My Science School

Meaning: The word cauldron corresponds to a large metal pot with a lid and a handle that is used for cooking over an open fire. Cauldron can also denote a situation that is characterised by instability and strong emotions

Origin: The word has been around since 1300 and is derived from Anglo-French caudrun, Old North French caudern from augmentative of Late Latin caldaria meaning "cooking pot from Latin calidarium used for "hot bath", from calidus meaning warm, hot. The 1 was inserted in 15th Century in imitation of Latin.

The word which has been in constant usage through the centuries, has enjoyed a burst of popularity in the recent decades.

Usage:  The Santiago Bernabeu Stadium was a cauldron of emotions when Real Madrid welcomed Manchester City for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final in 2022.

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Meaning: A confidant is someone to whom secrets can be entrusted, and especially a very close friend.

Origin: This word comes from the Italian confidente, meaning 'having trust in' which in turn is derived from Latin 'confidere' meaning to put one's trust in, have confidence in.

Usage: He has since become a close friend and confidant.

Meaning: The noun refers to a device that sends out a radio signal to show the position of something such as a ship, aircraft, etc. It also refers to a good example that gives people hope or encouragement.

Origin: It is said to have originated from the Old English word beacen, meaning "sign, portent, lighthouse", which, in turn, is from the West Germanic word baukna, meaning "beacon, signal".

Usage: The blink of beacon could be seen for miles. Her words were a beacon of hope for all of us.

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Meaning: Used commonly in Asia, this noun is used to refer to a warehouse.

Origin: The word appears to have several origins, including from the Portuguese word gudao and Malay word gudang, both referring to a warehouse. Interestingly, it has an Indian connection too. Godown is said to have originated from the Tamil word kidangu, again referring to a warehouse.

Usage: We waited in front of the old godown fro three hours.

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Vega became the first star other than our sun to be photographed. Visible in the summer sky of the northern hemisphere, Vega is a bright star located about 25 light years from our Earth. On July 16-17, 1850, The days when we could look up to see star-studded skies feel like they are numbered. Especially in cities, as the light pollution makes it impossible for us to enjoy the celestial show. Some stars, however, shine bright enough such that they can be seen even on a moonlit night or from light-polluted cities.

Vega is one such star visible in the summer sky of the northern hemisphere. The brightest star in the constellation Lyra, it is also known as Alpha Lyrae. The fifth-brightest star visible from Earth, it is also among the closest of all bright stars at about 25 light years away.

The Summer Triangle

Along with two other stars - the distant Deneb and the fast-spinning Altair-the blue-white Vega forms an asterism known as the Summer Triangle. These three stars are usually the first to light up the eastern half of the sky after sunset.

Beginning around June and until the end of the year the Summer Triangle pattern can be discerned in the evening every day. Vega, which sinks below the horizon for just seven hours each day, can actually be seen on any day of the year. At mid-northern latitudes on midsummer nights, Vega is usually directly overhead.

The blue-white light of Vega is so bright that it has been observed through the centuries. Be it the Hindus, Chinese, or the Polynesians, the star features prominently in many ancient cultures. Its name, meanwhile, comes from the Arabic word wagi, which means "falling" or "swooping"

First to be photographed

The brightness has meant that Vega has remained relevant in modern times as well, notching up a number of firsts. The first of those firsts came in 1850, when Vega became the first star to be photographed, other than our sun.

On July 16-17, 1850, a 15-inch (38 cm) refractor at the Harvard College Observatory was employed to capture it. Harvard's first astronomer, William Cranch Bond, had been dabbling with celestial photography at the behest of John Adams Whipple, an American inventor and photographer. Using the daguerreotype process, the duo achieved a 90-second exposure of Vega that yielded the first photograph of a star other than our own. Bond and Whipple, in fact, kept at it and their daguerreotype of the moon the next year created quite a stir at the international exhibition held in London's Crystal Palace.

Spectrum of a star

A couple of decades later, Vega was again central to another first. Henry Draper, an American doctor and amateur astronomer, was a pioneer in astrophotography. He chose Vega as his subject when he created the first spectrographic image of the star in 1872. Breaking down Vega's light to reveal the various elements making up the star, Draper had taken the first spectrum of a star other than our sun.

Late in the 1990s, Vega rose to prominence once again after American astronomer Carl Sagan's novel "Contact" was made into a Hollywood movie. As the movie showed an astronomer discovering a signal appearing to come from Vega while searching for extraterrestrial intelligence, the star captured popular imagination.

Vega's blue-white light indicates surface temperatures of about 9,400 degree Celsius, much hotter than that of our sun (4,000 degree Celsius). Vega's diameter is nearly 2.5 times that of the sun, while its mass is also more than twice that of our sun.

Vega is only about 450 million years old, making it a youngster when compared to our sun, which is 4.6 billion years old. Despite Vega being a 10th of the sun's age, both stars are classified as middle-aged as they are halfway through their respective lives. This means that while our sun will run out of fuel only after another 5 billion years, Vega will burn for only another half-a-billion years.

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Flash floods, storms, heatwaves, and drought... Extreme weather events are rocking the world, and are likely to leave you feeling anxious. Recent studies have shown that climate anxiety is for real. Here's what you can do.

Madhuvanti S. Krishnan.

Climate change and eco-crisis are well known. But what is climate anxiety? No, it isn't a figment of your imagination, and yes, it does exist. finds recent research. In September 2021, a survey was conducted across 10 countries, led by the University of Bath, in collaboration with five universities, and funded by Avaaz, a campaign and research group. It involved 10,000 people between the ages of 16 and 25 years, and discovered that more than half of them experienced climate anxiety. and thought that humanity was doomed, courtesy, climate change

So, what is climate anxiety? Brit Wray, a Stanford researcher and author, Generation Dread says. "Climate anxiety is an assortment of feelings that a person can experience when they wake up to the full extent of the climate and wider ecological crisis."

She further explains that as the term implies, anxiety is one aspect of it, but there are other emotions that occur alongside. For instance, she elaborates, grief, fury, helplessness, hopelessness, and difficult feelings along similar lines, that point out people's concern for the world. Succinctly put, it is a feeling of guilt or desperation, a sense of doom, about the state of the environment.

It has been attracting progressively more attention among climate and social scientists, especially due to its impact on people's mental health.

Drivers

Constant media exposure, the tendency to incessantly access and consume content on social media, multiple studies that show species being threatened or becoming extinct, relentless news on coral reefs dying, melting glaciers, and more, heightens anxiety.

Then, there's Nature, which plays an instrumental role in simultaneously exacerbating and keeping at bay climate anxiety. Events such as natural disasters, resource depletion among others, drive anxiety as people who are aware of the value of nature will be more sensitised to the risk of loss relates to climate change. However, the flip side to this is that it is only when they are exposed to Nature. will they be healed of such anxiety -research details how engaging with the great outdoors and actively involving oneself in environment-related activities will reduce the rising feeling of alarm one experiences.

Maximum impact

In 2020, Friends of the Earth, an environmental non-profit organisation, estimated that over two-thirds of people, between 18 to 24 years, experience climate anxiety. Indeed, as youngsters who will bear witness to the worsening after-effects of climate chaos, it is unsurprising that it is primarily they who are most anxious and concerned. In fact, Gen Z has been nicknamed the Climate Generation.

Does this mean others are unaffected?

Not really. While the older generations are undoubtedly disquieted about the crisis, they are more perturbed by the short-term impact of climate change. In other words, their consternation will not take a toll on their mental health and overwhelm them as much as it does Gen Z

There are digital tools that help combat eco-anxiety, and an interactive website, Hold This Space, does precisely this. Designed in collaboration with psychologists and environmental scientists, it conducts activities that target people experiencing anxiety. especially youngsters, and encourages them to channelise their feelings into effective climate action, which by extension, helps them develop resilience and coping mechanisms.

SOME TIPS

*It is normal to experience climate anxiety because you are constantly exposed to climate-related news.

*You are not alone. Do not let anxiety overwhelm you. *Talk about your feelings, make yourself heard.

*Connect with like-minded people who will understand where you come from, without brushing off your anxiety as

*Get involved in activities to do with nature that will not only lessen your anxiety by virtue of being actively involved, but will also help you develop skills and build resilience.

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Some beautiful, unusual, and intriguing libraries from across the globe that bookworms should make a beeline for.

BODLEIAN LIBRARY, THE U.K.: It is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain, it is second in size only to the British Library. Together, the Bodleian Libraries hold over 13 million printed items. It was first opened to scholars in 1602. It houses some of the most expensive books in the world including Shakespeare's First Folio. The Bodleian has been the backdrop for 14 movies, including a few from the Harry Potter series.

ABBEY LIBRARY OF SAINT GALL, SWITZERLAND: An important medieval monastic library located in St.Gallen, Switzerland, in 1983, the library and the Abbey of St. Gall, were designated a World Heritage Site. Did you know that during a fire in 937, the Abbey was destroyed, but the library remained intact? It houses over almost 1,60,000 volumes, with most available for public use.

STUTTGART CITY LIBRARY, GERMANY: The library, as it stands today, was thrown open to the public in 2011. Its pristine, all-white, inverted pyramid gallery hall, lined with books of every genre imaginable, makes it an attraction for photography enthusiasts. The old library, located in Wilhelm Palace, was once the seat of the King of Württemberg, and was rebuilt after WWII along more modern lines.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON D.C: Founded in 1800, making it the U.S.'s oldest federal cultural institution, it is the largest library in the world. Approximately half of its book and serial collections contain materials in around 470 languages. Most prominent among the Manuscript Division's holdings are papers of 23 presidents, ranging from George Washington to Calvin Coolidge.

TAMA ART UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, TOKYO: Minimalist, yet beautiful, it was completed by architect  toyo lto I 2007. It is the academic library associated with Tama Art University, which comprises two library locations in Tokyo on the Hachioji library and contains about 77,000 japanese books, 47000 foreign books and 1500 periodicals.

AUSTRIAN NATIONAL LIBRARY, VIENNA: Austria's largest library, it has more than 12 million items across its numerous collections. As a federal museum, it also includes five special museums: the Esperanto Museum, the Globe Museum, the State Hall, one of the world's most beautiful baroque libraries in the world, the Papyrus Museum which houses collections of papyri and other artefacts more than 3,000 years old, and the Literature Museum.

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Through his organisation Finz, this social entrepreneur is on a mission to raise awareness about the importance of financial literacy among Gen Z He also started the Workers' Rights Awareness Project and is part of Youth Policy Collective, focussing on research and writing. Kanav Batra speaks about his journey.

What is your organisation Finz all about?

Finz was established to educate Gen Z about personal finance, investing, entrepreneurship, and economics. With the help of a tailor-made curriculum, we provide courses that enrich students' financial acumen. We also provide an environment where Genz can gather real-life lessons along the way. At Finz, competitions are held for students to collaborate and compete. We will also conduct webinars with industry experts, college students, personal finance influencers, and youth entrepreneurs, and boot camps to reinforce what we teach through courses and mainstream learning instruments.

What made you a social entrepreneur?

Till I was in Class XI, I spent my time writing, reading, and just sticking with school. In Class XI, I felt there were many opportunities for students like me who wanted to become changemakers but didn't know how to. That's when I started pursuing my academic interests and hobbies outside of school too, starting my journey to becoming a social entrepreneur. Along the way, I saw many other young changemakers creating impact and bringing positive changes to society. This motivated me then, still does, and pushed me to be a social entrepreneur. To be fair though, my interests were always in economics, and this was one of the key reasons I started Finz with my friend Niranjen.

You set up WRAP - the Workers' Rights Awareness Project.

It is a social impact initiative that started with a team of nine other fellows as part of the Take the World Forward' Fellowship, a six-month programme by 'Learn with Leaders. Our motive is to improve the livelihood of daily wage workers by helping them become financially literate and spread awareness about programmes, policies, and organisations already in place to help them. Over the last couple of months, I underwent Social Impact and Leadership Training to nurture and grow WRAP as an organisation. We are commencing our move towards making WRAP an independent organisation away from the fellowship.

Tell us about your work in research, focussing on your time with Youth Policy Collective (YPC).

As part of the Economics and Trade Committee at YPC, I worked on the environmental economics and disaster management research paper, 'A Case-Study Based Analysis of the Implications of Natural Disasters on the Indian Agriculture Industry From 2000-2020. The premise of the paper and the journey of writing it were quite interesting. After a year of research, editing, and rewriting, it is now publicly available on Social Science Research Network. I am also working on two new papers with YPC, which I aim to finish in October. Outside of YPC, I am working on a behavioural economics paper surrounding consumer behaviour.

Do you think the youth of today will bring change in this entrepreneur world?

 I believe that in the next few years, there will be a changemaker in every house, and that changemaker will be a student. Students are now raising their voices by bringing more awareness to society. I strongly believe students will bring positive change and maybe one day provide a solution for our nation's problems.

What other projects are you involved in?

Under YPC, I'm also editor-in-chief of the newsletter and a member of the Steering Committee, which is essentially the top management of the organisation. I am the vice-president and one of the founding members of The Scribble Society, a creative writing dub that brings together budding writers into a community where they can publish and discuss written work. Recently, I helped organise a = writing competition on self-growth, which brought over 30 participants to compete for the top positions.

How do you manage your hobbies?

First of all, I'd like to say I am horrible at time management. Though, in contrast, I'm very committed to my work. No matter what time it is, I work and don't leave it until it is done. I think this is my best quality as it shows how much I love what I do. As for my hobbies, I am a big basketball fan; not only playing but I enjoy watching it too. I'm grateful to the sport as it helped me get better with things such as teamwork, leadership, perseverance, and resilience. Besides that, I also like writing. Writing is something I've been doing for a long time, and I feel that words have always helped me stay true to the storyteller in me.

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It is an interactive museum of news and journalism situated in Washington DC, the U.S. It is dedicated to the history and evolution of newsgathering. Spread across seven floors with 15 theatres, an interactive newsroom, and two broadcast studios, it is massive.

History on the go

Established in 1997, The Newsuem showcases all forms of news-from the earliest newspapers to today's digital ones complemented by audio-visuals. Its archive section has 35,000 front pages of newspapers, dating back to about 500 years. The front pages of over 800 newspapers from around the world are displayed daily in the Newseum and also on its website.

The Newseum displays some moving exhibits such as the laptop of Wall Street Journal's correspondent Daniel Pearl who was killed by terrorists in Pakistan, several sections of the Berlin Wall, and the twisted remains of the broadcast antenna from atop the World Trade Center tower that collapsed on September 11, 2001.

When treatment goes electronic

Telemedicine refers to the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients using modern telecommunication tools such as the Internet, video conferencing, telephone, fax, and so on. Telemedicine enables the sharing of medical information about a patient electronically. The process of information sharing can happen in real-time, or the data can be forwarded and analysed later.

It has proved to be a boon for patients in smaller towns and remote villages where up-to-date medical facilities may not be readily available. Doctors from rural hospitals can electronically share patients' data pathological, x-ray and ECG reports and clinical findings - with their counterparts from sophisticated urban hospitals and arrive at a proper diagnosis and line of treatment.

In advanced countries, telemedicine, has been used effectively to handle life-threatening emergencies. Indeed, doctors sitting thousands of kilometres away. have moved the arms and fingers of a surgical robot to carry out surgeries.

Telemedicine has already gained wide acceptance in India. Many major hospitals offer telemedicine services to its patients in remote locations.

Small change, huge consequence

At a scientific conference in 1972, Lorenz presented a paper titled Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set a Tomado in Texas? He explained that a minuscule change in atmospheric pressure (even as miniscule as a butterfly's flapping wing) had the potential to bring about an overwhelming unforeseen change in the weather. He opined that long-term prediction of weather was impossible as changes in the initial conditions could result in vastly different weather.

Closer home, the 2008 Kamal Hassan-starrer, Dasavatharam, talks about the butterfly effect and chaos theory-in the film, biotechnologist and business tycoon Govindarajan Ramaswamy explains the concept, stringing together a series of incidents from 12th century in Chidambaram, to the present times, that effectively elucidate the concept

The butterfly effect laid the foundation for chaos theory, a branch of Maths that studies dynamical systems. It revolutionised scientific theory because it overturned the previous belief that an approximate idea about the initial conditions could lead to an approximate outcome.

While the butterfly effect is mainly concerned with weather and environment, it is also applied in Quantum Physics, economy, share markets, and business.

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Every year at a particular time, a wide variety of animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and even insects undertake migration - they move in large numbers from one place to another in search of food and water or suitable breeding ground.

Some habitats may have unfavourable climate such as extreme heat, or cold or wet conditions, which the animals may want to escape from. On the other hand, some habitats may offer easy access to food and water or better shelter, beckoning animals to move there so that they could flourish. But migration is temporary; it always includes a return journey.

Why is animal migration important?

Migration of animals plays a very important role in the Earth's ecosystem. Migratory animals help in pollination and seed dispersal. They provide food for other animals and also control the population of species in various ecosystems. For example, migratory birds reproduce and their young ones eat insects that may destroy crops. Locust attack is a major disaster that arises from the absence of birds.

Climate change

Several animal species have changed their migration routes in response to the changing climate. The rising temperatures on land and sea are forcing more and more animals to migrate to cooler climates. The moose, found in the northern U.S. and Canada, is a cold-weather animal. But milder winters have led to an increase in the population of winter ticks. These blood-sucking parasites are killing dozens of moose every year, forcing them to move farther north.

Habitat destruction

Habitat destruction is mostly a result of human activities. These include farming, cutting down trees for construction activities. filling wetlands, building dams, digging for oil and gas exploration, amongst others.

Habitat destruction makes it difficult for migrating animals to find places to rest and get food on their migratory paths. Several fish species migrate from open waters to headwaters to breed or spawn. But dams, which are constructed for water retention or hydroelectric power generation, can completely disrupt migratory pathways for fish.

In China, thousands of Siberian cranes spend the winter at the Poyang Lake. However, drought and water management in the region have destroyed the cranes habitat, forcing them to travel to suboptimal areas. Now, a proposed dam at the outlet of the lake is a new threat that will reduce the quality of the restricted area these birds rely on.

Human behaviour

Migratory animals also face a unique threat of obstruction along their migratory routes. Roads, fences, dams, wind farms, and buildings extending into forests can create huge obstacles. Here are a few examples.

Every year, thousands of wildebeest and zebras in the savannah grasslands of Africa undertake an arduous migration over the vast expanse of land in search of food and water. In the last decade, however, several small enclosed plots have disrupted free movement of animals on their migratory path.

Tens of millions of red crabs cover roads on Christmas Island and Cuba as they undertake their annual migration, travelling from the forest to the coast to spawn. Millions die each season on the road as they get crushed by passing vehicles.

Poorly located windmills too can result in the death of migratory birds. The Wolfe Island Wind Farm, located in North America, is one of the deadliest barriers to migratory birds.

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Malala Yousafzai, (born July 12, 1997, Mingora, Swat valley, Pakistan), Pakistani activist who, while a teenager, spoke out publicly against the prohibition on the education of girls that was imposed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP; sometimes called Pakistani Taliban).

October 9, 2012, was a day like any other, when a group of young girls were on their bus ride back home, in Pakistan's Swat Valley, after an exam at school. They were unwinding on the ride, like every other student after an exam. Chit-chat and laughter filled the bus until terror struck. A masked gunman onboarded, and even before the girls could gather themselves and overcome their initial shock, he shouted, "Which one of you is Malala? Speak up, otherwise I will shoot you all."

Upon being identified, a 15-year-old was shot at While two others were wounded in the shooting, it was the former who was most affected. She was Malala Yousafzai, and had been shot for constantly speaking up for the education rights of girls in the Valley, and opposing the Taliban's draconian rules and their acts of destroying schools and obstructing eduction. It is in honour of this fierce. courageous teen that the United Nations declared July 12. her birthday, as International Malala Day, in 2013, on her 16th birthday, when she spoke at the UN to call for worldwide access to education.

Early days

Daughter of education activist Ziauddin Yousafzai, Malala had grown up knowing the importance of education. She was further inspired by the twice-elected Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and started speaking about education rights as early as September 2008, when she was just 11.

However, Malala's first step towards fame came in late 2008, when BBC Urdu website's Aamer Ahmed Khan and his colleagues, zeroed in on a novel way to cover Pakistani Taliban's growing sway in Swat. They decided to ask a schoolgirl to blog anonymously about her life there. Their Peshawar correspondent, who had been in touch with a local school teacher, Ziauddin Yousafzai, could not find any students willing to report, as their families deemed it dangerous. Finally, he suggested that his own daughter, 11-year-old Malal do it, and on January 3, 2009, her first entry was posted on the BBC Urdu blog. Later, that year, she and her father were approached by a New York Times reporter for a documentary, and interviews on several news channels. By the end of 2009. her BBC blogging identity was revealed.

Danger brews

As her fame rose, so did the imminent jeopardy to her life. Death threats against her were published in newspapers, slipped under her door, and posted on Facebook. It culminated in the attack in October 2012. She was airlifted to the military hospital in Peshawar, then moved to Rawalpindi's Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology, and finally to the UK's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where she underwent surgeries.

Whilst convalescing in hospital, on October 15 2012. UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, the former British Prime Minister, visited her and launched a petition in her name and "in support of what Malala fought for". Under the slogan I am Malala, its main demand was that there be no child left out of school by 2015.

Youngest Nobel laureate

She was discharged from the hospital on January 3, 2013, and continued with her activism soon after. In October 2014, along with Indian children's rights activist Kailash Vidyarthi, she was announced as the co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, for her struggle against the suppression of children and young people, and for the right of all children to education. At 17, she became the youngest Nobel laureate, and the second Pakistani to receive a Nobel Prize after Physics laureate Abdus Salam, in 1979. Today, she continues to serve the cause of education and work towards what she truly believes.

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Found poems are simply the literary equivalent of a collage. Created by assembling borrowed text from published newspaper articles, street signs, graffiti, letters, speeches, poems, and sometimes even documents like tax forms or medical reports, this poetry recycles words by giving them a new meaning and context.

This mode of writing not only makes poetry accessible but also gives a fresh insight into evocative writing.

The origin story

According to the former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins, the cento (Latin for patchwork) which belongs to the third Century, may have been the original found poem.

A cento-poet often refashioned lines from the works of various revered writers like Homer and Virgil to create a unique verse. The Greeks and Roman assembled centos to pay homage to the literary idols of the past.

Types of Found Poetry

Found poetry can be further classified into blackout poetry, erasure poetry, and cut-up poetry.

Blackout poetry is created by blacking out or blotting certain lines and phrases of an existing article, short story or poem using a pen or a black marker to reinterpret the original work. Contrary to this, erasure poems are created by erasing, clipping out. or obscuring certain lines or words of a printed text using a light coat of white paint.

Cut-up or Remix poetry is curated by literally cutting out words from source materials and rearranging them to create a unique meaning.

A strong proponent of the cut-up approach, American writer William S. Burroughs once said "All writing is in fact, cut-ups. A collage of words read, heard and overheard. What else?"

Found poetry rose to prominence in the 20th century due to its shared similarities with the pop art of artists like Andy Warhol and Marcel Duchamp. It combined literature and visual art to represent the plurality of language.

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So much of our oceans is still unexplored and remains a mystery. In fact, it is safe to presume we know more about the surface of Mars than about Earth's seafloors! But whatever  we little know of life in ocean depths is intriguing, fascinating, and incredible. The deep oceans are low on sunlight and plants but high on pressure, and yet, several creatures call this space home. Here's a glimpse of how they have adapted to life in unforgiving conditions.

Colours that help

 Since they dwell in open waters without plants or rocks to hide under to safeguard themselves from predators, many creatures benefit from disguise. Some of them are red. rendering them difficult to spot since red light does not penetrate those depths. Some others are transparent, again tough to spot. Many others are bioluminescent, a good tool to confuse predators.

Heard of sea snow?

Since ocean depths hardly have any plant, finding "live meal" is a tough task. Apparently, the duration between two live meals can be even up to three weeks for a marine creature! That's where marine snow or sea snow comes into play. When no live meal is available, the next best thing to turn to is the dead. Organic particles from the surface waters - disintegrated bodies of animals and plants, mingling with fecal matter-drift down in what is known as "marine snow".

What is chemosynthesis?

At the cracks between oceanic plates are hydrothermal vents - these are the hot springs on the ocean floor. These vents send out chemical compounds such as hydrogen sulphide. These chemical compounds are used for preparing food - much like sunlight is used in photosynthesis. This process used by microorganisms such as bacteria to create food (such as glucose), is called chemosynthesis.

Though humans still don't have a complete understanding of ocean depths, we're definitely leaving our mark there- and, sadly, not in a good way. With global warming, over-fishing, and pollution, we're changing the composition of the oceans they are acidifying, and hosting crustaceans with microplastics, as far deep as the Mariana Trench, the deepest location on Earth.

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Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, delivering his Tryst with Destiny speech on the eve of independence. It is considered to be one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century.

Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru is remembered as an author, humanist, and a charismatic central figure of the Indian freedom struggle. His conscious efforts in promoting values such as secularism and universal brotherhood during his tenure as the first Prime Minister of independent India made him a true democrat. Let us go back to his iconic first official address titled, "Tryst with destiny."

Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru delivered his speech titled Tryst with Destiny on the eve of india's independence on August 14, 1947, from the ramparts of the historical Red Fort in Delhi to the Indian Constituent Assembly in the Parliament. The address was simultaneously broadcast on the radio to the millions of citizens who had toiled and waited for the dawn of freedom.

Nehruvian thought

Nehnu was the embodiment of the vision our nationalist leaders had of independent India. Neither on the political stage nor on moral stature was his leadership ever challenged. He was one of the great leaders of the national movement who not only campaigned for the country's freedom but also ushered it into modernity. Historians recall that there were four focal foundational principles that attributed to this shared vision of post-colonial India according to the spectrum of people who participated in the freedom struggle. These principles were iterated by the first Prime Minister of the nascent nation in his August 14 address.

Sovereignty at the stroke of midnight

Giving a vocal expression to the longing and the self-determination of the Indian people, Nehru declared Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge… At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, india will awake to life and freedom Freedom and power bring responsibility. The responsibility rests upon this Assembly, a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India (excerpt from Tryst with Destiny)

A democratic nation

The Gandhian philosophy of Sarvodaya or universal upliftment was one of the non-negotiable tenets of the freedom movement. In his first address as the appointed leader of India. Nehru paid homage to Gandhiji by saying. On this day our first thoughts go to the architect of this freedom, the Father of our Nation who held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that surrounded us generations will remember this message and bear the imprint in their hearts of this great son of India magnificent in his faith and strength and courage and humility (excerpt from Tryst with Destiny)

Celebration of diversity

-All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action. "(excerpt from Tryst with Destiny)

Nehru believed that in a country like India which is home to people with different faiths and religions, no real nationalism can be built except on the basis of secularity.

A pro-poor orientation

From the early nationalist days, the poor were at the centre of imagination when one thought of a liberated India Dadabhai Naoroji in his book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India elaborates on how colonialism relied on corruption and wealth inequality to sustain itself. He exclaimed that a devastated economy inhibits political independence. Therefore, aligning with the common consensus, eradication of poverty was seen as a fundamental move to exercise literal autonomy as India stood on the cusp of freedom

These sentiments echoed in Nehru's statement. "The service of India means. the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and poverty and disease and inequality of opportunity. To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India: to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman. There is no resting for any one of us till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be" (excerpt from Tryst with Destiny)

Nehru came into power when the flames of violence were burning across the country following the tragedy of partition. But even in these unsettling circumstances, his insistence on retaining democracy and the idea that in a country no leader should be bigger than its people. Constitution and State is what makes him one of the most celebrated leaders of the 20th Century.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Before immersing himself in India's freedom struggle, Nehru was training to be an advocate.

2. In 1937 Nehru anonymously published an article in the Modem Review journal of Calcutta under the pen name Chanakya criticising himself as "some triumphant Caesar passing by, who might tum into a dictator with "a little twist. He did this to encourage the people of the nation to hold their leaders accountable.

3. Nehru's close associates say that in his last moments, a note with the following lines from Robert Forst's poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening lay on his side.

"The woods are lovely dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to before I sleep."

Picture Credit : Google 

Bakeys is a Hyderabad-based edible cutlery company founded by Narayana Peesapaty. He wanted to use a raw material that wouldn't consume too much water during manufacture. Hence, he opted to make his brand of single-use cutlery from a mix of sorghum (jowar), rice and wheat flours. Sorghum grows well in semi-arid areas and doesn't become soggy quickly when dipped in liquids.

At a time when the world over, people are trying to reduce plastic waste, several innovations have emerged over the years, to aid the cause. A leap in this direction are handy, delectable, consumable cutlery. Yes, you heard right. It is exactly what it sounds like cutlery that you can chomp down, along with the food that comes in it Disposable plastic cutlery, straws, cups, and containers generate large amounts of plastic waste. Hence, researchers have been coming out with new innovations in containers used to hold and package food to try and reduce plastic waste. The container holding the food is itself good enough to eat, and the packaging is either edible or compostable

The flour is kneaded with hot water, shaped and baked hard without using any artificial additive or preservative. Since it is dehydrated, it can last for up to two years if stored in an air-tight container in a cool dry, insect-free place. It should not be wiped, washed or reused.

The spoons, that taste like a dry cracker, come in varied flavours including sugar, ginger-cinnamon, cumin, mint-ginger and carrot-beetroot. The portion dipped in hot food softens, absorbing the dish's flavours.

Uneaten spoons can be disposed in mud or put in a potted plant, because, unlike com-based biodegradable plastic they don't need special composting to break down.

The company has been making such spoons since 2010 in a facility which employs only women. Successful crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter and Ketto enabled it to expand, and now, they are sold globally.

Bite size perfection

In 2012, David Edwards, the founder of WikiFoods, launched WikiCells, an edible packaging for foods and liquids.

The WikiCell has two layers. The outer biodegradable layer, which can be peeled off and thrown away, much like a fruit peel, is made of tapioca or sugarcane bagasse, the dry pulpy residue left after sugar has been extracted. It is gelatinous and soft, like a translucent cell. The inner layer is an edible shell made of a hardened composite such as chocolate or isomalt, a sugar substitute.

Incredible Foods, co-founded by Edwards, manufactures and markets WikiCells in the U.S. as Perfectly Free bites in non-dairy ice-cream form and as frozen fruit bites.

Picture Credit : Google