Showing posts with label Educational. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Educational. Show all posts
Monday, August 16, 2010
Born To Win....
'Born To Win', a complete self-analysis book by Muriel James and Dorothy Jongeward. It's based on the concepts of Transactional Analysis and Gestalt Experiments. Nowhere its tells you how you should be but what it does is that it lets you realize yourself and makes you see clearly what are the implications of many of your behaviors. Not only self realization but it also helps us understand the basis of human nature and teaches us how to deal with people. In all an exciting and an interesting read.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Aerogel
Aerogel is a solid-state material with the lowest known density[citation needed]; it is derived from gel in which the liquid component of the gel has been replaced with gas. The result is an extremely low-density solid with several remarkable properties, most notably its effectiveness as a thermal insulator. It is nicknamed frozen smoke, solid smoke or blue smoke due to its translucent nature and the way light scatters in the material; however, it feels like expanded polystyrene (styrofoam) to the touch.
The flower kept on Aerogel doesn't get even a bit hotter on subjecting to a flame of 1273K from the other side.
Aerogel was first created by Samuel Stephens Kistler in 1931, as a result of a bet with Charles Learned over who could replace the liquid inside of a jam jar with gas without causing shrinkage.
Aerogels are produced by extracting the liquid component of a gel through supercritical drying. This allows the liquid to be slowly drawn off without causing the solid matrix in the gel to collapse from capillary action, as would happen with conventional evaporation. The first aerogels were produced from silica gels. Kistler's later work involved aerogels based on alumina, chromia and tin oxide. Carbon aerogels were first developed in the late 1980s.
Contents
■1 Properties
■2 Types
■2.1 Silica aerogels
■2.2 Carbon aerogels
■2.3 Alumina aerogels
■2.4 Other aerogels
■3 Uses
■4 Production
■5 Safety
Properties
A demonstration of aerogel's insulation propertiesTo the touch, aerogels feel like a light but rigid foam, something between Styrofoam and the green floral foam used for arranging flowers. Despite what their name may suggest, aerogels are dry materials and do not resemble a gel in their physical properties; the name comes from the fact that they are derived from gels. Pressing softly on an aerogel typically does not leave a mark; pressing more firmly will leave a permanent dimple. Pressing firmly enough will cause a catastrophic breakdown in the sparse structure, causing it to shatter like glass—a property known as friability. Despite the fact that it is prone to shattering, it is very strong structurally. Its impressive load bearing abilities are due to the dendritic microstructure, in which spherical particles of average size 2-5 nm are fused together into clusters. These clusters form a three-dimensional highly porous structure of almost fractal chains, with pores smaller than 100 nm. The average size and density of the pores can be controlled during the manufacturing process.
Aerogels are good thermal insulators because they almost nullify the three methods of heat transfer (convection, conduction and radiation). They are good convective inhibitors because air cannot circulate throughout the lattice. Silica aerogel is an especially good conductive insulator because silica is a poor conductor of heat—a metallic aerogel, on the other hand, would be a less effective insulator. Carbon aerogel is a good radiative insulator because carbon absorbs the infrared radiation that transfers heat at standard temperatures. The most insulative aerogel is silica aerogel with carbon added to it.
Due to its hygroscopic nature, aerogel feels dry and acts as a strong desiccant. Persons handling aerogel for extended periods of time should wear gloves to prevent the appearance of dry brittle spots on their hands.
Since it is 99.8% air, it appears semi-transparent. The color it does have is due to Rayleigh scattering of the shorter wavelengths of visible light by the nanosized dendritic structure. This causes it to appear smoky blue against dark backgrounds and yellowish against bright backgrounds.
Aerogels by themselves are hydrophilic, but chemical treatment can make them hydrophobic. If they absorb moisture they usually suffer a structural change, such as contraction, and deteriorate, but degradation can be prevented by making them hydrophobic. Aerogels with hydrophobic interiors are less susceptible to degradation than aerogels with only an outer hydrophobic layer, even if a crack penetrates the surface. Hydrophobic treatment facilitates processing because it allows the use of a water jet cutter.
Types
Silica aerogels
Aerogel produced at Florida State University by Elliot Schwartz and Robert PalmerSilica aerogel is the most common type of aerogel and the most extensively studied and used. It is a silica-based substance, derived from silica gel. The world's lowest-density solid is a silica nanofoam at 1 mg/cm3, which is the evacuated version of the record-aerogel of 1.9 mg/cm3. The density of air is 1.2 mg/cm3.
Silica aerogel strongly absorbs infrared radiation. It allows the construction of materials that let light into buildings but trap heat for solar heating.
It has remarkable thermal insulative properties, having an extremely low thermal conductivity: from 0.03 W/m·K down to 0.004 W/m·K,[5] which correspond to R-values of 14 to 105 for 3.5 inch thickness. For comparison, typical wall insulation is 13 for 3.5 inch thickness. Its melting point is 1,473 K (1,200 °C or 2,192 °F).
Silica aerogel holds 15 entries[citation needed] in Guinness World Records for material properties, including best insulator and lowest-density solid.
Carbon aerogels
Carbon aerogels are composed of particles with sizes in the nanometer range, covalently bonded together. They have very high porosity (over 50%, with pore diameter under 100 nm) and surface areas ranging between 400–1000 m²/g. They are often manufactured as composite paper: non-woven paper made of carbon fibers, impregnated with resorcinol-formaldehyde aerogel, and pyrolyzed. Depending on the density, carbon aerogels may be electrically conductive, making composite aerogel paper useful for electrodes in capacitors or deionization electrodes. Due to their extremely high surface area, carbon aerogels are used to create supercapacitors, with values ranging up to thousands of farads based on a capacitance of 104 F/g and 77 F/cm³. Carbon aerogels are also extremely "black" in the infrared spectrum, reflecting only 0.3% of radiation between 250 nm and 14.3 µm, making them efficient for solar energy collectors.
The term "aerogel" has been incorrectly used to describe airy masses of carbon nanotubes produced through certain chemical vapor deposition techniques—such materials can be spun into fibers with strength greater than Kevlar, and unique electrical properties. These materials are not aerogels, however, since they do not have a monolithic internal structure and do not have the regular pore structure characteristic of aerogels.
Alumina aerogels
Aerogels made with aluminium oxide are known as alumina aerogels. These aerogels are used as catalysts, especially when "metal-doped" with another metal. Nickel-alumina aerogel is the most common combination. Alumina aerogels are also examined by NASA for capturing of hypervelocity particles; a formulation doped with gadolinium and terbium could fluoresce at the particle impact site, with amount of fluorescence dependent on impact velocity.
Other aerogels
SEAgel is a material similar to organic aerogel, made of agar.
Chalcogels are a type of aerogel made of chalcogens (the column of elements on the periodic table beginning with oxygen) such as sulfur, selenium, and other elements. Research is ongoing, and metals less expensive than platinum have also been used in its creation.
Aerogels made of Cadmium selenide quantum dots in a porous 3-D network have recently been developed for use in the semiconductor industry.
Uses
The Stardust dust collector with aerogel blocks. (NASA)There are a variety of tasks for which aerogels are used.
■Commercially, aerogels have been used in granular form to add insulation to skylights.
■Transparent silica aerogel would be very suitable as a thermal insulation material for windows, significantly limiting thermal losses of buildings. One research team (http://zerogaerogel.com) has shown that producing aerogel in a weightless environment can produce particles with a more uniform size and reduce the Rayleigh scattering effect in silica aerogel, thus making the aerogel less blue and more transparent.
■Its high surface area leads to many applications, such as a chemical absorber for cleaning up spills (see adsorption). This feature also gives it great potential as a catalyst or a catalyst carrier.
■Aerogel particles are also used as thickening agents in some paints and cosmetics.
■Aerogels are being tested for use in targets for the National Ignition Facility.
■Aerogel performance may be augmented for a specific application by the addition of dopants, reinforcing structures, and hybridizing compounds. Using this approach, the breadth of applications for the material class may be greatly increased.
■Commercial manufacture of aerogel 'blankets' began around the year 2000. An aerogel blanket is a composite of silica aerogel and fibrous reinforcement that turns the brittle aerogel into a durable, flexible material. The mechanical and thermal properties of the product may be varied based upon the choice of reinforcing fibers, the aerogel matrix, and opacification additives included in the composite.
■NASA used aerogel to trap space dust particles aboard the Stardust spacecraft. The particles vaporize on impact with solids and pass through gases, but can be trapped in aerogels. NASA also used aerogel for thermal insulation of the Mars Rover and space suits.
■The US Navy is evaluating aerogel undergarments as passive thermal protection for divers.
■Aerogels are also used in particle physics as radiators in Cherenkov effect detectors. ACC system of the Belle detector, used in the Belle Experiment at KEKB, is a recent example of such use. The suitability of aerogels is determined by their low index of refraction, filling the gap between gases and liquids, and their transparency and solid state, making them easier to use than cryogenic liquids or compressed gases. Their low mass is also advantageous for space missions.
■Resorcinol-formaldehyde aerogels (polymers chemically similar to phenol formaldehyde resins) are mostly used as precursors for manufacture of carbon aerogels, or when an organic insulator with large surface is desired. They come as high-density material, with surface area about 600 m²/g.
■The first residential use of aerogel as an insulator is in the Georgia Institute of Technology's Solar Decathlon House where it is used as an insulator in the semi-transparent roof.
■Metal-aerogel nanocomposites can be prepared by impregnating the hydrogel with solution containing ions of the suitable noble or transition metals. The impregnated hydrogel is then irradiated with gamma rays, leading to precipitation of nanoparticles of the metal. Such composites can be used as catalysts, sensors, electromagnetic shielding, and in waste disposal. A prospective use of platinum-on-carbon catalysts is in fuel cells.
■Aerogel can be used as a drug delivery system due to its biocompatibility. Due to its high surface area and porous structure, drugs can be adsorbed from supercritical CO2. The release rate of the drugs can be tailored based on the properties of aerogel.
■Carbon aerogels are used in the construction of small electrochemical double layer supercapacitors. Due to the high surface area of the aerogel, these capacitors can be 1/2000th to 1/5000th the size of similarly rated electrolytic capacitors.Aerogel supercapacitors can have a very low impedance compared to normal supercapacitors and can absorb or produce very high peak currents. At present, such capacitors are polarity-sensitive and need to be wired in series if a working voltage of greater than about 2.75V is needed.
■Dunlop has recently incorporated aerogel into the mold of its new series of tennis racquets, and has previously used it in squash racquets.
■Chalcogels have shown promise in absorbing the heavy metal pollutants mercury, lead and cadmium from water.
■Aerogel is used to introduce disorder into superfluid Helium-3.
Production
Silica aerogel is made by drying a hydrogel composed of colloidal silica in an extreme environment. Specifically, the process starts with a liquid alcohol like ethanol which is mixed with a silicon alkoxide precursor to form a silicon dioxide sol gel (silica gel). Then, through a process called supercritical drying, the alcohol is removed from the gel. This is typically done by exchanging the ethanol for liquid acetone, allowing a better miscibility gradient, and then onto liquid carbon dioxide and then bringing the carbon dioxide above its critical point. A variant on this process involves the direct injection of supercritical carbon dioxide into the pressure vessel containing the aerogel. The end result removes all liquid from the gel and replaces it with gas, without allowing the gel structure to collapse or lose volume.
Aerogel composites have been made using a variety of continuous and discontinuous reinforcements. The high aspect ratio of fibers such as fiberglass have been used to reinforce aerogel composites with significantly improved mechanical properties.
Resorcinol-formaldehyde aerogel (RF aerogel) is made in a way similar to production of silica aerogel.
Carbon aerogel is made from a resorcinol-formaldehyde aerogel by its pyrolysis in inert gas atmosphere, leaving a matrix of carbon. It is commercially available as solid shapes, powders, or composite paper.
Safety
Silica-based aerogels are not known to be carcinogenic or toxic. However, they are a mechanical irritant to the eyes, skin, respiratory tract and digestive system. They also can induce dryness of the skin, eyes and mucous membranes. Therefore, it is recommended that protective gear including gloves and eye goggles be worn whenever handling aerogels.[20]
However, safety depends on the material from which the aerogel is made – it will be carcinogenic or toxic if the solid component has such characteristics.
The flower kept on Aerogel doesn't get even a bit hotter on subjecting to a flame of 1273K from the other side. Aerogel was first created by Samuel Stephens Kistler in 1931, as a result of a bet with Charles Learned over who could replace the liquid inside of a jam jar with gas without causing shrinkage.
Aerogels are produced by extracting the liquid component of a gel through supercritical drying. This allows the liquid to be slowly drawn off without causing the solid matrix in the gel to collapse from capillary action, as would happen with conventional evaporation. The first aerogels were produced from silica gels. Kistler's later work involved aerogels based on alumina, chromia and tin oxide. Carbon aerogels were first developed in the late 1980s.
Contents
■1 Properties
■2 Types
■2.1 Silica aerogels
■2.2 Carbon aerogels
■2.3 Alumina aerogels
■2.4 Other aerogels
■3 Uses
■4 Production
■5 Safety
Properties
A demonstration of aerogel's insulation propertiesTo the touch, aerogels feel like a light but rigid foam, something between Styrofoam and the green floral foam used for arranging flowers. Despite what their name may suggest, aerogels are dry materials and do not resemble a gel in their physical properties; the name comes from the fact that they are derived from gels. Pressing softly on an aerogel typically does not leave a mark; pressing more firmly will leave a permanent dimple. Pressing firmly enough will cause a catastrophic breakdown in the sparse structure, causing it to shatter like glass—a property known as friability. Despite the fact that it is prone to shattering, it is very strong structurally. Its impressive load bearing abilities are due to the dendritic microstructure, in which spherical particles of average size 2-5 nm are fused together into clusters. These clusters form a three-dimensional highly porous structure of almost fractal chains, with pores smaller than 100 nm. The average size and density of the pores can be controlled during the manufacturing process.
Aerogels are good thermal insulators because they almost nullify the three methods of heat transfer (convection, conduction and radiation). They are good convective inhibitors because air cannot circulate throughout the lattice. Silica aerogel is an especially good conductive insulator because silica is a poor conductor of heat—a metallic aerogel, on the other hand, would be a less effective insulator. Carbon aerogel is a good radiative insulator because carbon absorbs the infrared radiation that transfers heat at standard temperatures. The most insulative aerogel is silica aerogel with carbon added to it.
Due to its hygroscopic nature, aerogel feels dry and acts as a strong desiccant. Persons handling aerogel for extended periods of time should wear gloves to prevent the appearance of dry brittle spots on their hands.
Since it is 99.8% air, it appears semi-transparent. The color it does have is due to Rayleigh scattering of the shorter wavelengths of visible light by the nanosized dendritic structure. This causes it to appear smoky blue against dark backgrounds and yellowish against bright backgrounds.
Aerogels by themselves are hydrophilic, but chemical treatment can make them hydrophobic. If they absorb moisture they usually suffer a structural change, such as contraction, and deteriorate, but degradation can be prevented by making them hydrophobic. Aerogels with hydrophobic interiors are less susceptible to degradation than aerogels with only an outer hydrophobic layer, even if a crack penetrates the surface. Hydrophobic treatment facilitates processing because it allows the use of a water jet cutter.
Types
Silica aerogels
Aerogel produced at Florida State University by Elliot Schwartz and Robert PalmerSilica aerogel is the most common type of aerogel and the most extensively studied and used. It is a silica-based substance, derived from silica gel. The world's lowest-density solid is a silica nanofoam at 1 mg/cm3, which is the evacuated version of the record-aerogel of 1.9 mg/cm3. The density of air is 1.2 mg/cm3.
Silica aerogel strongly absorbs infrared radiation. It allows the construction of materials that let light into buildings but trap heat for solar heating.
It has remarkable thermal insulative properties, having an extremely low thermal conductivity: from 0.03 W/m·K down to 0.004 W/m·K,[5] which correspond to R-values of 14 to 105 for 3.5 inch thickness. For comparison, typical wall insulation is 13 for 3.5 inch thickness. Its melting point is 1,473 K (1,200 °C or 2,192 °F).
Silica aerogel holds 15 entries[citation needed] in Guinness World Records for material properties, including best insulator and lowest-density solid.
Carbon aerogels
Carbon aerogels are composed of particles with sizes in the nanometer range, covalently bonded together. They have very high porosity (over 50%, with pore diameter under 100 nm) and surface areas ranging between 400–1000 m²/g. They are often manufactured as composite paper: non-woven paper made of carbon fibers, impregnated with resorcinol-formaldehyde aerogel, and pyrolyzed. Depending on the density, carbon aerogels may be electrically conductive, making composite aerogel paper useful for electrodes in capacitors or deionization electrodes. Due to their extremely high surface area, carbon aerogels are used to create supercapacitors, with values ranging up to thousands of farads based on a capacitance of 104 F/g and 77 F/cm³. Carbon aerogels are also extremely "black" in the infrared spectrum, reflecting only 0.3% of radiation between 250 nm and 14.3 µm, making them efficient for solar energy collectors.
The term "aerogel" has been incorrectly used to describe airy masses of carbon nanotubes produced through certain chemical vapor deposition techniques—such materials can be spun into fibers with strength greater than Kevlar, and unique electrical properties. These materials are not aerogels, however, since they do not have a monolithic internal structure and do not have the regular pore structure characteristic of aerogels.
Alumina aerogels
Aerogels made with aluminium oxide are known as alumina aerogels. These aerogels are used as catalysts, especially when "metal-doped" with another metal. Nickel-alumina aerogel is the most common combination. Alumina aerogels are also examined by NASA for capturing of hypervelocity particles; a formulation doped with gadolinium and terbium could fluoresce at the particle impact site, with amount of fluorescence dependent on impact velocity.
Other aerogels
SEAgel is a material similar to organic aerogel, made of agar.
Chalcogels are a type of aerogel made of chalcogens (the column of elements on the periodic table beginning with oxygen) such as sulfur, selenium, and other elements. Research is ongoing, and metals less expensive than platinum have also been used in its creation.
Aerogels made of Cadmium selenide quantum dots in a porous 3-D network have recently been developed for use in the semiconductor industry.
Uses
The Stardust dust collector with aerogel blocks. (NASA)There are a variety of tasks for which aerogels are used.
■Commercially, aerogels have been used in granular form to add insulation to skylights.
■Transparent silica aerogel would be very suitable as a thermal insulation material for windows, significantly limiting thermal losses of buildings. One research team (http://zerogaerogel.com) has shown that producing aerogel in a weightless environment can produce particles with a more uniform size and reduce the Rayleigh scattering effect in silica aerogel, thus making the aerogel less blue and more transparent.
■Its high surface area leads to many applications, such as a chemical absorber for cleaning up spills (see adsorption). This feature also gives it great potential as a catalyst or a catalyst carrier.
■Aerogel particles are also used as thickening agents in some paints and cosmetics.
■Aerogels are being tested for use in targets for the National Ignition Facility.
■Aerogel performance may be augmented for a specific application by the addition of dopants, reinforcing structures, and hybridizing compounds. Using this approach, the breadth of applications for the material class may be greatly increased.
■Commercial manufacture of aerogel 'blankets' began around the year 2000. An aerogel blanket is a composite of silica aerogel and fibrous reinforcement that turns the brittle aerogel into a durable, flexible material. The mechanical and thermal properties of the product may be varied based upon the choice of reinforcing fibers, the aerogel matrix, and opacification additives included in the composite.
■NASA used aerogel to trap space dust particles aboard the Stardust spacecraft. The particles vaporize on impact with solids and pass through gases, but can be trapped in aerogels. NASA also used aerogel for thermal insulation of the Mars Rover and space suits.
■The US Navy is evaluating aerogel undergarments as passive thermal protection for divers.
■Aerogels are also used in particle physics as radiators in Cherenkov effect detectors. ACC system of the Belle detector, used in the Belle Experiment at KEKB, is a recent example of such use. The suitability of aerogels is determined by their low index of refraction, filling the gap between gases and liquids, and their transparency and solid state, making them easier to use than cryogenic liquids or compressed gases. Their low mass is also advantageous for space missions.
■Resorcinol-formaldehyde aerogels (polymers chemically similar to phenol formaldehyde resins) are mostly used as precursors for manufacture of carbon aerogels, or when an organic insulator with large surface is desired. They come as high-density material, with surface area about 600 m²/g.
■The first residential use of aerogel as an insulator is in the Georgia Institute of Technology's Solar Decathlon House where it is used as an insulator in the semi-transparent roof.
■Metal-aerogel nanocomposites can be prepared by impregnating the hydrogel with solution containing ions of the suitable noble or transition metals. The impregnated hydrogel is then irradiated with gamma rays, leading to precipitation of nanoparticles of the metal. Such composites can be used as catalysts, sensors, electromagnetic shielding, and in waste disposal. A prospective use of platinum-on-carbon catalysts is in fuel cells.
■Aerogel can be used as a drug delivery system due to its biocompatibility. Due to its high surface area and porous structure, drugs can be adsorbed from supercritical CO2. The release rate of the drugs can be tailored based on the properties of aerogel.
■Carbon aerogels are used in the construction of small electrochemical double layer supercapacitors. Due to the high surface area of the aerogel, these capacitors can be 1/2000th to 1/5000th the size of similarly rated electrolytic capacitors.Aerogel supercapacitors can have a very low impedance compared to normal supercapacitors and can absorb or produce very high peak currents. At present, such capacitors are polarity-sensitive and need to be wired in series if a working voltage of greater than about 2.75V is needed.
■Dunlop has recently incorporated aerogel into the mold of its new series of tennis racquets, and has previously used it in squash racquets.
■Chalcogels have shown promise in absorbing the heavy metal pollutants mercury, lead and cadmium from water.
■Aerogel is used to introduce disorder into superfluid Helium-3.
Production
Silica aerogel is made by drying a hydrogel composed of colloidal silica in an extreme environment. Specifically, the process starts with a liquid alcohol like ethanol which is mixed with a silicon alkoxide precursor to form a silicon dioxide sol gel (silica gel). Then, through a process called supercritical drying, the alcohol is removed from the gel. This is typically done by exchanging the ethanol for liquid acetone, allowing a better miscibility gradient, and then onto liquid carbon dioxide and then bringing the carbon dioxide above its critical point. A variant on this process involves the direct injection of supercritical carbon dioxide into the pressure vessel containing the aerogel. The end result removes all liquid from the gel and replaces it with gas, without allowing the gel structure to collapse or lose volume.
Aerogel composites have been made using a variety of continuous and discontinuous reinforcements. The high aspect ratio of fibers such as fiberglass have been used to reinforce aerogel composites with significantly improved mechanical properties.
Resorcinol-formaldehyde aerogel (RF aerogel) is made in a way similar to production of silica aerogel.
Carbon aerogel is made from a resorcinol-formaldehyde aerogel by its pyrolysis in inert gas atmosphere, leaving a matrix of carbon. It is commercially available as solid shapes, powders, or composite paper.
Safety
Silica-based aerogels are not known to be carcinogenic or toxic. However, they are a mechanical irritant to the eyes, skin, respiratory tract and digestive system. They also can induce dryness of the skin, eyes and mucous membranes. Therefore, it is recommended that protective gear including gloves and eye goggles be worn whenever handling aerogels.[20]
However, safety depends on the material from which the aerogel is made – it will be carcinogenic or toxic if the solid component has such characteristics.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Space and Time
Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity had set the speed of light as the universal speed limit of sorts, 
and showed that time and distance are not faithfully absolute but are affected by one’s rate of motion. A clock which is in motion always appears to run slower when compared to one at rest. This is because time is always relative to the speed at which a body is moving. This means that you could actually do a bit of time travel, but of course you need to have a really fast spaceship. Consider an astronaut traveling into space for six months at a speed that is close to speed of light, and then taking another six months to return to Earth. He would land in the future! While it would be only a year that has elapsed on the astronaut’s clock, back on Earth, tens of thousands of years would have passed, depending on how close to the speed of light the austronaught was traveling. 
It is speculated that the universe started out in a disorderly state, then expand and finally collapse into the same very randomness that it started with. Physicists have been long puzzled about the two “arrows of time” which point in identical directions. In our everyday life, entities wear out over the course of time, for example, cups fall and shatter, but they never reassemble impulsively. In the expanding universe, the future is actually the direction of time when the directions of time of the galaxies are further part. Years ago, it was suggested that the arrows might be linked; this would mean that if the expansion of the universe is reversed, then the daily arrow would also reverse, which means broken cups would reassemble themselves, which might seem absurd to laymen, but is faintly possible in the eyes of a quantum physicist. Recently, the concept of arrow reversals has been incorporated into quantum physics. The arrow of time was associated with the so-called “collapse of the wave function”.
and showed that time and distance are not faithfully absolute but are affected by one’s rate of motion. A clock which is in motion always appears to run slower when compared to one at rest. This is because time is always relative to the speed at which a body is moving. This means that you could actually do a bit of time travel, but of course you need to have a really fast spaceship. Consider an astronaut traveling into space for six months at a speed that is close to speed of light, and then taking another six months to return to Earth. He would land in the future! While it would be only a year that has elapsed on the astronaut’s clock, back on Earth, tens of thousands of years would have passed, depending on how close to the speed of light the austronaught was traveling. 
In a nutshell, the laws of physics allow for time travel, but the law which relates to time and space as proposed by Einstein, may have to be revised a bit by incorporating the unusual rules of quantum theory. Quantum theory illustrates the microscopic randomness which fills the universe, at the subatomic level. At these nano scales, gravity tends to go a little bit haywire, and physicists have a tough time predicting gravitational. It is theorized that space and time could eventually collapse, but the conventional notion that time will run in reverse when the universe collapses has run into somewhat of a roadblock. New researches suggest that the universe doesn’t necessarily go though a sequence of expansions and contractions and then ending up in a uniform state.
It is speculated that the universe started out in a disorderly state, then expand and finally collapse into the same very randomness that it started with. Physicists have been long puzzled about the two “arrows of time” which point in identical directions. In our everyday life, entities wear out over the course of time, for example, cups fall and shatter, but they never reassemble impulsively. In the expanding universe, the future is actually the direction of time when the directions of time of the galaxies are further part. Years ago, it was suggested that the arrows might be linked; this would mean that if the expansion of the universe is reversed, then the daily arrow would also reverse, which means broken cups would reassemble themselves, which might seem absurd to laymen, but is faintly possible in the eyes of a quantum physicist. Recently, the concept of arrow reversals has been incorporated into quantum physics. The arrow of time was associated with the so-called “collapse of the wave function”.
Some physicists have tried making this quantum description of reality and symmetry in time; they did it by coupling the original and closing states into one single mathematical equation. Of course this all sounds like science fiction, but relativists have taken the possibility of time travel very seriously, even to the point that they have proposed that there must be a law which prevents time travelers from creating paradoxes. However, nobody has the faintest idea how such a law would operate. The classic paradox is that of going back in time to alter things in such a way as to prevent one’s own birth, for instance killing one’s ancestors, or making sure that their parents never meet each other. These things simply go against common sense, argue the skeptics, so there must be a theoretical law that prevents these types of things from happening.
So what happens when Einstein’s laws are pushed to the limits? As one would expect, the possibility of time travel involves black holes. Since Einstein’s theory is a theory that deals with space and time, it shouldn’t comes as a surprise that black holes may offer a way to travel thorough time, as well as space. However, any black hole won’t do. A black hole formed out of a non-rotating lump of material would simply be devouring anything that comes near it. At its heart is a dot referred to as a singularity. This is where time and space supposedly cease to exist and matter is crushed to infinite density. In a rotating black hole things are a bit different, a singularity still forms, but it’s shaped like a ring, an ideal analogous to this would be mints which sport a hole in the middle.
So what happens when Einstein’s laws are pushed to the limits? As one would expect, the possibility of time travel involves black holes. Since Einstein’s theory is a theory that deals with space and time, it shouldn’t comes as a surprise that black holes may offer a way to travel thorough time, as well as space. However, any black hole won’t do. A black hole formed out of a non-rotating lump of material would simply be devouring anything that comes near it. At its heart is a dot referred to as a singularity. This is where time and space supposedly cease to exist and matter is crushed to infinite density. In a rotating black hole things are a bit different, a singularity still forms, but it’s shaped like a ring, an ideal analogous to this would be mints which sport a hole in the middle.
At least in theory, one would be able to dive into the ring and emerge at another place at another time. In the 1980’s, Kip Thorne of CalTech and his colleagues, exasperated with trying to tackle time travel realities, set out to prove once and for all that Einstein’s equation doesn’t actually allow for time travel. They did some intense studying of the situation from a variety of perspectives; they were surprised to find that nothing in the equation actually barred time travel. They found that what would be needed is the technology to manipulate black holes. Then there are the geographically setup black hole time machines described as “wormholes”, these connect black holes at one place and time with another which is at another place and time via a “throat”.
Michio Kaku, a professor of physics in New York,
has set forth an interesting depiction of a time machine. It comprises of two chambers, each with two parallel metal plates. An intense electric field created between the two pairs of plates (the intensity created would have to be larger than anything possible with today’s technology) it literally rips apart the space-time fabric, thus creating a hole in space which connects the two chambers. According to Einstein’s equation, time runs slower for a moving object. Taking advantage of this fact, one of the chambers is taken on a long, rapid journey and then brought back. Time would vary at different rates at the two ends, and anyone falling into the wormhole at one end would be instantly hurled into the past or the future. However, creating a wormhole the size of a spacecraft, and keeping it stable long enough to move one end of it into place, would require the energy equivalent of many times that which can be produced in a lifetime. Construction of wormholes would also require a rare substance known as “negative matter”, which though is not known to be totally impossible, is yet to be found to exist in a state useful for wormhole construction. Therefore it’s highly unlikely that such a device would ever be created, even with some of the most extreme technologies man can dream of, or will develop in the future.
has set forth an interesting depiction of a time machine. It comprises of two chambers, each with two parallel metal plates. An intense electric field created between the two pairs of plates (the intensity created would have to be larger than anything possible with today’s technology) it literally rips apart the space-time fabric, thus creating a hole in space which connects the two chambers. According to Einstein’s equation, time runs slower for a moving object. Taking advantage of this fact, one of the chambers is taken on a long, rapid journey and then brought back. Time would vary at different rates at the two ends, and anyone falling into the wormhole at one end would be instantly hurled into the past or the future. However, creating a wormhole the size of a spacecraft, and keeping it stable long enough to move one end of it into place, would require the energy equivalent of many times that which can be produced in a lifetime. Construction of wormholes would also require a rare substance known as “negative matter”, which though is not known to be totally impossible, is yet to be found to exist in a state useful for wormhole construction. Therefore it’s highly unlikely that such a device would ever be created, even with some of the most extreme technologies man can dream of, or will develop in the future. Time travel is possible
Today, we know that time travel need not be confined to myths, science fiction, Hollywood movies, or even speculation by theoretical physicists. Time travel is possible. For example, 
an object traveling at high speeds ages more slowly than a stationary object. This means that if you were to travel into outer space and return, moving close to light speed, you could travel thousands of years into the Earth's future.Newton's most important contribution to science was his mathematical definition of how motion changes with time. He showed that the force causing apples to fall is the same force that drives planetary motions and produces tides. However, Newton was puzzled by the fact that gravity seemed to operate instantaneously at a distance. He admitted he could only describe it without understanding how it worked. Not until Einstein's general theory of relativity was gravity changed from a "force" to the movement of matter along the shortest space in a curved spacetime. The Sun bends spacetime, and spacetime tells planets how to move. For Newton, both space and time were absolute. Space was a fixed, infinite, unmoving metric against which absolute motions could be measured. Newton also believed the universe was pervaded by a single absolute time that could be symbolized by an imaginary clock off somewhere in space. Einstein changed all this with his relativity theories, and once wrote, "Newton, forgive me."
Einstein's first major contribution to the study of time occurred when he revolutionized physics with his "special theory of relativity" by showing how time changes with motion. Today, scientists do not see problems of time or motion as "absolute" with a single correct answer. Because time is relative to the speed one is traveling at, there can never be a clock at the center of the universe to which everyone can set their watches. Your entire life is the blink of an eye to an alien traveling close to the speed of light. Today, Newtonian mechanics have become a special case within Einstein's theory of relativity. Einstein's relativity will eventually become a subset of a new science more comprehensive in its description of the fabric of our universe. (The word "relativity" derives from the fact that the appearance of the world depends on our state of motion; it is "relative.")
an object traveling at high speeds ages more slowly than a stationary object. This means that if you were to travel into outer space and return, moving close to light speed, you could travel thousands of years into the Earth's future.Newton's most important contribution to science was his mathematical definition of how motion changes with time. He showed that the force causing apples to fall is the same force that drives planetary motions and produces tides. However, Newton was puzzled by the fact that gravity seemed to operate instantaneously at a distance. He admitted he could only describe it without understanding how it worked. Not until Einstein's general theory of relativity was gravity changed from a "force" to the movement of matter along the shortest space in a curved spacetime. The Sun bends spacetime, and spacetime tells planets how to move. For Newton, both space and time were absolute. Space was a fixed, infinite, unmoving metric against which absolute motions could be measured. Newton also believed the universe was pervaded by a single absolute time that could be symbolized by an imaginary clock off somewhere in space. Einstein changed all this with his relativity theories, and once wrote, "Newton, forgive me."Einstein's first major contribution to the study of time occurred when he revolutionized physics with his "special theory of relativity" by showing how time changes with motion. Today, scientists do not see problems of time or motion as "absolute" with a single correct answer. Because time is relative to the speed one is traveling at, there can never be a clock at the center of the universe to which everyone can set their watches. Your entire life is the blink of an eye to an alien traveling close to the speed of light. Today, Newtonian mechanics have become a special case within Einstein's theory of relativity. Einstein's relativity will eventually become a subset of a new science more comprehensive in its description of the fabric of our universe. (The word "relativity" derives from the fact that the appearance of the world depends on our state of motion; it is "relative.")
We are a moment in astronomic time, a transient guest of the Earth. Our wet, wrinkled brains do not allow us to comprehend many mysteries of time and space. Our brains evolved to make us run from saber-toothed cats on the American savanna, to hunt deer, and to efficiently scavenge from the kills of large carnivores. Despite our mental limitations, we have come remarkably far. We have managed to pull back the cosmic curtains a crack to let in the light. Questions raised by physicists, from Newton to Kurt Gödel to Einstein to Stephen Hawking, are among the most profound we can ask.
Is time real? Does it flow in one direction only? Does it have a beginning or an end? What is eternity? None of these questions can be answered to scientists' satisfaction. Yet the mere asking of these questions stretches our minds, and the continual search for answers provides useful insights along the way.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Humanism
Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appeal to universal human qualities — particularly rationality.It is a component of a variety of more specific philosophical systems and is incorporated into several religious schools of thought. 
Humanism can be considered the process by which truth and morality is sought through human investigation. In focusing on the capacity for self-determination, humanism rejects the validity of transcendental justifications, such as a dependence on belief without reason, the supernatural, or texts of allegedly divine origin. Humanists endorse universal morality based on the commonality of the human condition, suggesting that solutions to human social and cultural problems cannot be parochial.
Religion
Humanism clearly rejects deference to supernatural beliefs in resolving human affairs but not necessarily the beliefs themselves; indeed some strains of Humanism are compatible with some religions. It is generally compatible with atheism and agnosticism but doesn't require either of these. The word "ignostic" (American) or "indifferentist" (British, including OED) are sometimes applied to Humanism, on the grounds that Humanism is an ethical process, not a dogma about the existence or otherwise of gods; Humanists simply have no need to be concerned with such questions. Agnosticism or atheism on their own do not necessarily entail Humanism; many different and sometimes incompatible philosophies happen to be atheistic in nature. There is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere, and not all are humanistic.
As Humanism encompasses intellectual currents running through a wide variety of philosophical and religious thought, several strains of Humanism allow it to fulfill, supplement or supplant the role of religions, and in particular, to be embraced as a complete life stance. For more on this, see Humanism (life stance). In a number of countries, for the purpose of laws that give rights to "religions", the secular life stance has become legally recognized as equivalent to a "religion" for this purpose.In the United States, the Supreme Court recognized that Humanism is equivalent to a religion in the limited sense of authorizing Humanists to conduct ceremonies commonly carried out by officers of religious bodies. The relevant passage is in a footnote to Torcaso v. Watkins (1961). It is often alleged by fundamentalist critics of Humanism that the Supreme Court "declared Humanism to be a religion," however the Court's statement, a mere footnote at most, clearly does not in fact do so; it simply asserts an equivalency of Humanists' right to act in ways usual to a religion, such as ceremonial recognition of life's landmarks.
Renaissance humanism, and its emphasis on returning to the sources, contributed to the Protestant reformation by helping to gain what Protestants believe was a more accurate translation of Biblical texts.
Humanism can be considered the process by which truth and morality is sought through human investigation. In focusing on the capacity for self-determination, humanism rejects the validity of transcendental justifications, such as a dependence on belief without reason, the supernatural, or texts of allegedly divine origin. Humanists endorse universal morality based on the commonality of the human condition, suggesting that solutions to human social and cultural problems cannot be parochial.Aspects
Religion
Humanism clearly rejects deference to supernatural beliefs in resolving human affairs but not necessarily the beliefs themselves; indeed some strains of Humanism are compatible with some religions. It is generally compatible with atheism and agnosticism but doesn't require either of these. The word "ignostic" (American) or "indifferentist" (British, including OED) are sometimes applied to Humanism, on the grounds that Humanism is an ethical process, not a dogma about the existence or otherwise of gods; Humanists simply have no need to be concerned with such questions. Agnosticism or atheism on their own do not necessarily entail Humanism; many different and sometimes incompatible philosophies happen to be atheistic in nature. There is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere, and not all are humanistic.
As Humanism encompasses intellectual currents running through a wide variety of philosophical and religious thought, several strains of Humanism allow it to fulfill, supplement or supplant the role of religions, and in particular, to be embraced as a complete life stance. For more on this, see Humanism (life stance). In a number of countries, for the purpose of laws that give rights to "religions", the secular life stance has become legally recognized as equivalent to a "religion" for this purpose.In the United States, the Supreme Court recognized that Humanism is equivalent to a religion in the limited sense of authorizing Humanists to conduct ceremonies commonly carried out by officers of religious bodies. The relevant passage is in a footnote to Torcaso v. Watkins (1961). It is often alleged by fundamentalist critics of Humanism that the Supreme Court "declared Humanism to be a religion," however the Court's statement, a mere footnote at most, clearly does not in fact do so; it simply asserts an equivalency of Humanists' right to act in ways usual to a religion, such as ceremonial recognition of life's landmarks.
Renaissance humanism, and its emphasis on returning to the sources, contributed to the Protestant reformation by helping to gain what Protestants believe was a more accurate translation of Biblical texts.
Knowledge
According to Humanism, it is up to humans to find the truth, as opposed to seeking it through revelation, mysticism, tradition, or anything else that is incompatible with the application of logic to the observable evidence. In demanding that humans avoid blindly accepting unsupported beliefs, it supports scientific skepticism and the scientific method, rejecting authoritarianism and extreme skepticism, and rendering faith an unacceptable basis for action. Likewise, Humanism asserts that knowledge of right and wrong is based on the best understanding of one's individual and joint interests, rather than stemming from a transcendental truth or an arbitrarily local source.
Speciesism
Some have interpreted Humanism to be a form of speciesism, regarding humans as being more important than other species. The philosopher Peter Singer, himself a Humanist, stated that "despite many individual exceptions, Humanists have, on the whole, been unable to free themselves from one of the most central... Christian dogmas: the prejudice of speciesism". He called on Humanists to "take a stand against... ruthless exploitation of other sentient beings", and took issue with statements in the Humanist Manifesto II, which he felt gave "precedence to the interests of members of our own species."He also noted, however, that the same Manifesto stated that humans have "no God-given or inherent right to subdue other animals", and acknowledged that "the organizations that have done the most for animals have been independent of religion."
Optimism
Humanism features an optimistic attitude about the capacity of people, but it does not involve believing that human nature is purely good or that each and every person is capable of living up to the Humanist ideals of rationality and morality. If anything, there is the recognition that living up to one's potential is hard work and requires the help of others. The ultimate goal is human flourishing; making life better for all humans, and as the most conscious species, also promoting concern for the welfare of other sentient beings. The focus is on doing good and living well in the here and now, and leaving the world better for those who come after.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
India's Biotech: Baby Elephant
Low costs and growing expertise have led to a biotechnology explosion in India, but that very success could hurt the developing world as companies look toward the lucrative 
global drug market, experts said Monday.
global drug market, experts said Monday."Now that (Indian) companies are growing and becoming more successful, we run the risk they will turn their focus on the developed-country market and lose their sense of social responsibility," Sarah Frew, a researcher at the Center for Global Health at the University of Toronto, told United Press International.
Developing-world biotechnology researchers and drug manufacturers have become the pharmacy for other low-income countries, especially when it comes to vaccines. But some industry observers worry that as those companies become more sophisticated, that will stop. Yet others say growth in developing world biotechnology sectors will only help the world's poor.
Biotechnology in India largely got its start focusing on homegrown solutions for Indian health problems, according to the report in the journal Nature Biotechnology, which studied 21 Indian biotechnology firms.
In the vaccine market, where Indian firms faced little competition, they were able to develop products that targeted diseases of the developing world, like hepatitis B and polio. Because of lower costs and process-side innovations, they have been able to sell those products at dramatically lower costs both in India and in other low-income countries.
Shantha Biotechnics, operating out of the Indian city of Hyperabad, launched a hepatitis B vaccine in 1997 that cost only $.50, compared to the import price of $15.
The reduced price, the result of a more efficient manufacturing process, enabled a much higher rate of vaccination in India. Through partnerships with UNICEF and other aid agencies, the company now also supplies 40 percent of the world's hepatitis B vaccine.
That example, and countless other success stories, have made the Indian biotechnology sector a global player, and more growth is predicted in the future, said study co-author Peter Singer, also of the University of Toronto.
"India's biotech sector is like a baby elephant," Singer told UPI. "When it grows up it will take up a lot of space."
But the outside world has begun courting Indian companies, according to the report. Partnerships between companies in India, the United States and Europe are proliferating. Some Indian firms do research on behalf of pharmaceutical giants like Merck, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, while other partnerships involve Indian firms snapping up the intellectual property of small American companies.
This increasingly global focus means that as the international market for biotechnology continues to expand exponentially, Indian firms will be poised to compete for a share with research firms and manufacturers in other countries, Singer said. But that could be to the detriment of Indians if the firms focus their research on obesity and erectile dysfunction drugs instead of rotavirus and malaria treatments.
"In a country like India, the biotech sector is an engine for health and economic development," he said. "India is researching its way out of ill health."
To make sure that remains the case, government regulation will probably be needed, the report concluded.
But other observers say the explosive growth predicted for the industry will help and not hurt health in developing countries.
The less restrictive government regulations in India, combined with the soaring number of scientists graduating each year, means that incentives to move research overseas are powerful, said Fariborz Ghadar, director of the Center for Global Business Studies at Penn State University.
Meanwhile, the changing economic landscape for drug development means that U.S. and European companies are more likely to outsource research, and research firms need more help marketing the products they develop, he told UPI. "Those kinds of alliances are basically everywhere."
Given that growth, the Indian biotechnology sector will not need to choose between domestic health needs and the global marketplace, Ghadar said. "I think the market's going to grow so rapidly in India that you're going to see all of the above."
And if the country continues to graduate researchers at the same high rate, he said, "if anything, they're going to be hard-pressed to find jobs."
Indian firms have also excelled at turning developing-country markets into sound business propositions, Michael Free at PATH, a global health organization, told UPI.
In the case of rapid diagnostic tests, he said, "Indian companies saw the markets around them. It was an opportunity to them."
Either through international aid organizations or direct marketing, India, China and Brazil -- with their understanding of developing world needs and lower costs -- almost exclusively supply vaccines and other treatments, Free said.
Indian biotechnology sector growth is "an enormous opportunity for replication of essential technology that will serve the country of origin and other parts of the developing world."
The study was partially funded by BIO Ventures for Public Health, the public health arm of the Biotechnology Industry Organization
Thursday, June 26, 2008
India fights United States
Here's a story : from 17th century Kerala: The Portuguese had anchored off the Malabar coast and were received with warmth by the king Zamorin. After a few days, the palace guards rush breathless into the court, lit with alarm. "Your Majesty, the foreigners are on the hill slopes," they report. "uprooting pepper vines and carrying them away to the ships. If they begin to grow these in their lands we will lose our trade." The Zamorin is unperturbed: "Ah, don't worry too much. They may take the vines but how can they take our monsoons." Such was India's calm then, it had an extreme generosity and a willingness to share its wealth with the world.
By October, 1996 when the prestigious New Scientist magazine wrote under the title, "Pirates in the garden of India", India's sanguine magnanimity was to end. A crisis was brewing. India had to do something.Universities in united states had started big research projects on what are "dadi ma ke nuskhe "in India, and register patents in US before India does.India had to do something.
And the war began.........
In May, 1995 the US Patent Office granted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center a patent [#5,401,504] for "Use of Turmeric in Wound Healing."
Well, well, well. Some discovery, that. Indians grow up with a constant awareness of turmeric. It permeates their life. It is an easy and generous plant [curcurma longa] that grows throughout the sub-continent. The tuber when dried keeps practically forever. It is a condiment that adds character to Indian food and helps digestion. Turmeric powder heals open wounds. Drunk with warm milk, it stems coughs, cures colds and comforts throats. Indians paint doorways with turmeric paste as an insecticide. Women in the south make a depilatory skin cream with it. Add the juice of fresh lime to dry turmeric, let it marinate for three days, dry it in the sun and grind it to a fine powder and voila, you have the brilliant red kunkum that 'dots' Indian women's foreheads and surrounds the gods in the temples.Roots are exchanged between people as a formal symbol of goodwill. Indians place freshly uprooted plants at the altar during Pongal and offer worship.
(if you any other use of termuric then write as a comment)
For Indians turmeric is a benevolent goddess. For sound reasons, it transpires. Indian physicians had always packed their kits with turmeric. Now West's formal research was confirming many of its virtues. It is now believed to be able to treat dysentery, arthritis, ulcers and even some cancers. It is also found to protect the liver.Turmeric's grace is stunning cancer researchers.
India's Fightback.................
Consider the implication of 'turmeric patent' #5,401,504. If an expatriate Indian in America sprinkles turmeric powder -- just as her ancestors in India have done for centuries-- on her child's scrape, she would in fact be infringing US patent laws and was open to prosecution.
The patent was promptly challenged by Dr. R A Mashelkar, an Indian scientist who has done much to awaken India to Intellectual Property Rights issues. After four months of submissions it was established that the use of turmeric as a healing agent was well-known in India. For some centuries, one is tempted to add. The patent was annulled.
But there were more battles ahead.
In 1996, Vandana Shiva -- an icon for Third World Knowledge Rights -- began to challenge the patent granted to the firm of W.R.Grace & Co by the European Patent Office, Munich for 'fungicidal uses of neem oil'. Now, it so happens that neem is as much a divine object in India as turmeric is. With far less education than modern scientists the Indian farmer over the ages had integrated neem into his work. It is a part of India's religious life, to sublimate anything of value to divine levels in order to engender an esteem and sensitivity for it. Shiva and Ajay Phadke [who had researched neem for Rhone Poulenc in India] flagged ancient Indian texts for their eminences in Munich to convince them that there was no 'novelty' factor in neem's magical properties that Grace had unveiled-- Indians had known them for long. This patent too was vacated.
India Wins...........
Two battles won indeed, but there are many ahead. London's Observer reported that there were more than 100 Indian plants awaiting grant at the US patent office. And patents have already have been granted to uses of Amla, Jar Amla, Anar, Salai, Dudhi, Gulmendhi, Bagbherenda, Karela, Rangoon-ki-bel, Erand, Vilayetishisham, Chamkura etc, all household Indian names.These need to be vacated.
Bio-piracy doesn't affect just India. Much of Africa and Latin America are prowling grounds for First World's knowledge pirates.
But India is emerging as a vocal and effective battler against the Untes States' Knowledge pirates.
Whenthe US introduced IPRs in the Uruguay Round as a new issue, it accused the Third World of 'piracy'. The estimates provided for royalties lost in agricultural chemicals are US$202 million and US$2,545 million for pharmaceuticals.
However, as the RURAL ADVANCEMENT AND FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL(CANADA), in Canada has shown, if the contribution of Third World peasants and tribals is taken into account, the roles are dramatically reversed: the US owes US$302 million in royalties for agriculture and $5,097 million for pharmaceuticals to Third World countries."
In these two biological industry sectors alone, the US owes $2.7 billion to the Third World. This debt will not be paid by the US unless we have our biodiversity legislation in place.
India won the battle ,but there is a need to keep your intellectual rights with yourself.Indians can no longer think like king Zamorin of kerela
Knowledge pirates of united states steal monsoons also.......
By October, 1996 when the prestigious New Scientist magazine wrote under the title, "Pirates in the garden of India", India's sanguine magnanimity was to end. A crisis was brewing. India had to do something.Universities in united states had started big research projects on what are "dadi ma ke nuskhe "in India, and register patents in US before India does.India had to do something.
And the war began.........
In May, 1995 the US Patent Office granted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center a patent [#5,401,504] for "Use of Turmeric in Wound Healing."
Well, well, well. Some discovery, that. Indians grow up with a constant awareness of turmeric. It permeates their life. It is an easy and generous plant [curcurma longa] that grows throughout the sub-continent. The tuber when dried keeps practically forever. It is a condiment that adds character to Indian food and helps digestion. Turmeric powder heals open wounds. Drunk with warm milk, it stems coughs, cures colds and comforts throats. Indians paint doorways with turmeric paste as an insecticide. Women in the south make a depilatory skin cream with it. Add the juice of fresh lime to dry turmeric, let it marinate for three days, dry it in the sun and grind it to a fine powder and voila, you have the brilliant red kunkum that 'dots' Indian women's foreheads and surrounds the gods in the temples.Roots are exchanged between people as a formal symbol of goodwill. Indians place freshly uprooted plants at the altar during Pongal and offer worship.
(if you any other use of termuric then write as a comment)
For Indians turmeric is a benevolent goddess. For sound reasons, it transpires. Indian physicians had always packed their kits with turmeric. Now West's formal research was confirming many of its virtues. It is now believed to be able to treat dysentery, arthritis, ulcers and even some cancers. It is also found to protect the liver.Turmeric's grace is stunning cancer researchers.
India's Fightback.................
Consider the implication of 'turmeric patent' #5,401,504. If an expatriate Indian in America sprinkles turmeric powder -- just as her ancestors in India have done for centuries-- on her child's scrape, she would in fact be infringing US patent laws and was open to prosecution.
The patent was promptly challenged by Dr. R A Mashelkar, an Indian scientist who has done much to awaken India to Intellectual Property Rights issues. After four months of submissions it was established that the use of turmeric as a healing agent was well-known in India. For some centuries, one is tempted to add. The patent was annulled.
But there were more battles ahead.
In 1996, Vandana Shiva -- an icon for Third World Knowledge Rights -- began to challenge the patent granted to the firm of W.R.Grace & Co by the European Patent Office, Munich for 'fungicidal uses of neem oil'. Now, it so happens that neem is as much a divine object in India as turmeric is. With far less education than modern scientists the Indian farmer over the ages had integrated neem into his work. It is a part of India's religious life, to sublimate anything of value to divine levels in order to engender an esteem and sensitivity for it. Shiva and Ajay Phadke [who had researched neem for Rhone Poulenc in India] flagged ancient Indian texts for their eminences in Munich to convince them that there was no 'novelty' factor in neem's magical properties that Grace had unveiled-- Indians had known them for long. This patent too was vacated.
India Wins...........
Two battles won indeed, but there are many ahead. London's Observer reported that there were more than 100 Indian plants awaiting grant at the US patent office. And patents have already have been granted to uses of Amla, Jar Amla, Anar, Salai, Dudhi, Gulmendhi, Bagbherenda, Karela, Rangoon-ki-bel, Erand, Vilayetishisham, Chamkura etc, all household Indian names.These need to be vacated.
Bio-piracy doesn't affect just India. Much of Africa and Latin America are prowling grounds for First World's knowledge pirates.
But India is emerging as a vocal and effective battler against the Untes States' Knowledge pirates.
Whenthe US introduced IPRs in the Uruguay Round as a new issue, it accused the Third World of 'piracy'. The estimates provided for royalties lost in agricultural chemicals are US$202 million and US$2,545 million for pharmaceuticals.
However, as the RURAL ADVANCEMENT AND FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL(CANADA), in Canada has shown, if the contribution of Third World peasants and tribals is taken into account, the roles are dramatically reversed: the US owes US$302 million in royalties for agriculture and $5,097 million for pharmaceuticals to Third World countries."
In these two biological industry sectors alone, the US owes $2.7 billion to the Third World. This debt will not be paid by the US unless we have our biodiversity legislation in place.
India won the battle ,but there is a need to keep your intellectual rights with yourself.Indians can no longer think like king Zamorin of kerela
Knowledge pirates of united states steal monsoons also.......
Monday, June 9, 2008
Waaaaaater..........
What do you, the trees, and a hamster have in common? Give up? You all need water. All living things must have water to survive, whether they get it from a water fountain, a rain cloud, or a little bottle attached to the side of a hamster cage.Without water, your body would stop working properly. Water makes up more than half of your body weight and a person can't survive for more than a few days without it. Why? Your body has lots of important jobs and it needs water to do many of them. For instance, your blood, which contains a lot of water, carries oxygen to all the cells of your body. Without oxygen, those tiny cells would die and your body would stop working.Water is also in lymph (say: limf), a fluid that is part of your immune system, which helps you fight off illness. You need water to digest your food and get rid of waste, too. Water is needed for digestive juices, urine (pee), and poop. And you can bet that water is the main ingredient in perspiration, also called sweat.In addition to being an important part of the fluids in your body, each cell depends on water to function normally.Your body doesn't get water only from drinking water. Any fluid you drink will contain water, but water and milk are the best choices. Lots of foods contain water, too. Fruit contains quite a bit of water, which you could probably tell if you've ever bitten into a peach or plum and felt the juices dripping down your chin! Vegetables, too, contain a lot of water. Think of slicing into a fat tomato from the garden or crunching into a crisp stalk of celery.
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