Need an x-ray? Just peel the tape

“It may sound bizarre—or like some kind of high school science fair project, but it's not: Researchers have discovered that peeling adhesive tape ejects enough radiation to take an x-ray image. If they stick, the findings could set the stage for a less expensive x-ray machine that does not require electricity.”

 

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=x-ray-machine-adhesive-tape

 

 

How BRICs buy clothese

Do Indians shop differently than much of developing world?

 

Courtesy: HBS Daily Stat, McKinsey Quarterly

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Retail_Consumer_Goods/Sectors_Regions/How_half_the_world_shops_Apparel_in_Brazil_China_and_India_2075?gp=1

 

 

Cautiously Optimistic

Is it just me or have all writers decided that the best ending for literary fiction is to make it cautiously optimistic.  Whether it is The Kite Runner, Purple Hibiscus or Sea of Poppies, it seems cautiously optimistic is the way to go.  Whatever happened to the outright tragedies a la Shakespeare or simply satisfying happy endings?

 

Or is it that to cross the bridge from simply fiction to ‘literary fiction’ your story must leave you some open ends?

 

Would you like fries, and gender roles, with that?

An interesting piece talking about gender roles in fine dining experience…

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/dining/08gend.html?pagewanted=1&em

 

 

Politics of trinkets

Once upon a time, there was a company that sold books and stuff online called Amanzo. It sold billions of dollars worth of stuff. Then inevitably one day, elections were held in the land of its headquarters. It was a hotly contested election. The company decided that it should join the thousands of polling companies trying to figure out the outcome of the elections. One executive at the company realizes that they have millions of customers. Couldn't they poll them? Another adds a brilliant twist: why don't we sell Republican elephants and Democrat donkeys? Based on their sales we will know which party is going to win. The executives congratulated themselves on this brilliant plan!

The trinket selling began in earnest. The sales leaned this way and that.

But some customers realized that this is quite stupid. What this measures is how likely are repulican and democrat supporters to buy silly trinkets to display their affiliation at places of work and home. And before an executive could say 'golden parachute', a more interesting thing had happened. The customers of the company were engaged in a debate about the implications of such a "poll".