My Science School

Often, within the pages of wildlife conservation stories lies that one spark, idea, or action that spawns dramatic positive changes. Here's one such story on how one decision has resulted in a huge impact, practically bringing back a key species from the brink of extinction.

The recent filming of southern fin whales in Antarctic waters thrilled scientists, researchers, and conservationsists  no end.  And, why not? It's a deeply encouraging sign that not only have these marine mammals returned to their historic feeding grounds but their numbers have increased too, albeit gradually. The species was earlier reduced to less than 2% of its original population, thanks to the usual suspect-unsustainable hunting for decades. And then came the whaling ban towards the last quarter of the 20th Century, positively impacting the course of the animal's fate over decades. Slowly but surely fin whales have rebounded; slowly because fin whales give birth to only one calf at a time.

Over the last few years, researchers have recorded a hundred groups of these whales, including large ones comprising up to 150 animals. "Using data from their surveys, the authors estimate that there could be almost 8,000 fin whales in the Antarctic area." Listed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, fin whales have a tremendous impact on the environment. In fact, they are called "ecosystem engineers" because after consuming iron-rich krill, they excrete nutrients that help the "growth of tiny phytoplankton, the foundation of the marine food web". In addition, the increasing number of this marine mammal - the world's second largest animal-is also an indicator of the ocean's good health.

While other threats cannot be ruled out for these ocean giants, the "increasing numbers of southern fin whales is an encouraging sign that conservation measures can work".

Picture Credit : Google 

Have you ever wondered how we may perceive human-like robots? According to new research, when robots engage with people and display human-like emotions, then people may perceive them as capable of thinking and acting on their own beliefs, rather than being driven by programs.

At a time when the tendency to attribute independent thought and intentional behaviour to robots hasn't been fully understood, a group of researchers from the American Psychological Association came up with these experiments. Their results were published in the journal Technology, Mind and Behavior.

Intentional or mechanical?

Researchers examined how people perceived a human-like robot across three experiments that involved 119 participants. Participants completed a questionnaire before and after interacting with the iCub robot. Questions were typically images of the robot in different situations, asking the participants to identify if the robot's motivation in each of these situations was intentional or mechanical.

The researchers remotely controlled iCub's actions in the first two experiments. This meant that it greeted the participants, introduced itself. asked the participants for their names, and even maintained eye contact. Participants then watched three short video documentaries with the robot. which was programmed to respond with sounds and facial expressions.

The researchers programmed iCub to be more like a machine in the third experiment. This meant that it did not maintain eye contact, spoke only recorded sentences to the questionnaire before and after interacting with the iCub robot. Questions were typically images of the robot in different situations, asking the participants to identify if the robot's motivation in each of these situations was intentional or mechanical.

The researchers remotely controlled iCub's actions in the first two experiments. This meant that it greeted the participants, introduced itself. asked the participants for their names, and even maintained eye contact. Participants then watched three short video documentaries with the robot. which was programmed to respond with sounds and facial expressions.

The researchers programmed iCub to be more like a machine in the third experiment. This meant that it did not maintain eye contact, spoke only recorded sentences to the participants, and even its emotional reactions were replaced with beeps and repetitive movements of its parts.

Behaviour matters

The researchers were able to find that participants who watched videos with the human-like robot were more likely to rate the robot's actions as intentional and not programmed, while those who interacted with the machine-like robot were not. This shows that human-like behaviour is important for robots to be perceived as an intentional agent by humans.

Researchers believe that this could play a part in the design of social robots of the future. According to them, the next step of research in this area is to determine contexts where social bonding and attribution of intentionality to robots proves beneficial for the well-being of humans.

Picture Credit : Google 

On July 25, 1854, American inventor Walter Hunt received his patent for a paper shirt collar-"Improvement in shirt collars". This was one of Hunt's many inventions, the more popular of which are the safety pin and the sewing machine.

When you use a safety pin or see the paper collar in a shirt do you ever stop to think about how it came to be in the first place? There are many such inventions that silently go about doing their roles effectively, without pomp and fanfare. When it concerns the safety pin or the paper collar, they are probably taking a leaf out of their inventors book. For American inventor Walter Hunt spent a lifetime inventing without becoming a household name despite his successes.

Born in 1796 in the rural part of New York, very little is known about Hunt's early childhood. His obituary mentions that he was more interested in people and what he could do for them rather than his own welfare, right from childhood. It was a trait that he had throughout his life as he devoted himself to his dear ones, often giving away everything in his possession, even if that meant he didn't have enough to provide for himself.

Hunt's first patent

Hunt's family worked in a textile mill in the town of Lowville. With his ability to provide mechanical solutions to even complex problems, Hunt was able to work with Willis Hoskins, the mill owner, inventing and patenting a machine for spinning flax and hemp. This patent, which they obtained in 1826, was Hunt's first.

In 1833, Hunt invented a sewing machine that used a lockstitch - the first time an inventor had not tried to replicate a hand stitch with their machine. There's reason to believe that Hunt never patented it at the time as his daughter talked him out of commercialising the device, warning that its success would leave a lot of seamstresses unemployed.

This meant that the first patent for a lockstitch sewing machine went to American inventor Elias Howe in 1846. In the aftermath, Hunt applied a patent for his sewing machine in 1853. While the Patent Office recognised Hunt's precedence and he therefore received public credit for the invention. Howe raked in the money as his patent continued to be valid owing to certain technicalities.

Repaying a debt

Between the time he invented and patented his sewing machine, there was once a time when Hunt found himself owing a man a $15 debt. Eager to invent something that would allow him to erase the debt. Hunt is believed to have twisted an ordinary metal wire until he ended up with a device he called the "dress pin".

Even though the idea wasn't entirely novel and the concept can even be dated back to the Roman empire, Hunt was able to bring in innovations that made a lasting impact. With a clasp to keep the pin's point inside a protective case and a spring at one end that forced the other end in place. Hunt's dress pin had all the features now found today in every safety pin.

Hunt received a patent for his dress pins on April 10, 1849 and sold its rights for just $400 off his own volition. The money helped him repay his debt, even though it was only a minute fraction of the substantial fortune that his invention created.

Muslin and paper

A little over five years later, on July 24, 1854, Hunt received a patent for his paper shirt collar - "Improvement in shirt collars". He used a base of thin white cotton muslin and pasted very thin white paper on both its sides. These collars could be pressed between heated forms to make the shape of the neck. These collars were then varnished, thereby guarding it against the effects of sweat and also allowing it to be wiped clean with a damp cloth.

Until his death in 1859, Hunt continued to invent and patent devices, which included a knife sharpener, heating stove, ice boat, fountain pen, and a reversible metallic heel for shoes, to name a few. Even though he sold the rights to most of his patents, allowing others to enjoy the financial rewards that his devices brought, he was respected and recognised as someone who had spent his entire lifetime inventing.

Picture Credit : Google 

When Jurassic Park hit the screens about 30 years ago, words such as Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor, and Dilophosaurus became household names. Now with Jurassic World Dominion, the recent sequel in the Jurassic World franchise, there is renewed interest in these majestic creatures that once walked the Earth. Let's take a closer look at some of them you've seen on the big screen.

Tyrannosaurus rex (T-rex)

Think Jurassic Park, and the first image that pops up will always be that of the Tyrannosaurus rex- the giant dinosaur with tiny forelimbs - that alternates between being an antagonist and an ally in the movie. The T-rex that stole hearts and awed us in the Jurassic saga is one of the largest theropod dinosaurs that walked the Earth. A partial skeleton of this dinosaur was first discovered in Hell Creek, Montana, the U.S., in 1902. Analysing the subsequent fossil findings, scientists observed that a T-rex could grow up to 40 feet long, 12 feet high, and weigh up to 7.000 kg. This ferocious predator had very huge skulls, powerful jaws and legs, and is one of the most popular and revered dinosaurs. It is believed to have lived in western North America. T. rex fossils have been discovered in States such as Montana and South Dakota in the U.S., and Alberta in Canada.

Know your dino

Genus: Tyrannosaurus

What it means: Greek for 'King of the Tyrant Lizards

Type species: rex

Region: Canada, the U.S.

Period: Late Cretaceous Period

Time: 68 to 66 million years ago

Size: Estimated to have weighed up to 7,000 kg

 Movement: On two legs

Food: Camivore (other animals)

Velociraptor

If there is one dinosaur that has been much celebrated and feared in the Jurassic saga, it is the Velociraptor. But did you know that the Velociraptor we saw in the movies and that terrorised us was modelled to twice its real size? In other words, the raptor was quite different in real life. Roaming the Earth during the late Cretaceous period, they were, in fact, feathered bipeds that grew up to just 45 kg. The first Velociraptor fossil was discovered in Mongolia's Gobi Desert in 1923, and comprised a skull and a curved claw. Subsequent fossil discoveries indicate that the raptors had long feathers and wing-like arms, but were unable to fly. Velociraptors were indeed fierce predators. They exhibited several traits of modern-day birds such as plumage, hinged ankles, swivel-jointed wrists. wishbone, and so on.

Know your dino

Genus: Velociraptor

What it means: Latin, meaning Quick Plunderer

Type species: mongoliensis

Region: Central and Eastern Asia

 Period: Late Cretaceous Period

Time: 74 to 70 million years ago

 Size: Estimated to have weighed up to 45 kg

 Movement: On two legs

Food: Carnivore (small mammals and reptiles)

Giganotosaurus

The Jurrasic Park franchise introduced the Giganotosaurus in its recent movie. The movie even features a fight scene between T-rex and Giganotosaurus. Let's dismiss it as creative freedom because, in real life, these two giants wouldn't have met! Giganotosaurus lived about 30 million years before T-rex, and they existed on different continents. One of the largest carnivores, the first specimen of this dinosaur was found in Southem Argentina. This dinosaur was gigantic when compared to other dinosaurs. This biped weighed up to 8.000 kg and is believed to have hunted Argentinosaurus, a herbivorous dinosaur. The fossil records are still incomplete, and it is too early to arrive at specifics. As per records, there is only one known species in the genus Giganotosaurus, namely Giganotosaurus carolini

Know your dino

Genus: Giganotosaurus

What it means: Greek for 'Giant Southern Lizard

Type species: carolinii

Region: Argentina

Period: Late Cretaceous Time: 112 to 90 million years ago

Size: Estimated to have weighed up to 8,000 kg Movement: On two legs

Food: Carnivore (other animals)

Dilophosaurus

The Dilophosaurus was the most dramatic of all dinosaurs in the Jurassic saga. With its venomous spit and a collapsible and rattling frill, it had all the embellishments to catch one's fancy. The movie depicted Dilophosaurus at half its size. In real life, these dinosaurs would stand up to eight feet in height and measure up to 25 feet in length. This biped had two unique crests of bone across the top of its head, was agile, and had a strong jaw and a bite that could be deadly. During its time, it was the largest land animal. The first fossil was discovered in Arizona, the U.S. Did you know that the dinosaur species Dilophosaurus wetherilli went by another name at first? This dinosaur was first mentioned in scientific literature as a new species belonging to a previously known genus Megalosaurus. It was only when the rest of the fragmentary remains were analysed and the specimen preserving the top of the skull and the dual crests were obtained did paleontologist Samuel Welles realise he had discovered a new genus!

Know your dino

Genus: Dilophosaurus

What it means: Greek for Two-ridged Lizard

Type species: wetherilli

Region: The U.S.

Period: Early Jurassic

Time: 190 million years ago

Size: Estimated to have weighed up to 300 kg

Movement: On two legs

Food: Carnivore (other animals)

Picture Credit : Google 

Chettinad art and architecture is distinct for its unique mix of European and Indian styles.

Tiled carpets

One can find many gems of Indian art and culture in Tamil Nadu's renowned Chettinad region. Known for its distinct style of architecture, Chettinad's temples and stately mansions testify to the prosperity and artistic traditions of the local Chettiar community.

The village of Athangudi, here specialises in the manufacture of handcrafted tiles. The Chettiars, who travelled overseas, for trade, in the 19th century, were inspired by European ideas of interior decoration and infused them in their homes. The Athangudi tiles are an expression of this unique blend of the east and the west.

Elaborate

Making these tiles is a time-consuming process. Each tile is made individually on a square sheet of glass. A metal stencil, with the desired motif, is placed on the glass. A slurry of cement and coloured oxides is poured into the spaces of the stencil and spread evenly. The workman, then removes the stencil and sprinkles a layer of dry sand on it after which he lays a thick layer of a wet mixture of cement, sand and small stone aggregates or jelly. The tile is dried in the sun before immersing it in water for several days. When the tile dries out, the glass sheet slips away. leaving behind a smooth, glistening tile with a colourful ornate design.

Athangudi tiles are usually in geometric or floral designs in earthy colours such as red. blue, green and ochre. When laid out, they look like an exotic tiled carpet.

Mosaics of Ravenna

The port city of Ravenna was the seat of ancient Italy's Byzantine Empire. An immortal legacy of that era is the city's collection of exquisite mosaics of early Christian art, said to be the best examples of Byzantine art outside of Istanbul. UNESCO has granted World Heritage status to eight early Christian monuments of Ravenna, each of which boasts of outstanding mosaics dating back to the fifth and sixth centuries. The mosaics in the Basilica of San Vitale, depict figures from the Old and New Testaments along with the reigning monarchs, archbishops and bishops of the time. Interiors with richly decorated motifs of angels, flora, and fauna, a great triumphal arch embellished with mosaic medallions depicting Jesus Christ and the 12 Apostles, are but some magnificent fixtures found here.

In the Basilica of Sant Apollinare Nuovo, Jesus is portrayed as a Byzantine emperor. The ornate panels describe his miracles and parables, as well as the Passion and Resurrection.

The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia has the best preserved mosaics in the area. The most famous of them is called Christ as the Good Shepherd. It shows the haloed figure of Christ draped in gold and purple tending to his flock.

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You see the player advancing towards the goal, clearly trying to score. But the goalkeeper doesn't stand his ground. He runs towards the player instead of staying on the post. Why would he do that? The reason is maths!

Football is often referred to as "O jogo bonito", Portuguese for The beautiful game' - a nickname popularised by the Brazilian great, Pele. And rightly so.

Just like any other beautiful movement, football requires rhythm, coordination, and balance. And at the same time, it also requires skill. However, just being a master at tackling, shooting or goalkeeping does not necessarily make you a great player.

Some of the best football players on the field today are also terrific mathematicians, who use maths in football. The instinctive understanding of the concepts of geometry, speed-distance-time, and calculus which they utilise isn't determined by the ability to solve equations on a blackboard. And this application itself gives them the edge over other players. If you've watched the popular television show Ted Lasso, you will probably understand this claim by watching the coaches and players strategising how to tackle their opponents So, how is maths used in football? Let's look at calculations used by players for some of the most common goals and defence strategies in this beautiful game:

United we stand! Tiki taka football strategy

A great example of real-time use of geometry to create space and beat defenders is the tiki taka-a popular method that became the talk of town when Spain claimed the Euro Cup and the World Cup in 2008 and 2010. This is a systematic approach to football founded upon team unity and a comprehensive understanding in the geometry of space on a football field.

How do players perform tiki taka?

The football players try to form triangles all around the pitch to maintain the ball possession, making it difficult for the opponent to obtain the ball and organise their game. Tiki taka has proven to be very successful as a football strategy.

Eyes on the prize. Goalkeeper's one on one

One of the best examples where football and maths go hand in hand is distracting a striker. The goal is to create a larger obstruction to reduce the space available to score, hence lowering the probability of a goal

Often when a striker is in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper (like in our introduction), the latter charges towards the striker rapidly to close the space thereby reducing the angle and space available to strike the ball. This is another successful ideology of mathematical football.

How to hit a chip shot?

One of the most beautiful moves in football is chipping a charging goalkeeper. As the space reduces, the cool minded striker notices the increase in space to score. A 3-dimensional view allows the striker to kick over the charging goalkeepers head, and into the goalpost.

The chip shot, which is quite popular among both fans and players, doesn't require power, rather a deft touch that follows a perfect parabola into the net.

Know thy enemy! Save thy penalties

Teams these days are aware of the past penalties taken by players. Most players follow a pattern in their penalty shots and this analysis of the previous shots puts the keeper in a much better situation to predict the next shot.

Goal posts: to go square or to go round?

The goalposts we see now are circular and have an elliptical cross-section. The goalposts before 1987 had the square cross-section. This invariably meant that most of the shots that hit the posts, came out instead of going in which brought unnecessary disappointment to the teams.

Does football strategy need data analysts and mathematicians?

 While football maths was initially used for strategising the buying and selling of players, it is now integrated to what it can also do on the tactical analysis of the game.

Believe it or not, almost every football team today has a team of mathematicians or statisticians who help the coach define football strategies based on data. A huge amount of data is collected and analysed to understand opposing teams game-play, strengths and weaknesses of players, and to define tactics.

For example, if two players pass the ball 300 times to each other on average in a game, what kind of advantage can the opposition gain by reducing their total number of passes to 100?

Football tessellation

One very obvious example of mathematical football is the shape of the ball itself. The most familiar spherical polyhedron is the ball used in football, thought of as a spherical truncated icosahedron.

What does football tessellation mean?

 The football is usually made of white hexagon shapes and black pentagon shapes - this is an example of a tessellation figure.

The word insipid corresponds to lacking flavour and being weak or tasteless. It can also be used to denote lacking interest or vigour.

Origin:  The word, which has been in usage since 1610s, comes from French insipide, from Latin inspidus meaning tasteless.

The figurative meaning of being uninteresting or dull was first recorded in English in the 1640s, probably from Medieval Latin. The word saw a rapid decline in usage in the 19th Century, but has maintained that level since then.

Usage: Despite an insipid performance in first half of the play, the children more than made up in the second half to make it an enjoyable show overall.

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Emmeline Pankhurst was an English political activist and a leading figure in the suffrage movement in Great Britain. Her tireless campaigning in the face of police brutality and failing personal health made her an icon of British politics. Let us look at one of her most influential public addresses titled, "Freedom or Death"

On November 13, 1913, British activist Emmeline Pankhurst gave one of the most influential speeches of the suffragette movement titled, Freedom or Death" at a meeting of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association in Hartford, Connecticut. U.S.

On this day, the founder of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) took the stage to argue that women's liberation could only be achieved by civil war.

Sign of the times

One of the greatest political changes of the 20th Century was obtaining the vote for women; but behind this accomplishment lay decades of refusals by successive governments.

The long-standing campaign for women's suffrage began in 1865 but when years of peaceful protest and innumerable petitions failed to translate into political change, women took to the streets to rally for their right to vote. It was during this time that Emmeline Pankhurst. along with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia, came up with a public campaign of engagement and spectacle to gain media attention change public opinion, and influence the Parliament through (their motto) deeds and not words.

Freedom or Death

In her 1913 speech, Pankhurst addressed herself as a soldier on leave from the battle, since she was temporarily relieved from her prison sentence on account of what was popularly called the "cat and mouse act"

But her failing health could not derail her from utilising this occasion to speak on the need to fight against the injustices perpetrated on women by society. At the time working women she explained, were earning a meagre amount of two dollars a week: wives had no right on their husband's property and no legal say in the upbringing of their children. Girls were seen as marriageable at the age of 12 and divorce was considered to be an act against God: violence and assault on women rarely received any significant penalty, and above all, there was no legal framework that represented their gender in the constitutional setup. In this political environment, the right to vote, she insisted, was the first step towards getting political equality and attaining full citizenship.

The path to militancy Justifying the rise of the self-proclaimed militant suffragettes, she proclaimed "you cannot make omelettes without breaking eggs" The double standard of the society that reveres men as the harbinger of change and women as creatures to be domesticated has forced us down this road. The history of politics is a testament to the fact that one has to be more noisy" and disruptive to gain the media's attention and see their grievances addressed.

Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913

 This 1913 law, also known as the cat and mouse act, was especially passed to suppress the women's movement and allowed for the early release of prisoners who were so weakened by partaking in hunger strikes that they were on the verge of dying. Addressing this legislative move by the Government, she said "There are women lying at death's door... who have not given in and won't give in... they are being carried from their sick beds on stretchers into meetings. They are too weak to speak, but they go amongst their fellow workers just to show that their spirits are unquenched and that their spirit is alive, and they mean to go on as long as life lasts...either women are to be killed or women are to have the vote." (excerpt from Freedom or Death)

World War-l

Less than a year after this speech World War I broke out. The government released all imprisoned suffragists to join the workforce and support the war effort. It was only after the Representation of the People Act was passed in 1918 that property-owning British women over 30 were granted the right to vote.

Key takeaways from the speech

1. One must never hesitate to fight for social good.
2.  Women's rights are human rights.
3.  Equality is the soul of liberty.
4. It takes courage to challenge the familiar and resilience to succeed.
5.  Actions hold more meaning than words.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The colour scheme for the Suffragette movement was purple, white and green which stood for dignity purity and fertility.
• Pank-a-Squith was a pro women's suffrage board game created by WSPU in the early 1900s. The game's goal was to avoid all the pitfalls of suffragette life and get the right to vote.
• The Museum of London holds the diary entries, letters and sketchbooks written on toilet paper, passed between imprisoned suffragettes and eventually smuggled out of the prison building.

Picture Credit : Google