at
11:44 AM
Posted by
Ashwin Bryan Pinto |
0
comments
This month, March 22nd, is recognized by the United Nations Water Group as "World Water Day", this year's theme being "Clean Water for a Healthy World". Although we live on a water-covered planet, only 1% of the world's water is available for human use, the rest locked away in oceans, ice, and the atmosphere. The National Geographic Society feels so strongly about the issues around fresh water that they are distributing an interactive version of their April, 2010 magazine for download - free until April 2nd
at
1:57 PM
Posted by
Ashwin Bryan Pinto |
0
comments
Can you spot something unusual in this screen shot grabbed from Google Maps?
The effect is caused when two separate airplane or satellite pics are taken of different sections/plots of a city, and then stitched together. Each pic is taken from a different angle, so the taller buildings' pics are taken with different perspective points, causing them to appear to lean toward or away from each other.
This effect has become known as the "Escher Effect", or the "Google Escher Effect". It is named after Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972), one of the world's most famous graphic artists. He is most famous for his so-called impossible structures. Check below for two of his notable works
at
1:27 PM
Posted by
Ashwin Bryan Pinto |
0
comments
Did you know, as it stands today, America has twice as many aircraft carriers as the rest of humanity combined. Comparitively, the rest of the world's carriers have about 15 acres of deck space, one fifth that of America's!
at
1:07 PM
Posted by
Ashwin Bryan Pinto |
0
comments
Some interesting notes on coffee from THE HNDU:
The coffee spread to the rest of Europe in the 17th century. One of the first coffee houses in England was opened in Oxford by Jacob, a Turkish Jew, in 1650. Its coffee was described as "a simple Innocent thing, incomparable good for those that are troubled with melancholy".
Coffee became popular with scholars as it sharpened the mind rather than dulled it like alcohol. Coffee houses became meeting places, debating chambers and even laboratories. Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley once dissected a dolphin on the table of a coffee house in London. Lloyd's of London and the Stock Exchange started life as coffee houses.
But the craze had its detractors. The brewing of ale had long been the preserve of women, known as "brewsters" or "alewives". In 1674, a group of them – alarmed at falling trade in taverns – drew up the Women's Petition Against Coffee, claiming: "Coffee makes a man barren as the desert out of which this unlucky berry has been imported."
at
1:03 PM
Posted by
Ashwin Bryan Pinto |
0
comments
Dr. Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University (1908 ) thought that a flavor other than sweet, sour, salty and spicy existed and proceeded to ascertain its original form. This flavor is called "umai" in Japanese and is best translated as "delicious." His experiments resulted in the discovery that the "delicious" flavor of kombu (a type of seaweed) comes from a compound and invented a method of obtaining the flavor in its purest form. This was nothing but Monosodium Glutamate!
Commercial production of this monosodium glutamate was carried out by Saburosuke Suzuki, the founder of Ajinomoto Co. Inc, under request from Kikunae Ikeda. Dr. Ikeda's invention, sold under the name Ajinomoto. The literal translation of Aji no Moto is “Essence of Taste.
Some more for trivia buffs:
1. Ajinomoto Co. is also a leading supplier of the Amino Acid L-Glutamine and Aspartame (or artifical sweetner)
2. Ajinomoto Co. is active in 100 countries and regions worldwide, employing around 24,861 people as of 2004. Yearly revenue stands at US$9.84 billion
