New stuff

On the right-side bar, you will notice a couple of new items. I've put up the lists of the last 5 movies I've seen and the last 5 books I've read. Both are clickable and will take to more information about them. (The movie one has pictures too :) ). Go ahead, give it a try.. Links here as well -

Last 5 books
Last 5 movies

Its South Africa next

Glad to see that Rahul Dravid finally is up there. He has performed consistently so long for India, I think he really deserves it. Hats off to "The Wall". Lets hope India can keep up the momentum against South Africa.

Dakosaurus andiniensis

A new under-sea dinosaur fossil is found -
"This species was very unusual, because other marine crocodiles that were around at the same time had very delicate features — long, skinny snouts and needle-like teeth for catching small fish and mollusks," said Ohio State University researcher Diego Pol, who determined the crocodile lineage. "But this croc was just the opposite. It had a short snout, and large teeth with serrated edges. It was definitely a predator of large sea creatures."

NEWS: HERE

PIC:

Vatican votes for Darwin

I'm happy that the seat of Christianity understands the role of religion well.

The complete articlehere.

Here's a quote -
"We know where scientific reason can end up by itself,' said Cardinal Poupard, 'the atomic bomb and the possibility of cloning human beings are fruit of a reason that wants to free itself from every ethical or religious link'. At the same time, he emphasised, 'we also know the dangers of a religion that severs its links with reason and becomes prey to fundamentalism…The faithful have the obligation to listen to that which secular modern science has to offer, just as we ask that knowledge of the faith be taken in consideration as an expert voice in humanity.' " (my emphasis)

Screw the Kansas School Board officials who wanted Intelligent Design!

Photography Tips

Back in May of this year, (May 11th, to be precise) I had posted a link to some photography tips which I thought were relevant. Here's part two of those tips.

Photography can be quite tricky sometimes: Here's my list of five simple things one can do for better looking pictures -

1) Composition: Spend an extra minute looking at what is in your frame. Make sure there are no extra details in the background, such as distracting trash cans etc.
2) Composition: Try and use up most of your frame for the object which you are photographing. Sometimes you want the background too, but many times its important to have at least 50% of the area covered by your subject.
3) Light: Try and ensure that when you take pictures in sunlight, your camera is pointing away from the sun and sunlight is incident on your subject. Unless you want stark looking pictures, avoid light that casts harsh shadows, and try to eliminate sharp shadows from the background.. they can be distracting. If you do want to take stark images, then its preferable to use black and white.
4) Hold the camera steady. If you have one of those ultra-tiny digital cameras then hold something slightly heavier (such as the camera bag) in your hand along with the camera. This will help to weigh down your hand and keep it steady.
5) Carry your camera with you everywhere and stay on the lookout for different looking shots. Try and change the orientation to something that isn't normal or expected. For example, if you are taking pictures of a flower, don't click while standing up. Try and get down near the flower.

Happy clicking!!

More on science education

Here's an article that points out certain shortcomings of physics textbooks in the UK. It is only a little heartening that many of the flaws he mentions were not present in my textbooks growing up (there were many other flaws though)

Science Education in the US

Todays issue of Fermilab Today brought the issue of science/technological education in the US to mind once again.

Living here, I can vouch for the fact that the role of science in general and scientists in particular is very ill-portrayed by media. And since the US is run by the media (!), it comes as no surprise that science is lagging.

I might be biased because of being a physics student, yet it seems pretty obvious to me that students in the US are more concerned about fashion issues than technological ones. It really makes me worry to think that the majority of people in the US believe more in "intelligent design" than in "evolution" (Great site Talk Origins). And if that is really true, how in God's(!) name did this country ever become a world leader in science.

Perhaps this hints at the answer -
"When asked in spring 2005 what is the most attractive place in the world in which to ‘lead a good life,' respondents in only one of the 16 countries polled (India) indicated the United States."

This comes straight from a report which is worth perusing -Link Here

Shraddha's padava gift

We have this tradition where on one of the days in Diwali, the husband has to give a gift to his wife. Usually its supposed to be gold (we're indians! obviously), but since I'm still a poor graduate student and also as american designs aren't quite as appealing as indian ones), but we bought an artists/painter's set as my gift for her. Now I'm waiting for a nice painting to hang in my office :)

The Father of Astronomy

The BBC had this interesting story about Copernicus and how he might have looked taken from forensic studies of his skull.

Happy Diwali 2005

We celebrated the festival of lights very nicely this year.

I helped a little with the preparation.

We did the lakshmi puja of course...

4-0

INDIA-4 SRI LANKA-0

Dropping Sourav seems to have worked like a charm. Its great that they sealed this victory in my Pune of course!!

Images: courtesy of cricinfo

Sachin Tendulkar


Ajit Agarkar and captain Rahul Dravid

Mahendra Singh Dhoni