Five more that bit the dust

1. It gets its name from the fact that it was observed mostly around Christmas by South American fishermen. A study conducted in 1998 also alludes to this having caused poor crop yields in Europe in 1789-93 which in turn might have helped spark of the French Revolution.
What?

2. Students at the Univ Of Konstanz recently demoed a unique project aimed at providing a revolutionary new navigation system for the blind that analyzed the space around them and then helped them to navigate the space by giving voice instructions.
This system consisted of a belt to be worn by the user which housed the feedback system and helmet with a device mounted on it that formed the heart of this system.
Which “unusual” device did this system use?

3. In the 1600’s when Christopher Wren was redesigning the St. Paul’s Cathedral he was faced with a peculiar problem. He wanted to construct a huge dome but did not know the structure would support the weight.
He posed this problem to his friend X who incidentally had been studying the work of Christian Huygens related to chains. X suggested that Wren should design the dome in the form of an inverted chain since that dome can support its own weight and does not need external support. He even came with the equation to describe such a catenary dome and Wren went back and constructed such a dome and the rest is history.Who was the unlikely architect of the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral?

4. Composed of large, white, sweeping dunes, Lencois Maranhenses, a national park and not a desert, lies just outside the Amazon basin. The region is subject to a regular rain season during the beginning of the year which cause a peculiar phenomenon: fresh water collects in the valleys between sand dunes, spotting the desert with blue and green lagoons. Why or how do we know this place?

5. Super 30 is a highly ambitious and innovative educational program which hunts for 30 meritorious talents from among the economically backward sections of the society and shapes them for India's most prestigious institution – the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). After which famous Indian is it named?