Eyecatchers-117: "GPS could save Airlines Fuel"

Chicago: A Second World War-era air traffic network that often forces planes to take longer, zigzagging routes is costing airlines billions of dollars in wasted fuel while an upgrade to a satellite-based system has languished in the planning stages for more than a decade.

The $35-billion plan would replace the current radar system with the kind of global positioning system (GPS) technology that has become commonplace in cars and cell phones. Supporters say it would triple air traffic capacity, reduce delays by at least half, improve safety and curb greenhouse gas emissions.

An analysis of industry data found that if the system were already in place, US airlines alone could have saved more than $5 billion in fuel this year alone.

But funding delays and the complexities of the switchover have kept the project grounded. The government does not expect to have it up and running until the early 2020s. - AP.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, Oct.15, 2008.

Wikipedia article on "GPS (GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM):

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

Grateful thanks to The Hindu and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Health Facts-8: "Vitamin D and Calcium"

Vitamin D controls your body's use of calcium. About 15 minutes of sunlight on your skin each day normally produces all the vitamin D you need.

Excerpt from "Health Facts", Chennai Times, Supplement to The Times of India, Chennai, Oct.16, 2008.

Wikipedia articles on "VITAMIN D" and 'CALCIUM":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium

Grateful thanks to The Times of India and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A Thought for Today-146:

Grateful thanks to Vinod for the photo - clicked by him with his Nokia N70M

The world is too dangerous for anything but truth, and too small for anything but love - Chennai Times, Oct.16, 2008.

Grateful thanks to Chennai Times.

Health News: "CLEAN HANDS"

Daisy, Gulshan and Yamuna, three-year-olds enrolled in a balwadi in Chintadripet, were excited about the soap suds that bubbled up when their teacher asked them to wash their hands before a meal.

The children were part of the Global Handwashing Day awareness programme organised by UNICEF. Little Gulshan did not understand much about germs and diseases, but she got her basics right. "I must clean my hands before eating," she said.

The awareness programme held at Chennai Corporation High School at Chintadripet reached out to students from pre-kinder-garten to Standard X. The children were given a demonstration on how to wash their hands thoroughly with soap, especially after using the toilet. Deputy Mayor R.Sathyabhama told students that they must also use footwear to keep their feet clean. UNICEF education specialist Aruna Rathnam said parents sent small children to school without footwear fearing that the children would lose them. She suggested that the children be allowed to keep their footwear on rather than leave them outside class so that they would not lose them.

Corporation schools, at present, do not provide soaps for children to wash hands. However, Corporation Deputy Commissioner (Education) Anu George said the idea would be considered. Students also took out a short rally holding placards on sanitation.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Chennai.

Wikipedia article on "GLOBAL HANDWASHING DAY":

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

Grateful thanks to the Staff Reporter who wrote the above article, The Hindu and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Letters-45: "Ethics are needed in Business"

This refers to the editorial 'No Half Measures' (The Times of India, Chennai, Oct.13, 2008). I agree with your views. However, business ethics are also important and need to be inculcated in our business practices. The lack of such ethics has led to the financial catastrophe confronting us today. Rather than honestly analysing a particular business practice, we opted for unrealistic assessments. These wrong practices not only weakened us from within but also created the bubble that caused so much trouble when it finally burst. - Rochak Aggarwal, Gurgaon.

Courtesy: The Times of India, Chennai, Oct.16, 2008 (Edit Page: Mail Box : My Times, My Voice).

Wikipedia article on "BUSINESS ETHICS":

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

Grateful thanks to Rochak Aggarwal and The Times of India, Chennai and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Facts & Figures-52: "33 Nations Face Grave Food Crisis"

Thirtythree countries, chiefly in Africa and Asia, are experiencing "very serious" to "grave" food supply problems, two food assistance groups have said.

Presenting the annual Global Hunger Index (GHI) for 2008, the German food relief group Welthungerhilfe and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) warned against neglecting the fate of starving people amidst the current financial crisis. "Nearly one billion starving people are a scandal for humanity," Welthungerhilfe head Mr.Ingeborg Schaeuble said. "In contrast to the banks, they are not to blame for their misery." In order to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals, an annual additional spending of up to $13.6 billion is necessary, he added - DPA.

Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle, Chennai, Oct.16, 2008.

Grateful thanks to DPA and Deccan Chronicle.

Eyecatchers-116: "Software that tells Age just by looking at Face"

University of Illinois has developed a software that reveals a person's age just by looking at his or her face.

Excerpt from "Software that tells age just by looking at face" from The Times of India, Chennai, Oct.16, 2008.

Grateful thanks to The Times of India, Chennai.

Eyecatchers-115: "Coca-Cola's Net Income up by 14%"

Coca-Cola Co posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on strong international demand that offset a drop in volume at home. Coke's net income rose 14% to $1.89 billion in the third quarter ended on September 26 from $1.65 billion a year earlier.

Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle, Chennai, Oct.16, 2008.

Grateful thanks to Deccan Chronicle, Chennai.

Letters-44: "Unkept Promise"

Sir, With reference to the report Parliament ambushed (Deccan Chronicle, Oct.15, 2008), when even the President of the US had taken his people's representatives into confidence, the Prime Minister of world's largest democracy did not keep his promise to Parliament by skipping the traditional monsoon session. While the nuclear deal may be Dr.Manmohan Singh's prestige issue, the nation has lost its prestige by succumbing to such desperation that the US has exploited. - Letter from K.S.Nagarajan, Porur, Chennai to the Editor, Deccan Chronicle, Chennai.

Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle, Chennai, Oct.16, 2008.

Grateful thanks to Deccan Chronicle, Chennai.

S&T Watch-33: "Treating Type-I Diabetes without Insulin"

Type-I diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks and kills insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. About 10% of people with diabetes have this form of the disease. The only treatment for Type-I diabetes hitherto has been intramuscular administration of insulin. But soon a new line of treatment may be available using the hormone leptin. Recent studies with rodents suggest that a little extra production of leptin through gene therapy can bring terminally ill rodents with Type-I diabetes back from the brink of death (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 25 August 2008).

Leptin is a hormone made by fat cells and plays a key role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure. It also helps control eating behaviour. A new study suggests that it can also treat diabetes , the first demonstration that the disease can be treated without replacing insulin.

Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre at Dallas, USA, used adenovirus to insert extra copies of the leptin gene in diabetic mice and rats. The rodents recovered from the most severe side-effects of diabetes, even though they were not given insulin. The terminally ill diabetic rodents making extra leptin recovered with no trace in their bodies, and leptin produced more sustained health improvements than insulin injections did. These included normalising blood sugar for up to 80 days without insulin, stopping the overproduction of glucose by the liver, improving sugar use in the muscles, and allowing the animals to gain weight. The gene therapy also corrected ketosis - a process characteristic of diabetes in which the body burns fat, producing sweet-smelling chemicals called ketones.

According to the researchers, excess leptin probably blocks the action of glucagon, a hormone that works as a counterpoint to insulin, which helps cells use glucose for energy. Glucagon signals the liver to produce glucose from fats and other non-carbohydrate sources. In diabetics, high glucagon levels just raise blood sugar levels even higher and lead to other side-effects.

The researchers are not sure whether injections of leptin will work as well as making extra leptin through gene therapy does. But it is known that persons given injections of leptin for other reasons do show some improvement in blood sugar levels.

Courtesy: 'DREAM 2047', October 2008 ("Recent Development in Science and Technology" by Biman Basu - Email: bimanbasu@gmail.com).

Grateful thanks to Mr.Biman Basu and Dream 2047.

Eyecatchers-114: "Rs.12 crore Unclaimed Deposits!"

Throughout the country about Rs.1200 crores remain unclaimed in various bank deposits. This information was furnished by the Reserve Bank of India in reply to a petition by Mr.Siddharth Mishra of Orissa under Right to Information Act.

Courtesy: 'Dinamalar', Tamil daily, Madurai, Sep.14, 2008.

Grateful thanks to Dinamalar.

Facts & Figures-51: "World Standards Day"

World Standards Day is celebrated today. It aims to create an awareness about the importance of standardization. For more details:

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

Grateful thanks to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

S&T Watch-32: "Mars Project"

NASA has decided to proceed with plans to launch a new big rover to Mars in 2009, despite concerns about the Mars Science Laboratory's budget.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, Oct.12, 2008.

Wikipedia articles on "MARS" and "NASA":

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

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

Grateful thanks to The Hindu and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Open Access-5: "Open Access Day"

Today is Open Access Day. Enthusiasts of OA world over have planned various events to celebrate the occasion. It looks very good and encouraging.

For details:

http://oad.simmons.edu/oadwiki/Events_celebrating_Open_Access_Day

Environment-13: "Green Roof Movement"

Have heard about the Green Roof Movement? I came to know about it only very recently through an article in The San Diego Union-Tribune. The article was titled, "CINCINNATI WANTS TO LEAD GREEN ROOF MOVEMENT IN U.S." and was authored by Terry Kinney of Associated Press.

It says that the City Council of Cincinnati plans to support residents and business houses to replace tar and shingles with vegetation by channeling grants and loans.

Originally European-born, this Green Roof Movement, is spreading to many cities of USA.

Green roofs are not only aesthetically pleasing but also helpful in many ways like reduction of stormwater runoff, filtering of pollutants and reduction in heating and cooling costs.

After reading the article, naturally I went to Wikipedia, the free encylopedia for more information. From Wikipedia, I went on to other sites and got plenty of lovable information which I would like to share with you.

Wikipedia article on: "GREEN ROOF":

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

Article entitled, "May Your Roof Be Green" from Al-Ahram, Weekly Online, June 2-8, 2005:http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/745/en2.htm

Article entitled, "PLANT A GREEN ROOF" by Katherine Noyes, Senior Editor, "Animal Welfare" in Charity Guide:

http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/fewhours/green-roof.htm

Grateful thanks to Terry Kinney, San Diego Union-Tribune, Amany Abdel-Moneim, Al-Ahram, Katherine Noyes, Charity Guide.org and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Open Access-4: Google Directory for Open Access Resources

It is heartening to note the growing support for the Open Access Movement and here is something for those who are interested in Open Access from Google Directory of Open Access Resources.

It has listed 5 categories and two related categories. Under the category, Free Access Scientific Archives Google Directory lists 52 references. Those who would like to look them up can click the URL below and see for themselves the 52 Open Access Resources under Science; 33 under Free Access Theory; 82 under Free Online Literature; 41 under Free Online Poetry; and 10 under Organizations.

Under related categories, 835 under Computers; and 82 under Computers-Open Source.

http://www.google.com/Top/Science/Publications/Archives/Free_Access_Online_Archives/

Grateful thanks to Google Directory.

Facts & Figures-34: "GMT"

Greenwich was established as universal time meridian of longitude on October 13, 1884 .

Wikipedia article on “GMT”: (In Britain, during winter only GMT is followed; during winter, it is “British Summer Time; and many more interesting facts):

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

Grateful thanks to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Websites to Watch-6: "Poetry 180"

I came across this interesting portal last week. It is hosted by the Library of Congress, USA. Though it says "a poem a day for American schools", anybody who loves poetry will find it interesting. To know more about it, I reproduce the Introduction given by Billy Collins, Former Poet Laureate of the United States:

"Welcome to Poetry 180. Poetry can and should be an important part of our daily lives. Poems can inspire and make us think about what it means to be a member of the human race. By just spending a few minutes reading a poem each day, new worlds can be revealed.

Poetry 180 is designed to make it easy for students to hear or read a poem on each of the 180 days of the school year. I have selected the poems you will find here with high school students in mind. They are intended to be listened to, and I suggest that all members of the school community be included as readers. A great time for the readings would be following the end of daily announcements over the public address system.

Listening to poetry can encourage students and other learners to become members of the circle of readers for whom poetry is a vital source of pleasure. I hope Poetry 180 becomes an important and enriching part of the school day".
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Give it a try, you will like it; I liked it.

A Thought for Today-145:

Grateful thanks to Vinod for the photo - clicked by him with his Nokia N70M

When the young behave badly, it is because society has already behaved worse. We have the teenagers, like the politicians and the wars that we deserve - J.B.Priestly.

Eyecatchers-113: "Nobel Peace Prize for Martti Ahtisaari"

Finland's former President, Martti Ahtisaari, won the 2008 Noble Peace Prize for a long career of peacemaking around the world from Namibia to Kosovo.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, Oct.11, 2008.

Detailed Wikipedia article on "MARTTI AHTISAARI":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martti_Ahtisaari

Grateful thanks to The Hindu and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.