14yr-old Indian-origin boy bags second spot in National Geographic Bee contest

September 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new analysis by scientists has determined that a billion-light-year-wide cold spot in the universe, which was found in 2004, is merely a statistical artifact, and one that's really nothing special. Earlier, theories had abounded that it's a cosmic defect, a mysterious supervoid, or even an "imprint" of a parallel universe.

September 8th, 2009 Anthology from National Geographic AdventureWASHINGTON — National Geographic Adventure is celebrating its 10th anniversary with an anthology of work from the magazine called "The New Age of Adventure: 10 Years of Great Writing." The paperback ($16.95) includes work by writers like Sebastian Junger, Peter Matthiessen and Philip Caputo. Topics include emperor penguins in Antarctica, volunteers who risk their lives to save mountain gorillas in Congo and a yearlong coming-of-age road trip through Europe and Asia.

August 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A scientist of Indian origin from Purdue University, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, has determined in a new research that tropical storms endure over wet land, and fizzle when conditions are dry. More than 30 years of monsoon data from India showed that ground moisture where the storms make landfall is a major indicator of what the storm will do from there.

August 24th, 2009 National Geographic announces photography contestWASHINGTON — Are you proud of your vacation photos, nature pictures or other images from your travels? Consider entering the 2009 National Geographic International Photography Contest. There are three categories — people, places and nature — and you can enter a total of six photographs.

August 17th, 2009 Scenic drives from National Geographic TravelerWASHINGTON — With another few weeks of summer holding out the possibility of an old-fashioned road trip, followed by the lure of leaf-peeping come autumn, consider planning a long scenic drive. National Geographic Traveler is featuring 50 "Drives of a Lifetime" on its Web site at traveler.nationalgeographic.com/drives.

August 10th, 2009 River trips from National Geographic AdventureWASHINGTON —They're not the country's biggest rivers, or the best-known. But National Geographic Adventure is highlighting six wild and scenic rivers in the U.S.

June 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study by a team of researchers has provided insights into how climate change might impact geographic ranges of species. The study, by researchers led by Jessica Hellmann, assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame, offers interesting insights into how species may, or may not, change their geographic range - the place where they live on earth - under climate change.

June 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA has announced the winners in its second annual NASA Lunar Art Contest, with a student of Indian origin standing first in the High School or Secondary School Division. The competition saw high school and college students participating from around the globe.

June 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new microbiological study of reusable shopping bags, scientists have warned of the risks that unclean reusable bags can have on human health. The study was commissioned and funded by the Environment and Plastics Industry Council (EPIC), a Canadian industry group which promotes responsible use and recovery of plastic resources.

May 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Kansas-based, Indian-origin girl Kavya Shivashankar, 13, has become America's spelling champion by winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The budding neurosurgeon from Olathe took home more than 40,000 dollars in cash and prizes and the huge champion's trophy.

May 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Fourteen Indian American kids have made it to the semi finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee contest with three of them among top contenders for the title won by a boy of Indian descent last year. Indian origin kids who were among the 41 making the semi-final grade Wednesday included 13-year-old Sidharth Chand of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan who was the runner up last year, when Sameer Mishra of Lafayette, Indiana, won with the word "guerdon".

May 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Skilful dentists existed as far back as 2,500 years ago who helped ancient peoples of southern North America beautify their teeth with otches, grooves, and semiprecious gems. This finding comes from a recent analysis of thousands of teeth examined from collections in Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History.

May 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Sidharth Krishnan, a student of Indian origin from Singapore, has won top honors in the non-US category of a high school supersonic research contest. Teenagers from eight states and 11 foreign countries took part in the competition, which was sponsored by NASA.

May 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Indian-Americans on either side of the political divide have welcomed the victory of the Congress-led United Progress Alliance (UPA) in India's national elections as indicative of 'a support for the India-US nuclear deal'. 'It is a good mandate, Indian people have spoken in support of the secular parties,' said Thomas Abraham, chairman of the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO).

March 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US lawmakers of Irish origin would be off quaffing Guinness and downing bangers and mash on St. Patrick's Day.