Category: ScienceTech

The Space Graveyard

According to the latest report, there are more than 200 million pieces of debris orbiting around the Earth, putting our working satellites at risk…This is space junk…

At present there are hundreds of man-made objects circulating our planet Earth. These objects – which move at a speed of over 22,300 mph, faster than a speeding bullet can put our working satellites in grave danger. And these small fragments can leave huge dents in several satellites, telescopes, and other objects orbiting our planet.

As of January 2019, more than 128 million pieces of debris smaller than 1 cm, about 900,000 pieces of debris 1–10 cm, and around 34,000 of pieces larger than 10 cm were estimated to be in orbit around the Earth. Most of these debris float within 1,250 miles of Earth’s surface in what is known as low Earth orbit, home to a number of satellites, such as NASA’s Earth Observing System fleet and the International Space Station (ISS). And while space is big, this space junk can be problematic for active earth satellites because of their swift speeds.

So, what is this space junk?

Space debris began to amass in Earth’s orbit immediately with the first launch of an artificial satellite (Sputnik 1) into orbit in 1957. Immediately after that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) began compiling a database of all known rocket launches and objects reaching orbit: satellites, protective shields and upper- and lower-stage booster rockets. Although it heralded a new beginning in the Space Age, with over 8,900 satellites from more than 40 countries launched so far, it left a mark in space in the form of junk.

And this space junk mostly comprises of stages from rockets that put satellites into orbit and satellites itself after it becomes dysfunctional. In addition, it includes small pieces of junk lost to space which includes nuts and bolts, screwdriver, garbage bags and more. But the number has increased significantly recently with China and India testing their anti-satellite missile, creating at least 400 pieces of debris, which have further increased the risk of impacts to the ISS and other satellites orbiting the space.

With our skies becoming overcrowded with scientific and commercial satellites, it is high time countries need to work towards curbing the growing problem.

Why is it a cause for concern?

There is all possibility that some of the junk will lose altitude over time and burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Despite this, there is still a lot of junk up there. Even without launching new satellites or major explosions, the space debris in Earth’s low orbit is so huge that it will continue to create problem over the centuries.

Reports suggest that over the next 200 years or so, debris larger than about 8 inches will increase by 1.5 times. And smaller trash will increase even more! Junk between 4 inches and 8 inches is expected to multiply 3.2 times and debris less than 4 inches will grow by a factor of 13 to 20. And this is likely to increase in future as more space programs have already been planned by various nations.

What precautions are we taking?

Although many space agencies and private space firms have come out with various concepts, it still seems to be a distant dream. For example: JAXA, Japan’s space agency, is testing an electronic space whip that stretches six football fields long, known as the electrodynamic tether (EDT). The electrified line, nearly 2,300 feet long, is capped with a 44-pound weight. When deployed, it is intended to knock debris out of orbit, sending it to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

Other options include giant magnets, harpoons, and nets to safely cut down the growing debris cloud. Many countries are also developing plans to ensure that any future man-made satellites sent into space have an appropriate “end-of-life plan” to stop the growing menace of debris that float above our planet.

-Noel Fernandez

Team, ScienceNow

Oxygen Free Organism

Can you believe it! Scientists have found an animal that does not require oxygen to breathe…

Hiding in the muscles of Salmon, scientists have discovered an unusual species of parasite that doesn’t breathe oxygen. Comprising of just ten cells, the tiny species is unlike all other animals known to science. The species called Henneguya Salminicola doesn’t breathe oxygen at all!

No Breathing

During its evolution, the parasite abandoned breathing and consuming oxygen in order to produce more energy. Scientists said that aerobic respiration was thought to be universal in animals, but now it is confirmed that this is not the case. The discovery shows that evolution can go in strange directions. Aerobic respiration is a major source of energy, and yet it is found an animal that gave up this critical pathway…

Oxy Free Organisms

Several fungi species, as well as Amoeba, have lost the ability to breathe oxygen over long periods of evolution. When scientists sequenced the genome of the Myxozoan species, a relative of jellyfish and corals, they found its mitochondrial genome was missing. The mitochondria are responsible for collecting oxygen and converting it into energy. Because the parasite is without mitochondria, scientists determined Henneguya salminicola no longer breathes oxygen. The parasite provides proof that animals can survive anaerobic environments.

Course of Evolution

The first large and diverse group of complex, multicellular life forms emerged around the time that oxygen levels on Earth rose dramatically. Scientists have long assumed that aerobic respiration is ubiquitous in the animal kingdom. There is still a lot of scientists who don’t know about the unusual parasite. It’s not yet clear as to how the parasite generates energy, It may be drawing it from the surrounding fish cells, or it may have a different type of respiration such as oxygen-free breathing, which typically characterizes anaerobic non-animal organisms.

The new parasite species undermines another scientific assumption, a principle of evolution. Organisms are supposed to get more complex as they evolve. Simple organisms are interpreted as the ancestors of more modern, complex species. But the new animal whose evolutionary process is opposite. Living in an oxygen-free environment, it has shed unnecessary genes responsible for aerobic respiration and become an even simpler organism.

–Manoj Mahanta

Team ScienceNow

Air Pollution..

The Invisible Threat…

The new WHO guidelines on the permissible levels of particulate matter indicate that more than 90 per cent of the world’s population lived in areas that fall into the category of polluted zones…

According to WHO’s World Global Ambient Air Quality Database, nine in 10 people on Earth breathe highly polluted air and around 70 lakh people die every year from exposure to polluted air The World Health Organisation (WHO) has lowered the bar of pollution levels from the earlier concentration of PM 2.5 of 25 micrograms per cubic metre to 15 micrograms. The existing norms of WHO, which worked as a yardstick for policy makers and governments battling air pollution, had been in place since the year 2005. But more than 90 percent of the world’s population lived in areas that did not meet the 2005 air quality guidelines and with more stringent guidelines in place now, the number is expected to go substantially beyond the 90 percent mark.

The New Guidelines

In a bid to push countries towards clean energy, WHO has tightened the air quality guidelines for the first time since 2005. Even at very low levels, research has shown “air pollution affects all parts of the body, from the brain to a growing baby in a mother’s womb,”. It is one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, alongside climate change. Improving air quality can enhance climate change mitigation efforts while reducing emissions that will, in turn, improve air quality.

The organisation has revised air quality levels for six pollutants that include particulate matter (PM), ozone (O), nitrogen dioxide (NO) sulfur dioxide (SO) and carbon monoxide (CO). According to the new limits, average annual PM2.5 concentrations should be no higher than five micrograms per cubic meter.

Scientists have determined that long-term exposure to concentrations even that low still contributed to heart and lung diseases, stroke and other negative health impacts. Announcing the new guidelines, the WHO said that “almost 80% of deaths related to PM2.5 could be avoided in the world if the current air pollution levels were reduced.”

A Looming Catastrophe

According to data from more than 3,000 cities compiled by the World Health Organisation (WHO), outdoor air pollution has grown 8% globally in the past five years, with billions of people around the world now exposed to dangerous air. The WHO said that disparities in air pollution exposure are increasing worldwide, particularly as low- and middle-income countries are experiencing growing levels of air pollution because of large-scale urbanization and economic development.

The fact that nearly 90 per cent of the world population lived in areas that did not meet the air quality standards is definitely the sign of a looming catastrophe and India definitely features prominently in this red alert zone.

Almost all of India is polluted!

Significantly, in tune with the new WHO guidelines, almost all parts of India can be deemed polluted as the air quality levels are worse than the permissible limits prescribed by the WHO throughout the year.

India recommends the concentration of PM2.5 of upto 60 micrograms per cubic metre over a 24-hour period for an area to be termed as pollution free in contrast to the 25 microgram limit set by the WHO 2005 guidelines. Even the lower standards set by the Indian government are flouted every year as several metropolitan cities report severe pollution in the run up to the winter months including Delhi, NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Gwalior among others.

Indian cities dominate and stand on the worst ranks in a number of studies on air pollution. As per a Greenpeace study, the average concentration of PM2.5 was about 17 times higher in Delhi, eight times higher in Mumbai, nine times higher in Kolkata and over five times higher in Chennai than the recommended levels.

The University of Chicago’s Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report showed that India is the most polluted country in the world, with more than 480 million people or about 40 per cent of its population living in the Indo-Gangetic plains in the north where pollution levels regularly exceed those found anywhere else in the world by an order of magnitude. It has also been reported that the pollution levels have expanded geographically over time and increased so much in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh that an average person is now losing an additional 2.5 to 2.9 years of life expectancy.

A Greenpeace report titled, ‘Behind the Smokescreen’ pointed that among the eight state capitals, Delhi had the worst breathable air with a massive spike of 125 per cent in Nitrogen Dioxide concentrations during April 2021 as compared to the corresponding month in 2020. While researchers took into account the weather changes, had it been more severe the pollution would have spiked by 146 per cent from 2020. This clearly indicates that human induced factors contribute exponentially to increase air pollution levels.

We are responsible…

In early 2020, NASA published satellite images which showed a dramatic decline in pollution levels over China, which the US space agency says was “partly related” to the coronavirus. This was the case across many countries in the world. Efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus changed the ways people worked and conducted their lives. Though temporary, these changes have definitely led to curbing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality.

Satellite readings in the troposphere (the lower atmosphere) of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a pollutant primarily from burning fossil fuels, show a dramatic decline compared to early period when power plants were operating at normal levels. NASA Earth Observatory

The same difference was evident during the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing. To help improve the air, government officials had shut factories and dramatically limited car travel before and during the games leading to levels of some air pollutants dropped by half. This clearly points out to the fact that the high levels of pollution are due to mankind’s irresponsible behaviour towards the environment, restricted not only to a particular country or continent but across the global landscape.

Air pollutants also contribute to climate change like heat waves, extreme weather changes, food supply disruptions, and other effects that can create havoc to the very existences of life on planet earth. Humans have pumped enough carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the past 150 years to raise its levels higher than they have been for hundreds of thousands of years.

Lakes around the world are freezing less and less over time, and in a few decades, thousands of lakes around the world may lose their winter ice cover entirely. The Amazon is losing the equivalent of nearly one million soccer fields of forest cover each year, much of which is cut down to make way for agriculture.

When forest is lost, the carbon it seized ends up in the atmosphere, accelerating but across the global landscape. Air pollutants also contribute to climate change like heat waves, extreme weather changes, food supply disruptions, and other effects that can create havoc to the very existences of life on planet earth.

This implies that in all ways, governments around the world must take bold action to ensure their cities and communities turn from sources of air pollution related health risks to safe places for billions of humans to reside.

Clean the Air now or …

The WHO’s updated Air Quality Guidelines are a firm warning about the severity of our air pollution crisis. The need of the hour is for governments across the world to adopt WHO Air Quality Guidelines, which are based on the latest scientific understanding and seek alternatives to burning fossil fuels for power, transport and industry.

What if…and hear me out…

what if the entire human population used this opportunity to restart society on a greener, more environment conscious foot…?” Yes, the time to begin is NOW

-Dr Siddhivinayak Barve

Editor, ScienceNow

Sci & Tech…

Sound of Music

Listening to music while walking down the street, travelling on long distance trains, camping on a hilltop/forest… wireless technology has dramatically changed the way we record and consume music.

With Wi-Fi acoustic technology continuously evolving – Bluetooth, noise-cancellation, surround sound… we are witnessing a paradigm shift from the earlier ‘rich and clear’ audio experience to a ‘high-quality and blissful’ one whereby consumers are demanding high sound quality in their headphones and speakers.

So here are some technologies to look forward to:

Bone Conduction

This technology makes it possible for one to enjoy music privately while keeping an ear on the world around them at the same time. A headphone like band goes around the back of the head and ends rest on the bones of the skull, thus freeing your ear.

This technology uses transducers that emit sound waves at a frequency that helps it travel through the bones of the skull and onto the inner ear. So you can hear high quality sound without using the outer ear.

3D Soundscape

While the eyes can only see up to 200 degrees at a time, the ears listen in 3D, and it can distinguish sounds from different angles. This technology allows sound designers and composers to create a fully immersive 3D audio environment by placing and moving sound anywhere. It tries to replicate the way our brain perceives sounds in space as it allows one to program distance, height and orientation. So the volume of an audio piece between the left and right ears will change depending on movement of sound track.

Nuraphone

Each one of us is different, our construction of body and sense organs are unique – we hear differently. So instead of using the ‘one size fits all’ earphones, Nuraphone uses its self-learning technology to measure a person’s hearing and fine-tunes the audio to optimise it to a person’s ear. It splits the melodic sounds to an in-ear speaker and the bass sounds to an over-ear tactile speaker that delivers the sound through the person’s skin as if he was hearing it live.

Mindset – Smart Headphones These headphones can read your mind while playing the music of choice. The small EEG electrode on the headphone continuously measure electrical signals emitted by the head and learns from the emotions. They can track your interest, concentration and reactions and likewise adjust the sound quality.

Moreover, as one wears them regularly, they get to know more about the peaks and troughs, adapting likewise to enhance the ultimate experience

-Manoj Mahanta

Team ScienceNow

Self-Driving Cars: Fact or Fiction 

With technology evolving quite rapidly, the role of science cannot be ignored which is helping us experience a whole new world of comfort: autonomous cars being one among them…

 With technology evolving quite rapidly, the role of science cannot be ignored which is helping us experience a whole new world of comfort. And the latest advancement is in transportation in the form of self-driving or autonomous cars. What was once considered unreasonable or impossible by many is soon becoming a reality. For sure, self-driving cars are fast changing gears from science fiction to reality? 

With companies like Tesla, Google, Nissan, and Ford already coming into the fray with their dedicated platforms and technology to develop self-driving cars, it wouldn’t be long before we have to just strap up, sit back and relax!

How do Autonomous Cars work?

Most of the cars available in the market today are partially autonomous with features like hands-free parking, self-braking systems, GPS assistance, etc. But since they have limited software capabilities, they require human intervention to make certain decisions. However it is not the case with self-driving car as several systems (mentioned below) work in tandem with each other to control a driverless car.

The Eye –There are a number of hi-tech sensors available today which make self-driving cars a reality. Sensors for forward collision warning, blind spot monitoring, radar, camera, LIDAR, and ultrasonic all of them come together to form an eye of the vehicle and make self-driving car possible. 

 The Ears –Self-driving cars use cloud computing to know about adjacent cars, traffic data, maps, weather, surface conditions, etc. This helps them to monitor their surroundings better and make informed decisions. However internet connectivity is a must for the self-driving cars all-the-time even though computing hardware can solve small computing tasks locally.

The Brain–The main function of the software algorithms is that all the data collected by the car from the sensors (eye) and connectivity (ears) needs to be analyzed in no time to determine the best course of action. It is necessary for self-driving cars to make quick decisions without any error, otherwise it can be disastrous.

Software algorithms is supposed to seize and integrate all the data from sensors and connectivity tools to make correct decisions on when to speed-up, turn, brake,  and map a route for guidance.

But the biggest invention in technology for the self-driving cars has come in the form of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system. This technology works by sending light pulses that reflect off objects. This helps it to create a 3D image of the vehicle’s surroundings which include the size, shape and distance of the objects.

Other Inputs – Likewise, in order to know if these objects are still or moving deterrents, a radar is used. This complex radar, like LiDAR, sends out sound waves that bounce off objects around the car and anything in its trail. Simultaneously it also gauges the objects in which way it is moving along with their range and speed. And to know what’s happening on the road like street signs, traffic lights, etc., self-driving cars use a high-definition video camera. It also helps the computer in knowing movable obstacles like pedestrians, bicyclists, or any other obstacles.

Finally, a simple GPS is used for navigation, helping in reaching the destination accurately. Scientists say that the data collected from the hardware is more reliable than what people or humans can collect with their primitive senses, and is not affected by the driver’s fatigue.

Strictly speaking, it is the processing that makes these self-driving cars special and not the way they gather the information. The computer processes the real-time inputs from the laser scanner, radar, and video camera, which is then combined with mapping and navigational data from the GPS to control vehicle’s steering wheel and pedals. It makes these decisions by relying on algorithms based on complex mathematical models.

In a nutshell

According to studies, human error is seen behind 93% of the accidents that take place on the roads. And self-driven cars can be the answer to bringing down collisions and accidents. Inventions like these can bring down healthcare costs and also reduce the overall stress on emergency response teams.

The two major companies – Google and Tesla – have taken a leap in the development of autonomous cars. Google is using LiDAR to develop cars that will have no foot pedals or a steering wheel, while Tesla on the other hand is using Autopilot – a software that uses advanced camera sensors acting as the car’s eye.

With evolving technology likely to make autonomous cars a reality soon, at present these cars are made legal only in the US and few other countries. Finally it is how such vehicles interact with other objects and persons will see its acceptability in many more countries.

-Dr Siddhivinayak Barve

Editor, ScienceNow Digital

 

 

The Space Graveyard

According to the latest report, there are more than 200 million pieces of debris orbiting around the Earth, putting our working satellites at risk…This is space junk…

At present there are hundreds of man-made objects circulating our planet Earth. These objects – which move at a speed of over 22,300 mph, faster than a speeding bullet can put our working satellites in grave danger. And these small fragments can leave huge dents in several satellites, telescopes, and other objects orbiting our planet.

As of January 2019, more than 128 million pieces of debris smaller than 1 cm, about 900,000 pieces of debris 1–10 cm, and around 34,000 of pieces larger than 10 cm were estimated to be in orbit around the Earth. Most of these debris float within 1,250 miles of Earth’s surface in what is known as low Earth orbit, home to a number of satellites, such as NASA’s Earth Observing System fleet and the International Space Station (ISS). And while space is big, this space junk can be problematic for active earth satellites because of their swift speeds.

So, what is this space junk?

Space debris began to amass in Earth’s orbit immediately with the first launch of an artificial satellite (Sputnik 1) into orbit in 1957. Immediately after that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) began compiling a database of all known rocket launches and objects reaching orbit: satellites, protective shields and upper- and lower-stage booster rockets. Although it heralded a new beginning in the Space Age, with over 8,900 satellites from more than 40 countries launched so far, it left a mark in space in the form of junk.

And this space junk mostly comprises of stages from rockets that put satellites into orbit and satellites itself after it becomes dysfunctional. In addition, it includes small pieces of junk lost to space which includes nuts and bolts, screwdriver, garbage bags and more. But the number has increased significantly recently with China and India testing their anti-satellite missile, creating at least 400 pieces of debris, which have further increased the risk of impacts to the ISS and other satellites orbiting the space.

With our skies becoming overcrowded with scientific and commercial satellites, it is high time countries need to work towards curbing the growing problem.

Why is it a cause for concern?

There is all possibility that some of the junk will lose altitude over time and burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Despite this, there is still a lot of junk up there. Even without launching new satellites or major explosions, the space debris in Earth’s low orbit is so huge that it will continue to create problem over the centuries.

Reports suggest that over the next 200 years or so, debris larger than about 8 inches will increase by 1.5 times. And smaller trash will increase even more! Junk between 4 inches and 8 inches is expected to multiply 3.2 times and debris less than 4 inches will grow by a factor of 13 to 20. And this is likely to increase in future as more space programs have already been planned by various nations.

What precautions are we taking?

Although many space agencies and private space firms have come out with various concepts, it still seems to be a distant dream. For example: JAXA, Japan’s space agency, is testing an electronic space whip that stretches six football fields long, known as the electrodynamic tether (EDT). The electrified line, nearly 2,300 feet long, is capped with a 44-pound weight. When deployed, it is intended to knock debris out of orbit, sending it to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

Other options include giant magnets, harpoons, and nets to safely cut down the growing debris cloud. Many countries are also developing plans to ensure that any future man-made satellites sent into space have an appropriate “end-of-life plan” to stop the growing menace of debris that float above our planet.

-Noel Fernandez

Team, ScienceNow

In 2016, Mr. SubhashPalekar was awarded India’s fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri

for his exemplary efforts to make small scale farming in India sustainable using his indigenously

developed natural technique – Zero Budget Farming…

For several decades now, farmer suicides across India owing to seasonal drought, failed harvest and

rising debts have been a major cause of concern for both the government and society alike. In a

country that is largely agrarian, agriculture as a ‘vocation’ is working out to be an unviable propositionfor many-a-farmers, especially those with smaller land holdings. In the wake of unpredictable monsoonand rising input cost resorting to modern farming techniques (i.e. use of hybrid seeds, chemicalinsecticides and pesticides, drip irrigation, etc.) for optimal water management and higher crop yield isbecoming a costly proposition, invariably leading farmers into debt trap. Just when the entire farmingcommunity is split on the issue of whether or not to look for an alternative vocation, SubhashPalekar’s‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’ (ZBNF) technique has come as a big sigh of relief for many.

In an era where we have been conditioned to habitually look at the West for solutions to our household problems, interestingly the ZBF technique has been develop indigenously using ancient/traditionalIndian farming practices. Its blockbuster success can be gauged from the fact that an estimated100,000 farmers have already switched over to this method in Karnataka alone.

Normally, the ZBF technique delivered to farmers in batches of 300-500 are intense hands-on

learning sessions of 8-hours each and extending over five-days are often supported by local

businesses, NGOs, corporate houses, social/religious institutions, etc.

This technique developed isbased on four main pillars:

1. Jivamrita: Use of a fermented microbial culture as nutrient and catalytic agent to promote the

activity of micro-organisms in the soil. Invariably, this fermentation solution is created by use of cow

dung and urine, jaggery, pulse flour and undisturbed soil as a means to inoculate native species of

microbes and organism.

2. Bijamrita: A solution developed for treatment of seeds, seedlings and planting material. It is used

mainly for protection of young roots from fungus and soil-borne and seed-borne diseases that

commonly affect plants during monsoon. It is created using cow dung, cow urine, natural fungicide,

a natural anti-bacterial liquid, lime and soil.

3. Acchadana-Mulching: This technique uses three type of mulching to facilitate plant growth.

– Soil Mulch: It is done to protect the topsoil during the cultivation and is aimed at limiting the

nutrient damage at the time of tilling. It promotes aeration and water retention levels in the soil.

– Straw Mulch: Dried biomass of the previous crops is added to the soil, which eventually

decomposes and forms humus through the activity of the organisms in the microbial culture

thereby increasing the soil fertility.

– Live Mulch: Harnessing on the advantages of symbiotic intercrops and mixed crops

comprising by planting a mix of monocotyledon and dicotyledon plants to ensure supply all

essential elements to the soil/crops.

4. 4. Whapasa (Moisture): Shattering the myth that plant roots need lots of water for healthy growth,

instead ZBF has shown that roots when exposed to adequate amount of water vapour (i.e.

Whapasa) yield good harvest. Hence farmers are recommended to irrigate their farms in the noon

to create optimal Whapasa ecosystem (i.e. a condition where there are both air molecules and

water molecules present in soil), thereby reducing wastage of water.

While Zero Budget Natural Farming doesn’t necessarily imply that farmers do away with any kind of

spending, it assures the farmer that whatever little money that he spends during the course of his

agriculture activities is recovered from the intercropping harvest. Moreover, resorting to ZBNF ensuresthat the farmer takes adequate measures to preserve rain water by resorting land contouring andbunds, maintain high soil fertility through vermicomposting and addition of organic material andmaintain highest concentration of micro-organism in soil through addition of Jivamrita and Bijamrita (i.e.natural fertilizers and insecticides/pesticides).

Considering the long-term and short-term benefits, the farmers are deriving through implementation of ZBNF it is apparent that it is in the best interest of small farmers and the government (State and Union) and corporate houses offer adequate encouragementand support to widespread this movement across India.

-Manoj Mahanta

Team, ScienceNow Digital

While NASA considered building a large space telescope to image black holes for a year, a

coordinated effort of the eight radio telescopes from across the globe has helped achieve the milestonedecades ahead of time…

Introduction

In April 2019, the entire world was awestruck looking at the stunning images of a supermassive black

hole at the center of Messier 87 (M87) – an elliptical galaxy some 53 million light-years from Earth. A

team of international astronomers had achieved the impossible by imaging a black hole 6.5 billion timesthe mass of the Sun; considering the fact that scientists were expecting completely black images asthey believed no light ever escapes it. The greatest challenge of the project was to capture hot glowinggas falling into the black hole from thousand or even millions of light-years away. Working for well overa decade, the scientists of EHT – an international network of radio telescopes called the ‘Event HorizonTelescope’ finally achieved this historic feat.

The Challenge: Building an Earth-sized telescope

We are all familiar with the fact that distant space objects are seen using a telescope. The ability of thetelescope to see further into the space is determined by its diameter or aperture. The greater its

diameter, more light it will gather and higher will be the resolution of its images.Now, in order to see the black hole situated approximately 53 million light-years from Earth, thescientists were faced with a unique challenge of gathering as much light coming from it onto Earth, invery high resolution. It had to create a telescope on land with a very large aperture, preferably with adiameter as big as the planet Earth.

Achievement

The scientists decided to resort to a popular technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI),which had been often used for imaging of far-away objects. The crux of this technique was setting upan array of smaller telescopes across locations that are synchronised to focus on the same object atthe same time, acting as one giant virtual telescope.The aperture of a large telescope is as large as the distance between the two farthest-apart telescopestations. In this case with stations at the South Pole and in Spain, the scientist had achieved to createan aperture of the size of Earth. So in a coordinated effort, the EHT operated from across its eight radiotelescopes using different wavelengths of light in such a manner that the images it managed to captureseem to look as though taken from one huge telescope of the size of planet earth.

Where to look for?

‘Sagittarius A’, a supermassive black hole was the closest to the Earth at the centre of our Milky Way

galaxy at a distance of 26,000 light-years. Definitely, it was not the only black hole in our galaxy, but

being closest it would appear largest of all. Being the closest to Earth and in the same Milky Way,

Sagittarius A may seem a natural choice, but it had several technical challenges.

Located in the same galaxy meant that while imaging the black hole, one had to be conscious of

‘pollution’ caused by stars and space dust, meaning that scientists would have more data and that theywould have to filter it while processing it.

Why Messier 87 (M87)?

Located at the center of the gigantic elliptical galaxy Messier 87 or M87, is one of the largest known

supermassive black hole, 53 million light-years away. It is more massive that ‘Sagittarius A’ containing6.5 billion solar masses (i.e. one solar mass is equivalent to mass of our Sun). Importantly, it was anactive black hole with matter falling into it and spewing out in the form of jets of particles. While itsdistance made its imaging a challenge as compared to ‘Sagittarius A’, processing the data of the imagewas comparatively easier.

Mission Accomplished

Thirteen partner institutions worked together to achieve this exceptional breakthrough, which a

generation ago was presumed to be ‘impossible’, undoubtedly a rare example of ‘global teamwork’.

Once again, in a joint pursuit to ‘know more about the unknown’, scientists from across the globe havemanaged to harness their unique technological expertise to write this innovative algorithm of ‘mankind’striumph over matter’.

–Manoj Mahanta

Team, ScienceNow Digital

Oxygen Free Organism

Can you believe it! Scientists have found an animal that does not require oxygen to breathe…

Hiding in the muscles of Salmon, scientists have discovered an unusual species of parasite that doesn’t breathe oxygen. Comprising of just ten cells, the tiny species is unlike all other animals known to science. The species called Henneguya Salminicola doesn’t breathe oxygen at all!

No Breathing

During its evolution, the parasite abandoned breathing and consuming oxygen in order to produce more energy. Scientists said that aerobic respiration was thought to be universal in animals, but now it is confirmed that this is not the case. The discovery shows that evolution can go in strange directions. Aerobic respiration is a major source of energy, and yet it is found an animal that gave up this critical pathway…

Oxy Free Organisms

Several fungi species, as well as Amoeba, have lost the ability to breathe oxygen over long periods of evolution. When scientists sequenced the genome of the Myxozoan species, a relative of jellyfish and corals, they found its mitochondrial genome was missing. The mitochondria are responsible for collecting oxygen and converting it into energy. Because the parasite is without mitochondria, scientists determined Henneguya salminicola no longer breathes oxygen. The parasite provides proof that animals can survive anaerobic environments.

Course of Evolution

The first large and diverse group of complex, multicellular life forms emerged around the time that oxygen levels on Earth rose dramatically. Scientists have long assumed that aerobic respiration is ubiquitous in the animal kingdom. There is still a lot of scientists who don’t know about the unusual parasite. It’s not yet clear as to how the parasite generates energy, It may be drawing it from the surrounding fish cells, or it may have a different type of respiration such as oxygen-free breathing, which typically characterizes anaerobic non-animal organisms.

The new parasite species undermines another scientific assumption, a principle of evolution. Organisms are supposed to get more complex as they evolve. Simple organisms are interpreted as the ancestors of more modern, complex species. But the new animal whose evolutionary process is opposite. Living in an oxygen-free environment, it has shed unnecessary genes responsible for aerobic respiration and become an even simpler organism.

–Manoj Mahanta

Team ScienceNow

Glaciers are fast retreating from the Himalayan ranges, and experts believe this could lead to severe water crisis in the region in coming decades…

The Himalayan mountains, which provides water to two billion people across the region is fast disappearing. According to a recent study, these mountain ranges – right from the Himalayas to the Hindu Kush are retreating at an alarming rate, and if the rate continues, villages and towns in the region will face a severe water crisis in coming decades.

Known as Asia’s water tower, a glacial landscape with vast quantities of freshwater trapped within its ice, feed the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra river systems, providing water for communities, agriculture, industry and hydropower stretching from India to China and beyond.

Climate Change

But climate change and pollution are threatening this fine balance. It is said that the Himalayan glaciers are disappearing twice as fast as they were 20 years ago. The study predicts this will cause river levels to rise until 2050, matched by increased flooding in the short term, but in the long term, the picture is one of wide-spread water scarcity; the recent instance being the Uttarakhand floods that devastated many lives and property.

The study looks at the interconnectivity between this and the groundwater and surface water in the area. There are 5 million springs in the Himalayas and they are showing a decline not only because of overuse by an increasing population, but also because of retreating Glaciers and depleting ground water levels. This is alarming because the populations that live in the upper and middle Himalayas, in villages and even towns, are dependent on spring water. Its Impact Long term, water insecurity is of particular significance to the region’s agriculture. About 129 million farmers partly irrigate their lands with Himalayan meltwater.

The London School of Economics reports, “Meltwater alone provides enough water to grow food crops to sustain a balanced diet for 38 million people.” Also, the Himalayan Karakoram river basins have installed hydropower capacity of 26,432 MW. Glacial loss is a threat to reliable renewable energy production. Not to mention the ever-exploding population which is expected rise by 68% by 2050 of which 90% will be in low-income countries of Asia and Africa. This would mean increased demand for resources including water and energy that will coincide with greater scarcity. Food, energy and drinking water shortages will be felt in megacities such as Delhi, Lahore and Kolkata, whilst at the same time worsening the rural situation.

Creating water security

The study states that unless a coherent nationwide policy is developed, the threat looms large in the coming years. In fact a 2020 Water Policy report recommends building a detailed picture of the scope and implications of Himalayan water scarcity. This includes mapping water sources and anticipating changing demand, particularly in urban and peri-urban areas.

There’s opportunity to expand on initiatives already being trialled in areas of urban water scarcity, such as harvesting rainwater. Modified consumption applies to industry as well, like for instance, drip irrigation in agriculture. Groundwater policies are essential to manage abstraction rates.

Metering and variable pricing are the other side of this equation, as the relatively low cost of water is often a barrier to efficient consumption. The Atlantic Council says technology will unlock greater water security. There are possibilities in desalination, plus biotech advances, including seeds that thrive under water scarcity.

Conclusion

While some experts say, climate change has surpassed the Himalayan glaciers and, with them, the water cycle, scientists are confident enough that addressing water security now should be a priority. Having passed the tipping point, our responsibility in this region is to work towards conserving water and be accountable for each drop!

-Manoj Mahanta

Team ScienceNow