Niyas Nasirudeen › Comments

A fun quiz type game that gives rice to charity for each real answer you get. Truly legit. Try it! - Niyas Nasirudeen

Light and fast indexing tool for Windows - Niyas Nasirudeen

Online Paint - Niyas Nasirudeen

Fish aren't known for their impressive singing ability, although some can grunt and hum, yet singing originated in lungfish, according to new research that also determined how songbirds consistently produce melodious, sweet tunes. In the future, the findings may lead to better human singing, as well as improved treatments for speech impediments, since humans and birds sing using similar techniques. Read the rest of this fascinating article on Discovery. Hit the link above. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

"BELCH BALL: The Mars Global Surveyor captured this image of the Red Planet in northern summer, the season in which researchers spotted a significant release of methane on the planet in 2003. The source of the gas, which on Earth is primarily biological in origin, remains a mystery. On Earth, methane is something of a villain—a powerful greenhouse gas that is far more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat. But it is also a marker of life that emerges by and large from biological processes, such as the digestive systems of cows and termites. So when methane was identified on Mars in 2003 and 2004, efforts were rekindled to seek out life there, either historical or extant. Read the rest of this interesting article on Scientific American, by hitting the link above. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

An invisibility cloak for visible light could be made within six months, say scientists from Duke University, who, in a new paper published today in Science, explain how to hide objects from a dramatically extended range of wave lengths. Read the whole article on Discovery, by hitting the link above. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

How to add more locations to your right click context menu in Windows. - Niyas Nasirudeen

People who drink too much coffee could start seeing ghosts or hearing strange voices, UK research has suggested. People who drank more than seven cups of instant coffee a day were three times more likely to hallucinate than those who took just one, a study found. Read the rest on the BBC, by hitting the link above. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

It's no secret the mosquitoes have a characteristic buzz. It's one of the few warning signs humans have that a winged bloodsucker is about feast on them. According to new research, this buzz is actually created as a result of mosquitoes singing to each other to determine mating. - Niyas Nasirudeen

U.S. scientists have found a way to levitate the very smallest objects using the strange forces of quantum mechanics, and said on Wednesday they might use it to help make tiny nanotechnology machines. They said they had detected and measured a force that comes into play at the molecular level using certain combinations of molecules that repel one another. Hit the link above to read the rest on Scientific American - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

Earthlings have had an over-inflated view of how far the planet's atmosphere extends into space. Turns out, the ionosphere, the layer of electrically charged particles that comprises the outer atmosphere, is thinner than expected -- and cooler. Read the rest of the story on Discovery, by hitting the link above. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

For the first time, physicists from University of Toronto have developed a new technique to squeeze light to the fundamental quantum limit. The finding has paved way for potential applications in high-precision measurement, next-generation atomic clocks, novel quantum computing and our most fundamental understanding of the universe. Read the rest of this article on the Times of India, by hitting the link above. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

National Stock Exchange said on Wednesday it will remove Satyam Computer Services Ltd from its S&P CNX Nifty 50-share index from January 12. The head of the outsourcing firm resigned on Wednesday, disclosing profits had been falsely inflated for years, sending its shares crashing nearly 80 per cent. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

Basic tutorials for Photoshop beginners - Niyas Nasirudeen

For decades, astronomers thought when it came to the major galaxies in Earth's cosmic neighborhood, our Milky Way was a weak sister to the larger Andromeda. Not anymore. Hit the link above to read the whole story on Discovery. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

It can take months for bones to heal after even a small break. Now a U.K. company, RegenTec, hopes to speed up the healing process by injecting a white powder designed to seal broken bones together in minutes. "You won't be able to just walk out of a hospital with a broken leg," said Robin Quirk, a professor at the University of Nottingham who, along with Kevin Shakesheff in the United States, originally developed the technology. "What we are trying to do in the short term is have something that fills the void left by a break that acts like normal spongy bone and encourages natural regeneration." Read the rest on Discovery, by hitting the link above. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

There is no evidence that products widely promoted to help the body "detox" work, scientists warn. The charitable trust Sense About Science reviewed 15 products, from bottled water to face scrub, and found many detox claims were "meaningless". Hit the link to read the whole story on the BBC - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

Cancer cells cheat death by reversing a process which causes normal cells to commit suicide at the end of their natural life, scientists have shown. They showed cancer cells were able to recover even after exposure to a chemical cocktail which triggers suicide in normal cells. The ability may help cancer cells to block the effect of chemotherapy drugs. Read the rest of the story on the BBC, by hitting the link above. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

Crazy sign post. - Niyas Nasirudeen

"The famous beards and moustaches of India - seen as representing a huge tradition to the outside world - are under threat, a new book says." Yeah!!! Tell me about it. Hit the link above to read the rest of the story. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

"Deciding to turn over a new leaf in the new year could do more harm than good, a mental health charity has warned. Mind has urged people not to feel they must start 2009 armed with resolutions for self-improvement." Read the rest of this on the BBC. A must-read, considering today is the first day of the new year :) - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

A Ugandan woman has given birth to a baby girl on board an international flight from Amsterdam to Boston after going into labour mid-flight. The six-pound (2.7kg) baby named Sasha was delivered on New Year's Eve with the help of two doctors on the eight-hour-long Northwest Airlines flight. Mother and baby were taken to a Boston hospital on landing and are doing well. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

A student from Ayrshire was left in a state of shock when his online banking statement showed him to be overdrawn by almost £100bn. Donald Moffat, 38, from Irvine, said that on Tuesday morning his Barclays account was showing two separate withdrawals of £50bn. The bank said a "technical error" was to blame and apologised. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

An extract from grape seeds can destroy cancer cells, US research suggests. In lab experiments, scientists found that the extract stimulated leukemia cells to commit suicide. Within 24 hours, 76% of leukaemia cells exposed to the extract were killed off, while healthy cells were unharmed, Clinical Cancer Research reports. The study raises the possibility of new cancer treatments, but scientists said it was too early to recommend that people eat grapes to ward off cancer. Hit the link above to read the whole story on BBC. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building on Tuesday reached a record of 780 metres height and the building, the centrepiece of Emaar’s $20 billion Downtown Burj Dubai project, now has more than 160 storeys. Hit the link above to read more from the Khaleej Times. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

Eager for this year to end? Bad news: you'll have to wait an extra second for 2009. On December 31, the planet's official timekeepers will add a “leap second” to the coordinated universal time scale (UTC) followed around the world. The additional second makes up for the difference in two clocks – one based on Earth’s rotation and the other on the more precise atomic time of the UTC. Read the rest on the Scientific American blog by hitting the link above. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

As Engadget reports it, "It was deliciously inevitable that a watch phone would eventually show up that could actually "pack it all in," and it looks like LG has actually accomplished that feat in its LG-GD910 model. Of note, the phone packs a touchscreen LCD, 3G data, and a built-in camera for videoconferencing". Hit the link above to read all about it. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

Manuals Galore! - Niyas Nasirudeen

With fatigue causing more than 100,000 crashes and 1,500 deaths annually on roads in the United States, Mercedes-Benz has rushed to make the world’s first drowsy-driver detection system standard on next year’s new E-class sedan. Click the link above to read up on Auto Week. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet

New studies on peppermint, the key flavoring in traditional candy canes, reveal the herb may do everything from kill germs to treat digestive troubles. Some researchers now advise consumers to eat a tablespoon or more of fresh peppermint, and other green herbs, daily. Read the full report on Discovery. - Niyas Nasirudeen from Bookmarklet