dasa

Dear Pita das, Gauidasa himself did not post this here. I just saw it elswhere, and copied it here, as it was so nice. I know you have posted some of your rememberances here, and I very much enjoy reading them. I hope you will continue them. dasa

BBC News:Tuesday, 14 May, 2002, 11:13 GMT 12:13 UK India defence looks to ancient text By Shaikh Azizur Rahman in Bombay Indian scientists are turning to an ancient Hindu text in their search for the secrets of effective stealth warfare. (We) do not for a moment think that the idea is crazy says Professor SV Bhavasar. They believe the book, the Arthashastra, written more than 2,300 years ago, will give Indian troops the edge on their enemies. India's Defence Minister George Fernandes has approved funding for the project, and told parliament recently that experiments had begun. The research is being carried out by experts from the Defence Research and Development Organisation and scientists from the University of Pune and National Institute of Virology in western India. The book includes the recipe for a single meal that will keep a soldier fighting for a month, methods of inducing madness in the enemy as well as advice on chemical and biological warfare. Powders and remedies The book was written by military strategist Kautilya, also known as Chanakya and Vishnugupta, a prime minister in the court of India's first emperor Chandragupta Maurya, in the fourth century BC. The author was an adviser to India's first emperor "All of us are excited about the possibilities and do not for a moment think that the idea is crazy," said Professor SV Bhavasar, a space scientist who has spent many years researching the Arthashastra. "Decoding ancient texts is not an easy task but we are very hopeful of success," he added. According to a Pune University report, the book says that soldiers fed with a single meal of special herbs, milk and clarified butter can stay without food for an entire month. Shoes made of camel skin smeared with a serum made from the flesh of owls and vultures can help soldiers walk hundreds of miles during a war without feeling tired. A powder made from fireflies and the eyes of wild boar can endow soldiers with night vision. Chemical warfare Kautilya wrote in the Arthashastra that a ruler could use any means to attain his goal, and Book XIV touches on aspects of chemical and biological warfare. Scientists say the text can help in modern warfare The book says that smoke from burning a powder made from the skin and excreta of certain reptiles, animals and birds can cause madness and blindness in the enemy. The book also provides the formula to create a lethal smoke by burning certain species of snakes, insects and plant seeds in makeshift laboratories. "Our focus at present is on how humans can control hunger for longer durations and walk for longer period without experiencing fatigue, Project leader Dr VS Ghole, head of the environmental engineering department of Pune university, said the team was now focusing on the methods of controlling hunger and increasing stamina. "Once we have made some headway we will go into researching Kautilya's notes on night vision and other fields," he said. Professor SV Bhavasar said the team also had plans to research other ancient Hindu texts. These include manuscripts which "claim to provide secrets of manufacturing planes which can not be destroyed by any external force, could be motionless in the sky and even invisible to enemy planes."

Joke study to get under way A Scottish scientist is trying to find out what makes a joke a joke. He will be examining gags for factors like surprise, ambiguity, repetition and exaggeration. He won't try to find out which ones are funny and says he is looking at the problem from the point of view of a language expert. Dr Graeme Ritchie, of Edinburgh University, says his research will be very academic and unlikely to be read by anyone but linguists. However he will be looking at joke books and text books in a bid to dismantle some of the funniest lines to find out what makes them work. He told the Daily Record: "Humour is a complex and largely unexplained behaviour. It has great importance in culture and society but we do not know why it developed. "The explanation is not obvious, as it might be in the case of a key human drive like the need to feed." Last year a study named Britain's funniest joke after a nationwide survey of people's differing sense of humour. The winner was: Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson go camping, and pitch their tent under the stars. During the night, Holmes wakes his companion and says: "Watson, look up at the stars, and tell me what you deduce." Watson says: "I see millions of stars, and even if a few of those have planets, it's quite likely there are some planets like Earth, and if there are a few planets like Earth out there, there might also be life." Holmes replies: "Watson, you idiot. Somebody stole our tent." Story filed: 08:26 Friday 17th May 2002

Ancient Aircraft MUFON psychologist, Dr. Ruth Hover, and her husband took a trip to the pyramids and temples of Egypt. In the temple at Abydios, she photographed a wall panel in a section where an overlaying panel with Egyptian heiroglyphics had crumbled and fell, revealing an older panel beneath it. This older panel, shown below, contains what appear to be embossed images of ancient aircraft. http://www.veling.nl/anne/templars/ancientaircraft_nf.html [This message has been edited by dasa (edited 05-17-2002).]

Honda Ploughs Cash Into Home Hydrogen Plants: Honda is investing more cash into hydrogen powered cars. It is helping to develop home-based generators which produce the fuel so drivers don't have to fill up at stations. Company bosses believe the move will encourage would-be buyers who worry about the limited number of places to refuel. Honda is teaming up with New York firm Plug Power to carry out research into home-based hydrogen refuelling stations. The home hydrogen stations could use natural gas to provide heat, hot water and electricity to the home, while also producing hydrogen for a fuel-cell vehicle. The only exhaust emissions from hydrogen-powered cars is water vapour. Mark Sperry, Plug Power vice president, said: "We think this concept has the ability to accelerate public acceptance significantly by putting hydrogen at the point of need instead of building an elaborate infrastructure." Story filed: 12:02 Wednesday 15th May 2002

Source: University Of Minnesota (http://www.umn.edu/) Posted 5/15/2002 Adult Bone Marrow Stem Cells Can Become Liver Cells, Minnesota Researchers Report MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL -- Researchers at the University of Minnesota Stem Cell Institute (SCI) have demonstrated, for the first time, the ability of adult bone marrow stem cells to differentiate in vitro as hepatocytes (liver cells) with hepatocyte phenotype and function. The findings will be published in the May 15, 2002 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The paper can be found at http://www.jci.org. "What we have seen is that adult stem cells cultured from the bone marrow of humans, mice and rats can be induced to differentiate into cells that look, stain and function like liver cells," said Catherine Verfaillie, M.D., director of the University of Minnesota Stem Cell Institute and author of the research. "Our lab shows, for the first time, clear indication that these stem cells function like liver cells in that they secreted three key elements: albumin, the most abundant protein made by the liver; urea, produced only by liver and kidney epithelium; and cytochrome P450, the major detoxifying enzyme in the liver." According to Verfaillie, the benefits of the research could be broad. "These adult stem cells are indeed a good source of cells for patients with genetic diseases of the liver, such as alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency, which affects 100,000 in the United States," she said. "It may also be helpful for some types of cirrhosis or acute liver failure due to medications. In addition, the cells might be used to create bio-artificial livers and replace the use of pig liver cells, which are a commonly used source of cells now. Much as dialysis machines can be a bridge for patients waiting for kidneys, a bio-artificial liver can help bridge a person from acute liver failure to transplant. "The immediate benefit might well be to help pharmaceutical researchers and manufacturers screen for toxicity and efficiency of drugs prior to phase I clinical trials." Verfaillie and her colleagues announced late last year that these cells, called multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs), demonstrate the potential to differentiate beyond mesenchymal cells, into cells of visceral mesodermal origin, such as endothelium, as well as into cells with neuroectodermal phenotype and function. dasa The objective of the Stem Cell Institute is to further our understanding of the potential of stem cells to improve human and animal health. The SCI is a part of the University of Minnesota's Academic Health Center and is an interdisciplinary center with member faculty representing a diverse group of university schools, colleges and centers. For online information about the Stem Cell Institute, go to http://www1.umn.edu/stemcell. Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University Of Minnesota for journalists and other members of the public. If you wish to quote from any part of this story, please credit University Of Minnesota as the original source.

If they could just cross breed the "bomb sniffing bees" with "killer bees" ..... after they find the explosives, they can attack the person that was trying smuggle em onboard!

(I read this on another site, it was so nice, I and wanted to post it here, dasa) Leaving Vrindavan & Srila Prabhupada's Personal Service BY GAURIDASA PANDITA DASA EDITORIAL, May 13 (VNN) — (July15th 1977) Serving Srila Prabhupada personally in Bombay, Hrishikesh and Vrindavan were the best days of my life. I had entered India on a three month tourist visa. I had applied for an extension but since I was already granted one and that was the limit, so I was denied the extension. I considered just staying past my expiration date so I could remain with His Divine Grace because he said that he would be leaving the planet soon. Then I decided it would be better to go back to America and get another visa and return since Srila Prabhupada said I could. He always wanted us to follow the laws and be good upstanding exemplery citizens. I had packed all of my belongings and loaded onto a horse drawn cart for my trip to the Mathura train station. I went to offer my obeisance's to Tamal Krishna Maharaja in his office before leaving. He told me I couldn't leave without telling Srila Prabhupada. I replied that Srila Prabhupada knows everything anyway and I didn't want to bother him. Tamal K.G. said to wait and he entered Srila Prabhupada's room. A moment later he stuck his head out of the door and told me to come in. Now I was getting really nervous. This would turn out to be the last time I would see Srila Prabhupada before his divine departure for Goloka Vrindavan. Upon entering Srila Prabhupada's room I offered my full dandavat obeisances. Tamal K.G. said, "Here's Gauridasa Pandita, Srila Prabhupada; he has to go back to America now because his visa is expiring and the government wouldn't give him an extension.; Srila Prabhupada said, "Just see. I just train him up and the rascal government takes him away!" He was sitting behind his desk and looked at me with compassionate eyes, like my real well-wishing father, and he melted my stone-like heart. Then he said, "Thank you very much for all of your service, you've been very sincere. You are welcome to be my personal servant anytime. So you go worship Radha Damodara and be happy." I was ecstatic at the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. Not only did he acknowledge me; but he said I could return to be his personal servant anytime. I had new hope even though I was hopeless. I said, "Thank you, Srila Prabhupada" and offered my dandavats again as I slowly backed out of his room not wanting to take my eyes off of Srila Prabhupada for a second. I paused at the door one last time and Srila Prabhupada nodded his head encouraging me on. Then he looked back to his desk and continued to translate. Tamal Krsna Maharaja writes a slightly different version of this event in his 'TKG's Diary' wherein he says, Today, Gauri dasa Pandita left with Srila Prabhupada's approval. His visa had expired, and he was going to serve Radha and Damodara in New Varsana. Srila Prabhupada was very grateful for the many months of service he personally rendered: 'I am very pleased with you. You have served so nicely. Very sincerely. See this Indian government. I have taken so much time to train you and now you have to leave. Be happy.' Gauri dasa, who was simply the servant of the servants of Prabhupada, was thus blessed. It's funny that the only time TKG mentions me in his diary was the day I left on July 15, 1977. I thought he would of at least wrote about the time I got electrocuted! Anyway, I must thank him for allowing me to serve Srila Prabhupada and taking me before him to receive His blessing before I had to leave India. TKG also gave me a donation which was unexpected and appreciated. I boarded the horse cart sitting facing the rear and began the journey from Sri Vrindavan Dhama back to America. The trip seemed to last forever as I lamenting having to leave Srila Prabhupada's personal service. I had become more and more attached to him every day and I became overwhelmed with the thoughts of his mercy and compassion on me and couldn't help crying most of the way to the Mathura Station. I arrived at the Gita Nagari farm where Sri Sri Radha Damodara were and became co-head pujari with a devotee named Sasthi Prabhu. We became a good team. When we got a letter from Upendra saying that we should fast to help Srila Prabhupada get better we fasted for three days straight, then took prasadam once, then fasted again for three days and ate once and continued in this way the whole time we were at Gita Nagari. When we got the news that Srila Prabhupada had decided to come to Gita-Nagari to establish the Varna-ashrama system, we were all ecstatic. The devotees were morose before, knowing that Srila Prabhupada was sick and maybe going to leave his body. Now we had renewed hope! The devotees were happy again and very enthusiastically preparing for Srila Prabhupada's arrival. We painted his house and made all of the necessary arrangements. Seeing all of the renewed enthusiasm I wrote a letter to Srila Prabhupada who was in London at the time. I said the devotees were like bees who were asleep before sunrise without the presense of Srila Prabhupada; but knowing that he was now coming they became happy and as busy as bees in the warm afternoon. I also sent my vyasa-puja offering. We got a letter back from Tamal K.G., which Paramananda Prabhu, the temple president, read to all of the devotees at the morning class, "I read your letter to Srila Prabhupada as I found it very poetic and an excellent description of Gita-Nagari. When I told Srila Prabhupada you had written the letter; he remembered you very fondly." I was ecstatic to hear this. I was glad to hear that Srila Prabhupada remembered me 'fondly'. Of the whole four months I served him, I only talked to him shortly a few times. This was because right in the beginning of my service in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada said that the proper etiquette for the servant was not talk to the spiritual master unless the spiritual master spoke first. He complained about some of the Indian life members who were a bit too talkative and familiar with him at times. So from then on I didn't say much, but listened as much as possible. Srila Prabhupada knows the hearts of all of his followers. Later we got the news that Srila Prabhupada had changed his plans and decided to return to Vrindavan and wouldn't be coming to Gita-Nagari. I wrote Tamal K.G. and got his permission to return to resume my service to Srila Prabhupada. I had to train a new pujari before leaving Gita-Nagari first though. He turned out to be Radha Damodara Dasa! It took two weeks. The day he took over completely I chanted my japa outside the curtains circumambulating Tulasi Devi and the Vyasasana. During that time we got a call from India to inform us that Srila Prabhupada had indeed made his divine departure for Krsna Loka. I sensed something special was going on during my japa, as it was. Srila Prabhupada went back to Godhead! Actually I didn't want to see that particular pastime of his leaving us. I thank Krsna for saving me from that. I know that Srila Prabhupada is still present in his instructions and if I follow those instructions I will meet him again very soon, personally. I will be ready to fan him with the chamara and do the needful as far as possible. And with Krsna everything is possible! He reasons ill, Who says that Vaisnavas die When thou art living still in sound The Vaisnava dies to live! And living tries To spread the Holy Name around. An ongoing work your servant, Gauridasa Pandita Dasa

Pentagon trains bees to 'sniff out' bombs Bomb-sniffing honey bees are being trained in the US as a new tool to fight terror attacks. Pentagon scientists have succeeded in making hives ignore flowers and instead swarm around traces of explosives. Bees have extreme sensitivity to molecular trails and are able to scour every minute part of an area as they search for food. "It appears bees are at least as sensitive or more sensitive to odours than dogs," Dr Alan Rudolph, who is overseeing the operation, told the New York Times. One plan being considered is to place a hive of trained bees near important security checkpoints and use them to guard against possible bomb attack by terrorists. The swarming detection system could also be used to find truck bombs and land mines. Scientists used sugar-water rewards to condition bee colonies to hunt for DNT, a residue of TNT, in 99% of cases. After one bee is trained to follow a different scent, it transfers the knowledge to others and within hours the entire hive, and often other nearby hives, have switched to the new smell. A special radio transmitter the size of a grain of salt, due to be tested in the next few weeks, could allow individual bees to be tracked as they follow parts of bomb ingredients to their source. Bees could also be used for sniffing out illegal drugs, which are easier to trace than explosives, the scientists said. Pentagon officials told the paper that the idea of bomb-sniffing factors has a "giggle factor" that makes it hard to sell. Bees also have limitations, and do not work at night, in storms or in cold weather. Story filed: 16:35 Monday 13th May 2002

Website picks your personality by colour A website claims to be able to analyse your character through your favourite colours. It asks the user to click on a selection of eight colours in order of preference and then gives a short diagnosis. The site's designer says the psychological profile should be seen as a first step in understanding yourself. Behavioural psychologist Dr Paul Goldin based www.colorgenics.com on research with migraine patients. He said: "The idea is for you to see yourself as you really are, because once you know how you are and how other people see you, you can then get into the driver's seat." Story filed: 16:59 Monday 13th May 2002

Website picks your personality by colour A website claims to be able to analyse your character through your favourite colours. It asks the user to click on a selection of eight colours in order of preference and then gives a short diagnosis. The site's designer says the psychological profile should be seen as a first step in understanding yourself. Behavioural psychologist Dr Paul Goldin based www.colorgenics.com on research with migraine patients. He said: "The idea is for you to see yourself as you really are, because once you know how you are and how other people see you, you can then get into the driver's seat." Story filed: 16:59 Monday 13th May 2002

A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many different languages. The child knows someone must have written those books . It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see a universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws, but only dimly understand these laws. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that moves the constellations. Albert Einstein

'Strangelets from outer space attacking Earth' Scientists believe Earth is under attack from tiny cosmic missiles weighing tons and travelling at 900,000 mph. They are only the size of a pollen grain but so dense they can rip through the planet and exit on the other side in seconds. Scientists have concluded that two mysterious explosions in 1993 were caused by the missiles, known as 'strange-quark nuggets' or strangelets. Their theoretical existence was posited 20 years ago but no scientists have been able to confirm their existence until now. A team of researchers from the Southern Methodist University in Texas studied earthquake data for evidence of strangelets hitting Earth. Strangelets were formed in the Big Bang. They are predicted to have many unusual properties, including a density about 10 trillion (10 million million) times greater than lead. Just a single pollen-sized fragment is believed to weigh several tons. The team analysed more than a million earthquake records for signs of strangelets hitting Earth, reports The Sunday Telegraph. They looked for events producing two sharp signals - one as they entered Earth and the other as it left. They found two such events, both in 1993. The first in October when seismometers recorded a violent event in Antarctica that packed a punch of several thousand tons of TNT. The disturbance then ripped through Earth exiting through the floor of the Indian Ocean 26 seconds later - implying a speed of 900,000mph. The second event in November started in the Pacific Ocean travelling through Earth to appear in Antarctica 19 seconds later. The small size of strangelets means the blast is only big enough to have a very localised effect and humans are unlikely to be harmed. Story filed: 11:20 Sunday 12th May 2002

There was once a magician on a cruise ship who performed mainly sleight of hand tricks. He had a regular spot on the ship's cabaret evening entertainment. He was actually quite a good magician, but his routines were regularly ruined by the onboard parrot who would fly around squawking out and giving away his secrets like: "IT'S UP HIS SLEEVE, IT'S UP HIS SLEEVE!"or "IT'S IN HIS POCKET, IT'S IN HIS POCKET!"or "IT'S IN HIS MOUTH, IT'S IN HIS MOUTH!" The magician was getting pretty sick of this and threatened to kill the parrot if it ruined his act one more time. That evening right at the end of his act, just as he was about to disappear in a puff of smoke, the ship hit an iceberg and sank in seconds. Amazingly, the magician and the parrot were the only two survivors. The magician was lying on a piece of driftwood in a daze. As he opened his eyes he could see the parrot staring at him out of its beady little eye. The parrot sat there for hours just staring at him and eventually said, "OK, I give up, what did you do with the ship?" [This message has been edited by dasa (edited 05-06-2002).]

"(A cell of) rice appears to contain about 50,000 genes, compared with about 35,000 for humans." — The Wall Street Journal, April 2002 HUMANS INSIST THEY ARE NOT DUMBER THAN RICE Many Believed to Be Correct San Diego, Calif. — Word that genetic researchers have discovered a cell of rice contains more genes than a human cell has caused widespread outrage as people across the globe attempt to prove that humans are easily as smart as a grain of rice. In Edmonton, Canada, 34-year-old Alan Snigget was one of many average humans who devised intelligence tests to discredit the implication that rice is more evolved. The postal worker began by taping a grain of rice to a brick wall — "but lightly, so it could move if it had to" — then hopping behind the wheel of his 1994 Dodge pickup truck. After honking several times to give fair warning, Snigget drove at high speed directly into the rice. According to eyewitnesses, however, the rice never moved. Said one Edmonton police officer who observed the scene: "Stupid rice." As in Snigget's case, humans have managed to prevail in almost every test. In Montgomery, Ala., state employee Rodney Lopat said he took "two out of three" in a geography quiz against the allegedly brainy grain. And in Aberdeen, Scotland, lorry driver Duncan McCann is confident he will win a chess match that began three days ago. Asked why the game was taking so long, McCann explained that the rice is using the white pieces. "I'm still waiting for it to make the first move," he said. RICE RIOTS While most man vs. grain confrontations have been peaceful, a few have devolved into violence. Most notably, rice riots erupted yesterday in Germany after an angry crowd of National Front youths spotted a man who, they decided, looked like a piece of rice. After chasing the man for two blocks, the throng grew bored, but managed to salvage an otherwise disappointing afternoon by ransacking a Japanese restaurant. The press, meanwhile, has generally denounced the findings. In a front-page editorial, the Straits Times of Singapore questioned whether researchers had taken cells from a representative cross-section of humans, or just actor Robert Blake. Expressing its anger, USA Today called the report "as useless as studies insisting there is a widespread dumbing down of America," and included a series of colorful graphs and charts to illustrate its point. If any one sentiment prevails, however, it is the belief in human superiority. To that end, CNN.com released the results of a poll asking "Are humans dumber than rice?" A full 51 percent of respondents voted no, while only 15 percent clicked yes. The remaining 34 percent accidentally clicked the wrong button, panicked, and deleted their browsers.

gHari, that site of yours is GREAT!!

"So far in ISKCON only realistic portraits of gods, saints, and demons constitute art. Children's art is acceptable only if children do it and sign their name and age in big letters. This marginalization doesn't depress me as long as I can work profusely and express my visionary peace, joy, and passion in being. Thank you for listening. Hare Krishna." It's not the type of art I'm use to looking at, but he seems sincere.

TMS: Twilight Zone Science? Want to find God? Magnetism might provide the answer. The technology at the core of professor Allan Snyder's experiments to boost creative intelligence, transcranial magnetic stimulation, is behind some pretty wacky claims. Subjects in experiments by Dr. Michael Persinger, of Laurentian University, believe they felt the presence of God, or some similar mystical experience. Subjects, who were exposed to a specific series of pulses from TMS, described feeling an invisible presence near them or feeling connected to the whole world. Persinger believes that naturally occurring magnetic interference could be at the heart of mystical experiences and a whole host of paranormal phenomena. It's pretty bemusing stuff, but the God theory was tested by one Wired magazine correspondent in 1999, and he concluded that he felt some kind of thing. Furthermore, Persinger is a highly respected scientist with dozens of articles published on magnetism and the brain. Since the 1990s, research has advanced swiftly, says Dr. Tony Ro, assistant professor in the department of psychology at Rice University. "TMS has been used in clinical neurology for quite some time to investigate motor dysfunction. More recently, within the past 10 years or so, it has been used to investigate basic brain function as well as cognitive function." Scientists have also used the device to perform research that messes with the mind. All perception and thought is based on electrical activity in the brain; mess with the current and you mess with perceptions and how thought is processed. A magnetically stimulated reality or a natural reality: It makes no difference to the brain. Persinger is trying to identify and catalog those fundamental algorithms, a series of specific magnetic pulses that correspond to a given reaction in the brain. One induces the mystical feelings mentioned earlier, another induces a general feeling of well-being. Persinger believes others could be discovered, such as one to trigger the immune system. Not surprisingly, the technology is viewed as potentially dangerous. Dr. Robyn Young, of Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, who used TMS in a bid to boost the creative function of 17 volunteers' brains, was subject to stringent controls. "We had to go through three ethical committees, and there were rigorous limits on what we could and could not do," Young said. But five of the volunteers showed a marked increase in creative skills during Young's experiment. "We had to hold the experiment in a hospital; the subjects had to be young, with no case history of epilepsy, very healthy subjects," she said. "And we had to use TMS well within the limits. If we had been allowed to zap them harder, we might have had even more remarkable results." TMS is considered an inexact technology, but researchers have just begun to explore its potential in neuroscience.

China's net usage leaps to second in world By Will Knight China now ranks second in the world for home internet use and could leapfrog the US as the biggest online nation in the next few years. Interviews with Chinese householders conducted by US-based internet analysis firm Nielsen//NetRatings suggests that 56.6 million Chinese people now use the internet at home. This promotes China to second place in the world rankings, ahead of Japan, which has 51.3 million users, Germany (32.2 million) and the UK (29.0 million). The US still leads the pack by some way with 166 million users. But the survey also concludes that Chinese surfers could outnumber those in the US by two to one within the next three to four years. The Chinese Ministry of Information internet reports that subscriptions are increasing at a rate of five to six per cent each month. If this rate is sustained, home internet use could reach 257 million by 2005. But much will depend on an increase in the number of homes that have fixed telephone connections. Currently, just 36 percent of homes in China have a permanent phone line.

Alive...after 250 million years Ancient bacteria trapped in a state of suspended animation for 250 million years are the world's oldest living things, claim US scientists. The bacteria were found in salt crystals buried almost 2,000 feet below ground at a cavern in south-east New Mexico, US. We're 250-million-years and counting as far as the survival of an organism goes in a crystal. Dr Russell Vreeland Bacteria are known to adapt to harsh conditions by forming resistant structures called spores. They can exist in a state of suspended animation for long periods. Dr Russell Vreeland, from West Chester University, Pennsylvania, and colleagues, made the latest discovery. "There are a lot of people who believe that organisms can survive long-term, particularly the spores themselves," Dr Vreeland told BBC News Online. "We have provided the strongest evidence that in fact these things could survive for extremely long periods of time. The crystals were in a drill sample taken from an air intake shaft at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the world's first underground dump for radioactive waste left over from making nuclear weapons. When they were extracted from the crystals in a laboratory and placed in a nutrient solution, the micro-organisms revived and began to grow. The bacterium, known as Bacillus strain 2-9-3, resembles modern-day Bacillus organisms found in the Dead Sea. In this study, reported in the journal Nature, the authors took steps to minimise the risk of contamination from ubiquitous modern-day bacteria by sterilising the surface of the crystal. They said the chance that the Bacillus strain 2-9-3 came from some external source was about one in a billion. But independent experts said the team's findings would have to be replicated by other researchers before it could be fully accepted. [This message has been edited by dasa (edited 05-03-2002).]

Old Indian remedy may be a cholesterol beater A tree gum used in traditional Indian medicine for nearly 3,000 years could be used to develop powerful new cholesterol-busting drugs. According to scientists resin from the guggul tree has been used as a Hindu Ayurvedic remedy for centuries to treat a wide range of ailments including obesity and blood fat disorders. An extract from the resin, called guggulipid, has been used to treat high levels of harmful cholesterol and triglycerides in India since 1987 and is available in health food stores in the West. Scientists in the US have now unlocked the secret of its success, possibly paving the way to a new generation of powerful cholesterol-lowering medicines. A team led by Dr David Moore and PhD student Nancy Urizar at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, discovered how guggul extract affects a cholesterol-regulating system in the body. The extract targets a molecule called FXR which helps control the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids. When the bile level reaches a certain point, FXR kicks in to stop more cholesterol being converted. Cholesterol is then allowed to build up in the blood. The scientists found that a steroid in the tree resin called guggulsterone blocks FXR activity so that cholesterol continues to be broken down into bile. Guggulipid is available in US health food stores. As well as lowering cholesterol it is also said to increase metabolism, resulting in weight loss. Story filed: 19:00 Thursday 2nd May 2002

Hare Krishna Janardana das, I think the name of the dwarf is Apasmara, and he symbolizes egotism, ignorance and arrogance. Lord Shiva dances on his head to control and regulate him.

Jagadish, That is a very wonderful website you have started. I have never see BV Puri Maharaj, except thru the ITV video of him in the remembering Prabhupada series. It is one of my favorites. You are very fortunate to know and serve him.

'Best ever images of distant universe' released Astronomers say a camera on the Hubble Space Telescope has taken some of the best ever images of the distant universe. A single shot from the Advanced Camera for Surveys shows 6,000 discernible galaxies or fragments of galaxies. The image of the so-called Tadpole shows two colliding galaxies 420 million light years away. The collision between a smaller galaxy and a larger star swarm left a trail of stars and gas stretching for 280,000 light years. The background of the photo shows the galaxies in various stages of evolution over the past 13 billion years. Holland Ford, an astronomer at Johns Hopkins University, said: "The ACS is opening a wide new window on to the universe." The lead scientist for the new camera added: "These are among the best images of the distant universe humans have ever seen." Story filed: 19:18 Tuesday 30th April 2002 Resembling a nightmarish beast rearing its head from a crimson sea, this monstrous object is actually an innocuous pillar of gas and dust. Called the Cone Nebula (NGC 2264) -- so named because, in ground-based images, it has a conical shape -- this giant pillar resides in a turbulent star-forming region. (AP Photo/NASA) - Apr 30 12:29 PM ET A watercolor fantasyland? No. It's actually an image of the center of the Omega Nebula, a hotbed of newly born stars wrapped in colorful blankets of glowing gas and cradled in an enormous cold, dark hydrogen cloud. This stunning picture was taken April 1 and 2, 2002 by the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The region of the nebula shown in this photograph is about 3,500 times wider than our solar system. The nebula, also called M17 and the Swan Nebula, resides 5,500 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. (AP Photo/NASA) - Apr 30 12:29 PM ET [This message has been edited by dasa (edited 05-01-2002).]