Beelzebufo, the Largest Frog!

A team of researchers in Madagascar has made a discovery recently. What they found was the fossil of the largest frog that ever lived in the world. The frog named Beelzebufo, or ‘devil’s frog’ is thought to grew upto 16 inches long and weighed 4.5 kilograms!

The name “Beelzebufo” comes from the Greek word for devil (Beelzebub) and the Latin word for toad (bufo). The frog huge had a protective shield, an extremely wide mouth and powerful jaws. These features made Beelzebufo capable of killing lizards and other small animals. By comparison, the largest living frog today is the goliath frog of West Africa, which can be 12.5 inches long and weigh about 3.2 kilograms.

The Indian Connection of Curiosity!

As the culmination of one of the most exciting space missions ever witnessed by the world, the Mars Rover, Curiosity, landed on the Martian surface on Sunday, 6th August, 2012. The landing was after a journey of more than eight months across more than 567 million km of space since the space craft was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida by NASA on November 26, 2011. It will be there on the Mar’s surface for about two-year term seeking evidence for life on the Red Planet. The $2.5 billion Curiosity project, formally called the Mars Science Laboratory, is NASA's first astrobiology mission since the 1970s-era Viking probes.
NASA described the feat as perhaps the most complex achieved in robotic spaceflight. Moments later the descend, Curiosity beamed back its first three images from the Martian surface, one of them showing a wheel of the vehicle.

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Curiosity, the car-sized nuclear-powered, mobile scientific laboratory, is about twice as long and five times as heavy as the Spirit and Opportunity Mars exploration rovers, and carries over ten times the mass of scientific instruments. The MSL spacecraft that transported it to Mars successfully carried out a more accurate landing than previous rovers, within a landing ellipse of 7 by 20 km in the Aeolis Palus region of Gale Crater in Mars' southern hemisphere. This location is near the mountain Aeolis Mons. The Rover is designed to explore for at least 687 Earth days (1 Martian year) over a range of 5 by 20 km.
The Indian Connection

Ravi Prakash is a NASA rock scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who has helped in the process of entry, descent, and landing of NASA’s rover ‘Curiosity’. Prakash, who joined NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the year 2005 has been working at the Mars Science Laboratory ever since.
Prakash holds a B.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a M.S. in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Sengupta is an aerospace engineer and a member of the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) sequence team of the project. Sengupta is the person who tested a parachute, an important mission element which will decide the destiny of the U.S. spacecraft. The parachute will open up and slow down the spacecraft from supersonic to subsonic speeds, reports G.S. Mudur of Yahoo. Sengupta holds a PhD in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California.

Amitabh Ghosh, an IITian from Kharagpur was a key member of the team who identified the landing site for ‘curiosity’, the Gale crater location. Ghosh also played a prominent role in various other missions by NASA such as Mars Pathfinder Mission and MER (Mars Exploration Rover) mission. He was the only Asian in the Pathfinder mission by NASA. Amitabh Ghosh has been honoured with NASA Mars Pathfinder Achievement Award in the year 1997 and the NASA Mars Exploration Rover Achievement Award in 2004, for his marvelous contributions.

Super Trees of Singapore

Singapore is again getting ready to make the world wonder. The new attraction to their already long list of things to see is the Bay South Garden located in the city's Marina Bay. This is the part of an eco-park which spreads about 250-acre (the size of 190 football fields)!  This is named Gardens by the Bay. 

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A series of the 18 gigantic super-trees that were inspired by the tallest and most dominant rainforest trees are here to attract the visitors. These trees, of 80-164 feet height made from metal, are as eco-friendly as natural trees. Their large canopies collect rain water and also absorb heat and provide shade, helping the over 200,000 species of flowers and ferns planted around and below them, flourish. Their built-in photovoltaic solar cells capture the sun's energy and provide enough green energy to power the park lights and water pumps.

These giant trees are also linked together to form a 420-foot long skywalk, enabling visitors to stroll around and enjoy the view from the top. There is a restaurant on the top as well!
This horticultural attraction, one of the largest of its kind in the world,  opened to the public on Friday, June 29, offering a unique fusion of nature and technology.

James Cameron, the first person to visit the Mariana Trench's Challenger Deep, Alone!

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James Cameron, the well-known film director, created history by diving deep to the deepest point of the earth all alone! He became the first person to make a solo visit to the Mariana Trench's Challenger Deep in the western Pacific on March 26 at 7:52am local time. Cameron described his record-breaking dive as "going to another planet".

The nearly 10.9km (7-mile) dive was made possible by the Deepsea Challenger, a specially-designed submersible. It was a long, thin vehicle, which Cameron calls a "vertical torpedo". It was specially built to withstand the immense pressure at the ocean floor. It took over two hours to reach the bottom.
When he finally reached bottom, he sent the anxious crew on the support vessel Mermaid Sapphire the welcome message: "All systems OK."
He spent nearly six hours in the trench. He'll also be able to use the sub's manipulator arm to gather samples for the eager scientists waiting up above. Cameron found no large creatures there - only small shrimp-like animals that were an inch in length.

The craft, which weighs 11 tonnes and is more than 7m long, was built after researches for about seven years in secret. The tiny compartment in which Cameron sat in is made from thick steel, which is able to resist the 1,000 atmospheres of pressure he experienced at full ocean depth. The rest of the vertical column is made from a material called syntactic foam - a solid made of hollow "microballoons" - giving it enough buoyancy to float back up. The sub has so many lights with Cameron was able to see and shoot the proceeding there under. It also has robotic arms, allowing him to collect samples of rocks and soils from the ocean depth. He also intends to release a documentary.

This is only the second manned expedition to the ocean's deepest depths - the first took place in 1960 when US Navy Lt Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard spent about 20 minutes on the ocean floor in a bathyscaphe called the Trieste. Lt Walsh, who is now in his 80s, joined Mr Cameron and his team of engineers out at sea for the dive.

Lt. Don Walsh(bottom)
and Jacques Piccard (center)
in the bathyscaphe Trieste

Dadasaheb Phalke award for Soumitra Chatterjee

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Eminent actor Soumitra Chatterjee had been selected for the Dadasahaeb Phalke Award.
Mr. Chatterjee, the Bengali iconic actor, made his debut in 1959 acting with Satyajit Ray in Apur Sansar. Later he went on to become a central actor in Ray's team, in classic movies like "Sonar Kella", "Charulata", and "Ghare Baire".. He has also worked with several other well-known directors. Some of his other famous movies are "Jhinder Bandi", "Koni", "Kaapurush", "Akash Kusum", "Aranyer Din Ratri", "Joy Baba Felunath", "Teen Bhubaner Pare", "Ganashatru" and "Sakah Prashakha
He said the award, whose recipients have been “deserving persons,” “vindicates the faith that my countrymen have placed in me.”

PHALKE Award Winners

Shyam Benegal - Director                    2006
Adoor Gopalakrishnan - Director                    2005
Mrinal Sen - Director                    2004
Dev Anand- Actor, Director, Producer                    2003
Yash Chopra - Director, Producer                    2002
Asha Bhosle - Singer                    2001
Hrishikesh Mukherjee - Director                    2000
B.R. Chopra - Director, Producer                   1999
Pradeep - Lyricist, Poet                   1998
Sivaji Ganesan - Actor                   1997
Dr. Raj Kumar - Actor, Singer, Producer                   1996
Dilip Kumar - Actor                           1995
Majrooh Sultanpuri - Lyricist                   1994
Bhupen Hazarika - Composer, Singer, Producer   1993
Bhalji Pendharkar - Producer, Director   1992
A. Nageshwar Rao- Actor                   1991
Lata Mangeshkar - Singer, Producer                           1990
Ashok Kumar - Actor, Singer                   1989
Raj Kapoor - Actor, Director                   1988
B. Nagi Reddi -  Producer                   1987
V.Shantaram - Director, producer, actor                   1986
Satyajit Ray - Director, Producer                   1985
Durga Khote - Actress                   1984
L.V. Prasad - Actor, Director, Producer                   1983
Naushad- Composer                   1982
Jairaj - Actor, Director, Producer                   1981
Sohrab Modi - Actor, Director, Producer                   1980
R.C. Boral - Composer                   1979
Nitin Bose - Cinematographer, Director,  Producer    1978
Kanan Devi - Actress, Singer, Producer                   1977
Dhiren Ganguly - Actor, Director, Producer           1976
B.N. Reddi - Director, Producer                   1975
Sulochana- Actress                           1974
Pankaj Mallick - Singer, Actor, Composer           1973
Prithviarj Kapoor - Actor, Director, Producer           1972
B.N. Sircar - Producer                   1971
Devika Rani - Actress                   1970

The Wait Ended. Sachin hit 100th 100

Sachin during the match against Bangladesh

The wait ended!!! Sachin Tendulkar Scored his hundredth international century. He achieved this in the One dayer against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup chapmionship held at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium Mirpur, Bangladesh.
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This is Sachin’s 49th century in One Day Cricket. He has scored 51 centuries in Test Cricket as well.
A year has past when Sachin scored the last century.  At last the Master blaster ended the fans wait for his 100th 100. Great Sachin, great...

Virat Kohli, the New Star of World Cricket

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Virat Kohli, the ‘furious young man’ of Indian cricket has been showing his mettle to be become the real best. Hitherto he has been considred the future star of Indian cricket, but now he has come forward with a blast to claim the throne of today’s promise.
Examine the statistics at the Australian tour of India. Virat is at the top in batting average. Besides this he was on the forefornt of one or two who strechted their chest and faced the fiercing challenge of the firy pace of the Aussies.

He has been continuing his form in the Asia Cup also. When scored a hundred against Sri Lanka, Virat became the fastest-ever to score ten hundreds! He needed only 83 One dayers to reach this. Remember even the great Tendulkar took 134 games to complete ten hundreds, Vivian Richards took 133 matches, Brian Lara took 109, and Ricky Ponting took 150 matches to get 10 tons. He is already the fastest Indian, and fourth fastest batsman to score 3,000 runs, in just 75 ODIs. He also became the only Indian to score back-to-back hundreds on two occasions. In 2010-11, he scored successive centuries against Australia and New Zealand, at Visakhapatanam & Guwahati respectively.
Virat now averages a century in every 8.3 ODIs which is the fastest by any batsman in the world! In One Days he has attained an average of 48.82 as well.

It is undoutedly a positive gusture to the Indian cricket. Dravid has retired, Sachin is declining in form, Yuvraj is out with illness...all unpleasant happenings. Team India need some iconic players to catch up...and here is Kohli, the real antibiotic for all disturbing developments.

Tata Megapixel, Car with 900 km Mileage!!!

Tata Motors comes again to shock the world!
This Indian automotive company which is the makers of the world’s cheapest car, ‘Nano’, recently unveiled another masterpiece, named ‘Megapixel’ at the Geneva Motor Show.

Megapixel, according to the makers, is a RE-EV, ie, Range Extended Electric Vehicle. This indicates that this one is an electric car. The most important news is that the Tata Megapixel, the hybrid electric vehicle, is capable of covering whooping 900 kilometers on single fuel tank! This also reduces carbon emissions to just 22 grams/km

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The Megapixel uses lithium-iron phosphate batteries that can be charged through an induction plate fitted to any parking space or garage. So, rather than plugging into a wall outlet, the car can be parked over the top of the charging station and charging begins automatically. The car's, which has four motors, maximum speed is 68.4mph and its total range is 900 km (559 miles). Megapixel has four sliding doors as well. The front doors slide forward and the rear doors slide back, giving completely pillar-less access to the interior.

It has a stunning turning radius of just 2.8 meters (9.2 ft)! An ideal city car for global urban environments.
The Megapixel was developed by Tata's design centres in India, the UK and Italy. Now the Indians have something to boast off. Tata, who is based in India, is the world's largest automakers. But just think the fact that India's vehicle ownership ratios are currently the same as America's were in 1912!!!
And...finally...don’t get too much excited, this car may never hit the roads and may remain a ‘concept’ at least for the next few years?!

Amartya Sen Received the US Humanities Award

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Amartya Sen, the Indian economist and 1998 Nobel Prize winner in economics, has been awarded the prestigious National Medals of Arts and Humanities Award by United States President Barack Obama at a glittering function in White House, Washington.
"Sen is being awarded the 2011 National Humanities Medal for his insights into the causes of poverty, famine, and injustice. By applying philosophical thinking to questions of policy, he has changed how standards of living are measured and increased our understanding of how to fight hunger," said the citation.
The 2011 National Medal of Arts were also awarded to Will Barnet, Rita Dove, Al Pacino, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, Martin Puryear, Mel Tillis, United Service Organisation and Andre Watts.
And the 2011 National Humanities Medal were given to Kwame Anthony Appiah, John Ashbery, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, National History Day, Charles Rosen sand Teofilo Ruiz, besides Sen.

Prof Sen, currently a professor of economics and philosophy at Harvard University, is the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1998 for his contribution towards understanding the underlying causes of famine. He is also the recipient of India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna as well. Prof Sen has written or edited more than 30 books on economics and philosophy.

Yuvraj...Word became Reality?!

Sometimes we may find situations in our life when ‘words become flesh’...! Like is the case of the Indian cricket superstar Yuvraj Singh.

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We all know that this most famous showman and the most eligible bachelor is now playing one of his toughest innings...the inning for his health and life! He was diagnosed with cancer in his lung. Is it a mere coincidence that he did an advertisement for an insurance company stating that ‘all was well till the bat was doing well...but when the runs stopped coming, there was no guarantees...’!!! It is a truth that he did this ad much before he was diagnosed with the scary disease.
Then...oh, is the word became flesh? Anyways the ad is being repeated these days and is getting more publicity to the insurance company.

Stop...bad words...omens...let’s talk positively. Yuvraj is a fighter, no doubt. He cannot give up so easily. Let’s rewind...The Natwest series against England. India was going down in a decisive match. But Yuvraj was there to take up the challenge and brought India to an unbelievable victory alongwith Kaif. What about the first World cup 20-20? What about the World Cup 2011? It was Yuvi who exploded with the bat and stormed with the ball in adverse situations to lead India to victory. Yuvi did all these feats when he was not expected to do them, that is important. Those was all times when he had been criticised of bad form, inconsistencies and irresponsibilities. But he did show what he was...and what he could...
We all are once again expecting that from him. The cricket lovers are all pouring their prayers and best wishes on him. Even the gods cannot resist to hear. There are many whose stories are there to inspire him like the current Australian captain Michael Clarke who was diagnosed with skin cancer which he overcame, Dave Callaghan, the South African cricketer who fought cancer, came back to play international cricket and the world famous cyclist Lance Armstrong who went through chemotherapy and rehabilitation and then went on to win the Tour de France.

Yuvi during Chemo therapy

He has lot more to do to Indian cricket. He has to go miles to before sleep, as human being and a youth, play many roles to his family his country and to himself as well. He should be there to entertain everybody with the kind batting extravaganza that he is famous for.