6 years of Coffee - Blog - Love - Hangout!

Another year went by! This is the first time ever that I am writing my blog while sitting in my laboratory. It turns out, the experiment is such that I am bored waiting for the computation to end. But, anyways, I am here to tell you about another amazing year for my blog. On February 5, Coffee - Blog - Love - Hangout turned 6! How cool is that? In this last year, there are many things I have reflected upon in my writings. Aah, I wished I had written more, but, you know, how this works. Right now I am in a more relaxed state of mind, so let me think of the wonderful moments in the last one year, that I have shared on my blog.

The year 2011 began with the rumors of a new iPhone Nano, which of course never became a reality. But what is amazing here is the anticipation of a "then Apple fanboy-me" who was crazy to hear about the successor to the iPhone 4. February-March 2011 saw me take my second visit to India to meet my family and friends. It was also the cricket world cup time. I had the opportunity to enjoy a few games in the comfort of my home while my mother made some delicious ("delicious" is an understatement here, mind it) food for me. I had a wonderful trip. I visited Calcutta (yes, I like the name the original way) with my parents and sister. That is where we celebrated my parents 26th marriage anniversary. I was disappointed that I could spend only a couple days with my sweet sister. We then returned to Bhopal, where my father lives now. I enjoyed a tour of the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (Indira Gandhi Museum of Mankind), Bhopal, where my father currently holds the position of the director. After a few days of enjoying the "maa-ke-haath-ka-khaana", I traveled to Bombay (yes, Bombay it is) to visit my friends and cousin. This was my first "proper" visit to Bombay. I just loved the atmosphere, the people, the places, the food, and of course, the Indian Naval Service's (INS) dock. We were lucky to get a tour of one of the newest ships INS procured; all thanks to my cousin- Lieutenant Commander Mainak Mishra. The trip also included a short trip of my hometown- Hyderabad. On the whole, it was a great trip with lots of travel, food and fun! I was also privileged to make a short special trip to meet Amrutha and visit her family. I just love Hyderabad! Who doesn't?

So, I was back to Rapid City in mid-march and I enjoyed watching the rest of the world cup matches and was thrilled to watch team India lift the world cup. Soon to follow was the NFL season. In  September, the New Orleans Saints opened the NFL regular season with a game against the defending champions from the 2010 season, the Packers. I bought an iPhone 4 for myself and was enjoying the hype surrounding the iPhone 4S/5. But, after Apple released the iPhone 4S and its iCloud services, I was not very impressed by the iPhone anymore. I wanted change, for the better. And the change came in the form of Windows Phone. I was sick of trying to jailbreak, and install custom themes, and all other s**t you need to do to make the iPhone work for you the way you want it to.On September 14, my father received the Presidential Award from the president of India Smt. Pratibha Patil, on Hindi Divas for his contribution to the Museum of Mankind. What a proud moment that was! We are proud of you , Dad!

On January 2, 2012, on Monday Night Football, Saints quarterback Drew Brees broke the NFL record for the highest passing yardage in a single season of 5087 previously held by Dan Marino. What a moment it was! Later, the Saints had the best NFL season in many years, to advance to the wildcard round and then the divisional playoffs but fell to the San Francisco 49ers. The New York Giants later went to defeat the New England Patriots to win the Vince Lombardi Superbowl XLVI trophy on February 5.

Well, it seems like that was a long summary of the last year. What's interesting is that if you have all such events documented in the blog, it then becomes easy to recollect those memories later. I have always enjoyed this journey with Coffee - Blog - Love - Hangout and I thank all my readers for the support throughout, and especially for reading this unusually long post. I should now get back to my experiment. It is already 108 minutes, and the eTomo software is still reconstructing the 3D electron tomograph image of my nanofiber sample. Cheers!

50 Followers. Thank You!

Ever since Google introduced the new "Join This Site" application, I have been waiting to watch my blog "followers" count to reach a significant figure. Now I am pleased to announce that I have 50 followers of my blog on Google. Yay! Although I do not know most of the people following me, I would like to thank each one of them and all my other readers for being an inspiration for me to keep writing. I hope I can continually keep working on writing quality posts for casual reading. Please keep visiting my blog for updates and please feel free to comment, as this greatly inspires all of us to write. If you haven't already joined, click on the "Join this site" icon on the right column to become one of the members following my blog. Thanks and cheers!

[Lifehacker] 10 Stubborn Body Myths That Just Won't Die

Following a friend's updates on my Google+ account, I stumbled upon a wonderful website- www.lifehacker.com. This website has stuff that you can read and gain a lot of informational enlightenment.(sounded whacky, right?).  But, anyways, here I present, in brief one very interesting post about body myths that I was almost convinced was real. Read on, after the break.

Myth 1: Body Hair Grows Back Thicker When You Shave It

Strong scientific evidence disproves these claims. As early as 1928, a clinical trial showed that shaving had no effect on hair growth. More recent studies confirm that shaving does not affect the thickness or rate of hair regrowth. In addition, shaving removes the dead portion of hair, not the living section lying below the skin's surface, so it is unlikely to affect the rate or type of growth. Shaved hair lacks the finer taper seen at the ends of unshaven hair, giving an impression of coarseness. Similarly, the new hair has not yet been lightened by the sun or other chemical exposures, resulting in an appearance that seems darker than existing hair. Basically, shaved hair feels coarse and that leads you to believe it's thicker. In reality you're just fooling yourself and your hair remains the same.

 

Myth 2: Calories Counting Is All That Matters for Weight Management and Health

We might like to believe that calories-in-equals-calories-out is a sufficient weight loss theory, but that means we have to accept our bodies are pretty simple. While consuming fewer calories can certainly have an impact, not all foods have the same impact once we stuff them down our throats. If you want to think about it in a very simple way, consider the difference between a candy bar and a cucumber (in equal caloric amounts). They taste different, they consist of different nutritional elements, and are not the same thing. It doesn't make sense that they'd be used by your body in the same way. The problem with the idea of calories being the only necessary metric is that we think of a calorie as a physical thing. Calories are just a means of measuring heat, and they weren't initially a term used in reference to food. A calorie, according to Wikipedia, "approximates the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius." Basically, calories are a measurement and not something your body uses for fuel. What your body does use is what it finds in the foods and liquids it digests. If you put crap in your body, you're not going to be better off just because of a low-calorie rating.

Myth 3: You Need Eight Hours of Sleep Per Day

We're told we need to sleep eight hours each night, and while that's true for some it isn't true for all. The Hindustan Times points to a European study that showed people who possessed a gene known as ABCC9 could sleep for significantly fewer hours than the average person. Finding the same gene in fruit flies, the scientists found that by manipulating it they could also manipulate the amount of time the fruit flies spent in a restful state. When we asked you how much sleep you require, the results varied quite a bit. For some, eight hours was necessary. For others, it was too much. Your experiences match this study.

 

Myth 4: Reading in Dim Light Ruins Your Eyes

Reading in dim light is supposed to be bad for you, which is somewhat evidenced by a surviving bedside lamp and book light industry. If not, you've certainly been told to turn on a light when reading in the near-dark. While reading without sufficient lighting can cause eye strain, according to children's health researcher Rachel C. Vreeman and assistant professor of pediatrics Aaron E. Carrol it won't cause any serious and permanent damage:

The majority consensus in ophthalmology, as outlined in a collection of educational material for patients, is that reading in dim light does not damage your eyes. Although it can cause eye strain with multiple temporary negative effects, it is unlikely to cause a permanent change on the function or structure of the eyes. Even in patients with Sjögren's syndrome (an autoimmune disease that features inflammation in certain glands of the body), decreased functional visual acuity associated with strained reading improves when they stop reading. One review article on myopia concludes that increased use of one's eyes, such as reading in dim light or holding books too close to the face, could result in impaired ocular growth and refractive error. The primary evidence cited was epidemiological evidence of the increased prevalence of myopia and the high incidence of myopia in people with more academic experience. The author notes that this hypothesis is just beginning to "gain scientific credence." In the past reading conditions involved even less light, relying on candles or lanterns, so increased rates of myopia over the past several centuries does not necessarily support that dim reading conditions are to blame. In contrast to that review, hundreds of online expert opinions conclude that reading in low light does not hurt your eyes. 

 

Myth 5: Urinating on a Jellyfish Sting will Sooth the Pain

The popular TV show Friends once had an episode where Monica was stung by a jellyfish and Joey remembered that urinating on the sting would soothe the pain. This was a situation for comedy—as the show was a sitcom, after all—but it still helped to propagate the myth that peeing on your friends is a good idea during the right situation. It's not. Mark Leyner and Dr. Billy Goldberg, authors of Why Do Men Have Nipples?, explain:

The following guideline can be applied to most jellyfish stings: The patient should remove any visible tentacles, using gloves if possible. The area of the sting should be rinsed with household vinegar. The acetic acid of the vinegar can block discharge of the remaining nematocysts (stinging cells) on the skin and should be applied liberally. If vinegar is not available, salt water can be used to wash off the nematocysts. In laboratory tests, urine, ammonia, and alcohol can cause active stinging cells to fire, which means applying them has the potential to make a minor sting worse, so urinating on a jellyfish sting is both gross and painful.

 

Myth 6: Your Slow Metabolism Makes You Fat

When you have a fast metabolism, your body is burning more calories. That means that fit and healthy people have faster metabolisms, right? Not necessarily. ABC News interviewed Dr. Jim Levine, an obesity researcher at the Mayo Clinic, who studied the human metabolism in both thin and heavy people. What he found was the opposite of the myth we believe. Referring to lean patient Kathy Strickland and heavier patient Dawn Campion, he said: 

Dawn's numbers are actually higher because we find continuously is that people with weight problems who have obesity have a higher basal metabolism compared to people who are lean. Your basal metabolism is the calories you burn to keep your body going, so if your body is bigger of course your basal metabolism is greater. If your body is smaller your basal metabolism is less.

 

Myth 7: You'll Catch a Cold from Cold (and Wet) Weather Conditions

 Did your mother ever tell you to put on a jacket or you'll catch a cold? Did you ever feel like you were coming down with something nasty after taking a dip in cold water only to be exposed to freezing air? While your comfort levels may have been reduced, you can't actually catch a cold from feeling cold. It's a virus—rhinovirus, to be exact—and you need to catch it through transmission. Mark Leyner and Dr. Billy Goldberg, authors of the book Why Do Men Have Nipples?, explain:

Cold or wet weather does not cause a cold, but nobody seems to want to accept this. The is common cold is caused by a virus. These viruses are everywhere and it is difficult to avoid them. When you are exposed to someone who has a cold, you are more likely to get ill yourself, so be careful about close contact and definitely wash your hands. Not getting enough sleep or eating poorly can also reduce your resistance to infection. Remember that antibiotics won't fight your everyday cold. Antibiotics work only against bacteria. To take care of a cold, rest, eat well, and a little chicken soup couldn't hurt.

 

Myth 8: More Heat Escapes Through Your Head

This myth probably originated with an old military study in which scientists put subjects in arctic survival suits (but no hats) and measured their heat loss in extremely cold temperatures. Because it was the only part of the subjects' bodies that was exposed to the cold, they lost the most heat through their heads. Experts say, however, that had this experiment been performed with subjects wearing only swimsuits, they would not have lost more than 10% of their body heat through their heads. A more recent study confirms that there is nothing special about the head and heat loss. Any uncovered part of the body loses heat and will reduce the core body temperature proportionally. So, if it is cold outside, you should protect your body. But whether you want to keep your head covered or not is up to you.

 

 

Myth 9: You Can Cure a Snake Bite by Sucking Out the Poison

Although it would be pretty bad ass if it were true, sucking on a snake bite to remove the poison is not only gross but a bad idea. According to Mark Leyner and Dr. Billy Goldberg, authors of Why Do Men Have Nipples?, doing so can even lead to an infection at the wound site. Instead, do what the American Red Cross suggests:

1. Wash the bite with soap and water.
2. Immobilize the bitten area and keep it lower than the heart.
3. Get medical help.

In some cases it may also be recommended to loosely apply a tourniquet to slow the spread of the venom. So do those things. Don't try to suck it out.

Myth 10: It's Dangerous to Wake a Sleepwalker

It's actually dangerous to not wake a sleepwalker, but many have believed this myth for ages because, perhaps, a few of them have gotten smacked when they woke up their startled somnambulatory friends. Sleepwalkers are certainly prone to feeling that surprise when they don't wake up in their beds but, rather, at the outer limits of their camping grounds. (Oh wait, that was me when I was 10.) Because this is so disorienting, many woken sleepwalkers won't know who you are and become frightened. That said, letting them just walk wherever they want is far less safe than a little fear. The New York Times interviewed Dr. Ana C. Krieger, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at New York University, who suggested that the best thing to do is guide a sleepwalker back to bed. Wake them if you have to, but better to just help them get to where they should be in the first place.

[Video] Herald Haas: Wireless Data From Every Light Bulb

What if every light bulb in the world could also transmit data? At TEDGlobal, Harald Haas demonstrates, for the first time, a device that could do exactly that. By flickering the light from a single LED, a change too quick for the human eye to detect, he can transmit far more data than a cellular tower -- and do it in a way that's more efficient, secure and widespread.

Harald Haas is the pioneer behind a new type of light bulb that can communicate as well as illuminate – access the Internet using light instead of radio waves.

Indexing Electron Diffraction Patterns

In this post, I want to include something I have been working on since a long time- electron diffraction. Electron diffraction patters are those which are generated by scattering of electrons by certain lattice planes in a crystal, causing a pattern of spots or rings to form. This pattern represents the reciprocal lattice vector (k) in reciprocal space. Anyways, the point here is that if the electron diffraction pattern is a ring-like pattern, then the diameter of each ring is equal to 2/d where, d is the inter-atomic spacing in a crystal lattice, which is characteristic of the material. Below are two transmission electron microscope (TEM) images of TiO2 (titania) nanofibers which have been differently heat-treated. In the inset are the electron diffraction patterns which have been indexed up to the first 5 rings. Those rings correspond to the two structurally distinct phases of titania- anatase (represented by A) and rutile (R). The diameters of the rings obtained and the corresponding indexing order is listed below:

Sample: aHT07a

2/d (1/nm)   d (nm)        Plane                  
5.84            0.34           A(101)
8.80            0.23           R (200)
11.011        0.18           A (200)
12.29          0.16           R (220) /A (211)
14.13          0.14           R (221)            
-------------------------------------------

[TEM image of TiO2/Ag nanofiber aHT07a; inset: electron diffraction from the same sample.]

 

[TEM image of TiO2/Ag nanofiber aHT07b; inset: electron diffraction from the same sample.] 

Similarly, for electron diffraction patterns which are more of a spot-like appearance, the distance between the two corresponding spots from the same k vector will be 2/d. This information about the d-spacings can also be obtained from high-resolution TEM (HR-TEM) imaging. As an example, the d-spacing in the TEM image below corresponds to the distance between two parallel lattice fringes. The parallel lines that you see in the image below are distinct planes of atoms of Ag (silver) arranged in a specific manner to form a single crystal. The Ag nanoparticle in the image below seems to be comprised of about 3 such crystals, called twins. 

The types of characterization techniques possible with electron microscopy are many. All these different techniques give us material scientists information about physical structure, chemical composition, crystallinity, phases, distribution, and even 3D reconstruction of nanoscale models.

[This article is also published in the blog, Nano Pulse, here: link.]

On Drew Brees' Record

On Monday Night Football (MNF) on ESPN, New Orleans Saints quarterback, Drew Brees (#9) created history by breaking the 27-year old record of the highest passing yardage in a single NFL season of 5084 held by Dan Marino (he was the Miami Dolphins QB when he held the record , back in 1984). But more than just the record, what was remarkable was the stage and the timing of the breaking of the record. Drew Brees broke the record in the final 3 minutes of the 4th quarter with a 9-yard touchdown pass to running-back Darren Sproles, which sealed a victory for the Saints, winning the NFC South division, on prime-time MNF, at their home ground in the Superdome, beating their rivials in week 16 (the Atlanta Falcons), with one more game to go.

Incidentally, 27 years ago, when Dan Marino set the record, it was on MNF also. Incidentally, the third place for the total passing yardage (5069 yards) is also in the name of Drew Brees during the 2008 regular NFL season.

Here's a snippet of the news article on the official NO Saints website (www.neworleanssaints.com):

Saints QB pushes season total to 5,087 - a new NFL record.

With a nine-yard touchdown pass from QB Drew Brees to RB Darren Sproles, the signal-caller increased his passing yardage total on the season to 5,087, breaking a 27-year old record, also capping the Saints NFC-South clinching win over the Falcons Sunday night in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

“It feels great to be division champs,” said Brees. “It feels great to do what we just did on Monday night with the world watching. This game couldn’t be more important than it was. Our hopes and aspirations of winning the division championships and getting the (No.) 2 seed – the next step was winning the division. It was a good night.”

As Saints head into the playoffs, and with the current winning momentum of the Saints, it is going to be a tough job for any team to beat the Saints. Go Saints!

Let me leave you with the video clip of the moment.

Happy New Year 2012

Hola! Here's me wishing you a very happy and prosperous new year 2012! As we leave 2011 and enter 2012, there are lot of things we can contemplate upon and wish we could have done better. Well, now is the chance; new year is just another reason to do it. So, speaking of contemplation, I have decided to share with you some of my new year resolutions. Have you made some of your own? I know it sounds silly, but I guess it doesn't hurt to try. Read my new year resolutions after the break.

So, I have given this a lot of thought. It is not something specific, but I've realized it's more of a holistic approach to my self. So here it goes:

1. Be a better son;
2. Be a better brother;
3. Be a better friend;
4. Be a better person.

I know, you must sitting there going, "what the hell!", but, yes, that summarizes it. It all boils down to number 4- "be a better person". We have all done a lot of things that can be rectified, even be it a small thing. So, for me, here is the time to look back upon the year 2011 and rectify the things that have caused damage to people, property or self. It doesn't hurt to try to be a better person, right? In my case, I have to do this, for my own good, and for all the people I love in my life- because the people who care for you are the people you must care for the most. I hope this is not getting too sentimental. A very happy new year to all ya-people-out-there and I wish everybody best of luck, health, wealth, prosperity, love, and peace. I'll leave you with this beautiful quote. See you on the other side. 

"The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective." - G. K. Chesterton