Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Nayar river is vanishing - a yatra reveals conservation goes beyond science and policy" appearing in ‘The Down To Earth’ dated 03.06.2025. The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Nayar …
Siemens has developed a device called the Siemens Molecular Analysis Research Tool (SMART), which will substantially cut down the time taken to analyse crystal structure. The device uses a molybdenum X-ray tube to produce the X-rays which are then incident on the crystal sample. After bouncIng off from the atoms …
Two physicists from France - Albert Manque and Jean Xavier Zweistein have claimed to have discovered the largest fundamental particle ever known. While experimenting with vacuum tubes, they found that the monitor on a nearby computer exploded when a large current was sent through one of the tubes. The high …
THE Hubble space telescope has continued to puzzle astronomers ever since it soared off, by sending one intriguing information after another. The latest images from the telescope suggest that the Milky Way and other neighbouring galaxies are filled with 'rogue' planets, which were never observed before. These planets have escaped …
GENERALLY, the laws of physics are very rigid, but this one is found to be rather flexible. It is a well established theory that a material expands on heating. The reason for this thermal expansion is the violent increase registered in the vibrations of atoms or molecules of the material …
ALEX Muller and Georg Bednorz of the International Business Machines had reported observing superconductivity at 35 Kelvin in 1986. This report caused a stir in the scientific community, because the phenomenon of super- conductivity had hitherto, only been observed at much lower temperatures. Since then, over 100 high temperature superconductivity …
THE discovery of x-ray emission from the newest visitor to the realm of solar system on March 27: the Comet Hyakutake (pronounced yah-koo-tah- kay) by the German x-ray satellite called the Roentgen Satellite (ROSAT), has puzzled astrophysicists the world over. The comet was emitting x-rays in an unusual crescent pattern …
The discovery of plasma crystals (that are colloidal particles introduced into a charge neutral plasma) has led to several insights into the dynamics of melting and freezing. Hubertus Thomas and G Morfill of the Max-Planck Institute at Garching, Germany, have used polymer spheres of about seven micrometres diameter to study …
X-ray astronomers have reported a bizarre X-ray emitter in the direction of our galactic centre. C Kouveliotou and colleagues have seen this object in the intensity records of the large area detectors of the Burst and Transient Source Experiment on the orbiting Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. The odd thing about …
A team led by B Phillips and Paul Lett at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Maryland, US, have observed the retardation effect, that is, the small but finite delay between the time an atom sends out an electromagnetic field and another feels it. They used a small sample …
A SMALL drop is threatening the whole ocean of thought that physicists have nourished for quite some time now. Most particle physicists believe that the theory which governs the interaction of matter at the smallest scale, the so-called Standard Model of particle physics, has Deen tested to a reasonable degree …
DETERMINATION of the atomic configurations of materials is of great relevance in studying their properties. From x-ray diffraction to electron microscopy, many tools have been used over the years. But now comes a new technique of x-ray holography which promises to revolutionise the study of materials. Miklos Tegze and Gyula …
THE comet c/1995 01, more popularly known as Hale-Bopp, has continued to surprise astronomers since its discovery last summer. Discovered at a distance of seven astronomical units from the sun (an astronomical unit is equal to the mean distance between the sun and the earth), the comet is almost one …
CARBON is a remarkable element; not only is it the basis of life as we know it, it also has an amazing diversity in its inorganic form. From coal to graphite to diamond and carbon-60, the variety in its structure and properties is unmatched. Diamond is the hardest substance known …
Designers from the Research Centre of Building Power Tools, Russia have designed tools that, they claim, disobey the sacrosanct third law of motion laid down by Newton. The tools are specially designed for use in space, where the zero-gravity situation gives astronauts a hard time in doing a simple job …
Manufacturers today are looking for ways to pack in more data in laser discs. But the most commonly used lasers emit red light which has a longer wavelength compared to blue light. Attempts to make a blue semiconductor laser have so far not been very successful. Now, a team of …
The origin of magnetic fields associated with galaxies is still a matter of debate. One theory attributes it to a dynamo-like mechanism in rhe galaxies, while the other contends that the dynamo is long dead and the magnetic field is constant. Both the theories are based on magneto-hydrodynamics which says …
The present generation of supercomputers has been using custombuilt processors which are very difficult to maintain. Now, if the Accelerated Strate~c Computing lnitiative, a US department of energy-funded project is successful, this may become a thing of the past. The project envisages building a massive computer using high performance microprocessors …
THE Standard Model of particle physics, which explains the behaviour of matter at the smallest levels, is 'by now a well- established theory. These levels of matter have been under scrutiny at the Illinois-based Fermi National Accelerator Laboratery (Fermilab) in us (Down To Earth, Vol 2, No 2). The crowing …
NEUTRON stars are among the most interesting candidates for observation in the universe. These are super-dense bodies, left behind after the occurence of a supernova explosion which results in the death of an extremely massive star. Some neutron stars can accrete (combine) material from other stars and thereby turn into …
IN 1987, a group of researchers had discovered the intriguing new phenomenon of high temperature superconductivity. The conventional superconductors had a critical temperature (temperature below which the material is superconducting) which was extremely low - typically, about -250'c. However, the new materials, which were mostly very complex crystals like yttriumbarium-copper-oxide …
