New Organisms of 2008

Yes, I know considering after all we all hear about extinction of species due to climate change and stuff this is a very pleasant surprise for most of us. But it is true. 10 new creatures have been detected in 2008. Nature just never fails to amaze us! Just when we think we know it all and have the power to destroy, Nature makes us aware of our limited vision.
 

Being the snake lover I am, I am sure to put the first picture of a snake! I hope people at least dont find this tiny creature repulsive!

Now, isn’t that cute???

Leptotyphlops carlae was found in a patch of forest on the eastern side of Barbados. Thin as a spaghetti noodle and small enough to curl up on a quarter, it’s believed to embody the evolutionary limits of snake smallness.

 

Only three specimens of Martialis heureka have been found, all outside the Amazon jungle city of Manaus — but that’s all scientists needed to trace a direct evolutionary lineage to the last known ancestor of all living ants, a subterranean creature that lived 120 million years ago.

Yet another beauty! 

Stiphrornis pyrrholaeumus, also known as the olive-backed forest robin, was found during a biodiversity expedition in Gabon. Scientists know little more about S. pyrrholaeumus other than it exists.
 

This is definitely good news for all nature lovers. Lets hope we have more surprises like these  in store for us! 

For reference click here.

The Google Dream!

Dreams, Dreams and Dreams…..
 

I started thinking about my Childhood dreams after watching Randy Pausch’s last lecture which was about achieving your childhood dreams. At that point when I tried to think what my ‘Childhood’ dreams were I couldn’t think of anything specific except meeting Shah Rukh Khan lol.  The rest that came to my mind was just not specific enough! Things like doing something similar to what Steve Irwin did (for those of you who dont know I like snakes). No, I dint want to work in a zoo all my life but something like that! I told you it wasnt specific. 

 

That was the one thing that really got me thinking… We always have different desires at different times but it seldom sticks on… I started thinking that I wasnt focussed enough and thought my dreams were too weird to come true. Like Randy says the brick walls are there to separate those who really want it and those who dont. Probably, I was among the ones who just din’t  want it so badly and so I never got it also! 

 

But for a very long time now, it is to work for the Giant we all know as ‘Google’ …. When you dream you shouldn’t dream small things… So I started thinking BIG! And this is one of the things that did stick on! Well, now thats a little specific better than what it was earlier though I still have a long way to go in going down to the details of it! But there is something else I am clear about, whom I am going to share my cubicle with! There are a few of us at college whose dream company is none other than Google! And we dream working there and sharing cubicles also! I know it may sound silly but what the heck! By the way if you guys want to check out who the other google dreamers are, here are the links to their blogs http://www.bytehead.co.nr/ , http://avinashjoshi.co.in/. Sadly the others dont blog till now!

 

Many people often ask me why Google? why not Microsoft or any other giant! My answer always has been the same. I feel Google is the only company that DIRECTLY affects the lives of people! Right from a fifth standard student to a pHd student, for any projects or any home works Google has the answer. Like they say Google knows it all! There is even ‘The Church of Google’ which I have mentioned in my earlier post.

 

Getting back to ‘Why Google?’. We have all heard that we want t0 use technology for people, to change lives and that is the essence of what Google does.

 

There is an interesting story about the launch of Google Maps for Bangladesh. Google was supposed to launch maps for India aound the same time floods struck Bangladesh. They wanted to launch maps for Bangladesh also but there was not much time in hand. I am not surprised that in a short time the googlers made this happen! This was very much the site the NGO (Non-Governmental Organizations) used for relief operations. Talk about affecting lives of people, Google is the best example!

 

Another reason was meeting Dr. Prasad Ram who is the head of R&D at Google India at a conference on Web technology where he was the Keynote speaker. His talk was not complicated like many of the other talks.In fact, his was one of the very few talks that left an impact! More than the technology, he focussed on what we need to achieve from it. His spoke of Democratization of INDIA! While talking about technology either people speak about the technology in the most confusing manner possible to make themselves look like the intellectually elite class or they just DONT mention what the aim of this is keeping India in mind. He spoke about networking through NGOs to make outreach effective. That is what is making an attempt to solving the REAL problems of India! The enthusiasm I saw in him made it very clear to me what the ‘Google Spirit’ is all about. This was another major reason for this dream to stick on. 

 

Lets all hope that Google keeps doing what it is best at, ‘Changing Lives of People’. And hoping I too would be a googler sometime. Oooh! I almost forgot to mention another reason, I absolutely love Google t-shirts!!!

My First Snake!

As I have already mentioned that I love snakes! To my surprise most people find it absolutely unacceptable to like snakes! Phew! I get looks each time I say this! I am hoping that you readers don’t have dung-under-your-nose expression already! (Assuming there are people to read this! )
 

I have been fascinated by snakes but never had the opportunity to hold one! My college which is by a lagoon kind of thing and the area is filled with snakes. On our way from college to hostel we see many snakes but I never got close enough to holding one!
 

We have this faculty in the Electrical department, Akshay Sir who is more famously known as the snake rescuer of Amritapuri! Whenever a snake is spotted, he gets a call and captures the snake and releases it to safer areas where there is reduced threat. My college is associated with the Mata Amritanandamayi Math Ashram or the Hugging saint (AMMA’s) ashram so what we would expect would be a due respect and space being given to beautiful and sacred creatures like snakes. But before Akshay Sir came to the ashram. I very clearly remember a slender harmless tree snake being KILLED right in the ashram premises! I was horrified at the sight and told AMMA about it. She was also shocked to hear about the happening and strictly instructed everyone that such an incident should not repeat! After this I was a bit relaxed!

 

Anyway getting back to ‘My First snake!’ encounter. One fine day after my Digital Signal Processing exam which I royally messed up. I was in a absolutely horrid mood and thought nothing could set my day right. Just then I saw Akshay Sir walking around the college corridors with a beautiful little rat snake wrapped around his arm! I was taken aback and could barely believe my eyes! I had told sir about my desire to get close to snakes earlier also but sadly whenever he found a snake he wouldn’t find me! But this time was different!!! And thank God it was different else I wouldn’t have ever experienced anything remotely close to the awesome feeling of holding a snake!

 

Initially I just touched the snake and had it tail wrapped around my arm while the head was still in Akshay Sir’s hand! Seeing my excitement, Sir asked me if i wanted to hold the snake! Without any delay I said yes!!!
 

And I am glad I did. First he told me the right way to hold a snake about the positions of each finger, about the force, about the way in which it should be done, etc. Before I could even register I had the snake in my hand!!!! That felt good!

 

But because it was my first time I was a little nervous and so way my little friend. I had heard people on TV and Akshay Sir say that when you are calm the animal is calm but I thought of it as a cliché until this moment! Here I could truly feel the difference, when I was relaxed the snake stop wriggling around too much and was calmly wrapped around my arm quite contrary to it moving continuously initially. We still have a long way to go when it really comes to understanding nature!
 

Here are some photos that were taken by Avinash’s camera phone right in the college corridor. Just reminding you that mobile phones are banned in college

Anyway there were a few things I found out. Snakes are not slimy or rough as they may seem. In fact, holding a snake atleast this one was very similar to feeling a very fat human finger. Soft, not slimy and just normal! I had my share of counselling sessions by dear ones for not doing anything like this again. But, if you have read this post you know it is something that excites me! Sorry guys! There was one thing positive that came out of this also!!I felt great because of  the kind of care and concern people showed.It really made me feel great! But sadly for them I wasn’t convinced about what they were saying about staying away from snakes! :-/

 

I wonder why they are so feared of and hated. I find it really hard to understand! Firstly, out of the 2100 snake species in the world ONLY 10% are poisonous! Secondly, the number of estimated deaths per year because of snake bites is MUCH lower than those caused by malaria or dengue. Even then we don’t feel the kind of hatred for mosquitoes or rats we feel for snakes! I mean how is the poor creature responsible that Satan came to earth in the form of a serpent??? In today’s world when we are speaking about being practical having this kind of prejudice for snakes is NOT justifiable!

 

Lets just not kill snakes on spotting them but give them respect that they deserve! Hoping at least some one would feel differently about snakes after reading this! Please don’t kill or hate snakes! When you see a snake just move away don’t go close to it give it the space it needs!