• rajgopal
• Funny
• George W Bush
• November 14, 2007
• 0 Comments

Advances in Medicine!!

Three people are discussing the advances medicine has made in their respective countries.

Japanese: Surgery in Japan is so advanced. Recently a man had his hands chopped off on the conveyor belt at his workplace. Surgeons rushed him to the theater and managed to attach back his blood vessels, tendons, nerves and muscles and his hands are fully functional today.

Indian: That’s nothing. There was a man who was crushed by a fast train and all his internal organs were crushed completely. Surgeons in India were able to attach every organ piece by piece and today he is alive and healthy.

• rajgopal
• Definitions
• Funny
• November 14, 2007
• 0 Comments

Funny definitions

There are numerous words with alternative funny definitions and I have compiled a few of them here for your reading pleasure! Let me know if you know others.

1. Criminal: A person no different from the others except that he got caught!
2. Etc: A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually know.
3. Diplomat: A person who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you actually begin to look forward to the trip.
4. Dictionary: The only place where divorce comes before marriage.
5. Rumour: News that travels at the speed of sound.
6. Office: A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.
7. Ecstacy: A feeling when you feel you are going to feel a feeling you have never felt.
8. A Classic: A book which people praise but do not read.

• rajgopal
• Monument
• Pyramids
• November 14, 2007
• 0 Comments

What kind of person are you?

I have often come across people who just seem to do their chore or day-to-day work with no interest at all. I remember an interesting anecdote that subtly advices us to take our work more seriously.

A traveler to Egypt during the days of the Pyramids’ construction was awestruck by the number of workers at the site. He decided to strike up a conversation with the labourers to while away his time.

• rajgopal
• Bacteria
• Cranberry Juice
• November 14, 2007
• 0 Comments

Cranberry juice – Magic potion against infections?

A new study has demonstrated that Cranberry juice can help us to fight infections caused by E.coli, a gut bacteria.
E. coli is responsible for a host of infections in humans including gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections, meningitis and a host of others.

A group of compounds belonging to the tannin family called as Proanthocyanidins (PAC) interact with the bacteria at a molecular level and prevent its adhesion to host surfaces. One of the first steps in E.coli infections is the adhesion of the bacteria to cells in the body and the compounds in cranberry juice forms an energy barrier that keeps the bug away from body cells. The study also showed that the PACs prevent the formation of biofilms which are high concentrations of bacteria by E.coli.

• rajgopal
• Cricket
• Greg Chappell
• November 14, 2007
• 0 Comments

Greg Chappell’s new tantrum!

Greg Chappell, the former Australian coach of the Indian cricket team, has opened a pandora’s box of sorts by going public about an incident that happened in Orissa a few months back. He has made this statement in a docementary about his two-year stint with the India team which is to be aired on national television next week.

• rajgopal
• Conjoined Twin
• Fertilization
• November 14, 2007
• 0 Comments

Successful operation of a Siamese twin

Recently India made the headlines (yet again) for the successful operation of a Siamese twin.

Siamese twins are basically twins who are born joined to one another. There are generally various anatomical types like craniophagus (joined at the head, like the Iranian twins who had a failed operation in Singapore), thoracophagus (joined at the chest), and ischiophagus (joined at the pelvis). The Siamese twins essentially are from a single fertilized egg that fails to divide properly and results in continuing union between the twins after birth. Ther are a very rare finding with an incidence of 1 in every 200000 births with an overall survival rate of between 5 to 25%. Surprisingly a large majority of these twins are females.

• rajgopal
• Apple Iphone
• Camera
• November 14, 2007
• 0 Comments

The Apple iphone – Pros and Cons

The hype surrounding the launch of the Apple iphone has been unbeleivable. Is it justifiable all this hype? That’s what I am trying to do through this blog entry. I will discuss the pros and cons of this phone here.

The cons first:
1. The phone is 2G and not 3G. Graphics and picture-heavy websites will take ages to load. RSS feeds and mobile-friendly websites load quickly though.
2. In spite of the boast of being an internet communicator, the phone lacks services like Instant Messaging and VoIP.
3. It cannot sync data (calendar details and contacts) either by BlueTooth or over the mobile network.
4. The camera is only 2megapixel and unless shot in direct sunlight, the pictures are of a poor quality.

• rajgopal
• Hewlett-Packard
• IBM
• November 14, 2007
• 0 Comments

Supercomputers

India has joined the bandwagon of supercomputers design and development with EKA – a Hewlett-Packard designed supercomputer that is capable of operating at 117.3 teraflops (117.9 trillion calculations per second!) This computer is installed at Computational Research Laboratories in Pune, Maharashtra and comes fourth in a list of five supercomputers in the world.

• rajgopal
• Chacha Nehru
• Children
• November 14, 2007
• 0 Comments

Children’s day

The international children’s day is celebrated all over the world by the UN ans UNESCO on November 20th every year. It is celebrated as the Universal Children’s day and is aimed at promoting worldwide fraternity and understanding between children. This date was chosen because on that day the Declaration of the Rights of Children was adopted by the UN.

In India Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, whom children fondly called as Chacha (uncle) is closely associated with children. His birthday is celebrated as Children’s day. It falls on November 14th every year. Nehru used to like children a lot and even posed for photographs with them whenever possible. One of the more endearing pictures from history is a child pinning a rose on Nehru’s coat.