This line of thought was taken up by Universal, the largest of four major record companies. They believe that perhaps there is room in the Western audiences’ auditory palate for more of the spice of South Asian music. Teaming with Desi Hits!, a New York-based company promoting South Asian entertainment on its website DesiHits.com, Universal plans to create a label for musicians with South Asian roots. Through this label, the record company’s ultimate goal is to give South Asian music and its artists global exposure.

“It’s far from a vanity project for us,” said David Joseph, chief executive of Universal Music U.K. For him, South Asian pop music holds great potential as a relatively untapped art, presenting a huge amount of opportunity.

The new label, called Desi Hits! Universal, would give the music genre a “home,” a way for the music to be shared with Western audiences. According to Anjula Acharia-Bath, chief executive of Desi Hits!, after the success of the 2008 hit, “everyone saw that with some resources some of these songs really popped.”

Although mainstream western acts and Indian music have shown some mingling, the success of Desi Hits! Universal could be an excellent untapped resource for those looking for the next new sound. And, modernizing some of the more traditional South Asian music with elements from pop music can bring it to a wider audience, even within its country of origin. “Jai Ho” showed the ability of good music to transcend cultural affinities. I look forward to more endeavors that get the music of a rich culture reach out to more of the world.

This new product, the LifeVillage, is aimed towards areas needing temporary shelters. The product is a series of prefabricated structures with light-gauge steel framing and solar panel roofs. Comparable to the German Huf Haus in terms of concept, which brings together transparent architecture and efficient energy use in creatively designed homes, Envision Solar’s LifeVillage structures not only provide temporary shelter, but also electricity and purified water.

These structures are made to be put up with ease, even with unskilled workers, with the prefabricated materials arriving in two standard shipping containers. A single LifeVillage kit includes energy storage batteries, photovoltaic modules and corresponding roofing, a water pumping and purification system, inverters, and lighting. According to Envision, the light-gauge steel frame that makes up the structure of the shelter enables it to meet international building codes.

The modular LifeVillage kits are not only made to stand alone. While a single module offers 3500 square feet of living space, the kits are flexible enough to connect to create bigger temporary structures, such as for health clinics without available utilities. Each module can generate 50 kilowatts of power which can be used for a wide variety of needs in disaster areas.

While the solar-energy powered structures may not be the best for all climates, Envision points out that they could serve a great use in places like Haiti, India and parts of Africa.

I don’t think the issue of climate would be as significant if we remember that the greatest need for disaster operations tend to come from developing countries in the tropic and sub-tropic zones. These shelters will be able to not only provide simple necessities but also a place decent enough for people to live in temporarily until life returns to normal.

The news couldn’t have been timelier as, over the last weekend, Rome celebrated the 400th anniversary of Caravaggio’s death. Attributed as one of the forefathers of the Baroque school of painting, only 80 of his works have supposedly survived into the 21st century. News of discovering a lost Caravaggio painting is hardly far-fetched. During his lifetime, he was well sought after for his distinctly emotive style of painting. It was a notorious reputation and lack of an established workshop for protégées that caused his legacy to wane almost immediately after his death. It was only in the 20th century that his significance in the development of Western art was rediscovered.

The newly discovered painting, entitled ‘The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence,’ was recently found among the possessions of the Jesuits in Rome. It depicts an almost naked man leaning over flames, one hand stretched out and carrying an expression of apparent desperation.

Further analyses and in-depth, critical examination are still needed to verify the authenticity of the artwork. What is certain, however, is that the painting is stylistically impeccable. It appears to have all the characteristics of a Caravaggio painting, including stark contrasts and dramatic lighting effects.

Earlier this year, Italy started marking the artist’s anniversary with a variety of events. This weekend, several churches and an art gallery were kept open all night to showcase some of Caravaggio’s greatest masterpieces. Major art exhibitions have also been held to honor the influential artist. The kick-off event, which was held at the Scuderie Del Quirinale in Rome, drew more than half a million people from around the world to view his paintings.

This is an extremely important discovery for Italian art. It’s almost giving new life to an artist who is long gone. The crowd that it attracted just goes to show that great art and their artists can achieve a timeless appeal.

It was in 2007 when the Internet search giant first started going green. To promote sustainable development and environmental awareness, the company voluntarily took efforts to reduce its carbon emissions. By the end of 2009, Google formed its own energy subsidiary, Google Energy, followed by an announcement that it was to invest $38.8 million to NextEra Energy Resources’ wind energy project in North Dakota as its first investment in large scale clean energy projects.

More recently Google announced that it has completed a 20-year green Power Purchase Agreement, and plans to sell some of its acquired wind power back to the grid for Renewable Energy Certificates. With this move, the heavy-hitting company enters the energy market, solidifying its intent to promote sustainable, environmental solutions.

This has been a long time coming for Google, as so many other entities have already decided to join and back up the race for cost-effective, utility-scale renewable energy solutions. Considering the nature of the tech industry, which depends on vast amounts of electricity to keep services up and running, I believe Google’s move to go green may have a great impact on environmental efforts.

Wind power as a sustainable source of energy is by no means a new technology. Since men started putting sails on their ships, wind power has already been used. Typically, it is used in large scale wind farms to provide electricity to rural areas and other remote or far reaching locations. Several countries, such as Denmark, Spain, India and Portugal have already achieved high levels of wind power penetration.

Wind energy is touted as one of the most viable alternatives for energy resources because it is cheap, widely distributed and infinitely abundant. Utilizing wind energy will also significantly reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and help reduce carbon emissions.

Starting late next week, early iPhone 4 owners can go to Apple’s website to sign up for a free case. Since the company cannot make enough of its $29 “Bumper” cases, it will allow users to choose from a selection of different case styles.

Ever since the latest iPhone model’s release in the US three weeks ago, many users have complained that they would lose their wireless network coverage when they happen to cover a certain spot on the smartphone with their bare hand. Critics say this is due to a faulty antenna. While the company denied the iPhone 4 has an antenna problem that needs fixing and attributed the problem to a software glitch, Steve Jobs apologized to the people who are less than satisfied with their new phones.

Apple Inc. is a company known for its high regard for customer satisfaction. It has been shown that having a protective case can effectively prevent the occurrence of any reception problems. The company will also release a software update that will allow the device to more accurately display signal strength in an area. In addition, if users are still not happy with their iPhone, they can bring it back and receive a full refund within the next 30 days. There will be no restocking fee.

In a time like this, what stands out most is that the company is taking excellent steps to resolve its issues. For a giant such as Apple to act fast and provide immediate solutions, Steve Jobs and his company are worthy of praise.

The solution that these two have presented is a modified everyday salad spinner that has been turned into an easy-to-use transport centrifuge. This ingenuity makes it possible for blood to be successfully separated for the diagnosis of anemia without the need for electricity. Dubbed the “Sally Centrifuge” by its creators, what had begun as an assignment for their Introduction to Bioengineering and World Health class has become a possible great help to the aid of people living in rural areas without electricity.

The Sally Centrifuge is currently undergoing a series of field tests this summer in places needing medical aid where resources are lacking. This is all part of Rice University’s initiative for global health, with a focus on developing countries. Kerr and Theis are traveling along with their invention to places like Ecuador, Swaziland and Malawi, where real-world testing of this tool will be done at rural clinics.

Simple ideas that don’t necessarily involve reinventing the wheel are what I believe to be the innovations that truly deserve attention. With a way to make diagnosis quicker, especially in areas too far for urban laboratories to deliver reports in a timely manner, simple works like the centrifuge by Kerr and Theis which is portable, convenient and can run without power, will help global health a great deal. Perhaps as well, this can inspire others to create similar inventions to help the world.

But why is this so? Scientists may have found the answer in the methane that bubbles up from the seabed. In the darkness of the canyon’s depths, the high concentration of gas might well be the first possible meal in a long food chain for that part of the sea.

A team assembled from Rutgers University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had been examining this phenomenon for a while. In a month’s time, though, they will make another expedition to the canyon, this time taking with them a robotic submersible equipped with a camera to photograph areas of the canyon’s surfaces for the first time. With the data gathered from this new tool they plan to use, the scientists hope to gather evidence of organisms living either directly or indirectly on the methane.

This bizarre ecosystem isn’t only limited to the Hudson Canyon. All over the world, including the Gulf of Mexico as well, life is teeming, living on chemicals never thought to be a trigger for life. It just so happens that this one is surprisingly close to New York City. Strange ecosystems like these occur in dark places where sunlight cannot reach. Without photosynthesis, organisms find different ways to produce energy. In the case of those in the Hudson Canyon, it’s chemosynthetic.

If such an ecosystem can be found close to the city, perhaps other important discoveries are possible right around where we are. While science continues to reveal more and more about largely unexplored frontiers, it also does the same to show new things from our own backyards.

So far, in various studies, robots have been able to teach children a variety of things. At the University of Southern California, a robot has been programmed to mimic its playmate’s behavior and teach him how to respond by maintaining eye contact when it notices the child withdrawing. At a day care center in Japan, researchers have proven this mimicry to be a very effective way to get even very fearful children with autism to respond and become engaged.

Marek Michalowski of Carnegie Mellon University points out how it is possible to help children open up with simple synchronous behavior. He also adds that once the child does open up, it becomes possible to teach them other social behaviors through this interaction such as making eye contact, joint attention, turn taking and other things that children may have difficulty learning.

Although it takes very precise programming to make this happen, as delayed responses from the robot would throw off the interaction, this mimicry builds trust and sociability in children. In time, simple imitation turns into interaction and eventually into learning.

The potential for this technology is beneficial for both robotics and child psychology. Researchers specializing in child psychology stand to learn much as well, taking note of what makes these robots effective teachers for young children, especially for those with difficulty learning. The benefits of this research, then, are two-fold. Together, the fields of study can revolutionize the way that children learn.

To suppress the flow of garbage and the additional use of energy for purification, New York City is promoting its tap water as a sustainable alternative to bottled drinking water.

New York’s water comes from a highly protected watershed upstate. The Environmental Protection Department oversees a daily supply of more than one billion gallons of this fresh water, which serves nine million people. “Our high-quality drinking water not only quenches New Yorkers’ thirst, but is the not-so-secret ingredient in the bagels, pizza, and thousands of other dishes that people come from around the world to get,” said Cas Holloway, the city’s environmental protection commissioner, in a statement announcing new products last week.

In partnership with Fishs Eddy, a New York-based purveyor of glassware, dinnerware and kitchen goods, the city has come up with merchandise bearing the NYC Water logo: a stylized tap with a drop of water, with the slogan “drink NYC water.” This merchandise available at the city’s online shop for everything New York, CityStore, range from glasses to T-shirts to even coasters, decanters and water bottles.

They hope that this will push for people to consume tap water instead of bottled water; the city can reduce the energy needed and the litter generated by its consumption. The city government is also set to provide other means to reduce bottled water consumption, including the provision of outdoor drinking stations connected to fire hydrants at parks, public plazas and other outdoor spaces. These stations come with six faucets for people, and even a water bowl for pets to drink from.

In the 1980’s it was unthinkable that people would want to actually buy their water in a bottle. I suppose fear of disease and harmful elements in water combined with the marketing efforts of brands like Fiji and Evian have made it part of popular culture to buy water from a bottle even when we can get it for free from the tap. Hopefully, New York can be the first to reverse that trend.

Among these efforts is the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Biennial Awards Exhibition, which runs from August 1 at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, where local artists will be given a platform to showcase their works.

The local government has also planned other projects to encourage the blossoming of Hong Kong art culture, such as the creation of a projected $2 billion West Kowloon Cultural District and the development of an empty police station into “a self-sustaining, non-profit site that will be home to designers, art studios and exhibition spaces,” according to a government press release.

Perhaps as a result, though underrepresentation of Hong Kong art seems like common knowledge among influential names in the art scene, some acknowledge that, slowly but surely, Hong Kong’s own local talents have begun to rise up. “Arguably, it is this freedom from market pressure that has seen the emergence of a group of artists in Hong Kong whose works are conceptually very strong. You won’t find any grinning faces staring back at you,” says Claire Hsu, founder of the Hong Kong-based Asia Art Archive.

Hong Kong style art is strikingly different from Mainland Chinese art but with the global art community already flocking to Hong Kong for its art galleries, the gap won’t be very hard to bridge. Hong Kong culture may rise in the wake of China’s recent cultural success and attention gained in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.