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| SCIENCE TRIBUNE | Thursday, April 17, 2003, Chandigarh, India |
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Recreating photosynthesis India building recoverable capsules Swivelling headlights UNDERSTANDING THE UNIVERSE |
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Recreating photosynthesis If the irrepressible and never-say-die Dr J.Craig Venter, who as the chief executive of the US based outfit Celera Genomics gave a powerful “push and thrust” to the course of the Human Genome Project (HGP) — the first rough draft of which was made public in mid-2000 — has now hit upon an innovative idea of recreating the natural process of photosynthesis in an artificial living to do away with carbon dioxide pollution on one hand and generate hydrogen as an alternate energy source. An increased buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is known to push the mean global temperature and also speed up the melting of solar caps. Of course, there is still no foolproof, indisputable evidence to link carbon dioxide with global warming. Similarly, the production of hydrogen on a commercially viable scale would revolutionise the energy scenario of the world in the years ahead. As things stand now, the techniques in vogue to produce hydrogen energy is quite costly and economically unviable. Right at the moment Dr Venter, who heads the Institute for BioEnergy Alternative, along with his associates is busy exploring the possibility of creating two sets of biologically active artificial cless in the laboratory — one meant to bring down the volume of carbon dioxide through inducing the process of photosynthesis artificially and the other to produce hydrogen from the freely available natural substances like water. Of course, the major hurdle facing the project is to spot out the genetic structure required to make the cells biologically active. The target of Dr Venter and his team is the tiny discrete genetic material called DNA (Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid), a double helix structure made up of four molecular units. DNA has been described as the master molecule and basic blueprint of life. It is in the complex arrangement of the molecules in the DNA that the key to the life process can be found. As it is before Dr Venter entered the genetic engineering scenario, genome mapping was perceived to be a tedious, time consuming and extremely difficult proposition. For it required massive computing power and networking. Clearly and apparently, it took researchers as much as one decade to map the entire genome sequence of the tiny microbial form yeast. The publicly funded Human Genome Project involving 250 research institutions spread across the 18 countries only after Venter and Celera Geonomics made it a point to complete the mapping of the human genome in less than a year. The major objective of Human Genome Project (HGP) hailed as a feat equivalent to human landing on lunar surface was to create a map of the entire sets of genes in the human cells by decoding the three billion units or base pairs constituting the double helix structure of DNA. Venter has now proclaimed that he would make it possible for reach individual to have his own total gene map for less than $1000. Interestingly, a few years back Venter had informed the American Government that its efforts to sequence the human genome would longer on for years and that he could do it much faster and quicker. Of course at that point of time none respond faith in Venter. However as the events unfolded Venter went on to show the world that he and his previous company Celera Genomics could put the money where the mouth was Not surprisingly the publication of the first draft of the HGP in mid-2000 by both the publicly funded Human Genome consortium and Celera Genomics did open up a number of hitherto unimagined possibilities in the areas ranging from medical treatment to pollution control. Perhaps in no other area has HGP left its imprint as deep as in the area of drug production and treating incurable diseases. And there is now a rat race among pharmaceutical and drug outfits to make use of the data thrown up by HGP to cut cost and time involved in producing new drugs. According to Dr Harold Lebovitz, Chief Endocrinologistat Suny Health Center at Brooklyn in USA, genomics will lead to a sea change in the treatment of the diseases. |
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India building recoverable capsules India, which has carved a niche for itself in the use of space programme for developmental programmes and civil remote sensing, has taken the next logical step of building recoverable capsules with the first such satellite to be flown by a PSLV rocket later next year by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The 500-kg recoverable capsule would be hurtled into polar sun synchronous orbit to carry out various micro gravity experiments in orbit and demonstrate the technology of deboost from orbit for re-entry and recovery from sea using floatation system. The programme, called the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE), also envisaged development of basic technologies needed for future Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLV). ISRO in its Annual Report for 2002-03 said SRE Capsule had four major hardware: aero-thermo structure (ATS), spacecraft platform, deceleration and floatation system and micro-gravity payloads. Two micro-gravity experiments — Quasi crystal growth experiment and biomimetic material synthesis experiment — have been selected to be taken up as part of the programme. ISRO has also taken up development of a microwave remote sensing satellite, RISAT, that could be used for observations even during night and under cloudy conditions this year. The space-based remote sensing will get further fillip with the launch of RESOURCESAT this year. Work on CARTOSAT-1 and CARTOSAT-2 for cartographic applications is progressing well. As part of its academic programme to encourage Indian universities to join the space programme in building satellites, ISRO has tied up with Anna University in Chennai for designing and fabricating a micro-satellite of 60 kg. The micro-satellite will have a digital store and forward payload for amateur communication. In addition, a number of technological payloads like digital receiver, turbo cooler and MEMS based accelerometer are planned to be flown. The micro satellite is scheduled for launch in the last quarter of 2004-05 as an auxiliary payload aboard PSLV. As a contribution to international Amateur Radio operators ISRO was also building a 49 kg HAMSAT to provide satellite-based Radio Amateur Services to Indian as well as International HAMs. HANSAT would have Linear Mode B (UHF/VHF) transponders — one transponder would be built by Indian amateurs and the other provided by AMSAT-Italy/The Netherlands. It would be launched onboard PSLV as a Co-passenger.
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Swivelling headlights Thanks to automobile lighting specialists Hella and Vistaon of the UK, cars equipped with headlights that swivel to illuminate the road round corners will be available very soon. The idea of lights that shine in the direction the car is turning has been around almost as long as cars have had lights. The idea was last tried by Citroen, of France, which fitted swivelling auxiliary lights to one of their models in the mid 1960s. The problem in the past was that controlling the swivelling of the lights by a mechanical link to the streering alone did not give the satisfactory result under a range of speeds and severity of corner. Now with the advent of more sophisticated electronic control, this has been possible. The cars will use sensors measuring data from the steering wheel and vehicle speed to control an electric motor on each lighting unit. The system allows the beam to rotate horizontally by up to 4 degrees inward and 13 degrees outward, as well as by 6 degrees vertically. The lights are capable of turning asymmetrically, so that on a right-hand corner the right-hand light begins to swivel before the left one. The system is specifically designed for the high-infansity xenon discharge headlamps. It swivels on both low and high beam. Both systems can compensate for vertical movement. A further development will allow a second generation of adaptive lights that automatically provide a long, slim beam for high-speed motorway driving and a broader, shorter beam when driving slowly in towns and cities. In bad weather, the beam would be modified to reduce the amount of light reflecting off a wet road surface and dazzling oncoming drivers. Future systems will also be able to respond to information from satellite navigation systems like Global Positioning System. |
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UNDERSTANDING THE UNIVERSE
You may not recall but no movies of the fluttering flag are available. I do not anyone who has seen a movie of that flutter. Perhaps no movies were taken. If they had been we would have found that there is no flutter. The flag must have been cleverly designed using a material stiffer than cloth and moulded into shape to simulate appropriately the folds and wrinkles of a fluttering flag. Since we are all made of the same stuff why are some people more intelligent than others? All living things, including plants, are made up of roughly the same material. What makes them living is that they have a capability of self-replication - they can make babies and multiply. The information that controls their growth resides in their DNA. These instructions are detailed but they are written in a language that is the same for all life. The instructions that make each of us come from our inherited genes. These genes contain the contribution of both the parents. Therefore it is not surprising that there would be some difference between us. We may have basically the same architecture and similar ways of growing, but we do look different — we even behave differently. Even siblings differ because the embryos from which they grew might not be exactly the same. It is possible, therefore, that there would be differences in the brain sizes and configuration between different individuals. The capabilities of the brain also grow. The pattern of growth may depend on physical and cultural factors. But in essence there is little difference between the intelligence of two healthy individuals, even though a slight edge does matter. The point to appreciate is that even though we come from the same material, the combination of the same genes, we are not like coins stamped out by a machine. Chance and statistics also come into play during inheritance. When we pour water over quick lime it emits heat. How does it happen? All chemical reactions involve an exchange of energy, some of which often manifests itself in terms of heat. Quick lime is calcium oxide, which is prepared by heating limestone to a temperature of the order of 900 degrees Celsius. The reaction produces, in addition, carbon dioxide. When calcium oxide, or quick lime, is mixed with water a chemical reaction occurs producing calcium hydroxide and a lot of heat. The chemists say that the reaction is highly exothermic. Therefore the answer to your question is that here you are talking of a highly exothermic chemical reaction. Incidentally calcium hydroxide is the chemical name of slaked lime, that is used for white washing our walls and some people eat in their
“paan”. |
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NEW PRODUCTS & DISCOVERIES Cosmic blowout Notorious for gorging on matter, the supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies may blow out as much material as they swallow. A study reported last week suggests that during the roughly 10 billion years that these black holes power the brilliant light beacons known as quasars, they also generate high-speed winds that eject an amount of gas equivalent to billions of suns. These winds, which contain oxygen, carbon, and iron, may seed the black hole’s host galaxy—and possibly intergalactic space—with the elements necessary for life. The winds travel at 20 to 40 per cent of the speed of light and demonstrate that black holes, though they comprise only one-thousandth of a galaxy’s mass, “can exert a profound influence on galaxy evolution,” comments theorist Mitchell C. Begelman of the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Unique
chemical
Like a hummingbird following fragrance to a flower, the male sperm follows chemical attractants to find the female egg. Researchers now have identified a key part of the process and say the discovery could lead to a new form of contraception that does not depend on hormones, or to help for infertility. In laboratory tests, the researchers have found that human sperm has a receptor, or chemical sensor, that causes the sperm to swim vigorously toward concentrations of a natural attractant. The precise compound present in the human female reproductive tract has not been identified, the researchers said. But the new study, using a laboratory compound called bourgeonal, proves that sperm does respond to a chemical signal by swimming toward the source, said Richard K Zimmer, a professor of biology at UCLA and a co-author of the study appearing in the journal Science. Zimmer said the researchers also identified another compound, called undecanal, that shuts down the sperm receptor and keeps it from responding to an attractant. Although much more research must be done, Zimmer said the twin discoveries could lead to new drugs that could, depending on their use, overcome some fertility problems or inhibit conception. Some human reproduction researchers said the study by Zimmer and his co-authors is a significant advance in understanding how the sperm and egg find each other.
AP
Alcohol
battery
From scientists at Saint Louis University comes a gadget fit for a James Bond movie. Imagine 007 sauntering up to the bar, ordering his trademark martini (shaken, not stirred) and, before taking a sip, topping off his cell phone with a few drops of alcohol to recharge the battery. Researchers have developed a new type of biofuel cell — a battery that runs off alcohol and enzymes — that could replace the rechargeable batteries in everything from laptops to Palm Pilots. Instead of plugging into a fixed power outlet and waiting, these new batteries can be charged instantly with a few milliliters of alcohol. The new findings were presented at the 225th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, in New Orleans. Biofuel cells have been studied for nearly half a century, but the technology has not advanced to the point of practical use. American Chemical Society
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Photosynthesis is the process by which green plants produce their own food by making use of water and carbon dioxide in the presence of sunlight and holds key to the healthy growth of the plants. During the process of photosynthesis oxygen is released by the plants and as such a walk through a “green stretch” is considered an invigorating, revivifying experience. If Dr Venter has its way, the new research project would lead to a substantial reduction in the carbon dioxide volume in the atmosphere. Currently, carbon dioxide is at the heart of the controversy in so far as the process of global warming is concerned.
Within the next three years, the industry expects that headlights that automatically change their beam pattern to suit town or motorway driving or bad weather conditions would be common. The technology will also allow for changes from driving on the left side of the road to the right side.
Armstrong and his friends landed on the moon and hoisted the US flag on its surface. But we can see that the flag is fluttering even though there is no air on the moon. How did it
happen?