Nanotech
In recent years, an eclectic band of scientists has mapped out a new frontier known broadly as nanotechnology. Though they're from different traditions and methods, these explorers, who include biologists, chemists, physicists, chipmakers, and computational experts, have tackled the same basic question: how to control the building blocks of matter from the bottom up.
They're learning how to guide individual atoms as they combine to form molecules and, in turn, how to make materials -- molecule-by-molecule -- that don't exist in nature. Their work cuts across some of the hottest areas of science, including innovative drug-delivery systems, cancer treatments, ultrastrong lightweight metals, and mass-produced superconducting wires -- to name a few.
What i can summarise according to the leading scientists there are two broad categories of risk assessment going on right now :
One is in biological systems -- starting with the effects on individual cells and up to more sophisticated organisms such as vertebrate animals. There's a lot of work going on this area already -- looking at how nanoparticles affect bacteria or how they accumulate in cells, for example.
The second major category looks at the environment. Do nanomaterials accumulate in water or the earth, and if so, do they pose a risk to the environment? Are they changing the balance of a water supply in terms of bacteria. If we're making lots of nanoparticles and they become part of waste stream, what happens to them in the long run?
It's really about sustainability. Can we engineer our manufacturing processes and these materials to have an environmentally benign lifecycle from when they're made in the factory to when they're put in a landfill?
Five-Point Someone
Does a good student with high grades make a good person? Not necessarily, as Head of Mechanical Engineering Department Prof Cherian says in Chetan Bhagat's debut novel "Five Point Someone - What Not To Do at IIT".Bhagat's novel is not about the premier institution, but is about an educational system as a whole, and the insane pursuit of society after money, status and power. The IIT in this novel remains in the background - albeit poignantly - as a symbol of the Indian educational system and the general mind-set towards good education, better job and a "good living." However, here lies the problem too. The tag line, "What Not To Do at IIT" tends one to make a prejudiced approach to the novel assuming that this is the about the life and times in an IIT, in this case the one in Delhi.Definitely not. The novel is more about a reflection of bonding among three friends, which transcends the Procrustean rigidity of the educational system.
It also throws up the question asked in the beginning of this article and attempts to answer it from different perspectives. It also touches upon the upbringing of a child and its repercussions on the individual.Bhagat takes his reader to lofty heights of friendship, humanity and loyalty. He brilliantly contrasts it with the materialistic world's blatant chase of money, power and status.
Dreams,Appreciation & Acceptance ..........??????????
Don't feel like writing much today, will just share the two articles i read.
Live Your Dreams
Appreciation & Acceptance .(Hardly found!!)
Zodiacs : Do they really make sense for all.......??
As i logged out checking my mails on hotmail(which has a gr8 affinity to get filled due to its size) yesterday,saw msn india placing on its home page advertising
"12 zodiac,1 channel" could not resist myself going there(astrology being one of my interests ;-) ). Spent some nice time in the Zodiac Zone section reading some really true things abt persons i know or i'm in the process of knowing.
By the way today its JUST BCOZ day...funny,is it??so i also wrote some lines...
I like u bcoz...?
I like u bcoz...?
I like u bcoz ...JUST BCOZ i like u.
Dedicated to all those whom i like...... ;-) do I really like?????
(Definitely,I like but not for any materialistic reasons :-), simply as a person.)
Much Awaited......
Much awaited shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) were listed at Rs 1,050 on the Bombay stock Exchange (BSE) today. The listing was at a premium of 23 per cent compared to the issue price of Rs 850.....
Distributed Denial of Service(DDoS)
The excerpt from an article in Network Magazine..............
"Research suggests that as many as 90 percent of all Internet-connected systems have adware, spyware, and remote-control Trojans installed. Just as thunderheads are omens of storms on the horizon, a mysterious outage affecting four of Akamai's largest customers warns of a looming Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) threat. There's little that network managers can do to avoid becoming the target of such an attack, but there are ways to prevent an even worse fate--having the machines on your network used as part of a DDoS attack, or made to send spam. The most important step is to avoid Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE).............
THE END OF IE?
By July 2004, the US-CERT had gone so far as to suggest that IE no longer be used. It recommended replacing it with other Web browsers, such as Opera or the free Mozilla Firefox........." If u r interested in complete article,read
this .
Moon
Is The Moon still there even when nobody is looking at it ?
.......questions a fellow blogger
"I like to think that the moon is there even if I am not looking at it"
......Albert Einstein
Why everyone loves the Moon ?
I remember a childhood tale:
THUNDER and Lightning were going to give a feast. It was to be a most delightful banquet, for all. They were talking about whom to invite, and they questioned whether to ask the sun, the moon, and the wind. These three were children of the star mother."The star mother has been so kind to us that I suppose we ought to invite her children," said Thunder.
That is why the sun and wind were invited as well as the moon. When the invitation came, the two brothers said to their little sister, "You are too small to go to a feast, but perhaps they asked you because they were going to ask us.""Star mother, I think I will stay at home," said the moon tearfully."No, little moon," replied the star mother, "go to the feast with the other children."So the three children went to the feast, and the star mother waited for them to come home.When they came, she asked, "What did you bring for me?" The hands of the sun were full of good things, but he said, "I brought only what I am going to eat myself," and he sat down in a corner with his back to the others, and went on eating."Did you bring anything for me?" she asked the wind."I brought some good things halfway home, and then I was weary of carrying them," answered the wind, "so I have eaten them.""I should never have imagined that you would be so selfish," said the star mother sadly, and she asked the little moon, "My daughter, did you bring anything for me?""Yes, star mother," answered the little moon, and she gave her mother more good things than any one had ever seen in their home before. There were rare luxuries that the fishes and the birds had brought. There were rich colors that the peacocks and orioles had promised, and there was even some of the charming music that the waves and brooks had agreed to make.
The star mother praised the little maiden. Then she looked at her two boys. She was sad, for she knew that they must be punished for their selfishness. "Sun," said she, "you wish to turn your back on all, and your punishment shall be that when the warm days of summer have come, all men will turn their backs on you." To the wind she said, "Wind, you thought of no one but yourself. When the storm is coming and you are afraid and fly before it, no one shall think of you. All men shall close their doors against you and fasten them." Then to her little daughter she said, "My little moon, you were unselfish and thoughtful. You shall always be bright and beautiful, and men shall love you and praise you whenever they look upon your gentle, kindly face."
This is why men hide from the sun and the wind, but never from the moon.Moon is symbol of purity & gentleness.......even if no one looks,she is there to spread happiness around.
Another Weekend
With past few weekends going in a monotonous fashion, I decided to keep all tensions aside & enjoy this one.
The fun started with going with my best friend on a shopping spree, in which I bought nothing for myself :-( .The excitement continued with party thrown by friends. I was on the dance floor till the end of the party(around 2-3 hours & was left hungry :-( but who cares for food at that time ;-) )The dance party was real fun & relaxation.
Then we decided for watching a movie to add flavor to weekend. After long I watched a romantic Hindi movie, Kyun Ho Gaya Na. The last which I remember were Taal & Kuch-Kuch Hota Hai(KKHH).While Taal was a classic movie with superb music by A.R.Rahmaan & ultimate belief of the hero in true love returning back, KKHH was good but strange part was hero himself contradicting his statement "In our lives we just love once & marry once" & then repeating both of the things again in his life in the movie. Agreement with the statement is little difficult for me as one may love someone but if things don't fall into place, there is always a chance for loving someone else. There is nothing wrong with this until the person is true to the relationship he/she is in & intentions are not wrong. Although it does not means flirting each & every person to bring love to your life. Let it come naturally to you.
As far as Kyun Ho Gaya Na is considered it brought out a nice perspective of life. (Not seen the movie, don’t read ahead ;-) No intentions for spoiling ur fun).Portraying the actual conflict in the young minds planning for a marriage to go for a love-marriage or arranged. A bit different part was girl disclosing to guy that she is in love with him (usually not seen in hindi movies where a guy proposes a girl).This also was ok to me as she was looking for a good life partner & the guy respected her feelings even if he not felt the same & gave her a chance of understanding(Does one gives chance to another for understanding the perception of why someone loves them in real life? Rarely happens ;-) ,it starts with infatuation,one denying another & ends there only).With all these twists movie ending on a happy note which was a little away from life I felt.(No arguments plz :-), I agree everything is possible but only if communication gap is bridged).
The weekend which started & ended with touching tunes of Hero by Enrique & Someday by MLTR, was cool & has left me afresh for the week ahead. I feel every endless night has a dawning day , every darkest sky has a shining ray. :-)
Action:Delete Record,Device:Human Memory,Error:Access Denied
"Yea, from the table of my memory
I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records."
-- Shakespeare, Hamlet
Is wiping away records from human memory so easy?Are our minds mechanical like memory in the PC? Is there some input-output mechanism to prove maturity of human being? Should we follow a definite algorithm to talk, laugh, and show our emotions? Can we humans do it, is the question?
"If you think , You Can"
"Just start to sing as you tackle the things that cannot be done,and you will do it."--Words of Edgar Alber Guest born this day 1881.
Life is all about you: you're either covering it, hiding it, laughing it off, kicking it, kissing it, busting it, sharing it or trying to get a piece of it. Decision is yours !!
"Daffodil Day"
August 20 is
Daffodil Day, it is the largest merchandise based national fundraising event of its kind for cancer research, education and patient support in the Southern Hemisphere.
In India also many people suffer from cancer. Two years back i lost my grandpa due to cancer.
We don't have any such day celebrated in India but we netizens can help to create awarenss by visiting
http://www.indiacancer.org/ & helping them if not monetarily then by translating cancer related topics on their website in our native languages as a small help which they require.
Wish there was any such day celebrated in India to raise funds for medical research!!
A Special Eve
On the eve of the 58th Independence Day, some thoughts come in my mind about nation.
According to Mahabharatha
"Don't think what Nation has done for you, Think what you have done for the nation."
Thinking what a common man can do for the nation.
* Live & let others live (To maintain Peace,law & order)
* Each one, Teach One (To remove illiteracy every literate can take responsibility to make one person literate)
* Not to make streets dirty for keeping our home clean (To improve sanitation & health instead of complaining about it)
* Saving water & electricity (For proper utilisation of natural resources)
* Paying the taxes (To remove corruption)
* Enlighten others with these duties.
I owe my country everything. It gave me schooling, independence of action, opportunity for service and honor.
"Vision 2020"
Last sunday I visited a school with a friend (after such a long time).It was a great experience to be there.Although it was a sunday there were many students in the school,on enquiring i got to know there was an inter-school essay competition & the topic was "Can India become a developed nation by 2020."The very first thought which came to my mind was Kalam's "Vision for India in 2020"...
Dr Kalam has become famous for his dream of India becoming a developed nation by 2020 and for his many other dreams in the field of science and technology. At every opportunity he gets, Dr Kalam exhorts various sections of society, especially children, to devote themselves to actualising these dreams.The concern is that the manner in which Dr Kalam has posed problems and solutions to them will further boost an unfortunately already widely prevalent approach among many scientists, engineers and technocrats, one which has plagued many a developmental effort and research project. This approach is best described as a “techno-fix” perspective in which all problems can be overcome by a technical solution, the technology being considered somehow independent of societal or structural dimensions.
For instance, at the Science Congress, Dr Kalam spoke at length on one of his favourite theses, which is also highlighted on the official website of the president of India, namely PURA or Provision of Urban Facilities in Rural Areas. Dr Kalam argues that once such facilities are available, teachers and doctors who, it is believed, avoid working in rural areas because of lack of such facilities, would change their attitude, education and health-care would become available and, because the greater connectivity would also trigger more changes, rural India would be transformed.Sounds simple, but are scientists the ones who would or could tackle this job, and will the anticipated results follow so directly or easily?
Dr. Kalam said in his address to parliament,I quote
,"Nearly 260 million people, who are below the poverty line, want to join the mainstream of development. Our people are impatient to achieve 100 percent literacy, health for all,shelter for all, prosperity through knowledge-driven productivity, and a better quality of life—all of these enriched with our value system. Hence, it is time India launched a new vision, which I would call "Vision - 2020".
I still remember what those students wrote in the prototype of the essay....."We hate,we abuse,we curse our country.We are sure we will be a developed nation definitely by 2020 but only if each one of realises our duty towards nation...."
“May I know what Pleasure is?”
Some of us listen to music, dance, write, read or play some musical instrument for fun. All of us have a different way of having pleasure in our life. This brought me to think actually “what pleasure is?”
I referred dictionary & found in literary terms it means
Calmness of mind; evenness of temper; undisturbed state; coolness; composure.
If it means calmness & composure why in life people find pleasure in doing things which disturb either there state or state of the society. The sheer pleasure of smoking, drinking & merry making spoils the physical & mental state of the person and many a times also brings embarrassment for others in the society.
If every thing bad things in this world can be left by just saying its done for pleasure someday a human will kill other human & say please don’t punish me its my way of having pleasure in life.
According to Jeremy Taylor“Mistake not. Those pleasures are not pleasures that trouble the quiet and tranquility of thy life.
"Delayed Justice"
On grounds of delay in justice, does Dhananjoy deserve another appeal?
Reading this in one of the opinion polls disturbed me a lot. “Justice delayed is justice denied” but this is applicable for victim’s family & not the convict. Although around 60%-70% people had given a vote against this but I cannot imagine how the remaining 30% gave vote in favour of a person committing such a heinous & shameful act.
The mercy petition of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, sentenced to death for raping and murdering a school girl, has been rejected by President A P J Abdul Kalam. But according to our law he can challenge the president’s decision by filing a petition in Supreme Court against this. Due to the surprising cycle of our law such a person is still alive till so many years filing petitions from lower court to higher. It is disheartening that human right activists are against giving him capital punishment which would have been given till now. I hope even if he goes to Supreme court, the court of justice should give him capital punishment so that it would pose a little terror in the minds of people committing such monstrous crimes.
