Intriguing Stuff

  • Photo: Official Website

    Burka Avenger: Update

    In the 2 years since we reported the premiere of Pakistani animated television series Burka Avenger in TVs across the country; a great many things have happened. The show, conceptualized by local pop star Aaron Haroon when he heard of Malala Yousafzai and the Taliban’s campaign against female education in certain parts of Pakistan, has been hailed as a...

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  • Photo: Image: Scientific American

    UnExtinction Return of the Woolly Mammoth

    Issue 12

    Its still an idea, but research has begun and some progress has been made – in the field of de-extinction or, as I call it, unextinction. Sir Ian Wilmut, the creator of Dolly the sheep, the world’s first cloned animal, has proposed the resurrection of the woolly mammoth using stem cells from excellently preserved fossil specimens stored in the...

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  • Photo: bluerosemoon1017- d37d1gl/deviantART

    Mysteries of Migration: How the Albatross Can Fly FOREVER….

    Issue 22

    Albatrosses are beautiful, magnificent, majestic birds – even in English, we all know that when someone says albatross – they’re talking about something awesome. The albatross of Obama’s foreign policy, an albatross in golf, the Tu-142 ‘Albatross’ aircraft – but being their size and beauty, these creatures are amazing for another reason. They can fly 10,000 miles, or 16,000...

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  • Photo: Www.artrick-playground.com

    EARTHSCRAPER

    Issue 13

    Mexico City does not have a lot of free land. It also has a quite a few height limits – no building can be over eight floors tall. So, Esteban Suarez, co-founder of BNKR Arquitectura had this idea. They couldn’t go up, so they decided to go down instead. That is what the ‘Earthscraper’ is about. When it comes...

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  • Photo: UK Defence MInistry

    The Intrepid Prince Harry

    Issue 23

    Prince Harry, the younger brother of Prince William, grandson of the British Queen, third in line to the British throne (after Charles and William) and decorated military officer, is going to the South Pole in aid of a charity initiative. The 29 year old royal has somewhere in his upbringing decided to be different and walk a somewhat more...

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  • Photo: Latam Israel

    Cyber Gym: An Institute for Hacking

    Issue 24

    Welcome to the Cyber Gym, where we will teach you to become a top hacker, and pay you for it too. The Israel Electric Corporation, one of Israel’s largest industrial companies, has set up a state of the art hacking Institute to train employees of companies to attack cyber attacks. According to top IEC executives, it is the most...

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  • Photo: The Times of India

    Phoolwati Amma

    Issue 24

    Rani and Shweta are two 9 year olds who study at the South Delhi Municipal Corporation School in Delhi. Rani’s parents are daily wage workers and Shweta’s father is a security guard. Not from privileged background certainly. So when INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) and MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) ran a program to do...

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  • Photo: Jean Leon Gerome Ferris/US Library of Congress

    Never in 70,000 Years: Happy Thanksgiving AND Hanukkah?!

    Issue 23

    This week marked the holidays of Jewish Hannukah – a sort of Jewish version of Diwali and the American Thanksgiving – which is about family reunions and eating Turkey. Remarkably it was the first time in 125 years that both these holidays fell on the same day – November 28. This of course led to smart marketing types coming...

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  • Photo: Frenchmoments.com.au

    The Return of Asterix

    Issue 22

    For those of us who have been fans of the Asterix Comic series –it’s wonderful to learn that Asterix and Obelix are back in a new adventure after a gap of 8 years! It’s called Asterix and the Pics and is the 35th issue of the series. The Asterix Comic series about the indomitable Gauls and their resisting the...

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  • Photo: NASA TV/Discovery News

    Russia Takes the Olympic Torch On Its Maiden Space Walk

    Issue 21

    Trust the Russians to take everything to the next level – its something never done before, and something pretty cool. Before any Olympic Games, there is the torch relay – the ‘Olympic Torch’ is passed all around the host country throughout the 4 years – its always a nice thing. Sometimes countries do something new, like taking it in...

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