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. 

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

                    

1 Feb 2017:Inventions, Discoveries, Hindu findings and vagaries of Nature.

       trusciencetrutechnology@blogspot.com                           Volume 2017, Issue No.2,  Dt: 1 to 14 February 2017,  Time:02:00:45 AM

1 Feb 2017:Inventions, Discoveries, Hindu findings and vagaries of Nature.
                                                      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

           Australian scientists developed ordinary cooking oil into graphene. Rare 'lava firehose' from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano on 1 February 2017 at 08:55 GMT. The researchers found 2 Feb 2017 that the strength of their 3.5keV signal was consistent with data from another Nasa X-ray satellite, the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuStar). Radiation Fog on 2 February 2017 in Visakhapatnam persisted till 10 AM. Shri Panchami or Vasant Panchami, on 3 Feb 2017, this day signifies the arrival of summer season and is also indicative of the rising temperatures, mostly across Southern states of India. It is said that the earth's inclination towards the sun is steepest on the Ratha Saptami day.  A day of Hindu Festival "Ratha Saptami" worship to Sun God. Winds reached between 75 and 80 k/h (45 and 50 mph) across the UAE, which was also hit by rough seas. A rare 10cm (3.9 inches) of snow landed in the area of Jebel Jais, the UAE’s highest mountain, Gulf News reported. Temperatures also plummeted between -2°C (28.4°F) and -3°C (26.6°F) in the area. The Northern Lights recorded by flying in an aeroplane on the 4 February 2017 at 10 AM. It took three days of persuasion, before Kuppamala Kaniyan revealed how he made a paste from the fresh leaves of N. calycinus, known as local parlance as "pacha chedi", to arrest bleeding and heal the fresh wounds on his chest. It happened in 1988. Chaitanya Karamchedu experimenting with a highly absorbent polymer found how to convert salt water of the oceans to drinkable sweet water. He won a $10,000 award from the US Agency for International Global Development at Intel’s International Science Fair. He also came second place at MIT’s TechCon Conference where he won more money to continue his research. Angrites which are the oldest and most pristine of planetary rocks, contain high amounts of Uranium, which allow precise determination of their age. Four angrites that fell on Earth at different places, in different times. They have undergone no additional heating or major compositional changes, since they originally formed. Magnetic orientations not reported in this sample of K. Bandarappalli village on 6 Feb 2016. But the fall was tremendous that it struck down dead the bus driver near the well where he went to drink water. Present Author's Conjecture:  The fallen rock may be three to four million years ago from solar nebula or actually pristine sample that formed 4,653 billion years ago.  In South India, Visakhapatnam has witnessed very dense fog with the visibility being observed at mere 50 meters. The winter winds are blowing from the ocean at Visakhapatnam. But mornings have become hot from10 AM since 6 Feb 2017 at Visakhapatnam. Sky-met reports it as a local phenomenon.  Snow forecasts for major cities by the end of the day: Boston, 12-18 inches; New York City, 8-12 inches; Philadelphia, 3-5 inches. A blizzard warning has been issued for south-eastern Massachusetts, south-eastern Connecticut and eastern and central Long Island, New York, but blizzard conditions should lift for most by 6 p.m. The estimated brightness of Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková at its closest and brightest was magnitude +7. That’s well outside the limit for visibility with the unaided eye Feb 7, 2017.  On 9 Feb 2017, Virat Kohli had marched on imperiously into cricketing history by becoming the first batsman to reel off double tons in four successive series when a list of names propped up. Kohli was perched on the top, and below him was Don Bradman, who had piled three in a row. Here's what 60 degrees to snowstorm in 24 hours looks like. Fifty million people from Maine down through Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., are being affected by a winter storm that dumped as much as four inches of snow per hour. Snow forecasts for major cities by the end of the day: Boston, 12-18 inches; New York City, 8-12 inches; Philadelphia, 3-5 inches. Chintakindi Mallesham developed "Lakshmi Asu machine", which automated the process of spreading 10.5 km of silk thread around 41 steel pins for making a Pochampally saree. The mechanised process, besides increasing productivity (eight sarees a day!), has reduced drudgery and allowed variety in style and design. The cost of one machine is Rs.16,000 and may come down still further on mass production. Gravity is not consistent at every spot on Earth. The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) has helped create a gravity map of the planet, which shows how the gravity field varies. Because of the map’s lumpy 3D shape, it’s referred to as the “Gravity Potato”. In Australia to have such a large area of temperatures above 40C and for so long is definitely unusual 10 Feb 2017. In Philippines, the 6.7-magnitude quake near the city of Surigao on Mindanao Island, roused residents from their sleep late Friday 10 Feb 2017, damaged buildings and cut power to many areas. On 11 Feb 2017, authorities said the magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck near the coast of Tainan city at around 1:12 a.m. On 12 Feb 2017: the glue is prepared from tamarind seeds and is applied on a piece of hard paper covered with thin strips of cloth on both sides. The canvas is left to dry and then cut in round shapes. A layer of lime mixture is pasted on these circles and painted with a base colour, such as black or white. Then, natural colours are used to draw paintings. The colours are extracted from flowers, seeds, dry leaves and colourful stones. This tangible heritage is never given up.  13 Feb 2017: Thwaites Glacier is sliding into the ocean due to warmer seawater, the 4 interconnected lakes below the glacier drained out in 8 months. Collapse of glacier would cause two feet of global sea level rise. Large hidden lakes beneath one of the planet's fastest-moving glaciers on the edge of West Antarctica are draining out at an unprecedented rate, a new study has found.   14 Feb 2017 Iceland people mesmerized by the stunning views of the Aurora Borealis.

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

DETAILS

·         1 February 2017

·                    The project is located on Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula, where a volcano last erupted 700 years ago. I visited the site in December to see the huge rig, which stands out against the black lava fields. Inside a drill had been operating, almost continuously, since 11 August 2016. The aim had been to reach a depth 5,000m, where the temperatures were expected to reach about 500C. At this depth, molten rock mixes with water. But with the extreme heat and pressure, the water becomes "supercritical". This means it is neither a liquid nor a gas, but it holds far more energy than either. The idea is that when the steam is brought back to the surface and converted into electricity, it will create up to 10 times more energy as conventional geothermal wells.

AUSTRALIA SOYBEAN OIL 1 Feb 2017 at 9 AM

     Australian scientists have turned ordinary cooking oil into graphene, in a discovery they say lowers its cost to produce. Graphene, a strong carbon material, is just one atom wide and conducts electricity better than copper. The new method involves heating soybean oil in ambient air until it breaks down into "carbon building units that are essential for the synthesis of graphene".  It is then rapidly cooled on nickel foil into a thin rectangle. Now researchers say they can make graphene with soybean oil, potentially making it more commercially viable. Graphene is hoped to have numerous applications including in electronics, biomedical devices and water filtration.

1 February 2017 at 08:55 GMT

                Rare 'lava firehose' from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano  The Kilauea volcano in Hawaii has been active since 1983, but scientists have filmed an unusual phenomenon.

The Sun at 1 Feb 2017 cloudy evening around 17:09PM

                                                  

Fig.1 Sun blazing at 17:09 on 01-02-2017 though  cloudy

2 February 2017

                      In a paper posted to  the arXiv preprint server, Cappelluti and colleagues studied the X-rays arriving at the Chandra observatory from two regions of the Milky Way far from the galactic centre. Like other galaxies, the Milky Way is thought to be enveloped in a bubble of dark matter. The researchers found that the strength of their 3.5 keV signal was consistent with data from another Nasa X-ray satellite, the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuStar).

2 February 2017 RADIATION FOG
                   Visakhapatnam cloudy weather with no rain but night very cool. Fog developed on Visakhapatnam that stayed till 10AM and Andhra Jyothi newspaper reported radiation fog. Radiation fog or ground fog occurs as night-time cooling drops air below the dew point.  This is common in low lying areas where more dense cool air will settle or in cities were there is an abundance of condensation nuclei. There are 4 basic types of fog: Steam fog, advection fog, upslope fog, and ground or radiation fog. Radiation fog is formed in a clear sky and adjacent to rapidly cooling land. The land will cool the air above it, causing water vapor to condense into droplets. Radiation fog first forms in valleys, and during the early morning it can even expand several miles out to sea. Rivers and estuaries may also be affected.  When the sun rises and the land starts to heat up, radiation fog quickly disperses. In situations where the land takes longer to heat up, for example, when it is overcast, radiation fog may persist. It forms overnight as the air near the ground cools and stabilizes. When this cooling causes the air to reach saturation, fog will form. Fog will first form at or near the surface, thickening as the air continues to cool. The layer of fog will also deepen overnight as the air above the initial fog layer also cools. As this air cools, the fog will extend upward. The most favored areas for fog development are sheltered valleys where there is little to no wind and locations near bodies of water. Wind would disrupt the formation of radiation fog. Radiation fog, persisted till 10 AM, is usually patchy, tends to stay in one place and goes away the next day under the sun’s rays. Thicker instances of radiation fog tend to form in valleys or over calm bodies of water.

3 February 2017:
                        It is said that the earth's inclination towards the sun is steepest on the Ratha Saptami day.  A day of Hindu Festival "Ratha Saptami" worship to Sun God. Observed faithfully by all ladies in India. Ratha Saptami 2017 Saptami Tithi is dedicated to Lord Surya. Shukla Paksha Saptami in Magha month is known as Ratha Saptami or Magha Saptami. It is believed that Lord Surya Dev started enlightening the whole world on Ratha Saptami day which was considered as birth day of God Surya. Hence this day is also known as Surya Jayanti. Another important ritual on the day is taking bath using Erukku leaves. Ratha Saptami normally falls on the second day following the celebrations of Shri Panchami or Vasant Panchami. This day signifies the arrival of summer season and is also indicative of the rising temperatures, mostly across Southern states of India. Ratha Saptami also denotes beginning of the harvesting season and thus for Indian farmers it symbolises a promising beginning of the New Year.

United Arab Emirates sees rare snowfall 8 hours ago.

                   3 Feb, 2017 18:05: The United Arab Emirates is dealing with some weird weather. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is known for its desert climate and year-round sunshine, but freak weather conditions have covered part of it in snow. And as if that wasn’t weird enough, heavy winds also caused a crane to collapse, sparking a fire. One person was injured in the blaze following the crane collapse on Dubai’s busy Sheikh Zayed Road. Winds reached between 75 and 80 kph (45 and 50 mph) across the UAE, which was also hit by rough seas. A rare 10cm (3.9 inches) of snow landed in the area of Jebel Jais, the UAE’s highest mountain, Gulf News reported. Temperatures also plummeted between -2°C (28.4°F) and -3°C (26.6°F) in the area

3 February 2017
                   It started last month with some supermarkets having problems stocking courgettes and spinach, while iceberg lettuce is now being rationed by some chains. Retailers have blamed empty shelves on bad weather in Spain and Italy.

SNOWFALL IN CHILLIWACK THREE DAYS:  3-7 Feb 2017

             For a municipality that typically only gets about 85 centimetres of snowfall a year, residents of Chilliwack, B.C., are now digging out of the nearly 80 centimetres of snow that has fallen over the past three days. By 8:20 a.m. on Sunday, an incredible 77 centimetres of snow had fallen in Chilliwack since Friday morning with 22 centimetres coming down Saturday night. As of Monday morning, 81.2 centimetres had fallen. The snow storm began Friday with 34.4 centimetres accumulating in 24 hours. Another 42.8 cm fell on Saturday. More snow continued to fall into Sunday afternoon.

PARIS:  

Fig. France Southern Atlantic Coast Sat Feb 4, Gale force

             Gale-force winds battered France's southwestern Atlantic coast on Saturday, Feb 4, leaving more than quarter of million homes without power, the national electricity grid. National weather agency Meteo France said winds reaching speeds of up to 148 k/h (92 m/h) had battered the coast and warned that in some places they could even reach 160 k/h. Three western regions were put on red alert as the storm felled trees and brought down powerlines, cutting off roads although there were no immediate reports of casualties.The power had been cut to more than 250,000 homes in the departments of Gironde and Charentes with another 1,000 affected in the neighbouring region of Landes.

5 Feb 2017 last three days

Afghanistan

           The death toll from three days of heavy snow across Afghanistan has risen to 100.  Avalanche destroyed scores of homes and blocked roads in central and north-eastern provinces, a spokesman for the ministry of natural disasters told AFP. So far, 54 persons have lost their lives and 52 were injured as a result of avalanches and freezing weather in 22 provinces. About 168 houses were destroyed and 340 cattle killed. Authorities fear the death toll may rise sharply because rescue crews had yet to reach some of the worst-hit areas. In the badly hit north-eastern province of Badakhshan, at least 18 people, including two children, were killed when avalanches hit their houses overnight.  Several dozen are still trapped, we are trying to rescue them, adding that many roads were still blocked. Five people were killed by avalanches in the Balkhab district of Sari Pul province in northern Afghanistan and at least 70 people trapped under the snow were being rescued. The roads to Balkhab are still blocked and we are trying to open them. The government declared Sunday, usually a working day in Afghanistan, to be a public holiday to deter non-essential travel and ensure schools were closed. Heavy snow in parts of Afghanistan has triggered avalanches, burying entire villages and killing more than 100 people. Most of the deaths occurred in isolated Nuristan province, where at least 50 people were killed when an entire village was buried under snow. At least 54 others were killed following avalanches over the last three days in the north and east of the country.

PAKISTAN

      Neighbouring Pakistan was also hit by severe weather, with at least 13 people killed in the north-west of the country by avalanches or heavy rain. An avalanche smashed into eight homes in the village of Shershal in Chitral district, killing four women, a man and four children. The region has been hit by heavy snowfall that is 1.2 metres (4ft) deep in some places. In the Khyber tribal district on the Afghan border in the north-west, three children were killed and two women injured when the roof of their house collapsed in heavy rain. Deadly avalanches are common in Afghanistan’s mountainous areas in winter and rescue efforts are frequently hampered by lack of equipment.

4 February 2017

Fig. 2 The Northern Lights  recorded by flying in

 an aeroplane on the 4 February 2017 at 10 AM

Feb 04, 2017 18:00 IST

Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Karnataka droughts: The looming water crisis in South India. 
Feb 05, 2017 17:00 IST

          

Fig.3 Neurocalyx calycinus deep inside

Nilambur Forests by Kuppamala Kaniyan a tribal elder.

    He revealed how he saved himself from hideous scars right across his chest. He was terribly mauled by a bear who fought back the bear to death. It took three days of persuasion, before Kuppamala Kaniyan revealed how he made a paste from the fresh leaves of N. calycinus, known as local parlance as "pacha chedi", to arrest bleeding and heal the fresh wounds on his chest. It happened in 1988. The presence of high Vitamin E, besides its immuno-enhancing platelet augmentation and anti-oxidant potential were the art of knowledge of dwindling Cholanaickan tribe. 

AUSTRALIA SINKHOLE   Feb 4, 2017      

         A huge sinkhole opened up along a Queensland, Australia, beach late Saturday night, forcing dozens of campers to flee. As many as 140 campers were evacuated from the Inskip Point campsite near Rainbow Beach. Shortly after the sinkhole began to open, several vehicles were sucked into the hole, the report also said. The sinkhole was roughly 300 feet wide, 300 feet long and 10 feet deep.

Feb.5, 2017 

Fig.4 Chaitanya Karamchedu experimenting

 with a highly absorbent polymer found how to convert 

salt water of the oceans to drinkable sweet water.

           A high school pupil may have just found the answer to converting salt water into fresh drinking water. And he’s managed to do it all from his classroom. Chaitanya Karamchedu, a senior at a High School Senior in Portland, decided to address the fact that 1 in 8 people don’t have access to clean water by using his high school lab to experiment. But Karamchedu thinks he may have figured it out by experimenting with a highly absorbent polymer. Scientists are now taking note of Chai’s work and he’s already won a $10,000 award from the US Agency for International Global Development at Intel’s International Science Fair. He also came second place at MIT’s TechCon Conference where he won more money to continue his research.

FRESH SNOW IN KASHMIR

             Kashmir Valley received a second spell of snowfall and rains since  Feb 4, Saturday night, as power supply was affected at many parts of the region in Jammu and Kashmir. The overnight snow and rains caused water-logging in several areas of Srinagar and the city recorded a minimum temperature of  -0.7 degrees. The Valley is likely to experience “light to moderate” rains and snow on Monday as well. The Srinagar-Jammu national highway remained closed for traffic for the third consecutive day following landslides in some areas on the route. The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district shivered at  -3.4 degrees and received 11 inches of fresh snowfall in this spell.

The dark period:  Northern Norway and the North Pole

          Every winter from mid-November, the Svalbard archipelago, located halfway between northern Norway and the North Pole, is covered in total darkness. On the biggest and only inhabited island, Spitsbergen, people don’t see the sun for four months. During this challenging time, residents wait longingly for March, when the sun finally rises above the horizon again. There’s a saying that Svalbard has five seasons: spring, summer, autumn and then two winters, the dark and the light winter. The dark winter, or polar night, when the sun doesn’t rise at all, is followed by a period of twilight in February and early March. This second winter is the favourite for many people on the island. The colours of the sky and landscape can change by the hour and it feels like the sun could rise above the horizon at any minute. But it doesn’t. It’s a tease that lasts for weeks.

12:16, UK, Sunday 05 February 2017: 

                 Drone captures spectacular ice floes on Ukraine River.

DOHA, QATAR:  Desert state Qatar recorded the lowest ever temperature in the country's history on Sunday, 5 Feb 2017, just 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to a statement posted online by the state media.

6 Feb 2017
           ANKARA, Turkey – Two earthquakes with preliminary magnitudes of 5.3 jolted Turkey’s northern Aegean coast on Monday, 6 Feb 2017, damaging dozens of homes in at least five villages and injuring at least five people. The first quake was centred beneath the Aegean off the coast from the town of Ayvacik in Turkey’s north-western Canakkale province and struck at 6:51 a.m. The second temblor occurred at 1:58 p.m. and was centred in Ayvacik. The seismology centre also recorded an aftershock measuring 4.9. Orhan Tavli, the governor for Canakkale, said around 90 homes were damaged in the first quake and at least five people were hospitalized with minor injuries. Tents were being dispatched to temporarily house those whose homes were damaged. The state-run Anadolu news agency said the villages of Tasagil, Tuzla, Yukari, Cam and Gulpinar – near Ayvacik – were affected. 

6 Feb 2017

         A 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck Delhi and several states of north and eastern India on Monday night, shaking buildings, rattling window panes and sending people scurrying out of their homes. The epicentre of the quake was at Rudraprayag in Uttarakhand. The depth of the quake was 33 km and it occurred at 10.33 PM. The quake was quite heavy. It lasted for 25 or 30 seconds. In Delhi, panicky people rushed out of their homes as the quake hit the city of 16 million people. Tremors were also felt across Punjab, Haryana and their common capital Chandigarh. Tremors were felt as far as Kolkata.

A METEOR FALL MICHIGAN: large green fireball

Fig.5 a  Meteor fall on Lake Michigan on Monday 6 Feb 2017 

Fig.5 b: Meteor fall on Lake Michigan on Monday 6 Feb 2017

          A meteor over Lake Michigan lit up the sky early on Monday, 6 Feb 2017, morning across several states in the American Midwest. Dashcam video from a police car in Lisle, Ill., and other police vehicles in both Wisconsin and Illinois captured the fireball streaking through the night sky about 1:30 a.m.See Fig. 5 a and b listed above. In addition to Illinois and Wisconsin, the American Meteor Society lists sightings in Indiana, Michigan and other states as well. The meteor was accompanied by a sonic boom that shook houses in the region. Last says radar shows the meteor passing over Lake Michigan, but he said it’s not clear if it landed in the water or if it broke up in the sky.

             In addition to Illinois and Wisconsin, the American Meteor Society lists sightings in Indiana, Michigan and other states as well. The AMS has received 467 reports so far about of a fireball event over seen over Wisconsin on Monday, February 6th 2017 around 01:25 CST (07:25 UT.). The green fireball was seen primarily from Illinois and Wisconsin but witnesses from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, New York, Kentucky, Minnesota and Ontario (Canada) also reported the event. We are still receiving reports about the large green fireball that occurred over Wisconsin around 01:31 CST (07:25 UT). With more than 480 reports so far.

Oymyakon.in February 2017

            This remote Russian village holds the world record for lowest temperature in a permanently inhabited place, at -90 degrees Fahrenheit. Forecasts for February 2017 hover in the -20s and -30s, and at some points in winter, the sun only shines for a mere three hours each day. Locals here use outhouses because indoor plumbing often freezes, and cars are rendered almost useless by the cold.              

Japan:5G mobile service in 2020
                        Scientists have developed a next generation system which can transmit digital data over 10 times faster than 5G mobile networks, an advance that will pave the way for faster downloads and improve in-flight network connection speeds. Researchers from Hiroshima University and National Institute of Information and Communications Technology in Japan have announced the development of a terahertz (THz) transmitter capable of transmitting digital data at a rate exceeding 100 gigabits per second over a single channel using the 300-gigahertz band. The THz band is a new and vast frequency resource expected to be used for future ultrahigh-speed wireless communications. The research group has developed a transmitter that achieves a communication speed of 105 gigabits per second using the frequency range from 290 GHz to 315 GHz. This range of frequencies are currently unallocated, but fall within the frequency range from 275 GHz to 450 GHz.

February 7, 2017 photo of Green Comet 45P .

Fig.5C Green Comet 

Brian Ottum, who created the beautiful composite image above on February 7 

with three 5-minute exposures and a 10-inch telescope, told EarthSky.

               By  Brian Ottum, using a remotely operated telescope in Animas, New Mexico.Shows the fast movement over 28 minutes of green Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková,  which swept closest to Earth on February 11, 2017, temporarily becoming the most famous comet that practically nobody saw. Its closest point was around 8 UTC on Saturday, at which time the comet was 0.08 AU (7.4 million miles, about 12 million km, or some 30 times the moon’s distance) from the Earth. Experienced observers and astrophotographers, used to finding faint objects in the sky, had a shot at seeing it, although they had to contend with this weekend’s bright moon. The estimated brightness of Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková at its closest and brightest was magnitude +7. That’s well outside the limit for visibility with the unaided eye. What’s more, a diffuse object, like a comet, is even tougher to see at that magnitude, or any magnitude. The comet is still around, but an extremely dark sky and optical aid (at least binoculars, probably a telescope) are needed to see it.

17:16, UK,Tuesday 07 February 2017

                A particularly striking form of frost, known as 'rime' has formed across the landscape in Inner Mongolia, creating a blanket effect similar to snow.

7 February 2017 07:21 AM and 8 Feb 2017

         

       Visakhapatnam woke up to a foggy morning on 13 Jan 2017 at 07:48 AM and continued till today 8 Feb 2017. The mornings since 6 Feb 2017 the Sun is showing up bright in spite the mornings till 10 AM it is mesmerizing radiant cool weather. Visakhapatnam where the visibility was recorded at 500 metres. Allahabad, Amritsar, Visakhapatnam, Chennai witness foggy morning on 7 Feb 2017.On and off foggy conditions have been observed over the northern plains. Fog had abated from most parts. In fact, many places recorded good visibility with clear sky. You may also like: Since past few days, fog has once again made a comeback over few parts in the plains of North India. Today morning, few areas witnessed shallow to moderate fog, while most of the parts remained fog-free, including the national capital. Delhi witnessed clear morning on 8 Feb 2017, unlike Y'day when it witnessed dense fog. Both Allahabad and Amritsar witnessed moderate fog with the visibility dropping to 500 meters. Both these districts have been witnessing foggy mornings for quite some time now. Yesterday, Amritsar recorded very dense fog, with visibility dropping to nil. Weathermen say that these weather conditions can be credited to the fresh spell of rain that occurred over isolated parts of northern plains. The humidity levels have increased due to these rains. This has led to drop in minimum temperatures too. Also, the wind speed is light. These factors together have led to foggy conditions over these areas. Meanwhile in South India, Visakhapatnam has witnessed very dense fog with the visibility being observed at mere 50 meters. The winter winds are blowing from the ocean at Visakhapatnam. Also, Chennai recorded shallow fog with the visibility dropping to 800 meters. The reason could be attributed to some localized phenomenon in absence of any active weather system.

Wed, 08 Feb 2017 09:18 IST 

             The shallow quake struck at 3:03 AM, with an epicentre just 23 kilometres southwest of Pakistan's coastal city of Pasni.

Feb 08, 2017 23:41 IST

              Thirty-one people were reported injured after six tornadoes tore through New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana, pounding across highways and streets and leaving trees, power lines and homes levelled by Wednesday morning. The storm system battered New Orleans and suburban Baton Rouge, marking the fourth time in a year the state has been jolted by natural disasters.      

Feb, 8 2017 at 11:56 AM

                AR Sco, resides in the constellation Scorpius, contains a rapidly spinning, burnt-out stellar remnant called a white dwarf, which lashes its neighbour, a red dwarf, with powerful beams of electrical particles and radiation, causing the entire system to brighten and fade dramatically twice every two minutes. The latest research establishes that the lash of energy from AR Sco is a focused ‘beam’, emitting concentrated radiation in a single direction, much like a particle accelerator, something which is totally unique in the known universe. AR Sco lies in the constellation Scorpius, 380 light-years from Earth, a close neighbour in astronomical terms. The white dwarf in AR Sco is the size of Earth but 200,000 times more massive, and is in a 3.6 hour orbit with a cool star one third the mass of the Sun. With an electromagnetic field 100 million times more powerful than Earth, and spinning on a period just shy of two minutes, AR Sco produces lighthouse-like beams of radiation and particles, which lash across the face of the cool star, a red dwarf. As the researchers previously discovered, this powerful light house effect accelerates electrons in the atmosphere of the red dwarf to close to the speed of light, an effect never observed before in similar types of binary stars. The red dwarf is thus powered by the kinetic energy of its spinning neighbour. The distance between the two stars is around 1.4 million kilometres, which is three times the distance between the Moon and the Earth. 

              Polarimetric evidence of a white dwarf pulsar in the binary system AR Scorpii: D.A.  H.  Buckley et al.,  Nature Astronomy 1, Number 0029, 2017:  Received: 22 September 2016 Accepted: 07 December 2016 Published online: 23 January 2017:The variable star AR Scorpii (AR Sco) was recently discovered to pulse in brightness every 1.97 min from ultraviolet wavelengths into the radio regime. The morphology of the modulated linear polarization is similar to that seen in the Crab pulsar, albeit with a more complex waveform owing to the presence of two periodic signals of similar frequency. Magnetic interactions between the two component stars, coupled with synchrotron radiation from the white dwarf, power the observed polarized and non-polarized emission. AR Sco is therefore the first example of a white dwarf pulsar. A fast-spinning (spin period P_s = 117.1 s) white dwarf, showing strong brightness variations across most of the electromagnetic spectrum (ultraviolet to radio), most strongly modulated on the P_b = 118.2-s beat (synodic) period, and its harmonics. The spin-down of the white dwarf (Ṗb=3.92×10⁻¹³ s s⁻¹

9 Feb 2017
        The day was cloudy with no rain.

VIRAT KOHLI:   Feb 9, 2017:

           Virat Kohli had marched on imperiously into cricketing history by becoming the first batsman to reel off double tons in four successive series when a list of names propped up. Kohli was perched on the top, and below him was Don Bradman, who had piled three in a row

CNN 1852 GMT (0252 HKT) February 9, 2017: 

          Here's what 60 degrees to snowstorm in 24 hours looks like. Fifty million people from Maine down through Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., are being affected by a winter storm that dumped as much as four inches of snow per hour. Snow forecasts for major cities by the end of the day: Boston, 12-18 inches; New York City, 8-12 inches; Philadelphia, 3-5 inches. A blizzard warning has been issued for southeastern Massachusetts, south-eastern Connecticut and eastern and central Long Island, New York, but blizzard conditions should lift for most by 6 p.m. Thursday. Snowfall across the East Coast will cease late Thursday, according to The Weather Channel. Wind gusts have reached about 40 mph in some areas and will continue into Friday, causing blowing and drifting snow. More than 4,300 flights have been cancelled, with at least 290 more already scrapped for Friday. Runways were temporarily closed at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport at 11 a.m., but at least one of them was set to reopen at 2 p.m.Schools throughout Boston, New York and Philadelphia are closed, as well as some government institutions. Boston public schools will remain closed Friday 10 Feb 2017. Up to 14 inches of snow fell across the New York area, with nine inches blanketing Central Park, the biggest snowfall of the winter. Schools were closed in the city and many of its suburbs. In New England, up to 18 inches of snow fell, and strong winds led to blizzard conditions and power failures. Some snowfall totals: 18 inches in Suffield, Conn., and Ludlow, Mass.; 11 inches in Chelsea, Mass., near Boston; 14.5 inches in Litchfield, N.H.; 14 inches in North Foster, R.I.

The Hindu 10 Feb 2017: To-date 1000 machines sold
Recently awarded Padma Shri for the invention
 Published on Apr 23, 2014
       Chintakindi Mallesham developed "Lakshmi Asu machine", which automated the process of spreading 10.5 km of silk thread around 41 steel pins for making a Pochampally saree. The manual process was tedious and women from weaver families had to move their hands 9,000 times to make one saree! This machine, which has been named after Mallesham's mother, can make a saree in about one and a half hours as opposed to five hours in the manual process. The mechanised process, besides increasing productivity (eight sarees a day!), has reduced drudgery and allowed variety in style and design. The cost of one machine is Rs.16,000 and may come down still further on mass production. This worthy son, without any formal education, developed this machine to ease the pain and suffering of his mother. In the process he enhanced the quality of life of many other women weavers in Nalgonda and Warangal districts in Andhra Pradesh. The state government has recognised the innovation and decided to supply the machine to all the waver families with 75% subsidy. He supplied about 1000 machines for the weaver community.

10 Feb 2017

             

Fig.6 Gravity Potato: Gravity Field of Earth

GOCE session: 10/09/2013 at 12:39 PM

                     Gravity is not consistent at every spot on Earth. The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) has helped create a gravity map of the planet, which shows how the gravity field varies. Because of the map’s lumpy 3D shape, it’s referred to as the “Gravity Potato.”

Friday 10 February 2017 10.05 GMT 

        Roughly 20% of Australia, an area equivalent to 1.5 sq km (roughly 580,000 sq miles), would experience peak temperatures of over 40C on Saturday. To have such a large area of temperatures above 40C and for so long is definitely unusual.

Friday 10 Feb 2017 SURIGAO, Philippines 

             At least four people have been killed and more than 100 injured after an earthquake hit the southern Philippines on Friday evening, killed at least six people and injured more than 120. The 6.7-magnitude quake near the city of Surigao on Mindanao island, roused residents from their sleep late Friday 10 Feb 2017, damaged buildings and cut power to many areas. Residents rushed to open areas and spent the night in parks, local reports said.The quake was centred about 16 kilometres northwest of the provincial capital of Surigao at a relatively shallow took place at a depth of about 10km (6 miles) about 13 km east of Surigao.

               

11 Feb 2017 

                The National Fire Agency reported four cases of residents being hurt by falling items. Authorities said the magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck near the coast of Tainan city at around 1:12 a.m.

Saturday, February 11, 2017 - 09:10

              Manila: Four people died and more than 100 were injured after a powerful earthquake struck the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines late Friday, damaging some structures and cutting power in many areas. The 6.7 earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km and the epicentre was about 13 km east of the city of Surigao.

MANGO LEAVES
              Mango leaves are full of healing and medicinal properties. They are reddish or purplish when tender and new, and grow into a dark green color and have a pale underside. These leaves are fleshy and shiny with a sharp tip containing vitamins C, B and A. They are also rich in various other nutrients. These leaves have powerful antioxidant properties as they have a high content of flavonoids and phenols. 

Feb 12, 2017 The Hindu:

Fig.7  The decorated Playing cards of India

            The artist makes the canvas and colours. The glue is prepared from tamarind seeds and is applied on a piece of hard paper covered with thin strips of cloth on both sides. The canvas is left to dry and then cut in round shapes. A layer of lime mixture is pasted on these circles and painted with a base colour, such as black or white. Then, natural colours are used to draw paintings. The colours are extracted from flowers, seeds, dry leaves and colourful stones. This tangible heritage is never given up. How the government can help these people? P.Das, P.Maharana, G.Maharana, B.Mahapatra.

 MONDAY 13 Feb 2017
             WASHINGTON: Thwaites Glacier is sliding into the ocean due to warmer seawater, the 4 interconnected lakes below the glacier drained out in 8 months. Collapse of glacier would cause two feet of global sea level rise. Large hidden lakes beneath one of the planet's fastest-moving glaciers on the edge of West Antarctica are draining out at an unprecedented rate, a new study has found. The ice mass, known as The Thwaites Glacier, is sliding unstoppably into the ocean, mainly due to warmer seawater lapping at its underside.

                   U.S. researchers have come up with a new method of estimating crop yields from small farms in Africa using high-resolution images from the latest generation of satellites, a development which could help cut hunger in poor parts of the world.

                       
Tuesday, 14 Feb 2017
                     One person was killed and three others were injured when an object believed to a meteorite fell on the campus of a private engineering college near Natrampalli in Vellore district in northern Tamil Nadu early on Saturday,  Feb 6, 2016, 08.18 PM IST . According to police sources, a loud blast was heard near a water tank shortly after midnight on the Bharathidasan Engineering College premises in K. Bandarappalli village. Kamaraj, a college employee, who had gone to drink water suffered serious injuries and was declared dead when taken to the Vaniyambadi Government Hospital. Three others suffered minor injuries. Window panes and wind screens of buses parked nearby and the water tank were broken in the impact of the blast. A crater was formed at the site of blast. Scientists, however, said it wasn't clear how the government concluded that a meteorite strike caused the blast. There has been no established death due to a meteorite hit in recorded history, they said. 
             If a meteorite indeed caused the death, bus driver Kamaraj will be the first person ever to have died in a meteorite strike. Saturday's blast also injured two gardeners and a student. Witnesses said the blast left a crater 5ft deep and 2ft wide. Policemen recovered a black, pockmarked stone weighing 11g from the blast site.

AUTHOR'S  CONJECTURE:
           Magnetic orientations not reported in this sample of K. Bandarappalli village. But the fall was tremendous that it struck down dead the bus driver near the well where he went to drink water. Solar nebula’s life-time is possibly somewhere between one and ten million years. Angrites which are the oldest and most pristine of planetary rocks, contain high amounts of Uranium, which allow precise determination of their age. Four angrites that fell on Earth at different places, in different times. They have undergone no additional heating or major compositional changes, since they originally formed.   The fallen rock may be three to four million years ago from solar nebula, or actually pristine sample that formed 4,653 billion years ago.

14 Feb 2017: 2 hours ago at 21:15 PM
                 
                      Fig.8  Aurora Borealis in Iceland captivating car drivers mesmerized

              Many car drivers mesmerized by the Aurora Borealis and police had a tough time to regulate them in  iceland. The Northern Lights are a spectacle many people travel to Iceland to see. The driver told the police he saw the Northern Lights and couldn't bring himself to stop looking at them.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

                          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. 

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