The InterPlanetary Internet – Redefining Ubiquity

Merriam Webster defines the term “ubiquity” as something that is “present everywhere or in many places simultaneously“, in other words its a synonym for omnipresence. However, how exactly would you define the range of omnipresence: is it confined to a city, a state, a country or perhaps the whole world. The internet is said to be ubiquitous because it can be accessed from virtually any part of the world, God is said to be omnipresent because he too is supposedly present at every spot on the planet. As no known humans have really set foot on any other planet in the universe, it is safe to assume that anything that is omnipresent is present throughout the world.

Well, think again, because if Vint Cerf and Adrian Hooke have their way you could soon be reading DelhiPlanet from your capsule on the moon or at your hotel on mars. Vinton Gray Cerf an American computer scientist who is commonly referred to as one of the “founding fathers of the Internet“, these days is deep into a project to move the Net into outer space, a project known as The InterPlanetary Internet.

The Interplanetary Internet(IPN), as presently conceived, is a set of floating nodes in space which can communicate with each other. Because of the large speed of light delays involved with interplanetary distances, the IPN needs a new set of protocols and technology that are tolerant to large delays. Cerf, is closely involved with a small team of engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to create a wireless communications network that would let all space-based machines and – eventually – astronauts talk to one another. For example, rovers confined to a planet’s surface could use a common standard to exchange data with spacecraft from other missions whizzing by. IPN calls for space probes and satellites to serve as Net gateways, conveying data packets to and from Earth and among themselves.

And that’s not all, Cerf even envisions that this interplanetary backbone would plugin into our own terrestrial Net. Students would be able to log on to watch a webcam-equipped rover tour the Martian landscape while Astronauts could send and receive email and download music or movies. The internet would then, exist not only on earth but in space as well, thus becoming truly ubiquitous.

So while Vint Cerf and his team go about creating a truly out of this world system, we can start thinking on the kind of content that would power our .mars domain, because we wouldn’t want to annoy the little green men there or as some other people envision it Martian Manhunters who are by no stretch of imagination little.

Tags: space, internet, planets, mars, moon, web, cerf, google, ICANN, .com

The Earth’s Yellow Sun: The Source To SuperPower

There’s something magical and wonderous about the Earth’s Sun, or to be more specific the earth’s yellow sun(as it is still at a young stage of it’s life). Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total spectrum of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. The existence of nearly all life on earth is fueled by light from the sun. The fossil fuels that literally power all our needs today, are also the remnants of ancient plant and animal matter, formed using energy from sunlight and then trapped within the earth for millions of years. With each passing day our energy needs increase dramatically and the huge reserve of fossil fuels created from an extremely slow and natural process is bound to runout sometime soon. Add to that it’s harmful effects which have led to global warming and climate variations and it’s understood that we need to find alternative sources of energy fast, while also cutting down on our fossil fuel energy consumption. Recent events like The Live Earth Concert, did help spread awareness in this regard but there is still a lot to be done.

In the modern era, the greatest exponent of Superpower known to most people is the fictional comic book character Superman. Much of Superman’s power comes from the Earth’s yellow sun. His cells are like living photovoltaic, or solar, cells — they can store the energy from sunlight. Inside a photovoltaic cell, light comes into contact with a semiconductor, like silicon. The light’s energy releases electrons from the silicon, and an electric field forces them to flow in one direction. In this way, a solar cell produces electricity. So the secret to superman’s power is the earth’s yellow sun and nothing else. Back on his home planet Krypton, superman is just as normal as any other human.

Just like superman, the secret to solving the energy crisis on earth is to tap the unlimited potential of the Sun. In the past few years many individuals and organizations have been working on this front and have in the process created some remarkable products that make good use of solar energy. DelhiPlanet takes a look at a few such intiatives:

Mighty Light

Probably the inventors of this product are big superman fans as well, cause this product is as mighty as the Man Of Steel himself. Mightylight, a product of Cosmos Ignite Innovations Pvt. Ltd is a water-proof, shock-proof, highly durable, Super Bright, Energy Efficient 1 Watt White LED Lamp that is completely solar powered. Mightylight can be used as a flashlight, reading lamp or ceiling fixture. It is capable of holding an eight-hour charge and is designed to last 100,000 hours. The light sells for $45 per piece and has been used very effectively in poor and disaster affected places.

Cosmos Ignite, the brain child of Amit Chugh and Matthew Scott is an Indo-US Joint Venture in “Social Entrepreneurship” between a team of young entrepreneurs from India & Stanford University USA, with the Vision of “Empowering lives through innovative products”. The company has so far sold thousands of lights in countries like India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Rwanda, South Africa and Panama. Products like MightyLight prove that is possible to use solar energy to meet our energy requirements. Large scale solar power plants, that are capable of meeting the energy requirements of the developed cities is what is the need of the hour.

The Solar Bottle

The sleekly designed Solar Bottle winner of the 2007 INDEX award uses simple solar technology to purify dirty drinking water and prevent water-born diseases. Designed by Italian designers Alberto Medo and Francisco Gomez Paz the Solar Bottle design builds off of the SODIS (Solar Water Disinfection) process. Developed by the Department of Water and Sanitation at the Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Research, SODIS works with the sun to allow UV-A radiation and increased temperature to destroy pathogenic microorganisms in drinking water.

The process of purification takes a minimum of six hours and depends on the intensity of the solar radiation. This product again is very useful for people in under-developed nations as it is very economical and environmental friendly, although the technology can be extended so that it is used on a mass, commercial scale. The solar bottle can hold upto 4 liters of water and can be easily arranged back-to-back for carry.

So while it is not possible for us to become a “super-ability superman“, we can surely power our lives with the very source that powers him, sunlight.

Tags: solar, bottle, cosmosignite, sun, superman, kyoto, energy, conserve, fossils, light

The Easy Way To Drive Safe

Ever felt like sleeping while stuck in a traffic jam or while moving along at a snail’s pace on a congested road(one of the highlights of Delhi Roads). Sometimes at the end of long, hard day it’s a temptation that’s tough to resist. But then you surely don’t wanna end up in trouble. So how do you ensure a safe drive back home. Well if a survey of 1,780 people conducted by researchers from the University of Sheffield is anything to go by, then all you need to do is sing while you drive. Apparently motorists who enjoy a singalong while driving tend to concentrate more and fall asleep less than their silent counterparts.

Study author Dr. Nicola Dibben, a music psychologist from the University of Sheffield, told the Eastern Daily Press that music is more effective than silence, conversation, or talk radio for achieving optimum alertness. “Singing while driving stimulates not only the mind but also the body which, in turn, produces heightened alertness and reduced fatigue” (Source).

However, drivers should avoid overly rousing tunes or complex rhythms which can divert attention away from the road. So if you’re a rock enthusiast then try to avoid singing any high-pitched, high energy songs unless you wanna end up numb.

Tags: music, sing, drive,safe, car, rock, complex, danger

P.S: If you’re not a music buff but still wanna drive safe then checkout Health.com’s list of 10 driveby songs here.

Delhi Planet Weekends – Laws That Create Emotions

Did you know that in Switzerland it is illegal to flush the toilet after 10 P.M. if you live in an apartment and a man may not relieve himself while standing up, after 10 P.M. Startling isn’t it. Well, things aren’t any better in Israel where picking your nose on Saturday is forbidden, now that’s a weird law alright. In the Australian state of victoria it is illegal to wear hot pink pants after mid-day sunday, now what kind of emotion does that create in your mind.

These laws are just the tip of the iceberg, there are thousands of other laws like these(but you can view the top 25 here ) and the various states of the U.S.A astonishingly contribute to more than half of them. So although we don’t realise it, the world that we live in is actually very strange and at times, quite difficult to comprehend. So what are the different kinds of emotions that you would go through if you were to look up all these strange laws. Startling, Funny, Illogical and Weird is what we could come up with, and that’s how we have categorized them. So here you go:

Startling

• In California, USA it is illegal to set a mousetrap without a hunting license (wonder what the animal right activists would say to that).
• In the city of Blythe, California a person must own at least two cows before he is permitted to wear cowboy boots in public.
• In Hong Kong, a betrayed wife is legally allowed to kill her adulterous husband, but may only do so with her bare hands.
• In San Salvador, drunk drivers can be punished by death before a firing squad.
• In the city of York,England it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow.

Funny

• In the English city of Liverpool it is illegal for a woman to be topless in public except as a clerk in a tropical fish store. Hmm, so what really is the favorite food of men in liverpool.
• In the Mohave County of Arizona anyone caught stealing a soap, must wash himself with it, until it’s all used up. (that’ll make sure that the guy never uses soap again.)
• In Los Angeles, California, if robbing a bank, shooting at the teller with a water gun is prohibited.
• In Australia it is illegal to dress up as batman. Now that’s a big let down for all comic book fans. Hopefully dressing up as Superman is legal.
• In Israel, if you have been maintaining an illegal radio station for five or more years, the station becomes legal.

Weird

• In Arkansas, a man has a legal right to beat his wife, but only once a month.(so what’s the legal right of the wife, the rest of the 29 days)
• In Los Angeles, California you cannot bathe two babies in the same tub at the same time.
• In Florida, unmarried women who parachute on Sundays can be jailed.
• In Boston,Massachusetts it is Illegal to take a bath unless one has been ordered by a physician to do so (now that’s really weird and smelly law).

Illogical

• In Bahrain, a male doctor may legally examine a woman’s genitals, but is forbidden from looking directly at them during the examination. He may only see their reflection in a mirror. Given the highly conservative culture in this city especially towards women, you might think that the law isn’t so illogical. The interesting part however is that in bahrain, women cannot become doctors.
• And finally, in Delhi, the Indian Capital city girls and boys have the right to vote as soon as they turn 18. While a girl can legally get married at age 18, guys can get married at age 21. However it is a legal offence to consume or purchase alcohol before you turn 25. No, it’s not because they can’t afford it before they start earning, it’s because the government hasn’t updated it’s laws for more than 9 decades now. And that essentially is the problem with all the places in the world that have these strange laws.

So the next time you wanna take revenge on your enemy or someone you dislike just send the person on a holiday to Boston,MA and then make sure to call the police when he’s taking a bath.

Branson Scripts The Indian Space Odyssey : 2010 A.D

Remember 2001: A Space Odyssey, the best selling novel by Arthur C Clarke which was also made into a movie by Stanley Kubrick. The novel which was written more than 4 decades back visualized a time when space travel would have become as common as todays air travel and computers would have evolved to become wiser than man himself. Well, all this may not have been true in Anno Domini 2001, but would be very close to reality around 2010-2011.

If maverick businessman and enterpernuer Richard Branson has his way, space travel would be an option available to most people around the world if they can afford it. Space, the final frontier, will soon be a short flight away — at a cost of Rs 80 lakh. British aviation baron Richard Branson-backed Virgin Galactic (VG), that’s planning regular sub-orbital space flights from 2009-end, announced during its India launch on Tuesday. The flights are most likely to take off from VG’s “Spaceport America” near New Mexico, which will be the world’s first commercial spaceport. (News Source)

While the Rs 80 lakh($ 200,000 ) price tag seems to be a huge amount for the average Indian, the rich and super rich classes certainly won’t mind spending the dough in exchange for a 45 minute trip to space, 6 minutes of weightlessness and a 3 day stay at the spaceport all of which is a part of the package. Interestingly it would be the Branson family which would inaugrate the first flight expected in end-2009 or early 2010, as it would have Branson and his two children as astronauts. And if you thought that all of this is still just a plan, then think again. Virgin Galactic’s exclusive accredited space agent, Deluxe Travels Europe Ltd, has already tied up with India’s G D Goenka Tourism Corp to form a new company, Spazio Travels.

So if you always dreamt of a holiday in space, then better start saving up cause it won’t be long before your dream becomes a distinct reality.

Tags: space, travel, virgin, galactic, spazio, india, money, odyssey,2001, 2010

Catch These Flicks As ’007 Ends

The year 2007 better known as year the ’007, was expected to be a good year for Bollywood. Like every new year there was a lot of expectation from the industry to deliver good quality movies which would entertain the masses. Unfortunately just like the Indian cricket team, this hope has so far not brought any results. The year started off with a big budget multi starrer, nikhi advani’s Salaam-E-Ishq which proved to be just average. Thereafter movies like Eklavya-The Royal Guard(India’s Entry To The Oscars), Nishabd and Ta Ra Rum Pum with their unique storylines and good star casts were expected to do well but they didn’t really leave the audience with a lasting impression.

Hollywood on the other hand churned out one hit after another with movies like 300, Spiderman 3 and Die Hard-4. Bollywood eventually got it’s first major superhit that was greatly enjoyed by people all over the country with Chak De India. Just like Rang De Basanti and Lage Raho Munnabhai the movie soon became the talking point everywhere and became the unofficial anthem for all Indian Sports. It also brought on a spiralling effect on the Indian sportsmen who started winning every game they played (A few months after it’s release India won the Nehru Cup in Football, the Asia Cup in Hockey and the Twenty20 World Cup in cricket).

Will 2007 end on a good note for Bollywood? Looking at the line up of movies slated for release over the next few months, one certainly hopes so. There are atleast 4 big banner, big budget movies lined up for release over the next 2 months. DelhiPlanet checks out the flicks that you should catch as 2007 ends and 2008 begins.

Saawariya/Om Shanti Om

Expected Release Date: 9^th November

The first day after Diwali would see the release of 2 big banner, big budget, star powered movies namely Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om(Starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in the lead roles) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya(Starring Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor in the lead roles). While Saawariya would be the launch pad for Ranbir and Sonam, OSO would be the launch pad for Supermodel Deepika. Adding spice to the characters in the lead role would be some big names who would play the supporting roles. Saawariya stars Salman Khan and Rani Mukherjee in supporting roles, while Om Shanti Om is full of special appearances by many stars including a song sequence which has a mind boggling 31 mainstream bollywood actors/actresses.

Aaja Nachle

Expected Release Date: 30^th November

Yash Raj Films Aaja Nachle marks the return of the erstwhile Queen Of Bollywood Madhuri Dixit. Madhuri is back after a hiatus of more than 6 years, in which she got married and now has 2 kids as well. The fate of Aaja Nachle would determine whether married actresses have the potential to attract crowds, as all Bollywood actresses loose their star power once they get married. This is due to the fact that Indian Males no longer feel attracted to their movies and in some way feel cheated. Blame it on human psychology but married actresses have never worked too well in bollywood.

Taare Zameen Par

Expected Release Date: 21^st December

Taare Zameen Par marks the debut of India’s finest actor Aamir Khan as director. Aamir not only stars in the film but has also produced and directed it. Like most aamir khan movies this film too carries a social message as it is based on dyslexic children. In the past few years aamir has churned out brillant movies that have become major hits. Also unlike most bollywood actors, directors, producers all his movies carry a message for the masses and literally hits the hearts of the viewers. Indian cinema would certainly be in much better shape, if there were more people who thought and worked like aamir.

Jodhaa Akbar

Expected Release Date: 25^th January, 2008

The year 2008 would begin with the release of another mega film starring the Indian superhero Hrithik Roshan and the newly married Aishwarya Bachchan. Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar has already garnered a lot of publicity and is certain to get a mega opening.

So after a long lull of lack of good quality movies, bollywood seems to be coming back to give it’s viewers something to look forward to in the festive season. And if you’re someone who needs to read that review before making up your mind then stay tuned to DelhiPlanet. We’ll make sure you get your movie reviews as soon as they come out.

Tags: movies, bollywood, hollywood, madhuri, shahrukh, salman, aamir, hrithik, aishwarya, akbar, jodhaa, saawariya

Nadi Astrology – Opening The Leaf To Your Future

Can you believe that someone in Tamil Nadu at Vaithiswarankoil (290 kms from Chennai) keeps the records of your past, present and future. No way, is what you might think but the truth is quite different and very shocking. In reality everything about you has been written and recorded centuries ago by great sages on palm leaves. By just using your thumb impression it is possible to tell everything about you, your parents, your siblings and your future. Welcome to the world of Nadi Astrology, where only the facts are stated and nothing is predicted.

Nadi is an ancient astrology, which has been composed by great Maharishis (sages) of India in the past using their spiritual powers. Pleased with their fervent prayer and dedicated devotion, Lord Shiva bestowed on them this amazing skill, which is a kind of sixth sense extra sensory perception. With the help of this incredible clarivoyance the sages created records of your past, present and future on palm leaves, which fortunately are still intact even today. These records are however not available for the total population of the world, the sages created the records for only those people who are destined to know about them. These choosen souls are involuntarily attracted to read the leaves by force of circumstance or under compulsion or by severe curiosity about oneself. The language inscribed on these palm leaves is in old poetic tamil(as shown in the picture above. It looks like some kind of scribbling to a layman, but in reality contains the future of your life) and is understandable to very few who are well versed in the art of naadi reading.

Surely there must be several questions running through your mind now. What kind of process is followed by the nadi institute to get to your leaf, is probably one question you must be thinking of. After all how do they find everything about me and my family by just taking my thumb print. Is the process scientific(Read Scientific Proof of Nadi Predictions) or are you just really lucky to find your future(doesn’t explain how thousands of people have found their facts). Well, the process is somewhat like this:

1. First your thumb print(right hand thumb for males and left hand thumb for females) is taken on a piece of paper. Every thumb impression can be classified into a particular category and the leafs are categorized in bundles based on the thumb imprint categories.
2. For a particular thumb impression there could be several bundles each containing many leafs with the future of various individuals. Once the bundle matching your thumb imprint is found, the naadi reader takes you into closed discussion and proceeds to read each leaf present in the bundle.
3. The leaf reader has no knowledge of any of your details, he only reads out only what is written on the leaf as he has been trained to understand that language. The reader would one by one take up several leafs asking you to verify basic facts like your date of birth, your fathers name, your mothers name, their occupation, your current occupation etc. These facts would just be told to you and not asked from you, you just need to reply in yes/no. If you’re lucky you would get the leaf where everything that is written would match and answers to all the questions would be yes.
4. It may also be that your leaf is not found, in which case they search the records at the main center in Tamil Nadu(The main center has branches all over India, allowing people all over the country to use this facility. Only certain number of scrolls are kept at each center, while the main center has a much bigger collection.)
5. Normally, each side of the leaf would have information about one person. So a single leaf would have information on 2 people, however in very rare cases a whole leaf would have information about a single person. The naadi center hands over the leaf to you if you fall into this rare category. Sounds too startling to believe but it is absolutely true, and there have been a few cases like these.
6. The most amazing part of this process is that even though the helpers at the naadi centers spend several hours trying to locate your leaf, they do not charge anything for their services if your leaf is not found. One needs to pay a minimal amount only after your leaf has been found it’s content recorded in the original tamil form in a notebook and translated into either hindi or english by a translator. The words of the translator are also recorded on an audio cassette which one is allowed take back along with the notebook.

Sure there are still gonna be a lot of questions in your mind. Most of us tend to think scientifically and science has no explanation for miracles and superpowers, so many of you reading this would have a strong resistance in believing what is written above. Well, you are most welcome to experience this for yourself. The fact is that your entire life including your name, the family that you would be born into, your date of birth, place of birth have all been decided beforehand. Therefore even your future is pre-planned, although it’s your freewill that has the power to change a few things.

(We have received an overwhelming response to this article and have therefore published it again with more information and answers to some questions. Please check it out here)

Note: Content in the above article is based on true facts and personal experiences. India has been home to several mystical and divine sciences many of which are not known to the world. Nadi Astrology happens to be one such science.

DP Money Watch – Facor Steel, Catch It Now

Facor Steel, a company still in its infancy being just 4 years old, is already beginning to look like a Stainless Steel (SS ) major. Facor Steel is a speciality steel long products manufacturer, having a highly sophisticated state of the Art plant. SS Long products cater to automobile, railways,defence and engineering sectors. Its products include SS, Alloy steel,Valve steel, Carbon manganese steel,Silico manganese steel etc. They are exported to several European countries, USA and the Middle East.

Presently the company has capacities of 60,000 MTPA of quality alloy steel and Stainless Steel with 2 rolling mills having a capacity of 80,000 MTPA. The company has decided to expand its SS capacity by 500,000 MT, and also set up a 250 MW coal based power plant costing Rs. 2500 crores

Company’s financials are showing a marked improvement YOY with a top line growth in excess of 25% .(See below for details)

Type UnAudited UnAudited Date Begin 01 Apr 06 01 Apr 05 Date End 31 Mar 07 31 Mar 06 Description Value(Rs. million) Net Sales 4204.14 3311.01 Other Income 65.03 66.28 Total Income 4269.18 3377.29 Expenditure -4114.8 -3245.82 Operating Profit 154.38 131.47 Interest -59.01 -48.54 Gross Profit 95.37 82.93 Depreciation -31.43 -31.68 Profit before Tax 63.94 51.25 Tax -11.84 -4.26 Profit after Tax 52.11 46.99 Net Profit 52.11 46.99 Equity Capital 206.52 206.78 EPS 0.25 0.23 Nos. of Shares – Non Promoters 10040942 9054021 Percent of Shares – Non Promoters 4.86 4.3 Result Type A A

Financials reproduced from BseIndia

With an equity capital of Rs. 20.6 crores divided into 20.6 crore shares of Re.1 FV, the market capitalisation of the company is just about Rs. 93 crores at CMP of Rs. 4.5 .With a 9 fold expansion in SS capacities and 250 MW coal based power plant, an exponential growth is expected in the next 3 years. Even for FY-08 the company is expected to have a turnover of Rs 500 crores+ with PAT of Rs. 8+ crores and EPS of 0.4. Thus the share appears to be good long term value buy.

Buy is recommended at CMP of Rs. 4.5 with 3 years HOLD to get maximum returns.

This report has been prepared solely for information purposes and the information contained herein may not be deemed to be an investment advice. Such information is impersonal and not tailored to the investment needs of any specific person. The information contained herein is not a complete analysis of every material fact representing any company, industry or security. The views expressed may change. While the information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, no responsibility (or liability) is accepted for the accuracy of its contents. Investors are advised to satisfy themselves before making any investments and should consult with and rely upon their own advisors whether and how to use such information in making any investment decision.

Tags: steel, stainless, facor, europe, stocks, equity, buy

Delhi Planet Weekends – Vacation Spots For the Technosexual Man

“A carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken, bat or snake” . Yuck, is probably the first word that comes to your mind after you’ve read the definition above. Well, as disgusting as the description seems, it just happens to be one of the explanations for the word geek.

In daily life however the word geek refers to a highly intelligent and capable person who lacks social skills. Such people usually keep to themselves and have very few friends. They utilize most of their time reading or doing some brain intensive activity, which tends to give them an edge over others. In the 21st century however, no one really wants to be a geek. Now that the internet has become a very intrinsic part of our life, even the geeks have chucked away their books and have gone in for a digital transformation. A transformation that has created a new species called “The Technosexual Man“.

The technosexual man (woman currently lag behind in this race), is a smart,successful, intelligent person with a strong aesthetic sense and a love of gadgets. This term which was first promoted by creative professional Ricky Montalvo combines the term “technophile” and “metrosexual“, and refers to a straight man who is in touch with his feminine side but has fondness for electronics such as cell phones, PDAs, computers, software, and the web.

So what are the places that a technosexual man or 21^st century geek would like to visit. DelhiPlanet checks out 4 such places:

CERN

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, commonly known as CERN is the world’s largest particle physics laboratory, situated just northwest of Geneva on the border between France and Switzerland. Its main function is to provide the particle accelerators and other infrastructure needed for high-energy physics research however the word WWW(World Wide Web) was also born here. The World Wide Web began as a CERN project called ENQUIRE, and was initiated by Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau in 1990 (See here).

At CERN one can watch artisanal physicists actually make their own antimatter. You can also peer into the Large Hadron Collider — which is 17 miles of super conducting magnets!. If you really wanna visit CERN then book your trip least four months in advance, or else you’ll be left out in the cold.

Mauna Kea Observatory

The Observatories at Mauna Kea are an independent collection of the world’s premier astronomical research facilities, located on the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawai’i, USA. The facilities are located in a 500-acre special land use zone known as the “Astronomy Precinct,” which is located in the Mauna Kea Science Reserve. Mauna Kea is both a sacred and historical site in the Hawaiian culture and one of the most important land-based astronomy sites in the world. The location is ideal because of its dark skies, good astronomical seeing, low humidity, clean air, good weather and almost equatorial location. The University of Hawai’i manages the site and leases land to several multi-national facilities which have invested more than $2 billion dollars in science and technology. The Astronomy Precinct is located on land protected by the Historical Preservation Act for its significance to Hawaiian culture.

So if you thought that hawaii was just about sunny beaches then you were mistaken. At mauna kea one can stop at the visitors center, where you can view sunspots during daylight hours. The observatory is at an altitude of nearly 14,000 feet, and gets really cold after dark, although you’ll get an amazing view of the night sky which looks really spectacular when you can see all the stars together (something that is rarely visible in big cities).

New Zealand

In the past few years, New Zealand tourism has seen major growth mainly due to the fact that various superhit movies have been shot there. These include both bollywood and hollywood movies. Peter Jackson’s blockbuster Lord Of The Rings trilogy made the term “Middle Earth” synonymous with the New Zealand landscapes. If you’re a LOTR fanatic then do take the Lord Of the Rings tour(see here) and you’ll be amazed to find out that the rolling hills of Matamata was Hobbiton, while the volcanic region of Mt Ruapehu was transformed into the fiery Mt. Doom where Sauron forged The Ring, and Queenstown, New Zealand’s adventure capital, was the setting for numerous scenes including the Eregion Hills, and the Pillars of Argonath.

The South Pole

And now, if you really wanna be the ultimate technosexual man, then make a visit to the South Pole. It costs around $5,000 and can be damn cold (minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit in winter), but a cruise around Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station will warm any geek’s heart. Alternatively, sign up for a working vacation at McMurdo Station. It has the bleak landscape and soul-numbing chill, but there are bars to go to at night!

Tags: technosexual, metrosexual, geek, vacation, holiday, cern, new zealand, poles, books, gadgets.

This article is insipred from content published on Wired Magazine. Check the original article here

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