World Vignettes

French Spiderman Alain Robert,known for his acumen of climbing high-rises without rope or a harness,will make a bid to scale the worlds tallest building...

French Spiderman to climb Burj Khalifa

DUBAI: French Spiderman Alain Robert,known for his acumen of climbing high-rises without rope or a harness,will make a bid to scale the worlds tallest building,Burj Khalifa,next year. Ill have to do it 8230; maybe between January and April 2011. I know the people of Dubai,they are interested in seeing me climb the skyscraper, the Arabian Business quoted him as saying. Robert,who describes himself as free solo climber had been arrested in several countries for his adventures. He has already climbed Tapei 101 tower in Taiwan,the Eiffel Tower in Paris,the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the Sears Tower in Chicago.

British scientists tie light in knots

LONDON: Physicists have tied light in knots,a breakthrough which they claim paves the way for a new level of precision in laser technology. A British team has achieved the remarkable feat in which the light was controlled using holograms specially designed with knot theory a branch of abstract mathematics inspired by twists in shoelaces and rope. Dr Mark Dennis of the University of Bristol,who led the team,was quoted by The Daily Telegraph as saying,Although it light often flows in a straight line out of a torch,laser pointer etc light can also flow in whirls and eddies,forming lines in space called optical vortices8230;The team were able to create knots in optical vortices.

Anil Kapoor studied Mahatma for 24 role

NEW YORK: Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor studied Mahatma Gandhi and Barack Obama for his Hollywood debut playing a Middle Eastern leader in the hit TV drama 24. The Slumdog Millionaire star said that he delved into the lives of legendary world leaders so that his performance in the show was convincing. I researched all the speeches of all these great leaders from Mahatma Gandhi,to Mandela,Martin Luther King,Obama and Bill Clinton, the New York Post quoted him as saying.