Wednesday, May 27, 2009

2008 Mumbai attacks

The 2008 Mumbai attacks were more than ten coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai, India's financial capital and its largest city. The attacks, which drew widespread condemnation across the world, began on 26 November 2008 and lasted until 29 November, killing at least 173 people and wounding at least 308.


Eight of the attacks occurred in South Mumbai: at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital, the Orthodox Jewish-owned Nariman House, the Metro Cinema, and a lane behind the Times of India building and St. Xavier's College. There was also an explosion at the Mazagaon docks, in Mumbai's port area, and in a taxi at Vile Parle. By the early morning of 28 November, all sites except for the Taj Mahal Palace had been secured by Mumbai Police and security forces.


Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only attacker who was captured alive, disclosed that the attackers were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant organization, considered a terrorist organization by India, the United States, and the United Kingdom, among others. The Indian Government said that the attackers came from Pakistan, and their controllers were in Pakistan.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Biggest Bird

The largest known bird ever has been discovered by a teenager in Argentina. Or to be more accurate, the fossil of the largest bird ever known has been discovered. At over three metres tall and near two hundred kilograms, this is not a creature one would want to meet in a dark alley. Or even a well lit alley. Living a diet of sheep sized rodents, these birds definitely earned their sobriquet: Terror Birds. Fortunately they are long extinct, and for the record I’m glad there’s no more sheep sized rodents around either.


One of the most incredible is that they have been able to reproduce the sound of this bird’s call. Extinct for millions of years, and we can now reproduce the blood curdling cry of the Terror Bird as it hunted on the prehistoric plains of Patagonia. Roughly rendered the Terror Bird’s call sounded like this: Here, kitty kitty kitty.” Isn’t science amazing

Friday, May 22, 2009

Not to Eat Peanut Butter Products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat peanut butter products containing peanut butter or peanut butter paste, as the recall of products widened Sunday while the salmonella outbreak probe continued.The U.S. health warning, issued Saturday, focused on products made with peanut butter, like crackers, not jars of peanut butter on store shelves, the agency said.


"We are urging people not to eat products that have peanut butter until we have better information, and they can make an informed choice," Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said at a Saturday teleconference, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The official toll from the outbreak across 43 states and Canada now stands at 470 people sickened, with six deaths that have been linked.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

5 Tips for Easy Weight Loss

Tip 1: Find out how many calories you need

For instance, you weigh 140 lb and you perform 20 mins of moderate activity every day. BMR of this example = (140 x 15) + (20 x 3.5) = 2100 + 70 = 2170 kcal. BMR minus 500kcal; it would be 2170 - 500 = 1670 kcal. Therefore 1670 kcal is the target in this example to losing 1 lb per week.


Tip 2: Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day

Fruits and vegetables are packed with beneficial fibers, vitamins and antioxidants. They fill up your stomach fast so you feel full earlier. They are also low in calories and helps to keep your calorie count low.


Tip 3: Exercise

Most authorities recommend 30 - 60 minutes of physical activity a day to stay healthy. Also try adding weight-bearing exercises at least 2 times a week. This will help burn some of the unwanted calories.


Tip 4: Watch for the sugary drinks

Juices, pop, cream & sugar in your coffee or tea all add up. Opt for drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day. In addition to providing hydration to your body, it will also help you feel full.


Tip 5: Keep a food journal

Keeping a food journal helps you pin point your eating pattern and will enable you to easily modify it. If possible, have your Registered Dietitian review your journal.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Queen Mary 2

The RMS Queen Mary 2 is a Cunard Line ocean liner named after the earlier Cunard liner Queen Mary, which was in turn named after Mary of Teck, the Queen Consort of George V. It does not commemorate the reign of Queen Mary II. At the time of her construction in 2003 by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique, the Queen Mary 2 was the longest, widest and tallest passenger ship ever built, and at gross tonnage (GT) of 148,528 tons, was also the largest. She lost the gross tonnage distinction to Royal Caribbean International's 154,407 GT Freedom of the Seas in April 2006,but Queen Mary 2 remains the largest ocean liner ever built, and her width, length, and waterline breadth are unsurpassed by any other passenger ship.



Moreover, the Queen Mary 2 displaces approximately 76,000 tons; the Royal Caribbean Freedom ships displace about 64,000 tons. The Queen Mary 2 was the first major ocean liner built since the Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1969.Queen Mary 2's facilities include 15 restaurants and bars, five swimming pools, a casino, a ballroom, a theatre, and a planetarium.



The Queen Mary 2 is the current Cunard flagship and makes regular transatlantic crossings. The ship was constructed to complement the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, the Cunard flagship from 1969 to 2004—replacing it on the transatlantic route. The first RMS Queen Mary sailed the Atlantic from 1936 to 1967. Queen Mary 2 had the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) title conferred on her, as a gesture to Cunard's history, by Royal Mail when she entered service in 2004 on the Southampton to New York route.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Airport security

Airport security refers to the techniques and methods used in protecting airports and aircraft from crime.Large numbers of people pass through airports. Such gatherings present a target for terrorism and other forms of crime due to the number of people located in a small area. Similarly, the high concentration of people on large airliners, the potential high lethality rate of attacks on aircraft, and the ability to use a hijacked airplane as a lethal weapon provide an alluring target for terrorism.



Airport security provides defense by attempting to stop would-be attackers from bringing weapons or bombs into the airport. If they can succeed in this, then the chances of these devices getting on to aircraft are greatly reduced. As such, airport security serves two purposes: To protect the airport from attacks and crime and to protect the aircraft from attack.


Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Jet Engine

A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet of fluid to generate thrust in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets and pump-jets. In general, most jet engines are internal combustion engines but non-combusting forms also exist.



In some common usage, the term 'jet engine' generally refers to an internal combustion duct engine, which typically consists of an engine with a rotary (rotating) air compressor powered by a turbine ("Brayton cycle"), with the leftover power providing thrust via a propelling nozzle. These types of jet engines are primarily used by jet aircraft for long distance travel. The early jet aircraft used turbojet engines which were relatively inefficient for subsonic flight. Modern subsonic jet aircraft usually use high-bypass turbofan engines which help give high speeds as well as, over long distances, giving better fuel efficiency than many other forms of transport.



About 7.2% of the oil used in 2004 was ultimately consumed by jet engines.In 2007, the cost of jet fuel, while highly variable from one airline to another, averaged 26.5% of total operating costs, making it the single largest operating expense for most airlines.