1 to 15 April 2017:Unusual rainfall in Kashmir, avalanche of water, large tornado and a half dozen twisters, Manipur landslides, Professor Veena S recovers wealth from e-waste, Germany moves away from Coal & Nuclear Power.

        trusciencetrutechnology@blogspot.com                              Volume 2017, Issue No.4,  Dt: 1 to  15 April 2017,  Time:11:06:58 AM

1-15, April 2017: Unusual rainfall in Kashmir, avalanche of water, large tornado and a half dozen twisters, Manipur landslides, Professor Veena S recovers wealth from e-waste,  Germany moves away from Coal & Nuclear Power.                                    

                                                   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 3 April 2017 Baton Rouge, the state capital, reported more than 4,500 lightning strikes across the state by late afternoon. April 02, 2017: Banda in UP hottest at 44.8C on Sunday, while Chandrapur in MS recorded 43.8C, while Bankura in West Bengal recorded 43.4C. April 3, 2017 at 06:07 IST Doctors in Apollo and LK hospitals in Delhi suggest that cases of heat exhaustion have significantly doubled this year. 3 April 2017 at 22:56: Reporting their results in the Journal of Nature Nanotechnology, scientists from the University of Manchester, led by Dr Rahul Nair, shows how they solved some of the challenges by using a chemical derivative called graphene oxide.  April 5, 2017: Water level in Krishna reservoirs hit rock bottom: Farmers have sown crops in 13.5 lakh acres delta regions, are in jitters. As on Wednesday Tungabhadra has only 3.73 tmc ft (101 tmc ft), Almatti holding 12.6 tmc ft (130 tnc ft),Srisailam holding 31 tmc ft (215.8 tmc ft), Nagarjuna Sagar holding 127.63 tmc ft, Narayanapur and Jurala are holding just 16.38 tmc ft and 3.25 tmc ft respectfully. Pulichintala holding only 0.24 tmc ft (45.77 tmc ft), Prakasam barrage has 2.26 tmc ft (3.071 tmc ft). Rains likely in few isolated places of Rayalseema, and coastal AP, with a rise of temperature 2 to 3C. The trough extends up to 0.9km above mean sea level. April 6: rainfall in Srinagar on Thursday. Incessant rains and untimely snowfall led to a flood like situation in the state with the Jhelum crossing the danger mark in Anantnag and Srinagar districts and dozens of low-lying areas inundated. Kashmir-Jammu had several landslides on 6 April, with a snowfall unusual in this season. Heavy rainfall forced Dalai Lama to travel by road, a two day drive through rugged mountain terrain and reach on 07 April 2017 the Tawang monastery. APRIL 7, US TRIALS: US navy testing devices that resemble headphones to stimulate the brain using electricity to enhance soldiers’ cognitive abilities. April 9: Germany: Most of what is generated sold off to grid and residents pay much less than national average. Further, a biogas plant helps to save about 1, 60, 000 litres of heating oil every year. Biggest lithium ion battery storage unit used for load balancing of the grid. It moves away from coal and nuclear power. Three days from Sunday 9 April to 12 April weather in AP, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Odisha would be hot. 12 April, severe heatwave conditions prevailed over Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat, while heatwave was witnessed over rest parts of the state and West Rajasthan. Surendranagar was the hottest city of India with maximum temperature settling at 45°C. After a gap of almost two weeks, heat wave once again gripped most parts of Gujarat today with Surendranagar recording the highest temperature of 45 degrees Celsius. Kandla port (44.5), Idar (44.4), Gandhinagar (44), Rajkot (44), Bhuj (44.2), Amreli (43.8) and Deesa (43.6). India gives water data available in 91 reservoirs around the country. Last Thursday, reservoirs held only 32% of their capacity, bit worse than last year when it was 33%. Twenty four dams around the country have less than half the water as they should hold as per the 10-year average. April 13, 2017, 2:27:49 AM EDT:  Waves of warm air to roll across north-eastern US through late April. 13 april 2017: Cyclone Cook: Evacuations as storm lashes New Zealand. The storm made landfall in the Bay of Plenty at about 18:30 local time (06:30 GMT) on Thursday, where it knocked out power to much of the town of Whakatane, Radio NZ reported. The storm was expected to pass over Wellington at about 03:00 local time on Friday, before reaching Kaikoura on the east of the South Island at 06:00.13 April 2017: Mild tremors were reported in Rajavommangi Mandal headquarters of Andhra Pradesh and surrounding villages on Thursday, and tremors occurred at 5.30 AM for a few seconds. 16x11x3 inches brick: Machilipatnam village Mukkollu revealed its possible history dating back to 2 century BC period. Researchers at the University of Waterloo have created the first map showing how our universe's elusive dark matter interacts with galaxies. Friday April 14, 2017: As the spacecraft Cassini flew past Saturn's icy moon Enceladus, the orbiter detected molecular hydrogen. E-Library of Indological manuscripts planned. WATER FROM AIR: 9 hours ago: ABC Science: MOFs are metal-organic frameworks that are made from metal ions and organic compounds that form a sponge-like configuration. Researchers tuned the chemical composition of a MOF to be hydrophilic, which in a powder form can not only suck up liquid water but also absorb water vapour.  

DETAILS

Mar 31, 2017, 05.10 AM IST: Amol Yadav, a pilot who assembled a six-seater aircraft on the terrace of his three BHK flat in Charkop, and who was given an opportunity to display his creation at the Make in India Week in Mumbai last year, will be allotted a 157-acre plot in Palghar by the state government to set up his enterprise. Yadav plans to manufacture six-seater and 20-seater aircraft in India, under the banner of his Thrust India Company. Yadav, 41, a deputy chief pilot with Jet Airways, is scheduled to meet with Chief Minister of Mumbai on Monday.

AUSTRALIA FLOODS: April 01, 2017 17:12 IST:  BEENLEIGH:  Flooded Rivers were still rising Saturday in two Australian states with two women dead and four people missing after torrential rains in the wake of a powerful tropical cyclone.

Colombian Avalanche: 05:09, UK, Sunday 02 April 2017: At least 200 people are dead after an "avalanche of water" engulfed the Colombian city of Mocoa. Hours of heavy rain caused several rivers to overflow and sent mud and sediment onto houses and roads in the city. Witnesses said they had felt buildings vibrate as the flood began but there had been little time to escape. An avalanche of water from three overflowing rivers tore through a small city in Colombia while people slept, destroying homes, sweeping away cars and killing at least 193 unsuspecting residents. 

April 02, 2017: Banda in UP hottest at 44.8C on Sunday, while Chandrapur in MS recorded 43.8C, while Bankura in West Bengal recorded 43.4C. 
SUNDAY, APRIL 2, 2017.7:50 AM IST: Louisiana Tornado packing winds of around 100 miles per hour (161 kph) and ranked as a category EF-1 on the five-point Enhanced Fujita Scale. An EF-5 is the highest rating. In addition to tornado threats, thunderstorms were bringing hurricane-force, straight-line winds and large hail to the region, the governor said. Television station WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge, the state capital, reported more than 4,500 lightning strikes across the state by late afternoon.  Tornado threats, thunderstorms were bringing hurricane-force, straight-line winds and large hail to the region.

April 3, 2017 at 06:07 IST Doctors in Apollo and LK hospitals in Delhi suggest that cases of heat exhaustion have significantly doubled this year. 
April 3, 2017:Aspergillus tubingensis is a fungus, which ordinarily lives in the soil. In laboratory trials, the researchers found that it also grows on the surface of plastics. It secretes enzymes onto the surface of the plastic, and these break the chemical bonds between the plastic molecules, or polymers. Using advanced microscopy and spectroscopy techniques, the team found that the fungus also uses the physical strength of its mycelia, the network of root, like filaments grown by fungi, to help break apart the polymers as researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found an unexpected solution.

3 April 2017 at 22:56: Reporting their results in the Journal of Nature Nanotechnology, scientists from the University of Manchester, led by Dr Rahul Nair, shows how they solved some of the challenges by using a chemical derivative called graphene oxide. Placing walls made of epoxy resin (a substance used in coatings and glues) on either side of the graphene oxide membrane was sufficient to stop the expansion. You have to make a membrane with a very uniform less-than-one-nanometre hole size to make it useful for desalination.
4 April 2017: The New Indian Express: Did you know? The British used to store ammunition in the building of Queen Mary High School in old town of Visakhapatnam.
3700-yr-old pyramid: discovered in Egypt  that dates back to 13 dynasty, remains were located north of King Sneferu's bent pyramid in the Dahshur Royal necropolis south of Cairo. Probably it is the first attempt to build a smooth-sided pyramid.
Rains lashed the national capital on Tuesday 4 April evening, providing some respite to Delhiites from the scorching dry heat over the last few days. While traces of rainfall were recorded in some parts of the city during the day, heavy showers were witnessed during the night, the weather department said. Winds blowing at 12 km per hour kicked up dust. The wind speed increased because of a western disturbance, a storm that brews in the Mediterranean Sea and brings rain-bearing clouds. The dust, however, had little impact on the city’s notorious air quality. The heat will be back from Sunday. The storms, even without the expected precipitation, are likely to keep the heat down over the next three days and provide temporary relief to the city. Mercury was hovering around 39 degrees Celsius till Monday 3 April. Delhi: It is likely to take a downward slide to around 32 degrees Celsius by Saturday 9 April. The thunderstorms may trigger rain in a few places.

5 April 2017:Sea level rise is global. But due to a variety of factors, including, for this part of the Atlantic coast, a likely weakening of the Gulf Stream, itself potentially a result of the melting of Greenland’s ice caps, south Floridians are feeling the effects more than many others. While there has been a mean rise of a little more than 3mm per year worldwide since the 1990s, in the last decade, just south of Miami Beach has measured a 9 mm rise annually. 

                                              Fig.1 Severe storms rakes Atlanta unleashing 
                                                           one large tornado and more than 
                                            a half dozen apparent twisters on Wednesday 5 April 2017
                        But coastal communities are already experiencing more storms and extremely high tides known as king tides. It is found there were a total of 16 flood events in Miami Beach from 1998 to 2005. From 2006 to 2013, there were 33.    

April 5, 2017: Water level in Krishna reservoirs hit rock bottom: Farmers have sown crops in 13.5 lakh acres delta regions, are in jitters. As on Wednesday Tungabhadra has only 3.73 tmc ft (101 tmc ft), Almatti holding 12.6 tmc ft (130 tnc ft),Srisailam holding 31 tmc ft (215.8 tmc ft), Nagarjuna Sagar holding 127.63 tmc ft, Narayanapur and Jurala are holding just 16.38 tmc ft and 3.25 tmc ft respectfully. Pulichintala holding only 0.24 tmc ft (45.77 tmc ft), Prakasam barrage has 2.26 tmc ft (3.071 tmc ft). Rains likely in few isolated places of Rayalseema, and coastal AP, with a rise of temperature 2 to 3C. The trough extends up to 0.9km above mean sea level. 
6 April 2017:Tornado topples trees and power lines in Georgia, apparent twisters rough up Southeast. Forecasters on Wednesday said a wide area including large parts of Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina were under threat of powerful, long-lived tornadoes as severe storms raked the region. At least six tornado and twisters struck.
6 April 2017: Boatmen peddle shikara rides across Dal Lake amid fog following rainfall in Srinagar on Thursday.Incessant rains and untimely snowfall led to a flood like situation in the state with the Jhelum crossing the danger mark in Anantnag and Srinagar districts and dozens of low-lying areas inundated various parts of the valley.

Fig.2 Houses and a playground were damaged on 6 April, in a massive

landslide at Siaratkhog village of Ukhrul district in 

Imphal, Manipur on Thursday. 

 

Fig.3  On Thursday 6 April, water logged streets in Srinagar 

and a snow fall unusual in month of April.

Fig.4 Another view of srinagar Kashmir Valley 
with Snow on Thursday 

         Schools have been closed till Sunday. Srinagar-Jammu National highway closed after landslides, as fresh snowfall, occurred.

APRIL 7, US TRIALS: US navy testing devices that resemble headphones to stimulate the brain using electricity to enhance soldiers cognitive abilities.

Heavy rainfall forced Dalai Lama to travel by road, a two day drive through rugged mountain terrain and reach on 07 April 2017 the Tawang monastery.
8 April 2017:A tonne of mobile phones (about 6,000 handsets), for example, contains about 130kg of copper, 3.5kg of silver, 340 grams of gold and 140 grams of palladium, worth tens of thousands of dollars. Professor Veena Sahajwalla, recovers the considerable wealth of resources embedded in e-waste while overcoming the challenges of toxicity and the often prohibitively high costs of conventional industrial-scale recycling. Professor Sahajwalla’s solution will enable the safe, cost-effective ‘mining’ of e-waste stockpiles locally, anywhere in the world.
Kerala drought: Water flow stopped in many rivers in north Kerala, Centre declared the state as drought hit. Nearly dried up  Kadalundi River in Malappuram district of Kerala on Saturday 8 April.

Quakes in Philippines: Three quakes ranging in magnitude from 5.0 to 5.9 struck Batangas province, about 90 km (55 miles) south of Manila, around 3 p.m. (0700 GMT) over a period of about 20 minutes. Landslides were also reported in some towns and a portion of a Catholic church tower had collapsed. The region has experienced tremors since earlier this week. The first earthquake had a magnitude of 5.6 and struck in Mabini at 07:07 GMT. A stronger earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 struck two minutes later in the same town. A third tremor, measuring 4.1, occurred 20 minutes later in San Luis, followed by a 4.7 magnitude earthquake in Mabini, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said. The US Geological Survey recorded magnitudes of 5.5, 5.9, 5.0 and 4.7 for the four earthquakes. Philippine Islands has had: (M1.5 or greater). 5 earthquakes in the past 24 hours; 11 earthquakes in the past 7 days; 21 earthquakes in the past 30 days.

GANDHINAGAR: As the temperatures rise, the Gujarat government declared 566 villages to be suffering water scarcity  and put relief measures in place. The government has started providing drinking water through tankers in 70 villages. 

Sunday 9 April 2017: In AP where temperatures peak in mid-summer no less than 282 Mandals of the state 670 were in the grip of severe heat wave or just a garden variety heat wave. Next two days the heat waves would prevail. Affected districts are Kurnool, EG, Chittoor, Kadapa, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Srikakulam.  In Karnataka the average temperatures more than 2 to 3C excess of last 30 years. Balmy Bangalore touched 38C, in Tamil Nadu at least ten stations breached 40C. Odisha the town of Balangir recorded 44C on Saturday 8 April, while Telangana has a heat spike of about 2-4C. Hyderabad recorded 41C in the first week of April. Next two days heat waves would sustain. 

Queensland's Lockyer Valley:  water with Volcanic glass: Two geologists believe they have struck brown gold in Queensland's Lockyer Valley, unearthing a naturally occurring rock dust capable of growing pristine grass in the middle of the Arabian desert. Looking for the silica when they bought the mine at Mount Sylvia 11 years ago, Mr Lewington said it was only by chance they instead discovered palagonite. He said the fine material existed in other parts of the world, but that it was very rare. It is formed through the interaction of water with volcanic glass.

England:The day will see a lot of sunshine across the majority of England and Wales, and for parts of the South East temperatures could reach 24C or possibly slightly higher. That would make it the warmest day of the year so far, topping the 22.1C recorded on 30 March in Gravesend, Kent. For Scotland and Ireland it will be cloudy and cool again with spells of rain.
April 9:  IIT Mumbai Mango Leaves: Fluorescent graphene quantum dots, for bioimaging and measuring intracellular temperatures, at 25 C, and since they emit  red light they can be used for making organic light emitting diodes.
April 9: About 40 households in Germany Village Feldheim showcase for self-sufficiency in electricity generation,it is about 75 km away from Berlin. Most of what is generated sold off to grid and residents pay much less than national average. Further, a biogas plant helps to save about 1,60,000 litres of heating oil every year. Biggest lithium ion battery storage unit used for load balancing of the grid. It moves away from coal and nuclear power.

Fig.5 Two ladies operating a community radio station

  at Machnoor village in Telangana.

BEIJING: April 11, 2017: One summer day, a Kazakh herder in northwest China noticed that a giant black boulder had appeared overnight in the grasslands where he raises sheep and cattle. He left it there, and it sat undisturbed for more than two decades. But in 2011, local officials declared the rock a meteorite and hauled it away, arguing that natural resources were state property.  The Xinjiang meteorite weighs 17.8 tons and is made of siderite, or iron carbonate, according to a report in the Chinese news media that cited an official research centre.It costs about $130million while the rock's per gram value is about $1.45 only!

Fig.7 The Huge meteorite 17.8 tons, two decades old 

preserved  by family herder Juman Reamazhaen

Kenjiebieke Reamazhaen in 2011 with the meteorite on his family’s land in the Xinjiang autonomous region. He is the elder son of Juman Reamazhaen, the herder who found the meteorite.

DANGEROUS HEATWAVE IN INDIA

Wednesday, April 12, 2017, 9:56:28 AM EDT: Dangerous heat wave to build in New Delhi, northern India. High temperatures were near 35 C (95 F) across the National Capital Region from Saturday through Monday, but heat began to build once again on Tuesday as temperatures reached 38 C (100 F). Temperatures reached 39 C (103 F) on Wednesday and will continue to climb. Severe heatwave conditions prevailed over Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat, while heatwave was witnessed over rest parts of the state and West Rajasthan. Surendranagar was the hottest city of India with maximum temperature settling at 45°C. Both day temperatures are settling above 40-degree mark across some parts of Haryana, Delhi-NCR, South Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and over most parts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Rayalaseema, North Interior Karnataka and Madhya Maharashtra, Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of Maharashtra.

Scattered light to moderate rain and thundershowers occurred over Kerala, Interior Tamil Nadu and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Meanwhile, South Interior Karnataka saw isolated showers.

April 12, 2017: HEAT WAVE AGAIN GRIPS GUJARAT, SURENDRANAGAR HOTTEST. Ahmedabad: After a gap of almost two weeks, heat wave once again gripped most parts of Gujarat today with Surendranagar recording the highest temperature of 45 degrees Celsius. Kandla port (44.5), Idar (44.4), Gandhinagar (44), Rajkot (44), Bhuj (44.2), Amreli (43.8) and Deesa (43.6). Weather remained dry during the day and the heat wave would persist over the next couple of days. Even the coastal region is experiencing a heat wave, as several cities along the coast recorded above-40 degrees Celsius temperature today. In the coastal belt, Porbandar recorded 42.5 degrees, Veraval 40.8 degrees, Surat 43 degrees and Valsad 42.4 degrees Celsius.  Worse off: Himachal Pradesh,Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. All the reservoirs in AP have less than half of the water they normally have at this time of the year. Number of reservoirs 31 present storage is just 13% while last year it was 16%. Every Thursday  CWC, India gives water data available in 91 reservoirs around the country. Last Thursday, reservoirs held only 32% of their capacity, bit worse than last year when it was 33%. Twenty four dams around the country have less than half the water as they should hold as per the 10-year average. Moon light also has the Red Heat of the Earth on 12 April 2017.

Fig.8 The Moon also reflects the Red Heat of the Earth
Wednesday 12 April 2017 night.

April 13, 2017, 2:27:49 AM EDT:  Waves of warm air to roll across north-eastern US through late April.

16x11x3 inches brick: Machilipatnam village Mukkollu revealed its possible history dating back to 2 century BC period, with the Potsherds found, near the mond abutting the Janardhanaswami temple. It showed a brick of size 16x11x3 inches in the three foot deep trench. 
13 April 2017: Cyclone Cook: Evacuations as storm lashes New Zealand. The storm made landfall in the Bay of Plenty at about 18:30 local time (06:30 GMT) on Thursday, where it knocked out power to much of the town of Whakatane, Radio NZ reported. The storm was expected to pass over Wellington at about 03:00 local time on Friday, before reaching Kaikoura on the east of the South Island at 06:00.
13 April 2017: Mild tremors were reported in Rajavommangi Mandal headquarters of Andhra Pradesh and surrounding villages on Thursday. Tremors occurred at 5.30 AM for a few seconds and tribals ran helter-skelter. They returned home around 6AM.

 Andhra Jyothi Dt.14 April 2017

Fig.9 Dark matter filaments (shown in red) bridge the space between

 galaxies (shown in white) on this false colour map.

 University of Waterloo)

      Researchers at the University of Waterloo have created the first map showing how our universe's elusive dark matter interacts with galaxies. Dark matter makes up about 25 per cent of our universe.  It's been theorized that galaxies are connected through dark matter in a type of cosmic web. However, until now there has never been quantitative evidence.Using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, the researchers were able to detect the dark matter.

 Friday April 14, 2017: As the spacecraft Cassini flew past Saturn's icy moon Enceladus, the orbiter detected molecular hydrogen, a finding announced Thursday. It's a nifty discovery, hinting that heated vents beneath Enceladus's oceans may have the right conditions for life.
E-Library of Indological manuscripts planned: A team of four researchers working on the project of digitising rare manuscripts at BORI in Pune. Precious manuscripts in Sanskrit and its related languages and in Pali, and the other prakrits, A Zeutschel high resolution German scanner has been already procured by the  Institute at a cost of Rs.15 lakhs.The job would take five years! Some manuscripts are millennia old. 

WATER FROM AIR: 9 hours ago: ABC Science: MOFs are metal-organic frameworks that are made from metal ions and organic compounds that form a sponge-like configuration. Researchers tuned the chemical composition of a MOF to be hydrophilic, which in a powder form can not only suck up liquid water but also absorb water vapour. Their findings are reported in the journal Science. Researchers created a device where a thin layer of MOF powder is placed between two surfaces. The top surface is black and absorbs solar heat, and the lower surface is kept at the same temperature as the outside air. The powder absorbs the water vapour, then the heat from the top layer releases the water which is collected on the cooler lower surface. The researchers' tests showed one kilogram of the MOF could collect close to three litres of water per day.

Saturday 15 April 2017: 13:18, UK: Iran: Flash floods kill at least 25 in East Azarbaijan province. At least 25 people have been killed by flash floods in northwest Iran. Authorities say at least 16 others are missing in East Azarbaijan and three other provinces. Rescue teams have been deployed to the cities of Ajab Shir and Azarshahr to help find survivors.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

                 Present author is 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 also maintaining trusciencetrutechnology@blogspot.com after retirement. Recently he initiated "TRU Literary works: A Science-Facts Episodes" since 9 September 2012. He also worked as a Professor of Physics, at AGL College,in Visakhapatnam for two years during 2007-2009 and worked at St.Theresa Womens College, Eluru for two years in 2005 to 2007.

                         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 my knowledge, and list of publications by him, 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. Many a foreign visitors to Andhra University remember his unselfish work, and promotion of youngsters to aspire for world recognition.

**********************************************************************