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Showing posts from May, 2008

We live once. Why do we leave so many tell-tale signs? - Part II: 'Human Footprint' on Earth

It's tempting to say: “The less said the better”. But my blood group being what it is, I am making that extra effort at being positive. We are responsible for the garbage we generate, not the Municipality or city corporation or other civic bodies. Similar to the three R’s of literacy, there used to be three simple R's of eco-literacy – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Two more R's have been added of late, and the (extremely difficult!) mantra now reads Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repair, Re-source . New Zealand based Celsias is dedicated to the highest ideals possible in ecological awareness and real efforts at encouraging ethical approach to Nature and environment. Ever wondered about the impact of one human in one lifetime? Clesias presents UK Channel 4's documentary Human Footprint (1 hr 13 minutes) on the consumption levels of an average citizen in a modern society. If you'd like to calculate your footprint , fortify yourself mentally first. I found out my impact - if I

We live once. Why do we leave so many tell-tale signs? - Part I: Space Junk

There are some things that boggle the mind if we think about them. We humans reached space. Not only to discover the Universe's vastness but also to tap the cosmos for our own ends. We ended up doing all these, and left not only Neil Armstrong's footprint on the Moon, but also tonnes of debris (jettisoned spacecraft parts, nuts and bolts, solar cells, abandoned satellites, paint chips, nuclear reactor cores, spent rocket stages, solid fuel fragments to name a few). Each of some 70,000 objects, ranging from tennis-ball-sized items to whole spent satellites and rockets, can cause immense harm to other spacecraft or on Earth, after reentry . If you had wanted to find out the future trends in the space debris scenario, you will read typically obfuscating predictions. The verbose rhetoric sounds as though the space junk somehow happened to happen - try reading this passage quoted verbatim - "Because of the increased number of larger objects, lack of sufficient debris mitigati

A nice and compact theme park

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Summer holidays are here. If anyone is vacationing in Coimbatore, and the kids clamour for a day out in a water theme park, head for Maharaja World on Avinashi Road, just north of the L&T Bye pass (Bangalore-Cochin route). A day at that place had us hooked. The park's usp is compactness, range of wet and dry rides and thrills, and evident maintenance standards. On the first and last scores, the one-year-old park most likely beats another theme park Kovai Kondattam and the much bigger Black Thunder in Coimbatore precincts. Their website is not yet ready, but their commercial will give you a nice intro. The range of attractions include several water rides, a dozen dry rides, a well-done up toddler's area, a multi-cuisine food court, a multiplex, a party hall, a video game parlour, and a big enough parking area, all within sight of each other. Present tariff: Rs 350 for adults, Rs 300 for children, not including food.

Lakshadweep in pictures

I present another set of 1000-word essays, this time on Lakshadweep, and its glorious sights. Lakshadweep, Agatti To all who shared the pics - thankyou!

Ooty in pictures

Here are several 1000-word essays on Nature's bounty at Ooty, as well as other attractions in and around the hill station. Ooty