Aur comet ISON bikhar gya!

Many a time teachers and students of science complain about lack of laboratory and learning resources. However night sky is a fantastic laboratory and teaching learning resource freely available to all of us. It is this laboratory which was used to a great extent by pioneers like Aryabhatta, Aristarchus, Hypatia,  Galileo, Caroline Herchel, Tyco Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Halley  and others. Many spectacular celestial events occur regularly which gives learners an opportunity to observe, enjoy and learn. Few recent magnificent astronomical events being the total solar eclipse of year 2009 and the transit of Venus of year 2012. Planetary Superconjunctions are rare astronomical events. Lunar and annular eclipses and super moon are other regular important celestial events to watch. However nothing can match the beauty of a comet. The arrival of the comet ISON into our horizon in late November this year provided us an exciting opportunity to gear towards involving children on a massive scale in a campaign to track the comet, and participate in the unravelling of its progression towards the Sun. Further, tracking the comet, which was visible in the early morning sky November 2013 onwards,  served to excite and inspire all curious beholder of nature. Comets are dirty snow ball made out of dust and ice. The word "comet" comes from the Greek word for "hair. Newton discovered that comets move in elliptical orbits around the Sun. He also thought that comets were members of the Solar System, just like planets, and that they could return over and over again. The appearance of comets became predictable after Halley, an English scientist correctly predicted the reappearance of the comet seen in 1683. Using the newly developed gravitational theory of Newton, he predicted that this comet would return in 1758. The comet indeed came as predicted and named as Halley’s comet. Comets come from two places: The Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud. Comets are the most primitive objects in the Solar System. Many scientists think that they have kept a record of the physical and chemical processes that occurred during the early stages of the evolution of our Sun and Solar System. A comet is an irregular body, assembled from millimetre sized dust grains coated heavily with ices. This is the nucleus of a comet. The most prominent ice is water ice, followed by carbon dioxide ice, ammonia ice and methane ice. The dust and the ices are so loosely held together that a comet has only the strength of a biscuit! Comets are named after the observers who spot them first and report to a central agency. If two observers spot them on the same night, it is named after both of them. Most comets are observed by amateur astronomers. Vainu Bappu discovered a comet in a routine photograph he was examining as a student. This comet was named Bappu - Newkirk – Whipple. About twenty comets are seen by telescopes every year. About 5 to 7 may be new ones while others have been seen before. Of the comets detected every year only 1 or 2 reach naked eye visibility. Comets are the oldest and least processed bodies orbiting the Sun and therefore constitute a unique source of knowledge about the birth and early evolution of our Solar System. Asteroids, comets and other cosmic debris have also had a fundamental impact on the development of planet Earth and the life on it, by bombarding it periodically. Comets colliding with the early Earth may have seeded our world with the chemicals necessary for life to begin. The icy nature of the comets almost certainly contributed to the quota of water that now exists in Earth’s oceans.

Comet ISON (C/2012 S1)  was discovered by Eastern European and Russian astronomers  on September 24, 2012 using the facilities of International Scientific Optical Network (ISON). Comet ISON  swung close by the Sun at the end of November and was expected to climb up the dawn sky in December. The comet  performed remarkably close Sun graze  at its perihelion on November 28th. It  flew less than one solar diameter past the Sun’s surface, with the dusty ice of its nucleus broiling violently. Astronomers tracking the “comet of the century” last night believed it had flown too close to the sun and had broken up. All the evidence suggests Ison's nucleus was torn apart in the close pass, in the same way that Comet Lovejoy was disrupted.Now it would not be visible by naked eye. Professional astronomers are trying to track the fragments with a telescope. Just before performing Sun graze it was observed by my friend Mr. Kulwant Singh an amateur astronomer from rural Punjab. I don’t know whether anybody was lucky in our state.

Comets will stay in the news, however. Next year, in October, Comet Siding Spring (C 2013 A1) will breeze past Mars at a distance of little more than 100,000km. Our spacecraft Mangal yaan will arrive at Mars one month before the comet's closest approach. And then in November, the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission will attempt to place a probe on the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Report on Techvaganza the annual technical festival of NIT, Srinagar (22-26 Aug 2013)

Techvaganza is an annual national level Technical Festival of National Institute of Technology, Srinagar. The fest is an attempt to make students,  acquainted with the current and futuristic technologies. Techvaganza was inaugurated by the director NIT Prof Rajat Gupta. The guests of honour during inauguration were Prof Tej Pratap Singh, VC SKUAST and  Mr John Samuels, CPMG J&K Circle.  The festival include workshops, guest lectures, LAN gaming, technical quiz, release of inaugural issue of IIM (Indian Institute of metal) –NIT chapter journal , competitive events based on various branches of engineering, and social awareness programs. The main technical events were Robotrix, Botorace, Structrite, mad for CAD, metalomania, circuit bizz, traffic planning etc. Workshops were conducted on Aeromodelling, building design, scilab, linux and android etc. Dr Arvind Bharti from DRDO, DR UK Chaterjee and Er Pugazhenthy  delivered guest lectures. There were lot of fun and creativity events. There were social events like career counseling for secondary and higher secondary schools, panel discussion on women empowerment.

On 22 August the  Director NIT Prof Rajat Gupta inaugurated the Techvaganza 2013, with welcome speech at Aerotrix workshop where students were taught basic principles of aeromodelling and designing and fabrication of wings of biplanes. The Aerotrix workshop and the workshop ‘Civil simplified’ were conducted by IIT Kanpur alumni at very subsidized rate. It was the first of its kind workshop in North India.  In ANDROID workshop Data handelling and button handelling were taught. Basic hello world application was created. In Robotic workshop Basic robotics theory, assembly of parts of robots and writing basic programmes and flashing it on ROBOT were  taught. Tutorial on Phython  and LINUX were conducted.

During Techvaganza, student chapters of Institute of Metals(IIM)  and Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) were formed at NIT Srinagar. The inaugural issue of the journal of IIM student affiliate chapter was also released by the Director. Guest lectures were delivered by Dr. UK Chatterji  on metals, Er. L Pugazhenthy on careers in metallurgy, Mr. Manoranjan Ram  on IIM related to metals, Dr. Arvind Bharti on  overview of DRDO and about planning and management.

Many schools and colleges participated in the fest. Specially the students from SSM, IUST, KU, and Amar Singh college participated in large numbers.  Govt College Of Engg And Tech, Jammu, MIET, Jammu, MBS, Jammu, Sankethika Institute of Management and Technology, Vishakhapatnam, Lakshmi Narain college of technology, Bhopal, Kongu Engg college, Perundurai, UIET, Punjab, Punjab University were among the Institutions who came all the way to Kashmir valley to be a part of Techvaganza 2013.

Under social awareness program (Social Awareness and Youth) career counseling on exams like Olympiads and kvpy were discussed by Dr S. Rubab of NIT Srinagar. Mr Zahoor Akram project coordinator of directorate of lifelong  learning, KU discussed on skill development courses. Mr Sajad Mir of BHSS Nigeen discussed about Children Science Congress.  For career counseling, students from BHSS Batmaloo, BHSS Hazratbal, KV and St. Pauls School participated in large numbers. Under the aegis of SAY an awarenes program on Man Bear conflict was conducted on third day of the festival by Ms Alia Mir and Mr. Tahir Ghazanfar of SOS Wildlife a not for profit organization. Mr MA Tak, Wildlife conservator of Kashmir also graced the occasion. Mr Tahir Ghazanfar urged the NIT students to provide technical inputs to control Man Bear conflict. On final day of the festival a gender equity workshop was conducted by Dr S Rubab and Dr Kowser Majid of NIT Srinagar. Dr Suraya of Medical Unit NIT and Dr Rana Hashmi of KU also took part in panel discussion. Ms. Zarqa of NIT elaborated on the field work conducted by the volunteers of SAY to gather information on  gender issues in less privileged communities of the city.

Apart from various technical events, there were technical fun events including treasure hunt, LAN Gaming, photography, video journal, skulk rider, Rangoli, a minute to win it and many more.

State Bank Of India, the Tribune, Gulzar group of institutions, 92.7 big FM, Aircel, sci fi labs, Technophilia, Cadd centre, College khabar, Twenty19 and Honda were among the sponsors of the festival.

Most of the events were won by NIT students except few. In smack down (an event of robotics) and LAN Gaming UIET, Punjab won the 1^st prize. Sankethika Institute won in maglev (mechanical) and  arduous(robotics). Structurite and brick wall erection of civil gained a lot of attention both from students of valley and outside J&K. In paper and poster presentation,  1^st position was bagged by NIT sgr and second by students from Andhra Pradesh. The Director  and Dean, students welfare gave away the prizes to all the event winners during Valedictory session. The best part of the Techvaganza was that it has been conceived and managed by students. They were ably supported by coordinator Er. Mushtaq Rather and the other faculty members.

Report on Science popularization in Urdu through Print media

Vigyan Prasar is a national organization under the department of Science and technology, working for Science popularization.Under its “Reaching to un-reach programme", it was envisaged of bringing out popular science literature in Urdu. A national level seminar cum workshop for development of popular science literature in Urdu was organized at  Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) Hyderabad from 9  to 11 April 2013. The seminar cum workshop was inaugurated by Prof Shamim Jairajpuri the founding vice chancellor of MANUU. The current vice chancellor Mohammed Mian also addressed the gathering. The chief guest was Prof S. Irfan Habib of NUEPA, New Delhi. He deliberated on history of science writing in Urdu in India. For the first time an abstract booklet of popular science writing in Urdu titled as ‘Talkhis’ was published and released during inaugural session.

The registrar of Vigyan Prasar Dr TV Venkatsewaran deliberated on the need to develop easy to understand scientific literature in Urdu. He stressed that present time being the time of technology and knowledge so a large population cannot be denied the benefits of technology. If scientific thought is presented in mother tongue a large population is going to appreciate it and they will be encouraged to express their views. Dr Irfana Begum who was the organizer of this seminar cum workshop stressed that  popularization of science through Urdu medium is need of hour. To appreciate the beauty of science and to avail the fruits of technology is the right of every citizen irrespective of their mother tongue. She urged those scientists and writers whose mother tongue is Urdu but they prefer to write in English and Hindi to write in Urdu as well. Dr Khalid Mubashiruzzafar the co organizer of the program from the Department of Translation, MAANU stressed on the role of translation in developing popular scientific literature in Urdu. Dr Monika Kaul from Delhi University who has done her schooling from the Kashmir valley and knows Urdu, discussed on the challenges in developing scientific literature in Urdu and  their remedial measures. Dr Gauhar Raza an eminent scientist from NISCAIR, CSIR and a talented writer of Urdu talked about scientific temper. He differentiated between science and non science. The meta question which differentiates between the two actually begins with why and how. The questions beginning with why leads to religion, whereas the questions beginning with how leads to science and scientific temper.

About forty participants presented their papers on following theme  (i) Content development (ii) Reach and circulation (iii) Inculcating reading habit and (iv) Sharing experiences. I presented my paper on astrolabe which was an effort in developing popular science content in Urdu. The other notable papers were on health by Dr Abid Moiz, Science in Urdu newspapers by Asad Faisal Faruqi, Historical perspective of scientific writing in Urdu by Dr Mohammed Junaid Zakir.  During second day, a workshop on writing popular science article in Urdu was conducted. Students of School of languages, linguistics and Indology of MANUU also participated in the workshop. Dr TV Venkateswaran of Vigyan Prasar,  Dr Gauhar Raza of NISCAIR, Dr Monika Kaul of Delhi University and Dr Seemin Rubab of NIT Srinagar acted as resource persons and shared their skills and tips with participants. The participants were then taken to the library to get resource materials and write a popular science article and submit it for evaluation. The articles were evaluated by me and all the participants received critical comments and tips on improving their writing skills on the third day. The valedictory session was chaired by Professor Mohammed Zafaruddin,  the dean of School of languages, linguistics & Indology and HOD department of translation. He emphasized on the need of regularly having similar kind of workshop. He assured the cooperation and role of department of translation  in developing popular science literature in Urdu. The department is offering a very innovative masters program in Translation studies. After valedictory session the participants were taken to Charminar, Makkah Masjid and Salar Jung Museum.

Rendezvous with Astrolabes

Although I am a student of Physics, my first rendezvous with astrolabe was few years ago through philately. I got a Spanish stamp with the image of astronomer Al-Zarqali / Arzachel, beside his astrolabe. Then I got a Syrian stamp on which astronomer Sibt al-Mardini who was also a timekeeper (muwaqqit) was busy doing some observations on his astrolabe. Another Syrian stamp which was released at the occasion of 2nd International symposium for the history of Arabic Science clearly shows an astrolabe. I became fascinated by its beauty and versatility and came to know about two libraries and a museum in India where ancient scientific instruments including astrolabes are preserved. A small collection of unique medieval scientific instruments are preserved in Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library at Patna. Another collection of instruments are preserved at Rampur Raza Library and yet another collection is at Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad. A small but unique collection of medieval astronomical instruments is preserved in SPS museum Srinagar. All these instruments have been catalogued by great Sanskrit scholar  SR Sarma. Last year I bought the album of scientific instruments preserved at the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library. The album has been edited by Imtiaz Ahmed on the basis of a paper by  SR Sarma entitled ‘A brief Introduction to the Astronomical Instruments preserved in Khuda Bakhsh Library, Patna’ published in Khuda Bakhsh Library journal in the year 1999. Recently I had the opportunity to see the astrolabes and other instruments at Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library.

The astrolabe is an ancient astronomical instrument/ analogue computer. Astrolabe is a very versatile instrument. It was first designed by Greeks to measure the altitude of a heavenly body. It was used to ascertain position of celestial bodies like Sun, Moon, planets and stars in the sky. It was also used for measuring height and distances in land surveys. It can also be used to simulate the motion of heavenly bodies at any locality and time. In fact it can also be used to measure time. The design, manufacture and applications of astrolabes were improved by Arabs in middle ages. It was used to calculate the Qibla and to find the times for Salah. Astrolabe was adopted for navigational purposes by the German geographer, Martin Behaim.

Several types of astrolabes have been made since antiquity. The most popular type is the planispheric astrolabe, on which the celestial sphere is projected onto the plane of the equator. A typical astrolabe was made of brass and was about 6-10 inches in diameter, although much larger and smaller ones were made. An astrolabe consists of a disk, called the mater (mother), which is deep enough to hold one or more flat plates called tympans or climates. A tympan is made for a specific latitude and is engraved with a stereographic projection of circles denoting azimuth and altitude and representing the portion of the celestial sphere above the local horizon. The rim of the mater is typically graduated into hours of time, degrees of arc. Above the mater and tympan, the rete or ankabut, a framework bearing a projection of the ecliptic plane and several pointers indicating the positions of the brightest stars, is free to rotate. The rete, representing the sky, functions as a star chart. When it is rotated, the stars and the ecliptic move over the projection of the coordinates on the tympan. One complete rotation corresponds to the passage of a day. On the back of the mater there is often engraved a number of scales that are useful in the astrolabe's various applications; these vary from designer to designer, but might include curves for time conversions, a calendar for converting the day of the month to the sun's position on the ecliptic, trigonometric scales, and a graduation of 360 degrees around the back edge. The alidade is attached to the back face. When the astrolabe is held vertically, the alidade can be rotated and the sun or a star sighted along its length, so that its altitude in degrees can be read from the graduated edge of the astrolabe.

The concept of astrolabe was introduced in India by noted polymath Alberuni through his writings. The medieval rulers Firoz Shah Tughlaq and Humayun patronized astronomy. During Mughal period some finest astrolabes were manufactured in Lahore.

Astrolabes have now been replaced by sextants, GPS and other sophisticated digital devices but their study and handling leads to insights into basic measurement, geometry, stereographic projection, astronomy, geography and design and application of instruments. There are about thousand Islamic astrolabes that survive in various museums throughout world. They are pieces of beauty and craftmanship for beholders. Not only men but women also excelled in designing of astrolabes. Mirium al Ijli from Aleppo was a famous designer and crafter of intricate astrolabes that’s why she is also known as Mirium asturlabi.

Report on Indian Science Communication Congress(ISCC-2012)

The 12th Indian Science Communication Congress (ISCC-2012) with the theme of ‘Risk Communication and Development’ was held at Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi from 17-21 December. The conference was being jointly organized by National Council of Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), Indian Science Writers Association (ISWA), Vidyadeep Foundation and Jan Sewa Ashram. The conference was inaugurated by Prof. Ved Prakash, Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC) and Presidential address was delivered by Prof. Krishan Lal, President, Indian National Science Academy. Key note address was delivered by Dr. R. K. Bhandari, Former Chairman, Centre for Disaster Mitigation. Prof. Samir K. Brahmachari, Director General of Council of Scientific Research (CSIR) and veteran journalist Dr. Radhey Shyam Sharma graced the occasion as guest of honour.  Indian Science Writers Association (ISWA) conferred national awards and fellowships to fifty leading scientists and journalists of the nation. Around 250 scientists, science writers, academicians,  science correspondents and students participated in the congress. In his inaugural address Prof. Ved Prakash, Chairman, UGC, stressed the importance of quality education and research in the higher science education. In the presidential address Dr. Krishan Lal, INSA President suggested the importance of fact based debates and discussion between the scientists, communicators and common people. Dr. Manoj Kumar Patairiya talked about addressing the dilemma over emerging conflicting  issues on science and technology and role of scientists and journalists. Prof. Samir K Brahmachari stressed the importance of science communicators for bridging the gap between scientists and common people.

Several topics such as Risk Communication and Management, Nuclear Energy and Environmental Awareness, Public appreciation of Health Risks and Genetically Modified Organisms were discussed and deliberations made during the conference. The increasing public concerns on emerging issues in genetically modified organisms, nuclear energy, climate change, clinical trials, industrial hazards, etc., need to be addressed with fair, honest, and factual scientific understanding; this entire concept opens up a yet another area of science communication, i.e. “Risk Communication & Development”, which was the focal theme of ISCC-2012. The deliberations  covered a wide range of sub themes, such as: Communication for Sustainable Development; Awareness of Genetically Modified Organisms; Public Appreciation of Nuclear Energy; Public Understanding of Health Risks; Environmental Risks and Communication Strategies; Public Misunderstanding of Superstitions; Preparedness for Disasters - Natural and Human; Risk Communication and Mass Media; Scientific Temper and Risk Management, etc.

I presented my paper on Public awareness of directive on restriction of hazardous substances. We are living in an electronic age. We have e-mail, e-banking, e-business, e-books, e-medicine (telemedicine) and so on. The e-products like laptops and cellular phones have penetrated the society in a big way. However majority of users of these products are unaware of presence of hazardous chemicals in electronic goods. The Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment was adopted in 2003 by the European Union. The RoHS-directive, restricts the use of six hazardous materials (viz., lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, PBB and PDBE) in the manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment. PBB and PBDE are brominated flame retardants used in several plastics. A long term exposure of these substances may lead to damage of Nervous system, Kidney, Bones, Reproductive System and Endocrine system. BFR release dioxins and furans which are neurotoxins.

The topics of the evening talks covered First Aid in Disaster by well known physician Dr. K.K. Aggarwal, Science and Art of Weather Forecasting by Dr. Akhilesh Gupta, Secretary UGC, Disasters and Public Awareness by Dr. K. J. Ramesh, Advisor, Ministry of Earth Sciences, and Nuclear Energy Debate by Dr. S.K. Malhotra, Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India. The deliberations emphasized the need of a Science and Technology Communication Policy.

Second session of the last day was dedicated for “Young Scholars” which was chaired by Dr. M Prithviraj, Executive Director, Karnataka State Council for Science & Tech. Variety of presentations were made and appreciated by the audience.

Discussion and conclusion sessions was chaired by Dr. S K Malhotra, Director, Public Affairs, Deptt of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India and Rappoteur was Mr. B P Singh, Journalist, Chandigarh. Dr. Manoj Pataria, Director, NCSTC, GOI also share the dais and answered the queries of the participants and delegates. This session was dedicated for the interaction, discussion, suggestion and further recommendation to the higher authorities for their kind consideration.

The valedictory session of the conference was graced by dignitaries such as Mr. Noorana, Sr. Manager, Corporate communication, India Oil Corporation, Mr. Anand Khati, JS, MoES, GOI, Prof Saroj Mishra, University of Houston Clear Lake, USA and Dr. Avinash Mishra, Chief Resident Commissioner, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh.