Leonhard Euler honoured by Google doodle

The mathematician introduced most modern terminology and was renowned for his work in mechanics, optics and astronomy

Leonhard Euler, the influential Swiss mathematician, has had the 306th anniversary of his birth honoured by a Google doodle. Photograph: Google

The birth of the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler has been celebrated by Google with the publishing of an interactive Google doodle.

Euler was arguably the most important mathematician of the 18th century and one of the greatest of all time. He introduced most modern mathematical terminology and notation and was also renowned for his work in mechanics, fluid dynamics, optics, and astronomy.

Euler was born in Basel on 15 April 1707. He was tutored by Johann Bernoulli, a family friend who was also Europe’s leading mathematician. When Euler’s father tried to make him become a pastor, Bernoulli persuaded him that his son had the potential to be a great mathematician.

He travelled to Russia, where he prospered until foreign intellectuals became unpopular and he moved to Berlin. When Catherine the Great succeeded to the throne, Euler returned to Russia, where he died in 1783.

#Dubai’s underwater hotel promises submersible luxury

Dubai‘s fascination with bombastic architecture has moved below sea level thanks to the announcement of The Water Discus — billed as the world’s largest underwater hotel.

With an aesthetic not too many light years removed from the Starship Enterprise and an evacuation mechanism not dissimilar to that of a cafetiere plunger in reverse, the design by Polish firm Deep Ocean Technology reveals a hotel split into two parts — one permanently above the water and the other capable of submerging to a depth of 10 metres.

The submersible part of the hotel is intended to contain 21 hotel rooms as well as an underwater diving facility and a bar. Deep Ocean Technology are also keen to point out that from this location visitors will be able to observe the minutiae of the lives of their aquatic neighbours:

“Special lighting system of the area around the room and the miniature underwater vehicles which can be operated from inside will allow you to take a closer look at even the most microscopic underwater creatures using macro photography.”

Although, that said, they are less keen on fish and fellow guests being afforded the same prurient privileges:

“We also ensure that our guests can protect their privacy whenever necessary. All rooms are sound-proof and have curtains of different levels of transparency.”

President of BIG InvestConsult AG (a Swiss firm who have partnered with Deep Ocean Technology for the project) Bogdan Gutkowski previously informed World Architecture News that The Water Discus is also intended as an environmentally conscious research centre as well as a tourism hub.

“We would like to create here in the UAE the International Environmental Program and Center of the Underwater World Protection — with Water Discus Hotel as a laboratory tool for ocean and sea environment protection and research.”

By Philippa Warr

This is what you call a Train Set!

This is the world’s biggest train set which covers 1,150 square meters (12,380 square feet), features almost six miles of track and is still not complete

Twin brothers Frederick and Gerrit Braun, 41, began work on the ‘Miniatur Wunderland‘ in 2000
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The set covers six regions including America , Switzerland , Scandinavia , Germany and the Austrian Alps

The American section features giant models of the Rocky Mountains, Everglades, Grand Canyon …

…and Mount Rushmore

The Swiss section has a mini-Matterhorn

The Scandinavian part has a 4ft long passenger ship floating in a ‘fjord’

It is expected to be finished in 2014, when the train set will cover more than 1,800 square meters (19, 376 sq ft)and feature almost 13 miles of track, by which time detailed models of parts of France, Italy and the UK will have been added

It comprises 700 trains with more than 10,000 carriages and wagons

The longest train is 46ft long

The scenery includes 900 signals, 2,800 buildings, 4,000 cars – many with illuminated headlights…

…and 160,000 individually designed figures

Thousands of kilograms of steel and wood was used to construct the scenery…

The 250,000 lights are rigged up to a system which mimics night and day by automatically turning them on and off

The whole system is controlled from a massive high-tech nerve centre

In total the set has taken 500,000 hours and more than �8 million to put together, the vast majority of which has come from ticket sales

Gerrit said: “Our idea was to build a world that men, woman, and children can be equally astonished and amazed in”

Frederik added: “Whether gambling in Las Vegas , hiking in the Alps or paddling in Norwegian fjords – in Wunderland everything is possible”The world’s biggest model train set.
TALK ABOUT YOUR SECOND CHILDHOOD—–“BOYS” AND THEIR TOYS….

Indian Diplomatic Mail Delivered after 46 years

An Indian diplomatic bag was found 46 year later at the site of Air India aircraft’s crash site in the Alps near its highest Mont Blanc peak. The ill-fated passenger jet was on Mumbai-New York flight and everyone onboard was killed.

The mountaineers climbing on the Mont Blanc found the bag on one of the glaciers, the debris of the crashed aircraft, shoes and many other belongings of the passengers were strewn nearby.

The diplomatic bag was almost intact and was handed over to police in Chamonix town in the foothills. It is really difficult to find such things in the mountains. The diplomatic mail was finally delivered to its addressee – Indian mission in Switzerland, after 46 years.

Delhi, Mumbai among Least Expensive Cities in the World

Delhi and Mumbai are one of the least expensive cities in the world suggests the latest World Cost of Living 2012 Survey. It was noted that Arab city Muscat in Oman led the list of the least expensive cities also including Dhaka, Katmandu and Karachi.

The Economist Intelligence Unit survey is conducted twice annually and compares more than 400 prices across 160 products and services and it includes food, drink, clothing, household supplies and personal care items, home rents, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs. The survey compared living costs in 130 cities and crowned Zurich as the world’s most expensive city for the first time in more than 20 years.  It is also noted that Western Europe still accounts for 24 of the most expensive cities in the top 50, with 14 hailing from Asia.

It was noted that although Asian hubs are making their presence felt at the top of the cost of living stakes, another kind is also making its presence felt at the bottom. Three of the four cheapest locations hail from the Indian subcontinent, stressing why India has been such a target of labor outsourcing, relocation and FDI over the last decade. There seems to be more structural basis, with cheap labor and land costs making India and Pakistan very attractive to those bargain hungry visitors or investors willing to be daring some of the security risks that accompany such low prices, especially in Pakistan.

The ten most expensive cities were Zurich at position one, followed by Tokyo. Geneva and Osaka Kobe followed next. Oslo and Paris ranked fifth and sixth respectively. Sydney and Melbourne were on the seventh and eighth position respectively while Singapore was on the ninth. Frankfort took the tenth position.

The survey recorded that an index swing of 34 percentage points pushed the Swiss city up 4 places compared to last year to overtake Tokyo which remains in second place. Geneva, the other Swiss city surveyed with a 30 percentage point rise in the cost of living to move up six places into joint third alongside Osaka. Japan and Switzerland both have seen strong currency movements over the last few years which have made them relatively more expensive. Especially Switzerland in the last year has seen this change where investors looking for a haven currency outside the stressed Eurozone have invested heavily in the Swiss Franc, prompting an unprecedented move by the Swiss government to peg the Swiss Franc to the Euro to keep the currency competitive.

The ten least expensive cities consisted of Muscat, Dhaka, Algiers, Kathmandu, Panama City, Jeddah, New Delhi, Tehran, Mumbai and Karachi. 

The content in the survey reports is derived from the extensive economic, financial, political and business risk analysis of over 203 countries worldwide. The cost of petrol prices in New Delhi is noted to have more than doubled in the past decade in U.S. dollar terms, while rice prices have increased almost threefold and a marginal increase is seen in the cost of a loaf of bread.

It was also recorded that the cheapest cities in the ranking are dominated by Asian and Middle Eastern cities. The latter owes, in part, to the use of price controls and the pegging of currencies to the U.S. dollar.

In India the GDP spilt in agriculture is noted to be 3.5 percent in 2012 and is expected to decrease to 3.0 percent in 2013. In the industry sector a percentage change of 4 percent is noted in 2012 and is expected to be 8 percent in 2013. In the service sector 8.8 percent in 2012 is noted and is expected to increase to 9.2 in 2013.

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Will Name Indians with Swiss Accounts in 2012: Julian Assange

The names of Indians holding Swiss bank accounts may be revealed by WikiLeaks sometime next year, its founder Julian Assange said.

Assange, who is under house arrest in the UK, said this through videoconferencing during a conference held in Delhi , that whistleblower Rudolf Elmer, who passed CDs containing information to him, is undergoing trial and it would not be proper to make disclosures at this juncture.

Asked if names of Indians holding Swiss accounts will be revealed in the coming year, he said, “yes” .
Information about such accounts “which will affect India” will be revealed in the coming year, he said.

He said since Elmer was jailed and facing legal action, he would not like to comment on the issue at the moment.
“For that reason, unfortunately , I cannot speak about information related to Swiss accounts in great detail… we must protect our people,” he added.

Assange said governments in some countries are “sucking out” data from emails and internet transactions and passing on this “economic intelligence” to companies like Wal-Mart . He made some startling revelations about “hacking” and “hijacking” of data of unsuspecting people. Assange maintained that NTRO, which he termed was India’s equivalent of National Security Agency of the US, was engaged in similar kind of surveillance under the cover of keeping track of “Islamic terror” .

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