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2016: A space odyssey

In the days leading up to June 21, the sky was

scattered with rain clouds. While the rest of the city

rejoiced, some students waited anxiously. They

smiled only after a PSLV C-34 rocket with 20

satellites lifted off successfully at 9.25 a.m. on June

22 from Sriharikota. There were shouts of excitement

from the Block I terrace of Sathyabama University.

Another group of students ran out of their 50 sq.ft. receiving station and looked at the clear blue sky to see

the telltale white streak as the rocket zoomed to place satellites in their orbits. One of them was the 1.592

kg SATHYABAMASAT, that the students have worked on since 2010, to monitor green house gas

concentration in the atmosphere.

The students find it hard to believe that something they created, touched and felt, is now up there.

Visibly excited and yet exhausted from all the interviews and posing for the cameras, what made them

happier was when Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani called up Puli Nihal Reddy,

one of the team members, and wished them. Many students have been part of the project, which spanned

over six years, before the present batch gave final shape to all their aspirations. Sidhartha Chatterjee, from

the 2010-2014 batch, led the project for two-and-a-half years. He works with insider.in in Mumbai now,

and was instrumental in developing the code for the satellite. He met with the current batch working on the

project recently.

Of the 12 people, including two girls, in the project, we meet six - four from Andhra Pradesh, and

one each from Telangana and Odisha. The others have graduated; some have stayed back to help the core

team that went to Bangalore for the final two-odd months. All of them grew up in small towns; Soumya

Ranjan Dash was raised in Bhadrak, not far away from Chandipur-On-Sea, where the Army’s Integrated

Test Range is located. He listened to innumerable ‘rocket’ and ISRO stories and aspired to get there one

August, 2016

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day. Raja Preetham is from Gadwal and loves electronics and communication. Receiving and transmitting

signals fascinate him. M. Hari Krishna hails from Badvel, loves electronics, and is the battery whiz and risk

analyst. Ragalapalli Reddy Tharun is from Rayachoti near Cudappah and is the resident tracker; he monitors

when the satellite will cross the ground station and receives the signal, twice or thrice a day.

Nihal is from Nandyal, and worked on the electrical supply sub system, which ensures power to the

other sub-systems; Kandimalla Chacha Srihari is from Machilipatnam, and remembers how, as a child, he

read about a plane that crashed due to bad weather. “I wanted to create one that would work in all-weather

conditions. I did not imagine I’d be part of something like this,” he says.

All of them were mere acquaintances before they got involved in the project. The college had asked

those interested to apply and present their case; the boys earned their seat and then bonded in the sterile ‘clean

room’ where they assembled the satellite; at ISRO, where they interacted with top scientists; and outside of

college, when they discussed something so special that they were part of.

For the next three days, they will monitor the beacons from the satellite, transmitted in Morse code,

decode it using software, and check the health of the satellite. Later, they will map the data it provides, so that

they have an idea of the distribution of man-made pollutants over India. This data will be shared to help curb

environmental degradation. For the teachers who stayed with the students in Bangalore, it was a chance to

share ideas outside of the classroom, and engage in a healthy discussion, says N.R. Krishnamoorthy of the

Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering. For parents, who worried about their children

working non-stop, seeing their children make news was an emotional moment.

What the students cherish most is the opportunity to interact with great minds, and to think out of the

box. “Some things we needed for the satellite were unique and it was wonderful to learn and implement

them,” says Soumya.

The boys look forward to a lifetime of friendship and a future where they’ll tell their children and

grandchildren how they sat in a ‘clean room’, giving shape to a dream.

TRIVIA

* The satellite has five circuit boards and the data received will be decoded by the Ground User Interface soft-

ware developed by earlier batches.

* An ISRO scientist checked the satellite at the University, and the students went through months of critical

design review before it was safely dispatched to Bangalore in a padded case.

* Solar panels power the satellite during the day and two Lithium Ion batteries take over when it enters the

eclipse period.

* The satellite has a life span of six months. After that, it will be decommissioned.

” Courtesy – www.thehindu.com

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Scientists Discover THIS Oil Destroys 90% of Colon Cancer Cells in 2 Days!

According to the American Cancer Society, there will be

95,270 new cases of colon cancer diagnosed in the United

States this year. Most patients are treated with surgery,

radiation therapy or chemotherapy, all of which come with

significant side effects. What if there was a safer, more natural

treatment? According to a recent study, that’s exactly what

researchers believe they’ve found.

It’s no secret that coconut oil possesses some amazing

health benefits. Some consider organic virgin coconut oil to be a superfood. Lauric acid - the component in

coconut oil that is believed to have anti-cancer properties - is also typically found in breast milk. It’s a

medium-chain fatty acid that supports the immune system, providing plenty of antimicrobial properties.

Coconut oil is basically pro-health and anti-everything bad. It tops the list of anti-inflammatory foods, and it’s

also anti-bacterial, anti-carcinogenic, anti-fungal, anti-microbial, anti-viral, and has antioxidant properties.

Coconut oil can help stabilize blood sugar and insulin levels, lower your risk of heart disease, kill candida and

other harmful fungi, and it can even help you maintain a healthy weight.

Coconut Oil and Colon Cancer

According to a study published in the journal Cancer Research, the lauric acid in coconut oil has anti-cancer

properties. Lauric acid constitutes about 50% of coconut oil, and researchers at the University of Adelaide

discovered that it completely exterminated more than 90% of colon cancer cells after just two days of

treatment in a colon cancer cell line in vitro. Researchers also cited other studies that support their findings.

During in vitro studies, researchers are conducting their experiments in a petrie dish, or performing the

procedure in a controlled environment, outside of a living organism. In vivo studies are those in which

researchers perform their experiments on whole, living organisms. The coconut oil and colon cancer study

was performed in vitro, which may cause some to discount the findings. Performing more research costs

money — lots of money — which is hard for researchers to come by without a pharmaceutical company

backing them. According to the American Society for Nutrition, clinical studies have shown that the fats

found in coconut oil (medium-chain fatty acids) “may be useful in treating and preventing diseases such as

osteoporosis, virus-related diseases (mononucleosis, hepatitis C, herpes, etc.), gallbladder disease, Chrohn’s

disease and cancer.”Coconut oil has previously been shown to help decrease the harmful side effects of

chemotherapy, and improve the quality of life for cancer patients.

Further Coconut Oil Research

The medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil have also been credited with treating Alzheimer’s disease,

Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis, drug resistant epilepsy, and diabetes. When Dr.

Mary Newport began giving her husband a daily dose of coconut oil, his Alzheimer’s symptoms improved

drastically over the course of just 60 days. She explained, “Ketone bodies may help the brain recover after a

loss of oxygen in newborns through adults, may help the heart recover after an acute attack, and may shrink

cancerous tumors.” Courtesy – www.davidwolfe.com

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Viswanathan Anand honoured with ‘Honoris Causa’ Doctor of Science degree

Viswanathan Anand was bestowed with the

degree by NITI aayog chairman Arvind

Panagariya in Kanpur. Five-time World

Champion Viswanathan Anand was conferred

the “Honoris Causa” Doctor of

Science by Indian Institute Of Technology

(IIT) during its 49th convocation ceremony in

Kanpur.

The 46-year-old Anand was bestowed with

the degree by NITI aayog chairman Arvind

Panagariya in Kanpur. While receiving the degree, Anand remembered the day when he was awarded the

Arjuna Award in 1985 and shared that this dress code in Kanpur brought back memories of that day at the

Rashtrapati Bhawan.

“Even after becoming the first Indian Grandmaster in 1987, I continued learning and focussed on my

next goal of becoming the world champion. Similarly today is the day of celebration for you as you are gradu-

ating today but you also need to focus on next goals of your life,” said Anand.

“Even today I try to learn more and more about chess because whatever you have learnt will never go

waste in the future,” he added.

www.indianexpress.com

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Tejas jets of Flying Daggers 45 join IAF

India’s first home-grown fighter jet was finally inducted into the Indian Air Force after a tortuous saga spread

over 33 long years with the launch of the first squadron of two Light Combat Aircraft Tejas in Bengaluru, in a

major milestone in the country’s military aviation. A Tejas aircraft, the fourth plus generation lightweight,

multi-role supersonic single engine jet sporting the IAF colours soared to the skies, marking the raising of the

first squadron of Tejas in the force at a ceremony preceded by inter-faith prayers, more than three decades

after it went into development.

The LCA, smallest and lightest of its class, was flown by Commanding Officer Group Captain

Madhav Rangachari for a sortie for about seven minutes at the induction ceremony and was given a water

cannon salute on landing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the induction of Tejas as a matter of

‘unparalleled pride and happiness’ and a step which illustrates the skills and strengths of Indian scientists.

‘Induction of indigenously made Tejas fighter jet into the Air Force fills our hearts with unparalleled pride &

happiness,’ he tweeted.

‘I laud HAL & ADA on the induction of Tejas fighter jet. This illustrates our skills & strengths to

enhance indigenous defence manufacturing,’ Modi said in another tweet. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar

said Tejas will take the country’s air strength to new heights. ‘Moment of National pride. Indigenously

developed Tejas fighter jet inducted into Air Force. Tejas will take our air strength to new heights,’ Parrikar

tweeted.

State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited handed over two Tejas aircraft to IAF at a ceremony held at

the Aircraft System Testing Establishment in Bengaluru earlier in the day. HAL officials and Air Marshal

Jasbir Walia, Air Officer Commanding-in Chief, Southern Air Command, Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh

Bhadauria, the deputy chief of the Air Staff and HAL chairman Suvarna Raju were present.

A ‘Sarvadharma Samaroh’ (inter-faith prayer), a practice followed by Air force during such

inductions, was also held. The two Tejas aircraft were inducted into 45 squadron of IAF, also called as

‘Flying Daggers’, which will be based in Bengaluru for the first two years before it is moved to Sulur in

Tamil Nadu. The aircraft was named ‘Tejas’ (meaning radiance in Sanskrit) by Atal Bihari Vajpayee as prime

minister. Calling it a ‘capable’ aircraft, HAL said it would be used for air to air and air to ground strikes.

Conceived as a replacement to the ageing MiG 21s, it has been designed by Aeronautical

Development Agency and produced by HAL. The LCA has flown more than 3,000 sorties or 2,000 hours till

date. Citing induction of Tejas as an important moment for the IAF, Air Marshal Jasbir Wali said it is a

‘milestone’ with regard to indigenisation and self reliance. Asked why only two aircraft formed the first LCA

squadron, he said, “It is our aircraft, when we buy, we buy eight or 20. It is our aircraft, we are part of it, and

it will keep coming to us.” Courtesy – www.rediff.com

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Tejas - Facts

The Tejas Light Combat Aircraft is a supersonic, single-seat, single-engine multirole light fighter aircraft,

which has been under development for the past three decades. It has been co-developed by the Aeronautical

Development Agency in cooperation with the Bengaluru-based Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

Tejas will feature in combat plan of the IAF next year and will be deployed in forward bases also. IAF has

said the idea is to have a total of six aircraft this financial year and about eight in the next.

IAF plans to induct over 80 aircraft with better specifications known as Tejas 1A. The upgraded version of

Tejas, with Active Electrically Scanned Array Radar, Unified Electronic Warfare Suite, mid-air refuelling

capacity and advanced beyond the vision range missiles, will cost between Rs 275 crore and Rs 300 crore.

While the idea to have an indigenous fighter aircraft was conceptualised in 1970s, actual work started on

the aircraft only in the 1980s and the first flight took place in January 2001.

Tejas is perhaps the world’s smallest lightweight, multi-role single engine tactical fighter aircraft. As a

single engined, multi-role supersonic fighter, Tejas weighs 8.5tones and can carry three tones of

weapons. The Tejas employs CFC materials for up to 45% of its airframe, including in the fuselage (doors

and skins), wings (skin, spars and ribs), elevons, tailfin, rudder, air brakes and landing gear doors.

Tejas is an aerodynamically unstable tailless compound delta-wing configuration, optimized primarily for

manoeuvrability and agility. Designed to meet the tactical requirements of a modern air force, Tejas is a

multi-role aircraft capable of comprehensive air superiority and air defense roles.

It is equipped with a modern Israeli multi-mode radar, the Elta 2032, state-of-the-art Derby air-to-air

missiles to attack enemy jets, and modern laser designator and targeting pods to hit ground targets.

The upgraded version of Tejas, with active electrically scanned array radar, unified electronic warfare suite,

mid-air refuelling capacity and advanced beyond-the-vision-range missiles, will cost between Rs 275 crore

and Rs 300 crore.

Tejas incorporates a highly reliable quadruplex digital fly-by-wire Flight Control System. The new

generation glass cockpit comprises Multi Function Displays, Head Up Display and Stand by

Instrumentation System driven by Open Architecture Mission and Display Computer. This provides

effective Human Machine Interface. The advanced utility and health management system provides system

health and warnings to the pilot through a Open Architecture Computer.

Courtesy – www.rediff.com

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City scientists eye deadly weed to put India in the lead

Scientists from the Bengaluru-based Institute of Wood Science & Technology (IWST) have an idea that can

kill not two, but three birds with one stone. They want to rid India's forests and national parks of an extremely

invasive, fast-spreading and poisonous weed,

called Lantana camara, by using it in making wood

polymer composites (WPC) for a cost-effective

and eco-friendly range of applications - from

construction to household items like foot mats and

pen cases. In the process, they will trap carbon in

the composites and prevent it from escaping into

the atmosphere - which would be the case if the

weed is burnt or thrown as waste.

The IWST scientists considered the dangerous weed to be part of their idea as it would not only

significantly eliminate it from the forests but would also help give India the push in WPC production. The

scientists said that as the weed grows prolifically in India, there is absolutely no cost or problem involved in

growing it or availing it to make WPC. India has been pathetically lagging in WPC production, the leader

being China with 18 lakh tonnes in 2015 compared to India's 70,000. But even that low tonnage that India

produces is not indigenous. The 21 existing Indian manufacturers of WPC products purchase not only the

knowhow, but also the basic materials, from China, USA, European countries or Japan - the leaders in the

WPC global market, which is projected to touch $ 4,601.7 million by 2019.

Now, aiming to popularise the WPC technology in India to encourage indigenous manufacture of

WPC products, the IWST is planning to set up a WPC research and training centre on its campus in

Malleswaram (next to Aranya Bhavan) at a cost of just Rs 5.40 crore with no additional infrastructure or

expertise, which IWST is already equipped with. "So, in one go, we are trying to achieve the conditions of

'Make in India' as well as 'Swachch Bharat Abhiyan' as toilets in rural areas can be quickly assembled onsite

using WPC that is indigenously manufactured," said Surendra Kumar, director of IWST, which has mastered

the process for producing natural fibre-filled WPC through a technology that aims at reducing consumption of

plastics (polymers) and efficiently utilising plant dry matter like saw dust, branches, agricultural residues and

forest weeds - including the dangerous Lantana camara - to make plastic products more environment-friendly.

Senior IWST scientists Pankaj Aggarwal and Shakti Singh Chauhan, who will play a lead role in train-

ing the industry and popularising the technology, said apart from the weed, they are exploring various other

fibres for the composite."

Courtesy – www.bangaloremirror.com

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Boston Scientific launches first integrated facility in India

Medical devices firm Boston Scientific

launched its first integrated facility in India

to develop and sell minimally invasive

technologies fit for India and the greater

Asian market and train physicians in using

them. The 1 lakh sq ft facility comprises

research and development, training and

commercial center, Boston Scientific said in

a statement. The company however did not

share the investment figures for the facility.

The research and development

(R&D) center will focus on creating market-appropriate products based on unmet clinical needs in emerging

markets, and will also serve as a global product engineering center, it added.

Boston Scientific has invested over USD 850 million in 2015 in R&D globally, which represents over

11 per cent of the global revenue in that year, the company said.

The Institute for Advancing Science (IAS), a physician training facility equipped with simulators for

hands-on training on innovative technologies, is the newest addition to growing global network of Boston

Scientific IAS facilities, it added.

"The launch of this facility underscores our commitment to India, and we are confident that our R&D

activities will address many of the current health challenges of the country and the world," Boston Scientific in

India Vice President and MD Prabal Chakraborty said.

India is an important market and it holds great potential for the global medical devices industry, he

added. "We plan to tap into the high calibre talent pool and the innovation ecosystem to deliver cutting-edge

medical device innovation," Chakraborty said.

Boston Scientific India was incorporated in 2011. The company has a portfolio of over 300 medical

devices in the country, which include defibrillators, catheters,

stents and pacemakers.

courtesy: www.timesofindia.com

Hello Kiddies, Here is your Answers!!!

1. Prides

2. A Fish

3. True

4. False

5. A Gorilla

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Professor Emeritus Seymour Papert, pioneer of constructionist learning, dies at 88

Seymour Papert, whose ideas and inventions

transformed how millions of children around the

world create and learn, died Sunday at his home

in East Blue Hill, Maine. He was 88. Papert’s

career traversed a trio of influential movements:

child development, artificial intelligence, and

educational technologies. Based on his insights

into children’s thinking and learning, Papert

recognized that computers could be used not just

to deliver information and instruction, but also to empower children to experiment, explore, and express

themselves. The central tenet of his Constructionist theory of learning is that people build knowledge most

effectively when they are actively engaged in constructing things in the world. As early as 1968, Papert

introduced the idea that computer programming and debugging can provide children a way to think about their

own thinking and learn about their own learning.

“With a mind of extraordinary range and creativity, Seymour Papert helped revolutionize at least three

fields, from the study of how children make sense of the world, to the development of artificial intelligence, to

the rich intersection of technology and learning,” says MIT President L. Rafael Reif. “The stamp he left on

MIT is profound. Today, as MIT continues to expand its reach and deepen its work in digital learning, I am

particularly grateful for Seymour’s groundbreaking vision, and we hope to build on his ideas to open doors to

learners of all ages, around the world.”

Papert’s life straddled several continents. He was born in 1928 in Pretoria, South Africa, and went on to

study at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, where he earned a BA in philosophy in 1949, fol-

lowed by a PhD in mathematics three years later. He was a leading anti-apartheid activist throughout his uni-

versity years.

Papert’s studies then took him overseas – first to Cambridge University in England from 1954-1958,

where he focused on math research, earning his second PhD, then to the University of Geneva, where he

worked with Swiss philosopher and psychologist Jean Piaget, whose theories about the ways children make

sense of the world changed Papert’s view of children and learning.

From Switzerland, Papert came to the U.S., joining MIT as a research associate in 1963. Four years lat-

er, he became a professor of applied mathematics, and shortly after was appointed co-director of the Artificial

Intelligence Lab (which later evolved into the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, or

CSAIL) by its founding director Professor Marvin Minsky. Together, they wrote the 1969 book, “Perceptrons,”

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which marked a turning point in the field of artificial intelligence. In 1985, Papert and Minsky joined former

MIT President Jerome Wiesner and MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte to become founding faculty members

of the MIT Media Lab, where Papert led the Epistemology and Learning research group.

“Seymour often talked poetically, sometimes in riddles, like his famed phrase, ‘you cannot think about

thinking without thinking about thinking about something,’” says Negroponte, the Media Lab’s co-founder and

first director. “He did not follow rules or run by anybody else’s clock. I would say, in Papertian style, Seymour

never needed to do what he said because when he said what he did, it was better.”

Courtesy: www.news.mit.edu.com

Padmasree Warrior—CTO CISCO

Padmasree Warrior, Cisco’s chief technology officer,

worked for Motorola for 23 years. Born in 1961 in Vi-

jayawada, India, Padmasree Warrior gained a degree in

chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Tech-

nology in Delhi in 1982 before moving to the US and

graduating from Cornell University with a masters in chemical engineering.

From Cornell Warrior started her 23-year-career with Motorola in 1984. Starting out as only one of a

few women at the company’s Arizona facility, she rose through the ranks. Warrior served as general manager

of Motorola’s Energy Systems Group, as well as chief technology officer of its Semiconductor Products

department and general manager of Thoughtbeam before it was shut down.

In 2003, Warrior became a senior vice president and Motorola’s chief technology officer, before being

promoted to executive vice president in 2005. Under her tenure, Motorola won the National Medal of

Technology from the President of the United States for the first time in 2004.

Warrior remained chief technology officer at Motorola until 2007, where she left to take over the same

role at Cisco Systems, which she holds to this day.

KNOW

YOUR H

ERO

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"So far as I am able to judge,

nothing has been left undone, ei-

ther by man or nature, to make

India the most extraordinary

country that the sun visits on his

rounds. Nothing seems to have

been forgotten, nothing over-

looked."

Mark Twain

Discover

VOLUME 03

ISSUE 04 AUG, 2016

Compiled & Edited By

Prasanth Nair

Reshmy Krishnakumar

Science International Forum, Kuwait

facebook.com/sifkuwait

For subscription mail to

discoveremagazine@gmail.com

Do You Know!!!

1. What is the name of NASA’s most famous space telescope ?

2. Earth is located in which galaxy ?

3. Ganymede is a moon of which planet ?

4. Does the sun orbit the Earth ?

5. Can humans breathe normally in space as they can on Earth ?

You have time till next edition