Sayan's BlogWorld
highlighting the future's bizzare as it transforms into the present's mundane
Bees, Sun, and Quantum Physics
Mar 31st
I stumbled across this very thought-provoking article about what may be causing the sudden disappearance of honey bees in North America.
More here Synchronizm
Designing Change
Mar 15th
Designing Change
How venture philanthropy fund Acumen uses design thinking to help solve real-world problems
Charlie Rose – Alternative Energy / Internet Technology
Jan 7th
I am watching a very engaging discussion on the the Charlie Rose Show about “the pursuit of alternative energy and breakthroughs in green technology with John Doerr of Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, Scott McNealy of Sun Microsystems, and K.R. Sridhar of Bloom Energy.”
About 10mins into the show Scott McNealy gives a very interesting perspective of the energy efficiency of transportation systems- as a society we generally transport atoms (any matter), electrons (electricity, telephones, etc) or photons (optical signals over fibre optic systems). Moving atoms is highly inefficient, electrons are probably at best 50% efficient and transporting photons is the most efficient.
Scott says that even when it comes to transporting atoms some systems are inherently more efficient than others. He gives the example that driving to a shop to buy shoes is less energy efficient than ordering online because the package delivery service optimizes the use of transportation / energy. Banking online is even more efficient than going physically to a bank because you are only moving electrons and/or photons.
So check out the show for free on Google video here .
The New Yorker: Microfinance & Microcredit
Oct 28th
The New Yorker: Micro-finance or Micro-credit
This is a very thoughtful article discussing the various approaches to micro-finance & micro-credit and how it is changing the lives of millions across the world.
Nature reserves in India
Oct 15th
I wrote a few lines for a forum recently about huge number and variety of nature reserves in India:
India has many many nature reserves / national parks with a huge range of wildlife and environments. Many species are endemic to only India. Some notable places to look up are:
Gir National Park- only place in the world where you can see the Asiatic Lion
Ranthambore – one of the best managed tiger reserves & has a beautiful ruins of a medieval fort inside the park. (lan
Sunderbans- largest tiger santuary in the world. mangrove & swamp environment with a huge crocodile population. The tigers here are reputed to be man-eaters.
Kaziranga- home to the Indian rhino (closed most of the time these days)
Periyar- tiger and elephant reserve
Corbett – tiger reserve in the Himalayan foothills
Bharatpur- one of the foremost bird santuaries in the world. Winter grounds for the rare Siberian crane
Gahirmatha- Nesting ground for the endangered Olive Ridley turtles
Namdhapha- High in remote eastern himalayas. Home to the elusive snow leopard. Also cloud leopard and tigers
Dachigam- another himalayan santuary. home to the Hangul / Kashmir Stag and black bears
Great Himalayan National Park- spectacular views, unique flora and fauna
Hemis High Altitude National Park- highlights the unique and beautiful cold desert of Ladakh
Marine National Park, Kutch- home to the dugong and other rare marine species
Wandoor / Gandhi National Park- coral reef ecosystem in the Andaban & Nicobar Islands with excellent scuba and snorkelling opportunities
and there are many many more, a list is available here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_parks_of_India
India offers everything from pristine reefs, lush tropical rainforest, sandy deserts to snowy mountains, so imagine the variety of flora and fauna !
One City, One World: NYChildren Project
Oct 8th
Photographer Danny Goldfield has set out to photograph one child from every country on Earth all living in New York City.
Link here
The Miniature Earth
Sep 24th
I can’t think of a better way to restart this blog than a post about our human society. The Miniature Earth project tries to look what would be our world if all the world’s population was represented as a village of 100 people. See the thought-provoking video here.
BBC NEWS | Fungi ‘new tool’ against malaria
Nov 15th
BBC NEWS | Fungi ‘new tool’ against malaria
New studies show that a specific type of fungus native to East Africa can infect mosquitoes and reduce their lifespan by two-thirds – to just seven days.
Scientific American | Graphite Found to Exhibit Surprising Quantum Effects
Nov 10th
Graphite Found to Exhibit Surprising Quantum Effects
Does graphite show potential as a semiconductor material? Super-thin single atom thick graphite sheets called graphene are being studied by researchers at University of Manchester.
Experiments on graphene have revealed some strange phenomena, as detailed in two papers in today’s Nature. The two-dimensional material remains capable of conducting electricity thanks to the free-floating electron in the honeycomb structure of carbon atoms.
… researchers also proved that they travel far faster than electrons in other semiconductors…the findings may “lead to new applications in carbon-based electronic and magneto-electronic devices,” though further research is needed.
Blogging in class for class…
Nov 6th
My classroom blogging for the Global Impact of Communication Technology course I am taking at the School of Journalism has overtaken this personal blog. So you can visit it to read about what I am working on for the course. Cutting out the suspense- I am doing some studying on the impact of mobile phones on society especially in the developing world- how it is helping bridge the information divide.
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