Lassi-the king of drinks.

The news below is heartening to all Indians and especially to Punjabis.

"Punjab’s very own lassi has pipped exotic drinks from around the world to bag the title of ‘best beverage’ at a unique entrepreneurship competition.."

And it competed with world famous wines and even fancy coffees like lattes and cappuccino. Even as I read the news in Dubbagol, I felt like having a cool Punjabi lassi topped with generous malai. I like to drink lassi in earthen ware than glass.

How about you?

Going Green With Windows.

Isn't this window stunning? You must wait for three more years to see this lighted window in your house.

And this is not a mere show piece dear, it is way to trap solar energy. Yes, it is a new way that is being developed in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

With this, I think I have become some sort of a specialist in reporting about alternative power sources.

Read the new story.

One sixth of your life...

We hear, read and see strange facts and news almost daily. Our sources are news papers, Internet, magazines, friends and relatives.

Most of what we come across don't stay in our memory for long but there are people who are aware of this human lacuna, write down immediately in a small pocket book and use it in their daily life.

For example, here is a trivia:

Approximately one-sixth of your life is spent on Wednesdays.

If you care to read it again, you can apply this fact for all other days of the week.

Go to Top Five to know about sixty amazing facts.

Just one more fact:

Polar bears can eat as many as 86 penguins in a single sitting.

Power from sea waves?

Well well, here I am writing about alternative power resources to be tapped. In the wake of world oil crisis that affects even a farmer in a remote village in India, more and more news are springing up regarding various available resources for power and energy hitherto untapped.

Now how about this? "Anaconda, an innovative wave energy concept, holds the key to cheaper energy from the sea waves?"

A news story that I read in Times of India dated 5th July (yes, yesterday only) reported that the Anaconda concept is, however, still in developmental stage. The concept has only been proven at the lab scale, so important questions about its potential performance still need to be answered.

I believe this can become the cheapest power ever to be produced-only 6 pence per kilo watt or even less.

But why this is named after the feared Anaconda-the snake?

Read it here.

This skyscaper will spin on its own.

This picture you see here is about a 80 story building that is going to come up in Dubai.

"So what?"-you ask-right?

Read below and you will ask, "Is it so?"
This building is to going to be taller than the Empire State building.

Its height is going to be 1300 Ft.

And this building is going to move-yes, literally it is going to rotate on its own axis.

The spinning floors, hung like rings around an immobile cement core, would offer residents a constantly changing view of the Persian Gulf and the city’s futuristic skyline.

Each floor is going to prefabricated in a factory in Italy and then shipped to the site to be attached to the core.

Assembling a building in this fashion, he said, will require only 80 technicians and take only 20 months, saving tens of millions of dollars, for a total cost of $700 million to build.

The designer of this sky scraper is David Fisher, an Italian who had never built a skyscraper so far.

"It is fine and good so far but what about the plumbing man?"-someone asked. Fisher said the pipes will connect to the core via attachments similar to the ones used by military aircraft for in-flight refueling.

Source: Times of India

Social media can be a big addiction.

Web itself is vicious but with advent of web 2.0 technology, browsers find it very difficult to extricate them from the tighter entangles of the web. Social media web sites are real big monsters that virtually swallow browsers.

I mean all of this as a metaphor only folks. I am sure many would agree with me on the line …. Oh, well! Forget it.

A few days before, I was following a thin thread on iPhone and I just entered as many as 73 web sites including Digg that alone made me visit 33 web sites.

When a link landed me on Rabbi Yitzhak Miller profile in Digg, I realized I had spent more time than intended. In his profile, my query on the iPhone zoomed in on an article that was full of statistics on iPhone related stories that were submitted in Digg.com

If you are also an offbeat story chaser like me, I would request you to visit the link above. I am sure you will have an interesting time and if you are also a blogger, you will have a handful of material for your blog’s content.

When you walk, electricity is generated.

An astonishing news that I read in today's Time of India revealed a new power generating technology.

Noticing that thousands of people walk in and out of railway stations in London, a genius conceived an idea of generating electricity that can light thousands of light bulbs. The basic technology is use the footsteps of pedestrians.

How it works:
"It works by using the pressure of feet on the floor to compress pads underneath, driving fluid through mini-turbines that then generate electricity, which is stored in a battery. Engineers who have modelled the effects of the technology at Victoria Underground station in central London have calculated that the 34,000 travellers passing through every hour could power 6,500 light bulbs. "

"The technology is based on mini-generators built into soldiers’ boots, trialled by the American military. It has been adapted into prototypes for use under floors by the Facility, a company based in London. "

Credit: Times of India

Worlds first looping water slide.

All those including I who am claustrophobic can never feel the thrill of this sliding ride into the water through a closed tube.

But, as I watched some courageous people including a lady take this water slide, I felt like braving but will I in reality? I doubt it very much.

Even though the entire stride takes just 6 seconds, (Yes, I timed it), it can throw one off. It’s definitely scary for me.

Here, you see a video clip of this slide.


via videosift.com

The connection between Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.

You or most of us probably may not know that there was a connection between Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.

The Connection:

"The trucking company Elvis Presley worked at as a young man was owned by Frank Sinatra."

No, don't go about searching in the web; you may not even get the proper keywords to search for this or any other related information.

I got it from Top Five.

This website has plenty of shocking but true facts. I don't know from where they gather all the interesting information but I thank them for giving me some amusement.

Here is an extraordinary fact:
"Manatees possess vocal chords which give them the ability to speak like humans, but don't do so because they have no ears with which to hear the sound."

Do you know Manatee? It is a mammal living in the sea. It is also called sea cow. (how weird!)




From Google Images.


Trivia:
The name manatí comes from the Taino which are the original peoples of the Caribbean, meaning "breast".

Belief or vanity?

Let me guess; the fancy for fancy numbers-when did it all start?

Probably when mankind’s belief in numerology became strong? I could be so especially after an accident or any other untoward happening that might have caused damage to the car and its driver.

I could imagine another reason too. You bought a shining new car that is just launched and you are one of the first 100 owners of this car. In your passion to show off, you probably would have thought that by getting a private number plate will add to the appeal of the vehicle.

Now, we all see several cars on the road with customized number plates selected by the owner of the vehicle. I believe there must a special service that caters to demands for private number plates.

Some people say that private number plates are easy to remember than allotted numbers by the vehicle registration authorities. But why should you need to remember? Only others need to remember your car and its license plates!

Trivia:
Do you know that the highest price ever paid for a fancy and private number plate? It is a whopping £285,000.

Hmmm… some vanity-eh?

Grasoline?

Man can invent anything. What seems impossible today may be a thing that just might be taken for granted tomorrow.

Example:
* Wireless communication devices that even a street vendor uses today.
* Affordable flight tickets that even I could buy.
* Progressive lens that every bifocal lens user had wished.

Today's urgent need is to find an alternative to gasoline. Billions of dollars are being spent on researches towards finding an alternative energy. And the environmental factor is also to be taken care of while trying to come with some invention.

SwitchGrass:
It is a type of grass that can be found in abundance all over North America. It looks hardy to me when I saw them on Google Images. (See picture) This is being considered as a potential biomass source and ethanol is extracted from it.

The ultimate alternative energy source is going to biomass in future without disturbing the ecology.

Harbajan's bad behaviour was applauded.

Already Harbajan Singh brought shame to India by slapping a fellow cricketer. Now another ugly side of the incident is revealed.

The lawyer Nanavati inquiring the incident told the media that he was utterly shocked to see Lalchand Rajput, the coach of the Mumbai cricket team of which Harbajan was the captain, clapped his hands when Harbajan slapped Sreesanth.

What a shame! The world is laughing at us and these two cricketers should be banned permanently.

Lalchand Rajput who never achieved anything solid during his playing days is not even fit to be a coach of a cricket team.

It is said in leading news papers that Harbajan Singh will get more punishment for bad behavior.

Is it so?

Human chain length to the moon?

My ride to airport was held up unexpectedly because of a human chain that was organized in support of some vague social motive. I always wondered what impact do such demonstrations create on the purpose for which it was done.

Do they expect the offenders will immediately realize their folly and beg for pardon?

Ah, that reminds me about an amazing fact that I read about human chain.
"Had all the people on earth at midnight, Greenwich Mean Time on October 11, 2002 held hands, it would have formed a line the exact distance from the earth to the moon". -Source: Top Five

On May 26th 1986, the Hands of America' recorded 5 million people showed their support by holding hands to raise money to fight hunger.


Ack:Google images

North pole in Kansas?

Accessing the North pole will pose no problem to all and sundry. You won't need to be a scientist or a well built adventurer to go to north pole.


For that matter, north pole will stop attracting people and it is highly likely that it will shed its name and might be given a different name because it likely to be located somewhere in present Kansas.

This is expected to happen in the year 2327.

The cause for this massive movement-yes, you guessed it-it is we and the electricity we consume which is causing a major disturbance in the earth's magnetic field.

Then where will the south pole be?
You can find it just off the east African coast!

Is it so?

Source: Top Five
Image: Google image

Women prefer dogs over husband.

Hey, don't accuse me! I am also a woman but I definitely don't prefer dogs over anything.
I don't pet any animals but only my husband and son.

I happen to read about the subject in Doggie News website. Of course this is a very old story dear. It is dated as back as July 2006. But I am not to be blamed for reading it late.

The result of the poll conducted by dogcatradio.com summarizes thus:
"Of the 103,900 votes cast in a period of seven days, an overwhelming 78% voted for a furry rather than a hairy companion.".

And you say that dog is the man's best friend? Re-phrase it as "woman's best friend" buddy. That is more fitting.

Image courtesy: Flickr.com

Heirloom Tomatoes.

And we all think that only antique grandfather clocks and creaky writing tables are passed on to the next generation and to the subsequent generation!

You must be aware the education is passed on as an heirloom. Ancient Sanskrit verses, vedas were passed on to several generations before they were able to put it in paper.

Like that, do you know that even tomato seeds are passed on as heirloom assets? True heirloom tomato is a cultivar whose seeds had been nurtured, selected, and handed down from one family member to another for many generations.

Read more...

Image Courtesy: Google Images.

Singing sands.

I have heard musical notes emanating from stone pillars. I did experiment on this when I went to the ruins of Vijayanagar Empire in Hampi, Karnataka, India.

When I knocked on the pillar with my knuckles, I could clearly hear the sound. There were several pillars on which I tried and all produced musical notes.

Now, here is a beach located remotely, on the Isle of Eigg in Scotland. Here, the sands sing. When walked on or sifted through fingers, it emits clearly audible musical sounds. (source:Reader's Digest)

As per scientists who have frequently experimented on the amazing fact, every grain of and is surrounded by air pockets; the friction between the sand grain and the air is the cause of the sound.

The perfume discovered by a Princess.

Attar-is a perfume, natural perfume made from Roses. It was accidentally discovered by a Persian princess Noor Jehan, while she was taking a royal bath in a stream filled with rose petals.

She saw an oily substance floating on top of the water and it emitted a heady fragrance. It all happened in the 17th century.

Soon it spread to other parts of the world but mainly to Bulgaria. Valley of Roses in Bulgaria is the largest manufacturers of attar in the world even today.

Only the damask roses are said to produce the finest attar. To produce one drop of the attar perfume, it takes 170 damask roses. 250 pounds of damask roses are required to produce one ounce of attar.

Hmm... no wonder it is very costly. It is aptly named as 'Liquid Gold'.

Read in Reader's Digest long ago.

Bulgarian damask Rose image courtesy: Google Images

Dinosaurs eating frog.

A frog that eats new born dinosaurs? Yes, I am not kidding. It is as real as you and I.

Aptly named 'devil' frog, was recently discovered in... where else but in Madagascar by scientists.
This frog is weighing, hold your breath, 10 pounds. I still can't interpret ponds; I can understand only kilo grams.

This frog is said to have lived 65 to 70 million years ago. But still, the remains of one such frog was found today -to teach us something probably?

Wsahington Post says, "It was the biggest, baddest, meanest froggy ever to have hopped on Earth."

Courtesy: Yahoo! News.

A raging fight between a butterfly and a plant.

Heliconius Butterfly

This is one of the most amazing fight that is little known to the world. This fight or a battle for survival has been taking place for centuries.

The two fighting parties:
Heliconius butterfly and passion flower vines.



Passion Flower Leaves


The Cause of the Battle:
Heliconius butterfly is very beautiful and it lays eggs only passion flower climbers. When the eggs hatch, the offspring devours the leaves.

The Battle:
1. The plant naturally wants to protect itself. It changed the shape of its leaves so that Heliconius butterflies can't find them because they depend only on their sight to find the vines.

2. The butterflies started developing another way to detect the passion flower leaves. They started drumming their legs on the leaves to detect their egg laying place.

3. The plant becomes smarter. They know (don't ask me how) that the larvae of this butterfly eat one another. The leaves produce yellow spots on them that look like eggs of Heliconius butterfly. This drove away the female butterflies.

4. Also the young leaves (tendrils) of passion flower soon begin to drop off after forming along with the eggs of butterflies.

5. It started producing nectar on its own that attracted the predators of butterflies.

The reason for the Heliconius