You may have heard of the movies ‘Bwana Devil’ (first American 3-D Color movie) and ‘The Ghost and The Darkness’ (starring Val Kilmer, Michael Douglas and our very own Om Puri) that were based on real life incidents connected to the Tsavo man-eaters of Kenya.
New research suggests that the number of victims may have been much lesser than previously thought.
Over nine months the two voracious hunters claimed 35 lives _ no small figure, but much less than some accounts of as many as 135 victims.
It was 1898, when laborers from …

Happy Fathers Day to all our readers, particularly to those who are fathers. On the occasion of Father’s Day comes this story about single men (straight or otherwise) using surrogacy as a means for parenthood. [TOI]
Rafa, a 38-year old Spanish teacher, recently celebrated the birth of his twin boys whom he fathered through artificial reproduction and a surrogate mother. The woman delivered Rafa’s twins in Anand.
The backdrop to this story is the fact that Rafa was a single male who had no intention of getting married or getting into a …

Last April Fool’s day, we almost ran a story that would’ve reported the discovery of chivda on Mars. This time we’re not kidding.
With India joining the space race, Indian scientists are boldly going where no Udipi restaurant has ever gone before. [Telegraph] (desinole via Über Desi on Twitter)
India, which is locked in a spacewrace (sic) with China and Japan, plans to send a man into space by 2015 and hopes to send some familiar food with him.
However, creating a curry that will taste good in space is no simple mission. …

Surely by now you’ve heard of the story of Nadya Suleman, the woman who gave birth to octoplets. For the mathematically challenged, that’s eight babies in one delivery session. [Reuters]
What makes the story even more curious is the fact that the woman already had 6 babies. That’s 14 children to those who’re keeping count. So while the world discusses the ethics of IVF treatments that made this population explosion possible, and to think India and China get blamed for overpopulation, we @ Über Desi are busy looking for the desi …

Pardon the jingoism, but a moon landing is a big effin deal. [BBC]
India’s first unmanned lunar spacecraft, Chandrayaan 1, has placed a probe on the surface of the Moon. The probe, painted with the Indian flag, touched down at 2034 (1504 GMT), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
How effective was the news coverage over here in the US? To use an euphemism, not very. While the BBC has quickly latched on to this news, at the time of posting, the major cable news channels CNN, MSNBC and FoxNews …

Happy 10th birthday, stem cell research!
Stem-cells hit the headlines almost exactly 10 years ago. (link)
The first report that the human cells had been isolated and grown by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison appeared in the journal Science, triggering a decade of fierce debate and great hope.
In 2001, President Bush passed an executive order banning executive order banning federal research funding for new human embryonic stem cell lines and effectively limiting funding to research on the 11-odd known lines at that point. Per today’s report, this is one …

….. with this launch. [TOI]

Now if you are reading this, it’s proof enough, the world hasn’t ended yet (I’m not talking about married folks, for you, it has ).
Nataraj image at the CERN centreSource: about.com
One of the largest science experiments in recent times, recreation of the Big Bang, the beginning of this world as we know it (and something the creationists from all religions won’t agree with). The Large Hadron Collider experiment, taking place near the French-Swiss border in a 27 kilometer long tunnel underground (link) has been the subject of intense …

I confess to a healthy interest in all things paranormal. Alas , not too many of my friends or family do the same. I am always on the lookout for someone to play Mulder to my Scully.
Bigfoot lives, or is dead depending on your perspective
img: via About.com
I follow the adventures of Bigfoot aka Yeti aka Sasquatch aka Mande Burung with growing interest . (Read earlier UD coverage of the peripatetic creature here 1, 2)
Out here in the Bay Area, we are waiting with bated breath for a …

In a recent worldwide survey of most and least eco-friendly consumers, India and Brazil topped the list, while US came last. [Science Daily] (tip Spee via email)
India: Crowded but eco-consciousimg: via AFP
I can’t speak for Brazil but given the amount of pollution encountered in Indian cities, this comes as a surprise. But this is how this poll was measured.
One thousand people in each country answered questions that measured their behavior in the areas of housing, transportation, food and consumption of goods; each respondent earned a score that reflected the environmental …

Indian-American Subhash Pandey and his team have identified the molecular link between anxiety and alcohol addiction, which is likely to spur new therapeutic strategies in its treatment. “The association of anxiety with increased alcohol use is a key factor in the initiation and maintenance of alcohol addition,” said Pandey of the University of Illinois [link].
No truth to the rumor that the test subjects were Über Desi bloggers.

“Young People Who Rock” is a weekly show on CNN.com Live on Fridays at 3pm Eastern. This week’s interviewee is Isha Jain, a desi math and science prodigy. [via CNN]

img: via CNN

Her taste for science started at 9 when she created a paradigm to explain the molecular structure of candy. It sounds sweet, but also sophisticated — teachers in the U.S. and abroad have used her methods in the classroom. Before she was old enough to buy sweets at a PG-13 movie, her candy-making findings were featured at major scientific …

Supervolcanoes near the Deccan Traps may have caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs nearly 65 million years ago. Now you know. Everything has a desi connection, even Jurassic Park.

I will say it again, we @ ÜberDesi have a soft spot for Al Gore, the almighty creator of the Internet.

Party time for ÜD favorite, Al Gore, and his desi buddyimg: via TOI Online

It is but natural that when our favorite adopted politician wins something our eyes well up (with tears of joy) and chests swell up (with pride).
OSLO: The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was jointly awarded on Friday to former US vice president Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Norwegian Nobel committee said.
“It was …

India loves Sunita Williams, plain and “zimble”.
“Discovery to Houston, kem cho, majama……”img: via Hindustan Times
Some people like to point out that she is not Indian – she is only of half-Indian heritage, her mother is Slovenian, and we should not be celebrating her successes, but we @ UberDesi don’t discriminate on such superficial grounds. In fact our most popular posts to date are related to a kid of half-Indian half-Italian heritage.

It is not often in the annals of UberDesi’s (admittedly fledgling) history that two of our favorite characters cross paths.
“Two children per family is good enough” – Al Gore’s message to the Khasi
Remember our friends – the Khasi tribe of Meghalya who are intent on solving India’s population problem by reproducing more and often? I’m sure their legendary exploits in reproduction – 15 children in a single family – have not gone unnoticed by our readers.
Another perennial favorite of UberDesi is Al Gore.

A flashlight saves lives in South India.
Image from Chealion
In some very disturbing news, the Press Trust of India reports that surgeries deep in the South, Tirunelveli to be specific are carried out with battery flashlights aka. torch lights.
In a shocking instance of poor infrastructure in government hospitals, surgeons of the Tirunelveli Government Hospital in Tamil Nadu are often forced to use battery-powered torchlight during surgeries due to frequent power problems.
At least 50 percent of the operations were carried out using torchlight in between as the lights provided at the …

Remember when Gauri Nanda, the inventor of Clocky, was awarded the Ig Nobel, for pointless or humorous scientific research?
Gauri Nanda, reluctant entrepeneurimg: via Inc.com
She went on to sell her products online and became such a success that Inc.com, the magazine for entrepeneurs has a story featuring Gauri.
Actually she was featured on the cover of the print version of the magazine and that caught my eye, while I was waiting for a oil change on my car.

A rendering of the ITER reactor from iter.org
The Indian Cabinet approved 25 billion rupees, USD595 Million, which enables India to play a part in the International Thermonuclear Experiment Reactor, which is to be built at Cadarache in the South of France.
At a cost of USD 12.8 Billion, the experimental reactor should be completed by 2040 with help from The EU, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea.
Why is the ITER different?
Fusion is the energy source of the sun and the stars. On earth, fusion research is aimed at demonstrating that this …

Orkut seems to have developed this knack for staying in the news, at least in India.
Tech-savvy seperatists (pc term for terrorists) in North East India are using Orkut for anti-India activities. Paging the keepers of “communal peace”, burners of cybercafes, guardians against evil online comments, self appointed doorkeepers of India and Indian culture – our friendly neighbourhood Mumbai Mamus and Marathi Manus. Please save us from these terrorists instead of beating up college students and burning private business establishments.