The Lonesome Road

The European Space Agency has finally started getting pictures back from the Huygens satellite. For those interested, a more up-to-date article can be found on the BBC Science News page. Looks like a lot of astronomers are going to be very happy

The latest trend in Pune seems to be singing brakes. Confused? Well, here’s the deal. It’s a simple circuit attached to the front or rear brake mechanism in the bike. It’s job - to play a series of tones - usually a current Bollywood song in a series of tinny notes. The irritation factor - well, you either like it, hate it or plain ignore it. I personally fall into the third category. Though I must admit, the first time I heard it, I was seriously questioning the state of my auditory canal. It was at a busy signal and all of a sudden I hear a series of notes, seemingly out of nowhere . Found out about the mechanism from a friend later.

In other news, a couple of local leaders want concrete structures to be built along the Mumbai shoreline in order to house the local fishermen. They say that if the tsunami strikes again, the damage caused will be less. Along similar lines, the government of Tamil Nadu wants Rs.1500 crore in order to construct a sea wall. When are these people going to understand - the forces that they are trying to stop will brush concrete aside like tissue paper. In fact, the loss to life caused may be greater since huge chunks of concrete will be present in the water.

Finally, for all you Ravenloft fans, the guys at the Fraternity of Shadows have come out with the latest installment in their Quoth the Raven series. It’s a book full of fan fiction on Ravenloft and Book 11 is now available on their site.

Enjoy!