Missile Man And Former President APJ Abdul Kalam Passes Away

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam, the missile man who became popular as 'People's President' died on Monday evening after he suffered a massive cardiac arrest and collapsed while conveying a lecture at IIM Shillong.

Hours before he collapsed and died while delivering a lecture, former president APJ Abdul Kalam had voiced concern over the terror attack in Punjab's Gurdaspur, and about the unremitting disruptions paralysing Parliament, which he felt was "not right".

Kalam's advisor Srijan Pal Singh, who was with him throughout Monday till the end, in a touching post on Facebook, said he joined Kalam at noon on Monday for the flight to Guwahati. 

RIP Kalam Sir!

Legendary Music Director M S Viswanathan Passes Away

Southern music composer MS Viswanathan, who has over 750 films to his credit, died at a private hospital in Chennai on Tuesday. He was 87.

MSV, as he's lovingly called by the members of Tamil filmdom, had been undergoing treatment at Fortis Malar hospital for old-age related ailments and breathing problem.

Though he had showed signs of recovery after initial treatment and was almost ready to be taken back home, his condition worsened last week.

He breathed his last at 4.15 am on Tuesday.

He is a recipient of Kalamamani and several other music awards. MSV is survived by four sons and three daughters. His last rites will be performed on Wednesday.

Python Dies After Eating Huge Porcupine in South Africa

A huge snake’s big meal in South Africa has turned out to be its last.

After the death of a 12-foot-long African Rock Python, park rangers opened its stomach. Inside they found a 30-pound porcupine.

Its needle-sharp quills seem to have punctured the snake’s digestive tract and might have contributed to its death.

The puffy snake was first spotted by a mountain biker in the Lake Eland Game Reserve, about 100 miles south of Durban, two weeks ago. Visitors showed up at the park to detect the snake and to speculate what it had eaten. On its Facebook page, the Game Reserve had its own guesses: a small warthog or impala calf.

When the snake died this week, inquiring park rangers performed a necropsy, or autopsy, on the animal. Though the exact cause of death is unknown, spectators and the porcupine might be to blame. “With all the human interaction, this could have caused stress and the python would then regurgitate the meal up with all the quills causing a problem,” game reserve manager Jennifer Fuller said.

Pythons, which are some of the largest snakes in the world, kill their prey by constriction. Some species are known to eat animals as large as antelope or deer. Their prey is swallowed whole and may take days or weeks to digest completely.

World’s Oldest Person Jeralean Talley Dies at 116

An American woman who became the world’s oldest person earlier this year has died at 116, a family member said.

The death of Jeralean Talley was confirmed by Thelma Holloway, Talley’s 77-year-old daughter. Talley’s title had been verified by the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, which tracks supercentenarians. The Inkster, Mich., resident celebrated her birthday on May 23 and was fêted by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services in Inkster, which also gave her $116—a dollar for each year of her life.

Talley was named the world’s oldest person in April after the two women who held the title before her died within the same week—Misao Okawa of Osaka, Japan, at 117, and Gertrude Weaver of Camden, Ark., at 116.

A 115-year-old Brooklyn resident is now the world’s oldest person. Susannah Mushatt Jones’ new title was confirmed by the Gerontology Research Group after the previous record-holder, Jeralean Talley of Inkster, Mich., died at 116.

Thync – Introduces A Wearable Device That Alters Your Mood

‘Thync’ is a new wearable device that makes use of electroencephalography to measure the brain’s electrical activity, and adjust neuron activity. Simply put, it has the ability to change your mood!

All you need to do is attach the device to your forehead and it will immediately shift your state of mind. A corresponding iPhone app lets you pick the type of mood you want to experience, and even adjust the intensity. You could choose to become happy, relaxed, focused, or energized. And the best part is, you get to do it without using drugs, energy drinks, or alcohol.

The device is based on neuro-signalling, a process in which ultrasound waves are used to connect with neuron connections in the brain, causing a person’s mood to alter. The device will send electrical signals or ultrasound waves to the specific areas of the brain that are centers of energy, concentration, and relaxation. The instant effects of Thync last 30 minutes to an hour, with carry-over effects of the “vibe” lasting several hours, depending on the intensity of the stimulation. The Thync settings can be tweaked via an accompanying smartphone application

The company that developed Thync was founded by engineering and neuroscience experts from Stanford, MIT, and Harvard. They spent $15 million on research and development, with the sole aim of coming up with a device that taps into the brain and transform its activity. The first ever Thync device was officially launched last Tuesday, mostly receiving good reviews.

Boston Business Journal editor David Harris, who got an opportunity to try out Thync even before it hit the market, selected the ‘rest’ mode on the app. “I was told I would feel an itchiness sensation and even some pain at first,” he wrote. “I felt a little like Frankenstein, except I was previously alive. I felt the itchiness, like a pressure building in my temple and then some sort of zing – a result of the zapping going on between my nerves and the device.”

Although Harris admitted that he did feel a little tired, he also hadn’t slept very well the night before, so he couldn’t be sure if the mood was really induced by Thync. “I started zoning out, focusing on the skyline outside the office’s window,” he added.

Jamie Tyler, the company’s co-founder and chief scientific officer, told Harris that the device has been tested on 3,700 people, both in the lab and in the real world. “We think of this as a new category of wearable’s that operates in synergy with your body,” said Tyler. “Instead of reading what you’re doing, we’re acting in synergy… it primes your body to be in a more relaxed state.”

Since 2011, the company has raised numerous millions of dollars from investors, and hopes to take up a sizeable chunk of the wearable technology market.

Jurassic World Takes Over Half A Billion Worldwide Record in Biggest Opening Weekend Ever

The fourth series in the Jurassic Park series has become the first film to take more than $500m at the box office on its opening weekend. Jurassic World was the most popular screening in all 66 countries where it was released.

The film made $204.6m (£131.4m) in the US, according to the firm Exhibitor Relations. It took $100m in China and $29.6m (£19m) in the UK and Ireland as part of the record global total of $511.8m.

The Universal Pictures release had the second-highest grossing opening weekend in the US. The record is held by Marvel's The Avengers, which took $207.4m in 2012.

Jurassic World was co-produced by Steven Spielberg, who directed the first two films in the series, and directed by Colin Trevorrow. It stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Jeff Bock, a box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations, told: "People should call dinosaurs the original superheroes. They are just as big as Iron Man or Superman or Batman right now."

Jurassic Park was a major worldwide success in 1993, taking more than $1bn globally. It was followed by The Lost World: Jurassic Park four years later and Jurassic Park III in 2001. The third film got poor reviews and made far less than its predecessors.

Analysts say the victory of the latest movie will maintain the decision to reboot the franchise for a new generation of dinosaur fans.