News on Science, Technology and Research in India
Prof Animangsu Ghatak from the Department of Chemical Engineering IIT Kanpur, who developed the mat with the support of Department of Science & Technology, Government of India under Make in India initiative, took inspiration from adhesive pad present at the feet of wall climbing animals, like house lizards.
Expanding the areas of its foray of global scientific leadership into new and emerging areas of science, India has joined the ‘Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI)’ as a founding member to support the responsible and human-centric development and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
“SOLAR HEATED MILITARY TENT for Indian Army at Galwan Valley +15 C at 10 pm now. Min outside last night was -14 C, Replaces tons of kerosesne, pollution climate change. For 10 jawans, fully portable all parts weigh less than 30 Kgs”, he tweeted.
By analysing sediment from the Bay of Bengal, researchers have found that the present Indian monsoon system, as we have it now, goes back at least 27 million years.
Indian Institutute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati researchers have developed an advanced technique for rapid evaporation of droplets. It is a novel method of controlling the overall lifetime of droplet. The inferences drawn from this study could have far-reaching implications ranging from biomedical engineering to biological sample diagnostics, ink-jet printing, surface patterning and many more, say researchers.
In a bid to bring scientific research in India at par with the global standards, the union government is working on a new playbook for a coordinated high impact research funding. As part of this plan, it is working on developing an ‘Ease of Doing Science Index’ to ensure effective use of both disbursed funds (including flexibility of fund utilisation) and the researchers’ time to weed out sub-standard research.
Indian Astronomers have reported one of the strongest flares from a feeding supermassive black hole or blazar called BL Lacertae. Analysis of the flare from this blazar, one of the oldest astronomical objects, can help trace the mass of the black hole and the source of this emission. Such analysis can provide a lead to probe into mysteries and trace events at different stages of evolution of the Universe.
Indian Space Research Organisation and location and navigation technology solutions provider MapmyIndia announced an initiative to partner together to offer India’s best, and fully indigenous, mapping portal and geospatial services.
RTEG will have less mass than solar cells of equivalent power and allow more compact spacecraft that can navigate easier in space. Many missions of Nasa and Russia, Besides China’s 2013 Chang’e 3 mission to the moon and its rover Yutu had used RTG.
Now, India has its own gerbera varieties as scientists at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) have developed six indigenous varieties of this flower, used extensively in decorations and bouquets.
