A Thought for Today : April 5, 2008

'Cactus' by Paolo Nao from
Public-Domain-Photos.com

(www.public-domain-photos.com)

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed - Einstein

S&T Watch-1: Surveilance Camera to detect Explosives and Cocaine

ThruVision, a British firm, unveiled a surveillance camera that could be used to detect materials such as explosives or cocaine by distinguishing among the low levels of electromagnetic radiation emitted by all things everywhere.

Courtesy: Christian Lorentzen, Harper’s Weekly Review, March 11, 2008

Grateful thanks to Mr. Christian Lorentzen and Harper’s Weekly.

Health Watch-8: 'Drug-resistant TB on the rise!'

The World Health Organization announced that virtually untreatable drug-resistant tuberculosis could now be found in 45 countries with a half-million new cases each year, and that the highest rate of infection was in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Courtesy: Paul Ford, Harper’s Weekly Review, March 4, 2008

Grateful thanks to Mr.Paul Ford and Harper’s Weekly.

Facts & Figures-28 : "Record Food Grains Output Likely"

India’s total food grains production during the crop year 2007-08 is estimated at 227.32 million tones, which is more than what was achieved the previous year.

Excerpt from ‘Record Foodgrains output likely’ by Vinay Kumar, The Hindu, Madurai, April 23, 2008

Grateful thanks to Mr.Vinay Kumar and The Hindu.

Letters-16: "Shocking and Shameful"

It is shocking and shameful that over 125 farmers have committed suicide in the aftermath of the pompous announcement of loan waiver. There was no decline in the number of farmers’ suicides even after the Prime Minister visited Vidharbha. Why does it not appeal to the policymakers that their gestures are greeted only by withdrawal?

The poor farmers of Vidharbha seem to be twice cursed – by the gross official neglect and by the media euphoria that they are being showered with enormous charity. - S.V.Venugopalan, Chennai

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, April 22, 2008 (Letters to the Editor)
Grateful thanks to Mr.S.V.Venugopalan, Chennai and The Hindu.

Essence of Living

'Cactus' by Paolo Nao from
Public-Domain-Photos.com

Fear of death looms large in the lives of people. It is the fear of losing what we possess and also the fear of the unknown that makes death fearful to most of us. It seems sensible to seek the cover of security that life seems to offer and get involved in the attainments, agendas and desires relevant in this context rather than even think of death.

Swami Mitrananda pointed out in a lecture that the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita emphasizes the essence of intelligent living as a well-designed plan for a rewarding exit from this world. Lord Krishna makes it clear that death is inevitable to one who is born and it is necessary to remove any sense of fear towards the reality of death. Since the Lord assures that those who remember Him at the time of death surely will attain Him, the path for the spiritual seeker is clear – to constantly have thoughts of Him even while engaged in one’s daily duties. When a person dies, the soul attains that state which the mind had been contemplating at the time of death. Our past thoughts and actions determine our present birth and our future is determined by our present way of life. Our desires direct the mind and the body goes in pursuit of those thoughts. If our life is directed towards God, our mind directs us towards thoughts of God. One has to pay attention to these materials while living.

Since Vedanta is difficult to comprehend even when one’s intellectual and physical faculties are intact, it will be well nigh impossible to be grasped at the time of death. So the mind has to be trained to be in contemplation mode during one’s life time through sincere practice. If the lifetime is spent in the pursuit of wealth, one loses the chance to gain to higher knowledge of Vedanta that can win liberation. We get tossed in the finite world.

To get out of this endless cycle, one has to let go of attachments to people, places, possessions, etc. Practising detachment can help one to conquer fear of death, enabling one to face death with peace and no regrets. When desires are transcended, one gains the courage to lose what one has been attached to, even it be a mere pen or a coveted post that had been gained through tremendous effort.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, April 22, 2008 (Religion)
Grateful thanks to Swami Mitranandaji Maharaj and The Hindu for the wonderful article and Paolo Nao and the Public-Domain-Photos.com for freely providing the above photograph.

Mobile Phones could kill more people than smoking and asbestos

Mobile phones could kill far more people than smoking or asbestos, a study by an award-winning cancer expert has concluded. Brain expert warns of huge rise in tumours and calls on industry to take immediate steps to reduce radiation.

Excerpt from the article, "Mobile phones 'more dangerous than smoking" by Geoffrey Lean, www.independent.co.uk, Sunday, 30 March 2008

For the full article:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/exposed-the-great-gm-crops-myth-812179.html?service=Print

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Related

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“Mobile phone” from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Human health impacts)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone


“Mobile phone radiation and health”, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_radiation_and_health


“Health warning against excessive mobile phone use” - The New Zealand Herald (quoting Reuters), January 3, 2008
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10485110


“Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?” (Scientists claim radiation from handsets are to blame for mysterious 'colony collapse' of bees), By Geoffrey Lean and Harriet Shawcross, Sunday, 15 April 2007, The Independent,
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/are-mobile-phones-wiping-out-our-bees-444768.html


“Case of the disappearing bees creates a buzz” by Eric Sylvers, International Herald Tribune, April 22, 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/22/news/wireless23.php


“Mobile Phones and Health”, Independent Expert Group Report on Mobile Phones, (The Stewart Report),
http://www.iegmp.org.uk/report/text.htm

Pollution affects scent of flowers

Researchers in Virginia found due to pollution the scent of floers, which could travel up to 4,000 feet during the 19th century, now travels not even a quarter of that distance.

Courtesy: Paul Ford, Harper’s Weekly Review, April 15, 2008
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Related
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“Key to Scent of Flowers”, Sci Tech, The Hindu, Nov.27, 2003
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/seta/2003/11/27/stories/2003112701001600.htm

“Pollution ‘dulling the scent of flowers’”, Sci Tech, The Hindu, April 20, 2008
http://www.hindu.com/holnus/008200804201550.htm’

“Pollution dulling the scent of flowers”, Financial Express, April 21, 2008
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Pollution-dulling-the-scent-of-flowers/299506/

“Scented Flowers and Foliages”, (Fragrances can have an effect on our emotions and wellbeing)
http://www.flowers.org.uk/flowers/trivia/scent.htm

“Pollution dulling the scent of flowers”, Sci Tech, Eco News, www.zeenews.com (Pollution is endangering the most essential cycles of nature.)
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=437809&sid=ENV&ssid=26

“Pollution stifling flowers’ scents’, Alok Jha, Science Correspondent The Guardian, Monday April 14 2008, (why bees and other pollinating insects are in decline)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/14/pollution.conservation

“Why flowers have lost their scent?”, Wren’s Nest News, Article 19614, posed April 20, 2009 (Pollution is dulling the scent of flowers and impeding some of the most basic processes of nature, disrupting insect life and imperilling food supplies).
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/why-flowers-have-lost-their-scent-812168.html

A Thought for Today : April 4, 2008

'Cactus' by Paolo Nao from

Public-Domain-Photos.com

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You can make a dime dishonestly, but it will cost

you a dollar later on - Unknown

Grateful thanks to Paulo Nao and Public-Domain-Photos.com and the unknown author of the above quotation.

A Thought for Today : April 3, 2008

'Protest' - Photo by Jon Sullivan from

Public-Domain-Photos.com

Manliness should mark man and not faint-heartedness. Determination should reign supreme and not timidity. A good cause should be championed firmly; it should not be shirked with indifference. Man grows in caliber as he utilizes his potentialities for good causes. – Swami Chidbhavananda

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Grateful thanks to Jon Sullivan and Public-Domain-Photos.com

Eyecatchers-66: "Embryo Testing"

Parents in Australia were suing an embryo-testing clinic for allowing their child to carry a cancer gene.

Courtesy: Paul Ford, HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW, January 22, 2008

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Related

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"Embryo test 'offers parents hope" by Caroline Ryan BBC News, Prague

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5079802.stm

"Should we be able to choose our kids?", By Jeffrey P. Kahn, Ph.D., M.P.H., Director, Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota, CNN.com/Health, August 20, 2002 -

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/08/19/ethics.matters/index.html

"Should embryo testing be restricted? " BBC News - Talking Point, November 19, 1999 -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/522749.stm

"Embryo test for 200 diseases", Healthcare Today Magazine - http://www.hc2d.co.uk/content.php?contentId=1068

"Genetic Embryo Testing Video Clip", http://www.infertile.com/media_pages/television/2001-04-xx_ktvi_genetest.htm

"Call to scrutinise embryo testing", David Adam, science correspondent, The Guardian, April 26 2005 - http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2005/apr/26/health.science

"Embryo testing could produce babies who might aid sick siblings", News-Medical.Net - http://www.news-medical.net/?id=1220

"Embryo testing prevents rhesus factor disease" by Karen Barlow for The World Today - http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1285912.htm

Facts & Figures-27 : "Brain-enhancing Drugs!"

A poll by the science journal "Nature" found that 20 percent of its readers use brain-enhancing drugs.

Courtesy: Paul Ford, HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW, April 15, 2008.

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Related:

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"One in five admit using brain drugs", James Randerson, The Guardian, Thursday April 10 2008 - http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/apr/10/medicalresearch.health.

"20 Percent of Scientists Admit Using Brain-Enhancing Drugs -- Do You?" by Alexis Madriga, 'Wired Science', April 09, 2008 - http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/04/20-of-scientist.html

"Sharper minds" by Melissa Healy, Times Staff Writer " - http://www.nootropics.com/smartdrugs/sharper-minds.html

"Using Brain Enhancing Drugs: Is This "Cheating" ?", ' Leather Head Matters', March 19, 2008 - http://leatherheadblog.com/2008/03/19/brain-enhancing-drugs-is-this-cheating/

"Brain-enhancing drugs", 'Nascent', Nature's blog on web technology and science, http://blogs.nature.com/wp/nascent/2008/02/brainenhancing_drugs_1.html

"Ethical questions regarding use of brain-enhancing drugs debated", University of Cambridge News and Events, December 20, 2007, http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2007122002

"More professionals, students using brain performance enhancing drugs", The Dallas Morning News, December 20, 2007 http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/122107dnnatbraindoping.3761ad89.html

Letters-15: "Myth Shattered"

1. This refers to the article “Between a rock and a hard place” (The Hindu, April 17, 2008). Clearly, the increase in food prices has falsified the myth that the market can heal all the wounds. That we exported food grain for European cattle in 2002 and 2003, when millions were starving back home is appalling. There cannot a bigger irony than the fact that a country declares food surplus when the people in its backyard are struggling for survival. – Anadi Mitra, Bangalore.

2. The article rightfully points to the fallacy of liberalization and trading in food commodities by big multinationals. Despite the government’s efforts, farmers are more vulnerable today than ever before. There is an immediate need to press the emergency button for some corrective action. – Tarun Kumar Pithode, New Delhi.

3. Inflation has always been a blessing for those who can dictate prices. We should guard against the possible subversion of the economy by interested forces from within and outside the country. Economics has gone beyond conventional wisdom. Strategic calculations now use economic subversion as a means to bring around countries. The clamour to permit FDI in the retail segment is an indication of this. – A.P.Govindan Kutty, Painkulam.

4. The only way in which I can express my admiration for P.Sainath’s article is to quote Eric Gill’s words in a letter to Ananda Coomaraswamy: “You hit the nail on the head bloody right, bloody hard and bloody often.” – Ramaswamy R.Iyer, New Delhi.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, April 18, 2008 (“Letters to the Editor)

Grateful thanks to M/s.Anadi Mitra, Bangalore; Tarun Kumar Pithode, New Delhi; A.P.Govindan Kutty, Painkulam; Ramaswamy R.Iyer, New Delhi and The Hindu.

A Thought for Today : April 2, 2008

'Morning Glory Pool' by Jon Sullivan from Public-Domain-Photos.com

(www.public-domain-photos.com)

It is better to be decisive, even if it means that sometimes you will be wrong - Unknown.

Grateful thanks to Jon Sullivan and Public-Domain-Photos.com

Eyecatchers-65: "John Wheeler and Black Holes"

John Wheeler, a physicist who coined the term "black hole," died at age 96. In his 1999 autobiography he explained what can be learned by studying black holes: "That space can be crumpled like a piece of paper," he wrote, "into an infinitesimal dot."

Courtesy: Paul Ford, HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW, April 15, 2008.

For more info on John Wheeler and Black Holes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Archibald_Wheeler

http://www.usd.edu/phys/courses/phys300/gallery/clark/wheeler.html

http://iht.com/articles/2008/04/14/america/obits.php

Science Watch-9: "Coldest brown-dwarf Star"

French and Canadian astronomers announced the discovery of the coldest brown-dwarf star on record, 40 light-years away.

Courtesy: Paul Ford, HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW, April 15, 2008.

For more details:

"Discovery of coldest brown star might bridge the gap between stars and planets" -

http://in.news.yahoo.com/ani/20080411/r_t_ani_sc/tsc-discovery-of-coldest-brown-star-migh-f32bc39.html

Facts & Figures-26 : "8000-year-old Trees!"

Scientists identified a group of 8,000-year-old Norway spruce trees in western Sweden, believed to be the oldest on earth. The trees, which took root after the last Ice Age, stayed at a shrublike size for most of their lives. "The past few decades we have seen a much warmer climate, which has meant that they have popped up," said tree expert Leif Kullman.

Courtesy: Paul Ford, HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW, April 15, 2008.

Also read:

"The tallest, biggest and oldest trees" - http://www.bio.ilstu.edu/armstrong/bigtree/fieldtrip.htm

"Living tree ‘8,000 years older than Christ’ (?)" -

http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v17/i3/living_tree.asp

"Oldest Living Tree Found in Sweden" -

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080414-oldest-tree.html

A Thought for Today : April 1, 2008

All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind - Abraham Lincoln
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My grateful thanks to Public-Domain-Photos.com (http://www.public-domain-photos.com/) and the author of the photo, Jon Sullivan for the wonderful photo.

Green Books

Publisher Dorling Kindersley claims to have printed the most environmentally conscious series of books in the world. Vegetable inks, 100 per cent recycled card and “environmentally friendly” glues have been used, it claims. Chief Executive Gary June said its Made with Care series represented “a best practice example of how green and clean books can be produced in the future”. The first four titles include a guide to organic gardening and a children’s encyclopedia on the environment. The company, a division of Penguin books, has called their launch “a global publishing first”. By removing the book’s jackets and an energy efficient binding process, the company said it had saved both paper and energy. It has also printed the books on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), ensuring a tree is planted for each one used.

Courtesy: ‘Young World’, Supplement to The Hindu, April 15, 2008

A Thought for Today : March 31, 2008

We want infinite energy, infinite zeal, infinite courage, and infinite patience, then only will great things be achieved – Swami Vivekananda

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Grateful thanks to Public-Domain-Photos.com

(www.public-domain-photos.com) and the author of the photo, Paolo Neo.