WikiLeaks expose

WikiLeaks expose

9/11 dominates US diplomacy

A decade after the Sep 11, 2001 attacks, the dark shadow of terrorism still dominates the United States' relations with the world, said the Times. "They depict the Obama administration struggling to sort out which Pakistanis are trustworthy partners against Al Qaeda, adding Australians who have disappeared in the Middle East to terrorist watch lists, and assessing whether a lurking rickshaw driver in Lahore, Pakistan, was awaiting fares or conducting surveillance of the road to the American Consulate."

3000 cables from Delhi to Washington

Among a cache of a quarter-million State Department cables released by WikiLeaks, 3,038 are from the US embassy in India, but no details were immediately available on the whistleblower website. Other cables pertain to communications from US missions in Islamabad, Colombo and Kathmandu. India was one of the countries reached out by top US diplomats before the much anticipated release of what the New York.

Hacking by Chinese

Another cable cited by the Times said a Chinese contact told the American embassy in Beijing in January that China's Politburo directed the intrusion into Google's computer systems in that country. The Google hacking was part of a coordinated campaign of computer sabotage carried out by government operatives, private security experts and Internet outlaws recruited by the Chinese government, it said. They have broken into American government computers and those of Western allies, the Dalai Lama and American businesses since 2002, cables said. 

Saudi worries

Dispatches from early this year quote the monarch of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah, as speaking scathingly about the leaders of Iraq and Pakistan. Speaking to another Iraqi official about Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, King Abdullah said, "You and Iraq are in my heart, but that man is not." The king called Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari the greatest obstacle to that country's progress, the Times said citing a cable. "When the head is rotten," he said, "it affects the whole body."

Nuclear standoff with Pakistan

“They document years of painstaking effort to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon - and of worry about a possible Israeli strike on Iran with the same goal," the Times said. Detailing "a dangerous standoff with Pakistan over nuclear fuel" revealed by Wikileaks, the Times said: "Since 2007, the United States has mounted a highly secret effort, so far unsuccessful, to remove from a Pakistani research reactor highly enriched uranium that American officials fear could be diverted for use in an illicit nuclear device.

GM mosquitoes to fight dengue

GM mosquitoes to fight dengue

Genetically engineered mosquitoes thwart dengue

Fight against dengue would soon become more efficient, as scientists have successfully conducted an outdoor trial of genetically modified mosquitoes to sabotage the dengue spreaders. By the end of the six-month trial, populations of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which spread the dengue virus, had plummeted, reports New Scientist.

The transgenic mosquitoes

"It's a proof of principle, that it works," said Angela Harris of the Mosquito Control and Research Unit on the Caribbean island of Grand Cayman, where the trial took place. The MCRU conducted the trial with Oxitec, the company in Oxford that bred the GM mosquitoes. Oxitec breeds millions of males carrying an altered gene called tTA, which they pass down when they mate with females. 

A ‘self-destruct’ gene

The lethal gene overcomes the gene-reading machinery of larva and pupae, preventing them from growing properly and causing them to die before adulthood, breaking the insects'' life cycle. The researchers measured depletion of the population through weekly checks on eggs laid by the females in jam-jar-sized pots that were randomly dispersed throughout the trial plot. 

The experiment

For the first three months or so, the proportion of pots containing at least one egg gradually rose, reaching a peak of more than 60 per cent. But by the end of the experiment the proportion had fallen to 10 per cent.

Man over nature?

The researchers concluded that the number of females laying eggs nosedived because most were dying as larvae. The resources consumed by the doomed larvae and pupae before they die vie with normal rivals for resources, which helped to reduce the population.

X FILES

Revealed! Secret UFO encounters

UFO files

Britain released hundreds of previously secret ‘UFO files’ on Thursday including a letter saying that Winston Churchill had ordered a 50 year cover-up of a wartime encounter between a UFO and military pilot. The files published by the National Archives, span decades and contain scores of witness accounts, sketches and classified briefing notes documenting mysterious sightings across Britain.

Top secret

One Ministry of Defence note refers to a 1999 letter stating that a Royal Air Force plane returning from a mission in Europe during World War Two was “approached by a metallic UFO.” The unidentified author of the letter says his grandfather attended a wartime meeting between Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower during which the two expressed concern over the incident and “decided to keep it secret.” 

No trace

The MoD subsequently investigated the case but found no written record of the incident, the files say. “... the MoD does not have any expertise or role in respect of ‘UFO/flying saucer’ matters or to the question of the existence or otherwise of extraterrestrial life forms, about which it remains totally open-minded,”. Britain has been slowly releasing long-classified files related to sightings of mysterious craft in the skies above its cities, compiled and investigated by the MoD over past decades. 

Unsolved mystery

Some cases subsequently received rational explanations, such as meteors burning up in the atmosphere, but many are unsolved. One memo, dated 1997, contains reports of ‘sonic booms’ and a mysterious plane crash in northern England. No wreckage was found in an ensuing search by the police and rescue teams. Another incident refers to sightings of a ‘black triangular UFO’ over the home of the shadow home secretary in Kent in the late 1990s. 

Huge size

In a case filed in 1995, the captain of a plane approaching Manchester airport reported a near-miss with an “unidentified object,” and a witness on the ground separately provided a sketch showing a UFO “20 times the size of a football field.” An inquiry failed to identify the object, the memo said. Buried deep among meticulous sketches and MoD memos, some files refer to curious episodes in Britain's history.

World's strangest buildings

World's strangest buildings

Forest Spiral Building - Germany

The Waldspirale apartment building is located in Darmstadt's Burgerparkviertel. It contains 105 apartments, a parking garage, a kiosk as well as a cafe and a bar. The inner courtyard contains a playground for the children of the residents and a small artificial lake. Peculiarities of the U-shaped building are the unique facade, which does not follow a regular grid organisation, and the windows, which appear as if they were "aus der Reihe tanzen," everywhere different and appearing out of order.

Kansas City Public Library - US

The Kansas City Public Library operates its Central Branch located at 14 West 10th Street in Kansas City, Missouri, US and neighborhood branches located in Kansas City, Independence, and Sugar Creek. Founded in 1873, it is the oldest and third largest public library system in Kansas. It's special collections, housed in the Central Library's Missouri Valley Room, has a collection of Kansas City local history, news articles, post cards, photographs, maps, and city directories dating from the community's earliest history.

Habitat 67 - Canada

Habitat 67 is a famous housing complex in Montreal, Canada. Designed by architect Moshe Safdie and built in 1967 as part of the Universal Expo, the project is still hailed for its futuristic design after 40+ years. The cube is the base, the mean and the finality of Habitat 67. 354 cubes of a magnificent grey-beige build up one on the other to form 146 residences nestled between sky and earth, between city and river, between greenery and light.

Cubic Houses - Netherlands

The original idea of these cubic houses came about in the 1970s. The concept behind these houses is that each cube represents an abstract tree; therefore the whole village becomes a forest. The cubes contain the living areas, which are split into three levels. The triangle-shaped lower level contains the living area. The middle level contains the sleeping area and a bathroom, while the top level, also in a triangular shape, is used as either an extra bedroom or a living space.

The Ufo House - Taiwan

Built in the early eighties, these extraordinary sea-view homes are known as the 'UFO houses' by the Taiwanese. Just 15 kms from the capital, the deserted residences have been left abandoned for the past three decades. Now they face imminent demolition. A debate over their demolition spiralled into an excited dispute over paranormal activity. The more rational web users pointed out that high winds and large windows led to shattered glass and over-heating, while others said the project was abandoned because ghosts haunted the grounded spaceships.

Bhopal: Facts you should know.................

Bhopal: Facts you should know.................

Penny for poor

The Indian government filed a law suit in an US court and claimed damages worth $3.3 billion, in 1985. In February 1989, the Indian Government, led by Rajiv Gandhi, reached an out of court settlement with Union Carbide for $470 million, about 14% of what they originally claimed. Why did the govt bend so much? Because of the US pressure? Did the money reach the needy? 

Did he deserve conviction?

Arjun Singh, the CM of Madhya Pradesh when the disaster happened, 'got a call from someone, and he just obeyed the orders' to treat the Chief of Union Carbide warren Anderson as a state guest when he was "released" on bail, put on a state government flight, and flown to New Delhi. Anderson left the country soon thereafter, never to return ever again. Singh went on to become the Union Cabinet Minister for HRD in the early 90's and in the 2004-2009 UPA government. 

Something fishy........

Do you know who the lawyer for Dow Chemicals, which took over Union Carbide in 2000, is? Abhishek Manu Singhvi. Do you want to know what his official position now is? He is the official spokesperson of the Congress party at the national level. 

Medical facts covered up

Government denies all claims that victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy exposed to Methyl Isocynate gas are subject to congenital deformities or cancer risk. According to NR Bhandari, an ICMR investigator, the government suppressed the findings of the ICMR and the complete report has never been published. Many gas victims are suffering till date and most of the sufferers are poor people who were staying near by the tragedy site. These people are denied medical help as doctors refuse that they are gas affected.

Who is guilty?

Not one govt official — whether responsible for ensuring safety rules were adhered to or for assessing the potential health impact of the chemicals factory on the neighbouring Old Bhopal community — has been indicted. The dazzle of big names has the media and NGOs chasing high-profile defendants rather than the truly guilty. In Delhi’s Uphaar fire (1997) tragedy, Sushil Ansal was convicted despite being only a former director. The genuinely guilty party, Delhi Vidyut Board, got away with the trial of merely a junior engineer.

Unique and hidden destinations

Unique and hidden destinations

Rotorua, New Zealand

Rotorua city is known for its geothermal activity, with a number of geysers, notably the Pohutu Geyser at Whakarewarewa, and boiling mud pools . Rotorua is a top venture destination and is New Zealand’s Maori cultural heartland. Rotorua city is well-known for its unique foul smell, which is caused by the geothermal activity releasing sulphur into the atmosphere. It was once home to the Pink and White Terraces and one must visit the thermal wonderlands with sights that are beyond belief.

Socotra, Republic of Yemen

Socotra has been described as one of the most strange looking place on Earth. It is very remote with a harsh, dried out climate and hence 30% of its plant-life is found nowhere else, including the famous Dragon’s Blood Tree, a very abnormal looking umbrella-shaped tree which produces red sap. There are also a large number of birds, spiders and other flora and fauna. The coral reefs around have a large number of endemic and weird species too. Socotra is a World Heritage Site.

Mount Roraima, Brazil

Mount Roraima isis a tabletop mountain with 400-metre high cliffs on all sides. There is only one way up the mountains and that is on a natural staircase-like slope on the Venezuelan side . On the top of the mountain it rains every day, washing away most of the nutrients for plants to grow and sustain and it creates an exceptional landscape on the stripped sandstone surface. It also creates some of the highest waterfalls in the world over the sides .

Guaira Falls, Brazil

Located on the Parana river, the Guaíra Falls were the largest waterfall on earth, in terms of volume. 1,750,000 cubic feet of water fell over this waterfall each second on average, compared to just 70,000 cubic feet per second for Niagra Falls. However, the falls were flooded in 1982 when a dam was created to take benefit of this enormous flow rate. The Itaipu Dam is now the second most powerful hydroelectric dam in the world. The Itaipu Dam supplies 90% of the power consumed by Paraguay, and 19% of the power consumed by Brazil. 

Dunes of Pyla, France

Since Europe has no deserts, The Great Dune of Pyla, which is 3km long, 500m wide and 100m high, can easily be called as the largest stretch of desert in Europe. And the most bizarre personality it has is, that its between a thick green forest . The dune is very steep on the side in front of the forest and is well-known for being a paragliding site. At the top it provides stunning views out to sea and over the forest . 

Extreme lunar surface

Moon's electrified poles

Astronauts who would step on the moon in future will have to endure more than dust and frigid temperatures – the moon's electrified poles. According to an analysis, potentially hazardous electrical fields exist in the moon's polar regions. The phenomenon may be responsible for levitating dust from the moon's surface. The finding is applicable to other small, air-less bodies, like asteroids. Moon explorers should be warned that travelling through the pits might result in nasty electrical shocks.

Potentially hazardous

That's because crater walls effectively block plasma streaming from the sun, leaving little electrically charged matter to cancel out static buildup from a rover on the move, an astronaut walking, or any other activity that generates friction. "The last thing you want to do is drive a rover wheel and have it charging up and then have an astronaut walking by and have it discharge," Discovery News quoted Bill Farrell, a plasma physicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Md., as saying.

A weird place

At the atomic, molecular and even the micron level, the moon is actually pretty active. There are all kinds of weird processes that go on. It's subtle, but it's there. The study also provides an explanation for why columns of dust rise from the moon's surface – a phenomena reported by the Apollo astronauts and other lunar missions.

‘Dust columns’ detailed

Farrell said that electrostatic forces might be able to levitate dust and material from inside craters, creating a far easier method for obtaining samples for analysis than sending probes inside pits. "When you have strong negative surface potential, you could have lifted and lofted dust at the edges of these fields. The dust is being ejected," said Farrell.

Just a beginning

Other lunar scientists are working to mesh the computational analysis of lunar electric fields with detailed topographical maps being compiled from data collected by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA is planning to launch a lunar mission known as LADEE in 2012 to sample lunar dust and gases. "Now that we have some model of the moon's polar environment, we're kind of going off in a couple of different directions," said Farrell.