Mixed Bag(Personal)

UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS....CLASS PHOTO OF 2010 BATCH OF HEM SHEELA MODEL SCHOOL

2010-02-20T20:44:00.003+05:30

"Save Our Tigers"

2010-02-19T15:22:00.003+05:30

Join the roar for our national animal on the official ‘Save Our Tigers’ website – an Aircel initiative in partnership with WWF India. Speak up, SMS, blog, share the concern, stay informed... every little bit helps!!!

http://saveourtigers.com/WhatCanDoRoarOnline.php

DOWNLOAD WONDERFUL TIGER WALL PAPER. CLICK HERE

GURUDEV EKHON AARO KACHE....

2010-02-06T21:35:00.002+05:30

A GREAT WEBSITE ON COMPLETE WORKS OF RABINDRANATH TAGORE..... REALLY WONDERFUL:

http://rabindra-rachanabali.nltr.org/

Huge Explosion Reveals the Most Massive Star Known

2009-12-04T13:38:00.000+05:30

All supernova explosions are violent affairs, but this one takes the cake. Astronomers have spotted a new type of extremely bright cosmic explosion they think originates from an exceptionally massive star.

This breed of explosion has been long predicted, but never before seen. Like all supernovas, the blast is thought to have marked the end of a star's life. But in this case, that star may have started out with 200 times the mass of the sun.

The supernova in question, SN2007bi, was observed in 2007 in a nearby dwarf galaxy. Scientists knew at once it was something different because it was about 50 to 100 times brighter than a typical supernova.

"It was much brighter, and it was bright for a very long time," said researcher Paolo Mazzali of the Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Germany. "We could observe this thing almost two years after it was discovered, where you normally don't see anything anymore."

After analyzing its signature, astronomers published a paper in the Dec. 3 issue of the journal Nature confirming that it matches theoretical predictions of a so-called pair-instability supernova.

"There were some doubts that they existed," said astronomer Norbert Langer of the University of Bonn in Germany, who did not work on the project. Langer wrote an opinion essay on the finding in the same issue of Nature. "There were severe doubts that stars that massive could ever form in the universe. Now we seem to be very sure that there was a star with 200 solar masses."

In a pair-instability supernova, the star has neared the end of its life and exhausted its main supplies of hydrogen and helium, leaving it a core of mostly oxygen. In smaller stars, the core continues to burn until eventually it is all iron, then collapses in a Type II supernova, leaving behind a remnant black hole or neutron star.

But in the case of an extremely massive star, while its core is still made of oxygen, it releases photons that are so energetic, they create pairs of electrons and their anti-matter opposites, positrons. When the matter and antimatter meet, they annihilate each other. This reaction reduces the star's pressure, and it collapses, igniting the oxygen core in a runaway nuclear explosion that eats up the whole star, leaving no remnant at all.

The discovery of this rare type of supernova suggests that a few stars actually can grow into such large behemoths — which has long been a topic of debate.

"I was never a believer in very massive stars," Mazzali told SPACE.com. "Seeing something like this explode means these things exist. This is a fairly new development in the formation of stars."

INTERESTING POST FROM THE WORLD OF BIOCHEM

2009-11-21T22:39:00.001+05:30

The RNA World

by Sidney Altman
1989 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

The phrase "The RNA World" was coined by Walter Gilbert in 1986 in a commentary on the then recent observations of the catalytic properties of various RNAs. The RNA World referred to an hypothetical stage in the origin of life on Earth. During this stage, proteins were not yet engaged in biochemical reactions and RNA carried out both the information storage task of genetic information and the full range of catalytic roles necessary in a very primitive self-replicating system. Gilbert pointed out that neither DNA nor protein were required in such a primitive system if RNA could perform as a catalyst. At that time, it had only been demonstrated that RNA could cleave or ligate phosphodiester bonds. Nevertheless, as is a frequent occurrence in science, a general hypothesis was constructed from a few specific instances of a phenomenon. This hypothesis proved to be very effective in stimulating thought about the origin of life on Earth. Ensuing discoveries of other natural catalytic RNAs that could cleave and ligate phosphodiester bonds, and the very recent observation that the region surrounding the peptidyl transferase center of a bacterial 50S ribosomal subunit contains RNA and no protein, further buttress the hypothesis. Finally, the so-called "evolution in vitro" methodology, which is able to scan an enormous number of nucleic acid sequences in vitro for any given function, has revealed that RNA, indeed, can have many different catalytic functions as so can, presumably, DNA.

On further reflection, many doubts have been raised about whether or not the original genetic/catalytic material could have been RNA as we know it today because extreme conditions on the primitive Earth might have led to the rapid chemical degradation of RNA. Nevertheless, even if the precise chemical nature of the early genetic/catalytic material differed from present-day RNA, it seems reasonable to conclude that the RNA World did exist at some time. If very primitive life on Earth did not arise until about 3.5

billion years ago, there was, perhaps, a period of 0.5 billion years in which to sample many polymer sequences that originally arose through non-biochemical mechanisms and that ultimately evolved directed the first self-replicating systems.

My involvement in the discovery of the first catalytic RNA began in innocence during a study of tRNA biosynthesis in Escherichia coli. I was fortunate enough to isolate and characterize a precursor tRNA, one of the intermediates in the metabolic pathway leading to the synthesis of mature tRNA. As in all biochemical pathways, if one has an intermediate compound, there must be an intra-cellular enzyme that acts on this intermediate to take it to the next step in the pathway. This enzyme, ribonuclease P (RNase P), was readily identifiable. Its function was to cleave a phosphodiester bond at the start of the mature tRNA nucleotide sequence, thereby releasing the upstream extra or "precursor" nucleotides.

The total purification of RNase P proved to be a very difficult task. However, a perceptive and hard-working graduate student, Ben Stark, noticed that an RNA copurified with the protein in the enzyme preparation. He then devised a test to see if the RNA molecule was essential for the function of the enzyme. This test used the same strategy that Avery, MacLeod and McCarty had used to prove that DNA was the essential ingredient in bacterial transformation. In Stark's experiment, the test showed that the RNA was essential for RNase P function. This result explained why the purification, which had been designed to isolate a proteinaceous complex, was so difficult. It also led to much disbelief in the community of enzymologists.

We soon suggested that the RNA subunit of RNase P was part of the active center of the enzyme, by analogy to the then current picture of the ribosome. A few years later, however, Cecilia Guerrier-Takada, a postdoctoral fellow, demonstrated that this RNA, itself, was a true enzyme in vitro. At that time, Tom Cech had recently and independently observed phosphoester bond cleavage and ligation by a different RNA molecule. Cech's observation and ours, while still greeted skeptically by some members of the enzymological community, were soon universally accepted and within a few years other catalytic RNAs derived from plant pathogens and the human delta RNA were also found.

The chemical details of catalysis by RNase P remain to be fully worked out although a rough picture of this reaction is now available. A fascinating aspect of the RNase P "problem" is the vast difference in chemical make-up of subunits and catalytic mechanism of this enzyme as it is found in eukaryotes (e.g., the RNA subunit is not active in vitro) compared to these properties in prokaryotes. Evolution has presented us with contemporary versions of this enzyme that undoubtedly will someday tell us an interesting story of its progression from an RNA to various complexes of RNA and protein.

Launching Bhuvan: ISRO’s answer to Google Earth, zoom into states, districts

2009-08-13T12:38:00.001+05:30

Google Earth’s got some competition now — from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which today unveiled its beta version of Bhuvan (meaning earth in Sanskrit).

A web-based tool like Google Earth, Bhuvan promises to give better 3-D satellite imagery of India than is currently being offered by the US-based software giant plus a host of India-specific features like weather information and even administrative boundaries of all states and districts.

The application can be downloaded from http://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/

The tool would offer pictures of the globe, just like Google Earth, and navigable in the same way but currently has the best resolutions over the Indian sub-continent. It allows users to fly from space to street level, grab, spin and zoom down to any place.

It also provides tools for measuring, drawing, saving, printing and visualizing thematic information. The resolutions currently on offer are good enough to view a vehicle moving on a road quite clearly.

Bhuvan currently only offers images taken between one and three years ago even over India. It combines satellite imagery from various sensors onboard IRS (Indian Remote Sensing) satellites and transposes them on a 3-D globe. As it keeps updating its database with more recent and higher resolution images, Bhuvan eventually promises to offer real-time data and images.

Incidentally, Indian authorities have had some problems in the past with Google Earth’s depiction of certain parts of the country. Recently, Google Earth admitted that it had mistakenly shown some areas in Arunachal Pradesh as part of Chinese territory and promised to correct the maps soon. The Indian government had earlier pulled up Google Earth for showing some sensitive and strategic defence locations on its maps.

GOOGLE MAPS - Satellite Images of HEM SHEELA MODEL SCHOOL

2009-05-17T18:38:00.004+05:30

ISNT THIS EXCITING???

Photos of our beloved MOHANTY SIR

2009-05-02T00:01:00.001+05:30

SIR WE MISS U A LOTTTTT! - CLASS 12/B(HSMS)

Some more photos

2009-02-14T11:46:00.004+05:30

hsms photos

2009-02-07T00:48:00.000+05:30

Hem Sheel Model school founders day photos

2009-02-07T00:41:00.001+05:30

Hem Sheela Model School - 13th Founders Day Prog

2009-02-07T00:34:00.003+05:30

Some photos..........

Wanna be happy? Have some ice cream

2008-11-05T10:16:00.002+05:30

Ice cream’s great, people have known it for years. And, now a new study has also confirmed it — a spoonful of the cold stuff really makes everyone happy. Researchers at Ashland University in Ohio have based their findings on an analysis of food choices of 240 young adults who were asked to rate a list of 62 stuff on happiness, excitability, pleasantness, and comfort. Ice cream got the highest happiness scores followed by chocolate, cake, grapes, and pizza. While those on the lowest happiness scores included tofu, soy, avocado and bologna, the WebMD reported. The subjects also rated each food's healthiness. “Healthiness scores indicated that the lowest ranked foods primarily consisted of snack food items, where the highest were certain fruits and vegetables (broccoli, apple, orange, carrots, grapes, and peach),” lead researcher David Vanata said. The researchers also gave the participants a pop quiz after they finished ranking the foods. The task: Flip the page over and quickly write down as many of the listed foods as they could remember. The participants recalled significantly more of the healthy foods than the unhealthy foods.But they weren’t particularly likely to recall the foods with high emotional scores, either in terms of the foods’ overall emotional response or happiness, excitability, pleasantness and comfort. “Emotional words were not recalled more than non-emotional words and healthy foods were recalled over unhealthy foods,” Vanata said.

Chandrayaan-1

2008-10-22T19:51:00.001+05:30

All about India's moon mission

October 17, 2008

AIndia's first Moon mission, Chandrayaan is all set to add a golden chapter to India's space endeavour when it takes off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on October 22.

Here's all that you wanted to know about India's first Moon mission

What is Chandrayaan-1?

Chandrayaan-1 is a scientific investigation -- by spacecraft -- of the Moon. The name Chandrayaan means Chandra (Moon), Yaan (vehicle). Chandrayaan-1 is the first Indian planetary science and exploration mission.

When, and from where, Chandrayaan-1 will be launched?

Chandrayaan-1 will be launched on October 22, 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota (SHAR).

How long will it take Chandrayaan-1 to get to Moon?

It will take about 5� days for Chandrayaan-1 to get to the Moon.

How close to Moon will Chandrayaan-1 come while orbiting the Moon?

Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft will be in a 100 km polar orbit around the Moon.

What are Chandrayaan' s scientific goals?

The Chandrayaan-1 mission is aimed at high-resolution remote sensing of the Lunar surface in visible, near Infrared, low energy X-rays and high-energy X-ray regions.

Specific scientific goals are:

To prepare a three-dimensional atlas (with a high spatial and altitude resolution of 5-10m) of both near and far side of the moon.

To conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface for distribution of elements such as Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Calcium, Iron and Titanium with a spatial resolution of about 20 km and high atomic number elements such as Radon, Uranium & Thorium with a spatial resolution of about 40 km.

By simultaneous photo geological and chemical mapping we will be able to identify different geological units, which will test the hypothesis for the origin and early evolutionary history of the moon and help in determining the nature of the lunar crust.

Image: On October 22, India will take a giant leap into space as it sets off Chandrayaan to explore the moon.
Text: ISRO | Photograph: Bruno Vincent/Getty Images

Also read: Coverage: India's Moon Mission

Delta 32 Mutation

2008-10-12T20:15:00.000+05:30

There may be. There are many stories where someone who was in constant contact with plague victims didn’t die. Maybe genetics is the explanation.

For example, in 1665, the plague hit a small village in England called Eyam. The town quarantined itself to keep the Black Death from spreading into the rest of the country. A year later, the plague had burnt itself out but half of the townspeople were dead. Was there something special about the half that lived?

In 1996, researchers tracked down descendants of the people of Eyam and looked for any mutations they might have in common to explain this high survival rate. What they found was a mutation called CCR5-delta 32.

The CCR5-delta 32 mutation was already known for a different reason—people with one copy of the CCR5-delta 32 mutation are resistant to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. People with 2 copies are virtually immune to HIV.

The spread of the black death

The CCR5-delta 32 mutation probably arose a few thousand years ago in Northeastern Europe. It stayed rare until around 700 years ago when it suddenly became more common. The plague started in Europe around 700 years ago.

So, does CCR5-delta 32 protect people from the plague bacteria? Probably not. Mice infected with the plague bacteria died at around the same rates whether or not they had the CCR5-delta 32 mutation.

Why then is this mutation so common in Europeans and even more common in people whose ancestors came from Eyam?

Maybe smallpox is the reason. Smallpox killed 3 in 10 infected people for thousands of years in Europe. Recent studies suggest that smallpox, like HIV, can’t infect someone with the CCR5-delta 32 mutation.

Of course this doesn’t explain Eyam (unless there was a lot of smallpox in the area). A more controversial theory is that an unknown virus, not the plague bacteria, caused the Black Death. Besides the evidence of the CCR5-delta 32 mutation itself, some people contend that the disease shouldn’t have been stopped by quarantine and that it spread too quickly for a flea borne illness.

Anyway, as you can see, while genetics were probably involved, there isn’t yet a solid answer as to what genes were involved.

"KHWAISHEIN"

2008-09-12T16:12:00.001+05:30

Dear Friends,

~ANEEK'S MOST AWAITED ALBUM RELEASE ~

"KHWAISHEIN"

Fans of Aneek Dhar have been spellbound by his remarkable singing since his entry on the music scene. He first gained a reputation for good singing when he won the Bengali spin off of the popular Zee TV talent hunt Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. The format of that competition required that performances in the show�s finale will also be scored and the winner would be chosen at the end of the show. So, after hours of competition on the show�s finale, and after months of hard work, Aneek became the winner. Aneek appeared as a wild card entry in Zee TV�s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007.

This competition was an international one, gathering talent from all over the globe in one talent search. One of his performances was so touching that it brought tears to a judge�s eyes. Judges of the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa competition had wonderful things to say about Aneek. Shekhar Ravjiani (of music director duo Vishal-Shekhar) called Aneek a �ready made playback singer.� Ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh commented �you sing very well. At your age, we used to struggle but you did a fabulous job.� After months of tough competition Aneek was declared the winner on October 13th 2007.

His fans have watched Aneek sing songs from all genres of Indian music with equal ease and comfort. And now, he has come out with his first album! Aneek Dhar's album "KHWAISHEIN" will be releasing in September. The album has great potential. Its tracks will be enjoyed by all his fans. Many prestigious music directors have contributed to the making of this album. I encourage all fans to own original copies of this album to support our favorite singer�s first solo musical venture.
(Write up by my dear sis Sonnia@Lucky Jade)

The grand release will held at two places.It will be in Kolkata and on the set of Srgmp(Bombay) in September 2008. The Kolkata launching of the album will be held on September 12th. The taping of his SRGMP launching is complete and it should be telecasted this week. You can click on the link below for a picture slide show of the SRGMP launching. (Courtesy of Bollyvista)

http://www.bollyvista.com/photogallery/slideshow.php?cat=72&subcat=3179

Here is a clip of his album launching, thanks to the video uploader.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjMn42Tpr-4

CERN fires up new atom smasher to near Big Bang

2008-09-10T17:18:00.002+05:30

CERN fires up new atom smasher to near Big Bang
By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press WriterSun Sep 7, 2:52 PM ET
GENEVA - It has been called an Alice in Wonderland investigation into the makeup of the universe — or dangerous tampering with nature that could spell doomsday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Whatever the case, the most powerful atom-smasher ever built comes online Wednesday, eagerly anticipated by scientists worldwide who have awaited this moment for two decades.
The multibillion-dollar Large Hadron Collider will explore the tiniest particles and come ever closer to re-enacting the big bang, the theory that a colossal explosion created the universe.
The machine at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, promises scientists a closer look at the makeup of matter, filling in gaps in knowledge or possibly reshaping theories.
The first beams of protons will be fired around the 17-mile tunnel to test the controlling strength of the world's largest superconducting magnets. It will still be about a month before beams traveling in opposite directions are brought together in collisions that some skeptics fear could create micro "black holes" and endanger the planet.
The project has attracted researchers of 80 nationalities, some 1,200 of them from the United States, which contributed $531 million of the project's price tag of nearly $4 billion.
"This only happens once a generation," said Katie Yurkewicz, spokeswoman for the U.S. contingent at the CERN project. "People are certainly very excited."
The collider at Fermilab outside Chicago could beat CERN to some discoveries, but the Geneva equipment, generating seven times more energy than Fermilab, will give it big advantages.
The CERN collider is designed to push the proton beam close to the speed of light, whizzing 11,000 times a second around the tunnel 150 to 500 feet under the bucolic countryside on the French-Swiss border.
Once the beam is successfully fired counterclockwise, a clockwise test will follow. Then the scientists will aim the beams at each other so that protons collide, shattering into fragments and releasing energy under the gaze of detectors filling cathedral-sized caverns at points along the tunnel.
CERN dismisses the risk of micro black holes, subatomic versions of collapsed stars whose gravity is so strong they can suck in planets and other stars.
But the skeptics have filed suit in U.S. District Court in Hawaii and in the European Court of Human Rights to stop the project. They unsuccessfully mounted a similar action in 1999 to block the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratoryin New York state.
CERN's collider has been under construction since 2003, financed mostly by its 20 European member states. The United States and Japan are major contributors with observer status in CERN.
Scientists started colliding subatomic particles decades ago. As the machines grew more powerful, the experiments revealed that protons and neutrons — previously thought to be the smallest components of an atom — were made of still smaller quarks and gluons.
CERN hopes to recreate conditions in the laboratory a split-second after the big bang, teaching them more about "dark matter," antimatter and possibly hidden dimensions of space and time.
Meanwhile, scientists have found innovative ways to explain the concept in layman's terms.
The team working on one of the four major installations in the tunnel — the ALICE, or "A Large Ion Collider Experiment" — produced a comic book featuring Carlo the physicist and a girl called Alice to explain the machine's investigation of matter a split second after the Big Bang.
"We create mini Big Bangs by bumping two nuclei into each other," Carlo explains to Alice, who has just followed a rabbit down one of the hole-like shafts at CERN.
"This releases an enormous amount of energy that liberates thousands of quarks and gluons normally imprisoned inside the nucleus. Quarks and gluons then form a kind of thick soup that we call the quark-gluon plasma."
The soup cools quickly and the quarks and gluons stick together to form protons and neutrons, the building blocks of matter.
That will enable scientists to look for still missing pieces to the puzzle — or lead to the formulation of a new theory on the makeup of matter.
Kate McAlpine, 23, a Michigan State University graduate at CERN, has produced the Large Hadron Rap, a video clip that has attracted more than a million views onYouTube.
"The things that it discovers will rock you in the head," McAlpine raps as she dances in the tunnel and caverns.
CERN spokesman James Gillies said the lyrics are "absolutely scientifically spot on."
"It's quite brilliant," Gillies said.
___
On the Net:
CERN: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_re_eu/storytext/big_bang_machine/28998361/SIG=10k9kfpdt/*http://www.cern.ch
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_re_eu/storytext/big_bang_machine/28998361/SIG=10lgu019d/*http://www.fnal.gov
The U.S. at the LHC: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_re_eu/storytext/big_bang_machine/28998361/SIG=10m76scff/*http://www.uslhc.us/
Large Hadron Rap: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_re_eu/storytext/big_bang_machine/28998361/SIG=11b8oen0l/*http://www.youtube.com/watch?vf6aU-wFSqt0

Beijing olympics

2008-09-09T00:20:00.000+05:30

Red star over the Games

KAMESH SRINIVASAN
in Beijing

China has delivered everything it promised to. Looking back at the gold rush, a couple of days before the close of the event.

CHINA has shown the world that not only can it organise the Ultimate Olympics on a scale befitting its stature but it can also assert itself on the field of play. From winning 32 gold medals and being a close second to the United States, which won 36 in the Athens Games in 2004, China has shot up dramatically towards the 50-gold-medal mark at home even before the curtains have come down on the Games.

A nervous U.S. started dropping batons in the sprint relays in both the men’s and women’s events to lose its grip even on athletics. Michael Phelps spared the U.S.’ blushes with his record-breaking eight gold medals. Phelps has won 14 gold medals in two Olympics. What would the U.S. be without him? The Jamaicans led by Usain Bolt, who won both the men’s 100 and 200 metres gold medals with world records, assisted the Chinese in wrecking the calculations of the U.S.

Liu Xiang must have been a huge disappointment for the Chinese as he could not deliver the men’s 110 metres hurdles gold as he had done in Athens. In a tragic turn of events, when the whole world was expecting him to beat world record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba and possibly regain the record, the world champion limped out with an injury. It was an emotional moment for the entire country as a gold in athletics is a rare feature in Chinese Olympic history, and China valued the hurdles gold more than all the other medals put together. However, the country is expected to top the medals tally.

Likewise, the Chinese were also unable to retain the women’s tennis doubles gold. Yan Zi and Zheng Jie played their hearts out but had to be content with the bronze. However, China was not willing to rue its missed medals, gold in particular. It had made room in other quarters. Gold was not going to be a problem. It was difficult to believe PriceWaterhouse Coopers when it projected that China would scoop more than 45 gold medals as it was tough to figure out the disciplines in which China could show an improvement. The advantage with China was that it was not building its hopes, and a sporting empire that promises to dominate the world stage for many years, on one or two stars. It was happy to see Yao Ming, the towering basketball player, carry the national flag in the opening ceremony for the second successive time. The stars are merely meant to provide a face to the stature of Chinese sports in the global league, and it is left to the unsung heroes and heroines, who have been toiling silently and systematically for years with the help of world-class trainers and coaches, to deliver the goods.

BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP

FIREWORKS IN FRONT of the National Stadium, also known as the "Bird's Nest", during the opening ceremony on August 8. The three-hour show had more than 15,000 performers showcasing the nation's ancient history and its rise as a modern power.

The goal is gold. This can easily be gleaned from the fact that for the 46 gold medals that China has won at the time of writing, it has won only 15 silver and 22 bronze medals. China has done very well to strengthen its strong points by converting the silver and bronze medals into gold in those disciplines.

Of course, this is a not a new phenomenon though the scale is relatively much bigger. China won 17 silver and 14 bronze medals while capturing 32 gold medals four years ago, which served as a warning to the world that the dragon would be the symbol of power at home in Beijing. The explosive power required for athletics and swimming may not be that easy to master, but China has shown the way by capitalising on its supple athletes to dominate artistic gymnastics in which it has won the lion’s share of the gold medals, that is, nine. This is a huge leap for China as it only won one gold medal and two bronze medals in Athens. There are so many new stars. It just dug the ground from under traditional rivals, the U.S. and Romania.

When Du Li failed to win the first medal in the Beijing Games in the women’s 10-metre air rifle, it was a jolt, but the champion shooter recovered to capture the women’s 50-metre rifle three-positions event five days later. China managed to win one more gold in shooting than the four it won in Athens. The intensity shown by the athletes in competition and the hunger for success has been phenomenal.

In diving, China has easily surpassed its earlier collection of six gold medals, and in weightlifting it has won three gold medals more than the last time. In table tennis, it lost one of its three gold medals but has retained its stranglehold on badminton, capturing three gold medals in the sport. There were new gold medals for China in archery, fencing, trampoline, artistic gymnastics, judo and rowing.

HOISTING CHINA'S NATIONAL flag at the opening ceremony.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge is not surprised by China’s domination. Like the rest of the world, he expected it to be so. “This success will last as long as the sporting system lasts here,” he said. He pointed out the two advantages that China enjoys: One, China’s population of 1.3 billion, which gives it variety and a huge base from which to select and nurture world-class athletes. Second, the fact that the government has taken it as a challenge to channel revenue to project a healthy image of China not only as a sporting superpower but as a country with a healthy economy and a world-class lifestyle. “It will be difficult to change that,” said Rogge, as he visualised the rest of the countries fighting hard to cope with the hot pace set by China to reach the top.

The magnificent infrastructure, starting with the “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium and the “Water Cube” swimming arena, is perhaps the best in the world and is ready to act as a training base to turn many generations of Chinese into world-class athletes. Undoubtedly, China’s overwhelming success in these Games and its dozens of stadia will be a lasting legacy for its youth. Rogge was able to see beyond the sporting supremacy of China, which may continue in London in 2012 and afterwards, and said that its overall growth would drive it towards being the leader on other fronts as well. “China is becoming an economic superpower. It might well become the economic leader of the world. We have to understand that it is no longer a bipolar world, where it is East against West,” he observed.

China coined the slogan “One world, One dream’” for the Games and has given the Olympic movement a new direction. With its budget of £22.6 billion to get the Games going, China has set a new standard that is going to be difficult to match for the rest of the world. In fact, London has an estimated budget of £9.3 billion for the Games in 2012. Greece found itself in the red over its Olympics and just does not know what to do with the world-class facilities it erected for the world to perform in for a little over a fortnight. The maintenance itself demands a huge budget. China has no such problems. It has the population and the system in place to capitalise on the gigantic structures that are technological marvels and have become new landmarks in the world of sports.

China has delivered everything it promised to. One could not have asked for anything better in these Olympic Games. The philosophy of the Green Olympics will continue to be a way of life for the Chinese. The official machinery has decided to improve the quality of life, starting with a clean atmosphere by adopting the stringent measures that have been in vogue during the Games. The world should watch out for a healthier and more powerful China.

MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS

MEMBERS OF THE Chinese men's artistic gymnastic team posing with their gold medals on the podium on August 12.

MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS

CHINA'S WOMEN'S ARTISTIC gymnastics team, (from left to right) Cheng Fei, Yang Yilin, Li Shanshan, He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan and Deng Linlin, after winning the gold medal on August 13.

What Is A Gene? Media Define the Concept In Many Different Ways

2008-09-07T21:57:00.001+05:30

Even scientists define ‘a gene’ in different ways, so it comes as little surprise that the media also have various ways of framing the concept of a gene, according to a new study.

The study, Frame that gene, is based on the analysis of 300 articles in British and Norwegian newspapers: The Guardian, The Sun and The Daily Mail from the UK; and Aftenposten, Dagbladet, and VG from Norway.

The researchers — a molecular biologist, a media expert and a PhD student in science communication from the University of Oslo, Norway — identified five main ‘gene frames’ in different types of media. For example, the “deterministic” frame, which was particularly evident in tabloid media, involves one-dimensional conclusions along the lines of “Drunk? It’s in your genes”.

According to the authors of the study, this may be related to the desire of journalists to sell a story by keeping it simple and accessible. In contrast, the “evolutionary” frame, commonly used by scientists, gives more insight, but may be difficult to communicate. Moreover, the study also found that the gene has become a playful metaphor, for example by stating that “Mazda has many Ford genes”.

The analysis in EMBO reports shows that journalists present the term ‘gene’ — either consciously or subconsciously — using a number of different frames that may invoke various prejudiced images in the reader’s mind. “Such a diversity of meanings presents a key challenge to science communications, so both scientists and journalists could benefit from a clear classification of the polysemy,” the paper argues.

The authors hope that their novel approach will be a useful tool for journalists and scientists to improve their explanations of genetics for a broader audience and better understand how scientific topics are framed in the mass media.

“The common understanding of scientific topics is increasingly important because the public is more and more able to influence policy-making on scientific issues and thus the funding and even the nature of research itself”, explained Rebecca Carver from the Institute of Basic Medical Science at the University of Oslo and the first author of the study. Ferocious debates on genetically modified crops or stem cell research illustrate the importance that genetics and molecular biology have gained in everyday life.

Journal reference:

. Frame that Gene: A tool for Analyzing and Classifying the Communication of Genetics to the Public. EMBO, October, 2008

Adapted from materials provided by European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), via AlphaGalileo.

Google launches internet browser

2008-09-04T16:59:00.002+05:30

Google is launching an open source web browser to compete with Internet Explorer and Firefox.

The browser is designed to be fast, and to cope with the next generation of web applications that rely on graphics and multimedia.

Called Chrome, it will launch as a beta for Windows machines in 100 countries, with Mac and Linux versions to come.

"We realised... we needed to completely rethink the browser," said Google's Sundar Pichai in a blog post.

The new browser will help Google take advantage of developments it is pushing online in rich web applications that are challenging traditional desktop programs.

It's certainly the biggest news in the browser space since Firefox started to dent Internet Explorer's lead and many people see this as a re-ignition of the browser wars

Darren Waters

dot.life blog

Google has a suite of web apps, such as Documents, Picasa and Maps which offer functionality that is beginning to replace offline software.

"What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build," Mr Pichai, VP Product Management, wrote.

Competition

The launch of a beta version of Chrome on Tuesday evening (UK time) will be Google's latest assault on Microsoft's dominance of the PC business. The firm's Internet Explorer program dominates the browser landscape, with 80% of the market.

Those already in the browser space were quick to respond to the news.

Writing in his blog, John Lilly, chief executive of Mozilla was sanguine about the new rival in the browsersphere.

"It should come as no real surprise that Google has done something here - their business is the web, and they’ve got clear opinions on how things should be, and smart people thinking about how to make things better."

Chrome will be a browser optimized for the things that they see as important, and it’ll be interesting to see how it evolves," he wrote.

Google's new web browser incorporates open source software

He welcomed the competition and said collaboration between Mozilla and Google on certain projects would continue.

Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, was more bullish.

"The browser landscape is highly competitive, but people will choose Internet Explorer 8 for the way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips, respects their personal choices about how they want to browse and, more than any other browsing technology, puts them in control of their personal data online," he said in a statement.

For Nate Elliot, an analyst with Jupiter Research, entering the browser market is an obvious next move for Google.

"This is a much bigger undertaking than providing a Google toolbar but it feels like the natural next step," he said.

But competing with the established browser names could be harder, he thinks.

"Mozilla's Firefox is very well respected and yet it commands less than 20% of the browser market which just shows how hard it is to overtake an incumbent although Google does have almost unparallelled ability to promote it to almost the entire online audience," he said.

Chrome is now available for download.

2008-08-08T17:04:00.001+05:30

Meaning of F.R.I.E.N.D.S.H.I.P

"F" is for Fun............That friends share when they are together.

"R" is for Reliability....A true friend is someone that you can always rely on.

"I" is for Interest.......Someone who is genuinely interested in you, your fears, joys, and life.

"E" is for Energy.........They pick you up when you are down, and give you the energy to go on and believe in yourself.

"N" is for Nothing........Nothing is ever too much, no matter what time it is, night or day.

"D" is for Distance.......Although the miles may separate you, a true friend is never far away.

"S" is for Secrets........Your feelings and personal/private thoughts that you can only share with a friend.

"H" is for Happiness......The way I feel when we are together.

"I" is for Inseparable....Through good times and bad, tears and laughter. A friend will always be there for you.

"P" is for Perfect........The friendship.

Friendship Quotes

2008-07-05T10:14:00.000+05:30

Friends are born, not made.

Henry Adams

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,. All losses are restored and sorrows end.

William Shakespeare

All love that has not friendship for its base, Is like a mansion built upon the sand.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

In the rhythm of Life, we sometime find ourselves out of tune, But aslong as there are friends to provide the melody, The music plays on.

Anonymous

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

All love that has not friendship for its base, Is like a mansion built upon the sand.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

What is a friend? I will tell you…it is someone with whom you dare to be yourself.

Frank Crane

Count your life by smiles not tears, count your age by friends not years.

Unknown

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in otherpeople than you can in two years by trying to get other peopleinterested in you.

Dale Carnegie

It is indeed an achievement not to make 100 friends but to keep 1 friend for 100 years.

Unknown

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam : President of India

2008-06-30T19:15:00.000+05:30

Quotes

1. "Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life."

2. "Thinking is progress. Non-thinking is stagnation of the individual, organisation and the country. Thinking leads to action. Knowledge without action is useless and irrelevant. Knowledge with action, converts adversity into prosperity."

3. "When you speak, speak the truth; perform when you promise; discharge your trust…. Withhold your hands from striking, and from taking that which is unlawful and bad…"

4. "What actions are most excellent? To gladden the heart of a human being, to feed the hungry, to help the afflicted to lighten the sorrow of the sorrowful and to remove the wrongs of injured…"

5. "All God's creatures are His family; and he is the most beloved of God who tries to do most good to God's creatures."

6. "Away! Fond thoughts, and vex my soul no more! Work claimed my wakeful nights, my busy days Albeit brought memories of Rameswaram shore Yet haunt my dreaming gaze!"

7. "I will not be presumptuous enough to say that my life can be a role model for anybody; but some poor child living in an obscure place in an underprivileged social setting may find a little solace in the way my destiny has been shaped. It could perhaps help such children liberate themselves from the bondage of their illusory backwardness and hopelessness?.."

8. "My worthiness is all my doubt His Merit – all my fear- Contrasting which my quality Does however appear "

2008-06-24T23:12:00.001+05:30

Take a chill swill

The monsoons are here, and it is cooler, yet Srikanta Taparia continues to be flooded with demands for her sharbats. While home-made sharbats are no novelty, her flavours are. The usual suspects include orange, pineapple, aam panna, kesar, rose, badam, thandai and badam-kesar. The off-beat ones are mogra, chandan, jamun, juhi, phalsa, lemon ice tea and cold coffee. Taparia uses fruits, flowers and spices to revive old flavours and create new ones.

Thanda thanda cool cool
The speciality of her sharbats is the absence of colour or preservative that bring in a synthetic taste. These sharbats also have ingredients with therapeutic value. The jamun sharbat is good for diabetics, the variyali or saunf for indigestion and chandan cools the body. However, much depends on the availability, quality and price of the raw ingredients. She laments on the quality of juhi flowers, rues the unavailability of chandan and sighs over the high prices of phalsa.

Dadi ma ke nuskhe
Taparia prepares her sharbats using her grandmother’s recipes. She says, “I grew up in Kolkata where humidity levels are high. So sharbats are always welcome.” Taparia has been making sharbats for almost 35 years. But it was only six to seven years ago that she started taking orders. Though she employs help, she insists on concocting the sharbats herself. She says, “It’s my hand that makes all the difference. Also, while making sharbats it’s important to get the proportions right.” A bottle of fruit or flower- flavoured sharbat is priced between Rs 110 and Rs 140. The ones with badam, kesar, chandan are priced slightly higher.

2008-06-23T15:29:00.000+05:30

Lahiri's new book is NYT's bestseller

Indian American Jhumpa Lahiri's new book Unaccustomed Earth, which has been receiving rave reviews in the US press, has zoomed to the top in the list of best-selling fiction within two weeks of its April 1 launch.

The book, New York-based Lahiri's second collection of short stories, debuts at No. 1 slot in the list to appear in the Times on April 20, a paper's blog said Thursday.

"It's hard to remember the last genuinely serious, well-written work of fiction - particularly a book of stories - that leapt straight to No. 1; it's a powerful demonstration of Lahiri's newfound commercial clout," the blog Paper Cut said.

Lahiri's first collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000. But she is better known for her novel, The Namesake, which was turned into a movie last year by Mira Nair, starring Tabu and Irfan Khan.

Major US papers have promptly reviewed Unaccustomed Earth, a collection of eight stories. The New York Times Book Review featured the book on the cover Sunday.

USA Today wrote about the book: "Immigrants may be the stories' protagonists, but their doubts, insecurities, losses and heartbreaks belong to all of us. Never before has Lahiri mined so perfectly the secrets of the human heart."

The gushing review continued, "In part, Lahiri's gift to the reader is gorgeous prose that bestows greatness on life's mundane events and activities. But it is her exploration of lost love and lost loved ones that gives her stories an emotional exactitude few writers could ever hope to match."

Publishers Weekly said, "Lahiri's stories of exile, identity, disappointment and maturation evince a spare and subtle mastery that has few contemporary equals."

Interestingly, Lahiri, of Bengali descent, who is on a month long US tour to promote her book, has hardly looked at the reviews for her new book.

"I feel like I should be more hardened at this point, but in a way I feel more vulnerable. With this book I decided not to look at anything at all. Perhaps in the future I'll ask my editor or someone to show me a few reviews that she thinks could really benefit me somehow," she told The Atlantic