The Gateway of India is synonymous with Mumbai. It is the most famous monument of Mumbai and is the starting point for most tourists who want to explore the city. Gateway of India is a great historical monument built during the British rule in the country. It was built as a triumphal arch to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Mumbai (then, Bombay). Gateway of India was built at Apollo Bunder, a popular meeting place. It was designed by the British architect, George Wittet.

The foundation stone of the Gateway of India was laid down by the then Governor of Bombay (Mumbai) on March 31^st 1913. The archway is 26 meters high and joined with four turrets and intricate latticework carved on stones. The arch alone was built at the cost of 21 lakhs. It is built in Indo-Sarcenic style, though some influence of Gujarati style is also evident in its architecture. The structure itself is quite majestic and a hybrid of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

In the past Gateway of India used to be the arrival point for visitors from the west. Ironically, when the Raj ended in 1947, this colonial symbol also became a sort of epitaph: the last of the British ships that set sail for England left from the Gateway. Today this symbol of colonialism has got Indianised, drawing droves of local tourists and citizens. This landmark of Mumbai is a must visit of the city.

The Gateway faces the vast Arabian Sea, flanked by Mumbai's another attraction, Marine Drive, a road running parallel to the sea. The majestic monument is a must-visit at night, in its pristine glory against the backdrop of the sea. It is visited by millions of people across the world every year and is a very significant figure in the lives of the people of Mumbai, as the Gateway defines the grandeur of the city that is a culmination of both, historic and modern cultural environment.

Science and engineering are advancing rapidly in part due to ever  more powerful computer simulations, yet the most advanced  supercomputers require programming skills that all too few U.S.  researchers possess. At the same time, affordable computers and  committed national programs outside the U.S. are eroding American  competitiveness in number of simulation-driven fields.

These are  some of the key findings in the International Assessment of Research  and Development in Simulation-Based Engineering and Science, released  on Apr. 22, 2009, by the World Technology Evaluation Center (WTEC).

"The  startling news was how quickly our assumptions have to change," said  Phillip Westmoreland, program director for combustion, fire and plasma  systems at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and one of the  sponsors of the report. "Because computer chip speeds aren't  increasing, hundreds and thousands of chips are being ganged together,  each one with many processors. New ways of programming are necessary."

Like other WTEC studies,  this study was led by a team of leading researchers from a range of  simulation science and engineering disciplines and involved site visits  to research facilities around the world.

The nearly 400-page,  multi-agency report highlights several areas in which the U.S. still  maintains a competitive edge, including the development of novel  algorithms, but also highlights endeavors that are increasingly driven  by efforts in Europe or Asia, such as the creation and simulation of  new materials from first principles.

"Some of the new  high-powered computers are as common as gaming computers, so key  breakthroughs and leadership could come from anywhere in the world,"  added Westmoreland. "Last week's research-directions workshop brought  together engineers and scientists from around the country, developing  ideas that would keep the U.S. at the vanguard as we face these  changes."

Sharon Glotzer of the University of Michigan chaired the panel of experts that  executed the studies of the Asian, European and U.S. simulation  research activities. Peter Cummings of both Vanderbilt University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory  co-authored the report with Glotzer and seven other panelists, and the  two co-chaired the Apr. 22-23, 2009, workshop with Glotzer that  provided agencies initial guidance on strategic directions.

"Progress  in simulation-based engineering and science holds great promise for the  pervasive advancement of knowledge and understanding through  discovery," said Clark Cooper, program director for materials and  surface engineering at NSF and also a sponsor of the report. "We expect  future developments to continue to enhance prediction and decision  making in the presence of uncertainty."

The WTEC study was funded  by the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, National  Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Institutes of Health,  National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of  Energy.

Dinosaur National Monument protects a large  deposit of fossil bones of creatures that lived nearly 150 million  years ago. The fossils help us learn more about these fascinating  animals.

Dinosaur  National Monument is special because visitors can see fossils exposed  on the cliff face of the Douglass Quarry at the park visitor center. The quarry was named after Earl Douglass,  the paleontologist who found it.
   
  From 1909 through 1924, when work focused on excavating museum specimens, the Douglass Quarry produced more:

•   complete dinosaur skeletons;
•   well-preserved dinosaur skulls;
•   juvenile dinosaurs specimens;
•   and different kinds of dinosaurs

  Fossils from the Douglass Quarry are displayed  in the Carnegie Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, Denver  Museum of Natural History, and in many other American museums.
 
  Most great fossil deposits have been excavated until there's nothing  left to see. That is not the case at Dinosaur National Monument.The  National Park Service reopened the Douglass Quarry in the 1950s, not to  remove all the fossils, but to develop them into a unique exhibit. The  Douglass Quarry is enclosed within the park visitor center and museum.  It offers visitors a unique opportunity to see over 1,400 fossil bones  that have been left in place as nature deposited them 150 million years  ago.