Heart-warming story…
Ten years ago, a retired teacher in Kalyan, near Mumbai, pledged to donate both his eyes as well as his skin. A week ago, Prahakar Nanivadekar's son, Mandar, kept the promise. Nanivadekar, a resident of Tilak Chowk area in Kalyan West, had spent 40 years teaching. He was also known for his social work, especially for offering free tutorials toned students. His efforts didn't go unnoticed and over the years, he had bagged awards from government agencies and social organizations. Medha, his daughter-in-law said, "We donated both his eyes to the Thane Eye Bank and skin to the National Burns Centre in Navi Mumbai, while his body was given to Chhatrapati Shivaji Medical College.
Manoj, his other son, added it was his father's dream that his death should benefit someone, somewhere.
(Me: Everyone should unreservedly and wholeheartedly echo Manoj's sentiments and pledge to donate his/her body organs upon their death or brain death in accident cases, for use on others who are desperately in need of them. Most of us Hindus are shackled from donating organs due to the myths of re-birth and ever-lasting atma (soul) still prevailing among us. Religious scriptures or beliefs were written and/or propagated by the best of brains at the time but one must remember, they are not sacrosanct for all time to come; we Indians should repose more FAITH in SCIENCE)..
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Woman to husband: "We're out of mouthwash. Hang a car deodorizer from the roof your mouth".
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From the world of science…
Another giant leap for mankind…
The $20bn Iter nuclear fusion reactor in France won final design approval this week. If it works, it will provide clean, and limitless energy.
The International nuclear fusion project – known as Iter; meaning "the way" in Latin – is designed to demonstrate a new kind of nuclear reactor capable of producing unlimited supplies of cheap, clean, safe and sustainable electricity from atomic fusion. If Iter demonstrates that it is possible to build commercially-viable fusion reactors then it could become the experiment that saved the world in a century threatened by climate change and an expected three-fold increase in global energy demand.
Many energy experts believe that nuclear fusion is the only serious, environmentally-friendly way of reliably producing 'base-load" electricity 24/7. It is the only way of generating industrial-scale quantities of electricity night and day without relying on carbon-intensive fossil fuels or dangerous and dirty conventional nuclear power. However, the daunting complexity of the Iter project is demonstrated by how long it has taken to reach this early stage of construction – and how much further it still has to go. There is at least another decade of building work and a further decade of testing before the rector will be allowed to 'go nuclear.
The project is jointly finance by 34 countries (including India) representing more than half the world's population have joined forces in the biggest scientific collaboration on the planet – only the International Space Station is bigger.
(Me: Trust science and scientists – not Gods! – to solve our early problems. And of course, we Indians can also trust our motley groups of pseudo do-gooders/NGOs to make India miss this cheap energy bus by filling frivolous writ petitions after petitions in various Courts and by inciting and instigating local populations where such commercial-scale projects would be PLANNED..)
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Iron balls in ears help birds navigate…
Washington: Birds make heroic journeys guided by the Earth's magnetic field, but how they detect magnetic fields has puzzled scientists for decades. Now the Keays lab at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna has added some important pieces to this puzzle. Their work reports the discovery of iron balls in sensory neurons. These cells, called hair cells, are found in the ear and are responsible for detecting sound and gravity.
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A single serving of iron-rich figs contains more polyphenols, which are linked to longevity, than red wine or tea.
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Weird world…
Fossilized egg sells for more than $100,000 at auction
An elephant bird (Aepyornis maximus) egg was sold for over $100,000 as part of auction house Christie's 'Travel, Science and Natural History' collection. The elephant bird went extinct sometime in the 17th or 18th century. It grew to 10 feet tall and could weigh up to 1,000 pounds.
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Murder mystery party turns real as couple found dead in UK hotel…
London: A luxury hotel in England hosting a murder mystery themed party turned into a scene of two mysterious deaths on Saturday when bodies of a man and a woman were pulled out of its swimming pool.
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Hundreds of Chinese join rush to live on Mars.
Over 600 Chinese have applied to join an ambitious Dutch aerospace project that plans to send humans on a one-way trip to Mars for permanent settlement.
(Me: Probably, they believe the maxim, "Early bird catches the worm", and want to colonize Mars…)
Line Maro
Hey baby, you must be a light switch, coz. every time I see you, you turn me on!
(Me: she gets turned off every time she sees u…)
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Compensation to victims/injured/next-of-kin in cases of collapse of illegally and/or poorly constructed buildings.
Hefty compensations are paid in such cases from tax-payers' money? Why should our money be so frittered away even on humanitarian ground? Those responsible for such crashes are the builders, the civic authorities and local politicians. It is only fair therefore that such compensation be recovered from them…
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"It is better to take what does not belong to you than to let it lie around neglected" – Mark Twain…
(Me: But… this is what HONESTLY everyone does – even those who haven't heard of this quote…!)
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A lady walked into a drugstore and told the pharmacist she needed some cyanide right away. Concerned, the pharmacist asked: "Why in the world do you need cyanide?"
The lady explained that she needed it to poison her husband.
The pharmacist said: I can't give you cyanide to kill your husband. That's against the law!"
The lady reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of her husband in bed with the pharmacist's wife.
The pharmacist looked at the picture and replied, "Well, now. You didn't tell me you had a prescription"
