Acha jee main hari

Missed Opportunities

Whenever he thinks about his past, the only thing he remembers is the missed opportunities; What amazing things he could have done then, how much more fearless he could have been in living his life then, how much love he could have given and received…

But, shouldn’t he learn from his past now? Yes, I think he should; One day, in the future, I dont want him to rue about today..instead, I want him then to not only be proud of but also to celebrate the memories of his past.

Where Are They? Why I hope the search for extraterrestrial life finds nothing.

The article below is one of the best articles I have read in recent times, and one of the best article/book I ever read on possibility of life beyond earth. The author, Nick Bostrom, is the director of the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford. The article was published in Technology Review ( published by MIT) last week. I am completely dumbfounded by this article and the perspective provided by the author. It makes so much sense.!!!

I have reproduced the long article here because registration is required to read directly from the website . Let me warn you that it will take some time and effort to understand the article. I have to read it atleast twice (especially the first half) before I got the gist of the article ( Agree that Iam not a great reader myself, but I also teach reading comprehension!! ). The point is, read it only if you are a serious student of this subject..glancing it over wont help much! Time estimated to read and fully understand it : 40-60 minutes or even more ( but it’s worth it).

Where Are They? Why I hope the search for extraterrestrial life finds nothing

People got very excited in 2004 when NASA’s rover Opportunity discovered evidence that Mars had once been wet. Where there is water, there may be life. After more than 40 years of human exploration, culminating in the ongoing Mars Exploration Rover mission, scientists are planning still more missions to study the planet. The ­Phoenix, an interagency scientific probe led by the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona, is scheduled to land in late May on Mars’s frigid northern arctic, where it will search for soils and ice that might be suitable for microbial life (see “Mission to Mars,” November/December 2007). The next decade might see a Mars Sample Return mission, which would use robotic systems to collect samples of Martian rocks, soils, and atmosphere and return them to Earth. We could then analyze the samples to see if they contain any traces of life, whether extinct or still active.

Such a discovery would be of tremendous scientific significance. What could be more fascinating than discovering life that had evolved entirely independently of life here on Earth? Many people would also find it heartening to learn that we are not entirely alone in this vast, cold cosmos.

But I hope that our Mars probes discover nothing. It would be good news if we find Mars to be sterile. Dead rocks and lifeless sands would lift my spirit.

Chodo Kal ki Baatein

Dil ka Bhanwar

Woman’s Dictionary ( forwarded by a female colleague of mine)

Belief in God a ‘product of human weaknesses’: Albert Einstein

I think the news below should be a strong blow to all those theists and fundamentalists who since decades have been trying to intrepret Einstein’s hitherto vague views on religion to suit their own agendas by claiming that the smartest person who ever walked on Earth was on their side. How do you guys think these people will react to this letter written by Einstein?

Renowned scientist Albert Einstein dismissed the Bible as a collection of “pretty childish” legends and belief in God as a “product of human weaknesses,” according to a letter to be auctioned this week.

Einstein, who was Jewish, also rejects the notion that Jews were God’s chosen people.

The letter was written in German in 1954 to philosopher Eric Gutkind.

It is to be auctioned in London, England, on Thursday by Bloomsbury Auctions, and is expected to fetch between $12,000 and $16,000 US.

Einstein writes “the word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.”

Born to a Jewish family in Germany in 1879, he also adds that “for me, the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions.”

He also wrote “the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong, and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people.

“As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything ‘chosen’ about them.”

Courtesy : www.cbc.ca

God punishing us?

Cyclone in Burma, Earthquake in China and now bomb blasts in Jaipur, killing many innocent people.

Things dont seem to be well anywhere in the world, I wonder. Why so many innocent people killed just like that, I ask? My boss says, God is punishing us..he is sending us signals that we better start behaving ourselves well before it’s too late..we stop being selfish and mean with each other..we stop depleting earth’s resources with complete abandon..

That’s fine sir, but if God has to punish us, why only those innocent villagers in Burma who lived in wooden huts & never polluted the environment with fancy cars? Why hundreds of those kids in China who were yet to learn the real meaning of being selfish and mean?

Do you guys know why all this is happening? Can we do something?

Zindagi Khwab hai

Donate online for Myanmar Cyclone Victims

The terrible cyclone in Myanmar has killed tens of thousands of people and numbers are dreadfully increasing with each news telecast. Once again, a poor country- with administration in shambles- has bore the brunt of unpredictable nature. Many of us, no matter how much we genuinely desire, wont be able to go there and give our support to the beleaguered people. I researched a bit on different organizations who are accepting online donations for their relief efforts.

British Red Cross was on the ground soon after the storm hit. It is gearing up to meet survivors’ needs for shelter and clean water. £5 will provide water purification tablets for 60 people:
redcross.org.uk