Electricity Generated from Weight of Traffic and Pedestrians

Nov. 29, 2013 — Mexican entrepreneurs developed a system capable of using the vehicular flow to generate electric energy. This development has the potentiality to produce sufficient electricity to power up a household through a device that "catches" the force of the moving cars.

Mexican entrepreneurs developed a system capable of using the vehicular flow to generate electric energy. (Credit: Image courtesy of Investigación y Desarrollo)

"This is a technology that provides sustainable energy and could be implemented at low prices, since it's a complement of already existing infrastructure: the concrete of streets and avenues," Héctor Ricardo Macías Hernández, developer of the system, said. He added that at a global level there are no records of similar projects, with exception of an English patent, but with the difference that in the European country piezoelectric floors are used, which are too expensive for developing countries.
The technology consists in a system that integrates a ramp-step (elaborated with polymeric material similar to the ones used in the manufacture of tires) that elevates to five centimeters above the level of the street. When receiving the impact of the vehicle, this ramp exerts pressure on a set of bellows below.

The bellows contain air that is expelled at a certain pressure through a hose; later, this element travels to a tank where it is compressed and relaunched to an electricity generating turbine. Macías Hernández also said that the accumulation of electric energy is proportional to the flow of cars over a determinate spot; however, in places with low vehicular flow, several ramp-steps could be placed to multiply the impact of every individual vehicle.
The developer added that the technology could also be implemented in places with high pedestrian flow. This way, the steps of the people would generate electricity according to the laws of gravitational energy, and this principle could be implemented in places like the subway.
According to Macías Hernández, this development is translated in a source of sustainable energy that implies a low execution cost. The entrepreneur also mentioned that the support of the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) was essential to achieve the technological development given that the institution elaborated a previous study regarding the viability of the project and gave advice to structure the necessary patents of the invention.

Amazing Kite That Produces Electricity As You Fly It

This era can very well be termed as the era of technology and science. These days, as you may have noticed, science is focused on finding alternative energy sources. A lot of debate and research is being done on wind and solar energy and there have been so many ideas popping up and being put to use to harness them and create electricity from them. The solar panels and how to use them has been floating in the market for quite long and there have been many windmills that have been installed to harness wind energy. But they are becoming problematic. They are not only taking up too much space but they are also resulting in the killing of birds and act as a potential threat to private planes. Keeping all this in view, Empa’s ‘Centre for Synergetic Structures’ joined forces with the University of Applied Sciences Northwest Switzerland, the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich), and the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) to come up with something innovative and efficient.  The key concept is that they will harness wind energy without the problems associated with the windmills. Using the technology of Tensairity, owned by Empa, Empa’s engineers have created what they are calling TwingTex TwingKite or just Twing for short. It is a kite, quite lightweight, which by design is supposed to fly at heights of more than 100 meters above the ground. The winds at this height are quite strong and keep blowing for longer spans. The kite will be attached to a reel at the ground station via line. The tension created by the wind in the line will get the reel into motion and then using electromagnetic induction electrical energy will be produced. However, this is not a perpetual machine and so when the kite reaches its maximum design height the reel pulls it back so that it can rise again and generate more electricity.

According to the team, these flights are two minutes long before the reel needs to pull the kite down and they can create significant amount of electricity. The kite, Twing, is basically airfoil, quite rigid, and is resilient to crashes yet lightweight and very much maneuverable.  Engineers are busy on working as to how to improve the design of this kite so that it can survive variable winds and be more efficient.

 

 

Personal Transporter Designed by Indian Student

Personal Transporter Designed by Student

 Segways are a well-known form of personal transportation. They are both economical and environmentally friendly, which makes them very likely to be the future of transportation. A design student, Bimal Rajappan, created a radical concept for the next generation of this popular mode of transport.

Rajappan designed the concept for the Design Degree Show hosted by the IIT Bombay’s Industrial Design Centre in Mumbai. His design is one that the user can wear. The wheels are powered by an electric motor and are hubless to save weight and space. The forearm-mounted controls are used to operate the vehicle and it can be folded and worn like a pair of over-sized boots. The suspension comprises of a pneumatic system which uses dampers called “air muscles”. The control unit of the vehicle is located at the posterior and illuminated by LED’s, providing stability and control to the unit.

This personal transporter is not only a representation of the future of personal vehicles, but also an embodiment of what today’s young minds are capable of. We hope that this concept will soon come into production and we will see more and more people using these transporters around us.

Segway-style personal mobility vehicles always tend to look extra geeky to us. For us they are the future of transportation where geeks will get around sans polluting the surroundings. This is exactly what an Indian design student Bimal Rajappan wants to convey with his concept of a Segway-inspired personal mobility vehicle that was the most radical concept at the Design Degree Show organized by IIT Bombay’s Industrial Design Centre in Mumbai.
Techtree reports, the wearable personal transporter concept that’s more of a Segway strapped to the riders legs, has a pair of hubless wheels powered by an electric-motor. The device operated with forearm-mounted controls can be worn to look like a pair of oversized jackboots. The concept vehicle has pneumatic system comprising of dampers or “air muscles” for suspension and an LED-illuminated unit on the wearer’s posterior that works as the vehicle’s brain (control unit) to provide it with the much needed stability and control for a safe ride.

Travel in a Tube?

Travel in a Tube?

Travel in a Tube?

Travel in a Tube?

Travel in a Tube?

Transportation should be clean, green, fast, comfortable and affordable for all; It must also be financially sustainable on a global level. THE TIME FOR A NEW MODE OF TRANSPORTATION IS NOW!

 

 WHAT IS ET3^TM  and HOW DOES IT WORK?  

ET3 is literally "Space Travel on Earth". ET3 is silent, low cost, safe, faster than jets, and is electric.
Car sized passenger capsules travel in 1.5m (5') diameter tubes on frictionless maglev. Air is permanently removed from the two-way tubes that are built along a travel route. Airlocks at stations allow transfer of capsules without admitting air. Linear electric motors accelerate the capsules, which then coast through the vacuum for the remainder of the trip using no additional power. Most of the energy is regenerated as the capsules slow down. ET3 can provide 50 times more transportation per kWh than electric cars or trains.
Speed in initial ET3 systems is 600km/h (370 mph) for in state trips, and will be developed to 6,500 km/h (4,000 mph) for international travel that will allow passenger or cargo travel from New York to Beijing in 2 hours. ET3 is networked like freeways, except the capsules are automatically routed from origin to destination.
ET3 capsules weigh only 183 kg (400 lbs), yet like an automobile, can carry up to six people or 367 kg (800 lbs) of cargo. Compared to high speed rail, ET3 needs only 1/20th the material to build because the vehicles are so light. With automated passive switching, a pair of ET3 tubes can exceed the capacity of a 32 lane freeway. ET3 can be built for 1/10th the cost of High Speed Rail, or 1/4th the cost of a freeway.
ET3 stands for Evacuated Tube Transport Technologies. The company ET3.com Inc. is wholly owned and operated as a subsidiary of ET3 Global Alliance Inc. and is an open consortium of licensees dedicated to global implementation of Evacuated Tube Transport (ETT).  Our immediate focus is to finalize the location to build a production ready demonstration of ET3 to operate at 600km/h (375mph)++.   The ET3 demo requires 3 miles of straight right-of-way, and will showcase all elements necessary to network ET3 on a regional basis.

So long, breadboard: Draw circuits instantly with the Circuit Scribe pen

Paper circuits have been growing more common. A new Kickstarter campaign hawks a product that lets students and hobbyists draw them with a pen.

The process of learning about electronic circuits today is pretty low-tech. You are sitting in a high school physics classroom. The teacher demonstrates a circuit at the front of the room while you draw a rough sketch and attempt to describe in words why connecting this thingy with that other thingy makes the light thingy light up.
The Circuit Scribe wants to make learning about and creating circuits much, much easier. A gel pen filled with conductive ink, the Circuit Scribe lets you draw circuits that dry instantly, meaning you could create a working circuit among the notes in your notebook.

A Circuit Scribe campaign went live today on Kickstarter, where its creators are asking for $85,000. The campaign had raised just more than $15,000 at the time this post was published. Backers can get their hands on the pen for $20 or spring for a more advanced kit for up to $100. Everything will supposedly ship in June 2014.
The team behind Circuit Scribe wants to use the money to scale up production of the pen. Right now, they empty Gelly Roll pens (yes, like those sparkly ones you used in high school) and then carefully refill them with their conductive silver ink.
If you tended to fall asleep in that physics class, a circuit is a loop through which an electric current can pass. You use the Circuit Scribe to draw that physical loop. You can pair it with accessories like batteries, LEDs and sensors to give it different functions. It can also be paired with platforms like Arduino and Raspberry Pi for added functionality.

The pens can replace just about any existing circuit technology–from breadboards to copper tape. It can be used to create electronic bracelets, add functionality to pictures and sculpture, make game controllers and more.
Circuit Scribe is not the first conductive ink pen, but its creators say its ink dries instantly while others smudge. It coincides with a wave of circuit printers that print on paper, one of which has already hit Kickstarter.

source:http://www.electroninks.com/

Hybrid Plane from NASA

Hybrid Plane from NASA

Hybrid Plane from NASA

Hybrid Plane from NASA

Hybrid Plane from NASA

Hybrid Plane from NASA

Hybrid Plane from NASA

Hybrid Plane from NASA

Hybrid Plane from NASA

Hybrid Plane from NASA

Hybrid Plane from NASA

 Hybrid Plane from NASA

Many hybrid cars arrived in the last decade due to the need of less polluting vehicles. Shortly explained, these cars are propelled by electric motors while their batteries are charged by internal combustion engine. Is the hybrid technology applicable to aircrafts? NASA answers “yes, it is”. The space agency has launched the ERA (Environmentally Responsible Aviation) where students from the University of Virginia focused on construction of a hybrid aircraft.




The team used ATR 42-600 airplane for body of their idea. It is a vehicle powered by two turbines which is able transport 48 passengers. Sohail Ahmad and Kelly Thomas led the project and they used the help of FLOPS (Flight Optimization System) the most proper vehicle.

There was some sort of competition between two technologies for choosing the more effective one: series and parallel. In the parallel technology the rotor is powered by electric motor and combustion engine together. This system is considered to be more efficient for the project purpose than the series technology, where the combustion engine serves as a battery charger.
The overall power output is 3000 kW (i.e. 1500kW per engine) and the food for these “hungry boys” is provided by Lithium-polymer batteries. It is calculated that such vehicle will be much more fuel efficient at distances of 480 km than the usual aircrafts.

Futuristic Computer Technology (Year 2050)

Futuristic Computer Technology (Year 2050)

Future Computers Year 2050

What do you think computers will be like in 2050?
What will the computers of tomorrow be like? Will we still be using keyboards and mice or will we actually live inside a partially digital world? Here’s what we think is in store for the future of computing but share with us your predictions in the comments!

Moore's law predicts that the number of discrete elements on a square-inch silicon integrated circuit will double every two years. While it's not exactly a direct relationship, you can interpret that to mean that computers will double in processing power every two years. That means in the years between 2010 and 2050, computer processing power will double 20 times if Moore's law holds true.

In 2010, IBM introduced the zEnterprise 196 (z196), which boasted a processor capable of running at 5.2 gigahertz (GHz) -- the fastest commercially available processor at that time. That means the z196 processor ran at 5.2 billion cycles per second. Every instruction a processor executes requires a set number of clock ticks. The more clock ticks a processor squeezes into a second, the more instructions that processor can complete in a given amount of time. That's what we mean when we say a 5.2-GHz processor is faster than a 3.2-GHz processor -- the 5.2-GHz microchip is capable of executing more instructions than the 3.2-GHz chip in the same amount of time.

Futuristic computer technology for Year 2050

If 5.2 GHz was the top speed in 2010, what will it be in 2050? Assuming engineers can find ways to keep up with Moore's law and processor speed actually doubles every 24 months, by 2050 we'd have a chip capable of running at 5,452,595 gigahertz, or nearly 5.5 petahertz. It's hard to imagine what kind of applications we could direct such a machine to tackle. Complex computational problems, such as building virtual simulations of the human brain, may become a relatively simple task. Some futurists believe we may even create machines with intelligence far greater than our own. Perhaps those machines could discover ways to improve processing speeds even faster than humans can. Before long, you could have a self-improving device pushing the physical limits of how fast machines can process information.

While this dream of the future is popular among a certain segment of computer scientists and futurists, other people are more skeptical. Perhaps the human mind is far more complex than we understand. Thinking may involve more than just electrochemical messages passed between neurons. Perhaps there's a hormonal element that subtly shapes how we think. If that's the case, it may be that pure computational horsepower won't be enough to create a machine capable of what we consider thought.

Setting aside the artificial intelligence debate for a moment, what might futuristic computers look like? They might actually be invisible. Pervasive computing is a type of technology that incorporates computers into just about anything you can imagine. Buildings, highways, vehicles and even the clothing you wear might have built-in computer elements. Coupled with networking technology, the world of 2050 may be one in which the very environment around you is part of a massive computing system.

In such a world, your digital life and your real life could overlap seamlessly. We see hints of this world in today's technology. There are hundreds of smartphone applications that add a digital layer over our perception of the real world. They might help you navigate around a strange city or discover a new favorite restaurant tucked away in a corner somewhere. These applications still require us to activate programs on mobile devices and use those devices as a lens through which we can see the digital world. In the future, we may be able to accomplish the same thing using glasses, contact lenses or perhaps even ocular implants. Imagine being able to look at the world through one of a million different filters, all of which provide different kinds of information to you instantaneously.

Then again, it's possible that our ingenuity won't be enough to keep up with Moore's law after a few more microprocessor generations. Perhaps our computers will be more mundane and functional. But considering the way they've transformed our world over the last 50 years, I'm willing to bet 2050 will be an exotic, digital era. What do you think?

How Old is the Word ‘Hindu’?

How Old is the Word ‘Hindu’? 
                                          - Here is an eye-opening article about the antiquity of the word “Hindu.” The communist historians of India and the Western Indologists claim that the word “Hindu” was invented by the Arabs in the 8th century and its origins lay in the Persian practice of replacing “S” with “H”. However, many inscriptions over a thousand years older than this period have used the word ”Hindu” or its derivatives. Also, the origin of the word most certainly lies in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat in India, not in Persia. What I found particularly interesting was that Prophet Mohammed’s uncle Omar-bin-e-Hassham had composed a poem in praise of Lord Shiva, a copy of which can be found in the Makhtab-e-Sultania library in Istanbul, Turkey. This rang a bell in my mind. There are many websites which claim that Kaba was an ancient Shiva temple. I don’t know what to make of these claims, but the fact that Prophet Mohammed’s uncle had written an ode to Lord Shiva is certainly stunning.

Antiquity and Origin of the Term ‘Hindu’ 
                                The anti-Hindu historians like Romila Thapar and D.N. Jha have opined that the word ‘Hindu’ was given currency by the Arabs in the 8th century. They however, do not explain the basis of their conclusion nor do they cite any evidence in support of their claim. Even Arab Muslim writers do not make such an extravagant claim. Another theory propounded by European writers is that the word ‘Hindu’ is a Persian corruption of ‘Sindhu’ resulting from the Persian practice of replacing ‘S’ with ‘H’. Even here, no evidence is cited. In fact the word Persia itself contains ‘S’ which should have become ‘Perhia’ if this theory was correct. The present paper examines the above two theories in the light of epigraphic and literary evidence available from Persian, Indian, Greek, Chinese and Arabic sources. The evidence appears to support the conclusion that ‘Hindu’ like ‘Sindhu’, has been in use since the Vedic age and that although ‘Hindu’ is a modified form of ‘Sindhu’, its origin lies in the Saurashtran practice of pronouncing ‘H’ in place of ‘S’. 
 Epigraphic Evidence
                          The Hamadan, Persepolis and Naqsh-I-Rustam Inscriptions of Persian monarch Darius mention a people ‘Hidu’ as included in his empire. These inscriptions are dated between 520-485 B.C. This fact establishes that the term ‘Hi(n)du’ was current more than 500 years before Christ. Xerexes, successor of Darius, in his inscriptions at Persepolis, gives names of countries under his rule. The list includes ‘Hidu’. Xerexes was ruling between 485-465 B.C. On a tomb in Persepolis, in another inscription assigned to Artaxerexes (404-395 B.C.), there are three figures above which are inscribed ‘iyam Qataguviya’ (this is Satygidian), ‘iyam Ga(n)dariya’ (this is Gandhara) and ‘iyam Hi(n)duviya’ (this is Hi(n)du). The Asokan inscriptions (3rd century B.C.) repeatedly use expressions like ‘Hida’ for ‘India’ and ‘Hida loka’ for ‘Indian nation’. ‘Hida’ and its derivative forms are used more than 70 times in the Ashokan inscriptions. For instance in the Jaugadha, separate rock edict II, the lines 3 & 4, read: All men are my people. I desire for my people that they may be provided with all welfare and happiness. I desire for my people, including the people of Hind and beyond and I desire for all men. The Edict further, says in lines 7 & 8 Dhamma may be followed and the people of Hind and beyond may be served. The Ashokan inscriptions establish the antiquity of the name ‘Hind’ for India to at least third century B.C. In Persepolis Pahlvi inscriptions of Shahpur II (310 A.D.) the king has the titles shakanshah hind shakastan u tuxaristan dabiran dabir, “king of Shakastan, minister of ministers of Hind Shakastan and Tukharistan.” The epigraphic evidence from the Achaemenid, Ashokan and Sasanian Pahlvi records puts a question mark on the theory about the term ‘Hindu’ having originated in Arab usage in the 8th century A.D. Literary evidence takes the antiquity of the word ‘Hindu’ back to at least 1000 B.C. and possibly 5000 B.C. Evidence from Pahlvi Avesta   
                                           In the Avesta, Hapta-Hindu is used for Sanskrit Sapta-Sindhu, the Avesta being dated variously between 5000-1000 B.C. This indicates that the term ‘Hindu’ is as old as the word ‘Sindhu.’ Sindhu is a Vedik term used in the Rigveda. And therefore, ‘Hindu’ is as ancient as the Rigveda. In the Avestan Gatha ‘Shatir’, 163rd Verse speaks of the visit of Veda Vyas to the court of Gustashp and in the presence of Zorashtra, Veda Vyas introduces himself saying ‘man marde am Hind jijad.’ (I am man born in ‘Hind.’) Veda Vyas was an elder contemporary of Shri Krishna (3100 B.C.). 
 Greek Usage
                               The Greek term ‘Indoi’ is a softened form of ‘Hindu’ where the initial ‘H’ was dropped as the Greek alphabet has no aspirate. This term ‘Indoi’ was used in Greek literature by Hekataeus (late 6th century B.C.) and Herodotus (early 5th century B.C.), thus establishing that the Greeks were using this derivative of ‘Hindu’ as early as 6th century B.C.  
The Hebrew bible
                                The Hebrew bible uses ‘Hodu’ for India, which is a Judaic form of ‘Hindu’. The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) is considered earlier than 300 B.C. Today’s Hebrew spoken in Israel also uses Hodu for India.
 The Chinese Testimony
The Chinese used the term ‘Hien-tu’ for ‘Hindu’ about 100 B.C.11 While describing movements of the Sai-Wang (100 B.C.), the Chinese annals state that the Sai-Wang went towards the South and passing Hien-tu reached Ki-Pin. Later Chinese travellers Fa-Hien (5th century A.D.) and Huen-Tsang (7th century A.D.) use a slightly modified term ‘Yintu’ but the affinity to ‘Hindu’ is still retained. This term ‘Yintu’ continues to be used till today Pre-Islamic Arabic Literature
 Sair-ul-Okul is an anthology of ancient Arabic poetry available in the Turkish library Makhtab-e-Sultania in Istanbul. In this anthology is included a poem by Prophet Mohammed’s uncle Omar-bin-e-Hassham. The poem is in praise of Mahadev (Shiva), and uses ‘Hind’ for India and ‘Hindu’ for Indians. Some verses are quoted below: Wa Abaloha ajabu armeeman Mahadevo Manojail ilamuddin minhum wa sayattaru If but once one worships Mahadev with devotion, One will attain the ultimate salvation. Wa sahabi Kay yam feema Kamil Hinda e Yauman, Wa Yakulam na latabahan foeennak Tawajjaru. (Oh Lord grant me but one day’s sojourn in Hind, Where one can attain spiritual bliss.) Massayare akhalakan hasanan Kullahum, Najumam aja at Summa gabul Hindu. (But one pilgrimage there gets one all merit, And the company of great Hindu saints.) The same anthology has another poem by Labi-bin-e Akhtab bin-e Turfa who is dated 2300 years before Mohammed i.e. 1700 B.C. This poem also uses ‘Hind’ for India and ‘Hindu’ for Indian. The poem also mentions the four Vedas Sama, Yajur, Rig and Athar. This poem is quoted on columns in the Laxmi Narayan Mandir in New Delhi, popularly known as Birla Mandir (Temple) Some verses are as follows: Aya muwarekal araj yushaiya noha minar Hinda e, wa aradakallha manyonaifail jikaratun. (Oh the Divine land of Hind, blessed art thou, thou art chosen land showered with divine knowledge.) Wahalatjali Yatun ainana sahabi akhatun jikra, Wahajayahi yonajjalur rasu minal Hindatun. (That celetial knowledge shines with such brilliance, Through the words of Hindu saints in fourfold abundance.) Yakuloonallaha ya ahlal araf alameen kullahum, fattabe-u jikaratul Veda bukkun malam yonajjaylatun. (God enjoins on all, follow with devotion, path shown by Veda with divine percept.) Wahowa alamus Sama wal Yajur minallahay Tanajeelan, Fa e noma ya akhigo mutibayan Yobasshariyona jatun. (Overflowing with knowledge are Sama and Yajur for Man, Brothers, follow the path which guides you to salvation.) Wa isa nain huma Rig Athar nasahin ka Khuwatun, Wa asanat Ala-udan wabowa masha e ratun (Also the two Rig and Athar(va) teach us fraternity, taking shelter under their lusture, dispels darkness.)
  ‘Hindu’ in Sanskrit Literature 
 Another doubt created by the modern day anglicized historian is that the term ‘Hindu’ is not found used in Sanskrit literature. This misconception can be dispelled by quoting from Sanskrit works15 : Meru tantra (es#rU=) (4th to 6th century A.D.), a Shaiva text, comments on ‘Hindu’. Hindu is one who discards the mean and the ignoble. The same idea is expressed in Shabda Kalpadruma. Brihaspati Agam says, Starting from Himalaya up to Indu waters is this God-created country Hindustan Parijat Haran Natak describes Hindu as, Hindu is one who with penance washes one’s sins and evil thoughts and with arms destroys one’s enemies. Madhava Digvijaya states, One who meditates on Omkar as the primeal sound, believes in karma & reincarnation, has reverence for the cow, who is devoted to Bharat, and abhors evil, is deserving of being called Hindu. Vriddha Smriti defines Hindu as, One who abhors the mean and the ignoble, and is of noblebearing, who reveres the Veda, the cow, and the deity, is a Hindu. Similarly other Sanskrit works which use the term ‘Hindu’ are, Kalika Puran, Bhavishya Puran, Adbhut Kosh, Medini Kosh, Ram Kosh etc. Even Kalidas has used a derivative form ‘Haindava.’ ‘Hindu’ and ‘Sindhu’ - Another theory says that ‘Hindu’ originated from the Persian practice of replacing ‘S’ with ‘H’. 

                              This does not seem to be true is evident from the fact that Sindh has not become Hind and both Sindh and Hind exist in Persian as well as Arabic. The inscriptions of Darius and Xerexes which describe India as Hi(n)du, also use the term ‘Sugd’ for Sogdiana. This ‘Sugd’ should have become ‘Hugd’ as per this theory. The Pahlvi inscription of Shahpur II, uses ‘S’ in Shakastan and Tuxaristan. But it cannot be denied that Hindu is a form of Sindhu. It needs to be realised that this change from S to H is common in Saurashtra where Sorath becomes Horath, Somnath becomes Homnath and so on. The form Hindu is therefore, likely to have come from Saurashtra. It should also be noted that as per Nirukta rules of grammar, in the Vedik language, replacement of S with H is permitted Conclusion . Epigraphic evidence takes the antiquity of ‘Hindu’ back to at least 500 B.C. Use of ‘Hindu’ as part of ‘Hapta-Hindu’ in the Avesta suggests that ‘Hindu’ is as old as ‘Sindhu’ and therefore, belongs to the Vedic age. Regarding the origin of ‘Hindu’ from ‘Sindhu’, the Saurashtran practice of pronouncing ‘H’ in place of ‘S’ provides the answer. ~By Dr. Murlidhar H. Pahoja

Technique Developed to Convert Thermoelectric Material Into High Performance Electricity

Nov. 19, 2013 — A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Pooja Puneet, Ph.D., the lead author on the article published in Scientific Reports and Prof. Jian He discuss their custom-made resistivity and Seebeck measurement system which is located in Prof. Terry Tritt’s complex advanced material laboratory. (Credit: Image courtesy of Clemson University)

Their findings were published in journal Scientific Reports.
The current US energy economy and environment are increasingly threatened by fast-dwindling domestic reserves of fossil fuel coupled with severe environmental impact of fossil fuel combustion. Highly-efficient thermoelectric devices are expected to provide clean energy technology-needs of the hour for US energy sustainability. This research is a step towards optimizing the device performance since it outlines a methodology to overcome a challenge that has "frustrated" thermoelectric researchers to date.
Thermoelectric (TE) devices convert waste heat into electricity through a unique material's property called the Seebeck effect. Basically, the Seebeck effect results in a voltage across the two ends of a TE material, akin to the voltage present across the two ends of a AA battery, when the TE material is properly exposed to the waste heat. In such devices, the efficiency of converting heat into electricity is governed by certain strongly coupled materials properties, viz., electrical resistivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity. A functional TE device consists of multiple legs made up of p-type and n-type materials, just as a diode comprises of a p-n junction.
Bismuth telluride (Bi₂Te₃) is a layered material and can be viewed as a deck of playing cards, wherein each card is only a few atoms thick. Bi₂Te₃ is currently regarded as the state-of-the-art TE material with high efficiency for converting waste heat into electricity, and is therefore attractive for energy harvesting processes.
Traditional nanosizing methods failed to improve the performance of n-type Bi₂Te₃ since they simply downgrade all materials properties simultaneously. Therefore, Clemson researchers and colleagues developed a novel nanosizing method in which we first peel n-type Bi₂Te₃ into atomically thin-sheets (akin to graphene which is one atom thick sheet of carbon atoms) and reassemble them using a spark plasma sintering process.
The researchers found that that the above described two-step process of first separating the deck of cards into individual cards and then re-assembling them into a deck via spark plasma sintering does enable us to suitably tailor the materials properties of n-type Bi₂Te₃for high TE performance. In this approach, the so-called 'interfacial charged defects' are generated in the sintered n-type Bi₂Te₃ which not only improves its structural properties but also its thermoelectric efficiency over a wide temperature window, thus making it extremely compatible with p-type Bi₂Te₃ for manufacturing efficient TE devices.
The improved compatibility factor (demonstrated in this paper) is expected to open new possibilities for highly efficient TE devices. The fascinating and noteworthy element of this research is that defects, which often connote impurity and are associated with low performance or efficiency, can indeed be used to tune the properties of materials to our advantage.
Today's scientific community lacks a comprehensive understanding of defects, mainly due to the absence of methods that can controllably generate and manipulate defects. The future of this research will be aimed at developing tools to generate and study defects at a fundamental level which will in turn allow the researchers to optimize materials properties of not only TE materials but also of a new class of two-dimensional materials beyond the Nobel-winning graphene for energy generation and storage.

 

A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-technique-thermoelectric-material-high-electricity.html#jCp

A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-technique-thermoelectric-material-high-electricity.html#jCp

A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-technique-thermoelectric-material-high-electricity.html#jCp

A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-technique-thermoelectric-material-high-electricity.html#jCp

A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-technique-thermoelectric-material-high-electricity.html#jCp

A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-technique-thermoelectric-material-high-electricity.html#jCp

A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-technique-thermoelectric-material-high-electricity.html#jCp

A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-technique-thermoelectric-material-high-electricity.html#jCp

A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-technique-thermoelectric-material-high-electricity.html#jCp

 

A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-technique-thermoelectric-material-high-electricity.html#jCp

 

 

 

 

A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-technique-thermoelectric-material-high-electricity.html#jCp

A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-technique-thermoelectric-material-high-electricity.html#jCp

A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-technique-thermoelectric-material-high-electricity.html#jCp

A team of Clemson University physicists consisting of nanomaterial scientists Apparao Rao and Ramakrishna Podila and thermoelectricians Terry Tritt, Jian He and Pooja Puneet worked synergistically through the newly established Clemson Nanomaterials Center to develop a novel technique of tailoring thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth telluride for high thermoelectric performance.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-technique-thermoelectric-material-high-electricity.html#jCp

Nuclear Powered Cars Can Soon Be A Reality!

We have covered quite a few technologies here, some belonging to the energy crisis issues and finding new sources; Ewicon and others cars such as; Dark Knight tumbler, Lotus and Jaguar! What do you make of these articles? One thing which is quite obvious is the fact that no matter which profession you are in, science is improving it. Engineers and scientists are working round the clock to deliver you the best and that too at an economical price. There are medical researches being carried out, military work is in progress and then there are tons of other gadgets coming in the market every now and then, all unique and quite wonderful. Some of these need not be too scientific as well; cardboard bikes and the alarm clock which electrifies you are two such examples. What we’re saying is; science is constantly working to provide you with the very best there is in the most economic way. The very best means what is beneficial to humans as well as Mother Nature.
What we are looking at today is a concept car which debuted at Chicago Auto Show; The Cadillac World Thorium Fueled Concept Car. Why is the car such a contribution to the society? It is less toxic and is, theoretically speaking, capable of going for a hundred years without requiring any fuel refilling. Now comes the actual news; it is supposed to run on ‘Thorium’ which will power it via onboard nuclear reactor. There was no working model of the nuclear reactor but it was claimed that the technology is within reach. Charles Stevens, MIT researcher R&D firm Laser Power Systems, is working on a prototype version of the reactor where a thorium powered laser will generate enough energy to power the car without emitting any harmful gases. The idea is to employ ‘MaxFelaser’ which will be used to convert water into pressurized steam that would spin a turbine and generate electricity. The system is capable of generating 250 Kilowatts. That is equivalent of 335 horsepower. The reactor will weight about 500 pounds and can easily fit under the hood. The idea sure is impressive, but frankly, how realistic do we find it? Not very much; think of the safety concerns if you have nuclear reactors under the hood of your car! Also, such systems are quite realistic when we talk in terms of size but there has yet been no successful fusion of the reactor and car so far.
However, the idea is there and work is being done upon it so we can very much expect a successful fusion soon enough and imagine a car that doesn’t require fuel for over a hundred years and has a zero emission rate; pretty slick, also the car’s design sure look pretty slick. Fingers crossed and we really do hope this idea comes out as a success and they can come up with a solution regarding the safety concerns.

 

Excursions to stratosphere

Ride with a view: U.S. firm to offer balloon excursions to stratosphere

Hoping to cash in on a growing appetite for adventure, an Arizona startup has unveiled plans for a balloon ride to the stratosphere, offering passengers about two hours of space-like views from 19 miles above Earth.

Privately owned World View, an offshoot of Paragon Space Development Corp., plans to start selling tickets at $75,000 per person within a few months, said Chairwoman and President Jane Poynter.
The company expects to begin flight tests of a demonstration vehicle this year in Arizona and could be flying passengers within three years, Poynter said.
Initially, six passengers and two pilots would be aboard a pressurized capsule that is still under development. The Federal Aviation Administration has determined it must meet the same safety requirements as a manned spacecraft orbiting Earth.
"At Paragon's intended altitude, water and blood boil, and an unprotected person would rapidly experience fatal decompression," the FAA, which oversees commercial spaceflight in the United States, wrote in a letter Paragon provided to Reuters.

The FAA said it took no position as to whether an altitude of 30 kilometers constitutes outer space, but that Paragon's capsule will need to be capable of operating in space.
By comparison, rides aboard SpaceShipTwo - a suborbital six-passenger, two-pilot vehicle owned by Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of Richard Branson's London-based Virgin Group - is expected to reach about 68 miles.
At that altitude, passengers will experience a few minutes of weightlessness in addition to seeing the curvature of the Earth set against the black sky of space.
World View capsules would be propelled by a 40 million cubic-foot (1.1 million cubic-meter) helium balloon and a steerable parafoil, an inflatable wing-shaped parachute. They should take about 90 minutes to two hours to reach peak altitude, more than twice as high as where commercial jets fly.
LONGER, LESS EXPENSIVE
While the view may not be as expansive as what SpaceShipTwo can offer, it will last longer. Project developers expect the capsule to linger in the middle of the stratosphere for about two hours before returning to the ground. The descent should take 25 to 40 minutes.
A World View ride would cost less than one-third of the $250,000 it will cost to fly on SpaceShipTwo. So far, about 650 people have put down deposits or paid for rides on the latter, which is undergoing testing at manufacturer Scaled Composites' facility in Mojave, California.
Virgin Galactic aims to begin passenger service next summer, Branson said last month.
Virgin Galactic and others have shown that the luxury market has shifted from high-end goods to high-end experiences, Paragon co-founder and Chief Executive Taber MacCallum told Reuters.
"(We) found we could put together a business plan that closed in a ticket price that is not too different from other luxury experiences, like a high-end safari and things like that," MacCallum said.
The FAA letter describes World View's initial launches as taking place from New Mexico's Spaceport America, a commercial port whose anchor tenant is Virgin Galactic. Poynter said the firm is looking at several U.S. launch sites.
For added safety and for landing, a steerable parafoil will remain deployed and attached to the capsule throughout the ride, Poynter and MacCallum said.
"The balloon you're under is the thickness of a dry cleaner bag. It's very thin material by necessity to get you so high. That's where the technical risk lies. The risks of decompression of the spacecraft or life-support systems failures are really pretty small. We've got lots of redundant systems and we can return to lower altitudes pretty quickly," MacCallum said.
"There is a chance - and every once in a while you see in scientific ballooning - of a balloon failure. That's really what took us to having this para-wing, or parafoil always open so that from just about any altitude the vehicle could safely glide back," he added.
source:http://www.reuters.com

A Trip to the Stratosphere

A Trip to the Stratosphere

Ivanpah Solar Facility – The World’s Largest Solar Thermal Energy Plant

The Ivanpah Solar Power Facility is one of the largest solar thermal energy facilities in the world, situated on the border of California and Nevada in Mojave Desert.
It is a $2.2 billion project. 170,000 heliostat mirrors will be installed in this project which will help us in directing the solar energy on boilers that are positioned in centralized towers spread across the 4000 acre area. Steam will be produced as the water will start to heat up in the centralized boilers and this steam will help in driving the turbines to generate electricity.
The Ivanpah Solar Power Facility has the maximum ability of producing 392MW of power and its annual production is predicted to be fixed at 1,079,232 MWh.
Coupled with the California power grid, the Ivanpah facility has still not started adding power to the grid and is in test stages. Nevertheless, the experts expect the facility to contribute towards the energy demands of California by the end of this year.

 

Better Batteries Through Biology? Modified Viruses Boost Battery Performance

Nov. 13, 2013 — MIT researchers have found a way to boost lithium-air battery performance, with the help of modified viruses.

MIT researchers find a way to boost lithium-air battery performance, with the help of modified viruses. (Credit: MIT)

Lithium-air batteries have become a hot research area in recent years: They hold the promise of drastically increasing power per battery weight, which could lead, for example, to electric cars with a much greater driving range. But bringing that promise to reality has faced a number of challenges, including the need to develop better, more durable materials for the batteries' electrodes and improving the number of charging-discharging cycles the batteries can withstand.
Now, MIT researchers have found that adding genetically modified viruses to the production of nanowires -- wires that are about the width of a red blood cell, and which can serve as one of a battery's electrodes -- could help solve some of these problems.

The new work is described in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, co-authored by graduate student Dahyun Oh, professors Angela Belcher and Yang Shao-Horn, and three others. The key to their work was to increase the surface area of the wire, thus increasing the area where electrochemical activity takes place during charging or discharging of the battery.
The researchers produced an array of nanowires, each about 80 nanometers across, using a genetically modified virus called M13, which can capture molecules of metals from water and bind them into structural shapes. In this case, wires of manganese oxide -- a "favorite material" for a lithium-air battery's cathode, Belcher says -- were actually made by the viruses. But unlike wires "grown" through conventional chemical methods, these virus-built nanowires have a rough, spiky surface, which dramatically increases their surface area.
Belcher, the W.M. Keck Professor of Energy and an affiliate of MIT's Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, explains that this process of biosynthesis is "really similar to how an abalone grows its shell" -- in that case, by collecting calcium from seawater and depositing it into a solid, linked structure.
The increase in surface area produced by this method can provide "a big advantage," Belcher says, in lithium-air batteries' rate of charging and discharging. But the process also has other potential advantages, she says: Unlike conventional fabrication methods, which involve energy-intensive high temperatures and hazardous chemicals, this process can be carried out at room temperature using a water-based process.
Also, rather than isolated wires, the viruses naturally produce a three-dimensional structure of cross-linked wires, which provides greater stability for an electrode.
A final part of the process is the addition of a small amount of a metal, such as palladium, which greatly increases the electrical conductivity of the nanowires and allows them to catalyze reactions that take place during charging and discharging. Other groups have tried to produce such batteries using pure or highly concentrated metals as the electrodes, but this new process drastically lowers how much of the expensive material is needed.
Altogether, these modifications have the potential to produce a battery that could provide two to three times greater energy density -- the amount of energy that can be stored for a given weight -- than today's best lithium-ion batteries, a closely related technology that is today's top contender, the researchers say.
Belcher emphasizes that this is early-stage research, and much more work is needed to produce a lithium-air battery that's viable for commercial production. This work only looked at the production of one component, the cathode; other essential parts, including the electrolyte -- the ion conductor that lithium ions traverse from one of the battery's electrodes to the other -- require further research to find reliable, durable materials. Also, while this material was successfully tested through 50 cycles of charging and discharging, for practical use a battery must be capable of withstanding thousands of these cycles.
While these experiments used viruses for the molecular assembly, Belcher says that once the best materials for such batteries are found and tested, actual manufacturing might be done in a different way. This has happened with past materials developed in her lab, she says: The chemistry was initially developed using biological methods, but then alternative means that were more easily scalable for industrial-scale production were substituted in the actual manufacturing.
In addition to Oh, Belcher, and Shao-Horn, the work was carried out by MIT research scientists Jifa Qi and Yong Zhang and postdoc Yi-Chun Lu. The work was supported by the U.S. Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation.
 

VEDIC SCIENCE & ITS PRESENCE IN MODERN WORLD

VEDIC SCIENCE  &  ITS PRESENCE IN MODERN WORLD

Guigualt : "The Rig Veda is the most sublime conception of the great highways of humanity."

Max Muller : "In the history of the world, the Veda fills a gap which no literary work in any other language can fill."

Henry David Thoreau : What extracts from the Vedas I have read fall on me like the light of a higher and purer luminary, which describes a loftier course through purer stratum. It rises on me like the full moon after the stars have come out, wading through some far stratum in the sky."

Alfred North Whitehead :  "Vedanta is the most impressive metaphysics the human mind has conceived."

J. Robert Oppenheimer :  Access to the Vedas is the greatest privilege this century may claim over all previous centuries.
the amazing inventions, extraordinary ideas and world's first and advanced civilization by Indians that are still usefull today, such as plastic sergery, number system, wax, yoga, water clock, etc.



1. India invented the Number system. Pingalacharya invented ‘zero.’ in 200 BC.

2. Indians discovered the size, shape, rotation and gravity of earth about 1000 years before Kelvin,Galileo,Newton and Copper Nicus. Aryabhatta I was the first to explain spherical shape,size ,diameter,rotaion and correct speed of Earth in 499 AD.

3. Newton’s law of Gravitational force is an ancient Indian discovery. In Siddhanta Siromani ( Bhuvanakosam 6 ) Bhaskaracharya II described about gravity of earth about 400 years before Sir Isaac Newton.

4. Bhaskaracharya II discovered Differential calculus.

5. Theory of Continued Fraction was discovered by Bhaskaracharya II.


6. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.

7. Indians discovered Arithmetic and Geometric progression. Arithmetic progression is explained in Yajurveda.

8. Govindaswamin discovered Newton Gauss Interpolation formula about 1800 years before Newton.

9. Vateswaracharya discovered Newton Gauss Backward Interpolation formula about 1000 years before Newton.

10. Madhavacharya discovered Taylor series of Sine and Cosine function about 250 years before Taylor.


11. Madhavacharya discovered Newton Power series.

12. Madhavacharya discovered Gregory Leibnitz series for the Inverse Tangent about 280 years before Gregory.

13. Madhavacharya discovered Leibnitz power series for pi about 300 years before Leibnitz.

14. Parameswaracharya discovered Lhuiler’s formula about 400 years before Lhuiler.

15. Nilakanta discovered Newton’s Infinite Geometric Progression convergent series.

16. Theorems relating the diameter,volume and circumference of circles discovered by Madhavacharya, Puthumana Somayaji, Aryabhatta, Bhaskaracharya…….

17. The value of pi was first calculated by Aryabhatta I in 499 AD,ie more than 1350 years before Lindemann

18. Boudhayana discovered Pythagorus Theorem in 800BC. ie 300 years before Pythagorus.

19. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th Century.

20. While the Greeks were using only upto a maximum value 1000, Indians could go upto 18th power of 10 level during Vedic period.

21. Infinity was well known for ancient Indians. BhaskaracharyaII in Beejaganitha
(stanza-20) has given clear explanation with examples for infinity

22. Positive and Negative numbers and their calculations were explained first by Brahmagupta in his book Brahmasputa Siddhanta.

23. Sterling formula was discovered by Brahmagupta about 1000 years before Sterling.

24. Demovier’s theorem of positive integral was discovered by Brahmagupta in 628 A.D, i.e around 1000 years before Demovier.

25. Puthumana Somayaji discovered Demovier’s infinite series in 1140 AD,i.e more than 200 years before Demovier.

26. Maharshi Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. He was the first person to perform plastic surgery.

27. When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization).

28. The world’s first University was established in Takshila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

29. According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software.

30. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.

31. Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty stricken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was once the richest empire on earth.

32. According to the Gemmological Institute of America, until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world.

33. USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Professor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.

34. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.

35. Chess was invented in India.

36. The first philosopher who formulated ideas about the atom in a systematic manner was Kanada who lived in the 6th century B.C.

37. All the atomic reactors in the world are in Shiva Linga Shape which is an Indian contribution.

38. Padanjali maharshi discovered Sound waves.

39. Yoga is an ancient Indian gift to the world.

40. Shayanacharya discovered velocity of light.

41. Maharshi Bharadwaja discovered different types of light rays.

42. Maharshi Bharadwaja was the first person to give definition about aeroplane. He explained about different types aeroplanes in his book “Vimana Thantra” about 2000 years before Right Brothers.

43. Maharshi Bharadwaja discovered spectrometer. In his “Yantra Sarvaswa” he explained about more than 100 instruments.

44. The different colours of light, VIBGYOR are mentioned in Rigveda which was written more than 6000 years ago.

45. Maharshi Charaka discovered Psychology and Quantum healing system.

46. Varahamihira discovered the concept of “Budding of plants”.

47. Varahamihira discovered Comets in 505 AD, i.e more than 1100 years before Haley.

48. Gouthama Maharshi discovered the wave nature of sound about 1400 years before Hyghen.

49. Seven continents are mentioned in Padmapurana.

*Kak [1] notes that Sayana, Prime-minister of India in the 14th century, could decipher an extract from The Rigveda from which followed that the value of the velocity of light was equal to 300,000 km/s. Note that in Europe, Danish astronomer O. Römer could measure the same value of the velocity of light only in 1676, i.e. around 150 year later.


*The contributions of the Namboothiris in Astrology, Astronomy and Mathematics have been immense. They had a capacity for unmistakable and sharp observations on the natural phenomena and accurate ability of deducting complicated theoretical formulae. The works of about 20 prominent ones among them during a long period of about a millenium between the seventh and the eighteenth century (AD) are enumerated here.

1. Bhaaskaraachaaryan - I (early 6th century AD)

Formost among Ganithajnans (astrologer / mathematician) in the entire Bhaaratham (India), Bhaskaran-I, hailed from Kerala, according to experts. In 522 AD he wrote "Mahaa Bhaaskareeyam", also known as "Karma Nibandhham". A Vyaakhyaanam (explanations and discussions) on Aaryabhateeyam as well as a condensed version - "Laghu Bhaaskareeyam" - of Aaryabhateeyam, have also come down to us.

(Bhaaskaraachaaryan-II who wrote "Leelaavathy" lived in the 11th century).

2. Haridathan (650 - 750 AD)

Though the Aarybhata system had been followed in calculating the planetary positions, Namboothiri scholars recognised variations between the computed and observed values of longitudes of the planets. A new system called "Parahitham" was proposed by Haridathan through his famous works "Graha-Chakra-Nibandhhana" and "Mahaa-Maarga-Nibandhhana". In 683 AD, this system was accepted throughout Kerala on the occasion of the 12-yearly Mahaamaagha festival at Thirunavaya, and is recorded in many later works. Haridathan introduced many improvements over Aarybhata system, like using the more elegant Katapayaadi (Click here) system of notation in preference to the more complicated Aarybhataa's notation.

Haridathan introduced the unique system of enunciating graded tables of the sines of arcs of anomaly (Manda-jya) and of conjugation (Seeghra-jya) at intervals of 3° 45' to facilitate the computation of the true positions of the planets. One of the corrections introduced by Haridathan to make the Aarybhata's results more accurate, is the "Sakaabda Samskaaram".

3. Aadi Sankaran (788 - 820 AD)

Sree Sankaran was born in Kalady in Central Kerala (nearly 50 km north east of Kochi) on the banks of river Periyar as the son of Kaippilly Sivaguru Namboothiri and Arya Antharjanam (Melpazhur Mana). Scientific concepts naturally evolved from this highly logical and rational intellect. It is believed that Sree Sankaran was the first mathematician to moot the concept of Number Line. [Ref: "Sankara Bhaashyam" (4-4-25) of the "Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad"]. It was Sree Sankaran who first expounded the idea of assigning a set of natural numbers to a straight line. As the number of elements in a set of natural numbers is infinite, it requires a symbol of infinity to represent them. A straight line can be considered to be infinitely long. Sankaran adopted a straight line as a symbol of infinity. A straight line can be divided to infinite number of parts and each of these parts can be assigned the value of a particular number. This is called number line. Though his concept lacks the perfection of modern number line theory, Sree Sankaran exhibited his intellectual ingenuity in conceiving such a novel idea.

Yet another example for Sree Sankaran's unbiased and pure scientific pursuit of knowledge could be seen in the second "Slokam" of "Soundarya Lahari" [a collection of 100 Slokams in praise of Goddess Durga written by Sree Sankaran]. In the Slokam "Thaneeyaamsam paamsum thava charana pankeruhabhavam", we can see a hint to the theory of inter-convertibility of mass and energy. Famous scientist Albert Einstein put forward this theory much later. Einstein said mass can be converted to energy and vice-versa according to the equation E = MC², where E = Energy released, M = Mass of the substance, and C = Velocity of light = 3 x 10¹º cm/sec.

In another context, Sree Sankaran postulated that the diameter of Sun is 1 lakh "Yojanas". Later the modern scientific community calculated the diameter which agreed very closely with (just 3% error) the value provided by Sankaran.

4. Sankaranarayanan (9th century)

This scholar from "Kollapuri" (Kollam) in Kerala has written a commentary (Vyaakhhyaanam) of the "Laghu Bhaaskareeyam" of Bhaaskaraachaaryan-I, titled "Sankaranaaraayaneeyam". The Granthham is dated 869 AD (ME 44).

5. Sreepathy (around 1039 AD)

Sreepathy (Kaasyapa Gothram) has described methods for calculating the "Shadbalam" of the planets and stars. Prescribing of consequences should be based on these "Balams". His works include "Aarybhateeya Vyaakhhyaanams" such as "Ganitha Thilakam", "Jaathaka Karma Padhhathi" and "Jyothisha Rathna Maala".

6. Thalakkulathu Bhattathiri (1237 - 1295 AD)

This Govindan Bhattathiri is believed to have been born in ME 412 in Thalakkulam of Aalathur Graamam, about three kilometer south of Tirur. The Illam does not exist anymore. His mother was apparently from Paazhoor. He is said to have left Keralam (to Paradesam, possibly Tamil Nadu) and studied the "Ulgranthhams" in Jyothisham under a scholar by name Kaanchanoor Aazhvaar, returned and prayed for a dozen years to Vadakkunnathan at Thrissur.

Bhattathiri's major work is the renowned Jyothisha Granthham "Dasaadhhyaayi". It is a majestic "Vyaakhyaanam" of the first ten chapters of the famous 26-chapter "Brihajjaathakam" in the field of Jyothissaasthram, written by Varaahamihiran of Avanthi, a sixth century scholar. Bhattathiri felt that the "Aachaaryan" had not covered anything significantly more in the rest of the chapters and therefore, left them altogether. There are also other works like "Muhoortha Rathnam" to his credit.

7. Sooryadevan

This Namboothiri (Somayaaji) scholar is better known as Sooryadeva Yajwaavu. "Jaathakaalankaaram" is Sooryadevan's Vyaakhyaanam for Sreepathy's (No. 5, above) "Jaathaka Karma Padhhathi". His other works include a "Laghu Vyaakhhyaanam" (simple explanation) of Aaryabhateeyam, called "Bhataprakaasam", as well as Vyaakhhyaanams for Varaahamihiran's "Brihadyaathra" and for Mujjaalakan's "Laghu Maanava Karanam".


8. Irinjaatappilly Madhavan Namboodiri (1340 - 1425)

Madhavan of Sangamagraamam, as he is known, holds a position of eminence among the astute astronomers of medieval Kerala. He hailed from Sangama Graamam, the modern Irinjalakuda, near the railway station. Madhavan was the treacher of Parameswaran, the promulgator of Drigganitha school of Astronomy, and is frequently quoted in the medieval astronomical literature of Kerala as Golavith (adept in spherics).

He is the author of several important treatises on Mathematics and Astronomy. The "Venvaaroham" explaining the method for computation of the moon and the moon-sentences, "Aganitham", an extensive treatise on the computation of planets, "Golavaadam", "Sphhuta-Chandraapthi", "Madhyama Nayana Prakaaram" are some of his important works.

Besides these works, a number of stray verses of Madhavan are quoted by later astronomers like Neelakandha Somayaaji, Narayanan the commentator of Leelaavathy, Sankaran the commentator of Thanthrasangraham, etc. One of his significant contributions is his enunciatiation of formulae for accurate determination of the circumference of a circle and the value of p by the method of indeterminate series, a method which was rediscovered in Europe nearly three centuries later by James Gregory (1638 - 75 AD), Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646 - 1716 AD) and Newton (1642, "Principia Mathematicia"). His five Paraspara-Nyaaya contains the enunciation for the first time in the world, of the formula for the sine of sum of two angles.
sine (A + B) = sine A cos B + cos A sine B
This is known as "Jeeve Paraspara Nyaaya".

The ideas of Calculus and Trigonometry were developed by him in the middle of the 14th century itself, as can be verified by his extensive mathematical and astronomical treatises and quotations by later authors.

Madhavan deserves, in all respects, to be called the Father of Calculus and Spherical Trigonometry. For a detailed appreciation of his contribution, refer to the excellent paper of R G Gupta,"Second Order of Interpolation of Indian Mathematics", Ind, J.of Hist. of Sc. 4 (1969) 92-94.

Again Madhavan provides the power series expansions for sin x and cos x for an arc x correct to 1/3600 of a degree.

9. Vatasseri Parameswaran Namboodiri (1360 - 1455)

Vatasseri was a great scientist who contributed much to Astronomy and Mathematics. He was from Vatasseri Mana on the north bank of river Nila (Bhaarathappuzha) near its mouth in a village called Aalathiyur (Aswathha Graamam). This is near the present Tirur of Malappuram district. He was a Rigvedi (Aaswalaayanan) of Bhrigu Gothram.

"Drigganitham" was his greatest contribution. The seventh century "Parahitha Ganitham" for calculations and projections in Astronomy continued its popularity for a few centuries, with some later modifications made by Mujjaalakan, Sreepathy and others, for correcting the differences found with actual occurences. But it was Parameswaran who, as a result of over fifty years of systematic observations and research on movements of celestial bodies, estimated the error factor and established a new method called Drig Sidhham as explained in his popular Drigganitham (ME 606, 1430-31 AD). He suggested the use of "Parahitham" for "Paralokahitham" such as Thithhi, Nakshthram, Muhoortham, etc., and his own "Drigganitham" for "Ihalokahitham" like "Jaathakam", "Graha Moudhhyam", "Grahanam", etc. Unfortunately, Drigganitham Granthham has not been traced so far.

Yet another of his contribution was a correction to the angle of precision of equinox mentioned by his disciple, Kelalloor Somayaaji (vide 15, below) in his "Jyothirmeemaamsa" (ch. 17). The 13 ½° suggested by Mujjaalakan was rectified by him to 15°.

There are numerous works to his credit, apart from Drigganitham. The 3-volume, 302 verse "Gola Deepika" (1443 AD) explaining about the stars and earth in very simple terms, "Jaathaka Padhhathy" in 41 verses, "Soorya Sidhhantha Vivaranam", "Grahana Mandanam", "Grahanaashtakam", "Vyatheepaathaashtaka Vrththi" in 500 verses or Slokams. (The last three are believed by experts to be his works), "Aachaarya Samgraham", "Grahana Nyaaya Deepika", "Chandra-Chhaayaa-Ganitham", "Vaakya Karmam" and "Vaakya Deepika" are his well-known works.

He has written superb commentaries such as "Sidhhantha Deepika" on Govindaswamy's Mahaa Bhaaskareeyam; "Karma Deepika" or "Bhata Deepika" on Aarya Bhateeyam; "Muhoortha Rathna Vyaakhyaa" on Govindaswamy's Muhoortha Rathnam; Leelavathee Vyaakhyaa on the famous mathematical treatise, Leelavathy of Bhaaskaraachaarya-II; "Laghu Bhaaskareeya Vyaakhyaa" on Laghu Bhaaskareeyam of Bhaaskaraachaarya-I; "Jaathaka Karma Padhhathee Vyaakhyaa" on Sreepathy's 8-chapter work on Jyothisham; the one on "Laghu Maanasam" of Mujjaalakan; "Jaathakaadesa Vyaakhyaa"; and "Prasna-Nashta Panchaasikaavrthy" also called "Paarameswari" based on the work of Prathhuyasass, son of Varaahamihiran.

Undoubtedly, there had not been many scholars of his calibre in the annals of history in the realm of Astronomy.

10. Damodaran Namboodiri

Damodaran Namboodiri is known for his work "Muhoorthaabharanam". It is believed that he had an ancestor by name Yajnan whose brother's son, Kesavan, was a great scholar, and that Damodaran was Kesavan's younger brother. His family is said to have belonged to a village near Thriprangod, but it is clear that it was in Taliparamba Graamam. Mazhamangalam (Mahishamangalam, vide 17, below) has recognised "Muhoorthaabharanam" as a reference work similar to "Muhoortha Rathnam" and other earlier works.

11. Narayanan Namboodiri

He has authored "Muhoortha Deepikam". He could be the same Narayanan, one of Vatasseri Parameswaran Namboodiri's teachers (Guru), as mentioned by Kelallur Chomaathiri (Neelakandha Somayaaji, 15, below). "Muhoortha Deepikam" is also recognised as an authoritative work, by Mazhamangalam (17, below).


12. Puthumana Somayaaji (Chomaathiri)

He belonged to Puthumana Illam (Sanskritised as Noothana Graamam) of Chovvaram (Sukapuram) Graamam. He is believed to have been a contemporary of Vatasseri Namboodiri, during the 15th century AD.

His famous works are "Karana Padhhathi" which is a comprehensive treatise on Astronomy in ten chapters completed in the year ME 606 (1430-31 AD), the same year as Vatasseri Namboodiri's "Drigganitham"; "Nyaaya Rathnam", an 8-chapter Ganitha Granthham; "Jaathakaadesa Maargam"; "Smaartha-Praayaschitham"; "Venvaarohaashtakam"; "Panchabodham"; "Grahanaashtakam"; and "Grahana Ganitham".

To his credit is also an important mathematical equation to calculate the tangent (tan) value of an angle

13. Chennas Narayanan Namboodiripad (mid 15th century)

He was considered to be an authority in the fields of Vaasthusaastram (Indian Architecture), Mathematics and Tanthram. Born in 1428, Chennas Narayanan Namboodiripad authored a book titled "Thanthra Samuchayam" which is still considered as the authentic reference manual in the field of temple architecture and rituals. In this Granthham , while elaborating on various points of Indian architectural practices, he has dealt with many mathematical principles also. The following are noteworthy.

a) A method of arriving at a circle starting with a square, and successively making it a regular octagon, a regular 16-sided, a 32-sided, 64-sided polygons, etc. In this method some geometrical steps have been suggested.
b) Co-ordinate system of fixing points in a plane.
c) Converting a square to a regular hexagon having approximately equal area.
d) Finding the width of a regular octagon, given the perimeter.

14. Ravi Namboodiri

He is one of the teachers of Kelallur Chomaathiri, and was a scholar in both Astronomy and Vedaantham. His treatise "Aachaara Deepika" is on Jyothisham.

15. Kelallur Neelakandha Somayaaji (1465 - 1545)

He is one of the foremost astronomers of Kerala and considered an equal to Vatasseri Parameswaran Namboodiri, and known popularly as Kelallur Chomaathiri. He was born to Jathavedan and Arya in Kelallur (or Kerala Nallur, Kerala-Sad-Graamam in Sanskrit) Mana of Thrikkandiyur (Sree Kundapuram in Sanskrit), near Tirur, and belonged to Gaargya Gothram, Aaswalaayana Soothram of Rigvedam. Kelallur Mana later became extinct and their properties merged with Edamana Mana. They were staunch devotees at Thriprangot Siva temple.

He is said to be a disciple of one Ravi who taught him Vedaantham and the basics of Astronomy and of Vatasseri Damodaran Namboodiri (son of the famous Parameswaran Namboodiri) who trained him in Astronomy and Mathematics. According to Ulloor, he lived during 1465 and 1545 (roughly), though according to another version, he was born on June 17, 1444 on a Wednesday.

His most important work is "Thanthra Samgraham" (a treatise on Mathematics and Astronomy) in eight chapters with 432 verses, and apparently written in an unbelievable six days from Meenam 26 of 676 ME to Metam 1 the same year! The lucid manner in which difficult concepts are presented, the wealth of quotations, and the results of his personal investigations and comparative studies make this work a real masterpiece. Two commentaries on this work, "Yukthi Bhaasha" (in Malayalam) by Paarangot Jyeshthhadevan Namboodiri (No. 16 below) and "Yukthi Deepika" by Sankara Varier, themselves indicate the importance of the original work.

Another of his important works is a "Bhaashyam" (commentary) on "Aaryabhateeyam". In his book "Jyorthir Meemaamsa", he demonstrates his intellectual and scientific thinking. Some of his other works are "Chandra Chhaayaa Ganitham" (calculations relating to moon's shadow), "Sidhhantha Darpanam" (mirror on the laws of Astronomy) and its Vyaakhyaa, "Golasaaram" (quintessence of spherical Astronomy), "Grahana Nirnayam", "Grahanaashtakam", "Graha Pareekshaa Kramam", and "Sundara Raaja Prasnotharam". He postulated that the ratio of circumference to diameter of a circle could never be a rational number. His commentary on Aaryabhateeyam shows that his scholastic abilities extend beyond Jyothisham and Vedaantham, to the realms of Meemaamsa, Vyaakaranam and Nyaayam.

16. Paarangottu Jyeshthhadevan Namboodiri (1500 - 1610)

He was born in Paaragottu Mana situated near Thrikkandiyur and Aalathur on the banks of river Nila. Vatasseri Damodaran Namboodiri was his teacher. He wrote a Malayalam commentary, "Yukthi Bhaasha" for "Thanthra Sangraham" of Kelallur Neelakandha Somayaaji. It forms an elaborate and systematic exposition of calculation methods in Mathematics in its first part and Astronomy in the second part. The treatment is in a rational and logical manner, and may turn out to be an asset to our scientific community, if properly translated and studied. He is also the author of "Drik Karanam", a comprehensive treatise in Malayalam on Astronomy, composed in 1603 AD.

17. Mahishamangalam Narayanan Namboodiri (1540 - 1610)

He was a member of Mahishamangalam (Mazhamangalam) Mana of Peruvanam in Thrissur district. His father Sankaran Namboothiri has written several Granthhams on Astronomy in Malayalam. Renouned scholar Sankara Varier has written a commentary "Kriyaakramakari" in Malayalam for the popular Mathematical manual "Leelavathy" (of Bhaskaraachaarya) but before commencing the 200th Slokam, he expired. It was Mahishamangalam Narayanan Namboodiri who, at the age of 18, took up the challenge of completing it. He was popularly known as "Ganitha Vith" [Maths wizard]. After successfully completing "Kriyaakramakari", Narayanan Namboodiri wrote his own commentary "Karmadeepika" for "Leelavathy". "Upa Raaga Kriyaa Kramam" was his original work in the related topic. He has authored many Granthhams on subjects other than Astronomy, including Smaartha Praayaschitha Vimarsanam, Vyavahaara Mala [ethical code of conduct], Mahishamangalam Bhaanam, Uthara Raamaayana Champu, Raasa Kreedaa Kaavyam, Raaja Ratnaavaleeyam [in praise of Kerala Varma, Prince of Kochi), Daarikavadham, and Paarvatheesthuthi.

18. Mathur Nambudiripad

The Granthham, "Muhoortha Padavi" (the second) is credited to Mathur Nambudiripad, whose name is not known. He has condensed the old "Muhoortha Padavi" into an amazingly short version with just 35 Slokams (verses). Since Mazhamangalam of mid-sixteenth century AD, in his "Baala Sankaram" has referred to Muhoortha Padavi, it is possible that Mathur Nambudiripad lived during the second half of the 15th century AD. Apart from Mazhamangalam's commentary on this Granthham, there are: a short one in Sanskrit, "Muhoortha Saranee Deepam" (author unknown); a detailed one in Sanskrit, "Varadeepika" by Purayannur Parameswaran Nambudiripad; and yet another one in Malayalam, "Muhoortha Bhaasha" by Aazhvaancheri Thampraakkal.

19. Narayanan Namboodiri

One Narayanan has written a commentary on Bhaaskaraachaaryan's Leelaavathy, which has been variously referred to as "Karmadeepika", "Karmadeepakam" and "Kriyaakramakari". The work is well-focussed and neither too elaborate nor too short.

Another of his works is " Karmasaaram" which discusses "Grahasphhutaanayanam" and other aspects of the Drik tradition. It is in four chapters and may have been written during the second half of the 16th century AD.

20. Chithrabhanu Namboodiri (16th century)

Born in Chovvara (Sukapuram) Graamam, Chithrabhanu Namboodiri was a mathematician and has written a Granthham titled "Eka Vimsathi Prasnothari". It is said that Sankara Varier, another scholar (mentioned earlier) who wrote the commentary "Kriyaakramakari" was Chithrabhanu Namboodiri's disciple. Varier has, at several occasions, quoted his master.

Chithrabhanu Nambudiri's "Eka Vimsathi Prasnothari" gives a method of solving the binomials (A + B), (A - B), (A² + B²), (A³ + B³), (A³ - B³), AB, etc. Given any two of these, the book gives twentyone different ways to solve for A and B. As he is believed to be the master of Sankara Varier, his period could be 16th century.

The achievements of such and other Kerala mathematicians were, at first, brought to the notice of scholars, both Indian and western, by Charles M Whilsh who presented a paper on the subject before the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 3 (1835) (509 - 523).

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sanskrit:
1. Aryabhatiya of Aryabhata with Nilakanta Somasutvan's Com. Ed. Pub. in 3 parts by K Sambasiva Sastri. Trivandrum, 1977.
2. Drigganitham of Parameswara. Cr. Ed. By K V Sarma, Vishveshvaranand Vedic Research Institute, Hoshiarpur, 1963.
3. Goladipika of Parameswara. Ed. Tr. K V Sarma, Madras, 1956 - 57.
4. Grahananyayadipika. Cr. Ed. Tr. K V Sarma, V V R I , Hoshiarpur, 1966.
5. Grahanashtaka of Parameswara. Ed. Tr. K V Sarma, Madras, 26 Parts(I-IV),47-60,1961.
6. Jyothirmimamsa of Nilakantha Somayaji. Ed. K V Sarma, V V B I S, Hoshiarpur, 1977.
7.Tantrasangraha of Nilakantha Somayaji. Cr. Ed. K V Sarma, V V B I S & I S, Hoshiarpur, 1977.
8. Sphutachandrapti of Madhava. K V Sarma, V V I, Hoshiarpur, 1973.

English:
1. Rajagopal C T and Venkatarama A - The sine and cosine series. J. Asiatic Soc. of Bengal. 3rd Series. 15 pp. 1 - 13, 1949.
2. Rajagopal C T and Aiyar T V Vedamurthy - On the Hindu Proof of Gregory Series. Scripta Mathematica 17, Nos.1-2, pp 65-74, 1951.
3. Sarma K V-A History of the Kerala School of Hindu Astronomy. VVI, Hoshiarpur, 1972.
4. Swarup G, Bag A K and Shukla K S - History of Oriental Astronomy. University Press, Cambridge, 1987.
5. Krishnan Namboodiri, Chekrakkal (Dr) - PhD Thesis

Malayalam:
1. Rao Sahib, Mahakavi Ulloor S Parameswara Aiyer - Kerala Sahitya Charitram, Vol. 1.(4th Ed.) 1974 & Vol. 2 (4th Ed.) 1979; Published by Department of Publications, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram.