Some discoveries that happened in September

Do you know the difference between insulin and insulit? Insulin is a hormone that regulates sugar in our blood. On September 7, 1978, scientists used genetic engineering to produce insulin. Insulit is a sound absorbing material. In fact, it's the first sound absorbing material to be used in buildings. It was patented on September 14, 1915. Do you like watching movies? Celluloid photographic film, which is used to make movies, was patented on September 13, 1898.

The first trans-Atlantic telephone cable system began operating on August 25, 1956. The answering machine was invented on September 27,1950.

The first FORTRAN computer program ran on September 20, 1954.

Dirigibles are hardly used these days, but when they appeared, they were the first really well-powered and controlled means of flight. The dirigible was demonstrated as such on September 24, 1852.
Have you been following all that's going on with Mars exploration? The U.S. may even be seriously considering a manned mission to Mars! The Viking II spacecraft landed on Mars on September 3, 1976, and took the first pictures of this planet's surface that day.

Remember all that we learned about dams and hydroelectricity? The world's first hydroelectric power plant was opened on September 30, 1882.

Moving on to medical firsts: Joseph Lister performed the first antiseptic surgery on September 1, 1865; the first successful surgical separation of conjoined twins was completed on September 17, 1953; and the first hearing aid, the audiophone, was invented by Richard S. Rhodes, on September 23, 1879.

Our Opposable Thumb

Could You…
Tie Your Shoelace…
Pick up a Coin from a Flat Surface…
Open a Jar…
Write Your Name With a Pencil…
Turn the Key in the Keyhole.

If you dint have a Thumb? what will u do.


Tape your thumb to the side of your hand and see how handicapped you become!

The wonderful thing about our thumb is that it is opposable, that is, it can touch any other finger on the hand. This enable us to pick up things from the floor, grasp tool such as a hammer, and to use tools such as a needle. Our ability to make and use tools has made us masters of the planet.

Apes, Old World monkey and some other animals have opposable thumbs too but they have not been able to capitalize on this advantage because of their limited intelligence.

Good Night to India, Call from Narayana Venkitu

This week is a happiest week for me. Because all schools are leave for Quarterly Exam. What is the connection between your happy and quarterly exam? Because my aunty and his children and my sister (cousine sister) come to my house for exam leave. They got 10 days leave, and my sister who is working as a teacher also got leave, so this week is full of joy and happy. Yesterday night only they went to there home, today they will go to their school. After they went our home was very silent and I feel sad, for a week I don’t know how it went.

I was very sad after they went, at 9.15p.m. My phone rings, it rings like local call. My father took the phone and gives to me and said your friend Narayana Venkitu from California is on line. I am waiting for his call for some weeks it was a surprise for me to hear his voice. I dint expect his phone, I was interestingly seeing Crorepathi on Vijay. I am very surprised; I don’t know what to talk. He talk with me in Tamil I am very happy to hear his voice.

He told me about his family, about his California life. He studied his collage in Thambara, his house is in Perungalathure. He enquire my health and what treatment I am taking. I also ask him to tell any medicine come to MD, he told sure I will tell. And he ask about my family, he have some plan to visit chennai this December or next Year. I welcome him to my house when he comes to chennai. Like this our talk went on for 5 minutes, I know the ISD call form US to India is high so we end our talk. After my brother and sister went, I was in sad, after talk with Venkitu I am very happy. Thanks Narayana Venkitu Sir to call me in your Busy life. I think many things to talk with him, but I forget all. Venkitu is the 3rd Blog friend I talk. First I talk to Prabu (Adangappa) through yahoo chat and Prasanna from Coimbathore through Phone. I hope I will talk will all Blog friend one day. Just 2 days back also I got dream like talk with him, now my dream came true.

Gandhi Jayanti

Gandhi --, originally uploaded by Jeevan_.

I draw this Drawing, last year on Gandhi Jayanthi


A man of quick thinking and sensitivity, he was also known for his wit and instant repartee.

October 2, is Gandhi Jayanti. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat. He died on January 30, 1948 in New Delhi.

Here are some incidents from the life of Mahatma Gandhi that give you a glimpse of what he stood for.

Looking at the problems of Champaran District in Bihar, Gandhiji studied a report, he found that there was no mention of problems relating to women.
That's not possible, he said and sent his wife Kasturba, and Avantikabai Gokhale to investigate.

The two women found that when they knocked at the very first door the women did not let them in. Kasturba used the ruse that she was thirsty and wanted a glass of water. A hand thrust out a glass of water, and the door shut! On further investigation, she found that three women were sharing a sari in the house and were embarrassed to open the door. Such were the stories that Kasturba took back to her husband. Gandhiji was sensitive to the needs of the women — yes, almost a century before women's liberation was talked about.

Gandhiji's quick thinking and sensitivity to the needs of the poor are legendary. Once he was boarding a train when one of his shoes fell off. He glanced down to see if he could retrieve it. He couldn't and as the train started leaving, he quickly took his other shoe off and aimed it where he thought the first shoe had fallen. Looking at the questioning glances of his fellow travelers, he said calmly, The poor man who finds the shoe lying on the track will have a pair.

Gandhi was also noted for his wit, which came to the fore in this repartee. Gandhi went to London in 1931 to attend the Round Table Conference. He did not feel the need to change from his customary dhoti. An important politician, who became Prime Minister of England in 1940, spoke disparagingly of Gandhi and called him a half naked fakir. When Gandhi was invited to meet the king, journalists hounded him, and asked, "don't you feel embarrassed to meet the king, dressed like this?" To this Gandhi replied, unperturbed, Why should I feel ashamed, the king has enough for both of us!

October 1, World Elders Day

Power of Old, originally uploaded by Jeevan_.

Every Day they are celebrating a Day. Today is World Elders Day.

In all countries, and in developing countries in particular, measures to help older people remain healthy and active are a necessity, not a luxury. A demographic revolution is underway throughout the world. Today, world-wide, there are around 600 million persons aged 60 years and over; this total will double by 2025 and will reach virtually two billion by 2050 - the vast majority of them in the developing world.

In our fast ageing world, older people will increasingly play a critical role - through volunteer work, transmitting experience and knowledge, helping their families with caring responsibilities and increasing their participation in the paid labour force. Already now, older persons make major contributions to society. For instance, throughout Africa –and elsewhere - millions of adult AIDS patients are cared for at home by their parents. On their death, orphaned children left behind (currently, 14 million under the age of 15 in African countries alone) are mainly looked after by their grandparents.

It is not only in developing countries that older persons' role in development is critical. In Spain for example, caring for dependent and sick individuals (of all ages) is mostly done by older people (particularly older women); the average number of minutes per day spent in providing such care increases exponentially with the carers age: 201 minutes if the carer is in the age group 65-74 and 318 minutes if aged 75-84 - compared to only 50 minutes if the carer is in the age group 30-49 (Duran H, Fundacion BBVA, 2002).

Such contributions to development can only be ensured if older persons enjoy adequate levels of health, for which appropriate policies need to be in place. In line with the Madrid International Plan of Action, the World Health Organization launched in 2002 a document "Active Ageing - A Policy Framework", outlining its approaches and perspectives for healthy ageing throughout the life course.

· In 2000, there were 600 million people aged 60 and over; there will be 1.2 billion by 2025 and 2 billion by 2050.
· Today, about two thirds of all older people are living in the developing world; by 2025, it will be 75%.
· In the developed world, the very old (age 80+) is the fastest growing population group.
· Women outlive men in virtually all societies; consequently in very old age, the ratio of women/men is 2:1.

I plan to create a Blog for Days. Because every day, there was a day to celebrate.