Studies on Near-Death Experiences

Recent studies at the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington report quite interesting findings. A surge of electrical activity in the brain just moments before death is recorded by the anesthesiologist Dr. Lakhmir Chawla of the team that conducts the study there.

The study also suggests that about 15% of the patients who suffer cardiac arrest and clinical death experienced good thought process, reasoning, and at times recall vivid memories of their encounter with death.

In Britain too, similar ongoing studies are reported. The Science Daily reported in September 2008 a similar study titled The AWARE (Awareness During Resuscitation) by the Southampton Hampton University under the guidance of the visiting fellow Dr. Sam Parnia and his teammates Dr. Peter Fenwick and Professors Stephen Holgate and Robert Pevler. Dr. Parnia is an expert in the field of consciousness during death.

There are numerous teams like Near-Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF), International Association for Near-Death Studies doing research on the near-death experiences.

However, these conclusions do require further exhaustive studies before they are accpted by the competent experts and the society. for arriving at any scientific conclusions. Also these studies do not suggest or deny any afterlife. But these do seem to indicate that there could still be God!!!

Source: Times London
Source: Google

Dophin Therapy For Autism In Children

Dolphins as therapeutic healers to treat autism in children

Autism as we all know is a neural disorder with impaired social interaction, repetitive behavior, and communication deficiencies.. Chinese attempt to treat autism with dolphins is proving effective as per initial experiments.

An ocean amusement park, the Royal Ocean World (ROW) in the Northeast China bought four dolphins at a cost of $738,000 (five million yuan) for this therapy. After initial adaptation of the dolphins in their new home, the Dolphin therapy for a month to young patients aged between 2 and 10 years showed remarkable improvement in their reactions and behaviors. It is reported by the ROW that each child-patient undergoes 12 sessions of treatment for one month.

Many children would enjoy playful interaction with a dolphin because the dolphins are of their friendly appearance and loveable attitude. But no scientific proof is available to justify the efficacy of this dolphin therapy for autism.

The treatment which used to be free now costs 2000 yuan per month and less for patients from poor families. Many kinds of illness and disability are being treated with this therapy now. In addition to this Chinese attempt, a Florida-based program involves dolphins, sea turtles, otters, and fish to help treat the disabled children.


Source: Google

Simulated Mars Mission For 520 Days

“See you in 520 days!”, “Happy New Year 2011”. These are some of the pleasantries exchanged between the six men and a scientist who sealed the iron door of a mock spacecraft at a Moscow research center on June 3, 2010. These six men will be locked up in a simulated Mars cruise for 520 days. A Mars mission takes 250 for the onward flight, 30days on the Mars surface, and 240 days for the return flight.

Yes, six men from Europe, Russia and China were locked away for the next 520 days in a simulation of a manned mission to Mars. To be exact, one Frenchman, one Italian, one Chinese, and three Russians will spend the next one-and-a-half years in the mock spacecraft. They swill live on food rations like real astronauts. Their only source of contact with the outside world will be via the email but with a delay of about 40 minutes. The hatch will open only when the mission ends or when one member of the team dies in which case the body will be pushed out to the space.

The mission captain Alexie Sitev is newly married. Imagine the agony of his separation from his newly wed wife. All the members of this team are between ages 27 and 38. Their job will be divided into eight hours of work, sleep, and leisure.

LET US ALL WISH THEM GRAND SUCCESS.

Source: Google

Images: Google

Mission Clean Ganga

Yes, India’s famous river Ganga or the Ganges as it is known to the world is going to be a clean river by 2020. The river Ganga originating from the famous Gangotri glaciers of the Himalayas is pure till human population on this holy river’s course pollutes it extensively. The degradation of this river calls for urgent measures to clean it up and save the aquatic life.

The Indian Government has now called upon the group of seven IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) jointly to prepare a detailed river basin management plan for this river to clean up this river. The deterioration in the quality of the river’s water is due to toxic effluents caused by urbanization and industrial growth.

Dr. Vinod Tare of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India is heading this team. The National Ganga River Basin Authority headed by India’s Prime Minister is sponsoring this study with all the seriousness and urgency that the situation warrants. This ambitious project will cover 11 Indian States as well as some other rivers also and will cost the exchequer $8 billion (Rs. 40,000 crores). Its final report is expected in one year.

The team is expected to advise proper water use and also enough provision for water and energy in the Ganga basin for future population, industrialization, agriculture, and urbanization without ignoring the sanctity for the river system.

Perennial flow and clean water are the two thrust areas for this group of experts. The experts’ group will coordinate with the other related professionals in various related areas like ecology and diversity, socio-cultural aspects, public participation, etc. A basin-wise approach is proposed as against an earlier suggestion of city-wise approach.

Earlier efforts to clean up the Ganga did not yield much desired results despite huge expenditure. There is a general impression that such river-cleaning projects are a source of minting money.

Let us hope this latest effort will clean up India’s mighty river GANGA.

Source: Google

Image: Google

Human Brain Improves With Advancing Age

Yes, scientists have discovered this truth that is totally contrary to the popular belief that mental faculties decline with advancing years.

Of course short-term-memory dwindles as a person ages, but long-term memory remains unchanged or unaffected. In fact, it is observed during the study that as person’s vocabulary, emotional intelligence, and social skills may get better. Probably this conclusion is best explained by the number of successful elderly persons past fifty in business, science, politics, etc.

The study suggests simple methods to sustain and sharpen the mental ability in old age. Walking 40 minutes three times a week definitely improves the mental caliber greatly. Reaction time in critical situations is much less with such walking. Dr. Peter Connely an expert in old age at the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the U.K. states that the old people can handle a situation objectively with their vast experience in life as against younger generation who only try to rush to conclusions.

Judges in the UK now want to work beyond the age of 70. While this sounds nice, the society at large may face greater unemployment among the younger generation, which may pose a problem to those in power.

Source: Times of India

From various sources

A postcard reached its destination after 95 years thanks to an American antique collector who delivered it personally to the addressee’s grandson in Sarajeva, Bosnia. It had been sent from Villany, Hungary and bore a Hungarian stamp. (Source AP)


Unlike a wound, you cannot see a heart disease. It is a silent killer, in a sense. We need to appreciate that the HEART is a gift of God. It beats 1,00,000 times a day. So take care of it.

Heart diseases and strokes can now be more easily avoided or reduced by taking beetroot juice, according to the study by a team led by Amirtha Ahluwalia (Indian origin) in Queen Mary University in London. The findings are available in the latest “Hypertension” journal of the American Heart Association. (Times of India June 30, 2010).


University of California in US and the Keio University of Japan have jointly developed a simple saliva test to detect a bunch of cancers like pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, and oral cancer. The advantage of this test is that the saliva can be more easily sampled than blood and stool. (AFP)


Europe’s sophisticated GOCE satellite has now mapped the earth’s gravitational force, which reveals quite astonishingly that the gravitational force is not uniform throughout the earth’s surface. This is a real-time mapping.


A lock of Napoleon Bonaparte’s hair was auctioned in New Zealand recently for $1900 while his sketch on the death bed was auctioned for $21,000, as per reports from Radio New Zealand.

Source: Times of India

Huge Mineral Deposits in Afghanistan

Yes, Afghanistan is going to be the richest nation in the world with huge reserves of minerals discovered recently. These deposits reportedly include huge reserves of iron, copper, cobalt, gold, and lithium, all untapped till date. All these are of course essential in modern industry.

This recent discovery of nearly $1 trillion mineral deposits is going to change the politics of Afghanistan with vested political interests vying with each other to exploit them.

This discovery could distract and change the course of the present war and turmoil in Afghanistan, and instead attract huge foreign investments. New equations of war in this region are foreseen.

Will this discovery lead to peace in the region or will the Taliban fight more vigorously? Will this change the fortunes of Afghanistan with a GDP of only $12 billion? But this strife-torn nation is going to play a vital role in world economy. Let us watch and see how it goes.

Source: Google

Monkeys Enjoy Watching TV

Yes, human beings are not alone in watching the idiot box. Monkeys too enjoy the idiot box. This interesting report of the Kyoto University Primate Research Institute team led by Professor Nobuo Masataka is published in the Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, the Swiss online scientific journal.

During the study the Japanese scientists studied the changes in the frontal lobe of the brain of a three-year-old male rhesus monkey while it was watching TV. Quite interestingly, the study found out that the monkey thoroughly enjoyed a video of a circus elephant, giraffe and a tiger in action, and another monkey grooming itself. The technique used by the scientists is called the Near-Infrared Spectroscopy that enabled them to visualize the blood flow to its brain while watching TV. Its facial expressions also revealed feelings of anger and fear. The psychological make-up of monkeys and human beings is reflected in this study.

Of late, several zoos across the world are providing TVs for the animals to break up the monotonous living environment, and the effectiveness of this exposure to TV is confirmed by the research team. But the study states that feelings of joy could only be induced.

What more similar interesting studies are forthcoming? Let us wait and watch.

Source: Google
Image: Google

Rat-eating plant

Unbelievable carnivorous plants.

British scientists have now discovered a deadly plant that eats rats. This plant was discovered in Philippines by botanists. There are different varieties of this plant. The rat-eating pitcher plant is named to honor the British TV naturalist David Attenborough. The rat-eating pitcher plant was discovered on the Philippines Island in 2007

This plant attracts the rats into its mouth and dissolves them with acid-like enzymes. This dangerous plant is also called the “Venus Rat-Trap”

Source: Google

Image: Google

Empty one tank and fill up another

Use urine as fuel for your car.

Yes, your car may soon be powered by urine. Scientists from the Ohio University are developing the relevant technology for urine-powered utilities. Cars, homes, and numerous electronic devices are soon to be run on this energy. A nickel-based electrode generates plenty of cheap hydrogen from urine that can be burnt or used in fuel cells. An added advantage is increased cleanliness. And the cost is a fraction of the conventional production of hydrogen from water. As we all know, urine is the most abundant waste on Earth.

A new H2 converter invented now can turn any organic fluid into fuel, which is claimed to be for efficient than both diesel and gasoline. Thus instead of pumping fuel into the car, one can just pee into the gas tank and drive away. Waste from chicken farms could produce energy required to run the farm. Livestock farmers could benefit greatly from this invention.

Prof. Gerardine Botte of the Ohio University who is developing this technology reports that one cow can provide enough energy to supply hot water for 19 houses. One molecule of urea in the urine containing hydrogen and nitrogen bonded together can release hydrogen using a special nickel electrode into the pool of urine. Prof. Botte and her colleagues report they can store this hydrogen and then release it at lesser cost.

When this becomes a commercial viability, it will definitely be a great breakthrough towards greener world that we are all trying to create.

Source: Google

Human evolution

Study on Neanderthals by German and US researchers.

Evolutionary process reveals only 1% difference in the genetic makeup between man and chimpanzee. It is further down to 0.5% with Neanderthals, a hominid species. This is the finding by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany and the 454 Life Sciences Corporation in Branford, Connecticut under Prof. Svante Paabo. While mitochondrial DNA of the Neanderthals analyzed in 1997 failed to place the Neanderthals as our ancestors, the study did show that they were our closest ancestors separated some 6,00,000 years ago and evolved separately. The mitochondrial DNA lies outside the nucleus of a cell and can be preserved longer than nuclear DNA. Some of the genes studied are more than 38,000 years old. One billion DNA fragments were obtained from three Croatian fossils by a novel method.

The DNA studies also show that the Neanderthals and the humans share common gene linked to language ability. Genes involving language and speech were found in the Neanderthal man suggesting their ability to talk. The DNA showed no ability to drink milk. Common cognition genes are also a possibility. Other studies reveal that human brain holds at least one Neanderthal gene. Some Neanderthals were probably redheads.

The study also concentrates on the gene flow between Neanderthals and the Europeans. No findings have ben reported from Africa.

Source: The Hindu, February 19, 2009

Image: Google

First-ever cloned buffalo by India

World’s first cloned buffalo.

Yes, India created the first ever cloned buffalo on February 6, 2009. This feat was achieved by the scientists at the National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal in Haryana in India. Named Samrupa, this cloned buffalo survived only for five days and died of pneumonia on February 12, 2009. The scientists are expecting two more cloned buffalos, one in May and the other in June of this year. India thus occupies an enviable place in the world of cloning mammals.

Samrupa’s mother is from the Murrah breed, a breed that gives 35 kg of milk a day. The cloning was by a simpler but more advanced method called the Hand-guided Cloning Technique, which is claimed to be less time-consuming requiring much less skill and equipment, the scientists of the Karnal Institute say.

The female eggs for this cloning were matured in-vitro in a lab and cleansed, and somatic cells from the ear of the donor buffalo was electrofused with the occytes, then grown in a laboratory for a week and the embryo was then transferred to the recipient buffalo for cloning the calf of desired gender. The surrogate mother delivered Samrupa in two months.

Normally one buffalo delivers one offspring every year, but by cloning, more calves are possible and at shorter periods too.

Of note, a wild mountain goat, the Pyrenean Ibex declared extinct in 2000 in Spain recently, but unfortunately this too died of pneumonia shortly after birth.

Source: Times of India
Images: Googles

Pay for your pillows in flights

Pillows and blanket in the air are going to be costly.

Yes, the American airlines are going to charge $7 for blankets and pillows to offset the recession damages. This is in tune with their ongoing policy of “pay for what you choose and use.” The sleep kit consists of a fleece blanket, a neck pillow, eye shades, foam ear plugs, and a $10 off coupon for Skymall cataloge items. The sleeping kit is not available on the US Airways Express.



Source: Yahoo News, February 6, 2009
Images: Google