Daily Life

Galileo Galilei The First Astronomer

Wed, 20 May 2009 21:57:15 GMT

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.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

Sat, 16 May 2009 10:09:54 GMT

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.

TRAFFIC SAFETY AND ROAD CONDITIONS IN INDIA

Sat, 16 May 2009 10:09:54 GMT

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

Types of Chewing gum

Tue, 12 May 2009 00:21:03 GMT

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.
Drag�e 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.

Cigarette's History

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:41:26 GMT

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.

10 Top Tips on Buying a Used Car.

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:11:54 GMT

(1) Work out a fair price for the car you want. Research prices

using the Internet, car price guides and magazines. It may also pay you to find

out how much it will cost to insure the car you want to buy.

(2) Your rights vary according to whom you buy from. You could buy from a car

dealer, an auction, the internet or a private individual.

Buying from a dealer is probably the safest way to buy a used car.

(3) Look for an established dealer with a good reputation who belongs to a trade

association.

(4) Take the car for a test drive in daylight and when it�s dry.

(5) Have the car checked by an independent vehicle engineer. If the seller is not

happy to have the car inspected walk away!

Some dealers sell cars with a written report on the vehicle�s condition.

(6) If paying a deposit, make sure it�s paid � subject to inspection � so that it is

returnable in case the inspection report advises against buying the vehicle.

(7) Check the service record book especially if the car is still under an extended

warranty from the manufacturer. If the servicing hasn�t been carried out

properly it may invalidate the warranty.

(8) Low mileage is a selling point, check previous M.O.T. certificates and service

documents to verify the mileometer reading. It is illegal to reduce a car�s

mileage.

(9) Vehicle history can be checked with previous owners. Ask whether it has been

involved in an accident or had any faults prior to sale. There are companies that

will check the car�s history for a fee. They will be able to ascertain if a car has

been reported as stolen, written off by an insurance company or is the subject

of an outstanding finance agreement.

AA / Experian (Car Data Check)

Tel. 0800 234 999 or 0870 600 0838

Carwatch UK Ltd. (Vehicle History Check)

Tel. 0870 010 7899

HPI Ltd. (Outstanding Finance Agreements & mileage)

Tel. 01722 422 422

VMC LTD (Vehicle Mileage Check)

Tel. 01663 766068

DVLA (Vehicle Check Service � confirms date of first

registration, colour & engine capacity.)

Tel. 0906 1858585 � premium rate line

DVLA Helpline (informs whether a vehicle registration

document is genuine.)

Tel. 0870 2411878

(10) If you buy a car privately, you have no statutory protection. Your only redress is in

relation to any misdescriptions made by the seller. Some car traders pretend to

be private sellers to avoid their legal obligations to their customers. Car dealers

are required to indicate in their advertisements that they are selling cars in the

course of a business. Often this is done by the use of the letter � T � in the advert.

Top 10 bikes to see at London Motorcycle Show

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:52:46 GMT

Ducati 1098
The long wait for a right replacement to Ducati�s masterpiece 916 is finally over. Motorcycling�s Ferrari equivalent has looks that�ll reduce a grown man to tears unlike its forerunner, the unloved 999, and performance to stir a whole new type of emotion. The Italian-built 1098 is the fastest invention twin cylinder bike on the market. You will want one the moment you see it.
KTM 690 Supermoto
The KTM 690 lays tyre tracks over the face of practicality as it roar away in a quest for no holds excluded fun. Just look at that exhaust, is this is a bike that takes itself seriously? Well, yes. If bikes were boxers this has the heavyweight punch of Audley Harrison in Amir Khan�s lightweight body � one for the unstable folk who walk amongst us.
Kawasaki Z750
The new Z750 combines serious street riding and with violent knife edged styling. Particularly designed for high performance street riding, this new-age street-fighter offers the perfect balance of engine and chassis performance at a price that doesn�t mean the family heirlooms have to appear on eBay.
Triumph Tiger
The Tiger gets sharper claws! The earlier incarnation of this British built Triumph had long been a favorite among adventure bike fans, but the all new model broadens the appeal with abilities that make this handsome bike one of the most versatile machines on the market. Besides, nothing beats the evocative sound of a Hinckley triple on full throttle!
Rapom V8 Monster Bike
Bikes don�t come more great than this. Britain�s most powerful motorcycle features a massive 8.2 liter supercharged V8 monster truck engine. Courtesy of a tank of pure alcohol it kicks out 1000bhp from the ludicrous 8193cc engine. Even more ludicrous is the fact its road legal! It has to be seen to be believed.
Harley XR1200
Not actually available to buy at the moment. The American firm revealed this prototype to the world late last year to much acclaim. At the heart bear a typical Harley engine, but the sporty chassis is less Easy Rider and more 'speedy rider'. If Harley doesn't decide to put the XR into production, this might be your only chance to see it in the flesh.
Bimoto DB6 Delirio
Like impressive off a futuristic sci-fi film but the Delirio is very much today. Italian firm Bimota uses other manufacturer�s engines (in this case a Ducati V-twin) so they can concentrate on wrapping round some of the most original and exotic chassis ever seen. The MCN London Motorcycle Show is the first place in the UK to see the DB6; built strictly in limited numbers with a price tag at the opposite end of the scale, it could also be your last.
BMW HP2 Megamoto
This is what happens when bike designers are allowed a free reign think of it as a supermoto on steroids. The limited numbers Megamoto utilizes BMW�s trademark unconventional 1170cc �Boxer� twin engine to deliver arm wrenching torque through to a lightweight chassis. A whole new class of bike is born and the streets are not safe with the HP2 on the loose.
Suzuki GSX-R1000 K7
When the GSX-R1000 was launched in 2001 it instantly became top dog of the 1000cc sports bike. The fourth version of this two wheeled missile does nothing to suggest that form won�t continue. Lighter, faster and with more emphasis on control a handlebar switch allows the rider to choose from three power settings.

Valentino Rossi�s Yamaha M1
So the flamboyant Italian and seven times world champion lost the title last year onboard this Yamaha. But we all know that he�s still the best. In 2007 MotoGP sees its first major rule change in five years; the engine capacity has reduced from 990 to 800cc. This will be one of the final chances to get close to a real piece of two wheeled racing history