Aurora Borealis !!

Why wait for the Northern Lights (otherwise known as aurora borealis) when it can come to your bedroom every night? Japanese company Banpresto is offering its Aurora Palette gadget to the US. It projects different atmospheric light on your ceiling or wall, creating a relaxing environment while you fall asleep. It's shaped like an oversized pill and sits upon a base. It lasts for about 20 hours on 4 AA batteries and can be set to operate for 30, 60, 90, or 120 minutes at a time. Watch the YouTube video to see the Aurora Palette in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHnNJP90LOU&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-ly98zTP0Q&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDc-0wne6fg&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIXs6Sh0DKs&mode=related&search=

An aurora (plural aurorae/auroras) is an Electro-static phenomenon, characterised by a bright glow and caused by the collision of charged particles in the magnetosphere with atoms in the Earth's upper atmosphere. An aurora is usually observed in the night sky, particularly in the polar zone. For this latter reason, some scientists call it a "polar aurora" (or "aurora polaris"). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy)

Black & White

Well,in my last post on Photography, I mentioned a photgrapher and his site capturing panoramic views of nature's pristine glory.

Well, this time I am again going to mention a site ,but as my blog hints, with a different flavour altogether. Russ and Marcia's site is basically devoted to black and white photography which is their speciality.Out of all, I found about 90% of the uploads soothing and captivating. Despite majority of the site being devoid of colours,it sets a very good example of displaying natural beauty on a different pedestal altogether.

Link:http://www.russandmarciamartin.com/

Procrastination is the thief of time ! !

Like millions of people checking their google mail account everyday, I was also doing the same last Sunday morning when I saw Google's quote "Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday."I quickly raced through the searches on the quote that kept me interested till I found a fairly decent excerpt from The Hindu:

"In a positive sense, doubt leads us to the logical truth.In a negative sense, `doubt' is a form of fear. In a positive sense, it causes us to hesitate before acting and apply more rational methods. Logic is called the `Art of reasoning'. Entire science is motivated by doubt and analysis. Rather than accepting the existing theories, experiments always continue to search the logical truth.

Doubt is the state of being unsure of something. It is the uncertainty about the truth or factuality of existence of something. `Doubt', in a pessimistic sense, causes starting trouble. It delays effort. It hampers work. Finally, it hinders result."

"Procrastination is the deferment or putting-off of an action, which requires immediate attention, usually by focusing on some other distraction. The word is derived from the Latin words `pro' (means `for') and `cras' (tomorrow). It is a habit of adjourning work.

"Procrastination is the thief of time," goes a proverb. This conveys the meaning that postponement is both negative and wasteful of time. A philosopher rightly said: "Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." Another lazily ridiculed him: "Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy... Hard work pays off in future. Laziness pays off now."

Link:http://www.hindu.com/edu/2004/07/05/stories/2004070500310300.htm

Einstein To Gandhiji !!

With all the news hovering around Gandhiji's last letter written 19 days before his assassination,here is an interesting letter I found on the net. The letter was written by the eminent scientist of all time ,Albert Einstein and then the reply from our Bapu to Him.


Have a look at it :




The translation of it was :
"Respected Mr. Gandhi !
I use the presence of your friend in our home to send you these lines. You have shown through your works, that it is possible to succeed without violence even with those who have not discarded the method of violence. We may hope that your example will spread beyond the borders of your country, and will help to establish an international authority, respected by all, that will take decisions and replace war conflicts.With sincere admiration,Yours A. Einstein.I hope that I will be able to meet you face to face some day. "

The reply was:
"DEAR FRIEND,I was delighted to have your beautiful letter sent through Sundaram. It is a great consolation to me that the work I am doing finds favour in your sight. I do indeed wish that we could meet face to face and that too in India at my Ashram.
Yours sincerely,
M. K. GANDHI"


The following link also depicts the views of Einstein about Gandhiji -> a very admirable fact that how popular He became worldwide taking into account a wide difference in the means of communication in the past and the present.
Link to the site : http://streams.gandhiserve.org/einstein.html

Blue Moon- Is it really Blue ?

"Blue moon" is a quirky astronomical term used to describe the second full moon in a calendar month, an event which occurs only once every two and a half years.
But it hasn't always been this way.

Up until the 1940s, the term blue moon was used to describe the third full moon in a season.
In 1946, Sky & Telescope magazine mistakenly attributed it to the second full month of the month.

The error was repeated in a 1980 episode of a popular US radio show called Star Date, which in turn appeared as the answer to a question in the board game Trivial Pursuit. As a result, the mistake has stuck.

However you define it, a blue moon isn't a common event. On average they occur once every two and a half years, which probably led to the term 'once in a blue moon'.

So if the moon doesn't change colour, why use the term 'blue'?

Geoff Wyatt, Manager of the Sydney Observatory, believes it probably has more to do with how the moon might 'feel', rather than its colour.
"To have two full moons in a month, means (the Moon) has used some energy so it will be down. It's not a colour reference, it's more an emotive reference," Wyatt says.

Link:http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=274991
My Picassa Album:http://picasaweb.google.com/niveshm/BlueMoonNight