Light bulb shining after an incredible 130 years

While most modern light bulbs barely last a year, a bulb in UK is still glowing after an amazing 130 years, making it one of the oldest in the world.

The bulb, dating from 1883, was clearly built to last with six internal filaments which wobble when in use.

It continued to give good service throughout two world wars, shining well into the new millennium, the ‘Daily Mail’ reported.

The bulb first belonged to the late Florence Crook who once took it to school to dazzle her classmates. It then passed down to her son Kenneth, in Morecambe, Lancshire and is still in use by his widow Beth, 79, at their home.

“It’s a real talking point. There is no substitute for craftsmanship. The new eco bulbs take all week to warm up and hardly give off any light,” Beth told the ‘Daily Express’.

The bulb, marked EDISWAN, has the number 200-32:B.56 on the glass. The UK’s previously oldest working bulb surfaced after 113 years continuous use in Margate, Kent, in 2008.

Ediswan was a collaboration between the British Physicist Sir Joseph Swan and US scientist Thomas Alva Edison, both of whom are independently credited with the invention of the light bulb in 1879.

Swan’s break through was to use a vacuum which meant there was very little oxygen inside the bulb so the filament to glow white-hot without catching fire.

It rolled of the production line as Queen Victoria was beginning her 64th year on the throne and William Gladstone was the UK Prime Minister, the report said.

According to the Guinness Book of Records the world’s oldest light bulb in continuous use has been burning for 109 years and holds pride of place in Fire Station 6, in Livermore, northern California.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/light-bulb-shining-after-an-incredible-130-years/1073013/0

Working less, playing more key ‘to save planet’: Study

Americans should work less, play more to save the planet, a new study has suggested.

According to a Washington think tank, this is a basic formula to cut down on global warming.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research’s new report said that the shift from a U.S. work model to a more “European” one, which includes shorter work weeks and more vacation time, could cut as much as half of the expected global temperature rise by 2100.

The study claims that scaling back on work hours could bring down greenhouse gases, Fox News reports.

Rosnick, who wrote the study, said that assuming that 40-to-60 percent of potential global warming is already locked in, about one-quarter to one-half of the warming that is not already locked in could be cut by scaling back hours.

The report outlined how worldwide energy patterns could be dependent on which model developing countries choose to copy in the coming years.

If they choose to follow the U.S. model, they would apparently consume 30 percent more energy than they do now, the report added.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/working-less-playing-more-key-to-save-planet-study/1070228/

Faking magnitude 8 in the Himalayas, to handle earthquakes better

Rather than wait for an earthquake to happen in the high-risk Himalayan region, disaster managers will simulate the aftermath of one of magnitude 8 on the Richter scale.

“Since there is no method of forecasting an earthquake — the most instantaneous natural disaster — we need to be better prepared,” said Prof Harsh K Gupta, member of the National Disaster Management Authority.

The imagined earthquake will have its epicentre at Sundarnagar in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh. It will have struck at 11.30 am on February 13 and ruptured an entire 200-km faultline, causing tremors of varying intensities and affecting 15 spots in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and the Union territory of Chandigarh.

The NDMA and Delhi’s DDMA had conducted the largest ever mock disaster drill on February 15 last year. The Delhi exercise will be the benchmark for the upcoming one. Eventualities such as a chemical explosion, a bridge collapse, fire, a gas leak and building collapses will be simulated at flyovers, markets, offices, government and private schools and colleges, hospitals, railway stations, bus stands, airports and residential areas.

“There are three aspects to it — to develop realistic scenarios to know the vulnerability and preparedness of state machinery as well as the public’s response; to make the government machinery more knowledgeable about such scenarios; and to conduct awareness campaigns and mock drills,” Gupta said.

“We have estimated the population that will be exposed to the risk as against the total population density, and, considering topography and other surface features, the human loss that such a scenario can lead to,” Gupta said. Factoring in the aftershocks that come 20-30 seconds after the first earthquake impact, the NDMA has projected that 231.8 lakh people will be exposed to intensities X-IX on the MSK scale, 323.6 lakh to intensities IX-VIII, and 251.6 lakh to intensities VIII-VII.

“The idea is to first bring about participation of various stakeholders, and check how all the emergency support functionaries — police control room, fire brigades, ambulances, hospitals, administration, disaster management, volunteers — respond, and to calculate their response time,” an NDMA official said. “The drills are likely to be held at bus stands, markets, colleges, schools, administrative offices, railway stations… The Army will be requested for observers to conduct a third-party assessment.”

Over the last four months, authorities in the areas to be covered have mapped their resources, prepared scenarios for the mock drill, identified venues, and trained volunteers as dummies (dead, critically injured, minorly injured). DDMA officials said the process of laying the groundwork began six months ago in a series of meetings initiated between NDMA vice chairman Shashidhar Reddy and other officials, the chief ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, and the Chandigarh governor.

The Himalayan region was counted among the most vulnerable on the global seismic hazard map prepared during the International Decade on Natural Disaster Reduction during 1991-2000. And experts say the number of deaths due to natural disasters during the first 12 years of the 21st century has already crossed the total of the 20th century, despite advancements in science and sociology.

“Risk assessment and preparedness can mitigate effects of disasters to a great extent,” Gupta said. Gupta, a seismologist and a member of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk programme as well as the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, is credited with developing India’s tsunami warning system.

In 1977, a cyclone caused 20,000 deaths on the east coast of India. In the years that followed, an early warning system was established, complete with meteorological radars and emergency plans. As a result fewer lives were lost — about 1,000 — when the same area was hit by a cyclone of similar strength in 1996, and again in 2005, when the death toll was just 27.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/faking-magnitude-8-in-the-himalayas-to-handle-earthquakes-better/1067579/0

‘Ozone thinning has changed ocean circulation’

A hole in the Antarctic ozone layer has changed the way waters in the southern oceans mix, which scientists say could impact global climate change.

The situation has the potential to alter the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, scientist say.

In a study, published in the journal Science, Darryn W Waugh and his team show that subtropical intermediate waters in the southern oceans have become “younger” as the upwelling, circumpolar waters have gotten “older” – changes that are consistent with the fact that surface winds have strengthened as the ozone layer has thinned.

“This may sound entirely academic, but believe me, it’s not,” said Waugh, of the Morton K Blaustein Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins’ Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

“This matters because the southern oceans play an important role in the uptake of heat and carbon dioxide, so any changes in southern ocean circulation have the potential to change the global climate,” Waugh said in a statement.

Researchers used measurements taken from the early 1990s to the mid-to-late 2000s of the amount of a chemical compound known as “chlorofluorocarbon-12,” or CFC-12, in the southern oceans.

CFC-12 was first produced commercially in the 1930s and its concentration in the atmosphere increased rapidly until the 1990s when it was phased out by the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.

Researchers were able to infer changes in how rapidly surface waters have mixed into the depths of the southern oceans.

Because they knew that concentrations of CFCs at the ocean surface increased in tandem with those in the atmosphere, they were able to surmise that the higher the concentration of CFC-12 deeper in the ocean, the more recently those waters were at the surface.

The inferred age changes – “younger” in the subtropics, “older” nearer the South Pole – are consistent with the observed intensification of surface westerly winds, which have occurred primarily because of the Antarctic ozone hole, suggesting that stratospheric ozone depletion is the primary cause of the changes in ocean ventilation.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ozone-thinning-has-changed-ocean-circulation/1067962/0

ESA plans to build 3D printed Moon base

The European Space Agency (ESA) plans to set up a base on Moon by using a 3D printer to build it from lunar materials, scientists say.

Industrial partners including renowned architects Foster + Partners have joined with ESA to test the feasibility of 3D printing using lunar soil, the space agency said.

“Terrestrial 3D printing technology has produced entire structures. Our industrial team investigated if it could similarly be employed to build a lunar habitat,” said Laurent Pambaguian, who heads the project for ESA.

Foster + Partners devised a weight-bearing “catenary” dome design with a cellular structured wall to shield against micro-meteoroids and space radiation, incorporating a pressurised inflatable to shelter astronauts. A hollow closed-cell structure – reminiscent of bird bones – provides a good combination of strength and weight. The base’s design was guided in turn by the properties of 3D-printed lunar soil, with a 1.5 tonne building block produced as a demonstration.

“3D printing offers a potential means of facilitating lunar settlement with reduced logistics from Earth,” added Scott Hovland of ESA’s human spaceflight team.

“The new possibilities this work opens up can then be considered by international space agencies as part of the current development of a common exploration strategy.

“As a practice, we are used to designing for extreme climates on Earth and exploiting the environmental benefits of using local, sustainable materials,” said Xavier De Kestelier of Foster + Partners Specialist Modelling Group.

“Our lunar habitation follows a similar logic,” he said in a ESA Statement.

The UK’s Monolite supplied the D-Shape printer, with a mobile printing array of nozzles on a 6 m frame to spray a binding solution onto a sand-like building material.

3D “printouts” are built up layer by layer ¿ the company more typically uses its printer to create sculptures and is working on artificial coral reefs to help preserve beaches from energetic sea waves.

“First, we needed to mix the simulated lunar material with magnesium oxide. This turns it into “paper” we can print with,” said Monolite founder Enrico Dini.

“Then for our structural ‘ink’ we apply a binding salt which converts material to a stone-like solid.

“Our current printer builds at a rate of around 2 m per hour, while our next-generation design should attain 3.5 m per hour, completing an entire building in a week,” said Dini.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/esa-plans-to-build-3d-printed-moon-base/1067991/0

IBM says it has tool to kill deadly drug-resistant superbugs

Hospital-acquired infections have become a major killer in the United States, mainly because the drug-resistant “superbugs” that cause them have proven nearly impossible to stop.

But now IBM and the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology say they have come up with what they’re calling an antimicrobial hydrogel that can successfully fight the superbugs that are behind killers like MRSA.

In an announcement today, IBM Research and its partner on the project said that their antimicrobial hydrogel was designed to cut through diseased biofilms and almost instantly kill off drug-resistant bacteria. The collaborators on the project said that the the synthetic drug is meant for combating the growing infection problems plaguing American hospitals, because it is non-toxic, biocompatible, and biodegradable.

Normally, IBM said in its announcement, antimicrobials are used in standard household cleaners like alcohol and bleach. But those substances haven’t proved effective in fighting deadly skin infections like MRSA because antibiotics are becoming less effective and standard disinfectants aren’t meant for biological situations.

But the new hydrogel was created to be used in creams and other therapeutics that are meant for healing. The hydrogel can be applied to contaminated surfaces, and its positive charge instantly attracts the microbial membranes’ negative charge. The bacteria is then meant to be killed by what IBM termed membrane disruption, a step that staves off any kind of resistance to the hydrogel.

Although it’s not yet clear how this advancement will make its way into actual hospital and other relevant settings, research like this is meant to jump-start the commercial development of actual drugs and other therapies.

 

Source : http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57565551-76/ibm-says-it-has-tool-to-kill-deadly-drug-resistant-superbugs/

Ankesh Shahra the flag bearer of Ruchi group

A young dynamic entrepreneur is all set to the charge the business world, with his fresh attitude and strategic knowledge the company is set to ride to success. Ankesh Shahra is currently based in Singapore and managing the international businesses for Ruchi Soya. It includes establishing a cross-commodity global trading platform headquartered in Singapore

His work in business world is highly appreciated and lauded which bagged him the prestigious Globoil Global Young Entrepreneur Award which he received from Member of Parliament and lawyer Ram Jethmalani. He has also has been invited to attend the Rabo Bank Food & Agribusiness Advisory Board Meeting that was held in Hong Kong.

He dons the role of Director, Business Development for Ruchi Agritrading Pte Ltd.
Ankesh has a background in Finance, Economics and International Trade and represents the third generation of the Shahra family that started the business conglomerate Ruchi Group. With his distinctive attributes and rich pedigree he is set to take the business in great space.

The Group has business interests across the sectors ranging from Edible oil, Soya foods, Steel, Dairy, Featuring among the top five FMCG players in India; Ruchi Soya Industries is the flagship company of Ruchi Group of Industries. A leading manufacturer of high-quality edible oils, soya food, vanaspati and bakery fats, it is also the highest exporter of soya meal, lecithin and other food ingredients from India. Established in 1986, it is the largest producer and marketer of vegetable oils and soya food, the largest oilseed crusher and edible oil refiner, the largest importer of vegetable oil and the largest exporter of soya derivatives from India. Ruchi Soya has also diversified into Renewable Energy and Plantations in the recent past.

Ankesh Shahra’s ideology is to work towards renewing, to reinterpret and reaffirm Ruchi Soya’s backwards integration strategy into agricultural plantations in Asia and Africa

His stance towards Food security is indeed a prevalent concern, he stresses upon the on three pillars Food security is built upon
* Food availability: sufficient quantities of food available on a consistent basis.
* Food access: having sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet.
* Food use: appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate water and sanitation.

That enables the group to introspect and look ahead, to clarify and consolidate company’s positions as top FMCG players in India.

Ruchi Soya eyes 15% rise in FY13 revenues

Ruchi Group of Industries today said it is expecting up to 15 percent growth in revenue following high crushing, better margins and growth in soya meal exports.

“We are expecting 10-15 percent growth in sales this fiscal year mainly on account of  higher crushing, better margins through product innovations and increase in branded sales. Rise in soya meal exports will also help in boosting our revenue,” Ruchi Group of Industries Managing Director Dinesh Sahara told reporters here.

The company’s overall revenue in FY12 stood at Rs 26,000 crore.

Ruchi Group of Industries, which recently launched margarine, is planning to introduce more healthy options of edible oils in future, Sahara added.

Talking about exports, he said, the company is expecting to ship about 1.7-1.8 million tonne soya meal compared to 1.5 million tonne last year.

“We are expecting this rise in exports mainly due to higher global demand as the crops in South America was affected following drought,” he said.

On the soya bean production in the country this kharif season, he said, this year there is likely to be a record crop at about 10.5 to 11 million tonne and the arrivals will peak in mid-October.

“The late rainfall did not have any major impact either on the crop yield or the size and this will boost the overall soya bean meal exports to about 5 million tonne this crop year (October-September) from 4.5 million tonne last year,” Sahara said.

Rape seed or mustard crop is also likely to be 10-15 percent higher than last year at about 6.5 million tonne in this season mainly due to good rainfall and better soil condition in the producing areas, he said.

Last year, the overall mustard output was at 5.34 million tonne.

However, due to decline in production of groundnut and cotton seed the import is likely to be at 9.8 million tonne this oil year (November-October), which is yet to end, he said.

The overall demand, which is also growing at 5 percent yearly, will also add to the rise in imports, he added.

“In the next oil year we expect the overall imports to be half a million more than the current year,” he said.