brain size and intelligence

August 20, 2006

"Johannesburg South Africa

8-18-06

Dolphins may have big brains but a South Africa based scientist said that even lab rats, gerbils, and goldfish can outwit them.

Paul Manger of Johannesburg University of Witwatersand said the super-sized brains are a function of being warm-blooded in cold water but not of intelligence."

(info from english dot aljazeera dot net)

sushen_das · August 20, 2006

Second All India Students’ Conference

on

Science and Spiritual Quest

(AISSQ-2006)

December 9 – 10, 2006

Puri, Orissa, India

Introduction

Bhaktivedanta Institute is organizing a two-day conference on December 9 – 10, 2006 entitled “Second All India Students’ Conference on Science and Spiritual Quest (AISSQ – 2006)”. The conference will be held in Town Hall, Jagannath Puri, Orissa, India. Many scientists, students and faculties from well known universities, institutes and industrial organizations like University of Illinois, USA, Colorado State University,IITs (IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, IIT Guwahati), IISc Bangalore, Delhi College of Engineering, IT-BHU, BITS Pilani and Tata Technologies Ltd are in the organizing committee of this conference. Although this is an All India Students’ conference, it is not limited to only students and scholars from India. Last year this conference is well attended by many scientists, students and faculties from various universities, institutes and industrial organizations around the world.

The center point of attraction of this conference is the scientific discussion on the most fundamental areas of modern science such as “Origin of Life”, “Science of Happiness”, “Big Bang and Cosmology”, “Is Life beyond DNA”, “Science and God”, “A Critical Examination of Darwin’s Evolutionary Theory in the context of Science and Spiritual Dialogue” and “India’s Contribution in the Search for Ultimate Reality”. Many renowned researchers will deliver the talks for understanding of the interesting developments in these areas in recent past. As this conference is meant to increase awareness about the recent scientific developments to understand the most fundamental questions in science, only the invited experts from around the world in the respective areas will deliver lectures.

Irrespective of age/background/nationality all are welcome to participate in this conference by registering to the conference on or before 5th November 2006. This conference has a nominal registration fee of Rs. 250. Post conference tour of Puri includes additional cost of Rs. 150, which is optional and interested participants can avail this opportunity. Interested participants are requested to send the duly filled registration form (see the registration form below) along with the registration fee to the organizers. The last date of registration is 5th November 2006. For any details you are welcome to contact the organizers through email address conference2006@binstitute.org.

Conference Theme and Background

The priceless wealth of knowledge provided by the self realized scholars of Vedanta in the form of revealed scriptures could provide many vital insights in expanding the scientific knowledge of life and origin of the universe. A synthetic approach between modern science and the vedantic knowledge could help the sincere seekers of truth to deeply investigate and bring breakthroughs in resolving the deeper reality. The 2nd All India Student’s Conference on Science and Spiritual Quest (AISSQ-2006)is a humble attempt by the Bhaktivedanta Institute, Kolkata to bring together the intellectual minds from various scientific and philosophical backgrounds to discuss the topics related to some of the most fundamental aspects of science such as life and the universe and their origin, and the nature of ultimate reality. This is a yearly conference organized by Bhaktivedanta Institute. First conference was held at Vrindavan, UP, India on December 6, 2005. This conference is well attended by many scientists and scholars from both India and abroad.

About the Conference Venue

The conference will be held in Town Hall, Jagannath Puri, Orissa, India. Jagannath Puri is one of the most popular tourist destinations of India. It is famous for the pristine Jagannath temple, the grand Jagannath Rath Yatra, delicious mahaprasadam and beautiful sea beach. People from all over India flock to Jagannath Puri during the Ratha Yatra and winter season. The weather during the month of December is very pleasant.

About the Organizers

The Bhaktivedanta Institute, an international organization based in Calcutta, India, with offices in Denver, CO, has promoted and contributed to the field of Science and Spirituality for the past twenty-five years under the leadership of H. H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami (Dr. T. D. Singh). It has organized major Science and Spirituality conferences, bringing together a broad spectrum of religious and scientific leaders, and has published many groundbreaking books in the field. Working with the UN and collaborating with the major world religions, it has also been a force for interfaith understanding and world peace.

Advisory Committee

Shishir Kumar Dube, Director, IIT Kharagpur

Jagadish. N. Srivastava, Prof. Emeritus, Colorado State University

P. B. Sharma, Principal, Delhi College of Engineering

R. V. Raja Kumar, Dean of Academic Affairs, IIT Kharagpur

Organizing Committee

H. H. Bhaktiswarupa Damodara Swami (Dr. T. D. Singh), International Director, Bhaktivedanta Institute, Chairman

Varun Agarwal, Research Scholar, Bhaktivedanta Institute

Phalguni Banerjee, Research Scholar, IIT Kharagpur

Dr. Kanchan Chowdhury, Professor, Head of Cryogenic Centre, IIT Kharagpur

Dr. Sudipto Ghosh, Assistant Professor, IIT Kharagpur

Dr. P. K.Giri, Associate Professor, IIT Guwahati

Debashish Khan, Research Scholar, IIT Kharagpur

Bhaskar Kumar, Research Scholar, IIT Kanpur

P. Suresh Kumar, Research Scholar, IIT Kharagpur

Dr. Subhash C. Mishra, Professor, Dean of Academic Affairs, IIT Guwahati

Dr. Hare Krishna Mohanta, Assistant Professor, BITS Pilani

G. Tirupati Rao, Tata Technologies Ltd., Jamshedpur

K. Vasudeva Rao, Research Scholar, Bhaktivedanta Institute

Ramjee Repaka, Research Scholar, IIT Kharagpur

Gaurav Silwal, B.Tech., IIT Kharagpur

Dr. P. K. Singh, Reader, IT-BHU

Abinash Kumar Swain, Research Scholar, IISc Bangalore

Dr. Manoranjan Sinha, Assistant Professor, IIT Kharagpur

Abhishek Tewari, Research Scholar, University of Illinois, USA

Dr. Ram Gopal Uppaluri, Assistant Professor, IIT Guwahati

Conference Participation Details

Participation in this conference is open for all irrespective of age/background/nationality. All are welcome to participate in this conference by registering to the conference on or before 5th November 2006. A nominal registration fee of Rs. 250 without post conference tour and Rs. 400 with post conference tour is charged for this conference. Participants are requested to send the duly filled registration form (see the registration form below) along with the registration fee to the organizers on or before last date of registration (5th November 2006). For any details you are welcome to contact the organizers through email address conference2006@binstitute.org.

REGISTRATION FORM

Fax to: +91-33-2500-6091

Mail to: BHAKTIVEDANTA INSTITUTE,

RC/8, Raghunathpur, Manasi Manjil Building,

Fourth Floor, VIP Road, Kolkata - 700 059, India

Email: conference2006@binstitute.org

Dial: 033-2500-9018

♦ Please Register me for AISSQ-2006

Participant Details

Title: Dr. / Miss / Mr. / Mrs / Ms / Prof.

First Name :

Surname :

Organisation / Institution Name :

Address :

Town : Post :

State : Country :

Tel : Fax :

Email :

Registration Fee

Participants : Rs. 250

Spouse : Rs. 250

Post Conference Tour : Rs. 150 per person (Optional)

Payment Details :

Payment can be made before 5th November 2006 through Money Order/Demand Draft drawn in favor of “Bhaktivedanta Institute” from any nationalized bank payable at Kolkata, India. Send the duly filled registration form along with Money Order/Demand Draft to the address mentioned at the top of the registration form.

Signed Date

The Registration Fee Includes :

· Herbal Tea Breaks· Lunches (Saturday - Sunday)

· Dinners (Saturday - Sunday)

· Accommodation (Friday - Sunday)

· Sight Seeing Tour of Puri (optional, only for those registered in the Post Conference Tour of Puri)

Sponsorship

This conference is partly funded by the Metanexus Institute, USA under its Local Societies Initiative (LSI) program.

Program Overview

Saturday December 9, 2006

08:30 – 10:30 Invocation & Welcome Keynote Address (Dr. William

Grassie, Founder and Executive Director, Metanexus Institute, USA)

10:30 – 10:45 Herbal Tea Break

10:45 – 12:00 Process of Scientific and Spiritual Inquiry

12:15 – 13:30 Jagannath Puri Mahaprasadam

13:30 – 16:00 Scientific Exploration of God

16:00 – 19:00 Ranganiketan Dance & Kirtan, Movie Show

19:00 Mahaprasadam

Sunday December 10, 2006

08:30 – 10:30 Origin of Universe: Big Bang and Big Vision

10:30 – 10:45 Herbal Tea Break

10:45 – 12:00 Life & its Origin; Search for Spiritual Paradigm

12:15 – 13:30 Jagannath Puri Mahaprasadam

13:30 – 16:00 Jumping into the Ocean of Love at Jagannath Puri Dham

16:00 – 17:00 Return to Hotel

17:00 – 18:00 Visit of Jagannath Temple with Kirtan; Relish Khichdi and Special Jagannath Puri Dalma Mahaprasadam

Regards,

Bhaktivedanta Institute

RC/8, Raghunathpur

Manasi Manjil Building, VIP Road

Kolkata 700 059, India

Tel: +91-33-2500-9018

Fax: +91-33-2500-6835

Email: conference2006@binstitute.org

http://www.binstitute.org/conference2006/conference2006.pdf

AISSQ-2005 Photos

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Forum For Vedanta and Science (FVS)