Energy needs

Stepping out of 'dark ages'


By Galileo

So, many among the Mumbaikars feel the city is going back into the 'dark' ages. Its a new phenomenon. Mumbai hardly had power cuts like it does now, especially in the suburbs.
May be, that way, some Mumbaikars are justified to feel that they are going backwards instead of forward.
But what about Bangalore, the 'Science Capital' of India?
It is time to call it the shame of modern India. Why on earth should the city be termed as 'Science Capital of India' while offerring no imaginative solutions to overcome the power problems its has been suffering over the decades now.
If Mumbaikars feel being pushed into the dark ages, just imagine the plight of Bangaloreans. Probably, they have got used to the dark ages by now.
And why just Mumbai or Bangalore, or for that matter any urban centre in an apparently resurgent India, what about the huge rural hinterland? Who is to strive for 'power' there?
Our learned politicians are doing every bit they can to achieve power, but still no power to light up the homes of the millions living in villages?
Amidst this scenario, Bangalore recently hosted Solar India 2007, a conference tat brought several international players in solar energy on a single platform.
One of the delegates was a person named Pranav R Mehta. He happens to be the Director (India operations) for a California-based company named Space Island Group Inc. In his remarkable presentation, he made an even more remarkable offer - that India exploit the solar power given to them from space at just 10 cents (about Rs 4?) per kilowatt-hour. And this rate is to remain unchanged till the year 2030.
The company, formed by a group of former astronauts and technocrats, plans to launch two solar satellites which would be placed in a geo-stationary orbit. This means that the satellites woud constantly be above a particular reference point on Earth. In other words, the satellite's revolution around the Earth would take the same time as the earth's rotational time.
The two satellites that would be loocated in space about 22,000 miles altitude, and each over opposite sides of the Earth, would store solar power procured from the high radiation conditions that prevail in space and send it down to Earth through microwave signals.
Specialised antennae spread across the globe would receive the signals, convert the microwave signals into electricity and distribute it in the immediate localituies or a unit household.
Mehta says, this is a revolutionary technology that would emulate the direct-to-home (DTH) television concept in bringing electricity from solar power.
Which means transmission and distribution losses that have bugged countries like India would be completely eliminated.
The company has already spoken to the Ministry of new and Renewable Energy to accept power through this mode and also play the role of a 'broker' in helping set up the antennae in other countries to help rural areas there be electrified.
The deal is tempting, because India's projected energy requirement by the year 2031-32 would be about 800,000 MW, while its is 160,000 MW at present. imagine the costs incurred if India had to meet the projected requirement using the conventional energy sources. It would be in the region of an estimated $570 billion.
Also, solar power procured this way could ensure meeting at least 90 per cent of the energy needs in the country.
Now when such an offer comes by, it is up to the 'power'ful politicians to prove what their real aims are - power retention or 'power' to the people.
Since imaginative solutions are failing us, it is time we at least opened our ears to crativity coming from abroad. At least some consolation to the ultra-patriotic that it was ultimately an Indian who carried this concept to them.
Whay say?

Behavioural Pattern

Man, victim of religion?

By Sher Leopold

Terror has a strange effect.
Not only does it influence an individual in the obvious manner, that is through driving fear in the hearts of the weaker ones, but it also introduces confusion in the minds of people, including those who boast of being tough-hearted.
The prevailing conditions are driving everyone to suspect everyone else of having terror links. The most targetted are those belonging to a particular religion, I mean Islam.
Most unfortunate, but true, though such suspicions are rank baseless, stretching it as far away as possible from ground realities.
Remember, the infamous communal clashes? A more 'decent' way to identify who is a Muslim and who is not, is first from whether he has grown a beard, and the second is the darkened mark on the forehead resulting from the contact that part of the body a Muslim makes with the ground while praying.
The gross way is to force the man to drop his pants and everything inside to reveal whether he is circumcised or not.
What do you say to that?
There cannot be a more primal mind than that in determining who belongs to what, because that almost always resides in the mind and the heart, not in the features of the body.
Firstly, Muslim men are not the only ones who get circumcised. There are some other communities too. Besides, in several countries including India doctors prescribe circumcision for a male baby, though the theory is doing a ding-dong of sorts on whether it is actually good or not.
Lately though, the medical fraternity is against it. But there may be a time when it comes up again.
It is remarkable how religion induces irrational behaviour, making the individual a victim of an overpowering sense to belong somewhere.
That leads to a convincing understanding on why so many around the world relate growing a beard to being a Muslim, and therefore a probable suspect in the terror sphere. But in doing so, they easily forget that almost all the terrorists including those who caried out the 9/11 attacks were completely clean-shaven, as far as official understanding goes.
So deep has religion driven wedges within the human community that it has come to a point where hatred towards each other has today become a cliched feature. Talks revolve around that as and when it gets aroused.
However, there is a strong resurgence of everything scientific, luckily. Take for instance, the consumption of red meat, a sure-fire give-away of such consumers belonging to particular religions, like Islam or Christianity, though quite a few Hindus do too.
Lately, there is a decline in red meat consumption after medical researches proved its connection with Coronary Heart Disease. Where does religion appear in that?
Hindus might have a we-told-you-so attitude with a complete feeling of vindication while seeing red meat consumption on the decline. But they forget that coconut which is widely consumed by them, especially those hailing from the coastal regions, and gains mythical values during pujas is equally harmful to health, and is found to be a major contributor to the bad cholestrol that leads to vascular problems.
The human body's maintenance has much to do with science, while the human mind qualifies as the best candidate for spritual nourishment.
Between these two, religion has increasingly gained notoreity of being a divisive factor, though there are ongoing efforts to influence people that sprituality is a part and parcel of religion.
Sadly, for them, they completely miss the point that religion has nothing to do with spirituality.
And that is what the Vedas have proved - that knowledge is supreme.
Or else, we would continue to adhere to a miserable existence of mutual suspicion and hatred, as is happening around.

Harry Potter Terror

Harry Potter-terror link?

Could Harry Potter be guarding the secrets of the British government's post 9/11 response to the terrorist threat" Judith Rauhofer of the University of Central Lancashire seems to think so.Rauhofer has made a study of JK Rowling's fictional child wizard and suggests, in a research paper published today in Inderscience's International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry, that the author draws several subtle parallels with contemporary society. She believes this is part of the adult appeal of the books.

Book five in the series was the first Harry Potter book to be written entirely after the terrorist attacks in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington on September 11, 2001. "Until then, the Harry Potter series could be seen as nothing more than a simple story of good versus evil," says Rauhofer, a Research Fellow in Law. "JK Rowling's work then evolved into something more after 9/11, a social commentary on current events, in fact."

Rauhofer believes that with the Harry Potter series Rowling has created a parallel world highlighting many of the steps taken by the British government, which she says are mostly unfair and unjustifiable, in the name of the war on terror. For instance, in the fifth book, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", all wizards are issued with emergency pamphlets. "Most people who received the UK government's "Preparing for an-emergency" pamphlet through their letterbox in 2004 will recognize the irony of Rowling's plot detail here," says Rauhofer.

Several key plot features hint at parallels between the wizard world and our muggle world, says Rauhofer. The marginalizing of an ethnic group, for instance, by the muggles themselves, identity issues with Death Eaters masquerading as others, detention without trial of Knight Bus conductor Stanley Shunpike on suspicion of Death Eater activity, interception of Arthur and Molly's post while in The Burrow in the name of safety, and many other examples.

Marine effect

Assessing Levies For By-catch Could Fund Conservation Measures

Fishing industry lines accidentally catch so many seabirds and turtles that their populations are being threatened. One solution offered by a Cornell researcher and an Australian government scientist is to assess fines when threatened species are caught and killed.

Fishing boats take a toll as seabirds are accidentally caught and killed in fishing nets and lines. (Credit: Image courtesy of Cornell University News Service)

That money, the researchers suggest in the August issue of Frontiers in Ecology and Environment, could be used to address other causes of species decline, such as pollution and invasive predators.

This dual approach, they say, would give fishermen financial incentives to find creative ways to avoid catching noncommercial species, known as by-catch, while providing funds to address more hazardous threats to seabirds and turtles. For example, while almost half of all seabirds listed by the World Conservation Union are directly or indirectly threatened by fishing, as many as three-quarters of those species are also threatened by such invasive species as cats and rats at breeding colonies.

"Fisheries are complex, revenue-generating industries, and large majorities are unregulated," said Josh Donlan, a co-author of the paper and a graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell. "Once you add in the cost of doing conservation, this is a win-win situation for a lot of endangered seabirds and sea turtles that are impacted by fisheries' by-catch."

Donlan and co-author Chris Wilcox, a senior research scientist at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, used Australia's Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery as a case study to test the benefits and costs of their approach, called compensatory mitigation. The fishery extends from Cape York, Queensland, to the South Australia/Victoria border and targets albacore, yellowfin and bigeye tuna and billfish. However, each year the fishery unintentionally kills 1,800 to 4,500 flesh-footed shearwaters (Puffinus carneipus), a seabird whose entire eastern Australian population breeds on Lord Howe Island, which is within the fishery.

The researchers compared the expected costs and conservation benefits of closing down fishing areas that suffer from other causes of population decline, such as rats eating eggs, chicks and adult birds on the island. Their analysis showed that closing the fishery around Lord Howe Island would cost about $3 million U.S. and increase the growth rate of the shearwater population by about 6 percent. But killing the rats would cost only about $500,000, yet yield a 32 percent increase in shearwater population growth.

In other words, killing the rats would increase the shearwater population per dollar invested 23 times more than closing the fishery.

The researchers say that levies, with higher fees imposed for more endangered species, would make users who earn a profit from common-pool resources pay for the impacts they have on the system. At the same time, they argue, if levy money were given to conservationists to address other threats to seabird or turtle populations, then these conservationists would in turn be made more accountable for producing and quantifying results.

"This idea moves away from strictly charity models of doing conservation [where money is donated to conservationists], to a noncharity model [where those involved are held accountable]," said Donlan.

While compensatory mitigation may not work for all seabirds or threatened species, there remain many species that face multiple threats and could benefit significantly from this approach, he said.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Cornell University News Service.

UFOs

A Book by Michael Hall
Origin of the UFO Phenomenon
By Michael Hall

Focusing on possibly the greatest saga of all time, Origin of the UFO Phenomenon documents many fascinating events long forgotten by today's sound bite generation. It is one of very few books that approaches the subject from a historical perspective. Casting the story in the aura of the past with the mystery already inherent in the phenomenon, Mr. Hall has produced a true to life science fiction thriller. It's chilling, it's mystifying, and it's amazing because it is a very real part of our history.

The stories comprising the book are taken from the best sources available. The first chapters deal with the period from 1896 to 1946 which contain interesting legends and lore. Those years, however, do produce descriptions of not just the classic image of the "flying saucer," but a whole host of strange aerial phenomena that continues to be seen to this day. When the reader comes to 1947, a very shocking and more contemporary story unfolds. That year started the first large "wave" of UFO sightings. The term UFO, however, was yet to be coined, and in the early years saucers or discs were the catch words after a very famous sighting by Kenneth Arnold on June 24th. The phenomena rocked not only the United States but also the world. Beginning in force by July 4th of that year, shiny discs were being seen by hundreds. During that long Independence Day weekend the sightings dramatically increased in frequency from day to day. By July 6th, saucer reports made the front page of the New York Times and would do so for the next three straight days as the military started flying special "saucer patrols" in an attempt to intercept one of the mysterious discs. Every major city and most small towns around North America had sightings which were followed by similar accounts in other countries. Military men, scientists, doctors, lawyers, politicians, engineers, airline pilots, and just everyday citizens were seeing the strange objects, but what were they? Hall's book takes no position, it simply documents the facts.

The reports climbed to as many as a hundred a day from July 6th until July 11th. Then after the 11th, they suddenly declined. As 1947 progressed, only a few sightings were made, but fortunately in the United States the military had laid the groundwork for a very serious investigation of the incidents. By 1948 UFO activity picked up and accounted for some spectacular "classic" cases with a great many reports coming close together in 1949. From that year through 1951 many notable accounts also came to light but unfortunately were not properly investigated. For some unexplainable reason the Air Force had purged its best aeronautical engineers from the project by that point.

By 1952, the most famous UFO wave unfolded. Incidents became so numerous in the United States that in July the Democratic National Convention had to fight for headline space with the flying saucers-especially after they appeared over the White House. Virtually every American newspaper carried the accounts. Where reporters had previously come to take the subject somewhat lightly, by 1952 serious stories made page one features and portrayed notable public figures expressing concern. Fortunately for historians, Air Force Intelligence was then documenting dozens of reports per day via a revived investigation under the very able administration of Captain Edward J. Ruppelt. Ruppelt popularized the term UFO and served as Chief of Air Force investigations on the phenomenon until mid 1953.

Shortly thereafter the UFO saga in the United States becomes much harder to follow. This came about after the 1952 wave scared the United States government into doing something about the situation. They couldn't stop the sightings, but they did think they could discourage interest in the subject and prevent a possible hysteria - a real concern during that very hot period of the Cold War. Thus the book concludes its survey with the end of 1953.

Michael David Hall has previously authored a biography on Indiana Senator Henry S. Lane. In The Road To Washington, Rise of an Indiana Politician, Hall traces the drama that took Lane from the chairmanship of the first national Republican Convention in 1856 to his influence four years later in securing Abraham Lincoln with his party's nomination. Dozens of magazine articles on Indiana history followed that work. Several of those continued Mr. Hall's research on the former Indiana senator, taking him from a congressional legislator who worked with Daniel Webster and Henry Clay, to the founder of the Indiana Republican Party, and then on to a powerful Civil War era senator.

Hall holds a B.A. from Illinois College and an M.A. from Western Illinois University in American History. In 1984 he began a museum career at the Illinois State Museum and since 1987 has served as Executive Director of the Montgomery County Historical Society and its Henry S. Lane Historic Home in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

Currently the author is working on a new book, A Time To Remember, The UFO Wave of 1952 and a co-authored article with researcher Wendy Connors for the International UFO Reporter dealing with legendary Project Sign figure, Alfred Loedding. Soon an expanded version of Origin of the UFO Phenomenon will be published, titled UFOs, A Century of Sightings: The Truth Revealed detailing the subject all the way up to present day.

As he pursues his research he finds diversion in aviation history as a part time guide at the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. Hall also has interest in the era of the great steam trains, serving as a director at the Linden, Indiana, Monon-Nickel Plate Railroad Museum and Historical Society. Residing in Lafayette, Indiana, with his wife Teresa and their collection of five pampered stray cats, both Mr. and Mrs. Hall developed interests in that area's rich heritage in transportation history spawned by technological influences from nearby Purdue University. In fact, Mr. Hall has taken advantage of his proximity to Purdue to further his studies in history and plans in the near future to complete his Ph. D. in American History.

Interest in the subject of UFOs began quite by accident while working at Purdue on a paper analyzing the effects of American daylight bombing raids on Germany. Mr. Hall then happened across some obscure UFO accounts filed by allied pilots. Called foo-fighters in those days, the stories he found fascinated him. As he came to realize what a huge volume of primary material existed on UFOs in the nation's archives, Hall knew he had an amazing story to tell.

(The author can be reached by e-mail at mdhall@LAF.CIOE.Com).

Societal indifference

Children fall to oblivion! Where's Newton?

By Galileo

Within the last week alone, there have been two sad deaths. All deaths generally are sad, but these ones particularly hurt the most.
They were children, both aged six. While one fell to his death in a Bangalore mall, the other fell into a iron pipe dug 13 feet deep into the ground, for whatever reason, in a village close to Jaipur.
There is absolutely no point in acquiring statistics about how many of our children just go away like that because of careless attitude of people around.
There are plenty of them.
Malls are the svelte entertainment centres that children find hard to resist, what with the range of entertainment and toys on offer.
Six-year-old Aahan Bhandari was no different. Now Garuda Mall, the ill-fated place, has at least four floors with railings attached with glass panes. But leaves a gap between the railing and the escalator hand-grip that moves along with the system. That claimed Aahan's life.
On the crowded fourth floor where people throng to get tickets at the Inox multiplex, Aahan found himself close to this entrapment where he was propelled by the escalator hand-grip and shoved into the opening to his death. He fell 50-odd feet even as his helpless parents and hundreds of others stood as mute witnesses to the tragedy.
A sheer failure of human reasoning, which should have perceived the threat in advance rather than cry over a life snuffed out. Now the mall management headed by Uday Garudachar, plans to set up a net in the opening shaft where hundreds of people lean over the railings to watch events takign place on the ground floor.
This is in the hope of preventing another child from following Aahan.
Now, they do it!
Too late, but OK to prevent further such incidents. But it will always remain too late for Aahan's breaved parents and elder brother.
Same with the six-year-old Suraj who the authorities were able to extricate from the 13-foot iron pipe, only find he was already dead.
He slipped into it while playing nearby with other kids.
That incident may have gone by unnoticed probably because it occurred in a remote village.
But there is no rural science or urban science. There is just science.
It was sheer lack of scientific thinking that led to these incidents.
Plain thinking - and not rocket science - could have saved these young lives. Remember, gravity acceleration is 9.8 metres per second square. That is quite a thud from a height.
Why should only a Newton remind us that gravity continues to exist, even if he doesn't now?

Nimitz issue

A friendly nuclear visit?

By Galileo

It is typically Indian to react. As the USS Nimitz docks off the Chennai port on a friendly visit, mainly for 'rest and recreation' as is given to understand, people in all parts of the country are hopping about over an issue that should have been taken up days in advance of its coming.
Nimitz is a nuclear-powered vessel - a floating city by itself. There remains a possibility that it is carrying nuclear warheads.
Now the issue is about a possibility of a nuclear accident aboard the vessel that may affect thousands of Chennai residents.
I just can't see the point in raising issues about the safety of a nuclear-powered vessel making a port call just a few days before it came in.
That too, over the possibility of a nuclear accident when it is docked.
The possibility remains. But that probability is about the same as any Indian reactor re-enacting a Chernobyl.
If at all there are people raising questions about the safety, they are right in a way. But that should have been pointed out to the Indian government well in advance.
People who nurture fears are justified.
Greenpeace and the Institute of Policy Studies, USA, conducted a study in 1989 revealing that this very same USS Nimitz had reported an official nuclear reactor leak on May 11, 1979.
The study also points out at least 50 nuclear warheads and nine nuclear reactors lying on the ocean bed due to various accidents concerning nuclear-powered warships.
Several years ago, New Zealand had refused permission to a US nuclear powered ship to dock at one of its ports. An expert from that country named Dr Peter Willis had analysed a secret document of the US Navy, termed only as OPNAVINST 3040.58, that he had procured. He had submitted this to New Zealand's committee on nuclear propulsion in 1992 to prove that US reserved full rights to determine whether a nuclear accident did take place on board any of its nuke-powered ships and whether to share that information with the host government.
The US government's take on this is that the host government should be notified of any accident involving the reactor during a port visit. But the US Navy instructs the commanders to reserve their judgment and to first gauge the public reaction and only them decide accordingly whether or not to inform host authorities.
Given this, do you think a nuclear accident on board the Nimitz would make its commander confide with the Indian government or even the local authorities? Even if this is a friendly visit?
And given the possibilities that have been expressed by various people including some retired senior officials involved with India's nuclear programme over fears of leaks, how would one know that radiation-related malignancies subsequently occurring have anything to do with USS Nimitz?
Just plain waking up late I would say. Just so typically Indian.
Meanwhile, the high-and-mighty of the Chennai residents are queuing up to participate in the US Independence Day celebration on board USS Nimitz itself.
Howazzat!!!

Urban environment

New Study Could Bring Relief To Sweltering City Slickers

Sweltering summers in the city may become more bearable in future years, thanks to a new study probing the heat contributed by buildings, roads and traffic.
Researchers at The University of Manchester will use a small plane and a car fitted with advanced equipment to map out the surface temperature of central areas of Manchester and Sheffield.
The data collected will be combined with climate change forecasts to produce a detailed picture of how urban 'heat islands' push up the temperature during the hottest months.
One of the aims of the three-year study is to produce a series of tools, that will help planners, designers and engineers decide the best way of adapting the urban landscape to bring greater human comfort during hot and sticky spells.
The SCORCHIO project (Sustainable Cities : Options for Responding to Climate Change Impacts and Outcomes), is being led by The School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (MACE) at The University of Manchester.
The Universities of Newcastle, Sheffield and East Anglia, The Met Office Hadley Centre and The Tyndall Centre, are all working closely with researchers from Manchester on the £550,000 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded project.
Local authorities, planners, designers and engineers will be working with researchers to help realise the project goals.
As well as increasing levels of human comfort, adapting buildings will also help reduce harmful carbon emissions.
For example, reducing the amount of exterior glass could lower temperatures and cut the demand for electricity-hungry air conditioning systems and desk fans.
At the moment neither the effects on the urban landscape or the heat released by human activities within cities are considered in standard climate change research. But they have been shown to be potentially very significant.
The 2003 heat wave is considered responsible for around 14,800 excess deaths in France and around 2,045 excess deaths in England and Wales -- and researchers believe that projected rates of urban growth may mean that the health risk will increase as the impact of climate change becomes greater.
Research conducted at the Met Office Hadley Centre suggests that the occurrence of such hot summers is now twice as likely as it would have been without human-caused climate change.
Project leader Professor Geoff Levermore, Professor of the Built Environment at The University of Manchester and lead author of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report Working Group Three Chapter on Buildings said: "Our urban and city areas are becoming increasingly unhealthy, dangerous and uncomfortable to work and live in, and are remarkably vulnerable to global warming.
"Actions by planners, designers and building owners are required in the short term if cities are to avoid becoming ever more vulnerable in the long term.
"For climate change adaptation strategies to be developed for cities and regions in the UK, there is an urgent need for decision support tools to appraise and design adaptation options.
"The science and practice of adaptation of the built environment to climate change is still in its infancy. We hope this project will pave the way for further research and work to address this very important issue."
It's hoped the work will provide a blueprint for the development of computer map-based (GIS) systems, allowing planners and designers to examine possible changes and see the wider impact on the climate of a city or urban area.
Researchers are also aiming to create a new heat and human comfort vulnerability index for typical buildings and their surroundings. This would help identify areas of a city that might become most uncomfortable during a hot spell.
The SCORCHIO project will initially focus on the central areas of Manchester and Sheffield, although other cities have expressed an interest in becoming involved.

(Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University of Manchester.)