Aarti Singh - HAPPILY MARRIED

Marriage fascinates

me: Aarti Singh

          The bubbly, young girl Aarti Singh, who plays the elder bahu Mughdha of the kulkarni family in the new show Thod Hai Bas Thode ki Zaroorat Hai, seems to have been preparing for this role for a long time now. 

         As a kid, when Aarti used to live in Lucknow, she would dress up in her bhabhi's (sister-in-law) wedding garb whenever she would get the opportunity. "I was fascinated with the idia of getting married early. I guess that fascination has continued as I was extremely delighted when I was offered this role," says Aarti, who's quite excited about her look , where she wears the nath (nose-ring worn by married Maharashtrian somen). she sometimes even ends up going home in her Mughdha get-up after packup!

           For this role, Aarti also had to lose about fourteen kilos, which she did through some serious workouts. "Diets aren't for me! I can work out as much as possible, but I just can't give up food," says the foodie. "I love food,. I can eat anything at anytime. Usually after work, the first thing I do is scout for food." she admits. Watch Thoda Hai Bas Thoda Ki Zaroorat Hai. Monday to Friday. 7.30 pm on Colurs.

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Rambha - ANIMAL INSTINCTS

PUPPY

L O V E

           Actress Rambha, who's happily married to businessman Indran, is in namma Chennai currently, She flew down from Canada to celebrate her birthday with her family. She also wanted to be in the city to promote her up coming film Vidiyim Varai Kaathiru. When she landed up at her house, she was in for a pleasant surprise -- she was welcomed by nine Great Dane pups that were given birth to by her favourite pet dog.

         "I love dogs. Indran has four dogs in Canada and when I came home, I was happy to see that my pet great Dane here had given birth to nine puppies. They are already so tall and cute! I'm going to spend my time here training them. By the time I leave, they will become the perfect pets. The pups will stay with my family forever!" 

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Abhishek and Nikhil Dwivedi: IMPRESSED

Nikhil is in awe of

Abhishek Bachchan!

          
                 Seems like Nikhil Dwivedi can't get over Abhishek Bachchan's performance in Raavan.After working with AB Jr, he can be heard saying to all and sundry he meets, that though Mani sir and Abhishek previously have created magic in Yuva and Guru, Raavan is by far Abhishek's greatest performance. Abhi has taken the performance to a different level altogether and the intensity he exudes is quite high, too.
        Abhishek's performance and Mani's creatively charged unit were quite impressive as it helped the co-stars give their best, too. Point noted Mr. Dwivedi but then we can't help thinking, wouldn't it be better if you promoted your own career as well with the same zeal!

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Kim Kardashian: LUCKY and Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft

Kim's the next

       Lara Croft?

            Rumour has it that TV star Kim Kardashian has been offered the role of Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider franchise -- a character that made Angelina Jolie a star, Kim scored over Jolie because of the age factor Producer DanLin revealed that Jolie would not be reprising her role because film bosses wanted to cast a younger actress! Earlier, there were rumours that Megan Fox would do the film but she denied it all.

 

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HEALTH ISSUE: SHORT CUTS

SHORT CUTS


DNA sweep reveals new
autism genes


   Aconsortium of hundreds of scientists said Wednesday they had uncovered dozens of previously unknown genetic mutations that contribute to autism in children. Some of these rare DNA glitches are inherited from parents. But many, the researchers discovered, arise for the first time in the person with autism. "Tiny genetic errors may occur during formation of the parents' eggs and sperm, and these variations are copied during creation of their child's DNA," said co-author Daniel Geschwind, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, The discovery came after the researchers harnessed massive computing power spread across 60 institutes worldwide for combing through children's DNA.

Soon, shell implants that turn into bone?

    Scientists have made a significant step towards seashell-based orthopaedick implants -  which the human body could eventually convert into bone. An international team, led by Benjamin Mathewson of Victoria University, spent five years investigating sea urchin shell in order to find out how its interior is formed. It found that certain parts of the macromolecule structure were not important for controlling shell shape. This is a major finding, as it brings the scientists further down the track towards learning how to create orthopaedic implants made of shell.
  

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Health Issue: Cockroaches prefer dining as a group it seems...

Cockroaches prefer 

to dine together

          Cockroaches prefer dining as a group it seems. New research shows pesky critters cluster and remain feeding on one lump of good even if another morsel exists nearby.

          The result demonstrates that cockroaches possess a collective decision-making process previously thought to exist only in highly social species, such as ants and bees, according to the study scientists.

          But while other animals direct one another to food through complex mechanisms like pheromone trails (ants), communicative dances (bees), or vocal calls (vervet monkeys) all of which operate over a distance cockroaches seem to simply continue munching when already at the food source.

         "There is certainly no signal intentionally emitted. Instead the cockroaches seem to glean information inadvertently provied by the others," researcher Mathieu Lihoreau at Queen Mary, University of London, told live Science.

          "We should definitively pay more attention to cockroaches and other simple 'societies' as they provide researchers with good models for co-opertion and emergent properties of social life, that we could extrapolate to more sophisticated societies, like ours," Lihoreau said.

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Health Issue: Vodka's taste secret?

Vodka's taste secret? It's all chemistry

Moscow: Ever wondered why some people prefer one brand of vodka over anothe although all are colourless and tasteless? Scientists say the hgh-end liquor's popularity may rely upon its internal chemical structure.

         Theoretically, all vodka brands should have the same faint or under tectable taste as the liquor represents  a solution of 40% pure ethanol and 60% pure water. But the popularity of some premium vodka brands in recent years has puzzled scientists.

         Researchers at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio teamed up with their counterparts at Moscow State University to find out what actually increases a brand's appeal.

         The team analysed the composition of five popular vodka brands and found that each had different concentrations of certain clusters of molecules, called ethanol hydrates.

             They found that brand preference essentially translates into a preference for a certain distribution of these molecular clusters within the liquor.

         Vodka brands with a higher preparation of water molecule clusters may be perceived as watery. By contrast, other vodka brands had more cage-like clusters of ethanol molecules surrounded by water molecules, they found.

        The researchers found that vodka's 40% alcohol content strikes a balance where neither the pure water nor pure alcohol molecular clusters dominate, Instead, the cage like structures of ethanol and water represent the most common clusters by far.

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Health Issue: Radiation devices

Radiation devices to 

have overdose checks

Chicago: Makers of radiation therapy devices used in cancer treatment said on Wednesday they will add safeguards to their equipment to protect patients from accidental overdoses.

        With the new safety checks, equipment will not work unless the machines have been programmed with quality assurance treatment plans approved by a doctor or medical physicist.Machines that use focused beam radiation will not work if important accessories to position a patient are not in place, and machines will give technicians a picture of the position a patient needs get the right amount of radiation. The voluntary safeguards will be phased in over the next two years.

       In April, the US Food and Drug Administration said it had received nearly 1,200 complaints in the past decade about devices that deliver radiation treatments to cancer patients and has called on manufacturers to help improve safety. High doses of radiation can cause skin burns, cataracts and other injuries, and in extreme cases, cancer and death.

      "Radiation therapy is a crucial element in effective cancer treatment and is responsible for turning millions of patients into survivors," executive director of the industry group Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance Dave Fisher said. "By committing to additional enhanced safeguards and safety checks, radiation therapy manufacturers are doing their part to ensure accuracy and appropriateness before the patient treatment begins."

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News: Plastic can grown on trees

Future-ready: Plastic that can be grown on trees

Washington: Money sure doesn't grow on trees, but the day isn't far when gasoline, computers, and tennis shoes might actually grow on trees, all thanks to new advances in biotechnology that could allow manufacturers to produce fuel, plastics, and other chemicals from plants instead of petroleum.

       

          C&EN senior business editor Melody Voith says today's plant-based fuels and plastics involve growing crops and then using physical and chemical means to extract sugars that manufacturers transform into the desi8red product.

          However, a large number of plant biotechnology companies are trying to make plants do more of the manufacturing work. For example, several firms are trying to develop specially engineered plants, such as switch grass and corn, that make it easier and faster to produce biofuels.

          The development could potentially lower the cost of renewable fuels, says Voith. But producing chemical factories from plants will involve challenges; Farmers will need to gamble on new, risky crops planted over large areas. It is also unclear how processors will collect and efficiently transport these plant products.

         Research and development of new plant traits is moving at a brisk pace in several bio tech labs, says Voith.  

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Health Issue: Smart undies to tell vital tales...

Smart undies to tell vital tales, save lives

Electronic Biosensors Printed on Waistband Can Measure BP, Heart Rate & Blood Alcohol Levels

San Diego: A team of US scientists has designed some new men's briefs that may be comfortable, durable and even stylish but, unlike most underpants, may be able to save livfes.

         Printed on the waistband and in constant contact with the skin is an electronic biosensor, designed to measure blood pressure, heart rate and other vital signs. 

        The technology, developed by nano-engineering professor Joseph Wang of University of California San Diego and his team, breaks new ground in the field of intelligent textiles and is part of shift in focus in health care from hospital-based treatment to home based management.

        The method is similar to conventional screen-printing although the ink contains carbon electrodes.The project is being funded by the US military with American troops likely to be the first recipients.

        "This specific project involves monitoring the injury of soldiers during battlefield surgery and the goal is to develop minimally invasive sensors that can locate. in the field, and identify the type of injury," Wang said.

         Ultimately, the biosensor that detects an injury will also be able to direct the release of drugs to relieve pain and even treat the wound. But, the technology's range of application goes beyond the military.

         "We envision all the trend of personalized medicine for remote monitoring of the elderly at home, monitoring a wide range of biomedical markers, like cardiac markers, alerting for any potential stroke, diabetic changes and other changes related to other biomedical scenario," said Wang.

         Wearable biosensors can also provide valuable information to athletes or even measure blood alcohol levels. But Wang said it could be some time before these smart underpants are worn by soldiers in the field as more work is needed to ensure these monitoring systems are robust and durable enough to cope with the wearer's daily activity.

         However, he said there are growing needs for developing reliable, wearable health care monitoring systems.

          "While clothing-integrated electrochemical sensors hold considerable promise for future health care, military or sport applications, such non-invasive textile-based sensing requires proper attention to key challenges of sample delivery to the electrode surface and of sensor calibration and interconncetion," Wang's team said in a report published in The Royal Society of Chemistry journal.   

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Lara Dutta and Mahesh Bhupati : SPEAKING OUT and LOVE GAME

TRUE LIES?

            Well, now the pretty Lara Dutta and her good friend Mahish Bhupati are traipsing the globe. They turned up at a recent awards ceremony in Colombo last week.

           Anyway, even as they play their own "good friends" game with the paparazzi, Shvetha Jaishankar. Mahesh's ex-wife, has gone on record to magazine saying something direct like Lara started seeing.

          Mahesh when she was still married to him. Till September-October 2009, Shvetha Bhupati was issuing innocuous press statements like, "Mahesh and I have shared a life together and as we part ways, I wish him all the best for his future."

           Must say, Shvetha took her own time to wake up. Wonder who got her goat now?

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Manisha Koirala - CELEBRATION TIME

Wedding in the jungle

         Manisha Koirala's wedding in Kathmandu is a three day affair. And it promises to be classy and different. The venue is a resort in Gokarna forest, the abode of Lord Shiva.

         Guests arriving at the Tribhuvan International Airport from across the globe will be whisked off in private cars to the forest where they will witness the engagement ceremony on June 18.

          On the next day, the nuptials will take place in the same location. And on June 20, the groom, Samrat Dehal, and the gride, Manisha, will host a lavish reception at a five-star location in Kathmandu.

         It is rumoured that some big stars from the south (Oh yes, the Indian girl is doing Mappilai and Eledtra in Tamil and Malayalam!) may also join the Mumbai bandwagon.

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Halle Berry - BY MYSELF

Halle spends quality 

time with herself

         Former Bond girl Halle Berry, who recently split from her boyfriend Gabriel Aubry, is taking life pretty well, spending some quality time with herself and doing things that the likes rather than sulking over a bitter relationship gone awry.

         Recently, she was spotted having a good time with her daughter as the kid was learning how to ride a pony. "she went mad clicking pictures of the tot enjoying herself," said an on-looker.

        Another day she was spotted shopping for potted plants. The star looked cool and relaxed as she picked up a fuschia plant.

        The 43-year-old star is also planning to launch another perfume based on her favourite bloom, the mimosa. She already has two highly lucrative fragrances out in the market.

 

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