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Rhododendron anthopogon D. Don not only have beutiful flowers but have medicinal properties also

Rhododendron anthopogon D. Don not only have beutiful flowers but have medicinal properties also

Sep 20 2009 | comment(s)

Scientific Name Rhododendron anthopogon D. Don Family Ericaceae Used Part Stem, Leaves, buds. Distribution Area A small shrub found in Alpine Himalayas of Nepal from 3300-4000 and also in the Himalayas from Kashmir to Bhutan and the N.E.F.A. hills at altitudes of 3,000-5,300 m. Common Uses . The leaves are reported to possess stimulant properties. The plant yields an incense. Leaves aromatic, stimulant, admimistered as an errhine to produce sneezing. Their smoke is considered useful in some diseases. They are supposed to have stimulant properties. This is one of the species which is thought by the bhutias(local people who give support to climbers) to excite the headache and nausea which attend ascents to the high elevations of the eastern himalayas.
Law and Science : #2 The Chicken Little Mentality

Law and Science : #2 The Chicken Little Mentality

Sep 19 2009 | comment(s)

Law and Science : #2 The Chicken Little Mentality


Fiat Justicia, Ruat Caelum


Fiat justicia ruat caelum is often expressed as: 'let justice triumph or else the sky will fall'.  It may be more literally translated as 'let justice triumph: let the sky fall'.  More loosely, it expresses the notion that justice must be done even if that is counter to the desires of people with power or vested interests.  It is an ideal which is only rarely achieved.  It is far more common for the judiciary to favour the cause of continuity of method over and above the cause of justice.
Surrender Your Booty! It's Talk Like A Pirate Day

Surrender Your Booty! It's Talk Like A Pirate Day

Sep 19 2009 | comment(s)

Ahoy maties, how the time flies. It is "Talk Like A Pirate Day" once again and the science communities be awash in pirattitude.

Or not, perhaps 'tis just me.

But if it's not just me, and the little Buccaneer in you is also seeking others to celebrate with and to find out more information on this important event, abandon all hope ye who blog here because I just don't have a lot more than you could find in 4 seconds of a Google search.

Talk Like A Pirate Day began, so the legends go, in 1995, when John 'Ol Chumbucket' Baur and Mark 'Cap'n Slappy' Summers' were engaging in a friendly game of tenpins or raquetball or whatever it is pirates do and one of them yelled "Arrrgh!" in pain. A holiday was born.
Uses of Jatropha curcus a biofuel plant.

Uses of Jatropha curcus a biofuel plant.

Sep 19 2009 | comment(s)

Jatropha curcus General introduction Jatropha is bush that grows in the warm regions of the world as it is sensitive to colder climates. Once it’s planted it grows and produces nuts that contain oil within a few years, and produces these annually for up to 50 years. Climate requirement for the plant is as altitude: 0-500 meters above sea level. mild-annual temperature: 20-28 °C.annual rainfall: 300-1000 mm., or more. Jatropha has been grown in developing countries for many years it’s been used locally for production of oil that was used in local village based industries for soap production. Since the plants are toxic they have also been used to plant hedges and to keep animals out of areas of land. Botany
Nanotechnology has future in biotechnology also.

Nanotechnology has future in biotechnology also.

Sep 19 2009 | comment(s)

Nanotechnology refers to research and technology development at the atomic, molecular and macromolecular scale leading to the controlled manipulation and study of structures and devices with the length scale in the 1 to 100 nanometers range ( McNeil 2005 ). It is also defined as the interdisciplinary science involved in diagnosis, treatment, monitoring and control of biological systems ( Fortina et al., 2006 ). Nanosized materials have been investigated as the potential medicines since several decades ( Garnett and Kallinteri, 2006, Gwinn and Vallyathan, 2006 ) for many chronic diseases as well as disorders, nano medicines offers the potential and hope for a cure and promises to give improved therapy and diagnostic ( Gabriel and Silva, 2004 ).
Would you Snuggle up with a Plant?

Would you Snuggle up with a Plant?

Sep 19 2009 | comment(s)

Are plants really demonic oxygen stealing crooks that will sneak up at night and kill us all? Can plants kill you by simply respiring? This is what I want to look at with this post.



I’m sure you are all familiar with plants being removed from hospital wards at night or people (older people in particular – but not always) taking plants out of their bedroom.



Evolution of the nervous system

Evolution of the nervous system

Sep 19 2009 | comment(s)

To the list of special issues dealing with the evolution of eyes (E:EO, Phil Trans R Soc B), you can now add one on nervous systems in Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

Nature Reviews Neuroscience

Vol. 10, Oct. 2009
Piper longum Linn Dried spike is used for diseases of respiratory tract, viz. cough, bronchitis, asthma,

Piper longum Linn Dried spike is used for diseases of respiratory tract, viz. cough, bronchitis, asthma,

Sep 19 2009 | comment(s)

Scientific Name Piper longum Linn Family Piperaceae Used Part Dried spike Distribution Area A climber occurring in the hotter parts of India, from Central Himalayas to Assam, Khasi and Mikir hills, lower hills of Bengal, and evergreen forests of western ghats from Konkan to Travancore: and also from Car Nicobar Islands.
Saraca asoca (Roxb.) De Wilde true Ashok tree of Ramayana dried flowers are used in diabetes and haemorrhagic dysentery and seeds are used for treating bone fractures, stangury and vesical calculi.

Saraca asoca (Roxb.) De Wilde true Ashok tree of Ramayana dried flowers are used in diabetes and haemorrhagic dysentery and seeds are used for treating bone fractures, stangury and vesical calculi.

Sep 19 2009 | comment(s)

Scientific Name Saraca asoca (Roxb.) De Wilde syn. S. indica auct. non Linn.

Family Caesalpiniaceae (Fabaceae)

Used Part Bark.

Distribution Area It occurs almost throughout India up to an altitude of 750 m. in the central and the eastern Himalayas and the

Khasi, Garo and Lushai hills; it is also found in the Andaman Islands.
Evolutionary Biology - Home Of The Idiot Savant

Evolutionary Biology - Home Of The Idiot Savant

Sep 19 2009 | comment(s)

I’ve been putting the case for some months now, that evolutionary biology is in a deplorable state due to an uncritical acceptance of the unrealistic assumptions that lie at the heart of selfish gene theory, by those who are directing current research. (See also Gerhard Adam’s articles on Hamilton’s Rule, Selfish Gene Theory, and Biology.) Contributing biologists have responded by telling me that my fears are groundless, that biology has moved on, that the influence of selfish gene theory has waned, that I should concentrate on the current literature and not dwell on the past. So I went to the trouble of checking out the Oxford University Zoology Department’s very good selection of papers available online, that deal with current research in this area.

Slime vs. Ink

Slime vs. Ink

Sep 19 2009 | comment(s)

A Maui News article about the Hawaiian language caught my attention (okay, the attention of my google squid alert) with this sentence:
Waihee is usually translated as "octopus water," but there's a story about a man being killed by a squid who covered the area with slime.
I'm so intrigued! Was the man killed directly by slime, or did a squid, who tangentially covered the area with slime, also kill a man? What is the Hawaiian word that was translated as slime, and could it also mean ink?
Nardostachys grandiflora DC. (=N. jatamansi DC.) is traditionally used herbal CNS drug in epilepsy, hysteria, and convulsions.

Nardostachys grandiflora DC. (=N. jatamansi DC.) is traditionally used herbal CNS drug in epilepsy, hysteria, and convulsions.

Sep 19 2009 | comment(s)

Scientific Name Nardostachys grandiflora DC. (=N. jatamansi DC.) Family Valerianaceae Used Part Rhizome Distribution Area Found in the alpine Himalayas from Punjab to Sikkim and Bhutan, at altitudes of 3,000-5,000 m.
Linum usitatissimum Linn seeds heal ulcers, urinary discharges, cure leprosy in traditiona systems.

Linum usitatissimum Linn seeds heal ulcers, urinary discharges, cure leprosy in traditiona systems.

Sep 19 2009 | comment(s)

Scientific Name Linum usitatissimum Linn Family Linaceae. Used Part Seeds. Distribution Area An erect annual, herb, cultivated throughout the plains of India and up to an altitude of 1,800 m. Common Uses . The seeds heal ulcers, urinary discharges, cure leprosy,remove "Vata" and "pitta", "kapha" bad for the eyesight, lead to impotancy, used in consumption.; The leaves remove "Vata" and cough and asthma. The roasted seeds are said to be astringent. Fumigation with the smoke is recommended for colds in the head and hysteria and the tinder used to staunch haemorrhages. The seeds are used internally for gonorrhoea and irritation of the genito-urinary system. The flowers are considered as cardiotonic. The seeds are
Crossing Over: How To Use And Misuse The Fisher-Pry Curve

Crossing Over: How To Use And Misuse The Fisher-Pry Curve

Sep 19 2009 | comment(s)

The Economist reported that in early 2007, for the first time in history, more humans lived in cities than in the countryside. We are now a different species, in terms of the environmental niche we inhabit.  One thinks of Isaac Asimov’s Trantor, the planet that was completely covered by buildings.  Is Earth headed for a similar future?

2004 was the first year Amazon.com moved more dollar volume in consumer electronics than in

First Un-Manned Berthing At Harmony Of The International Space Station

First Un-Manned Berthing At Harmony Of The International Space Station

Sep 18 2009 | comment(s)

"It looks, just looks fantastic," said Nicole Stott of the "very shiny ball HTV" in the "beautiful view." The United States astronaut was looking through the windows as she spoke to Houston before she and other flight engineers, Canadian Robert Thirsk and Belgian Frank De Winne, used the station’s robotic arm to grab the spacecraft and attach it to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony node. 

The H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), launched by the H-IIB Test Flight Launch Vehicle on September 10, 2009 from the Tanegashima Space Center, was successfully berthed at the International Space Station (ISS) at at 6:26 p.m. EDT on September 18. The ingress is scheduled for 6:30-6:40 p.m. today, a day later.
Hey Adults, don't you know you can't just pray right before you die? It doesn't count!
By Ed Chen | September 18th 2009 08:35 PM | Print | E-mail
A high school student I mentor, Augustus, once brought up the matter of dying -- specifically from cancer.  "Dying of cancer is like the feeling you get when you are stuffed into a closet, except you never get out." 
The Black Forest of Equations

The Black Forest of Equations

Sep 18 2009 | comment(s)

Having returned from a Polymer Physics conference a couple of days ago, I felt the need to read one of the masters of the subject, Nobel laureate Pierre-Gilles de Gennes.   I came across this gem:

Fragile Objects: Soft Matter, Hard Science and the Thrill of Discovery by Pierre Gilles de Gennes and J. Badoz (read the link for a description).

Here I found this gem within a gem, a chapter entitled The Imperialism of Mathematics, which starts:
Supermarket bans Jedi Knight

Supermarket bans Jedi Knight

Sep 18 2009 | comment(s)

Just when you thought you've heard every discrimination story in the book, another one comes along. The most recently persecuted group? Jedi Knights.
Ghost Writer Needed!

Ghost Writer Needed!

Sep 18 2009 | comment(s)

I was notified today that within three weeks I am due to write a proceedings article for the "Physics in Collision" conference I attended in Kobe two weeks ago. The task is not too stimulating for me, given that the material it has to cover just consists in projections of the discovery reach of the Higgs boson, based on simulated data; but to add unexcitement to the whole thing, I found out that I am bound to stay within the limit of two pages of text.
Commiphora mukul(Hook. ex Stocks) Engl : Guggul has a wide range of usefulness in indigenous medicine.

Commiphora mukul(Hook. ex Stocks) Engl : Guggul has a wide range of usefulness in indigenous medicine.

Sep 18 2009 | comment(s)

Scientific Name Commiphora mukul(Hook. ex Stocks) Engl. syn. Balsamodendron mukul Hook. ex Stocks syn Commiphora wightii (Arn.)Bhandari Family Burseraceae Used Part Gum Distribution Area A small tree or shrub with spinescent branches occurring in the arid rocky tracts of Rajputana, Khandesh, Berar, Mysore, Sind, and Baluchistan.