Ratan Tata on the same.

A Vacuum In Space

The world's biggest radio telescope near Pune is on the job. But do we have enough young scientists to use it?
Outlook magazine has a nice report.

Look Ma, I'm An Idol

They came, they sang, they conquered. This is what Sony's Indian Idol did to a bunch of very ordinary people.
Outlook magazine has a nice article.

Resetting The Brain!

Can a pulsing magnet really change a personality? Doctors--and patients--are cheered by early tests.
CHRISTINE GORMAN has a report.

JUNKIE DOGS CHASING A HIGH

Dogs in Australia’s Northern Territory are becoming addicted to a hallucinogenic cane toad poison, according to local vets.
Read on.

Earth from the everest!

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Roddy Mackenzie views the earth from the everest!
Take a look

Mass extinction comes every 62 million years, UC physicists discover

With surprising and mysterious regularity, life on Earth has flourished and vanished in cycles of mass extinction every 62 million years, say two UC Berkeley scientists who discovered the pattern after a painstaking computer study of fossil records going back for more than 500 million years.
Read on.

Ramgarh Alumni

Found this Ramgarh Alumni site during my random google searches.
Take a look at the creative work!!

Ten[THOUSAND]dulkar!!!

Sachin Tendulkar became only the fifth batsman to reach 10,000 runs in the history of Test cricket when he flicked a ball from Abdul Razzaq down to fine leg on day 1 of the second Test against Pakistan in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Lage raho India, lage raho!!!!

Aaao!! Main to chota sa nanha sa pyaara sa baccha hoon...

The Nandu of Raja Babu dropped even his striped pants to exhibit his bare behind in front of kids. Read on.

Aaila.. Itna Paisa!!!!

Rupees 1,100,000,000,000. Or Rs 110,000 crores!
That's the approximate amount of money the world's third richest man Lakshmi N Mittal is valued at.
Take a look at the assets of our proud Indian here.