A Mother Of All Comeback's

Comeback - A return to formerly enjoyed status or prosperity!!

Well, Michael Schumacher - one of the best known F1 driver and 7 time F1 champion is scheduled to make a grand comeback in 3 weeks time - to F1 racing!! This is a dream come true for all racing fans !!

He will be replacing the injured Felipa Massa (who hurt his skull in qualifying at Hungary) and will be driving for his former team - Ferrari.

This will certainly be a joyous moment for all racing fans - with many exciting persona's in the contest. Schumi will be racing together with his former competitor Kimi Raikkonen. Lewis Hamilton, the current F1 champ will be competing with Schumi for the honors - for the first time. And Alonso and his team Renault might try to come back to form again against their fierce competitor - Schumi again. And needless to say, the current championship leaders - Button, Barrichello and Brawn Racing will have to improve their performance up several notches.

The race in Valencia will be a spectator's delight - and who knows - we might see Michael on the podium on 23rd August, 2009 !!

Check Schumi's driving skills below... he was the best driver in rains!!

Formula 1 - 2008 - Last Lap

Lewis Hamilton lost the F1 2007 championship by a single point to Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari.

Well, the same would have happened in 2008!!

But in one of the most thrilling end to a F1 championship - Lewis Hamilton beat Felipe Massa by a single point - on the last lap of the Brazilian GP.

The finish was so close that the family of Massa started celebrating his victory after he won the Brazilian GP while Hamilton was in a race position wherein he would have finished second in the championship!!

But as luck would have it - Lewis overtook the guy ahead of him on the last turn - and became the champion!!

Check the most exciting moments and the last lap of the 2008 championship below.



It was a heart break moment for Felipe Massa and Ferrari, while for Lewis's family and girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger - it was an escatic moment!!

Formula 1 2009 - Mid Season Update

The 2009 Formula 1 racing season is mid-way.

The Hungarian GP completed today, and last year's champion - Lewis Hamilton - won his first race of the season today. No one would have anticipated this at the end of the last season!!

Well, here's a summary of the updates for the 2009 season till date.

Rule Changes - F1 racing saw a whole lot of rule changes this season. Some key changes were
- Testing was banned during the season. This has had a tremendous impact on the improvements which the teams used to manage mid-season.
- Slick tires made a comeback. This managed to boost the speed of the machines.
- Teams could deploy KERS on their cars - to boost their speed.
- Aerodynamics.

Check all Rule Changes here.

Here's a low down the F1 2009 car ( Courtesy - The Telegraph, UK )

Check the F1 2009 car

One thing that raked up major controversy at the start of the season was the diffuser - a small piece of equipment used at the back of the car used to improve speed.

Brawn Racing (ex Honda) used this diffuser to the best of their advantage. Their cars proved to be much superiors than the traditional power houses - Mercedes and Ferrari.

Needless to say, a Brawn driver - Jenson Button - is leading the driver's table.




And his team is leading the constructor's championship!!



It has been a disappointing season for all the Ferrari fans - me being one. However, i hope that these guys make a stylish comeback in the later half of the season and give Brawn Racing a run for their money.

Check out the Race Videos here

But one things sure - we will have a new F1 champion this year. Whether it will be Button, Webber, Vettel or Barrichello - only time will tell!!

Hope Ferrari makes a comeback next season!!

Visual Deceipt

A picture is worth a thousand words!!

What it essentially means is that a picture can convey some information which would otherwise have taken a lot of words to do so!!

But here's one case - where pictures can deceive!!

Newspapers across the world splashed a photo of Barack Obama - recently on a summit in Europe - appreciating a lady!! ( Putting it in the most decent way )

One picture - And people were already comparing him to Bill Clinton!!

Then came an video - to save Barack Obama's image!!



This was one funny moment of confusion and Obama's wife surely would have had some tense moment before she saw video!!

While Obama was cleared, Sarkozy must have got some bashing from his wife Carla Bruni!!

Europe

An item on my wish-list - to visit Europe :)

Formula 1 - The Risks

A drive in a Formula 1 Car is a thrilling proposition - its simply not possible to overlook the risk associated with high speed driving.

Brazilian driver Felipa Massa suffered a high speed crash today during a qualifying session at the Hunagian GP. He is fighting for his life :(

We pray for for his quick recovery!!

Here's what happened in Hungary

Also check another high speed crash - the worst i have seen in F1 - Robert Kubica in the Canadian GP in 2007!!

22 July 2009 - Solar Eclipse in Pics

A few pictures of the rare celestial event - the Total Solar Eclipse - which occurred on 22nd July 2009.

The Eclipse begins!!

The Sun hides a bit more!!

Is it the moon or the sun??

The diamond ring - A moment before the Total Solar Eclipse!! A magnificent sight!!

The Total Solar Eclipse!! Three objects - being in a straight line - had never had such a profound impact!!

The descent begins!! And seen is the Baily's Bead!!

The Diamond ring!! - from some other part of the world!!

All pictures apart from the last are as seen in the Indian city of Varanasi.

Saving Apollo11

Great acts are made up of small deeds!!

And a small boy, 40 years ago, helped fix an antenna - which ensured that the Space Vehicle carrying astronauts from the Apollo 11 mission landed successfully.


Read an article on what happened on 23rd July 1969.

The presence of mind of Charles Force, with useful help from Greg Force, help the space shuttle land successfully - earning appreciation from Neil Armstrong and team!!

The Eagle Had Landed

Well, it's been 40 years - since man first landed on the moon!!

It was on 16th July 1969 that the Apollo 11 mission took off for the moon. 

After 4 days, on 20th July 1969 - Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin - landed on the moon's surface - fulfilling JFK's dream of having a man on the moon before 1970.


When the lunar module - Eagle - landed on the moon, Armstrong said those famous words - "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.". These words - since then - have gone on to reflect success of various missions!!

As Armstrong descended on the moon's surface - to become the first human on the moon - he said - and this has been widely quoted and recollected - "One small step for Man, One giant leap for Mankind."

Catch up details of the Apollo 11 mission here

NASA is celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the moon landings

You can access the videos and tapes from the Apollo 11 mission on the NASA site

Well, these guys must be missing being on the moon!!

Tips for Bloggers

A few sites to help bloggers - blog effectively!!

http://www.bloggertips.com/

http://www.bloggertipsandtricks.com/

http://tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com/

Total Solar Eclipse - 22 July 2009

A Total Solar Eclipse is scheduled to occur on the 22nd July, 2009 - and this will be the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century. It will not be surpassed in its duration until the solar eclipse 13th June, 2132 - thats almost 123 years down the line!!

A once if a life time moment for most of us !!

A graphical depiction of what happens in a solar eclipse is shown above.
The moon passes between the sun and the earth, casting a shadow on the earth's surface and covering the sun partially or completely - resulting in an eclipse.

Details Here

Here's what's gonna occur -



Check up these sites for additional details
Wiki
Nasa - 22 July 2009

And check up a dazzling pic of an earlier total solar eclipse!!