Dress up your car

Youngsters have a fetish for accessories and they like dressing up their cars with whatever is the latest in the market. Car accessories start from high-end music systems, halogen lamps, rally driving seats, car graphics, 5.1 channel digital sound system, multi-coloured cabinet lamps and plenty of other things. Read on» » » »

Car Care Tips - Take good care of your car

For many of us, a car is just like a baby — adored and pampered. It saves us from the mercy of swindling autowallahs and overcrowded buses, and relieves us from the need to ‘watch’ your watch every now and then if stuck at a late-night party. Read on» » » »

It’s my village

One should keep experimenting with interior designs and décor themes at home. While kitschy, pop art, Mughal-esque, Mediterranean and Baroque themes have been quite popular; many are now looking at the rustic look. (Any attribution to recession for going rural with your interiors is purely coincidental.) Read on» » » »

How to achieve free life

Modern biology says that the human brain was meant by Nature to guide the organic (physical and nervous) system, not vice versa as it is with millions of people. B. G. Walter, in his book, The Living Brain, says: “When we were students in Cambridge under Sir Joseph Barcroft, he gave us a dictum coined by a famous French physiologist: a fixed interior milieu is a condition for a free life.” Read on» » » »

India’s Maiden Mission to the Moon - A Factfile

India having broken its nuclear shackles, the country is now racing to reach the moon. This will make India the sixth country in the world to attempt a mission to the moon. The country’s maiden spacecraft to the moon, Chandrayaan 1, was accommodated atop our workhorse rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), and the journey began on the morning of October 22 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

Chandrayaan 1 is a Maruti 800-sized unmanned satellite that will orbit the moon for two years Read on» » » »

NASA mission to map the boundary of solar system

Interstellar Boundary Explorer satellite Image: NASA

NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) to map of the boundary between the solar system and interstellar space will be launched on a Pegasus XL rocket. The two year mission, costing US$165 million, will study the region in space where the solar wind from the sun suddenly slows down as it reaches the thin, cold gas of interstellar space. This region, called the heliospheric boundary of the solar system, helps to deflect most of the potentially life-threatening forms of radiation coming from elsewhere in our galaxy.

IBEX will ride Pegasus to around 200 kilometres from earth, before boosting itself into its final earth orbit 322,000 kilometres away. The probe will capture energetic neutral atoms (ENAs), which are formed when positive ions in the solar wind hit neutral atoms of interstellar material and rip out electrons from them. IBEX-Lo and -Hi detectors will collect data on the ENAs to create a three-dimensional map of the heliosphere. Read on» » » »

Dinosaur tracks found in Arabian Peninsula

Some of the recently discovered dinosaur footprints Image: Anne S. Schulp, Mohammed Al-Wosabi and Nancy J. Stevens.

A new study that was recently carried by the online publication PLoS ONE describes the finding of dinosaur tracks on the Arabian Peninsula. The first of the discoveries was of a two-footed tridactyl. These tracks showed that the animal had taken steps with an average length of just over a metre. The tracks were pointing in the SSW direction.

The study noted that “west of the tridactyl trackway, 11 subparallel quadrupedal trackways preserve evidence of large and small quadrupedal animals traveling together in a herd.” The study also noted that there may have been additional tracks that were not discovered.

The report described the method of finding the tracks: “Trackways were exposed by clearing away sand, small rocks and debris.” The tracks were found in Madar, 47 km north of the Yemeni capital. Read on» » » »

Bats Cry Out Loud to Detect Prey

New research has indicated that bats will ‘cry out loud’ to detect their prey. The report, which was published at PLoS ONE, states that “source level varied with species, but all bats emitted intense search call.” Read on» » » »

Virgin and Google join to take us on Mars

Virgin Group and Google Inc. today announced the launch of Virgle Inc., a joint venture aimed at establishment of a a permanent human settlement on Mars. Although, this announcement comes on April Fool’s day and is too good to be true, who knows. When Google Guys are involved, it could even be a possible. Read on» » » »

Crank up your car quotient

It may be high maintenance, but a car ranks only second to a home as far as life’s most important investments are concerned. So what do you do to get the ideal 200,000 miles plus out of your beloved car while keeping the running and repair costs to the minimum?

Just follow the owner’s manual as far as possible and also pay heed to some useful tips: Read on» » » »