tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67489232630944366892012-01-17T22:40:32.640+05:30Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.comBlogger211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-19564097210232876872009-05-01T01:13:00.006+05:302009-05-01T02:14:29.871+05:30

Modern technologyOwes ecologyAn apology.-- Alan M. Eddison---In light of recent developments with my Acer Aspire One, I think modern technology owes a bit more than an apology to ecology and ecologists like me. To state that I’ve been having problems with my mini laptop (apparently they are called ‘netbooks’) would be like saying that nuclear weapons can kill people.For the last month, I’ve been

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-58103617002714496832009-02-01T22:39:00.014+05:302009-02-01T23:56:01.093+05:30

The locals knew of them as the ebu gogo, the 'grandmother who eats everything'. At first glance, it appeared to be one of those countless cryptozoological stories of mythical animals. "Probably a large macaque that was mistaken as a human" said the scientists.In 1998 a team led by Michael Morwood of the University of New England in Armidale, Australia discovered crude stone implements and then

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-24634312048653793982009-01-26T01:07:00.005+05:302009-01-26T12:13:11.568+05:30

Popular Science magazine did a highly imaginative story recently  on the so-called 'worst jobs in science'. I thought it was a pretty interesting choice of the ten different  and varied jobs, guaranteeing a huge variety of physical and mental discomfort. I must say I was very impressed to know that I pretty much made the list in three different categories. Here they are : Triage Biologist, Monkey

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-74283847360675611452008-10-19T16:39:00.009+05:302008-11-20T12:25:22.492+05:30

So, the Yeti (mande burung) hair turned out to be from a goat. Everyone knows that by now. Just a case of false alarm, huh? It was just a dear old Goral (Nemorhaedus goral) who was having a bad hair day. Dipu Marak got his five minutes of fame, the officials of the Meghalaya Forest Department are heaving a sigh of relief and the media circus will move on elsewhere for fresh meat (during the

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-67846013174708911892008-09-03T17:28:00.003+05:302008-09-03T17:46:37.369+05:30

DISCOVER magazine is one of the best reads on the latest happenings in the world of science and technology. There are always a range of interesting articles on their website. Here’s a recent headline: ‘Researchers crack the case of why flies are so hard to swat’. The story went on to describe how a recent scientific paper in Current Biology by biologist Michael Dickinson found the reasons why

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-51588497062772195212008-07-30T12:19:00.013+05:302008-11-20T12:33:14.420+05:30

If you still haven’t heard of the media frenzy over the recent ‘discovery’ of the ‘Indian Yeti’ or the ‘cousin of Bigfoot’ in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya, just read on because I KNOW what I’m talking about. And if you are one of those few who don’t know what or who Bigfoot and the Yeti are.. well.. then I guess you can just stop reading and move on to whatever the hell you were doing ! The

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-7887313905394802222008-07-09T15:15:00.004+05:302009-05-08T21:00:49.962+05:30

My recent article in Himal Southasian Magazine (June, 2008 issue) about my experiences of surveying and discovering one of the most remote corners of northeast India. I wish I could write an 'unofficial' version of some of my experiences during this time too. I doubt much of that would get published anywhere :) For photographs related to this area, do visit my FlickR album. There is a link

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-8746111085796410092008-03-20T11:15:00.008+05:302008-03-20T12:19:03.339+05:30

Photo Credit: Arthur C Clarke FoundationThe irony was inescapable. When I heard that Arthur C Clarke was no more on the radio, I had in my hand "Time's Eye" his 2004 novel.There have been some brilliant science fiction writers but Arthur was one of those elite few who not only came up with ingenious ideas and plots, foretold the future through his stories, wrote really, really well but most

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-7434861459237723402008-03-17T18:44:00.004+05:302008-03-17T19:10:23.415+05:30

So you want to save the earth? But you just cant seem to get off Facebook and Orkut, huh? Well, in this age, there is a solution for everything. Welcome to the latest way to save the planet - connect2earth.org.“Connect2earth is a truly global space for young people to connect, share, express their concerns and hopes about the environment online — and win some prizes in the process” .. so says

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-70450514916643929352008-03-17T17:55:00.006+05:302008-03-17T18:24:08.871+05:30

I don't know how I missed this one. Recently came across the name of Martin Strel. He has been described as a 'marathon swimmer'. He's 52 and has swam .... now hold your breath... the Danube, the Mississippi, the Yangtze and last year the Amazon!! The mighty Amazon, of the piranhas and the bull sharks and 5,268 km., he swam in 66 days!!He claims he's doing it to raise awareness of the need for

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-24555098319637435942008-01-22T09:47:00.001+05:302008-01-24T10:42:17.423+05:30

In an age when most of the first world plays the ostrich in the sand faster than the time it would take you to say "Kyoto Protocol", "Climate Change" or "Carbon Credits" and the 'tigers' and 'dragons' of the third world continue to provide encores as the innocent bystander, its heartening to see that good sense still prevails in some places. Guess who? Its Viking and Fjord country, Norway which

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-490915310899005472007-12-11T15:46:00.001+05:302007-12-11T16:19:48.661+05:30

Just came across this ad spot for Greenpeace by an Australian ad agency. Maybe its poetic justice that I'm posting this on the day Al Gore and the IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri accept the Nobel Peace prize for their contribution to the awareness on global warming.It does look like Santa's gonna have to buy a boat sometime soon.

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-3977471307337824832007-12-11T00:20:00.000+05:302007-12-11T01:42:00.085+05:30

"A Viscoelastic Deadly Fluid in Carnivorous Pitcher Plants"Its not everyday that a scientific paper with a title like this gets published. But it did, recently on PLoS one, the free access online journal that publishes papers from all disciplines. So, what did Laurence Gaume (biologist) and Yoel Forterre (physicist), the French authors have to say?That carnivorous pitcher plants can get pretty

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-28666188422810982562007-12-09T15:07:00.000+05:302007-12-09T16:07:09.435+05:30

Its been a long time since my last post, so its time to catch up on things a bit.I've been saving this from the time I read this article by David Brooks in the New York Times a few weeks ago, itching to get it onto my blog. Brooks talks about the 'classic rock' bands of yore like the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, U2, Springsteen and the E-street band and how they drew upon a range of musical

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-47595939640435080122007-10-21T14:57:00.000+05:302007-10-21T15:52:39.817+05:30

For what is it to die,But to stand in the sun and melt into the wind?-Kahlil Gibran, from "The Prophet"There are so many things that I thought I'd write about.. the story of a little girl named Pushpanjali in a small remote village, just one among the seven siblings, who had never been outside that village, never seen the 'world', who never hurt anyone and who had the smile of an angel. No, this

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-81132507208046466032007-09-20T21:16:00.001+05:302007-09-20T21:23:54.665+05:30

666 666There you are .. twice the devils number !!I refrain from posting cricket related stuff on my blog. There are plenty of cricket 'ex-perts' on the web and I have no intention of being one of them.But this is special.. its a world record.. six sixes in an over from Yuvraj Singh. Not the first one to do it, but definitely the first one to do it to a fast bowler (the unfortunate unfortunate

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-28357440790257848382007-09-20T19:38:00.000+05:302007-09-20T20:47:09.273+05:30

Finally some one is talking some sense about conservation. And can you believe that it took a political scientist to do that!! Indiana University political scientist Elinor Ostrom has proposed a new three tier framework for conservation that is flexible and adaptable to the needs and demands of the various idiosyncratic factors affecting the conservation plan in that particular region of the

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-7873625131956219462007-09-16T00:05:00.001+05:302007-09-16T00:07:40.069+05:30

Sunset Sesaipura Originally uploaded by dawgmatix Sunsets have always been my favourite form of landscape photography. Had plenty of experience clicking sunsets in Mizoram where they are just too awesome and the light is just fantastic. Central Indian sunsets arent that easy, but the flat terrain gives a panoramic view. Have been experimenting with different exposures recently and this is

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-87360228947432229582007-09-15T00:14:00.000+05:302007-09-15T00:44:53.529+05:30

Some exciting new findings (of really really old stuff.. we're talking 550 million years here!) by scientists at Virginia Tech seem to suggest that a fantastic increase in species diversity at one point of our geological past (480 m.y.a in the Phanerozoic fossil record) might have been triggered by increasingly efficient predators. Now, before you get ideas about some furry, sabre toothed cats or

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-61735088704067670382007-09-14T00:58:00.000+05:302007-09-14T01:30:32.385+05:30

On 29th August, 2007 something really strange happened. India won a football tournament. They beat Syria, ranked much higher than them in the FIFA rankings comprehensively and won the Nehru cup. For a change, there were people cheering them on too, and what a show they put up! I was one of the lucky few to be in the stadium.Although the stands were almost entirely full of young people from the

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748923263094436689.post-24051187592704216752007-09-08T12:09:00.001+05:302007-09-08T15:24:52.995+05:30

Kind of like our experiences arent they??.. scattered pieces of yesterday lying all around and yet feeding our subconscious.Experiences - sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet and everything in between is always a learning experience. In fact the bitter ones are probably the ones which teach us the most.. essential to nurturing our understanding of the universe as we allow our survival skills for

Dawgmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675093691147784008noreply@blogger.com0