Prof. M G K Menon - Now and then .

 


















Now !      Prof. MGK Menon, at the Science Congress (Trivandrum, 2010 Jan).

Then !     Prof. M G K Menon, in 1966, when he was one among the first three "Men who mould Indian Science". Please see my last post.

Men who mould Indian Science

"Men who mould Indian Science" . Science Today carried a series on this topic. The first among them was published in its Sept 1966 issue. This series is on Science in India, and the men behind it. 
The first trio,  presented  in this article are :

Vikram Sarabhai , Chairman, AEC

H N Sethna, Director, AEET

M G K Menon, Director, TIFR

The two page article, briefing on these great personalities and men of vision, also has a quote (a paragraph) from Dr. Homi J Bhabha's last speech.

 

Indian Science Congress - Now and then

The 97th Indian Science Congress ( ISC ) is in progress, at  Trivandrum. I just peeped into the past, through the pages of 'ScienceToday" (ST), on the earlier ISCs.

It's interesting to note that ST has been serious about the ISC. Right from the first year of its publication, ST had commenced coverage on ISCs and the related 'Science". I have here, the first article appeared in March 1967 (pages 42, 43).
"The Indian Science Congress  : In Quest of a Change".

 The article deals with the history of the Indian Science Congress. Here are a few quotes.

" At the first session in 1914, in Calcutta, 105 members and a few visitors had divided themselves into six sessions and discussed 35 scientific papers for three days. 

" When the Royal Asiatic Society hall in Calcutta 53 years ago, a hundred and odd men gathered for the first session of the newly formed Indian Science Congress Association, they too the British Association for the Advancement of Science as their model.

" At the end of 53 years, amidst mounting criticisms and desperate move by a few to orient the Science Congress to new directions, Prof. TR Seshadri, General President of the 54th session, again turned to the British Association for a model, sothat 'we also take effective steps to make this Science Congress more and more effective and liason between Scientists and the public.

"

ScienceToday carried another article in April 1967(pages 42, 43), titled 

"Science and the Common man" - What the Indian Science Congress can do to popularise Science. This article, by Prof. T R Seshadri, stresses thus :
"The science Congress is therefore ideally suited to undertake this task { laison between Scientists and the public, Popularise Science,  and improve Science Education } . But how should it proceed in the matter."
Prof. Seshadri further discusses the methods.

Later, in the January 1969 issue of ST, another article titled  :

" Indian Science Congress ( 56th Session, January 1969, Bombay) - A need for change " by A . Rehman. 

This article presents an excellent analysis of the effectiveness of ISCs, with data on participation (delegates), Expenditure, and the Programme of the ISC. 

 

 

 

 

 

Science Today : 1966 September

Where are we heading to ?

The Moon Impact Probe on the Chandrayaan did certainly make an impact in the minds of all Indians. That's evident from the Editorials in various newspapers appeared yesterday.
















But I am stuck at a point .
Till last day, we all were looking at the moon. Yesterday we could throw a stone (mip) at it.
Today, we all look at the stars. When are going to throw a stone at them ?
While appreciating the herculian efforts (of every kind of resource) from ISRO, I am thrilled at what the NASA is doing.
NASA has been looking at (not alone the moon and the stars !) the Universe, and they were throwing stones on many planets and stars ( and danced on the Moon). Now they are looking further ahead. They are searching for newer stars, beyond the solar system, to throw at . I wish them ALL SUCCESS.




















.

Chandrayaan, MIP, and Moon

Today, all the media celebrates the BIG NEWS. The news about Chandrayaan, MIP and the Moon. Yesterday ( Children's day ! Diabetes day ! ! ) at 8.31 PM, the MIP was dropped on to the Moon, from the Chandrayaan. According to ISRO, everything is successful... , justifying the popular ISRO terminology - "text book flight".
But, what interests me most today, is the media coverage of this historic moment. I had a quick look into some of the newspapers. All of them (except Business Line, from the Hindu Group) had the lead title about Chandrayan and MIP.
Let me just reproduce some of the newspapers, just to show how they put the historical moment and great achievement for India.

I have reproductions from The Hindu, Indian Express, Malayala Manorama, and Mathrubhoomi. Please have a look.






Indian Express : Tri-Color on Moon














Malayala Manorama : "Grahapravesham'
[ entry to planet }














Mathrubhoomi : Tri-colour on Moon














The Hindu : India leaves its footprint on Moon.











As I hinted above, 'Business Line' (a business news paper, from Hindu group ) did not even make a mention of this great achievement. ( I spent a lot of time, searching for atleast a one-line mention in the remotest corner of the paper. I am disappointed. May be that BusineesLine could not see any business in Chandrayaan, MIP or the Moon !! ).


I shall put my researched glimpses of the initial Moon missions, with reference to ST(2001), in a couple of days , here.

Chandrayaan

Right now, we are on our journey to the Moon. Moon is just going to be a stopover for our journey. Our destination is far ahead away. Chandrayaan is but the beginning.




















Indian Chandrayaan is just above the Moon, circling him (her?). It's about to drop a packet (MIP) on to the moon. For us, this is certainly a proud milestone.
When we are with the Chandrayaan and MIP, the Americans are further ahead with their journey to the Mars, Sun, and further ahead. Today's news is that NASA has just ended the current mission to the Mars, with its Mars lander losing contacts with the ground.

"Science Today" magazine, right from its inception, have been giving extensive coverage of the Space Missions. Many articles, covering the science and technologies of Moon expedition have been published . These articles are really great, and are quite useful to all strata of people, the young and the old.
Tomorrow, the Moon Impact Probe would be dropped on to the Moon, from Chandrayaan. Let's wish ISRO all success ... for the coming Projects too.

... more on the Moon missions , wrt ST will follow.

Satellite launching : Private operators

And now private companies launching Rockets and Launch Vehicles !

Space Exploration Technologies, USA (SpaceX ) is now the first private company in the world to attempt launching rockets and satellite launch vehicles. They are successful in (their fourth attempt) launching a vehicle (Falcon 1 ) placing satellites in the orbit.
SpaceX is planning larger vehicles, capable of providing cargo services to the International Space Station ( I S S ), for NASA.

.

NASA is 50 years

NASA is 50 years.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the American agency involved in Space research and activities, and the pioneer in the field of Aeronautics, is 50 years now. NASA was established in 1958, by the then US President Eisenhower. Later President John F Kennedy gave a thrust to NASA activities. It was in his time that NASA achieved the unique and first moon mission. US Astronauts walked on the moon – “a giant leap for the mankind” – on 20 July, 1969.

On this October 1, USA and NASA are celebrating its 50 th birthday . Let us wish NASA “ a happy birth day”, and congratulate NASA on this “50 years of innovation, inspiration, and discovery”.

NASA excels in their missions and visions.

.

Duo, Quad, Hexa. Octa ?

Duo, Quad, and now Hexa. Not Octa ?

Computers are a game of 2. After DUO and QUAD, I thought the OCTA would come ! Then, how come HEXA ?

I had this doubt last day, when I read the news that Intel just designed their six-in-one processor. The report says, the world’s first 6-in-1 processor has been completely designed and developed in India. Intel’s Bangalore centre had designed the latest in their Xeon series. Xeon 7400 has 1.9 billion transistors in it, and drives SIX separate cores. This would be used in high-end, server type computers.

Intel, can I expect Octa shortly ? Or is it HexDesi ? What’s next in your journey to TERA cores ?

.

Wire-free Power Transmission

A great technology, indeed ! Wire-free or Cord-less power transmission !
Intel, the microprocessor giant, is now working on a new technology for wire-free power transmission. The technology, called "Wireless Resonant Energy Link (WREL)" would enable transmission of power without cords (wires). The devices ( Mobiles, Laptops, Players, Robots, ...) using the power can be in the vicinity of the power transmitter.
Intel could achieve 75% efficiency in transmitting the power over a range of 2 metres. The system has varied applications and hence have utmost futuristic value.

Think of powerful robotic soldiers .. with no batteries inside.. yeah, that's a reality now. May be.. Intel would call the technology "No batteries inside' , like "Intel inside".

.

In search of GOD

In search of God

I have here, excerpts of the highlights of a Press Report on CERN’s Particle Collider Tests.

“

The biggest Physics experiment in the history.

World’s largest particle collider (Large Haldron Collider) ; Tests with two beams of Proton fired in opposite directions at close to the speed of light.

Proton beams fired through a 27 Km long underground ring.

Aims to recreate conditions a split second after the Big bang ( the massive explosion that created the universe).

The purpose of all these tests is to understand the makeup of the Universe.

Could reveal more about “dark matter”, anti-matter and possibly hidden dimensions of space and time.

Could find evidence of the hypothetical particle – the Higgs boson – called “God particle”.

The God particle gives mass to all other particles , and thus to matter that makes up the universe.

AND

It is feared that the collision of protons could eventually imperil the earth by creating micro-black holes, sub atomic versions of collapsed stars whose gravity is so strong they can suck in planets and other stars.

“

Feels 'dark' about the whole thing ? Yes, it might, if you are not a physicist !

Microchips and Bluetooth

Bluetooth is 10 and Microchip is 50.

Tenth birthday of Bluetooth is being celebrated. Bluetooth, as you may know, is the short range wireless system used with Mobile phones, music players (iPod and clones) , PC peripherals like printers, and so on. Other competing technologies are WiMax and WiFi are more in demand now, for their speeds. However, the original short range technology is becoming more popular.
The Swedish firm Ericsson developed this technology in 1998, in collaboration with five other technology companies. The name of the technology was borrowed from the Danish King “Herald Bluetooth” ( who united Scandinavia in the 10th Century.).
Bluetooth, will certainly grow more in the days to come. Presence of other technologies are not a deterrent.

Microchips OR Integrated Circuits is the most revolutionary invention and development, after the invention of Transistors in the late 1950s. The first microchip was created by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments, on Sept 12, 1958. It had a germanium transistor and some other components, glued on to a piece of glass, as a single unit. This ‘silly’ device revolutionalised the whole electronics technology and business.
Today, the chips integrate millions of transistors and components into a thin piece of silicon. This technology find its place in almost all our modern gadgets. Be it personal life, industry, or anything, ICs have a major role in it.

Sports Medicine

Science Today had dealt Sports Medicine, in detail, at many occassions.  The above picture is the cover of an issue of Science Today. I find it  very interesting, and so decided to share with you. Please see.

Fractals in Nature

Hi all,

After a long break ... 

Now I have a bit about Fractals in nature. The 'ScienceToday' magazine had published articles on this subject.  Last day, when I saw the leaves of a Papaya tree, I was thrilled to note the fractal design. Here are those photographs, supplemented with a few more from the Web.

A quote from Wikipaedia : "Approximate fractals are easily found in nature. These objects display self-similar structure over an extended, but finite, scale range. Examples include clouds, snow flakes, crystals, mountain ranges, lightning, river networks, cauliflower or broccoli, and systems of blood vessels and pulmonary vessels. Coastlines may be loosely considered fractal in nature.
 Trees and ferns are fractal in nature. A branch from a tree or a frond from a fern is a miniature replica of the whole: not identical, but similar in nature."

See two pages (first two pics) of an article by K N Malathi, appeared in ST.

What is Logic ?

What's logic ?  Here is the answer. Please see the picture.

India in Space, SLV-3

India zooms into space.
This is an extremely important news for all of us. That’s why Dr. V R Gowariker, Director, VSSC wrote in Science Today ( 1980 August ).

From almost toy rocketry (1969) to Satellite launching (July 18, 1980 ) took just about 10 years.
With reference to the SLV-3 launching ( on 18 July, 1980), he wrote :

“ Experience gained from SLV-3 has given us confidence that we will be able to build launch vehicles of 300 to 400 ton class , using both solid and liquid systems. We have probably all the rudiments to build such vehicles in this decade itself. “

Fourth Pay Commission

Fourth Pay Commission.

DRDO’s woes; Brain going down the drain !

Here is a quote from a letter from Sri. SK Sharma, President, Defence Scientists Association , New Delhi, published in the feedback columns of Science Today, December 1986.

""
The fourth pay commission has surprisingly made practically every category of employees unhappy as evident from the Press reports. The worse affected and discriminated are Scientists working in the Government sector. ……………….. …………………………… The Scientists might come to a sad conclusion that hey have little future in this country. The Government is worried about “brain drain” while Scientists working in India are also worried about “brain going down the drain”.

""


Have the situation changed now ? Will some Scientist answer to this ??

Articles on SEX

Science Today : Articles on SEX.
As promised, I had a quick survey on articles published in ST on SEX.
Here is a summary report .

May 1969 Chromosomes and Sex
Sept 1970 Sex control – use of a chemical
March 1971 Sex drugs and ethics (UNESCO Reprint)
June 1971 Boy or Girl – Sex determination
August 1972 Sex tests – Olympics
October 1972 Sex chromosome disorders
Nov 1972 The shadow people – The problems of not-so-normal sex. Intersexuality, Homosexuality, Hijras, etc..
Nov 1972 Changing sexes (in fishes)
May 1973 How sex hormones activate target cells

August 1973 Role of male hormones in females

March 1974 Choice of offsprings- male babies when you want them
Jan 1974 Crimes- Sex offences – The case of the rapist
Jan 1974 Effects of stress- Maternal stress increases girl population.


Dec 1974 Settle and be “sexist”
Dec 1974 A two-in-one male pill, hormone free.
Feb 1975 Brain develops in male infants
June 1975 Select your baby’s sex, the Chinese way
Nov 1975 Genetics – What makes a male ?
May 1977 Baby’s sex choosing kit
Nov 1977 Choosing the sex of the foetus

Jan 1980 Sexual differences in the brain
July 1980 Sex attractants
August 1980 Genes and heredity

Nov 1981 Sexually Transmitted Diseases – High in the gays
May 1982 Sexual behaviour =- mmen as sexual animals
August 1982 The gender changers – Sex changing

April 1984 Probing the womb- Sex determination
March 1985 Sex hormones- Sex chromosomes
Feb 1986 Students seek sex education in curriculum

Medvedev

In yesterday's post, on Prof.R Narasimhan's contributions, I had referred to his book review (The Medvedev papers) in the Oct 1971 issue of ST. The name "Medvedev" was new to me. But suddenly, today, this name is a hit !!
The main news of the day is :
"Medvedev heads for huge win in Russia" !
Dr. Zhores A Medvedev was a Soviet scienitist, whose articles were under mention.
This Medvedev - Dmirthy Medvedev - is the next President of Russia. He is winning, that's the main report of the day.
Must be a coincidence ! !