Lasers turn 50 this year; it was in May 1960 when the first laser (Ruby laser) was invented by Maiman at Hughes research labs beating other researchers at Bell labs, IBM, Westinghouse, Siemens etc . Since then lasers have been used everywhere from scanners in grocery stores to laser pointers to cd players to vision treatments to fundmanetal scientific discoveries. The contribution of lasers in understanding various fundamentals of matter has been tremendous and lasers have now become an extremely important tool for unraveling various mysteries of nature. Several Nobel prizes have been awarded to discoveries which has been made possible only by novel use of lasers.
1964: Laser founders Townes, Basov and Prokhorov shared the prize for their fundamental work, which led to the construction of lasers.
1971: Gabor won the Nobel prize for discovering the holographic methods
1981: Bloembergen and Schawlow received the prize for their contribution to the development of laser spectroscopy.
1997: Chu, Cohen-Tannoudji and Phillips et al. received the prize for their developments of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light
2000: Alforev and Koremer for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and optoelectronics
2001: Eric Allin Cornell and Carl Edwin Wieman won the Nobel prize for the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates.
2005: Roy J. Glauber, John L. Hall, Theodor W. Hansch were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their “contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique”.
2009: Charles K. Kao, Willard S. Boyle, and George E. Smith were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their “for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication”.
The word ‘Prepone’ is officially in English dictionary now. Eighth edition of Oxford dictionary has included the word prepone which has been commonly used in India to “advance any event to an earlier time than was originally planned”. Other new words of Indian origin that are included are ‘faqir’, ‘niqab’, ‘kirpan’ among many others. Read more
It’s still beginning of the year and we already have witnessed three major natural disasters affecting millions of people. The year started with 7.0-magnitude Haiti earthquake where about 200,000 people died and millions were left homeless and then 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile where already 700 people have been reported dead and rescue operations are in progress. And now comes the devastating southern European storm ” Xynthia” which has already caused 55 deaths and millions homeless and without power. I know predicting earthquakes is extremely difficult and they can’t be linked to climate changes and global warming but the impact of Global warming on the increase in number of other natural disasters including storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, freezing winters etc. cant be totally ignored, even after IPCC’s recent debacle in Himalayan glacier report. These two earthquakes are the result of disturbances in tectonic plates along the San Andreas fault line caused by continental shifts. This ongoing process of continental shift might have been accelerated due to various changes in earth’s geology due to oil drilling and coal mining activities as coal mines can create huge voids in earth’s geological structures and can expedite the continental shifting process (source) . Even though these earthquakes and climate change are not linked directly, the can be linked to one possible common source- indiscriminate consumption of fossil fuels leading to escalation of changes in earth’s geological activities and climate patterns.
If anyone wants to help the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti and Chile , you can find detailed list of various agencies here through which you can contribute.
In another event which can impact weather changes in coming years and threaten marine life including Penguins, a giant iceberg of the size of Luxembourg (925 square miles) got ripped off the glacier Mertz in Antarctica during Feb 12-13. The event was not due to Global warming but due to a collision between the glacier and another moving iceberg. This giant chunk of ice could block ocean currents which could result in bitter cold winters and could also result in flooding in many areas.
I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don’t know where it goes
But it’s home to me and I walk alone
I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of broken dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I’m the only one and I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk alone
My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart’s the only thing that’s beating
Sometimes I wish some one up there will find me
Till then I walk alone
Some memorable quotes from my favorite TV series Scrubs. Just love it’s slapstick comedy, lovable characters, subtle seriousness wrapped inside all those jokes and most of all, the soundtrack.
The truth is, it is all your memories, the joyful ones and the heartbreaking ones that make up who you are as a person
I don’t believe in the moon. I think it’s just the back of the sun.
There comes a time when every man needs to make a choice, whether it’s a professional choice or whether it’s a personal choice. In the end, it’s about integrity, and it’s about chasing after what you really want, even if that means showing you both care a little. And sometimes… well, sometimes you just have to do what’s right for your friend, even if it means sacrificing your own happiness. When it comes down to it, you just have to be proud of the decision you make.
I don’t think people are meant to be by themselves. That’s why if you actually find someone you care about, it’s important to let go of the little things, even if you can’t let go all the way. Because nothing sucks more than feeling all alone, no matter how many people are around.
Every time you take a big risk in your life, no matter how it ends up, you’re always glad you took it
You can never let go of the kid inside of you.You see, it’s the kid inside of us that keeps us all from going crazy
I miss you so much it hurts sometimes.
Love is mainly about pushing chocolate covered candies and, y’know, in some cultures, a chicken. You can call me a sucker, I don’t care, because I do believe in it. Bottom line is: it’s couples who are truly right for each other wade through the same crap as everybody else, but the big difference is they don’t let it take them down. One of those two people will stand up and fight for that relationship every time. If it’s right, and they’re real lucky, one of them will say something.
It’s hard trying to figure out how to reach somebody. I guess the only thing to do is to think of someone that I look up to and remember how they first got through to me.
There are a few things I’ve always believed in. Flowers are good for any occasion. And nothing is more important than making time for an old friend, especially if the old girl has seen better days. Because even if it breaks your heart to be “just friends,” if you really care about someone, you’ll take the hit.
Prakash center is an initiative taken up by Dr Pawan Sinha from MIT to improve the condition of children with disabilities in India focusing primarily on blindness. The planned center in Rishikesh will have hospitals to provide treatment, schooling facilities for children and will also have a cutting edge research facility. Dr Sinha’s group has already published some pathbreaking results in the field of cognitive neuroscience and learning and its application to improve the lives of millions of children all around the world will be a great step forward. Some of the group’s work has been highlighted in recent talk by Dr Sinha during TED India event.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the Union budget yesterday. Funds allocated to school education were increased from 26,000 crores to about 32,000 crores which corresponds to about 4% of GDP. RTE act becomes effective from April 1st 2010 which needs about 72,000 crore for its proper and complete implementation. Even though the increase in school expenses is about 16% compared to last year, still a long way to go for RTE to become fully implemented and successful , but still hope for the best!!
May 20, 2012 1799 Honore De Balzac 1851 Emile Berliner 1908 James Stewart 1920 Betty Driver 1942 Lynn Davies 1944 Joe Cocker 1946 Cher 1961 Nick Heyward
Lasers turn 50 this year; it was in May 1960 when the first laser (Ruby laser) was invented by Maiman at Hughes research labs beating other researchers at Bell labs, IBM, Westinghouse, Siemens etc . Since then lasers have been used everywhere from scanners in grocery stores to laser pointers to cd players to vision treatments to fundmanetal scientific discoveries. The contribution of lasers in understanding various fundamentals of matter has been tremendous and lasers have now become an extremely important tool for unraveling various mysteries of nature. Several Nobel prizes have been awarded to discoveries which has been made possible only by novel use of lasers.
The word ‘Prepone’ is officially in English dictionary now. Eighth edition of Oxford dictionary has included the word prepone which has been commonly used in India to “advance any event to an earlier time than was originally planned”. Other new words of Indian origin that are included are ‘faqir’, ‘niqab’, ‘kirpan’ among many others. 
In another event which can impact weather changes in coming years and threaten marine life including Penguins, a giant iceberg of the size of Luxembourg (925 square miles) got ripped off the glacier Mertz in Antarctica during Feb 12-13. The event was not due to Global warming but due to a collision between the glacier and another moving iceberg. This giant chunk of ice could block ocean currents which could result in bitter cold winters and could also result in flooding in many areas.
Some memorable quotes from my favorite TV series Scrubs. Just love it’s slapstick comedy, lovable characters, subtle seriousness wrapped inside all those jokes and most of all, the soundtrack.
Prakash center
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the Union budget yesterday. Funds allocated to 
