The Punjab Energy Development Agency has released a draft green hydrogen policy aiming to achieve a green hydrogen and ammonia production capacity of 100 kilo tonnes per annum by 2030. The policy proposes extending incentives under the existing “Punjab Industrial and Business Development Policy 2022” to new green hydrogen and …
ASTRONAUTS on February 26 were hoping to perform the ultimate Indian rope trick - by dangling a ball-shaped satellite from a space shuttle as it swept above the earth. But the experiment failed; the cable linking the space shuttle to the satellite broke. The experiment, which was conducted by astronauts …
THE ideal way of curing an inherited disorder would be to adopt gene therapy (correct the genetic defect). Failing that, it would be worth exploring whether the severity of the disorder might be ameliorated by substituting a functional gene product - protein - in place of the dysfunctional product (or …
An unique sea-floor observatory to keep a watch on two under-sea volcanoes is in the offing near the coasts ofWashington and Oregon in the US. Part of the National Science Foundation's RIDGE (Ridge Inter- Disciplinary Global Experiments) programme, the observatory will be set up on the ocean floor to monitor …
A new and unique performing art called hand shadowgraphy is being popularised by Amar and Sabyasachi Sen. The art form is enacted by estures candlelight and g come to life as fingers play up against a wall or blank screen. There are only 18 such exponents in the world who …
The Australia-based Scholar Incineration Company, has developed a three-stage incineration process to destroy biomedical waste completely (Vatis Update. Vo15, No 11). The first sta&e; involves burning wastes by a process cailed 'excess air combustion'. The toxic gases thus produced are fed into a second chamber where temperatures exceed 1,000
THE sun's bright rays can play havoc with one's flawless skin. Sun bathing for as short a period as two to three minutes can lead to tissue damag~ and prema- ture aging of the human skin. A te~ of researchers at the University of Michigan, us, headed by Gary Fisher, …
The first mobile telephones in the us were so cheap that they were being distributed free with every purchase of petrol. Now, the purchase of a Burger King whopper earns one a CD-ROM for free. The fast food chain is handing out Disney titles such as The Lion King and …
A new lighting control equipment based on daylight sensors is being tested in eight experimental offices in Trondheim, Norway, by the Norwegian Electric Power Research Institute. One of the two control systems in the equipment switches off lights automatically when day- light exceeds a specific limit, and switches them on …
Scientists from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and Pacific Power, Australia, have produced a synthesis of carbon monoxide and hydrogen by combining methane, carbon dioxide and the sunlight, which makes it possible to store and transport solar energy. When the synthesised gas is changed back into carbon …
Even though the discovery of the 80 million-year-old dinosaur fossil in the Gobi desert of Mongolia - by fossil-hunters from the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences -shows the animal sitting on its nest of eggs, its original name of Oviraptor or …
Female nurses having irregular working hours for more than six years, are upto 70 per cent more prone to heart attacks than their male counterparts. This was revealed by Ichiro Kawachi and his colleagues at the Harvard Medical School, USA. Researchers attribute the hazards of this profession to the stress-related …
A tiny 'microcar', an exact replica of a commercial car, has been built by Japanese workers at the Nisshin Research Laboratory at Nippon- denso, Japan. The car is just 4.8 mm long and 1.8 mm wide. It is constructed bya seven-stage process wherein initially, a silicone rubber cast is made …
An unusual orange-coloured cucumber has been developed by scientists at the us department of agriculture. The cucumber, alongwith its inherent properties, also contains the nutritional qualities of carrot and its colour. The beta carotene pigment not only imparts the orange colour to carrots, but is also a rich source of …
A prize-winning invention by Orian Brunavs, a student of the Townsendl High School in Bulawayo Zimbabwe, could help breed chickens aided by the sun's heat. This innovative application of solar power in livestock management includes a solar-heated chicken breeding house. A black concrete collecting slab transfers the solar heat to …
A new smog-eating automotive technology has been developed by Englehard Corporation of the US. The new automobile coating, designed to destroy ozone and carbon monoxide is now being evaluated by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). If the CARB finds the coating effective, "it could be one of the black …
METHANE is the second most important contributor to global warming after chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), with a 100-year global warming potential (GWP) of 24.5. And domesticated ruminants (cattle and camels), contribute about 20-25 per cent of global methane production annually. Of this, 85 per cent is added to the atmosphere when the …
Scientists working at the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics in Germany, have devised an 'intelligent window' which can automatically modulate the amount of sunlight entering a room. Just as sunglasses block light, the window's glass surface has a coating which is transparent at cool temperatures but becomes opaque when the …
The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, has come up with an innovative tractor- drawn groundnut harvester. Groundnut is usually harvested by hand, which consumes a lot of time and energy. The groundnut harvester is applicable for a 35 horsepower tractor attached to a nine-tyred cultivator frame. The harvester comes in …
Broiler farm litter mixed with wood shavings and poultry droppings make an excellent fuel for generating power, contends Fibrogen Ltd, a UK-based developer, builder and operator of power stations (Technology Partnership Initiative. issue 7). Fibrogen buys poultry litter and transports the same to covered storage pits in the power station. …
THE team analysing the disposal of wastes in landfills is doing pioneering work in that it has not just identified the types of waste being dumped but even segregated the waste, allocating them it) sparate landfills. The waste in these landfills undergoes decomposition by fermentation. The process of decomposition varies …
