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May 20, 2009
Galileo Galilei The First Astronomer
Galileo Galilei was an Italian physicist and astronomer. He was born in Pisa on February 15, 1564. Galileo's father, Vincenzo Galilei, was a well-known musician. Vincenzo decided that his son should become a doctor. In 1581, Galileo was sent to the University of Pisa to study medicine. While a student at the university, Galileo discovered that he had a talent for mathematics. He was able to persuade his father to allow him to leave the university to become a tutor in mathematics. He later became a professor of mathematics. In 1609, Galileo heard about the invention of the spyglass, a device which made distant objects appear closer. Galileo used his mathematics knowledge and technical skills to improve upon the spyglass and build a telescope. Later that same year, he became the first person to look at the Moon through a telescope and make his first astronomy discovery. He found that the Moon was not smooth, but mountainous and pitted - just like the Earth! He subsequently used his newly invented telescope to discover four of the moons circling Jupiter, to study Saturn, to observe the phases of Venus, and to study sunspots on the Sun. Galileo's observations strengthened his belief in Copernicus' theory that Earth and all other planets revolve around the Sun. Most people in Galileo's time believed that the Earth was the center of the universe and that the Sun and planets revolved around it. The Catholic Church, which was very powerful and influential in Galileo's day, strongly supported the theory of a geocentric, or Earth-centered, universe. After Galileo began publishing papers about his astronomy discoveries and his belief in a heliocentric, or Sun-centered, Universe, he was called to Rome to answer charges brought against him by the Inquisition (the legal body of the Catholic Church). Early in 1616, Galileo was accused of being a heretic, a person who opposed Church teachings. Heresy was a crime for which people were sometimes sentenced to death. Galileo was cleared of charges of heresy, but was told that he should no longer publicly state his belief that Earth moved around the Sun. Galileo continued his study of astronomy and became more and more convinced that all planets revolved around the Sun. In 1632, he published a book that stated, among other things, that the heliocentric theory of Copernicus was correct. Galileo was once again called before the Inquisition and this time was found guilty of heresy. Galileo was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1633. Because of his age and poor health, he was allowed to serve his imprisonment under house arrest. Galileo died on January 8, 1642. 
Posted at 01:57 pm by Dravid
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May 16, 2009
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
The Indian space programme was institutionalized in 1969 with the
formation of Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO]. Indian space
programme is aimed at promoting the development and application of
space science and technology for the socio-economic benefit of the
country and also providing valuable service to the Nation in a self
reliant manner and witnessed several major accomplishments and scaled
newer heights in the recent past. The remarkable successes in space
programme were the result of well-orchestrated activities undertaken by
the department aimed at mastering cutting edge technology through
indigenous efforts and utilising the expertise available within the
organisation. The two major operational space systems - Indian National
Satellite (INSAT) for telecommunication, television broadcasting and
meteorological services and Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellite for
resources monitoring and management - together with the two operational
launch vehicles, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) primarily for
launching remote sensing satellites into polar orbits and
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) for launching
communication and meteorological satellites into Geosynchronous
Transfer Orbit (GTO) are providing valuable services to the nation.
The space programme has made a multi-quantum forward leap, making India
a major self-reliant space power. The future ISRO programme envisages
development of cutting edge technologies for reusable launch vehicle,
development of advanced technologies Human Spaceflight Programme,
advanced high efficiency semi-cryogenic propulsion system, advanced
communication satellite, air breathing propulsion, satellite based
navigation system, hyper spectral imaging sensors, and inter planetary
missions. ISRO has a strong base in space science too and the first
Indian scientific mission to the Moon - Chandrayaan - 1 has been
launched and advanced Astronomical Satellite is slated for launch in
the near future.
Posted at 02:09 am by Dravid
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TRAFFIC SAFETY AND ROAD CONDITIONS IN INDIA
While in a foreign country, U.S. citizens may encounter road
conditions that differ significantly from those in the United States.
The information below concerning India is provided for general
reference only, and may not be totally accurate in a particular
location or circumstance.
Travel by road in
India is dangerous. A number of U.S. citizens have suffered fatal
traffic accidents in recent years. Travel at night is particularly
hazardous. Buses, patronized by hundreds of millions of Indians, are
convenient in that they serve almost every city of any size. However,
they are usually driven fast, recklessly, and without consideration for
the rules of the road. Accidents are quite common. Trains are safer
than buses, but train accidents still occur more frequently than in
developed countries.
In order to drive
in India, one must have either a valid Indian driver’s license or a
valid international driver’s license. Because of difficult road and
traffic conditions, many Americans who visit India wisely choose to
hire a local driver.
On Indian roads,
the safest driving policy is to always assume that other drivers will
not respond to a traffic situation in the same way you would in the
United States. On Indian roads, might makes right, and buses and
trucks epitomize this fact. For instance, buses and trucks often run
red lights and merge directly into traffic at yield points and traffic
circles. Cars, auto-rickshaws, bicycles and pedestrians behave only
slightly more cautiously. Frequent use of one's horn or flashing of
headlights to announce one's presence is both customary and wise.
Outside major
cities, main roads and other roads are poorly maintained and
congested. Even main roads often have only two lanes, with poor
visibility and inadequate warning markers. On the few divided highways
one can expect to meet local transportation traveling in the wrong
direction, often without lights. Heavy traffic is the norm and
includes (but is not limited to) overloaded trucks and buses, scooters,
pedestrians, bullock and camel carts, horse or elephant riders en route
to weddings, bicycles, and free-roaming livestock. Traffic in India
moves on the left. It is important to be alert while crossing streets
and intersections, especially after dark as traffic is coming in the
"wrong" direction (i.e., from the left). Travelers should remember to
use seatbelts in both rear and front seats where available, and to ask
their drivers to maintain a safe speed.
If a driver hits a
pedestrian or a cow, the vehicle and its occupants are at risk of being
attacked by passersby. Such attacks pose significant risk of injury or
death to the vehicle's occupants or at least of incineration of the
vehicle. It can thus be unsafe to remain at the scene of an accident
of this nature, and drivers may instead wish to seek out the nearest
police station.
Protestors often use road blockage as a means of publicizing their grievances, causing severe inconvenience to travelers.
Visitors should monitor local news reports for any reports of road disturbances.
Emergency Numbers: The following emergency numbers work in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata: • Police 100 • Fire Brigade 101 • Ambulance 102
Posted at 02:09 am by Dravid
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May 11, 2009
Chewing gum is available in a wide variety of flavors, including mint, wintergreen, cinnamon and various types of fruits. Mintier flavors are often chewed for fresher breath. There is no standard type of gum, as it can be formed in many different shapes and sizes. Some examples include: - Ball gum - shaped like a ball and coated. These are most often sold in gum ball machines. In the United Kingdom, these are often referred to as 'Screwballs', as they are found at the bottom of a 'Screwball' ice cream treat. In the US, they are known as "gum balls".
- Bubble gum - formulated with film-forming characteristics for blowing bubbles.
- Sugarfree gum - made with artificial sweeteners.
- Candy & Gum combinations - predominantly bubble gum found in the center of some types of lollipop, such as Charms Blow Pops.
- Center-filled gum - Pellet or ball gum formed around a soft or liquid centre.
- Slab gum Cut & Wrap gum - refers to the name of the machine that wraps this type of gum, usually in the form of a chunk, cube or cylindrical shape.
- Dragée gum or "pellet gum" - a pillow-shaped coated pellet, often packed in blister packs.
- Functional gum - a chewing gum with a practical function. Zoft Gum, for example, specializes in herbal chewing gum products using gum as the delivery system for vitamins and minerals among other substances.
- Medicated gum - a chewing gum acting as a delivery system to introduce medicinal substances into the saliva and thus into the bloodstream faster than pills.
- Powdered gum - free-flowing powder form or powders compressed into unique shapes.
- Stick gum - a rectangular, thin, flat, slab of gum.
- Ribbon gum - very similar to stick gum in shape, but much longer, coiled up in a cylindrical container often shaped like a hockey puck. The chewer tears off a piece of the desired size.
- Tube gum or Spaghetti gum - very soft bubble gum which can be squeezed from a tube or can be found in a pouch.
Posted at 04:21 pm by Dravid
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Apr 28, 2009
The earliest forms of cigarettes have been attested in Central America around the 9th century in the form of reeds and smoking tubes. The Maya, and later the Aztecs, smoked tobacco and various psychoactive drugs in religious rituals and frequently depicted priests and deities smoking on pottery and temple engravings. The cigarette, and the cigar, were the most common method of smoking in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central and South America until recent times. The South and Central American cigarette used various plant wrappers; when it was brought back to Spain, maize wrappers were introduced, and by the seventeenth century, fine paper. The resulting product was called papelate and is documented Goya's paintings La Cometa, La Merienda en el Manzanares, and El juego de la pelota a pala (18th century). By 1830, the cigarette had crossed into France, where it received the name cigarette; and in 1845, the French state tobacco monopoly began manufacturing them. In the George Bizet opera Carmen, which was set in Spain in the 1830s, the title character Carmen was at first a worker in a cigarette factory. In the English-speaking world, the use of tobacco in cigarette form became increasingly popular during and after the Crimean War, when British soldiers began emulating their Ottoman Turkish and Russian comrades. This was helped by the development of tobaccos that are suitable for cigarette use, and by the development of the Egyptian cigarette export industry. During World War I and World War II, cigarettes were rationed to soldiers. During the second half of the 20th century, the adverse health effects of cigarettes started to become widely known and text-only health warnings became commonplace on cigarette packets. The United States has not yet implemented graphical cigarette warning labels, which are considered a more effective method to communicate to the public the dangers of cigarette smoking. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, however, have both textual warnings and graphic visual images displaying, among other things, the damaging effects tobacco use has on the human body. The cigarette has evolved much since its conception; for example, the thin bands that travel transverse to the "axis of smoking" (thus forming circles along the length of the cigarette) are alternate sections of thin and thick paper to facilitate effective burning when being drawn, and retard burning when at rest. Synthetic particulate filters remove some of the tar before it reaches the smoker. 
Posted at 09:41 am by Dravid
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