My Science School

Kashmiri saffron has a Geographical Indication tag marking its ingenuity and making it illegal for anyone outside the valley to sell a similar product under the “Kashmiri saffron” name. Jammu & Kashmir is the only state in India that produces saffron, also known as ‘red gold’. Pampore is known as the ‘saffron bowl’; the town’s saffron is considered to be of superior quality because of the high concentration of crocin (8.72%) – which gives the saffron its darker colour and medicinal value – as compared to the Iranian variety (6.82%).

The saffron available in Kashmir is of three types — ‘Lachha Saffron’, with stigmas just separated from the flowers and dried without further processing; ‘Mongra Saffron’, in which stigmas are detached from the flower, dried in the sun and processed traditionally; and ‘Guchhi Saffron’, which is the same as Lachha, except that the latter’s dried stigmas are packed loosely in air-tight containers while the former has stigmas joined together in a bundle tied with a cloth thread.

Saffron cultivation is believed to have been introduced in Kashmir by Central Asian immigrants around 1st Century BCE. In ancient Sanskrit literature, saffron is referred to as ‘bahukam’.

 

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The Earth Networks Total Lightning Network (ENTLN) is the world's largest lightning detection system. Its 1800 sensors in 100+ countries can detect both intra cloud (IC) and cloud-to-ground strikes, thus generating faster lightning alerts and warning of severe weather like tornadoes.

Firmware improvements have also been made to further increase sensitivity, and the implementation of a multi-parameter classification algorithm allows IC and CG pulses to be distinguished with very good accuracy. A performance study was conducted to evaluate the characteristics of the ENTLN. The results of the study show that the detection efficiency and the classification accuracy of the new ENTLN processor have greatly improved. ENTLN data is used to track the properties of storms cells, such as the lightning flash rate, cell direction, and speed as a basis for issuing alerts for thunderstorms that have the potential for severe weather. Most severe convective storms can generate high IC flash rate and high IC/CG flash-rate ratios. When rates exceed critical thresholds, Dangerous Thunderstorm Alerts (DTAs) are issued. The system helps in predicting the storm dangers by generating a DTA with significant lead time before the ground-level severe weather. Through the life of the DTA warned storm, the storm cells are monitored continuously, which enhances the situational awareness. In this study, we analyze several severe weather events to estimate the effectiveness of DTAs as well as implications for improving public safety.

 

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The stapes is the smallest and lightest bone in the human body at 3mm x 2.5 mm in size. The shape of a stirrup, it is one of three tiny bones in the middle ear, collectively known as the ossicles, that convey sound waves from the outer ear to the inner ear. The other two are the malleus (hammer) and the incus (anvil).

The stapes develops from the second pharyngeal arch during the sixth to eighth week of embryological life. The central cavity of the stapes, the obturator foramen, is due to the presence embryologically of the stapedial artery, which usually regresses in humans during normal development.

The stapes is one of three ossicles in mammals. In non-mammalian four-legged animals, the bone homologous to the stapes is usually called the columella; however, in reptiles, either term may be used. In fish, the homologous bone is called the hyomandibular, and is part of the gill arch supporting either the spiracle or the jaw, depending on the species. The equivalent term in amphibians is the pars media plectra.

The stapes appears to be relatively constant in size in different ethnic groups. In 0.01–0.02% of people, the stapedial artery does not regress, and persists in the central foramen. In this case, a pulsatile sound may be heard in the affected ear, or there may be no symptoms at all. Rarely, the stapes may be completely absent.

 

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Dewri village in Ranchi is known as ‘Aloe Vera village’ after the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Birsa Agricultural University (BAU) motivated villagers to take up aloe vera plantation to boost their income. Aloe vera takes 18 months to grow fully and the first lot of leaves were sold profitably as aloe vera is in high demand for its medicinal and cosmetic properties. The villagers saw their income increase from Rs 3,000 per month from paddy cultivation to s 5,000-6,000 per month.

Villagers are happy with the increase in their income.

“Earlier, we used to earn around Rs 3,000 per month from paddy cultivation if we were able to get work for all the 30 days. However, this year, apart from working in paddy fields, we were able to boost our income by selling aloe vera leaves. Our income has increased between Rs 5,000 and 6,000 per month,” said Manju Kachyap, mukhiya of the Dewri village and a woman farmer.

Manju said out of the 90 families belonging to the Oraon tribe residing in their village, nearly 40 families had taken part in planting aloe vera.

 

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The Piraha tribe in the Amazon region of Brazil does not have words for specific numbers nor do they count. The Piraha language contains just three words for quantities: Hoi for “small size or amount”, hoi for “somewhat larger amount”, and baagiso for “many”. Linguists refer to languages that do not have number-specific words as anumeric.

There’s still much to learn about this niche language. Although the 2016 MIT study was the most extensive to date on Piraha, analyzing 1,100 translated sentences, deeper research is required to say with certainty that recursion doesn’t exist.

The strongest statement researchers could make: “It’s plausible.”

Although Daniel Everett has studied Piraha longer than any other known researcher, his findings are often called into question. He has suggested the tribe does not have words to describe colors, for example, and that idea has also been challenged. Other researchers have started to study Piraha, but there’s little agreement thus far on much of anything.

Despite the uncertainty, Piraha serves as a fascinating reminder that perhaps we haven’t unraveled the mystery that is human language. With such a small Piraha population remaining, linguists and translators face a race against time to learn everything they can about one of the world’s most isolated languages before it disappears entirely.

 

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Chrome comes with a built-in tool to check for enhanced protection. Head over to Chrome Settings, and click on the Safety Check button on the left sidebar. Alternatively, you can go to chrome://settings/safetyCheck to access the safety check page directly. The Safety Check tool will then verify that Chrome is up-to-date, cross-check whether all your stored passwords are complex and not leaked in any data breaches, and confirm that Safe Browsing is set up properly. It will even check if you are protected from any potentially malicious extensions. Run it once in a while.

With this check Chrome will check all your stored passwords are complex and not leaked in the previous data breaches. In order to do this check, you have to login with your Google account. It helps Google to send the passwords in encrypted manner and check the database to match if the password is in the previous data breaches.

The result of the safe browsing section depends on the level of protection you have enabled on your browser. By default, Chrome will use the standard protection and hence you will see a message like “Standard protection is on. For even more security, use enhanced protection.”

 

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Deepfake generally refers to images on videos in which the face and/or voice of a person, usually a public figure has been manipulated using artificial intelligence software to generate visual and audio content with a high potential to deceive. Deepfakes are a source of concern because they are created to be intentionally misleading, such as by making it look like a politician said something they didn't, or making it appear like a celebrity was in a video they weren't in.

Everyone from academic and industrial researchers to amateur enthusiasts, visual effects studios and porn producers. Governments might be dabbling in the technology, too, as part of their online strategies to discredit and disrupt extremist groups, or make contact with targeted individuals, for example.

It is hard to make a good deepfake on a standard computer. Most are created on high-end desktops with powerful graphics cards or better still with computing power in the cloud. This reduces the processing time from days and weeks to hours. But it takes expertise, too, not least to touch up completed videos to reduce flicker and other visual defects. That said, plenty of tools are now available to help people make deepfakes. Several companies will make them for you and do all the processing in the cloud. There’s even a mobile phone app, Zao, that lets users add their faces to a list of TV and movie characters on which the system has trained.

 

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Orixo is a relaxing, minimalist brain game with over 320 hand-crafted levels to help sharpen your mind. A melodic soundtrack accompanies you on the levels, all of which are free to play and vary in difficulty. Fill the grid by dragging your finger over cells with a number inside of it. The number represents the number of cells it will fill in one of four directions. The direction you choose counts. Orixo saves your game progress automatically and hints are available in case you get stuck on any level. A simple game to play for a few minutes to take a breather from your busy life. Free for iOS and Android.

The organization of ideas and things are both important to this game. The player has to be able to think through and organize which number should be swiped first, second, etc. They also need to organize the placement, or direction, of the swipe. If they don't take the time to organize both aspects of this game, they will be unable to complete a level and unlock new ones.

 

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The WOWcube, a new twist on the beloved Rubik's Cube, is the brainchild of 13-year-old DIY YouTuber, Savva Osipov. "What if we place characters and gameplay on Rubik's Cube surface and control the game by twisting, tilting and shaking," he thought. Together with his father, inventor Ilya, they came up with the WOWcube. The device comes with tiny, high-res microdisplays built into each of the cube's 24 square-shaped segments, and eight processors and an accelerometer on the inside. As with a Rubik's Cube, users can twist, flip, turn, and rotate elements along multiples axes, constantly changing how the screens align with one another, all accompanied by satisfying clicks. Its accompanying iOS/Android app allows users to load a number of games, including word games, puzzles, mazes and arcade-style games, into the device via Bluetooth. It runs on an open-source API (application programming interface) that enables youngsters with computer skills and developers to design their own games for the WOWcube. Place the device onto its charging base and the cube's individual screens become functional widgets, displaying the date, time, weather, social media, notifications, news and more. The STEM-learning certified device measures 2.8 inches on each side and weighs 335 gms. Its integrated 4,320 mAh lithium-ion battery runs for upto eight hours on a single charge.

 

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Around 90 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, Antarctica housed swampy rainforests. Scans of a sediment layer collected from the Antarctic seabed near the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers revealed forest soil, dense network of well-preserved fossil roots revealing individual cell structures, and countless traces of pollen and spores from plants, including the first remnants of flowering plants ever found at these high Antarctic latitudes.

Analysis of this soil content showed that even during months of darkness, swampy temperate rainforests were able to grow close to the South Pole, revealing an even warmer climate than expected. Average temperatures in is region were around 12 degree C; average summer temperatures may have been and 19 degree C and water temperatures in the rivers and swamps around 20°C, with moderately abundant rainfall (41inches).

According to climate models run by scientists, these conditions could have existed if there was dense vegetation across Antarctica with little or no ice sheet present and higher carbon dioxide levels than previously thought.

The findings illustrate the powerful effect that carbon dioxide has on the Earth and the importance of polar ice sheets in cooling the planet.

 

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A bright green light-emitting mushroom has been discovered at Mawlynnong in East Khasi Hills district and at Krang Shuri in West Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya. The tiny mushrooms were found sovering dead bamboo in the forest Local residents use the glowing hamboo sticks as natural torches to navigate the forest at night.

The mushroom is a new species from the genus Roridomyces -- and the first fungus in this genus to be discovered from India. It is named phyllostachydis, after the genus of the bamboo tree on which it was found. It is now one among the 97 known species of bioluminescent fungi in the world.

Roridomyces phyllostachydis' uniqueness lies in the fact that it is the only member in its genus to emit light from its stipe (stalk). The pileus (cap) is not bioluminescent, the reason for which is still a mystery.

Bioluminescence attracts insects, which helps in dispersing spores or it may also be a mechanism for protection against frugivorous (fruit eating) animals.

Light emits when the compound luciferans is catalysed by the enzyme luciferase in the presence of oxygen.... several unstable, intermediate products are released as excess energy that makes them visible as light," a researcher said.

These findings could pave the way for the development of glowing plants for use in organic architecture and street lighting.

 

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Bharatanatyam is the oldest classical dance style, with a history that is more than five thousand years old, and this dance style is acclaimed internationally, too. It is not surprising to watch young children learn Bharata Natyam in New York, Paris, London or Zurich for that matter.

The eight distinct classical dance styles of India are Bharatanatyam (Tamil Nadu), Kathakali and Mohiniattam (Kerala), Kuchipudi (Andhra Pradesh), Odissi (Orissa), Manipuri (Manipur), Kathak (northern India) and Sattriya from Assam. Bharatanatyam reigns supreme and particularly popular even in European countries.

Evolution

Architectural and sculptural evidence proves that Bharatanatyam Nilesh Singha and some other classical dance styles like Odissi and Manipuri originated from the temples. The earliest reference in the second century from the Tamil epic classic Shilapaddikaram and the temples that developed during the sixth to ninth century signifies and defines dance as a well-refined art form.

Varied aspects of music and dance were derived from the four Vedas, namely, Rig, Yajur, Atharva and Sam, and the fifth Veda known as Natya Veda was believed to have been created by Lord Brahma. Lord Nataraja (Shiva) is considered the king of dance and all the classical dance styles portray stories from Hindu mythology. Lately, stories from the Holy Bible are also recreated in the dance format. The eight types of classical dance styles are based on texts like Bharata's Natya Sastra, Nandikesvaroa's Abhinaya Darpana, Sangita Ratnakara, etc. Stories are told through the medium of varied intricate movements, body language and expressional dancing in order to establish the inter-relationship between the human soul and the divine soul.

Devadasis or servants of the gods

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the devadasi system prevailed; young teen-aged girls were married to the "lord" which was part of the temple ritual. These girls were trained in classical music and dance and performed during religious and social occasions.

Bharatanatyam then was also known as devadasi attam or 'sadir'. The degradation of classical dance started when devadasis moved on from the temple courtyards to dance for the elite chieftains and zamindars and ultimately for kings and enjoyed royal patronage.

While the dancers were ostracized by society, the society was equally responsible for the shift from the "spirit" to the "body". The colonial British banned the devadasi system and described the dancers as "nautch" girls. There were protests as the sanctity of classical dance was disturbed and dances were witnessed only in quarters. Classical dances underwent varied stages of progression and regression due to varied social and political changes over the century.

During the twentieth century, American dancer Esther Sherman renamed herself as Ragini Devi in order to learn classical dance. Lawyer and critic E. Krishna Iyer donned female attire in order to attract children from respectable families to learn classical dance. Theosophist and founder of Kalakshetra School in Chennai, Dr Rukmani Devi Arundale, and the legendary dancer from the devadasi community, Balasaraswati, are considered the pioneers of the dance movement in India. Ram Gopal and Uday Shankar placed classical dances on the international platform. Great poets like Rabindranath Tagore and Maha Kavi Vallathol promoted classical dance in order to regain its respectability.

Music and technique

Music is in the classical Carnatic music style and the trinity of Carnatic music, namely, Tygaraja, Shyama Sastri and Muthuswami Dikshitar, were the main composers whose musical compositions form the main repertoire of any Bharatanatyam performance. Compositions of saint poets like Shankaracharya Meera, Tulsidas and several others were also used in the dances. Hindustani music was also used in Bharatanatyam, particularly by the Maratha rulers of Tanjavur.

The technique of Bharatanatyam is quite intricate and complex Bha is expressions (Bhavam) Ra is musical melody (Ragam); Ta is time measure or rhythm (talam) and Natyam is dramatic quality. Furthermore, Bharata Natyam is a beautiful and divine art form that combines, music, melody, histrionics, philosophy, psychology, mythology, varied movements, etc.

Students start learning at the tender age of five, and the minimum learning duration is at least ten years, varied movements and steps "adavus" that become quite intricate, and later all the movements and gestures are used in a particular item or number. After completion, the student performs Arangetram (ascending to the stage). The performance begins with invocations and prayers to the gods, todaya mangalam, pushpanjali, alarippu, jatiswaram, sabdam, varnam padam and the finale, thillana.

Some of the top exponents of Bharatanatyam are Mrinalini Sarabhai, Yamani Krishnamurthy, Padma Subrahmanyam, Chitra Visweswaran, Sudharani Raghupathy, Malavika Sarukkai, Alarmel Valli and Nilesh Singha. To pursue a career in classical dance is not easy as you need a lot of patience, determination, will power and hard work to become an accomplished performer.

 

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I am a 14-year-old girl studying in Std IX. I have an elder brother and sister. My mother is very partial; she always scolds me for my mistakes but says nothing if my sister makes similar mistakes. My brother beats me but my mother never intervenes. I suffer a lot due to this. My father is very busy with his business and I cannot bear to see him worried, so I never tell him about it. What I should do?

Do speak to your mother, and share your feelings with her. Seek her help to see what can be done to change things and ask her what she expects of you. Before that, reflect on what are the 'mistakes' she scolds you for. If you view 'mistakes' as 'events to learn from, you can change the way you do things. This will not only make your mother happy, but also contribute to your personality and future success.

Make friends with your parents, even if you have some fights. Find out what your mother likes and enjoys... and see if you can do common things together. Offer to help her at home. Often when parents worry, they forget to have fun, so, with your siblings, try and create a family fun hour once a week..

As for your brother, make sure whether he is being playful or angry. The next time he comes to hit you, in firm voice say, 'Stop. I don't appreciate you hitting me.' Ask him to move back and keep a safe distance, or you step back/walk off. Repeat this till he gets the message. If he is being angry or violent, it is important to ask your parents to intervene.

 

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Since childhood, my parents have instilled in me the value of punctuality. I have always been ahead of time for lectures, games, etc. My problem is that I am unable to relax and am always tense. My performance in studies is average because of this constant tension.

Punctuality depends on the kind of event you need to be on time for. So, list the events where you need to be on time, e.g., appointments, or those that require your on-time presence, e.g., exams, lectures, team activities, etc. Then, list events where it doesn't matter if you're not exactly on time, (parties, shopping, etc.). Purposely be a bit late for one of these. Later, ask yourself: Did being late for these really matter? Why does “not being punctual" makes me uncomfortable? What is the worst that can happen if I'm late?

For the first list, outsource the alarm from your head to a mobile/clock. E.g., if you have to go for a party at 5:30 p.m. calculate backwards and set a reminder for each of the different tasks you need to do the time you need to leave, when you need to start dressing. For 15 minutes before dressing, practise relaxation (e.g., music, light exercise, etc.) to help you get used to this method. After some days when you begin to relax, you can focus on other things without worrying about being on time because you have your reminder set. Learn yoga to help you learn to relax. If you feel too anxious, seek face-to-face support from a counselor.

 

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I was good friends with a girl, and used to share all my secrets with her. At first she was very close to me, but then she found new friends and started avoiding me. I tried my best not to lose her, but finally we stopped being friends. She is going to join the same hostel where I stay. How should I behave with her?

Sounds like you are feeling awkward about having to meet this ex-friend daily in your hostel and don't know how to behave.

The simple answer is 'normally’ - just as you would with any other person... Ask yourself, ‘What makes me uncertain about how to behave?’ Is it because you have shared your secrets with her? Are you worried that she may try to make friends with you again?

If you want her as a friend again, it's fine... but if you are sure that you don't want that, treat her like any other acquaintance/hostel mate and be polite and cordial, limiting your interaction to hi/ hello and general conversation. Focus on yourself and your needs, your studies, new friends, and your future. If she approaches you for friendship, be firm and say that you prefer to let the past be the past, and that you wish her well.

 

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