The Golden 80s

The India media's expertise is primarily on politics, cricket, entertainment, and business. Their forte is not on science, unlike other well-known publications like The Guardian or the New York Times. When I read the headline, Mandya's lake man to build 15th pond with award money , I was not all surprised. I was sure that normal readers may not find the words, Lake and Pond, that intriguing. A discerning reader or someone who have studied Ecology will notice that there is something wrong here. A lake and a pond are not the same thing strictly from an ecological science point of view. Of course, they are static water bodies of varying sizes. But there are obvious ecological differences. One is there are man-made lakes and there are lakes borne out of natural phenomenon such as volcanic eruptions, retreat of ice sheets and earthquakes. Technically, there are differences in the structure, energy flows, ecological stratification, flora and fauna, and so on. There is an intere...

The environment ministry's existence requires an overhaul. It has so far functioned as another project clearance agency, a remnant of the old licence-permit raj dispensation. The principal activity of this department must be to safeguard the environment of India, and not the single-handed purpose of clearing projects. Instead, it has degenerated known for its controversial decisions, yes or no to high-profile projects, and lies created by a section of pro-free-market journalists First of all, the ministry must have an environmental philosophy that outlines what exactly it will achieve in the next few decades. The environment ministry's objectives should never be for the next five years or the period when the existing government is in power. The philosophy must be to safeguard the environment without landing in controversies involving delayed project clearances that subverts its primary mission and functional role. It requires a cadre of officials, professionals, political...

The human nose can detect at least 1 trillion different odours, much higher than the 10,000 scents earlier estimated, says the Nature magazine . The noted science magazine also says that the human nose has around 400 types of scent receptors.

If you believe that human beings are the ultimate species on earth bestowed with all the qualities that can ever be imagined, please think twice. BBC reports that elephants can recognise human voices and also differentiate the voice of a kid from that of an adult. And the reaosn why they can or have learnt to recognise human voices is that they are scared of human beings. For the poor elephants, human beings are the most feared predators. As human beings, we all know what that really means.

The question whether we are really "aware" in this information and smartphone age is a topic of a big debate. I use the word "aware" in the way it is defined in the Merriam Webster free online dictionary. Aware (adj): Knowing and understanding a lot about what is happening in the world or around you. Yes, there is knowing a "lot" about what is happening because we are all bombarded with messages of all sorts in various media unheard in the 80s and 90s. But do we really understand what is really happening around us? Let us check this tweet: While most of the people will focus on the person mentioned in the tweet, I have a problem with something else. That is, someone has built a forest in 30 years. If a forest can be "built" in such a short period , it is really wonderful. But as an Environmental Studies student, I very well need to dispute this fact. A forest is not a vast collection of trees in acres of land. A forest has a structur...

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lamented the other day that Indian science lagged China and promised increased GDP outlay for science and R&D. When every child is brainwashed to become an enginner, doctor, or software engineer, and then settle "abroad" earning crores, who wants to be a scientist in poor and undeveloped India? Also, the establishment and the media still consider "satellite launches and Solar Eclipse" as the biggest science stories of the day! "There is not only an absence of big ideas backed by political conviction, but there is also an intellectual vacuity," says an editorial piece in D eccan Herald . It is not just in politics, in all spheres of Indian life there is a big hole. All we are bothered is how much skin has an actor displayed on our websites.Our media is hell bent to ensure we also have beauties who can expose just like Western beauties. Just like that! Cannot help from saying that this is an excellent intro: ...

1. Water molecules in Antarctic fish "dance a more ordered" dance due to the presence of anti-freeze proteins in their body, said a news report . The technique used to study this is called "terahertz spectroscopy". Spectroscopy is a method by which an object's properties are studied by the way it disperses light passed through it. This is just like passing sunlight through a prism. When light is passed through a prism, it breaks into its constituent colours. By studying the constituent colours, scientists can know more about an object's properties. Terahertz spectroscopy uses frequencies in the range of 0.3 THz to 10 THz. This frequency is invisible to the naked eye and can penetrate matter. In this study, Terahertz spectroscopy was used to study the interaction of water molecules with the anti-freeze proteins. 2. "...Universe was formed because of laws of physics and not divine intervention, " said acclaimed scientist, Stephen Hawking . He has add...

Charles Darwin's Origin of Species celebrates 150 years.

Just sharing news about science and technology with my global friends.