Not that you care, but I almost named this post A Salmagundi of NPR. However, I’m smitten with the way some Desis say “potpourri”, so I couldn’t resist the allure of that word. Oh, how do they say it? Like so: pottu-puri
None of these stories feels substantial enough to merit their own post; what does feel significant is perking up FOUR times during Morning Edition, because there are four different sepia-colored stories! That’s almost a fifth of the program! Here is what I (and undoubtedly fellow NPR-phile-Abhi, as well) heard:
1) Moray Eels are toothy!
Scientists in California have reported that Moray eels have a set of teeth within a second set of jaws, called the pharyngeal jaws, that help them capture their prey.
Once the Moray eel secures its prey with its first set of jaws, the pharyngeal jaws reach up from its throat, grabbing and pulling the prey down through its esophagus.
One of you already has an itchy-trigger-comment finger, I know it, so stop it— the brown angle is a-comin’…
Rita Mehta is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of California Davis who studies the evolution of diversity in eel feeding behavior.
Like, whoa. Not only is there a female scientist to celebrate, this has to do with my alma mater as well! w00t Davis! We study Moray Eels!
“What we discovered is that the pharyngeal jaws of Moray’s have the greatest mobility of any pharyngeal jaws ever documented,” Mehta says.
There’s this legendary tri-Delt who might have something to say about that finding, but whatevs. Listen to all this and more (though it won’t include anything about the storied, jaw-less one), for yourself, here.
2) This is a story that some of you have submitted to the news tab:
Air travel has been hellish this summer. And Nepal Airlines was no exception. Technical problems with one of its two Boeing 757 planes has meant weeks of delays. Finally, the state-run airline turned to the gods for help. It sacrificed two goats to the Hindu Sky god Akash Bhairab in front of the plane, and afterward the 757 made a successful run from Kathmandu to Hong Kong.
I just quoted the entire piece, but you may find it here if you are being the desiring.
3) Turnabout is a great play for Wipro:
Indian software firm Wipro plans to open a big software design center in Atlanta. The Bangalore, India-based firm expects to hire around 500 computer programmers in the next three years. It’s a curious turnabout from the much more familiar story: a U.S. software company creating jobs in India. [NPR]
I’ve heard various versions of this news story, but until today, it didn’t occur to me that one of the biggest reasons for this is “National Security”. Now Wipro can work on U.S. Defense contracts, thanks to Amreekan yengineers who are also familiar with this country’s mores. Why that matters in a cube farm, you will have to tell me.
Finally, 4). Another recycled blurb about the “unpredictable” happening in the world of business. First, Wipro comes to America, now B-school grads are going to Infy in India! Like you didn’t already know that…
Hundreds of recent business school graduates from U.S. colleges are taking jobs in Indian companies. India’s second biggest tech company, Infosys, just hired 300 Americans to work in its Bangalore office. They say it’s more exciting than an entry level job in the slower-growing U.S. economy. And with a much lower cost of living in India, it doesn’t matter if they only earn a fraction of what they would make working for a tech company in Silicon Valley. [NPR]
Am I the only one who is starting to feel like they’re missing out, by being here instead of yonder and by yonder, I mean the country my parents left, because they thought America was all that and a bag of jackfruit chips? Anyone? Buehler?
