Srinivas Padma: Personal Musings on Life, Growth, and Connections

Within a deep and narrow cave in South Africa, paleoanthropologist Lee Berger and his team found fossil remains belonging to the newest member of our human family. The Homo naledi discovery adds another exciting chapter to the human evolution story by introducing an ancestor that was primitive but shared physical characteristics with modern humans.   Because the cave system where the bones were located was extremely difficult to access, it could be speculated that these hominins practiced a behavior previously believed to be modern: that of deliberately disposing of their dead underground. Click here to read more about the Homo naledi discovery: http://natgeo.org/naledi A NOVA/National Geographic special, “Dawn of Humanity,” premieres Sept. 16, 2015, at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on PBS in the U.S: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolutio... Learn more about National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Lee Berger: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/exp... The finds are described i...

Durban school lands in controversy over religious remarks Durban 29 Oct: A high school here, which created a row in recent past over an Indian-origin girl wearing a nose ring, has now been plunged into a fresh controversy after a teacher of the school said that Hindus will "go to hell" , while Christians will "go to heaven" . The incident took place at the Durban Girls' high school during a discussion on religion. When one of the pupils told the teacher that she was Hindu, the teacher responded by saying that because they prayed to idols they would go to hell. She also told the pupil that she would pray for her. "I am shocked by these remarks. They are propagating Christianity and attacking other religions, which is unacceptable," said a parent. The chairman of the Human Rights Commission, Jody Kollapen, said the incident proved that certain people had not yet woken up to the fact that South Africa was a multireligious society. "School is a...

Cellphones double as electronic wallets It's Thursday, so 18-year-old Dennis Tiangco is off to a bank to collect his weekly allowance, zapped by his mother - who's working in Hong Kong - to his electronic wallet: his cell phone. Sauntering into a branch of GM Bank in the town of San Miguel, Tiangco fills out a form, sends a text message via his phone to a bank line dedicated to the service. In a matter of seconds, the transaction is approved and the teller gives him $54, minus one per cent fee. He doesn't need a bank account to retrieve the money. More than 5.5 million Filipinos now use cellphones as virtual wallets, making Philippines a leader in providing financial transactions over mobile networks. Mobile banking services, which are also catching on in Kenya and South Africa, enable people who don't have bank accounts to transfer money easily, quickly and safely. It's spreading in the developing world because mobile phones are much more co...

Bangladesh knock West Iindies out he West Indies were knocked out of the Twenty20 World Cup on Thursday by Bangladesh, who roared to victory by six wickets in their group match. Bangladesh won the toss and restricted the West Indies to 164 for eight before captain Mohammad Ashraful's sparkling 61 off 27 balls ensured they reached the target with two overs to spare. Ashraful's delightful innings included seven fours and three sixes as he tore into the West Indies bowling after neither opener Tamim Iqbal (10) nor Mohammad Nazimuddin (1), made any impression. Ashraful shared a third-wicket partnership of 109 off 64 balls with Aftab Ahmed, who batted through the innings to finish with 62 not out off 49 balls, including eight fours and a six. The West Indies were once again sluggish in the field and ill-disciplined in their bowling, having been trounced by eight wickets in the tournament's opening match against South Africa on Tuesday at the same venue. Dwayne Smith's bruta...

Sreesanth provided a moment of comic drama before the innings ended. After Nel advanced threateningly down the pitch after a bouncer, Sreesanth hammered the next ball for a straight six and ran down the pitch twirling his bat to taunt the South African fast bowler.