2043- International scientific Question :

Q. On heating which Liquid becomes solid ?
China : no any such type of answer found in books
UK : not found on net
US : meaningless question
France : don't know answer
A Student From I.I.N. : DOSA
👏

1962 - How Compatible Are Science And Spirituality?

The speaking tree
Janki Santoke
Mar 26 2015 : The Times of India (Chennai)
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Are science and spirituality compatible?
what is science?
Science is a systematic body of knowledge based on observation, experimentation and theoretical explanation of observed phenomena. Science is a rational approach to understanding the natural world.
What is spirituality?
Spirituality means pertaining to Spirit, God or the Transcendental.
It is the search for the transcendental Reality .
When this search is on rational grounds, it is called philosophy or vedanta.
Every religion is made up of three parts: rituals, mythology and philosophy.
Rituals are prescribed acts such as havan.
Mythology is made up of all the stories told to communicate its ideas. And philosophy contains the ideas, principles and laws that religion elucidates. Mythology and rituals are used to communicate the philosophy which is abstract.
Certain similarities as well as differences could be observed between science and spirituality:
The Differences:
Methodology: The method of science is the method of philosophy. It uses rationality to explain observed phenomena. It generalises based on observations and creates laws. Newton saw the apple fall and generalised that all mass exerts gravity. Buddha saw four sights that conveyed suffering and generalised that sorrow is inherent in human life.
Science using its laws makes gadgets and inventions for common use. Religion using its laws makes rituals and mythology for people. Not everyone can directly use high knowledge. Rational and abstract thoughts are communicated through rituals and stories. They make abstract concepts understandable and applicable.
Goal: The goal of science is acquisition of knowledge to improve quality of life. The goal of spirituality is also the same.
There are some differences too, between science and spirituality:
Field of study: Science studies external phenomena while spirituality studies the internal phenomena of the individual.
Science tries to improve the lot of humans through improvement of the world (living conditions). Spirituality tries to improve the lot of humans by improving the individuals who contact the world.
Clearly, science has done a wonderful job of studying and improving the world. Yet the human being is no more happier than before! Can anyone assert that our great grandfathers and grandmothers were less happy than we are now?
The End: Science provides knowledge that knows no end. As Tennyson says, knowledge is like the ever receding horizon.The closer you move, the further it gets. However, spirituality has a goal or end to knowledge. It is the realisation of Transcendental Reality . Those who have obtained it seek no more. They are the Buddhas, Ramas and Krishnas of the world. There is nothing for them to seek or obtain any more. They have arrived in every sense of the word!
Guarantee of happiness: Science cannot provide a guarantee that if one does it and does it well one will be a happy person. But spirituality guarantees that if one does it and does it well one will be a happy person.
Thus science and spirituality have similarities and some differences. Spirituality does not oppose science. In fact a good scientific education is distinctly useful in the pursuit of philosophy. Good training in rationality is a great foundation for spirituality. For spirituality without science can deteriorate into blind faith and mindless rituals. But science without spirituality is denying for us the experience of our full human potential.
Follow Janki Santoke at speakingtree.in

1950- Global warming

1942- Radios & nostalgia

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The pleasant memories of a bygone era, when life was not controlled by TV or social networks like fb etc but moved at a slow and relaxed pace with valve radios (later transistors) and gramophones, haunt.
Middle1950s through’60s, makes me nostalgic of Telugu/ English news readers, drama artists, Sunday cinemas (only audio), programmes etc.-Mangamma, Rajamannar, Melvel de mellow,Surjit Sen, Latika Ratnam, Balanandam annayya- Nyapati Raghava Rao, Karmikula karyakramam Ekambaram, Subbaramayya, Dharmasandehalu- Ushasri, Nanduri Subba Rao, Vittal, Banda Kanakalingeswar Rao, Samantaka Mani, Sarada Srinivasan, Sarada Asokavardhan, Sthanam. Radio Ceylon ‘Binaca/ Cibaca Geetamala’ on Wednesdays at 8pm- Ameen Sayani; KLSaigal song at the end of Hindi songs in radio Ceylon, Vividh Bharati with their popular programmes 'Sangeet Sarita', 'Bhule Bisre Geet', Hawa Mahal, 'Jaimala', 'Inse Miliye', 'Chhaya Geet' etc.,
5day test cricket match commentary by Chakrapani, Anand Rao, expert comments by Raja of Vizayanagaram-‘Vizzy’! Radios- Pie,Murphy, Bush, Sharp jhankar etc.HMV Gramophones with handles to wind and needles 78rpms, later with light crystals 45, 33.3 rpms, LPs etc.(Even now, I hold those LPs, like clinging to old memories). All these will definitely have resonance with all the senior citizens.
Those days were not with so many comforts as of the present, but life with few wants was very sublime and fulfilling. ‘Jaane kahaan gayE O din..’- to quote Mera Nam Joker.
Now radio is resurrected with FMs, since 2005, with their RJs trying to out beat the pioneer, Ameen Sayani of Binaca geetmala!
[Binaca brand was owned by Reckitt Benckiser which sold it to Dabur in 1996 for INR12 million (US$190,000)].
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1870- Stephen Hawking Quotes!

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(1)On Fate vs. Free Will:
"I have noticed that even people who claim everything is predetermined and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road."
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(2)On Science vs. Religion:
"There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, [and] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win, because it works."
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(3)On the Advice He Gave His Children:
"One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.
Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it.
Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don't throw it away."
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Comment:
"Science has cut across human barriers. There is no such thing as ‘your science’ or ‘my science’. But this is not in case with religions. The individual truths in different religions have not come together to interact with each other to form a greater truth that could result in improved spiritual life and thinking of mankind. Religions have not found a common theme to work together for the greater good of humanity by assimilating within them some scientific temper.
Then what would be a more evolved/ universal religion?" (‘Ganesha on the dashboard’ by V. Raghunathan & M.A. Eswaran )

1823- Absorption of nutrients and transit time

1810- We should “diminish, to the point of eliminating, religious faiths”

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E.O. Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning sociobiologist, recently spoke with New Scientist about his latest book, “The Meaning of Human Existence,” in which the scientist tackles three fundamental questions of religion, philosophy and science: -

(1)Where do we come from,
(2)what are we and
(3)where are we going?
Over the course of the interview, Wilson discussed the concept of organized religion, which, he says is destroying the tribal structure of the Earth.
“All the ideologies and religions have their own answers for the big questions, but these are usually bound as a dogma to some kind of tribe,” he said.
“Religions in particular feature supernatural elements that other tribes — other faiths — cannot accept… And every tribe, no matter how generous, benign, loving and charitable, nonetheless looks down on all other tribes. What’s dragging us down is religious faith.”
While the impulse to search for spiritual meaning unites humanity, Wilson (who said “I’m a scientist” when asked if he was atheist) argued that the unifying quest had been divided by “tribal religions.”
“I would say that for the sake of human progress, the best thing we could possibly do would be to diminish, to the point of eliminating, religious faiths. But certainly not eliminating the natural yearnings of our species or the asking of these great questions.”
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1804- Death Is Just An Illusion:

We Continue To Live In A Parallel Universe
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For as long as anyone can remember philosophers, scientists and religious men have pondered what happens after death.

Is there life after death, or do we just vanish into the great unknown?
There is also a possibility there is no such thing as what we usually define as death.
A new scientific theory suggests that death is not the terminal event we think.
A while ago, scientists reported they found the first evidence of parallel universe.
This discovery lead us to a thought-provoking subject called “Biocentrism”
Robert Lanza, M.D, scientist, theoretician and author of “Biocentrism” – Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe thinks there are many reasons why we won’t die.
Invisible, parallel worlds exist next to our own.
He believes that “there are an infinite number of universes, and everything that could possibly happen occurs in some universe.
Your Energy Never Dies.
Death does not exist in any real sense in these scenarios. All possible universes exist simultaneously, regardless of what happens in any of them.
Although individual bodies are destined to self-destruct, the alive feeling – the ‘Who am I?’- is just a 20-watt fountain of energy operating in the brain. But this energy doesn’t go away at death. One of the surest axioms of science is that energy never dies; it can neither be created nor destroyed.”
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1801- Long oscillatory (gap between flowering) period

(The Hindu, January 22, 2015)

1720- what the foreign scholars say about Indian culture!

(http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.in/2014/07/nasadiya-sukta-rig-veda-5000-bc.html)

1662- Dan Brown (of 'Da Vinci Code') on Science and Religion

(TOI, Chennai, 12:11:2014)
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SCIENCE AND RELIGION WITH CARROT HYPERBOLAS AND FREE DOUGHNUTS:
Both science and religion played very important roles in Dan's life, as his mother was a church organist and his father ,a math teacher .
There are two types of miracles -science and religion, and a child's perception of both always depends on his parents. I had a religiously Christian mother and a math professor father. I have the number plates of my parents' cars. My mother's reads `Kyrie' -which means `Lord' in Greek -while my dad's read `Metric', so I had an amalgam of both science and religion in my garage itself, and that represents the environment I grew up in.
When I was a child, in the summer, we used to go this house by the lake and have family services there. We'd all get on a canoe and pray on the lake. It was excruciatingly boring without the pipe organ, the incense and the free doughnuts of the church. I wondered how to make it interesting, and I heard God's voice say, `Bring a fishing rod'. My mom said it was disrespectful, and I tried to justify it by saying, `If God didn't want me to go fishing, then why did he make fish so delicious?' My mom won, of course, as she was very difficult to argue with. She said Sunday was a day of rest, so, no fishing rod. I got my own back when I invoked the `rest day' logic and refused to paddle the canoe on the way back.
Concurrent with my mother's religion was my dad's logic and science. They both revered the beauty of nature, but with different lenses. He would talk about space, infinity and the universe. Baby carrots were his tool to teach us about conic sections, and we had to make a hyperbola with carrot crossections. When we went to the pizza place, he would calculate the area and diameter of the `pi' --figuring out the best pizza deal.
When my parents visited the set of The Da Vinci Code, I was scared that my dad would go to the director and start suggesting more oblique angles. But with my mother, I worried that she might swoon all over Tom Hanks. WE ALL SENSE GOD, WHETHER WE BELIEVE IN SCIENCE OR RELIGION
As Dan grew older , he began to question the different approaches science and religion had when explaining the universe and its beginning Science has exciting proofs and religion demands your faith. Christianity was a reality, a fact, for me, till I was 13, after which I started questioning. I questioned which of the two theories about the beginning were true ­ God created the universe or the Big Bang, evolution or the biblical version of Adam and Eve. When I asked a priest how to make sense of these differences, he said, `Nice boys don't ask such questions.' Humans hate not understanding something and being in a void. Earlier, people had a God for everything they didn't understand.They explained the unknown with God ­ earthquakes, infertility, thunder, and even love. But then sci ence kicked in and explained exactly what thunder was, and Thor went from fact to myth.
But, as the study of science went deeper, the ground began to get softer. When the questions became difficult, science became vague and terms like `The Uncertainty Principle', `margin for error' and the `Theory of Relativity' sneaked in. Physics turns into metaphysics and numbers become imaginary numbers. Even matter came into question ­ particle physics now believes that matter is nothing but pure energy .
That is when the line between science and religion begins to blur. What I have come to accept is that science and religion are partners. They are simply two different languages, attempting to tell the same story .
Regardless of religious beliefs, I think that we all have that one moment when we look up at the sky and stare up at the universe, and ask, `What is that?' and we know, that whatever it is, it's bigger than us. I think it's in that moment that we all sense God, whatever or whoever we think God is. And I believe that all religion is the same, because if our spiritual belief is the same, then how can and why should the religions that exist be any different? All religion teaches the same thing ­ kindness over cruelty, creation over destruction and love over hate.. .
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1488-Somehow, it may bring luck, whether you believe it or not!

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There is popular anecdote about a friend who visited the home of a prominent physicist Neils Bohr, the famous atom scientist and Nobel prize winner. The visitor was surprised to find a horseshoe above the front doorway of the scientist’s abode. Tradition asserts that a horseshoe acts as a talisman of luck when placed over a door.
The visitor asked the physicist about the purpose of the horseshoe while expressing incredulity that a man of science could possibly be influenced by a simple-minded folk belief. The physicist replied slyly:
"Of course I don’t believe in it, but I understand it brings you luck, whether you believe in it or not."

1460- Environment settings

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1393-Bio-fuel from- 'Calophyllum inophyllum'

(via The Hindu, 27.03.2014--an extract)
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 At a time when farmers in Tamil Nadu are facing a big problem in cultivation due to frequent load shedding, a farmer, Mr. C. Rajasekaran, from Vettaikaran Irruppu of Kilvelur taluk in Nagappattinam district does not seem to worry much.

The reason is not far to seek — he is using oil from Punnai (Tamil name) tree seeds (Calophyllum inophyllum) to operate his five hp motor pump for irrigating his five acres.

Well known:
“If a farmer has two punnai trees on his land, he can reduce the diesel cost considerably. I run the motor for about five months using the oil during summer,” he says.

The tree grows well in coastal regions. Cattle or goats do not eat the leaves thus making it easier for a farmer to grow it.

Capable of growing in any type of soil it can withstand heavy winds and produce seeds within five years after planting.

“A farmer can get four to 20 kg of seeds a year from a five year old tree. After 10 years, a tree will yield 10 - 60 kg in a year and the seed yield will be on the increase as the trees grow older. From my experience, a 25 year-old tree yields a minimum of 300 kg and a maximum of 500 kg of seeds,” says Mr. Rajasekaran.

The trees attract lot of honey bees and bats. While the bees help to pollinate the bats eat the fruits and the seeds scatter all over the area through their droppings.

Oil:
From one kg of seed kernel about 750 to 800 ml of oil can be extracted and the cost of producing a litre of oil works out to Rs.10.

my requirement is 600 ml of oil for an hour every day. Previously while using diesel my requirement was 900 ml for the same duration of time.
In a year I am able to get 75 litres. The surplus oil is sold to other farmers at Rs. 42 a litre. After extracting the oil, the cake is used as manure for crops,” he explains.

No problem:
There is no rust formation in the engine and it emits little noise during operation. For the last four years he has been using this oil to run his motor and till date seems to have not faced any problem with the engine.

“I find there is no remarkable difference between a punnai oil and diesel run five Hp motor engine. Both pump 750ml of water in a minute. In fact the engine running on the oil emits less smoke unlike the diesel operated one,” he says.

Benefits:
“If done, in two years or at most in another 10 years we might not face the same power problem we are facing now if all our farmers become aware about this tree he says,” with a smile.

For more details:
Interested farmers can contact Mr. C. Rajasekaran, Kandaiyankaadu village, Vettaikaaranirruppu Panchayat, Kivalur Taluk, Nagappattinam District, Mobile: 097510 02370.
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1347- Marconi Prize Winner- Arogyaswami Paulraj

1346- A primer to help you pick a phone that’s right for you

HOW TO BUY A SMARTPHONE

Shopping for a new handset? Great! You can finally buy that device you’ve always wanted. But how do you navigate through jargon like dual- and quad-core, GHz, mAh, and megapixels? What makes one operating system different from the other?  read

 – Savio D’Souza (TOI, February 09, 2014)

(1)OPERATING SYSTEM Make no mistake, it’s the OS that puts the ‘smart’ in your smartphone, so before buying, it’s always a good idea to know about the different ecosystems that exist… The Android OS promises native integration with Google services that include Search, Gmail, Maps, Hangouts, YouTube, etc. Besides, you get access to over a million apps in its Play store. The best part? Titles that might be paid downloads on iOS and Windows Phone are sometimes available for free here. Another advantage of an Android handset is that these are plug-and-play. You can simply connect it to your PC via a USB cable to begin transferring files to and from the device with zero hassles. Also, you can choose from phones—costing as less as 4,000 right to those that are priced at over 50k—from vendors such as HTC, LG, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, and even from local players like Karbonn, Lava, Micromax, Spice and Xolo. Just remember, Android versions are alphabetically named, and the latest in the market are Jelly Bean and Kit-Kat. Make sure you’re putting your money on either of these. Windows Phone is now playing catch-up with Android and iOS – and at last count, its app store just had over two lakh titles. Still, most popular apps have already made their way to this platform. Also, WP handsets in India primarily come from Nokia – and while the OS needs improvements, you get really good hardware for the price you pay. Plus, these devices come with subscriptions to free content like music and movies (depending on the model you buy), and also Here Maps and Drive+, which are arguably the best map and navigation services in the country. iOS, only found in iPhones, is extremely intuitive to use – and since Apple vets every title that makes it to its App store, you’re promised high-quality digital content in the form of educational material, music, videos and apps. The OS itself promises smooth operations, and you’ll find very rare instances of iPhones freezing during use. On the downside, you’ll have to use iTunes to connect the handset to your PC, and this can prove to be quite annoying. And yes, only buy from local authorised dealers; iPhones picked up from abroad are not covered under local warranty.
 
(2)PROCESSORS When shopping, you are bound to hear about dual-core, quad-core, and even octacore processors. But what should you put your money on?
    While a greater number of cores are supposedly better, it does not give you a true picture of how a smartphone may perform. Why? Well, not all cores are designed identically. UK-based ARM, which designs these chips, licenses different architectures – with names such as Cortex A5, A7, A8, A9, A12, A15 – to manufacturers. Here, higher numbers mean better chips. In effect, a phone that uses a quad-core A15 will definitely be more advanced than a handset with a quad-core A5. In fact, there might be instances where dual-core processors might fare better than quad-core chips.
    Also, a lot of how a processor performs depends on how the OS utilises its abilities. So an iPhone on a dual-core processor could be a better performer than many quad-core Android phones.
    That said, these are some of the names you can expect to hear when shopping…
    Qualcomm’s quad-core Snapdragon 600 and 800 chips, Samsung’s octacore Exynos, and Apple’s dual-core A7 (found on the iPhone 5s, and not to be confused with ARM’s Cortex series) are the top dogs in this market.
    Devices like the Nokia Lumias use mid-range dual-core Qualcomm S4 chipsets that are also seen in handsets like the Samsung Galaxy Grand Quattro and the Sony Experia M. Older iPhones use a dualcore A6 processor (again, not to be confused with ARM Cortex).
    In the mid- to low-price brackets, you’ll find dual-core Intel Atom chips, the quadcore MediaTek MT6589, and Qualcomm’s dual-core Snapdragon 200 and 400.
 
(3)DISPLAY The best way to judge a smartphone’s screen is to look at it from different angles for changes in colour, and also in varying lighting conditions for visibility.
    Invest in a Full HD (1080p) display if you’re buying a phablet. On the other hand, HD (720p) screens work well for devices up to five inches in size. On smaller devices, load a web page to see if the text is crisp, and can be read without any strain to your eyes. In any case, avoid smartphones with lesser than WVGA (800x480px) resolution. AMOLED screens are best when it comes to displaying punchy colours. LCD screens with IPS technology comes a close second, while TFT LCDs should be avoided if you can. 

(4)RAM It’s plain and simple: more RAM is always better.

(5)STORAGE We carry our world – e-mails, social networks, photographs, videos, music – with us on our smartphones, so when buying, always budget for a phone that comes with ample storage.
    Generally, if a phone lists its capacity as 8GB, only about 6.5GB will be available to the user. So if you need 4GB, buy a phone with 8 to 16GB.
    More megapixels and HD video recording capabilities result in images and videos that occupy more space. Also, if you plan on watching Full HD movies on your phone, ensure you have at least 32GB storage.
    If possible, opt for a model that supports microSD cards of up to 64GB so you can always add more memory when you need it.
 
(6)SIZE In our experience, a screen of four to five inches works well for most purposes.
    A phone that has a screen bigger than five inches could be slightly uncomfortable to use with one hand. Also keep in mind that big-screen phones are heavy, and can be uncomfortable to carry in your pocket.
    On the flip side, large screens allow for a better experience while watching movies, playing games and browsing the web.
 
(7)CAMERA A 5MP camera is capable of 8x6-inch prints even at 300dpi (dots per inch), which is the standard resolution used in professional printing.
    So, if you’re looking for a good camera phone, dump the idea that more megapixels will give you better pictures. Instead, look for phones that boast of good camera optics (go for devices that come with Carl Zeiss lens). Remember, a high-resolution camera with a low-quality lens will only give you low-quality pictures in high resolution.
    In any case, if you need a snapper only for photos you’d like to share on social networks or Instagram, a 10MP camera phone is going to be overkill.
    Opt for cameras with BSI (backside illumination) sensors for better low-light photography; make sure it comes with an LED flash.
    In our experience, if you want a good shooter, you have to shell out extra bucks. Good photos are a result of adequate megapixels, good lens and sensor technology, as well as high-end processor chipsets. The Nokia Lumia 1520, 1020 and 925, the Apple iPhones, the Samsung Galaxy S3, S4 and S4 Zoom, LG G2, and HTC One are known for their good snappers.
    For your front-facing camera, one megapixel is more than adequate.
 
(8)BATTERY You may have the best hardware at your disposal, but if you keep running out of battery, your handset is quite useless…
    Bigger screens, extra cores, and more sensors mean greater power consumption. If you’re considering a smartphone over 4.5-inches in size, look at devices that come with at least a 2000mAh (milliamp-hour) battery. The higher the mAh, the longer the battery will last.
    If possible, select devices that come with lithiumpolymer batteries over lithium-ion. The former are lighter, and also retain their charge for longer.
    And yes, preferably, buy a device that comes with a user-replaceable battery (although a handset like the Lenovo P780, which comes with a 4000mAh non-removable li-polymer battery, could prove to be an exception to the rule).
 
Note: Established brands tend to have better after sales service. But if you’re opting for a handset from a lesser-known manufacturer, check for its service centres in your city. A web search about a company’s track record should give you a fair idea if the organisation is in a position to meet its warranty commitments. (With inputs from Javed Anwer) 
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1329- Toxic cocktail of alcohol and anti-depressants

(TOI, 19:01:2013)

Sunanda Pushkar’s death has raised questions about drug combinations which may become fatal...However, certain antidepressants not only induce suicidal thoughts, some can even kill if combined with the wrong things, like spiking a certain class of anti-depressant with alcohol.

... In fact, one class of antidepressants called monoamine oxidase inhibitors or MAOIs, could prove fatal if people taking it drink alcohol. In such a case, soon after drinking, BP skyrockets and the victim can suffer a stroke.

... Over 10 years, there have been reports of suicides among patients on SSRI antidepressants such as Prozac and Zoloft. (SSRI: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.) These drugs increase level of a neuro-transmitter called serotonin in brain synapses. This is a drug that must not be combined with alcohol. “Sedatives, anti-depressants, alcohol, can all be a deadly mix. Many depressives are also alcoholic. It does not help that any class of anti-depressant is available at chemists without any prescription,” says the consultant.

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1313- How to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer?

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The following concerns a question in a physics degree exam at the University of Copenhagen:

"Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer."

One student replied:

"You tie a long piece of string to the neck of the barometer, then lower the barometer from the roof of the skyscraper to the ground. The length of the string plus the length of the barometer will equal the height of the building."

This highly original answer so incensed the examiner that the student was failed immediately. The student appealed on the grounds that his answer was indisputably correct, and the university appointed an independent arbiter to decide the case.

The arbiter judged that the answer was indeed correct, but did not display any noticeable knowledge of physics. To resolve the problem it was decided to call the student in and allow him six minutes in which to provide a verbal answer that showed at least a minimal familiarity with the basic principles of physics.

For five minutes the student sat in silence, forehead creased in thought. The arbiter reminded him that time was running out, to which the student replied that he had several extremely relevant answers, but couldn't make up his mind which to use. On being advised to hurry up the student replied as follows:

"(1) Firstly, you could take the barometer up to the roof of the skyscraper, drop it over the edge, and measure the time it takes to reach the ground. The height of the building can then be worked out from the formula H = 0.5g x t squared. But bad luck on the barometer."

"Or(2) if the sun is shining you could measure the height of the barometer, then set it on end and measure the length of its shadow. Then you measure the length of the skyscraper's shadow, and thereafter it is a simple matter of proportional arithmetic to work out the height of the skyscraper."

"(3) But if you wanted to be highly scientific about it, you could tie a short piece of string to the barometer and swing it like a pendulum, first at ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The height is worked out by the difference in the gravitational restoring force T =2 pi sqr root (l /g)."

"Or(4) if the skyscraper has an outside emergency staircase, it would be easier to walk up it and mark off the height of the skyscraper in barometer lengths, then add them up."

"(5) If you merely wanted to be boring and orthodox about it, of course, you could use the barometer to measure the air pressure on the roof of the skyscraper and on the ground, and convert the difference in millibars into feet to give the height of the building."

"(6) But since we are constantly being exhorted to exercise independence of mind and apply scientific methods, undoubtedly the best way would be to knock on the janitor's door and say to him 'If you would like a nice new barometer, I will give you this one if you tell me the height of this skyscraper'."

The student was Niels Bohr, the only Dane to win the Nobel Prize for physics.
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(Read more at http://www.snopes.com/collegeexam/barometer.asp#Y78xEiejPZeUecEK.99)
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1268-Bliss or blues? Key to your marital life lies in the genes...

Marital bliss or blues may be inherited!
Human DNA may hold the key to whether a marriage is going to be a happy one or full of conflicts, a new study suggests.
A gene involved in the regulation of serotonin can predict how much our emotions affect our relationships, according the study that may be the first to link genetics, emotions, and marital satisfaction. “An enduring mystery is, what makes one spouse so attuned to the emotional climate in a marriage, and another so oblivious?” said University of California Berkeley psychologist Robert W Levenson.

Researchers found a link between relationship fulfilment and a gene variant, or “allele,” known as 5-HTTLPR. All humans inherit a copy of this gene variant from each parent. Participants with two 'short' 5-HTTLPR alleles were found to be unhappy in their marriages when there was a lot of negative emotion and most happy when there was positive emotion, such as humour and affection. By contrast, those with one or two 'long' alleles were far less bothered by the emotional tenor of their marriages… PTI
(TOI, 09:10:2013)

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1267- Left vs. Right brain

via Facebook/ Useful info