Thursday, March 31, 2011
French Spiderman Alain Robert climbs Burj Khalifa Dubai
Alain Robert (born as Robert Alain Philippe on 7 August 1962), is a French rock and urban climber, from Digoin, Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France. Known as "the French Spider-Man" or "the Human Spider", Robert is famous for scaling skyscrapers.
Robert has scaled 85 giant structures around the globe including many of the world's tallest structures, most of which he has scaled using only his bare hands and climbing shoes.Robert began climbing as a young boy, scaling rock cliffs in the area around his home. At the age of 12 when he forgot his keys and was locked out of his parents' eighth-floor apartment, he chose to simply scale the exterior wall to his home.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Audi R8 V10 Spyder launched in India
Audi is certainly bullish on the Indian Supercar market. After bringing in the R8 with a V8 engine and then with a V10 engine, Audi India presented its latest offering the R8 V10 Spyder – the convertible version of the R8 V10.
The R8 Spyder is powered by a 5.2L V10 engine that churns out 525 hp @ 8,000 rpm and 530 Nm of torque @ 6,500 rpm. The engine is mated to an R-tronic sequential 6-speed manual transmission that hurls the car from 0 – 100 km/hr in just 4.1 seconds on to a top speed of 313 km/hr. In order to stop all this ‘hurling’ the R8 Spyder is equipped with 8-piston aluminium brake calipers at the front and four-piston calipers at the rear.
The Audi R8 Spyder will set you back by Rs 1,47,22,000 and will be available across Audi outlets in India from April 2011.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Bibi Ka Maqbara [Aurangabad]
Bibi Ka Maqbara is a tomb built by Prince Azam Shah, son of Emperor Aurangzeb,one of the Mughal Emperors, in the late 17th century as a loving tribute to his mother, Rabia Durrani alias Dilras Banu Begum. The comparison to the Taj Mahal has resulted in a general ignorance of the monument. This monument is also called the Dakkhani Taj or the Taj of the Deccan.
It is situated in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. The monument's name translates literally to 'Tomb of the Lady', but has earned the nickname 'poor man’s Taj' because it was originally planned to rival the Taj Mahal but was prevented from doing so due to budgetary constraints.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Cobra vs. Mongoose [video]
The Indian cobra is a species of venomous snake found in the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the big four, species which are responsible for causing the most snakebite cases in India. This snake is revered in Indian mythology and culture and is often seen with snake charmers. It is now protected in India under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act (1972).
Mongooses (Herpestidae) are a family of 33 species of small carnivorans from southern Eurasia and mainland Africa. The word mongoose is derived from the Marathi name mangus. The Indian Mongoose and others are popularly used to fight and kill venomous snakes, including vipers. They are adept at such tasks due to their agility, cunning, thick coat, and mutated acetylcholine receptors, which render them resistant or immune to snake venom. They typically avoid the cobra and have no particular affinity for consuming its meat.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Supermoon on March 19, 2011
Supermoon is a full or new moon that coincides with a close approach by the Moon to the Earth. The Moon's distance varies each month between approximately 354,000 km and 410,000 km.
On Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. EST (i.e. 00:30 hrs on Sunday March 20, 2011 IST), the moon will arrive at its closest point to the Earth in 2011: a distance of 356,575 kilometers (221,565 miles) away. And only 50 minutes earlier, the moon will officially be full. The moon has not been in a position to appear this large since March 1993.
At its peak, the supermoon of March may appear 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than lesser full moons (when the moon is at its farthest from Earth), weather permitting. Yet to the casual observer, it may be hard to tell the difference.
Speculations of a link between the occurrence of supermoons and natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunami are extremely tenuous. Arguments have been made that natural disasters coinciding with years in which supermoons occurred were influenced by the Moon's increased gravitational strength, though because of the monthly alternation between lunar apogee and perigee such an argument cannot be supported unless the disaster in question falls on the actual date of the supermoon.
It has been argued that the Indian Ocean tsunami and earthquake on December 26, 2004, was influenced by a supermoon which occurred 2 weeks later on January 10, 2005. Most recently, astrologers argued that the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011, was influenced by the March 19 supermoon, the closest supermoon since 1992.While some studies have reported a weak correlation between shallow, very low intensity earthquakes and lunar activity, there is no empirical evidence of any correlation with major earthquakes.
On Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. EST (i.e. 00:30 hrs on Sunday March 20, 2011 IST), the moon will arrive at its closest point to the Earth in 2011: a distance of 356,575 kilometers (221,565 miles) away. And only 50 minutes earlier, the moon will officially be full. The moon has not been in a position to appear this large since March 1993.
At its peak, the supermoon of March may appear 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than lesser full moons (when the moon is at its farthest from Earth), weather permitting. Yet to the casual observer, it may be hard to tell the difference.
Speculations of a link between the occurrence of supermoons and natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunami are extremely tenuous. Arguments have been made that natural disasters coinciding with years in which supermoons occurred were influenced by the Moon's increased gravitational strength, though because of the monthly alternation between lunar apogee and perigee such an argument cannot be supported unless the disaster in question falls on the actual date of the supermoon.
It has been argued that the Indian Ocean tsunami and earthquake on December 26, 2004, was influenced by a supermoon which occurred 2 weeks later on January 10, 2005. Most recently, astrologers argued that the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011, was influenced by the March 19 supermoon, the closest supermoon since 1992.While some studies have reported a weak correlation between shallow, very low intensity earthquakes and lunar activity, there is no empirical evidence of any correlation with major earthquakes.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Space Shuttle Launch: From A Plane [Video]
On Thursday, the space shuttle Discovery blasted into space for its final mission. People around the world watched the liftoff, but only a lucky few got to see the shuttle from the skies.
Passengers on a flight from Orlando, Florida to Richmond, Virginia were treated to an unexpected kind of entertainment when they saw the Shuttle off of the left side of the plane.
One quick-thinking man named Neil Monday captured the experience on his iPhone. After he uploaded the two-minute clip to the Web, searches shot into the stratosphere. The video has been featured by multiple blogs and news agencies, including MSNBC.
Monday almost never got the chance. The flight he was on was scheduled to leave two hours earlier, but a delay kept it grounded. It's probably the first time in history passengers were happy about being delayed.
The video, which you can watch below, is, of course, visually stunning, but it also contains a pretty good joke, if you listen hard enough. While Neil records the shuttle's launch, the captain can be heard over the loudspeaker saying, "Those on the right side can see the space shuttle. Those on the left side can probably see the people on the right side looking at the space shuttle."
Passengers on a flight from Orlando, Florida to Richmond, Virginia were treated to an unexpected kind of entertainment when they saw the Shuttle off of the left side of the plane.
One quick-thinking man named Neil Monday captured the experience on his iPhone. After he uploaded the two-minute clip to the Web, searches shot into the stratosphere. The video has been featured by multiple blogs and news agencies, including MSNBC.
Monday almost never got the chance. The flight he was on was scheduled to leave two hours earlier, but a delay kept it grounded. It's probably the first time in history passengers were happy about being delayed.
The video, which you can watch below, is, of course, visually stunning, but it also contains a pretty good joke, if you listen hard enough. While Neil records the shuttle's launch, the captain can be heard over the loudspeaker saying, "Those on the right side can see the space shuttle. Those on the left side can probably see the people on the right side looking at the space shuttle."
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