These are not just twigs but a deep look may discover twig-like insects. They are the perfect example for camouflage.

Image Courtesy: National Geographic Society

They are called stick insects and during the day they are nearly invisible to distinguish from the sylvan backdrop they imitate to escape from predators. During night, however, sticks and leaf katydids shake off their vegetal torpor to do some feeding on leaves and forest-floor detritus.

Google Wave is a new form of communication and collaboration tool which is due for launch this September. It is yet another open-source product from the Google Team. Though, the email system is better than snail mail (postal mail), it is still considered formal and the instant messaging is considered to be informal way of communication. Google Wave waves off this barrier between the email and instant messaging by redefining the email communication system. Check the video below.

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The Japanese company, Fujifilm has announced a digital camera that can take 3D video and pictures without the need for any special glasses. It is expected to hit the British market this September. Using this innovative device, users can view their holiday snaps and videos with objects being projected outside the camera.

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Henry Markham, the director of Blue Brain project told at a TED conference in Oxford that building human brain is possible. His research team proposed that the project can be successful in a decade.

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July 22 (Wednesday), 2009 experienced the longest solar eclipse in the century with duration over 6 minutes. The next solar eclipse which can match with the present one may occur in 2132.

Check the video below.

(This video has the recording of the eclipse from Varanasi, India)

On this eve, when the whole America is celebrating its 40th anniversary of the successful moon-landing mission, I would like to decode a popular doubt regarding moon. You might know or not know the reason. Anyways, I am writing for the people who want to know.

Any planetoid object in space rotates on its own axis and if it is in the gravitational influence of some other object, it rotates around that object in an orbit apart from rotating on its own axis. So, its logical enough to ask “Why not we see the other side of the moon”. Well, the answer depends on the speed at which moon rotates around itself on its axis. Millions of years ago, the moon used to rotate on its axis at a faster rate when compared to the present day. Over the years, its speed of rotation gradually decreased and hence came into the gravitational influence of earth which made it lock to a rotational speed which equals orbital speed (the time it takes to make one revolution of earth). That is roughly 29.5 days. Check the video below. Its slightly confusing, but it is proven fact.

Another interesting fact is that, we can actually see a little more than half of the moon. This is because the orbit of moon is slightly elliptical. Hence, the rotational speed of the moon which

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Technology is ever getting better. On the occasion of 40th anniversary of moon-landing, Google gifted us a virtual holiday to moon.

Using Google Earth version 5.0, you can now land on moon virtually and explore its landscape. Check the video below,

Download Google Earth 5.0

Amazon’s new e-book reader, Kindle DX is expected to revolutionize the school learning system in America. A group of leading Democrats recently proposed to replace traditional textbooks of every public school student with an Amazon Kindle DX.

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Imagine the following scenario’s:

1. You go to the bank to withdraw money, you fill the withdraw form and sign it. Your signature is used for verification.

2. You shop using your credit card. Your photography (if any) and the signature on the card is used to authentication.

3. In many companies, employees will be given employee pass. Only the people with these pass are allowed to enter.

In all the above scenario’s, factors like signature and photograph are used for authentication purposes. The signature can easily be forged by any body and the photograph’s on these cards can be replaced with different ones. Considering these malpractices, the authentication system prevailing in India is very insecure.

Thanks to the Biometrics which can improvise the authentication methods. Using Biometrics, people can be uniquely identified taking some physical traits like fingerprint, face recognition, DNA, iris recognition, hand and palm geometry. The biometric system is already in practice in some countries like United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Australia and Canada.

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For the past few days, there is lot of noise being heard in the silicon valley with the deluge of announcements by companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft for their respective products iPhone 3GS, Google’s myTouch 3G, Bing, Google OS, Windows 7 and Office 2010. Google plays a dual role in the battle for the battle is between Google and Apple; Google and Microsoft.

Considering the smart phone wars, Google’s Android based myTouch 3G is riding high on the chariot carried by T-Mobile and aiming at the Apple’s iPhone 3G which is riding a chariot carried by AT&T.  Below is a caricature form of the cold war between the smart phones. (Please don’t laugh )

When it comes to the OS comparison or Applications, experts say iPhone OS 3.0 delivers the most enjoyable and intuitive mobile operating system with great features, but currently it does not support multitasking as it heavily affects performance and battery life.

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