2015 - February: Interesting Articles & Links

* Nirupama Rao's recco -- Canteloube - "Bailero" sung by Patricia Rozario -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSqSznrgaSU&feature=youtu.be

* Bill Gates on the Future of Diseases -- http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/25/8103759/bill-gates-interview-hiv-malaria-vaccine-future-disease
- River Blindness - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onchocerciasis

* WSJ Insiders guide to Delhi -- http://www.wsj.com/articles/insiders-guide-to-delhi-india-1424983405

* (2015, Feb26 - Guardian) -- Black rats wre not the primary caus of the Great Plague of 1347


* (2015 Feb24 - Hindu) - From the first human genome, to a "great library of life" -- http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/from-the-first-human-genome-to-a-great-library-of-life/article6927137.ece
- Lecture at AIIMS by Eric  Lander, leader of the Human Genome Project
- Cost of sequencing - mapping a single genome (as part of HGP 1990-2003) cost $3billion, today it costs $3000
- Global Alliance for Genomics and Health - 246 organisations; 28 countries

* (2015, Feb24, BS) - Waiting for PMs word on GM - On #GMcrops #India - "Regrettably, the sane and well-founded counsel of the scientific community is being largely disregarded." -- http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/surinder-sud-waiting-for-the-pm-s-word-on-gm-115022301250_1.html
* (2015, Feb24, BL) - Dangerous Experiments - closure of Astra Zeneca lab, Blr


* Raghuram Rajan on India's Political Economy -- http://scroll.in/article/708502/Full-text:-Invoking-Hitler,-Raghuram-Rajan-warns:-A-strong-govt-may-not-move-in-the-right-direction

* Cool devices -- http://www.wsj.com/articles/interstellar-visual-effects-supervisor-paul-franklins-favorite-gadgets-1424372907
- Digital silence -- Digital Silence DS-101A

* The science of cool design -- http://www.fastcodesign.com/3032932/evidence/the-science-of-cool

* Caravan -- Why India's approach to regulating GM crops is a cause for concern -- http://www.caravanmagazine.in/vantage/why-indias-approach-regulating-gm-crops-cause-concern

* Superbugs -- http://www.livemint.com/Politics/TIs8kQgktJRd6aRi9XLGlO/Superbug-spread-reveals-thin-pipeline-of-newest-antibiotics.html
- Some 16 new antibiotics were approved from 1983 to 1987, but the rate of new drugs coming to market has fallen since then. From 2008 to 2012, just two were approved, according to a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
- While drugmakers charge more than $100,000 for the latest cancer treatments, antibiotics command far less. Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc., an antibiotic developer bought by Merck & Co. for $8.4b this year, charges between $2,000 and $4,500 for its therapies.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that each year at least 2 million people are infected with antibiotic-resistant bugs in the US.


* Drone attack in graphics -- https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/02/can-bacteria-affect-our-dna/

* CSS Puns -- http://saijogeorge.com/css-puns/

* Rema on H1N1 Swine Flu -- http://devdutt.com/articles/indian-mythology/celebrating-shivas-holy-night.html
- (2010, ET) -- Did WHO experts fuel swine-flu scare? -- http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-01-13/news/28405023_1_vaccine-manufacturers-arnold-monto-sage

* On Sivaratri - Devdatt Pattnaik -- http://devdutt.com/articles/indian-mythology/celebrating-shivas-holy-night.html

* Mothers - photography -- http://www.jadebeall.com/#!/index/G0000Wm35big.yVE

* What makes You -- http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/12/what-makes-you-you.html

* EMOTIV - story of a bioinformatics co founder - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2951852/My-mother-said-captured-pirates-drink-Incredible-story-multimillionaire-CEO-started-life-four-year-old-refugee-fleeing-Vietnam-vial-poison.html

* Obama's pharma deal in India -- http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-editorials/obama-versus-obamacare-acting-at-big-pharmas-behest-us-president-hurts-india-others-and-his-own-legacy/

* Idioms - http://blog.ted.com/2015/01/20/40-idioms-that-cant-be-translated-literally/

* Japan's Debt - http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-10/how-japan-borrows-9-trillion-practically-for-free

* Pronouncing place names correctly -- http://designtaxi.com/news/372514/Useful-Guide-Shows-How-To-Pronounce-The-Tricky-Names-Of-32-Places-Correctly/

* Testosterone Check- http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21642000-promiscuity-and-fidelity-seem-be-specific-biological-adaptations-their
- The other was of 1,300 people who had had the lengths of their index and ring fingers measured. The ratio of these lengths indicates the effect on an individual of exposure to testosterone in the womb. (A long ring finger compared to the index finger means a big effect.) This ratio corresponds, throughout the primates as a group, to the amount of promiscuity found in a species’s mating system.

* Delhi Elections - the funny side - http://www.newslaundry.com/2015/02/10/the-funny-side-of-delhi-elections/
* Election Tweets - funny - http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/02/10/modi-invites-kejriwal-for_n_6649978.html
* Kerjiwal documentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3l3RKEBC0M

* 12 Cognnitive Biases -- http://io9.com/5974468/the-most-common-cognitive-biases-that-prevent-you-from-being-rational

* "Encouraged flattery and chamchagiri" - @Ram_Guha takes a dim view of #Indian leaders who set a poor example http://www.ndtv.com/opinion/the-staggering-vanity-of-indias-powerful-737618

* Memory - http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/idea-happened-memory-recollection?intcid=mod-latest

* Farmers, migrant workers - http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-02-04/how-produce-aisle-looks-migrant-farmworker

* Bengal Famine - http://yourstory.com/2014/08/bengal-famine-genocide/

* India -- 28 Reasons Why You Should Never Ever Visit India -- http://www.buzzfeed.com/andreborges/

* Catepillar - Snake Mimicry - http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/nature/post/caterpillar-appears-snake-camouflage/

* #Polio - how a #Vaccine programe carried on despite "“one of the worst pharmaceutical disasters in U.S. history” - http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/ike-trusted-new-vaccine