Blog of Parag

Wine slows aging

Harvard Gazette: Wine molecule slows aging

Another reason to reach for the bottle, but, in moderation, I mind you. Here is a toast to your long life.

A molecule that is an active ingredient in red wine can slow the aging of human cells. It extends the life expectancy of every organism that, so far, has been fed on it, including yeast, worms, and fruit flies.

Called resveratrol, the wonder substance seems to work in the same way as drastic calorie cutting. Dramatic reduction of calories has been shown to increase the life span of mice, rats, and monkeys. Such diets are being tried in humans but results are not yet in. Severe dieting also cuts the risk of dying from cancer, heart problems, and other age-related diseases in monkeys.

Dark chocolate good for you

Dark chocolate may aid blood pressure, study says
Good to find this out. My choice of chocolate was right all along. It is hard to believe that something that tastes so good is actually good for health too.

Thou shalt not display these commandments

Yahoo! News - Alabama Ten Commandments Moved from Public View
For those of us like me who didn't go to a convent, and wondering what are these 'Ten Commandments', here is a simpler version of the list without all the biblical decorative english:

I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.

III. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.

IV. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

V. Honour thy father and thy mother.

VI. Thou shalt not kill.

VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

VIII. Thou shalt not steal.

IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

X. Thou shalt not covet any thing that is thy neighbour's.

copied from therain.org

These are all good ideas or morals, but, except for number VI and VIII, none of them are laws. Most of them are not even valid in today's society. The first amendment invalidates the first three. Businesses have thrown out the fourth one. Number V and IX are good ideas, but, they are not a law. What can I say about number VII? So many people would need to be punished for breaking this commandment that there would be more people in jails than the outside world. Number X is not acceptable to free market economy, competition, etc. Desire (covet) is the driving force for success and prosperity.

Hence, they don't really have a place in the courthouse, as we don't live by these values. They belong in a place of worship or in someone's house or any other place, but, not in the courthouse.

Beautiful double star from Cygnus.

Beautiful double star from Cygnus. Red-orange and blue pair. It is an optical double, which means that they are not physically connected to each other, but, seem very close because of our perspective.

Picture of Mars taken on

Picture of Mars taken on early morning of Aug 25, 2003. The image on the right is the prediction of how Mars would look like at the time, when I took the picture. The southern ice cap (at the top of the image) is very clear, and the light and dark areas also match with the predicted map. This image is a composite of 4 pictures taken through 8" Meade LXD-55 using Sony DSC-85 at f/2.5 and exposed for 1/50 sec. Here is a link to some nice Mars pictures from Hubble space telescope. Even with a larger telescope it is hard to take a good clear picture of Mars from Earth, due to all the atmospheric disturbances. This picture is one of the clearest and sharpest taken from earth.

Close encounter on August 27th, 2003:
Distance from Earth: ~56 Million Km or 35 Million Miles.
Apparant size: 25 arcsec.
Brightness: -2.9
Last instance of such close encounter: 60,000 years ago.
Next close encounter: ~283 years later.

Interesting view

WOW! This is an interesting thought.... Never thought about it from this perspective.

"Without doubt, one of the reasons West Germany and Japan forged ahead of the United kingdom after World War II was that the entire industrial stock of those two countries had been bombed out of existence while that of the latter had survived."

From Arun Shourie's part 3 of 3 articles from Indian Express written on the occasion of India's 56th Independence day.
This is India's moment but it's only a moment, can we grasp it?:

Today's Mars Picture Better than

Today's Mars Picture
Better
than yesterday. But, still not great. Moon was too close and too
bright. It is only going to get better everyday as Mars comes closer
and closer. The southern polar cap is clearly visible on the top.

Hizbul chief urges Hindus to

Hizbul chief urges Hindus to return to Indian Kashmir

What for? Are they running out of targets for shooting practice?

My first Mars photoTaken through

My first Mars photoTaken through
Meade 8" LXD-55 using a Sony DSC-S85 afocally attached to 12.5mm Plossl
eyepiece (about 65X). It is pretty bad. Not even focused properly.
Could get only one frame before the battery in my camera died. Hope to
have better luck tomorrow.

What a joke!!!! Ha Ha

What a joke!!!! Ha Ha HaNow Linux is in the same category as Windows. I don't know if this is a step up or several steps down... ;) I hope Linux systems don't start behaving like Windows.

International group Approves Linux for Use on Most-Sensitive Computers The Common Criteria organization, an international technology standards body, certified Linux for the first time on "mission critical" computers, including those in America's top-secret spy agencies and those used to deliver ammunition, food and fuel to soldiers. The certification is akin to the technology industry's seal of approval.

Supporters said it could increasingly help persuade skeptical governments and corporations to consider Linux, created and developed collectively by an international community of programmers, as an alternative to Microsoft's flagship Windows software.

Linux was certified as providing only "low to moderate" security, compared with the same group's certification as "moderate to high" last year of the security of Microsoft's Windows 2000 software.

Mars is coming closer: The

Mars is coming closer: The Numbers
source: NASA
Close encounter on August 27th, 2003:
Distance from Earth: ~56 Million Km.
Apparant size: 25 arcsec.
Brightness: -2.9
Last instance of such close encounter: 60,000 years ago.