15 Feb 2017: India's Cartosat-2 Series with 103 co-satellites up in the sky, the newly developed hydrogels are five times tougher compared to carbon steel, and Women Start up Programme.

      trusciencetrutechnology@blogspot.com                         
               Volume 2017, Issue No.2a,  Dt: 15 to 28 February 2017,  Time:04:21:02 AM


15 Feb 2017: India's Cartosat-2 Series with 103 co-satellites up in the sky, the newly developed hydrogels are five times tougher compared to carbon steel, and  Women Start up Programme.

                                                      by

               Professor Dr. Kotcherlakota Lakshmi Narayana,

M.Sc. (Math. Phys) M.Sc. (Nucl. Phys) Ph. D. (AU), Int. Edu & Res. (Sweden 1964-65) 
DOB:23-07-1940. [Retd. Prof of Physics; Shivaji University, Kolhapur - 416004]
Residential Address: 17- 11-10, Narasimha Ashram, Official Colony,

      Maharanipeta. P. O., Visakhapatnam-530002, A.P. Mobile: 09491902867.

kotcherlakota_l_n@hotmail.com;  lakshminarayana.kotcherlakota@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

On 15 02 2017 India has created history by successfully launching 104 satellites on a single mission. An Indian cartographic satellite, believed to be capable of taking high resolution images is also on board, 714 kg Cartosat-2 series satellite for earth observation along with 103 co-passenger satellites. WG didn’t mince words against AP government which didn’t respect the Azeez Committee on resurvey of the boundaries of the sanctuary. Upputeru outlet of Kolleru within the sanctuary to regulate sea water in flow into the lake needs to be maintained.  14-year old boy V. Venkatesh from pedawaltair made a mini boat using waste water bottles, thermocol, plastic rice gunny bags, and waste from nets. Took nearly a week to make the boat in which he could venture 10 km into the sea. Nearly 250 such boats are operating in Vizag, and they earn at least Rs.40, 000/- a week. It costs to make Rs.200 to Rs.5000/- Researchers found that the hot jets and bubbles emanating from the centre of the Phoenix cluster may also have the opposite effect of producing cold gas that in turn rains back onto the galaxy fuelling further starbursts. This suggests that the black hole has found a way to recycle some of its hot gas as cold, star-making fuel.  Feb 17, 2017 17:34 IST: Cyclone Dineo causes havoc destroys thousands of homes in Mozambique; 7 killed and affected 130,000 across southern Mozambique, according to a toll published late on Thursday. Friday 18 FEBRUARY 2017: 8:24AM: Torrential downpours were inundating Southern California on Friday, flooding streets and prompting water rescues. Researchers had identified microbes living in the walls of the caves, but isolating them from inside the metres-long crystals is a surprise. The organisms were likely to have been encased in the striking shafts of gypsum at least 10,000 years ago, and possibly up to 50,000 years ago.  North coastal districts under a grip of morning haze since last few days, and the month February seems to be heavily affected with a covering of cool night temperatures and enhanced noon sun temperatures.  The noon temperatures have creeped up to 39C. In Visakhapatnam airport area the visibility fell down to almost 30 feet between 5.00 AM to 9.30 AM on Tuesday, 21 Feb 2017. Kurnool and Anantapur registered on Wednesday, 22 Feb 2017 about 40C and this year there were no rains at all. It is in excess by 4 degrees C. A team of Hokkaido University scientists has succeeded in creating fibre-reinforced soft composites, or tough hydrogels combined with woven fibre fabric. The newly developed hydrogels are 5 times tougher compared to carbon steel. The developed fibre-reinforced hydrogel consists of polyampholyte (PA) gels and glass fibre fabric. The team theorizes that toughness is increased by dynamic ionic bonds between the fibre and hydrogels, and within the hydrogels. The jewel, a jade pendant worn on a king's chest during key religious ceremonies, was first unearthed in 2015. The pendant measures 7.4 inches wide, 4.1 inches high and just 0.3 inches thick. Sawing it into this thin, flat form with string, fat and jade dust would have been a technical feat. But what makes the pendant even more remarkable, is that it's the only one known to be inscribed with a historical text. Carved into the pendant's back are 30 hieroglyphs about its first owner.  Earthquake of 5.2 magnitude strikes Manipur: A medium intensity earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale hit Manipur on Friday 24 Feb 2017 evening. The epicentre of the quake was in Churachandrapur district. It struck at 5:32 pm at the depth of 20 km. Another earthquake measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale struck the Himalayan state of Sikkim at 3:09 am. North eastern region and Bangladesh on Saturday, 25 Feb 2017, with major damage reported. The first tremor of 3.5R with its epicentre at Dibang Valley in north Arunachal Pradesh was recorded at 5:30 AM. The depth was 10km.  The second quake of 4.0R with its epicentre in northern Tripura was recorded 12:32 PM. The depth was at 33km. Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and today selected 15 women entrepreneurs and their ideas for incubation over next year as the final phase of its Women Start up Programme. Millions of people are without drinking water after rainstorms and landslides contaminated a major river in Chile. Officials say the water supply from the Maipo River will remain cut off until the water flows clear after heavy rains struck the country. Feb 28, 2017 03:34 IST: A picturesque winter in the Kashmir Valley.       

Science 02 Feb 2017: SOLAR CELLS AT COST OF A NEWSPAPER: 

               Tan and his colleagues developed a new chemical reaction then enables them to grow an ESL made of nanoparticles in solution, directly on top of the electrode. While heat is still required, the process always stays below 150 degrees C, much lower than the melting point of many plastics. The new perovskite solar cells have achieved an efficiency of 20.1 per cent and can be manufactured at low temperatures, which reduces the cost and expands the number of possible applications. The new nanoparticles are coated with a layer of chlorine atoms, which helps them bind to the perovskite layer on top, this strong binding allows for efficient extraction of electrons. “Efficient and stable solution-processed planar perovskite solar cells via contact passivation”: Hairen Tan, and 17 others et al., Abstract: Planar perovskite solar cells made entirely via solution-processing at low temperatures (<150°C) offer promise for simple manufacturing, compatibility with flexible substrates, and perovskite-based tandem devices; however, they require an electron-selective layer that performs well with similar processing. We report a contact passivation strategy using chlorine-capped TiO₂ colloidal nanocrystal (NC) film that mitigates interfacial recombination and improves interface binding in low-temperature planar solar cells. We fabricated solar cells with certified efficiencies of 20.1% and 19.5% for active areas of 0.049 and 1.1 sq.cm, respectively, achieved via low-temperature solution processing. Solar cells with efficiency >20% retained 90% (97% after dark recovery) of their initial performance after 500 hours continuous room-temperature operation at their maximum power point under one-sun illumination.

DETAILS

INDIA 104 SATELLITES LAUNCH

      On 15 02 2017 at 10:17:51. India has created history by successfully launching 104 satellites on a single mission, All but three of the satellites are from foreign countries, most of them from the United States. The launch took place from the Sriharikota space centre in East India. Observers say it is a sign that India is emerging as a major player in the multi-billion dollar space market. The women scientists who took India into space remarkable. Why India's commercial space programme is thriving. Of the 104 small satellites, 96 belong to the United States while Israel, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland and the Netherlands are the other foreign clients. An Indian cartographic satellite, believed to be capable of taking high resolution images is also on board, 714 kg Cartosat-2 series satellite for earth observation, along with 103 co-passenger satellites.

Kolleru Downsizing not favoured by Working Group:

                   A shocker to AP Government and all political parties of AP, Ministry of Environment and forests refused reduction of Kolleru Wild Life Sanctuary area. Both the Chief Ministers of years 2008 and now in 2014 unanimously passed resolutions to reduce the size of Kolleru. Reducing the size from 308 sq. km to 135 sq. km, increasing in illegal aquafarms effecting the socio-economic livelihood of local farmers, with the influx of entrepreneurs is bewildering. WG didn’t mince words against AP government which didn’t respect the Azeez Committee on resurvey of the boundaries of the sanctuary. Upputeru outlet of Kolleru within the sanctuary to regulate sea water in flow into the lake needs to be maintained.  

16 Feb 2017 Hook line fishing

Fig. 1 Mini-boat of waste material costs Rs.200 to Rs.5000

used for a 10-mile ocean hook-line fishing in Visakhapatnam.

              14-year old boy V.Venkatesh from pedawaltair made a mini boat using waste water bottles,thermocol, plastic rice gunny bags, and waste from nets. Took nearly a  week to make the boat in which he could venture 10 km into the sea. Nearly 250 such boats are operating in vizag, and they earn at least Rs.40,000/- a week. It costs to make Rs.200 to Rs.5000/- whereas a fibre boat takes minimum Rs.2 
lakh. The Government of India should support by financial assistance and encourage the built up of boats with waterproof lining. 

Black hole discovered fuelling star formation: Feb 16, 2017, 8:19 am IST

Fig.2 Possible Black Hole fuelling star formation 

and recycling

              In a surprise finding, scientists have discovered a black hole that is recycling extremely hot gas into cold fuel for star formation. However, researchers found that the hot jets and bubbles emanating from the centre of the Phoenix cluster may also have the opposite effect of producing cold gas that in turn rains back onto the galaxy fuelling further starbursts. This suggests that the black hole has found a way to recycle some of its hot gas as cold, star-making fuel.

CURIUM-244(Cm-244) 17 Feb 2017

                      Radionuclide curium-244 (Cm-244) manufactured by Russian State Scientific Centre Research Institute of Atomic Reactors’ (JSC SSC RIAR) is a pure alpha-emitter that enables sources to determine chemical composition of any rocks and soils, the statement added. It will be installed on the Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) aimed at analysing the lunar surface within the India’s second lunar exploration mission Chandrayaan-2.

Feb 17, 2017 17:34 IST: Cyclone Dineo causes havoc destroys thousands of homes in Mozambique; 7 killed and affected 130,000 across southern Mozambique, according to a toll published late on Thursday. More than 20,000 homes were destroyed by winds and very strong rain and the search for survivors is ongoing, the National Institute of Disaster Management said in a statement. Dineo’s impact was greatest in Inhambane, an area popular with tourists on Mozambique’s south east coast. It was struck by winds of more than 100kmh, torrential rain and rough seas.

February 17, 2017: PANAJI

               India's the only live volcano in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is erupting once again on afternoon Friday 17 Feb 2017. The Barren Island volcano, located 140-km north-east of Port Blair, the volcano is active and spewing smoke and lava once again. 

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Friday 18 FEBRUARY 2017 • 8:24AM:

           Torrential downpours were inundating Southern California on Friday, flooding streets and prompting water rescues. Rainfall totals by NWS showed that parts of Santa Barbara County have already seen more than 7 inches of rain in the past two days. Parts of Ventura County have seen totals of more than 6 inches. Intense rain, heavy snow and strong winds lashed California and southern Oregon on Friday, prompting the evacuation of more than a hundred homes threatened by mudslides near Los Angeles. The severe storm could bring California's heaviest rainfall in six years, after months of wet weather that has dramatically eased California’s years-long drought. The heavy rain and melting snowpack threatened to undermine a spillway at one of the largest dams in the country, which prompted the evacuation of 188,000 residents earlier this week.

18 Feb 2017
                    Many scientists suspect that if life does exist elsewhere in the Solar System, it is most likely to be underground, chemo-synthesising like the microbes of Naica. Researchers had identified microbes living in the walls of the caves, but isolating them from inside the metres-long crystals is a surprise.The organisms were likely to have been encased in the striking shafts of gypsum at least 10,000 years ago, and possibly up to 50,000 years ago.These outsized needles of gypsum have grown over millions of years. They are not perfect. In places they have defects, small voids where fluids have collected and become encased.

Fig.3 The outsized needles of gypsum 

have grown over millions of years.

09:46, UK, Sunday 19 February 2017:

                                         Local in Saudi Arabia uses jetski to navigate flooded village.

21 Feb 2017: 

                     North coastal districts under a grip of morning haze since last few days, and the month February seems to be heavily affected with a covering of cool night temperatures and enhanced noon sun temperatures.  The noon temperatures have creeped up to 39C. In Visakhapatnam airport area the visibility fell down to almost 30 feet between 5.00 AM to 9.30 AM on Tuesday, 21 Feb 2017. Winter season receding and summer season is shooting up its high mid-day temperatures. Pharma city main street covered by the haze bringing down visibility on Tuesday. Kothapalem, Gajuwaka, Lankelapalem, Varawada, Gopalapatnam, and other nearby areas had very dense haze on Tuesday. 

22 Feb 2017: 
                      Kurnool and Anantapur registered on Wednesday, 22 Feb 2017 about 40C and this year there were no rains at all. It is in excess by 4 degrees C. In Rayalaseema, Telangana, and South coastal Andhra this hot weather would continue another four days. Srisailam recorded 37C on 22 Feb, and worshippers resting under trees instead of the guest house accommodation. Many places till 9 AM the  hazy  weather continued and during nights the temperatures were less by 3 to 4 C. Dry weather would prevail in both the states in the next 24 hours. 

LiquiGlide:  

             An Indian-origin scientist at MIT found a novel way, to get even the drop of ketch-up, or shampoo and glue out of bottles, by developing a coating that makes the container interiors super-slippery. He developed LiquiGlide, with his students at MIT, that allows every last drop of any viscous product to flow from its container.

 Green-Tea laced capacitor: 

             Researchers prepared polymer gels in green tea extract, with the gels  infused with polyphenols. This converts  a silver nitrate solution to uniform coating of silver nanoparticles. Thin layers of conducting gold and poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) were then applied. The resulting supercapacitor gave power and energy densities of 2,715 watts/kg and 27 watt hours/kg enough to operate LEDs and a bluetooth module.

22 Feb 2017: STORM DORIS: The Storm Doris will bring strong winds, heavy rain and some snow throughout Thursday. It will be a windy day across the UK and Ireland with northern England and Wales most at risk of damaging wind gusts of up to 80mph. The heavy rain is likely to fall in central parts of Britain and Northern Ireland, with snow over the hills of northern England and Scotland. Some snow may fall to lower levels. Combined with the strong winds there is a risk of drifting snow and blizzard conditions over the hills. The arrival of Doris follows a few days of unseasonably warm weather with west London's Kew Gardens seeing temperatures reaching 18.3C (64.9F) on Monday.

February 23, 2017: 

Fig.4 Luminous Nebula called ELAN 

                Vast luminous nebula poses a cosmic mystery: Glowing nebula found at the heart of a huge "proto-cluster" of early galaxies appears to be part of the cosmic web of filaments connecting galaxies, but what's lighting it up? Astronomers have found an enormous, glowing blob of gas in the distant universe, with no obvious source of power for the light it is emitting. Called an "enormous Lyman-alpha nebula" (ELAN), it is the brightest and among the largest of these rare objects, only a handful of which have been observed. ELANs are huge blobs of gas surrounding and extending between galaxies in the intergalactic medium. They are thought to be parts of the network of filaments connecting galaxies in a vast cosmic web.

February 24, 2017: 

Fig.5 A team of Hokkaido University scientists

fibre-reinforced soft composites tougher than steel

               A team of Hokkaido University scientists has succeeded in creating fibre-reinforced soft composites, or tough hydrogels combined with woven fibre fabric. These fabrics are highly flexible, tougher than metals, and have a wide range of potential applications. The team theorizes that toughness is increased by dynamic ionic bonds between the fibre and hydrogels, and within the hydrogels, as the fibre’s toughness increases in relation to that of the hydrogels. Consequently, the newly developed hydrogels are 5 times tougher compared to carbon steel. The newly developed fiber-reinforced hydrogel consists of polyampholyte (PA) gels and glass fiber fabric. The team theorizes that toughness is increased by dynamic ionic bonds between the fiber and hydrogels, and within the hydrogels.

         DN gels are as strong as rubber, and their compressive fracture stress is about 10–60 MPa (100–600 kgf/cm2), which is approximately hundred times stronger than single network gels (0.3–0.6 MPa). In addition, some types of DN gels also show flexibility, with tensile fracture strains reaching 30.

Feb 24, 2017 19:05 IST: 

             Earthquake of 5.2 magnitude strikes Manipur: A medium intensity earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale hit Manipur on Friday 24 Feb 2017 evening. The epicentre of the quake was in Churachandrapur district. It struck at 5:32 pm at the depth of 20 km. There were no immediate reports of loss of life or damage to property.

SIKKIM EARTHQUAKE
            Another earthquake measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale struck the Himalayan state of Sikkim at 3:09 am.

February 24, 2017:  

Fig. 6  Inscription of Maya civilization 

dwindled due to lack of rains

           Second largest Maya jade found in Belize has unique historical inscription:  The dig that uncovered a large piece of carved jade once belonging to an ancient Maya king. The jewel, a jade pendant worn on a king's chest during key religious ceremonies, was first unearthed in 2015. The pendant measures 7.4 inches wide, 4.1 inches high and just 0.3 inches thick. Sawing it into this thin, flat form with string, fat and jade dust would have been a technical feat. But what makes the pendant even more remarkable, is that it's the only one known to be inscribed with a historical text. Carved into the pendant's back are 30 hieroglyphs about its first owner. Two relief sculptures on large rock slabs at Nim Li Punit also corroborate that use. In both sculptures, a king is shown wearing the T-shaped pendant while scattering incense, in A.D. 721 and 731, some 50 and 60 years after the pendant was first worn. Even if you ignore the writing and its apparent royal provenance, the jade stone itself is from the mountains of Guatemala, southwest of Belize. There are few earlier indications of trade in that direction either. 

24 Feb 2017
         Was the hottest day in Visakhapatnam as per a local person.

25 Feb 2017: 

            The Andhra Pradesh around Visakhapatnam facing chilling weather in the mornings till10 AM. Elsewhere Andhra state was hot. Especially Karnataka facing severe water shortage.

             Heat wave-like conditions for the Konkan and Goa coastal regions in the next two days. It added that the maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 37 degrees Celsius and 18 degrees Celsius respectively. The northern hills will continue to witness dry weather in absence of any weather system. Meanwhile, northwestern plains including Delhi-NCR will witness marginal rise in both day and night temperatures. Due to moist southwesterly winds blowing across Gujarat, drop in temperatures are likely over Kutch as well as coastal regions. Central India will continue to witness dry weather. Marginal rise in temperatures are expected during next 48 hours on account of an anticyclone marked over the region.

Separate quacks hit Arunachal and Tripura: 

             North eastern region and Bangladesh on Saturday, 25 Feb 2017, with major damage reported. The first tremor of 3.5R with its epicentre at Dibang Valley in north Arunachal Pradesh was recorded at 5:30 AM. The depth was 10km.  The second quake of 4.0R with its epicentre in northern Tripura was recorded 12:32 PM. The depth was at 33km.

Feb 26, 2017, 05.39 PM: 
               IIM Bangalore's Women Start up Programme picks 15 new biz ideas The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and today selected 15 women entrepreneurs and their ideas for incubation over next year as the final phase of its Women Start up Programme.

Monday 27 February 201710:04, UK

             Millions of people are without drinking water after rainstorms and landslides contaminated a major river in Chile. Officials say the water supply from the Maipo River will remain cut off until the water flows clear after heavy rains struck the country. The rains caused rivers to overflow their banks in mountain valleys near the capital Santiago.

TUESDAY 28 Feb 2017:

Fig. 7 A shepherd herding his flock in Aru Valley,

 near Pahalgam. (Prasun Mitra)

 Feb 28, 2017 03:34 IST: A picturesque winter in the Kashmir Valley. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

                      Present author was a Professor of Physics at Shivaji University, Kolhapur-416004, MS, since 1983 till July 31,2000. He joined as a Lecturer in 1966 June 1, became a Reader in 1975. The present author is maintaining  

trusciencetrutechnology@blogspot.com after retirement. Recently he initiated "TRU Literary works: A Science-Facts Episodes" since 9 September 2012.

                          The author is deeply indebted to Late Prof. K. R. Rao D.Sc. (Madras) D.Sc. (London).  The author also expresses his gratitude to him for the inspiration and constant guidance provided for his research and investigations. A summary of all his disciples, to his knowledge, and list of publications are listed by the present author and is available on INTERNET. (His lifetime: 1899 Sept. 9 early morning to 1972 June 20 at 9:10 AM). He initiated several researches in wide variety of subjects, and earned respect from the several followers. Hundreds of his research students are well-spread over many countries. 

===============================================