Ramjee's Learning

The Lion King!

2010-03-27T17:15:00.019+05:30

Kevin Richardson, animal ranger in Lanseria, South Africa.
HE sleeps with lions, wrestles with cheetahs and hugs hyenas - meet the "Lion Whisperer". Thirty-two-year-old Kevin Richardson spends his days - and nights - curled up with massive cats as part of his job at The Lion Park, at Lanseria, outside Johannesburg.

The South African lion whisperer has a natural affinity with some of the most dangerous animals on the planet, many of whom he names and raises by hand from birth.

"I don't use sticks, whips or chains - just patience,'' he says. "It may be dangerous, but this is a passion for me, not a job.

"I have to rely on my instincts to gauge an animal or a situation, and I will not approach a creature if something doesn't feel right.''

Mr Richardson began working with big cats - and particularly lions and hyenas - 10 years ago after quitting his career in physiology, where he worked with patients who had undergone surgery.

He wants to educate people about the big cats in a bid to save these beautiful animals.

Part of his approach is to bond intimately with the animals and they learn to treat him as a member of their pride.

"They see me as a creature they have adopted. I have also been an adopted parent in a lot of instances,'' Mr Richardson recently told South African television show Carte Blanche.

"I am someone they relate to. I enrich their lives. When I come here it's fun: we take all these animals out into the big, open spaces. If these animals are going to be kept in a captive situation, don't they deserve to have the best care, the best entertainment, the best lives?''

Mr Richardson's job is inherently dangerous. The lions at Lanseria often weigh more than 220kg and the hyenas, which are notoriously unpredictable, have the ability to bite through thick steel.

And all the big cats are fiercely protective of their young - but Mr Richardson has few fears.

"With all the animals I'm near the top (in dominance terms). You have got to be near the top. The moment they see you as a lower-order figure, they will challenge you,'' he said.

Horrors at Hatchery!

2009-09-04T12:00:00.004+05:30

Would a factory of King Herod be similar to this or would it be more merciful. We could run a debate on this!

I really pity these poor animals, and for once am extremely proud to be a vegetarian…!

For everyone who has not had any interactions with chicken, besides chewing them from their plate, this is a must watch video! Heart breaking! The scenes that show them de-beaking and grounding the gentle chicks, is outright disgusting!

One can understand the need to separate males and females, but acting like they are not even a live breathing animal with feelings is absolutely deplorable :~( It's like Hitler’s holocaust of sorts for the chickens...

This is the very essence of an unsustainable culture.

God, how horrible! Tweety, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! are how, one would feel like screaming! Hang your head in shame if after having seen these horrific images, and you still continue to eat animals and their products!

Thank You Again!

2009-08-15T15:40:00.006+05:30

Just a short note to wish you all a Happy Independence Day and you get time to share the weekend finds you with good friends, family, and in good spirits, even if you're not celebrating anything or are celebrating something else.

I wanted to add my share of appreciation for many of you out there, who have helped me stay sane and smiling after the accident, that happened 15 years before on this very day, and my life took a complete turn. Over the last 12 years,

I am glad to inform you all with great pleasure that I have seen some success, some failures in this competition to survive… I guess, I’ve emerged a winner thanks to many of you. The first few names that come to my mind are: Bhaskar Bhai Dave a good Samaritan, who took it upon himself and rushed me to the hospital at Ahmedabad. Srinivasan and Kumar my brothers who encouraged me to survive and pulled me up from whatever state I was in. My wife Sangeetha and Son Suraj have turned me positive and look up to more life ahead.

My doctors, Dr. Ramesh Viradia, the Ortho and Dr. Yashwant Doshi who extended a helping hand more than just as a doctor….

A million and more thanks are due to several of my Friends. My special gratitude to Sunil, Meena, Shanmugam, The Khannas, Manimozhi and her kids Suganthi and Revathi, Greena, Thomas & Fen (TG), Ambika, Hema and Kirtida who went way beyond to put a smile back on my face and lent their shoulders to cry, weep and wail… Meena and Mamata thanks for having faith in me through the most insane period of my life. These days I am able to put the training I’ve had from you and have become able to put into practice in line with my responsibilities. Without your guidance, I would not have made it. Thank you again

Many a young children (who are in their prime youth these days) Suzianna, Sanjana, Chaithri, Saakshi, Fen, Revathi, Suganthi, Vikram… the endless list, whose cheerful smile and high spirit smiles and greetings have cheered me all along. Now my son, Suraj has taken that responsibility all upon him and does it with amicable ease.

I cannot also forget to remember the cheerful lunching moments in office with Gopal, Sarala, Ambika, Hema, Kalyani, Takorayan, Minaxi, Priya, Manisha Bhana, Radha, Kamlesh, who cheered me many times through the Pain-O-Therapy days...

Then finally, I would like to thank my Physiotherapists Padmashri whose high spirit of hardwork helped me ease out of those harder days of “bucling-legs”with ease.

Thank you all once again!

Saving the Good, the Bad--And the Ugly

2009-07-30T08:52:00.013+05:30

A hyena might not be as adorable as a tiger cub or dolphin, but a few champions of nature's endangered ugly underdogs say the hideous are just as worthy of protection as the huggable: By Katherine Harmon ( From The Scientific American)

What happens when an animal that needs saving isn't as cute as a tiger cub? Some biologists explain why human aesthetic preference has played such a big role in protecting the panda--over stranger species like this one, the helmeted hornbill.

The bulbous purple burrowing frog may not have made it onto any awww-inspiring tote bags like the unequivocally adorable giant panda. But, an increasing number of people are arguing, the humble frog—and other more homely creatures—is at least equally worth rescuing from the brink of extinction.

One of those people is Nathan Yaussy, an ecology graduate student at Kent State University in Ohio and the creator of the EUT—Endangered Ugly Things blog (recently profiled in The Washington Post). "My goal is just to let people know that these things are out there, and they're just as important as the panda," he says.

A handful of animals that are easier on the eye than, say, the aye-aye, have gotten the lion's share of publicity, funds and legislation for their salvation. Many so-called "charismatic mega-fauna," which conservationists select as mascots—or "poster children", are chosen for their looks rather than their ecological importance, notes biologist David Stokes of the University of Washington in Bothell.

"If we could raise the ecological literacy of the public and our officials to see beyond the surface value of these animals to their ecological or even utilitarian role," Stokes says, "that would be really valuable." Many endangered insects may actually be more ecologically "important" than an affable Galápagos penguin. But biologists, he notes, often neglect to take preference into account.

Certainly looks can be a matter of personal preference, but the surefire way that an animal finds its way into the public's collective heart seems to be by having infantile qualities—big eyes, round face, wobbly gait (a phenomenon called neoteny). But, as Stokes found from his research, no hard-and-fast rule dictates which animals gain wide appeal: "Really tiny differences among species can have huge effects on how much appeal they have," he says. He studied a range of penguin species and found that those with patches of bright colour received by far and away the most visual coverage.

Yaussy does admit that his method of highlighting especially bizarre animals may not be all that different than that of the panda-promoting World Wildlife Fund, a frequent target of his playful admonishment. The panda is the federation's "flagship species," he explains, which it uses with other charismatic creatures to promulgate the idea that saving the rainforest will, by extension, also save these beautiful animals. Whereas the WWF is "putting on the pretty face, I'm trying to pull in the 10-year-old boy in all of us to say, 'That's so cool!'" he remarks. At the end of the day, his hope is that "by saving the habitat, you'll save everything—the pretty things, the ugly things."

Stokes doesn't subscribe to that tidy idea entirely. Recent research has shown that the habitat of one highly endangered species rarely overlaps with that of another, he says. But he doesn't discount the usefulness of a central species for the purposes of education. The Stag Beetle Project, for instance, which is headed by the London Wildlife Trust, has helped raise awareness—and sterling pounds—for a large, fierce-looking insect.

By and large, he says, communities that can rally around one particular species, whether it's a monkey or a mollusc, do a better job adopting policies to protect biodiversity in ge

neral. But the key, he notes, is to be aware of our natural preference for some animals' appearance over others.

"This matters because people are going to increasingly be making the decision about

what species survive and what don't," Stokes says. "So we want to be able to make sure that we make educated decisions."

எச்சங்கள்

2009-07-18T18:14:00.000+05:30

Gif Animations That I Learnt

2009-06-28T16:54:00.008+05:30

Wow! Am proud of my effort to learn GIF animations... I managed to learn to create them and also learnt to upload them on the blog! Bravo!...

These are two students of mine whom i got to meet more than a decade later... here you could see them trying to act brave with a baby python on hands...

These are the Anglo Chinese School students of Singapore who were a part of the WED programme that we conducted called, Crusaders of Climate Change". Here you could see the students trying to act brave with a baby python on hands... I like the little Sardar's expressions here... :)

Remembering Shontal

2009-02-19T17:34:00.004+05:30

We got her as a gift from a friend of ours as a 2 week baby. As she remained silent the entire day, we named her Shontal after the French word chanteuse—meaning “sweet voiced girl”. She has been an integral part of my life for a good number of years.

She was a Labrador retriever. She remained my constant companion and loyal friend until I met with a near fatal accident on August 15, 1997. I raised her almost as my daughter and she was a part of many a happy incidents in my life.

If you are thinking of getting a dog into your home, as a family member, remember you are making a commitment to that dog for its lifetime, probably even more than your own children.

I'm not such an expert, but I did try my hands at training Shontal for a number of years and had (accidentally?) used some of the friendly methods recommended by the a renowned, dog trainer—Mr. Ian Dunbar does in the video below.

I remember times when I started. I had no idea on dog training or education in general. My first dog was very patient, he taught me a lot. The simple rule that we followed was to teach obedience through simple play and award. Basically, I learned to appreciate every little thing that she did and said “good girl” and “thank you”.

It’s very important for us to see the world through the eyes of our beloved dogs. By knowing our pets' perspective, we can build their love and trust. It's a message that resonates well beyond the animal world.

As a result, I almost always had a happy, healthy and obedient dog. It's lovely to find out that some of my simple, easy and fun dog training methods belong to a wider philosophy on the subject!

It is essential that our dog needs to know that they can trust us and that we will never deliberately hurt or be unkind to them. All I ever had to do was call/ whistle and my dog immediately returned and were rewarded with hugs and pats.

The Necklace...

2009-02-14T14:01:00.005+05:30

The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five.

Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

"Oh Mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please mommy Please...?"

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face.

"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00.

If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself.

Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbour and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up.

She wore them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed.

The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"

"Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail. Remember, daddy? The one you gave me. She's my very favourite."

"That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?" "Daddy, you know I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."

"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you."

And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian style.

As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.

"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"

Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy.

And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, daddy, this is for you."

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny

He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure.

So it is, with our God. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures.

Isn't God good? Are you holding onto things that God wants you to let go of?

Are you holding on to harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships, habits and activities that you have come so attached to that it seems impossible to let go?

Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in the other hand but do believe this one thing ...

God will never take away something without giving you something better in its place.

The greatest gifts happen when you share love and touch.

Happy Valentine's Day

Worms & Us

2009-02-11T06:47:00.005+05:30

Take a trip to meet the charming, slinky creatures that turn your innards into their home sweet home

Worms have been living inside the human body since Homo sapiens have been around. About half the world's population (over 3 billion people) are in infected with at least one of the three worms—large roundworm, hookworm and whipworm. Most of those afflicted live in developing countries, where there is not enough clean drinking water or effective sanitation systems to keep infected feces from contaminating food and water, and where human excrement is used to fertilize crops. As you browse ahead, please remember that all of these infections are treatable.

Hookworm
Unlike most parasitic worms, which invade the body through the stomach, hookworm larvae can wiggle in through sweat glands or hair follicles in the skin. This typically happens when people walk, sit or lie on dirt containing human feces contaminated by hookworm larvae. Through the skin and into the blood vessels, the larvae make their way to the lungs, causing coughing and shortness of breath; they then migrate to the throat, where they are swallowed and delivered to the small intestine. They mature into adults measuring about 0.4 inch (10 millimeters) long, causing symptoms such as abdominal pain and anemia—a result of the worm sucking blood out of the intestinal walls. Some 740 million people, mostly those living in the warm, moist climates of Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia and China, suffer from hookworm infections, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Large Roundworm (Ascaris)
Ascariasis, the potentially deadly disease caused by the roundworm Ascaris, is the most common worm infection in humans, affecting as many as 1.5 billion people worldwide annually and striking hardest in tropical and subtropical regions with poor sanitation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). People often catch ascariasis by ingesting vegetables or fruit grown in soil fertilized with human feces contaminated with its eggs. On hatching in the intestine, the eggs develop into larvae that migrate through the blood and lymph systems into the lungs, causing fever, shortness of breath and wheezing. (Some people actually cough up the larvae.) From the lungs, the larvae make their way up into the throat; there they are swallowed and passed into the small intestine, where they grow into adulthood. (Imagine earthworms as long as one foot, or 30 centimeters, crawling around in your small intestine.) Severe infections can lead to intestinal blockage and death. The WHO estimates that ascariasis causes 60,000 deaths per year, mainly in children.

A Whipworm
Trichuris trichiura, commonly known as a whipworm because it looks like a cow whip, grows up to about two inches (50 millimeters, or as long as a thumb). The most common way to catch whipworm is by ingesting dirt containing human feces that are loaded with its eggs (think: children playing in the dirt and then putting their fingers in their mouths). The whipworm, which sets up shop in the large intestine, is what Despommier says may be "the secret to curing Crohn's disease."

Patients with Crohn's disease—an autoimmune disorder in which the intestinal tract becomes chronically inflamed, leading to symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain and rectal bleeding—are believed to have small proteins that resemble whipworm proteins jutting from the surfaces of their intestinal cells. Mistaking the protein protrusions for those of a whipworm, the immune system attacks them, causing Crohn's disease, Despommier explains. Studies have shown that when Crohn's patients are infected with whipworm, the body seems to redirect its focus away from its own cells and onto the worms, causing Crohn's symptoms to disappear. The problem with treating Crohn's disease with whipworm, of course, is that the worm causes its own suite of problems, including severe diarrhea, weight loss and anemia. Severe cases [see photo inset] can lead to rectal prolapse, a condition in which the walls of the rectum actually protrude from the anus.

Worldwide, some 800 million people, mostly children in tropical and subtropical climates, are infected with whipworm, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Lymphatic Filariae
Unlike most parasitic worms, which inhabit the intestines, lymphatic filariae live in the lymphatic vessels and nodes. For reasons not completely understood by scientists, the presence of these worms in the lymph system can lead to severe inflammation called elephantiasis, which often affects the legs, arms, genitals and breasts [see photo]. Unfortunately for men, the worms have a propensity for the male genitalia. The worms get inside a person's body when a mosquito carrying their larvae sinks its proboscis into a victim's skin. The larvae travel through the skin and into the lymph vessels where they mature into adults measuring as long as four inches (100 millimeters). According to WHO, the infection usually begins in childhood but often takes years to cause elephantiasis.

Some 120 million people, mostly in the warm, humid climes of south Asia, Africa and the Americas, are infected with these tiny worms, and more than 40 million are disfigured by the infection, according to WHO.

Tapeworm
People accidentally ingest immature worms by eating raw or undercooked pork. Once the worms pass into the intestines, they latch onto the intestinal walls with suckers and hooks and begin to grow—and grow. The pork tapeworm shown here, Taenia solium, can grow as long as 20 feet (six meters). Often, people don't even know they have tapeworm until they see the worms—or pieces of them in their stool. If a person ingests the tapeworm eggs (by, for example, drinking water contaminated by egg-laden human feces), the eggs hatch into larvae the stomach and travel into the small intestine. From there, they may enter the bloodstream and migrate to the muscles, eyes or brain, where they can cause seizures, headaches and potentially fatal brain swelling.

Now, if you are interested in teaching your children on the importance of wearing footwear, you could use the video shown below.

Pinworm
Pinworm is the most ubiquitous parasitic worm infecting people in temperate climates—places like the U.S., Europe and most of China, which are neither tropical nor polar, but have four seasons. Nearly all children catch pinworm before they reach age 12 (yes, that means you, too) by digesting tiny bits of fecal matter from other kids. Pinworm inhabits the colon and rectum, feeding on Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria in the stool. Late at night when children are asleep, the female pinworm, which measures about the length of a staple (0.5 inch or 13 millimeters), emerges from the anus and lays her eggs on the surrounding skin. The eggs are itchy, causing children to scratch and contaminate their fingers. When they suck their thumbs, or touch other children who suck their thumbs, the cycle starts all over again.

An Ode to a Friend...

2008-12-08T12:44:00.005+05:30

An ode to that friend....

I don't have many people
But I do have you
Not often do I open up
But you know all that is true

You have stuck through it all
Seen me at my worst
Saw me fall in love
With zack, and also with my first

You never judge me
Or even let me down
Always reassured me the best
Picking me up off the ground

But things have changed
And I worry for this route
If things get any worse
I will have some serious doubt

You are my all time best friend
always one I can go to
But we are drifting apart
In life, I have to have you

You are closer than a sister
And nicer than a saint
I couldnt change a thing
Or give you a complaint

I just dont want to loose you
Because we are drifting apart
I would be so lost in this world
You are a part of my heart

Know I am always here for you
Even during this rough patch
If you ever want to fall
Ill be there ready to catch

So lets put more effort forth
And try to re-patch our mistakes
Because id hate to loose years of joy
And this friendship to break

This is a small effort from me to patch up with a friend, who was worth the Earth! Someone, who promised to stand by me, decided to fall out for some lousy spam mail [(am not aware what it exactly was...;-)] that went in my name... Alas, I wasn't even given a chance to explain my position...
ramjee

The Great Pyramid Mystery

2008-11-21T06:20:00.006+05:30

A theory says ancient Egypt's Great Pyramid was built using a winding, inclined, interior tunnel through which huge blocks were pushed. The interior ramp would have required open corners (illustration at top) at which the blocks would have enough room to be rotated—probably by workers using wooden cranes—the theory says.

The theory may be supported by new ideas about a hidden room high in the pyramid's outer wall. Egyptologist Bob Brier, shown entering the space, says it is in fact one of those open corners, long since walled in.

Illustration and photograph courtesy Jean-Pierre Houdin

Pyramid Mystery to Be Solved by Hidden Room...
By Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News

ON TV
Unlocking the Great Pyramid airs Sunday, November 23, at 7 p.m. ET on the National Geographic Channel.

A sealed space in Egypt's Great Pyramid may help solve a centuries-old mystery: How did the ancient Egyptians move two million 2.5-ton blocks to build the ancient wonder?

The little-known cavity may support the theory that the 4,500-year-old monument to Pharaoh Khufu was constructed inside out, via a spiraling, inclined interior tunnel—an idea that contradicts the prevailing wisdom that the monuments were built using an external ramp.

The inside-out theory's key proponent, French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin, says for centuries Egyptologists have ignored evidence staring them in the face.

"The paradigm was wrong," Houdin said. "The idea that the pyramids were built from the outside was just wrong. How can you resolve a problem when the first element you introduce in your thinking is wrong?"

Theories Abound
Even the most widely held Great Pyramid construction theories have flaws, Egyptologist Bob Brier said.

For example, a single, straight external ramp would have been impractical, said Brier, of Long Island University in New York.

To deliver blocks to the 481-foot (147-meter) peak at a reasonable grade, the ramp would have had to have been a mile (1.6 kilometers) long and made of stone. And over the decades of the pyramid's construction, workers would have had to continually increase the ramp's height and length as the pyramid rose.

Video Clip From Unlocking the Great Pyramid Documentary

"That's like building two pyramids. And we've never found the remains of such a ramp," Brier said.

Another theory suggests a stone ramp wound around the outside of the Great Pyramid. But an outside ramp would have obscured the pyramid's surface—making it impossible for surveyors to use the corners and edges for necessary calculations during constructions, Brier said.

Greek historian Herodotus, writing around 450 B.C., theorized the use of small, wooden, cranes or levers to lift the blocks.

But, Brier said, "you'd have to have thousands, and they didn't have enough wood in all of Egypt for that," Brier said.

Obsession
For Houdin, the Paris architect, the puzzle of the pyramid is a family affair. His father, a civil engineer, came up with the idea of an internal construction ramp a decade ago.

Houdin was soon hooked, as suggested by his recent book, co-written by Brier—The Secret of the Great Pyramid: How One Man's Obsession Led to the Solution of Ancient Egypt's Greatest Mystery.

Houdin eventually left his architecture firm to pursue the inside-out theory full-time.

For what they thought would be a matter of weeks, he and his wife moved into a 236-square-foot (22-square-meter) studio apartment. They ended up staying for four years, as Houdin toiled away at his self-financed project.

Outside Ramp, Then Internal Tunnel

Houdin's theory suggests the Great Pyramid was built in two stages.

First, blocks were hauled up a straight external ramp to build the pyramid's bottom third, which contains most of the monument's mass, Houdin believes.

Houdin says the limestone blocks used in the outside ramp were recycled for the pyramid's upper levels, which might explain why no trace of an original ramp has been found.

Egyptian-archaeology specialist Josef Wegner sees merit in the recycling idea.

"The notion of using the already quarried smaller blocks to build the lower ramp and then dismantling that for use in upper sections would be a very logical approach to speed up the overall construction process," said Wegner of University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

After the foundation had been finished, workers began building an inclined, internal, corkscrew tunnel, which would continue its path up and around as the pyramid rose, Houdin said.

Because the tunnel is inside the pyramid, Brier said, "when they finished getting blocks all the way up to the top this ramp disappeared."

New Clue: The Hidden Room

New evidence uncovered about two-thirds of the way up the Great Pyramid supports the inside-out theory, said Houdin, the architect.

At about the 300-foot (90-meter) mark on the northeastern edge lies an open notch.

On a recent expedition with a National Geographic film crew, Brier—aided by a videographer with mountain-climbing experience—scaled perilous crumbling rocks to reach the notch. (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)

Ducking inside the notch, Brier entered a small L-shaped room.

He wasn't the first to visit the space, but until now Egyptologists had taken little notice of it.

Houdin, the architect, said the feature figures perfectly with his theory.

Open Corners for Turning Blocks?

For the interior tunnel to work, it would have required open areas at the Great Pyramid's four corners, Houdin says. Otherwise the blocks wouldn't have been able to clear the 90-degree turns.

Like railroad roundhouses, these open corners would have given workers room to pivot the blocks—perhaps using wooden cranes—so the stones could be pushed into the next tunnel.

The notch and room are remnants of one such opening, Houdin claims. They are located at one of the spots where Houdin's 3-D computer models suggest they should be.

Inside the corner space, which was apparently walled in as the pyramid was completed, there should be two tunnel entrances at right angles to one another—each leading to a section of the internal ramp, Houdin believes.

Perhaps all that stands between him and the solution to the mystery are massive blocks that thousands of years ago sealed the tunnel, Houdin said.

If this previously known space truly is the missing link in the puzzle of the Great Pyramid's construction, the question remains why no one would have surmised this by now.

Brier said, "If you weren't thinking about internal ramps and notches and you climbed right by this thing, it wouldn't mean anything to you."

The Other Key Clue

Prior to the room brainstorm, Houdin's most important piece of evidence was the product of good luck.

In 1986 a French team in an ultimately fruitless search for hidden chambers in the Great Pyramid had done a survey of the monument's density using a technique called microgravimetry, which measures the strength of local gravitational fields.

Nearly 15 years later, Houdin was presenting his ramp theory at a conference and was approached by a member of the 1986 team.

The man showed Houdin an image from their survey that they'd dismissed as unexplainable.

But to Houdin, and later Brier, the explanation was clear.

The image shows what looks like a spiraling feature inside the structure's outer walls.

"If I hadn't seen that diagram, I'd probably be thinking this is just another theory," Brier said.

Next Step: Confirmation

The 1986 image, the notch room, and other evidence may make Houdin's theory plausible, but the case is far from closed.

"As with all archaeological theories, the proof is in the pudding, and many logical and compelling theories have fallen by the wayside under the weight of hard evidence," said the University of Pennsylvania's Wegner.

But "verification of the proposed internal spiral ramp would be a remarkable and groundbreaking discovery," Wegner added.

Houdin believes that verification might soon be possible.

He suggests that an infrared camera—positioned about 150 feet (46 meters) from the pyramid—could potentially record subtle differences in interior materials and temperatures. Those variations could reveal clear-cut "phantoms" of the internal ramp.

"What we need is the authorization, by the Egyptian authorities, to stay around for 18 hours, close to the pyramid, with a cooled infrared camera based on an SUV and to take images of three [pyramid] faces every hour during this period," Houdin said.

"A green light from Cairo and the Great Pyramid mystery is over."

Source: National Geographic News..

Word Riddle

2008-11-04T10:09:00.002+05:30

Am sure all of us must have played riddles with at sometime are the other. The most common and interesting ones i've enjoyed hearing often include:

Name the longest English word?
A headless man had a letter to write; It was read by a man who had lost his sight. The dumb repeated it word for word; And deaf was he who listened and heard.

I learnt about a new one that was interesting in many ways...
Here it goes...

What common English word is 9 letters long, and each time you remove a letter from it, it still remains an English word; from nine letters all the way down to a single remaining letter?

To find the answer for this latest one, watch the video below.

Fun Word Riddle - Click here for more home videos

Just in case you were not able to get the answers for the two questions above...

Smiles... There's a mile between two 'S'
The letter in question is the letter "O". It is zero. The man had nothing to write. The blind could read nothing. The person who was dumb could repeat nothing. The deaf man listened and heard nothing.

When I Am Not Looking....

2008-10-26T06:13:00.004+05:30

When you thought I wasn't looking…

I saw you hang my first painting on the wall,

and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking…

I saw you feed a stray cat,

and I learnt that it was good to be kind.

When you thought I wasn't looking…

I saw you make my favourite cake for me,

and I learnt, even little things are special in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking…

I heard you say a prayer,

and I knew that there is a God and I learned to trust in Him.

When you thought I wasn't looking…

I saw you make a meal for a friend who was sick,

and I learned that we all have to help each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking…

I saw you help people who had nothing,

and I learned that those who have something should give to those who don't.

When you thought I wasn't looking…

I saw you take care of our house & everyone in it,

and I learned to take care of what we have.

When you thought I wasn't looking…

I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't feel good,

and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking…

I saw tears come from your eyes,

and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking…

I saw that you cared,

and I wanted to be everything that I could be

When you thought I wasn't looking…

I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good

and productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking…

I looked at you and wanted to say,

'Thanks for all the things I saw

When you thought I wasn't looking.'

I am sending this to all of the people I know who do so much for others,

but think that no one ever sees.

Little eyes see a lot…

Each one of us -

Parent, Grandparent, Aunt, Uncle, Friends, Teachers…

Influence the life of a child.

Let's be a positive influence on the children around us

Bats...!

2008-08-22T10:50:00.009+05:30

One was flying around my condominium's dim-lit neem tree last night.

…Catching mosquitoes.

I just hoped he didn't mistake me for one!

It was about 10:30 pm and I had just returned after an evening dinner with a friend of mine and looking out my third floor balcony, the neem tree whistling in the darkness looked too inviting to pass up.

But as I got down to the tree, there was this darn bat . . . skimming the tree in zig-zag circles.

And as I stood vulnerable in my evening walking shorts, the bat would come swooping down in 10 second loops on a dive-bomb collision course right toward my face!

But just at the last second . . .

Just as it was inches of crashing into me . . . with the most extraordinary timing, that little winged gymnast would do a seemingly impossible aerial acrobatic and switch directions 180 degrees.

It was totally unnerving.

Do I 'really' want to go out for a walk? I asked myself.

Yeek! Do I want that little creature accidentally bopping me on the head???

We all seem to have an innate and instinctive fear of bats. It probably comes from the bad reputation they've been given on television and in the movies. My environmental science education tells me that in truth, the far majority of bats are completely harmless. In fact, they're great to have around as they clear the air of mosquitoes and other pesky creatures.

But, nevertheless, I still was very hesitant.

Could I trust this bat's radar?

Bats are blind, far crying out loud!

Then I rationalized to myself, well gosh, if its internal guidance system is good enough for it to detect and catch tiny lightening-fast mosquitoes even in complete darkness, it certainly shouldn't have a problem avoiding a 180 cm, 85 kg human being strolling at less than 5 km per hour in the road!

And just as I was thinking that, I was struck by a bolt of wisdom.

I remember reading an article recently about the technique to magnify our inner voice that is always present, but which we often can have a difficult time perceiving and utilizing to our maximum advantage.

Unfortunately thanks to our left-brain educational training, we are cultured from childhood to ignore that inner guidance system in favour of more logical thinking.
And yet, I was like everyone else in our society, often find myself going back and forth, trying to "logically figure out" the solution to my concerns! --

"Should I go in this direction, or should I go in that direction to find greater meaning in my life?"

"Should I trust this friend or colleague who is offering me something, or should I be more cautious before moving ahead?"

"Should I let this slide, or should I say something to someone who just did or said something I don't feel quite comfortable with?"

These questions fly continuously through our heads like a swarm of bats.

But if we don't have a way to get a clear answer, we can find our self going back and forth, wondering why we don't seem to be able to get ahead, improve our relationships, or develop a much higher level of self- esteem and abundance.

So the question is . . .

Are you able to clearly hear what your inner voice is saying to you?

Or do you like I am, oftentimes feel confused, unsure whether the signal we receive is coming from our more superficial logical mind . . . and perhaps some external influence or negative past history . . .

Or is it rising up from the deepest, clearest, most pristine part of our self that 100% of the time knows what's most right and appropriate for us in order for us to increasingly experience more joy, love, inner wealth and abundance?

Now here's the REAL question . . .

How is YOUR Internal Radar System?

Is it finely tuned like the radar of the bat I was witnessing at the tree, where we are able to pluck a perfect answer and solution out of obscure darkness the way that bat at night could pluck tiny mosquitoes out of mid-air?

Or do we find ourself over-thinking and torturing yourself everyday trying to make both big and little decisions that affect our life . . . and our loved ones lives . . . just never quite sure if we're making the right decision?

That's to say . . . how certain . . . or uncertain . . . are we of our own Internal Radar?

Our own Inner Guidance System?

And how much would our life improve if we were able to easily "pluck" from all the bewildering possibilities running endlessly through our mind the one clearest, most appropriate, unmistakable signal, answer and solution to each of our great and small relationship, money and personal challenges?

Personally, I've tried to rely on my own Internal Radar System most of my adult life.
It has on most occasions guided me safely and with extraordinary grace through some major life trials, as well as to living a beautiful life where every day I take both little steps and occasional major leaps to both my dreams and my God-given Vision of what that Inner Guidance System has clearly let me know I'm supposed to accomplish in my life.

My secret?

A lot of hard but joyful work . . .

Taking regular exercise and meditation breaks even when working long hour days.

And having a simple but profound system to obtain crystal clear answers and solutions to any challenge or question I may pose to myself.

What about you . . . my friend?

When Am Back On My Feet Again...

2008-08-20T10:45:00.005+05:30

I've sung this song a thousand times or more after I had met with a near-fatal accident on the 15th of August 1997. After I was declared as 40 % permanently partially disabled and a pair of crutches were given to me to sport, I felt I had lost my independence and would remain forever crippled. There are many a soul whom I owe my life and everything to what I presently am.

I must express my heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Bhaskar Bhai, who rescued me and rushed me to the hospital and even went on to spend some money out of his pocket for medication...
My Amma, Appa, Paati (for every prayer they performed and every blessings they showered on me), brothers--Cheenu, Kumar, Kannan, and many others in the family... who have wished that I get back well soon.

A large number of kids, specially the ones of Anandalaya, where I served for 5 academic years, Revathi, Suganthi, Saakshi, Manish, Komal, Mehul, Monark, Niranjan, Vikram, Sai, and many others who ensured that the smile lasted on my face and helped me stay sane and going.

Couple of doctors in Bhavnagar, Dr. Yashwant Doshi, Dr. Viradiya, who are like Father Figures for me...

Several of my friends who helped me through some of the most difficult times that followed between 1997 and 1999. Sunil and his daughter Suzianna, SSG, the Khannas, Manimozhi and Family, Gopal, Shivani and Family, Meena, Mamata, the list is endless...

Today after 12 years when I got to listen to this song again, I am moved...
I dedicate this this song for all of them...

Meet The Challenge--Carbon Free Power!

2008-07-21T10:51:00.002+05:30

On 18.07.2008 former Vice President Al Gore challenged to reset the way America makes energy choices. It was a powerful, inspiring speech.

He spoke about amazing opportunities -- and how making the correct choices will benefit our environment, our national security, our economy and our energy bills.

Al Gore has issued a powerful challenge: producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years. It's achievable, affordable and necessary. And we need to make this break from past habits and old ways of thinking. As he summarized so powerfully:

"We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change."

In the past months he's been hosting a series of solutions summits with engineers, scientists, CEOs, and financiers. This speech pulled together some of the best thinking from those talks -- and highlighted what we each can do to end our dangerous addiction to fossil fuels and solve the climate crisis.

Thousands were present to hear him speak and I know that we'll be hearing a lot about his challenge in the days ahead. Be among the first to take on this challenge.

Watch the speech below and/or read the essence of the speech given below.

Thank you.

ramjee

Ladies and gentlemen:

There are times in the history of our nation when our very way of life depends upon dispelling illusions and awakening to the challenge of a present danger. In such moments, we are called upon to move quickly and boldly to shake off complacency, throw aside old habits and rise, clear-eyed and alert, to the necessity of big changes. Those who, for whatever reason, refuse to do their part must either be persuaded to join the effort or asked to step aside. This is such a moment. The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk. And even more - if more should be required - the future of human civilization is at stake.

I don't remember a time in our country when so many things seemed to be going so wrong simultaneously. Our economy is in terrible shape and getting worse, gasoline prices are increasing dramatically, and so are electricity rates. Jobs are being outsourced. Home mortgages are in trouble. Banks, automobile companies and other institutions we depend upon are under growing pressure. Distinguished senior business leaders are telling us that this is just the beginning unless we find the courage to make some major changes quickly.

The climate crisis, in particular, is getting a lot worse - much more quickly than predicted. Scientists with access to data from Navy submarines traversing underneath the North polar ice cap have warned that there is now a 75 percent chance that within five years the entire ice cap will completely disappear during the summer months. This will further increase the melting pressure on Greenland. According to experts, the Jakobshavn glacier, one of Greenland's largest, is moving at a faster rate than ever before, losing 20 million tons of ice every day, equivalent to the amount of water used every year by the residents of New York City.

Two major studies from military intelligence experts have warned our leaders about the dangerous national security implications of the climate crisis, including the possibility of hundreds of millions of climate refugees destabilizing nations around the world.

Just two days ago, 27 senior statesmen and retired military leaders warned of the national security threat from an "energy tsunami" that would be triggered by a loss of our access to foreign oil. Meanwhile, the war in Iraq continues, and now the war in Afghanistan appears to be getting worse.

And by the way, our weather sure is getting strange, isn't it? There seem to be more tornadoes than in living memory, longer droughts, bigger downpours and record floods. Unprecedented fires are burning in California and elsewhere in the American West. Higher temperatures lead to drier vegetation that makes kindling for mega-fires of the kind that have been raging in Canada, Greece, Russia, China, South America, Australia and Africa. Scientists in the Department of Geophysics and Planetary Science at Tel Aviv University tell us that for every one degree increase in temperature, lightning strikes will go up another 10 percent. And it is lightning, after all, that is principally responsible for igniting the conflagration in California today.

Like a lot of people, it seems to me that all these problems are bigger than any of the solutions that have thus far been proposed for them, and that's been worrying me.

I'm convinced that one reason we've seemed paralyzed in the face of these crises is our tendency to offer old solutions to each crisis separately - without taking the others into account. And these outdated proposals have not only been ineffective - they almost always make the other crises even worse.

Yet when we look at all three of these seemingly intractable challenges at the same time, we can see the common thread running through them, deeply ironic in its simplicity: our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels is at the core of all three of these challenges - the economic, environmental and national security crises.

We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change.

But if we grab hold of that common thread and pull it hard, all of these complex problems begin to unravel and we will find that we're holding the answer to all of them right in our hand.
The answer is to end our reliance on carbon-based fuels.

In my search for genuinely effective answers to the climate crisis, I have held a series of "solutions summits" with engineers, scientists, and CEOs. In those discussions, one thing has become abundantly clear: when you connect the dots, it turns out that the real solutions to the climate crisis are the very same measures needed to renew our economy and escape the trap of ever-rising energy prices. Moreover, they are also the very same solutions we need to guarantee our national security without having to go to war in the Persian Gulf.

What if we could use fuels that are not expensive, don't cause pollution and are abundantly available right here at home?

We have such fuels. Scientists have confirmed that enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every 40 minutes to meet 100 percent of the entire world's energy needs for a full year. Tapping just a small portion of this solar energy could provide all of the electricity America uses.

And enough wind power blows through the Midwest corridor every day to also meet 100 percent of US electricity demand. Geothermal energy, similarly, is capable of providing enormous supplies of electricity for America.

The quickest, cheapest and best way to start using all this renewable energy is in the production of electricity. In fact, we can start right now using solar power, wind power and geothermal power to make electricity for our homes and businesses.

But to make this exciting potential a reality, and truly solve our nation's problems, we need a new start.

That's why I'm proposing today a strategic initiative designed to free us from the crises that are holding us down and to regain control of our own destiny. It's not the only thing we need to do. But this strategic challenge is the lynchpin of a bold new strategy needed to re-power America.

Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years.

This goal is achievable, affordable and transformative. It represents a challenge to all Americans - in every walk of life: to our political leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, engineers, and to every citizen.

A few years ago, it would not have been possible to issue such a challenge. But here's what's changed: the sharp cost reductions now beginning to take place in solar, wind, and geothermal power - coupled with the recent dramatic price increases for oil and coal - have radically changed the economics of energy.

When I first went to Congress 32 years ago, I listened to experts testify that if oil ever got to $35 a barrel, then renewable sources of energy would become competitive. Well, today, the price of oil is over $135 per barrel. And sure enough, billions of dollars of new investment are flowing into the development of concentrated solar thermal, photovoltaics, windmills, geothermal plants, and a variety of ingenious new ways to improve our efficiency and conserve presently wasted energy.

And as the demand for renewable energy grows, the costs will continue to fall. Let me give you one revealing example: the price of the specialized silicon used to make solar cells was recently as high as $300 per kilogram. But the newest contracts have prices as low as $50 a kilogram.

You know, the same thing happened with computer chips - also made out of silicon. The price paid for the same performance came down by 50 percent every 18 months - year after year, and that's what's happened for 40 years in a row.

To those who argue that we do not yet have the technology to accomplish these results with renewable energy: I ask them to come with me to meet the entrepreneurs who will drive this revolution. I've seen what they are doing and I have no doubt that we can meet this challenge.

To those who say the costs are still too high: I ask them to consider whether the costs of oil and coal will ever stop increasing if we keep relying on quickly depleting energy sources to feed a rapidly growing demand all around the world. When demand for oil and coal increases, their price goes up. When demand for solar cells increases, the price often comes down.

When we send money to foreign countries to buy nearly 70 percent of the oil we use every day, they build new skyscrapers and we lose jobs. When we spend that money building solar arrays and windmills, we build competitive industries and gain jobs here at home.

Of course there are those who will tell us this can't be done. Some of the voices we hear are the defenders of the status quo - the ones with a vested interest in perpetuating the current system, no matter how high a price the rest of us will have to pay. But even those who reap the profits of the carbon age have to recognize the inevitability of its demise. As one OPEC oil minister observed, "The Stone Age didn't end because of a shortage of stones."

To those who say 10 years is not enough time, I respectfully ask them to consider what the world's scientists are telling us about the risks we face if we don't act in 10 years. The leading experts predict that we have less than 10 years to make dramatic changes in our global warming pollution lest we lose our ability to ever recover from this environmental crisis. When the use of oil and coal goes up, pollution goes up. When the use of solar, wind and geothermal increases, pollution comes down.

To those who say the challenge is not politically viable: I suggest they go before the American people and try to defend the status quo. Then bear witness to the people's appetite for change.

I for one do not believe our country can withstand 10 more years of the status quo. Our families cannot stand 10 more years of gas price increases. Our workers cannot stand 10 more years of job losses and outsourcing of factories. Our economy cannot stand 10 more years of sending $2 billion every 24 hours to foreign countries for oil. And our soldiers and their families cannot take another 10 years of repeated troop deployments to dangerous regions that just happen to have large oil supplies.

What could we do instead for the next 10 years? What should we do during the next 10 years? Some of our greatest accomplishments as a nation have resulted from commitments to reach a goal that fell well beyond the next election: the Marshall Plan, Social Security, the interstate highway system. But a political promise to do something 40 years from now is universally ignored because everyone knows that it's meaningless. Ten years is about the maximum time that we as a nation can hold a steady aim and hit our target.

When President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation to land a man on the moon and bring him back safely in 10 years, many people doubted we could accomplish that goal. But 8 years and 2 months later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the surface of the moon.

To be sure, reaching the goal of 100 percent renewable and truly clean electricity within 10 years will require us to overcome many obstacles. At present, for example, we do not have a unified national grid that is sufficiently advanced to link the areas where the sun shines and the wind blows to the cities in the East and the West that need the electricity. Our national electric grid is critical infrastructure, as vital to the health and security of our economy as our highways and telecommunication networks. Today, our grids are antiquated, fragile, and vulnerable to cascading failure. Power outages and defects in the current grid system cost US businesses more than $120 billion dollars a year. It has to be upgraded anyway.

We could further increase the value and efficiency of a Unified National Grid by helping our struggling auto giants switch to the manufacture of plug-in electric cars. An electric vehicle fleet would sharply reduce the cost of driving a car, reduce pollution, and increase the flexibility of our electricity grid.

At the same time, of course, we need to greatly improve our commitment to efficiency and conservation. That's the best investment we can make.

America's transition to renewable energy sources must also include adequate provisions to assist those Americans who would unfairly face hardship. For example, we must recognize those who have toiled in dangerous conditions to bring us our present energy supply. We should guarantee good jobs in the fresh air and sunshine for any coal miner displaced by impacts on the coal industry. Every single one of them.

Of course, we could and should speed up this transition by insisting that the price of carbon-based energy include the costs of the environmental damage it causes. I have long supported a sharp reduction in payroll taxes with the difference made up in CO2 taxes. We should tax what we burn, not what we earn. This is the single most important policy change we can make.

In order to foster international cooperation, it is also essential that the United States rejoin the global community and lead efforts to secure an international treaty at Copenhagen in December of next year that includes a cap on CO2 emissions and a global partnership that recognizes the necessity of addressing the threats of extreme poverty and disease as part of the world's agenda for solving the climate crisis.

Of course the greatest obstacle to meeting the challenge of 100 percent renewable electricity in 10 years may be the deep dysfunction of our politics and our self-governing system as it exists today. In recent years, our politics has tended toward incremental proposals made up of small policies designed to avoid offending special interests, alternating with occasional baby steps in the right direction. Our democracy has become sclerotic at a time when these crises require boldness.

It is only a truly dysfunctional system that would buy into the perverse logic that the short-term answer to high gasoline prices is drilling for more oil ten years from now.

Am I the only one who finds it strange that our government so often adopts a so-called solution that has absolutely nothing to do with the problem it is supposed to address? When people rightly complain about higher gasoline prices, we propose to give more money to the oil companies and pretend that they're going to bring gasoline prices down. It will do nothing of the sort, and everyone knows it. If we keep going back to the same policies that have never ever worked in the past and have served only to produce the highest gasoline prices in history alongside the greatest oil company profits in history, nobody should be surprised if we get the same result over and over again. But the Congress may be poised to move in that direction anyway because some of them are being stampeded by lobbyists for special interests that know how to make the system work for them instead of the American people.

If you want to know the truth about gasoline prices, here it is: the exploding demand for oil, especially in places like China, is overwhelming the rate of new discoveries by so much that oil prices are almost certain to continue upward over time no matter what the oil companies promise. And politicians cannot bring gasoline prices down in the short term.

However, there actually is one extremely effective way to bring the costs of driving a car way down within a few short years. The way to bring gas prices down is to end our dependence on oil and use the renewable sources that can give us the equivalent of $1 per gallon gasoline.

Many Americans have begun to wonder whether or not we've simply lost our appetite for bold policy solutions. And folks who claim to know how our system works these days have told us we might as well forget about our political system doing anything bold, especially if it is contrary to the wishes of special interests. And I've got to admit, that sure seems to be the way things have been going. But I've begun to hear different voices in this country from people who are not only tired of baby steps and special interest politics, but are hungry for a new, different and bold approach.

We are on the eve of a presidential election. We are in the midst of an international climate treaty process that will conclude its work before the end of the first year of the new president's term. It is a great error to say that the United States must wait for others to join us in this matter. In fact, we must move first, because that is the key to getting others to follow; and because moving first is in our own national interest.

So I ask you to join with me to call on every candidate, at every level, to accept this challenge - for America to be running on 100 percent zero-carbon electricity in 10 years. It's time for us to move beyond empty rhetoric. We need to act now.

This is a generational moment. A moment when we decide our own path and our collective fate. I'm asking you - each of you - to join me and build this future. Please join the WE campaign at wecansolveit.org.We need you. And we need you now. We're committed to changing not just light bulbs, but laws. And laws will only change with leadership.

On July 16, 1969, the United States of America was finally ready to meet President Kennedy's challenge of landing Americans on the moon. I will never forget standing beside my father a few miles from the launch site, waiting for the giant Saturn 5 rocket to lift Apollo 11 into the sky. I was a young man, 21 years old, who had graduated from college a month before and was enlisting in the United States Army three weeks later.

I will never forget the inspiration of those minutes. The power and the vibration of the giant rocket's engines shook my entire body. As I watched the rocket rise, slowly at first and then with great speed, the sound was deafening. We craned our necks to follow its path until we were looking straight up into the air. And then four days later, I watched along with hundreds of millions of others around the world as Neil Armstrong took one small step to the surface of the moon and changed the history of the human race.

We must now lift our nation to reach another goal that will change history. Our entire civilization depends upon us now embarking on a new journey of exploration and discovery. Our success depends on our willingness as a people to undertake this journey and to complete it within 10 years. Once again, we have an opportunity to take a giant leap for humankind.

Good Advertising

2008-07-04T14:05:00.002+05:30

Some very good advertisements I got to see in the recent past... Most of them have hard hitting messages...
Am sure you would enjoy watching them...

Safety Belt

2008-07-04T13:59:00.002+05:30

I guess all married men, who drive their cars with their wife sitting besides them would love witching this video!

Friends for Life!

2008-07-02T11:54:00.008+05:30

You must all have heard of the story of the rabbit and the tortoise, but the following story, is about an unusual bonding between a baby Hippo and a Centenarian Tortoise. (I learnt, the story has been in circulation on the Internet, since January, 2005). It is a different, and very touching true story, which sends a strong message, to all of us. I only yearn, that if only all humankind can live together like this, without any prejudice of status in life, religion or colour, it will be heaven on earth!

~ ramjee

A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said.

Bereaved by the forces of nature the baby hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him. The wildlife officials were alerted to the imperilled hippo before Christmas, when hoteliers in Malindi spotted the little fellow, in the company of a number of adults of his kind, foundering in the surf off the coast. By the time wildlife officials arrived, Owen was alone, having become separated from his herd. Had he not been rescued, the ocean's waters would have done in the youngster because long immersion in salt water would have led to fatal dehydration.

As soon as the Hippo was placed in Haller Park, a wildlife sanctuary in the coastal city of Mombassa, Kenya, the orphaned youngster immediately ran to the giant tortoise also housed in that space. The tortoise, named Mzee (Swahili for "old man") and estimated to be between 100 and 130 years old, was not immediately taken with the brash newcomer he turned and hissed, forcing the hippo to back away. Yet Owen persisted in following the tortoise around the park (and even into a pool), and within days the pair had forged a friendship, eating and sleeping together. Owen has even been seen to lick the tortoise, whom he regards as his new mother. (Wildlife workers speculated that Owen may have been attracted to Mzee as a parental figure because the tortoise's shape and color are similar to those of an adult hippopotamus.)

'It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a 'mother',' ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park , told AFP. 'After it was swept away and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother.

Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together,' the ecologist added. 'The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,' Kahumbu added. 'The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years,' he explained.

'Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.' This is a real story that shows that our differences don't matter much when we need the comfort of another. We could all learn a lesson from these two creatures of God, 'Look beyond the differences and find a way to walk the path together.'

As of December 2005, a year after their initial meeting, Owen and Mzee are still together. Conservation workers are planning sometime in 2006 to introduce Owen to Cleo, a 13-year-old female hippo who has gone without the companionship of her own species for over ten years.

Update:

In March 2006, the Hollywood Reporter announced that Walden Media were planning to produce "Tortoise and Hippo," a film inspired by the photograph of Owen and Mzee displayed above:

Oscar-winning special-effects maven John Dykstra is set to make his directing debut on "Tortoise and Hippo," a film inspired by a photo that circulated following the Asian tsunami.

The snapshot documented a baby hippo and 100-year-old tortoise comforting each other at a wildlife sanctuary after being rescued from the Indian Ocean.

"The actual event that inspired the movie captured the imagination of the world," said Alex Schwartz, executive VP production at Walden Media, one of the producers of the film.

"We're going to create a movie inspired by it that we hope can tell a story everyone can relate to, which is that you can be different but still belong to the same family."

A Problem Like No Other...

2008-07-01T14:47:00.005+05:30

Watch the Al Gore's cartoon explaining the process of Global Warming...

Polar bears live only in the arctic and as the sea ice continues to melt due to global warming, the polar bears' primary habitat becomes more threatened. They are incredibly specialized hunters that have adapted to life in the Arctic environment. They depend on the sea ice for survival - it is their hunting grounds; it is their lifeblood. The polar bears featured in this movie are calling us to action as their habitat is threatened. Scientists are calling us to action as they study the current data and make concerning predictions for our future. Future generations are calling us to action as they hope to inherit a better world.

All of the images featured in this movie have been provided by Howard Ruby, Chairman of Oakwood Worldwide, the temporary housing specialist and a supporter of the Global Warming Crusade Fund, LLC. A passionate photographer, his adventures have taken him on numerous trips to the Arctic to photograph this dramatic area and the amazing polar bears and cubs that live there. After witnessing the effects of global warming first-hand and seeing the polar bears' plight, he was moved to assist Oakwood Worldwide in creating the Global Warming Crusade Fund to raise public awareness and to support various research programs and charitable organizations.

Although developed for a Thai commercial for Halls Lite drops, the following video has a hard hitting message presented in a hilarious manner. After laughing if you think a little while, you feel like saying like the famous villain Gabbar "Hamara Kya Hoga Kaaliya..."

The video shows a Polar bear shaving it's fur off to adapt to the increasing global warming. The Arctic grooming leaves polar quite embarassed and puts us to shame. Tears rolled up my eyes when i watched it the first time...

If you were a wildlife biologists, you may question, but polar bears have a black skin below their fur...!

Perhaps all the governments around the world have a similar view to global warming.

Say No To Plastics

2008-06-27T21:44:00.006+05:30

The following is a presentation I had developed for addressing a group Students of the Ashok Leyland School, Hosur, Tamil Nadu. The idea for developing this presentation came about from an article in an old issue of National Geographic (Sept 2003), which I picked up from a street vendor in Bangalore the day prior to the programme. Never did i realise that it would become such a widely appreciated presentation from far and wide.

I've uploaded the presentation in the form of a movie with music and posting it below.

The Girl Who Silenced The World....

2008-06-27T07:24:00.005+05:30

The following is one of the best speeches I've ever heard, read or listened to. This is the speech of a twelve year young girl giving a speech at the United Nations Earth Summit that took place in Rio de Janeiro 1992.

During the first seconds of the film I didn’t quite understand what was going on - What is that child doing there? - I thought, but I quickly realized, that what I was seeing was something really amazing: a twelve year old child telling to the world that enough is enough, telling to the world leaders to stop destroying the fauna and flora, to stop polluting the air, the ocean and the soil, to end the poverty and social injustices, to stop killing our earth…

This was sixteen years, today Severn Suzuki is is an important environmental activist, was a member of Kofi Annan’s Special Advisory Panel in the past.

I encourage everyone to watch this video, may it serve as an inspiration for us all. (The transcript can be found below.)

Hello, I'm Severn Suzuki speaking for E.C.O. - The Environmental Children's Organisation.

We are a group of twelve and thirteen-year-olds from Canada trying to make a difference:
Vanessa Suttie, Morgan Geisler, Michelle Quigg and me. We raised all the money ourselves to come six thousand miles to tell you adults you must change your ways. Coming here today, I have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future.

Losing my future is not like losing an election or a few points on the stock market. I am here to speak for all generations to come.

I am here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world whose cries go unheard.

I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet because they have nowhere left to go. We cannot afford to be not heard.

I am afraid to go out in the sun now because of the holes in the ozone. I am afraid to breathe the air because I don't know what chemicals are in it.

I used to go fishing in Vancouver with my dad until just a few years ago we found the fish full of cancers. And now we hear about animals and plants going exinct every day -- vanishing forever.

In my life, I have dreamt of seeing the great herds of wild animals, jungles and rainforests full of birds and butterfilies, but now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see.

Did you have to worry about these little things when you were my age?

All this is happening before our eyes and yet we act as if we have all the time we want and all the solutions. I'm only a child and I don't have all the solutions, but I want you to realise, neither do you!

* You don't know how to fix the holes in our ozone layer.
* You don't know how to bring salmon back up a dead stream.
* You don't know how to bring back an animal now extinct.
* And you can't bring back forests that once grew where there is now desert.

If you don't know how to fix it, please stop breaking it!

Here, you may be delegates of your governments, business people, organisers, reporters or poiticians - but really you are mothers and fathers, brothers and sister, aunts and uncles - and all of you are somebody's child.
I'm only a child yet I know we are all part of a family, five billion strong, in fact, 30 million species strong and we all share the same air, water and soil -- borders and governments will never change that.

I'm only a child yet I know we are all in this together and should act as one single world towards one single goal.

In my anger, I am not blind, and in my fear, I am not afraid to tell the world how I feel.

In my country, we make so much waste, we buy and throw away, buy and throw away, and yet northern countries will not share with the needy. Even when we have more than enough, we are afraid to lose some of our wealth, afraid to share.

In Canada, we live the privileged life, with plenty of food, water and shelter -- we have watches, bicycles, computers and television sets.

Two days ago here in Brazil, we were shocked when we spent some time with some children living on the streets. And this is what one child told us: "I wish I was rich and if I were, I would give all the street children food, clothes, medicine, shelter and love and affection."

If a child on the street who has nothing, is willing to share, why are we who have everyting still so greedy?

I can't stop thinking that these children are my age, that it makes a tremendous difference where you are born, that I could be one of those children living in the Favellas of Rio; I could be a child starving in Somalia; a victim of war in the Middle East or a beggar in India.

I'm only a child yet I know if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty and finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this earth would be!

At school, even in kindergarten, you teach us to behave in the world. You teach us:

* not to fight with others,
* to work things out,
* to respect others,
* to clean up our mess,
* not to hurt other creatures
* to share - not be greedy.
Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do?

Do not forget why you're attending these conferences, who you're doing this for -- we are your own children. You are deciding what kind of world we will grow up in. Parents should be able to comfort their children by saying "everyting's going to be alright" , "we're doing the best we can" and "it's not the end of the world".

But I don't think you can say that to us anymore. Are we even on your list of priorities? My father always says "You are what you do, not what you say."

Well, what you do makes me cry at night. You grown ups say you love us. I challenge you, please make your actions reflect your words. Thank you for listening.

Cicada Song

2008-06-16T12:29:00.009+05:30

Last week, I had been to Nagarhole, Rajiv Gandhi National Park (see map) and got to watch and learn from several of the marvellous creatures of nature. Cicada was one, which we frequently got the chance to observe. I was of the belief that they make their noise by rubbing their legs as the crickets and locusts do! I was wrong! They make their noise using special body part called tymbals. if you are interested in learning more about these magnificent insects, please read further!

View Larger Map

The Insect
Cicada (sih-kay-duh) is an insect of the order with large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings. The adult insect, sometimes called an imago, is usually 2 to 5 cm long, although some tropical species can reach 15 cm. Cicadas have prominent eyes set wide apart on the sides of the head, short antennae protruding between or in front of the eyes, and membranous front wings. Over 2,500 species of cicada are found in temperate to tropical climates where they are among the most widely recognized of all insects, mainly due to their large size and remarkable acoustic talents.

Harmless
Although the Cicadas appear large and scary, they do not bite or sting, are benign to humans, and are not considered pests. Some people in Ancient Greece, China, Malaysia, Burma, Latin America and the Congo eat cicadas: the female is prized as it is meatier. Some of them are considered as pests, when they swarm the area in large numbers.

Did You Know?
Desert cicadas are also among the few insects known to cool themselves by sweating, while many other cicadas can voluntarily raise their body temperatures as much as 22oC above ambient temperature.

The Cicada Song

Male cicadas have loud noisemakers called "timbals" on the sides of the abdominal base. Unlike other familiar sound-producing insects like crickets their "singing" is not created by the stridulation (where two structures are rubbed against one another). The timbals are regions of the exoskeleton that are modified to form a complex membrane with thin, membranous portions and thickened "ribs". Contracting the internal timbal muscles produces a clicking sound as the timbals buckle inwards. As these muscles relax, the timbals return to their original position producing another click. The interior of the male abdomen is substantially hollow to amplify the resonance of the sound. A cicada rapidly vibrates these membranes, and enlarged chambers derived from the tracheae make its body serve as a resonance chamber, greatly amplifying the sound. They modulate their noise by wiggling their abdomens toward and away from the tree that they are on. Also, each species is known to have its own distinctive song.

Although only males produce the cicadas' distinctive sound, both sexes have tympana, which are membranous structures used to detect sounds and thus the cicadas' equivalent of ears. Males can disable their own tympana while calling. Adult cicadas have a sideways-ridged plate where the mouth is in normal insects.

Some cicadas produce sounds up to 120 dB "at close range", among the loudest of all insect-produced sounds. Conversely, some small species are known to have songs in such high pitch, that the noise is inaudible to humans. Species have different mating songs to ensure they attract the appropriate mate. Male cicadas are also capable of making a loud squawk when disturbed. It is believed that such squawking may be effective in deterring predators. Males of many species tend to gather which creates a greater sound intensity and protects against avian predators. It can be difficult to determine which direction(s) cicada song is coming from, because the low pitch carries well and because it may, in fact, be coming from many directions at once, as cicadas in various trees all make noise at once.

In addition to the mating song, many species also have a distinct distress call, usually a somewhat broken and erratic sound emitted when an individual is seized. A number of species also have a courtship song, which is often a quieter call and is produced after a female has been drawn by the calling song.

The song of the cicada is a favourite sound effect used by filmmakers and animators as a means of representing silence, pathos, and the great outdoors.

Life Cycle

After mating, the female cuts slits into the bark of a twig, and into these she deposits her eggs. She may do so repeatedly, until she has laid several hundred eggs. When the eggs hatch, the newborn nymphs drop to the ground, where they burrow. Most cicadas go through a life cycle that lasts from two to five years. These long life cycles are an adaptation to predators such as the cicada killer wasp and praying mantis, as a predator could not regularly fall into synchrony with the cicadas.

The insects spend most of the time that they are underground as nymphs at depths ranging from about 30 cm up to 2.5 m. The nymphs feed on root juice and have strong front legs for digging. In the final nymphal instar, they construct an exit tunnel to the surface and emerge. They then moult (shed their skins), on a nearby plant for the last time and emerge as adults. The abandoned skins remain, still clinging to the bark of trees. Cicadas inhabit both native and exotic plants including tall trees, coastal mangroves, urban gardens and desert shrubs.

Ant and the Grasshopper

2008-06-04T16:27:00.008+05:30

An Old Story

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.

Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed.

The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

The Modern Indian Version

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.

Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.

Mayawati states this as `injustice' done on Minorities.

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance).

Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for 'Bengal Bandh' in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.

CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.

M. Karunanidhi urges the central government to expedite the clearance for the special bridge between the Grasshopper and Ants. Says, it would bring about equanimity amongst all in the Dravidian world!

Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes,it's home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it ' A Triumph of Justice'.

Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice '.

CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '

Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later...

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar
company in Silicon Valley,

100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere
in India,
.
.
.
AND
As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the grasshoppers,
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
India is still a developing country…!!!

P.S

If you are interested, you may want to show this old video, with a two minutue introduction by Walt Disney, based on the classic Aesop fable, the grasshopper plays his fiddle and lives for the moment, thinking "The world owes me a living". The industrious ants squirrel away massive amounts of food for the winter. The grasshoppers convinces one small ant to accompany his music with a dance, until the queen arrives and scares him back to work. The queen warns the grasshopper of the trouble he'll be in, come winter. Winter comes, and the grasshopper, near starvation, stumbles across the ants, who are having a full-on feast in their snug little tree. They take him in and warm him up. The queen tells him only those who work can eat so he must play for them, where he finally realizes he "owe(s) the world a living"

Smallest Countries in the World

2008-06-04T15:52:00.002+05:30

Do know what the five smallest countries in the world are?

The smallest country is Vatican City, at 0.2 square miles.
In position two comes Monaco, at 0.7 square miles.
In third place is Nauru, which covers 8.5 square miles.
Fourth is Tuvalu, at 9 square miles.
And fifth is San Marino at 24 square miles.

So in total, the five smallest countries in the world cover just 42.4 square miles.

Compare that with Disney World in Florida, which at 47 square miles is bigger than all of them put together.

And New York's Central Park, which, if it declared independence would, at 1.32 square miles, be bigger than the Vatican and Monaco combined.