One day I was reading a Bengali newspaper from internet. Two news coverage about scientific discoveries were presented one after another. After reading both of them back to back a peculiar thought spawned in my mind. I just wanted to put them in black and white. Both talk about great scientific aspiration in their own right and outcome of devotional hard work for a long period of time, but as an humble human being what we should value more or what human society should appreciate more or encourage more. Are we making a right choice with this?
Sometime in the process of glorifying scientific discovery as an individual or as a society, we can't realize when we have already crossed the fine line of usefulness or relevance. I think beyond certain limit, this worship of science just bring misery to individual or social life. Knowing, I know better than others just keep pampering our ego, neither we can free our mind to other aspects, we just continuously try to confined ourselves in the scientific narrow-mindedness, just enjoy to keep our mind busy with thoughts around that. I think, that is why some scientist displays eccentric unsocial behavior.
I am taking example of science but this is probably true for any faculty of knowledge, once it looses its connection with grass root and basics or cut its relevancy from day to day life, it doesn't do any good to individual or humanity.
Limiting our mind to get engage on any subject till it has some usefulness to life is the real challenge for a scientist or engineer or any so called today’s professionals.
Now lets took a look to the two new:
NASA shortlists Assam innovator for award
The US-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has shortlisted Assamese innovator Uddhab Bharali for its prestigious NASA Technology Award. Bharali has also been nominated for the World Technology Award 2012 given by World Technology Network.
Based in North Lakhimpur town in north-eastern Assam, Bharali has 39 universal patents to his name. But the 45-year-old innovator is best known for his mini pomegranate de-seeder."I am among the 26 innovators from across the globe to have qualified for the NASA award," Bharali said from his hometown. "I have qualified for developing the mini pomegranate de-seeder, which has become very popular in the United States."
The machine, exported to the US and Turkey, separates the outer cover and thin inner membrane of a pomegranate without damaging the seeds. It has a capacity of de-seeding 50-55 kg of pomegranates per hour. Bharali said NASA briefed him about the system involved in deciding the winners. "Out of the 26 who have qualified, 10 would be given the award through online voting. Getting requisite votes is secondary; qualifying for the award is recognition as an international innovator," he added.
The nomination for the World Technology Award, on the other hand, is for the mini CTC tea plant that Bharali had designed. Small enough to be set up in a 14ft by 20ft space, his tea plant follows all established procedures of massive tea producing machines and can produce up to 100kg of tea per day with a power intake of only 2KW.
Bharali began innovating in 1988, and his first device was a polythene filmmaking unit. He has since innovated 98 engineering devices. Associated with IIT Guwahati's RUTAG (rural technology action group), he has developed a cocoon opener and a cotton lap-cutting device for use by common people.
Among his other innovations are the areca nut peeler that is popular in Indonesia and Ethiopia, cassava peeler being bought in Kenya, a garlic peeling machine, tobacco leaf cutter, paddy thresher, cane stripping machine, brass utensil polishing machine, jatropha de-seeder, mechanised weeding machine, passion fruit juice extractor, trench digger and chopper for cattle and fisheries feed. Then there are the stevia pulveriser, multipurpose herbal dyer that retains the colours of ingredients such as tea, king chilli, turmeric or ginger.
A key resource scholar for various schools and colleges besides Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship, Bharali has received several awards such as Shristi Samman by National Innovation Foundation (2007), President's award for innovation (2009) and Meritorious Invention Award (2010) from the Department of Science and Technology.
Cambridge team led by Indian-origin scientist Manda Banerji finds black hole cluster
NEW DELHI/LONDON: Billions of kilometres beyond the constellation of Virgo, a zoo of monster black holes has been discovered by a Cambridge team led by Manda Banerji, an Indian-origin scientist. Radiation, hitherto not quite taken into account, is reaching the earth as a result of earlier unidentified black holes in what astronomers call the "early universe".
The discovery has shaken up the scientific world because never has such a collection of monster black holes remained hidden for so long. Scientists will now have to take a second look at many dust obscured corners of the universe while searching for hidden blackholes.
The research estimates that there are at least 400 black holes in the cluster which is 11 billion light years away. Fiercely swirling giant clouds of thick dust had surrounded the black hole zoo till Banerji's team penetrated it with a cutting edge infrared telescope.
"These results could have a significant impact on studies of supermassive black holes," said Banerji, lead author of the paper which has been published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
"Although these black holes have been studied for some time, the new results indicate that some of the most massive ones may have so far been hidden from our view," Banerji added.
The zoo contains a monster black hole that has more than 10 billion times the mass of the sun, making it one of the most massive black holes ever seen.
"Most black holes of this kind are seen through the matter they drag in. As the neighbouring material spirals in towards the black holes, it heats up. Astronomers are able to see this radiation and observe these systems," explained Indian-origin scientist Manda Banerji.
The significance of this discovery lies in the fact that that now scientists will have to take a second look at many dust obscured corners of the Universe searching for hidden black holes. The newly discovered monster blackhole has been dubbed ULASJ1234+0907. It is one of the reddest objects in the sky. The red colour comes from the surrounding dust which preferentially absorbs bluer light and allows only light in the red region to escape.
Massive black holes are now known to reside at the centres of all galaxies. Scientists think that they grow through violent collisions with other galaxies, which trigger the formation of stars and provides food for the black holes to devour. These violent collisions also produce dust within the galaxies . The dust is ultimately sucked in by the immense force of the black hole's gravitational attraction.
Banerji is currently working on how galaxies and quasars evolve, using visible light as well as infra-red and submillimeter wavelengths of light. She completed her PhD on Galaxies in the Distant Universe in 2009 at University College London.
Prof Richard McMahon, co-author of the study, told the Royal Astronomy Society: "These results are particularly exciting because they show that our new infrared surveys are finding super massive blackholes that are invisible in optical surveys."
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