என் கோள்! என் முடிவு!

எதோ சீயக்காய் விளம்பரம் என்று உங்கள் உலாவியை மூடிவிடாதீர்கள்! சில நாட்களுக்கு முன், "நானே கப்பல்! நானே மாலுமி!" என்ற பதிவில் தானியங்கிக் கப்பல்கள் குறித்து நடந்துவரும் முன்னேற்றங்கள் பற்றிப் பார்த்தோம். தற்போது வந்துள்ள செய்திகளின் படி, நாசா (NASA) அனுப்பிய க்யூரியாசிட்டி ஆளில்லா ஆய்வுக்கலம் (Curiosity Rover) தனாகவே முடுவுகள் எடுத்து ஆய்வுகளை மேற்கொள்ள ஆரம்பித்துள்ளது. 2012ஆம் ஆண்டு அமெரிக்க ஐக்கிய நாட்டின் நாசா அனுப்பிய க்யூரியாசிட்டி ஆய்வுக்கலம் செவ்வாய் கோளில் உயிர்கள் வாழ்ந்தனவா, வாழ்ந்து கொண்டிருக்கின்றனவா அல்லது வாழும் வாய்ப்பு உள்ளதா போன்ற கேள்விகளுக்கு விடை காணும் பொருட்டு பல ஆராய்ச்சிகளை மேற்கொண்டுள்ளது.

செவ்வாயில் க்யூரியாசிட்டி எடுத்துக்கொண்ட செல்ஃபீ !
நன்றி: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

இதுவரை புவியில் இருந்து கட்டுப்படுத்தப்பட்டு வந்த அக்கலம், தற்போது தன்னிச்சையாகச் (Autonomous) செயல்படத் தொடங்கியுள்ளது. ஒரு இயந்திரக்கலத்தின் ஒவ்வொரு செயல்பாட்டையும் வேறு ஒரு கோளில் இருந்துகொண்டு கட்டுப்படுத்துவது மிகவும் கடினம். இங்கிருந்து அனுப்பப்படும் ஆணைகள் செவ்வாயில் உள்ள கலத்தை அடைய பல மணிநேரங்கள் ஆகலாம்! தூரம், இடையில் உள்ள தகவல்த்தொடர்பு செயற்கைக்கோள்களின் நிலை (position) போன்றவற்றால் இந்த வகையில் கலத்தைக் கட்டுப்படுத்துவது மிகவும் நேரம் மற்றும் உழைப்பை வீணாக்கும் ஒன்றாக இருந்துவந்தது.

அதனால் ஏற்கனவே திட்டமிட்ட படி செயற்கை அறிவுத்திறன் (Artificial Intelligence) மூலம் இந்தக்காலம் இயங்கத்தொடங்கியுள்ளது. எதேச்சையாக வெவ்வேறு இடங்களை லேசர் ஒளி கொண்டு உணர்ந்து அதில் செயற்கை அறிவுத்திறன் மூலம் ஆய்வுக்குச் சிறந்த இடம் எது என்று அடையாளம் கண்டு அந்த இடத்தை ஆராய்கிறது. இந்த செயற்கை அறிவுத்திறனுக்கு "அதிக அறிவியல் சேகரிப்புக்கான தன்னிச்சையான தேடல்" (Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science -AEGIS) என்று பெயரிட்டுள்ளனர். இந்த "ஏஜிஸ்" கருவி, 94% நேரங்களில் சரியான இலக்குகளை ஆராய்ந்து அனைவரையும் வியப்பில் ஆழ்த்தி வருகிறது!

செவ்வாய் தேசம்

தலைப்பை "செவ்வாய் தோஷம்" என்று வாசித்திருந்தாலோ, "செவ்வாய் தோஷம்" என்பதைப் பிழையாக "தேசம்" என்று எழுதிவிட்டேன் என்று நீங்கள் நினைத்திருந்தாலோ இந்தப் பதிவு உங்களுக்கானதல்ல. செவ்வாயும் சூரியனைச் சுற்றும் ஒரு சாதாரண கோள். அது பூமியில் மனிதன் உயிர்கள் தோன்றுவதற்கு முன்பிருந்தே இவ்வாறு சுற்றி வருகிறது. பூமியின் உயிர்கள் எதிர்காலத்தில் அழிந்து போனாலும், அதன் பின்னும் அது சுற்றும். அகா இந்தக் கோளுக்கும், உங்கள் வாழ்க்கைக்கும் (நீங்கள் விண்வெளி ஆராய்ச்சி/பயணம் தொடர்பான வேளைகளில் இல்லாத பட்சத்தில்) எந்தத் தொடர்புமில்லை. சரி, செய்திக்கு வருவோம்.

செவ்வாயின் மணல் மேடு

நாஸா (NASA) 2005-ஆம் ஆண்டு முதல் அதன் ஹைரைஸ் (HiRISE) நிழற்படவி (கேமரா) கொண்டு எடுத்த ஆயிரக்கணக்கான படங்களை வெளியிட்டுள்ளது. அதிதுல்லியமான இப்படங்கள் செவ்வாயின் பள்ளங்கள், மணல் மேடுகள், பனி முகடுகள் போன்ற பல அழகிய அம்சங்களை வெளிக்கொணர்ந்துள்ளன. இதை கீழ்காணும் இணைப்பில் காணலாம்.

http://www.uahirise.org/katalogos.php

26 மாதங்களுக்கு ஒருமுறை சூரியனும் செவ்வாயும் பூமியின் எதிர்-எதிர் பக்கங்களில் சில வாரங்கள் இருக்கும். அப்படி இருக்கும் போது சூரியக் கதிர்வீச்சின் பாதிப்பு இல்லாததால் செவ்வாயில் உள்ள "செவ்வாய் கண்காணிப்புச் செயற்கைக்கோள்" (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) பூமியில் உள்ள கட்டுப்பாட்டு நிலையத்துடன் தெளிவான தகவல் தொடர்பை ஏற்படுத்த முடியும். அதன் மூலம் மிக அதிக தகவல்களை அனுப்பவும் முடியும்.

வறண்ட நீர்ப் படுகை?

அது போன்ற ஒரு வாய்ப்பு கடந்த மே மாதம் கிடைத்தது. இதில் சிறப்பு என்னவென்றால், இந்த மே மாதம் சூரியன் செவ்வாயின் மத்தியக்கோட்டின் (equator) மீது செங்குத்தாக இருந்தது. இதனால் செவ்வாயின் வாட முனை (துருவம்) முதல் தென் முனை வரை வெளிச்சம் கிடைத்தது. இப்படங்கள் எதிர்காலத்தில் அனுப்பப்படும் செயற்கைக்கோள்கள் தரையிறங்கத் தகுதியான இடங்களைத் தேர்வு செய்யவும் பயன்படும்.

அனைவரும் குடும்பத்துடன் பார்த்து மகிழுங்கள்!!!

நன்றி:

NASA

https://science.slashdot.org/story/16/08/10/016204/nasa-publishes-a-thousand-photos-of-mars

https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/09/nasa-hirise-photos-mars/

http://www.uahirise.org/katalogos.php

The Man Who Sold The World - A Tribute to David Bowie

Like most Indian boys with a rural upbringing, I was introduced to Western music only in my teens, and David Bowie, not until my early 20s. It was pretty "outdated" when everyone around me were interested in Rap and Pop and Kuthu songs. But due to my fetish for things of 1970s and 80s, Bowie's songs sounded very familiar to me. Soon the infection was all over my brain. Those were the days of dial-up Internet connections and YouTube videos won't load. So his avant-garde visuals should wait another 3 or 4 years since his music and lyrics did enough damage to my leisure hours!

The main reason for his songs to attract me was their lyrical themes apart from Bowie's experimental, colorful and sometimes toxic music and his psychedelic voice. But once you see him on stage or take a look at his music videos, you can understand that his creativity knows no limit in the visual side too. It will not be an overstatement if I say that almost all of the shock-rock, art-rock bands that came after Bowie drew at least 20% of their inspiration from him. This article won't be too organized or complete in any sense. I am just going to explain what "happened" to me due to Bowie, here and there.

When I first heard Starman, I cried. Tears ran down my face and thankfully I was alone and let it go. The touch of pop-rock of 70s with odd chord progressions in the begning, the outlandish lyrics about an Alien who is going to land soon, the octave leap in the start of the chorus and the bass/acoustic guitar combo, my nervous system were overloaded and almost got hanged!

It may be odd if I am not to talk about Space Oddity. The song has a cover version done in the space itself by ISS astronaut Chris Hadfield. The song released during the peak of space race may be all about space travel. But the lyrics suggest that it may be also about feeling not belonging to this world at all. Words "Planet earth is blue and there's nothing I can do" and "And I think my spaceship knows which way to go" may indicate the total lack of control we have on our lives.

The Man Who Sold The World, a song that always gives me jitters. Not because the electric guitar riff that rips the heart or the outro humming that pierce the soul. But the sub-vocal message the song delivers. Imagine a man visited by his much much younger, past self. The young persona finds the older one wasted, lost, without hope and even thinks that he might have died. Imagine the young boy you were. The hopes and dream, the optimism on life, the energy and fun. If that boy comes to meet you as an old friend, what will you be? A man who sold his own world!

Rock n Roll Suicide is rightly named as the song, like a knife, lacerates your brain. But it is your own choice to listen to it and hence the suicide. But don't worry. Bowie already had had his share and is going to help you with the pain. You are not alone, when you hear this song. Because it is wonderful, so you are! Just give him your hand like I did.

Soul Love talks about various sorts and aspects of love, a love of mother for her son, who is dead for his love of his nations/principles he wanted to uphold, the childish teen love, the damaging effects of love when it breaks, the divine love preached by religions and yet the emptiness and loniless of the human kind with all its progress in science and technology. Everything is captured in one song with an odd time signature and an echoic voice.

Modern Love from Let's Dance album is lot like Soul Love in theme but has a punkish polish over it. It starts with muted strumming of electric guitar and shifts to piano-guitar-bass combo accentuated with a drum-machine like percussion. It also has a good share of brass instruments. The lyrics is about the moral dilemma that was faced by the West back in late 1900s. With space travel and advancements in science, human kind is reduced to just another species on the face of earth, while our ego won't allows us to stop imaging ourselves as special creation of a God with whom we have personal relationship. The shift from organized religion to a much more personal spiritual experience is reflected in the word "God and man no confession, God and man no religion, God and man don't believe in modern love!"

The nights can't be so good as it can be with Miracle Goodnight. Reference to the morning star seems that the miracle about the Miracle Goodnight is, it is not night at all. All of us come across a time when the future comes knocking our door "full and empty". We may sometimes want to know why we are like this now by looking in to the past for answers. But we refrain from it when we start to realize that the answer may hurt us more. So we just hope that morning star will be on our side. The music video and sparkling guitar also deserve mention.

So far I have written about some of the songs that define David Bowie to me or that define me by David Bowie. Now, there is a movie that has been written and programmed in to the universe an waited for 13+ billion years for Bowie to be born so that he can act in it. "The Man Who Fell to Earth". It is a cult movie and it is a must watch for anyone who had just hear about David Bowie. For me a grey or green alien is so terrestrial and someone like Bowie is far more outlandish and cosmic!

David Bowie's stages had a special attraction. That was Gail Ann Dorsey, the bassist. Bowie first saw her on TV and marked her in his mind for a suitable project. 7 years later, she was given a six week contract (that lasted for a really long time!) to be Bowie's bassist for an upcoming tour. Her stage presence is in no way inferior to her bass. Without Bowie, I might have missed this gem of bassists.

Bowie's last days were so painful as he knew that he was terminally ill with cancer. But still he worked on his album and tried to look and act as normal as he can. This is not mentioned here to be a motivational bullshit. But to say how a man who loved music and lived music had died music. The theme of his last album is so dark and suggestive of the impending doom.

We all are "Stardust"! Yes, we all are made up of atoms that are product of neucleosynthesis that happened in millions of long dead stars. We have our rises and falls (asymmetrically more fall!). Out of millions of stars out there, only few go Supernovae. Likewise in humans, only few like Bowie go Supernovae blowing out (Ziggy) Stardust far out in the emptiness of the cosmic space and seed new beginnings even with their death. So Rest In Peace is not for Bowie. His journey has just reached a different dimension.

Book Review: Reignited – Scientific Pathways to A Brighter Future

Disclaimer:  

First let me make it clear that I am an admirer of Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. As a human, as an Indian, as a president, as a scientist, and as a Tamilian, he gave his best. No question on that. This review is solely on the book and not about the person. So Dr. Kalam's fans/followers please don't mistake this review for some anti-Kalam slander and bombard me with comments. If you wish to counter this review, just counter the points I have mentioned about the book. Thanks.

Introduction:

Shortly after the unexpected demise of Dr. Kalam, I was looking at the list of books he had authored. As most of the books are of self-development or motivational types (either in personal or national or global scales), one autobiography, one about his spiritual experience, one text book on fluid machanics and one book which talked about “scientific pathways”. What a wonder? From a scientist, it is the only book that seems to bring science for masses. Compare this with Dr. Hawking or Dr. Dawkins! You may understand why I feel sad about the numbers.

I ordered the book on an online store hoping that the book will introduce science to young people as well as have some good deal of information for a scientific novice like me. The book came in few days. It is around 250 pages and in two sittings I finished it off. I felt that “The book is kind of OK”, when I started to read and “Why this book is like this?” when I finished. I will list down the reasons why I am upset with the book. With all humility, I again say, I am not so good in science or language or anything. But whatever I express here are what made me unhappy about the book.

1. Book Organization

The book has an “Introduction”. The section doesn't introduce us to the content or intent of the book instead talks about an incident in the authors' life and moves on to talk about some incidents in Einstein's life. Then with a subtitle for each, it talks about Sir C. V. Raman, Michael Faraday and Alexander Graham Bell. Nothing much about the science behind their inventions but the “self-development” kind of “inspiring stories”. OK, forgiven for the introduction!

Then comes a Prologue. This is some kind of a science fiction short story mainly about Robots. As the first topic is Robotics, I thought that every topic will have such story. But this prologue without any reason appears only once and only for Robotics. I couldn't consider this as a prologue to the entire book as it is not talking about Pathology or Paleontology. So I still can't get the point of having a sci-fi short story as a prologue. OK. Lets move on!

The book has 7 different scientific topics, spread across 225 pages, apart from Introduction, Prologue, Acknowledgments. It has eight unnumbered pages of color photographs mostly from Getty Images. Don't look for some scientific diagrams or charts. You can expect few photos of Marie Curie, Galileo, robots, virus etc. The are some monochromatic pictures/diagrams sprinkled here and there. Some of them are informational while others are “Faraday sitting on his desk” or “Raman standing on a ship”.

Each section has something about the topic for 2 to 5 pages, another 2 to 5 pages about the future of the topic. Then a Q&A section titled “Conversation With A Science Teacher” and another Q&A with an Expert (Expert for 3 out of 7 topics is none other than Dr. Kalam himself). This is followed by “Note To Parents”, a section that ensures that the topic will surely land their kids in a good job and there are foreign opportunities for study and work. There is an “Oath” section for the kids to write down their oath. And some topics have an “Exercise” section while some topics lack the same.

2. Too Much for Too Little

This is something subjective. But still, the book gives too much importance, space and coverage to things of little importance. I like to highlight few of such cases below.

a) The book has 7 pages on Michael Faraday's personal struggles. It seems like a perfect plot for a self-motivation short-film. The introduction section itself is 16 pages long out of which Faraday takes a good share of 7 pages. The reason seems to me, is to create a mind-set among the young that they should not question the existing system or status quo. Just they have to work hard, should not complain and will become what they want one day. Sadly that is not true for many and I am not a fan of such new-age motivational stories. Ultimately, page 15 has something like what you hear from Deepak Chopra or Rhonda Byrne “...in face of their determination the universe came together to enable them to succeed”. Yuk!

b) In Space Science topic, 5 pages document about the Galileo Affair. It is good to point out the friction between science and religion in Medieval Europe. But those 5 pages can be utilized to cover from Plato to Aryabhatta of the old and from Galileo to Hawking of our very own time covering various stages and progresses in the field. First manned mission, journey to moon, developments in Mars etc are left to footnote propotions.

c) In the same topic's (Space Science) expert section, there are only two questions. One is about what inspired Dr. Kalam to take up space science. The second is about the land acquisition made for Thumba Space Research Center. This second question takes up 4 pages and it is all about a Bishop of a Church giving up the land of Church, his house and the houses of the villagers for the space center. OK, what does this story have to do with the “scientific pathway” for space science? Is this for preparing young minds to support land acquisition bill or what? The section ends like this “Professor Vikram Sarabhai and Rev. Peter Bernard Pereira may not be with us anymore, but their work, which has been instrumental in the birth of India's space missions, truly lives on.” giving equal credit to the scientist who worked for the founding of the research center and the Bishop who gave the land which is not his personal property! So the moral seems to be this: "If you give up your land for some project, you will be counted as a person who made a “scientific pathway” along with the scientists who worked on the project!"

So, instead of discussing on actual science of technology, the book deviates largely in to self-help style “experiences” and “stories”, which is nothing else but disappointing.

3. Errors and Typos

Even though the book is on science, there are error and typos which may be quiet misleading. As a novice in science, I myself have found some of them. I am presenting few of them I could remember when I glance back the pages now.

a) The book confuses a computer bug with virus. Bugs are human errors in programming which results in unexpected behavior of the program. Viruses are developed with intention to harm the system. But the book says that bugs can be sorted out just like anti-virus software cleans the computer in page 35. In medical sense you can call a virus as a bug. But not so in computer science.

b) The book mentions that nicotine is a carcinogen (page 101). But the current understanding is that nicotine is not carcinogen (at least in the doses humans consume and that is why nicotine gums are safer) but other chemicals in tobacco or tobacco smoke are. This is a pardonable mistake for non-science books. But for a scientific book? Also the book has some confusion about cancer. The books states that cancer can not be induced by bacteria or virus which is not exactly true. Some viruses increase the risk of cancer like the same way smoking or pollution increases the risk. One example is HPV.

c) On page 240, the book says that the Holocene Epoch started 1.25 mya (million years ago) i.e. 1,250,000 years ago, which is wrong. Holocene epoch had begun just 11,700 years ago. The book has the same error on the same page for the end date of Pleistocene epoch too!

d) On page 96, the size of a Red blood cell is given as 12 micrometer, which is actually 6 to 8 micrometer in diameter or 20 to 25 micrometer in circumference or 2 to 2.5 micrometer of thickness. I don't know what size this 12 micrometer represents.

e) On page 237, it is mentioned that the evolution from single celled prokaryotes to modern life forms like humans took 2000 billion years! It should be 2000 million years or just 2 billion years. Typo? Forgiven! 

f) On Page 142, the distance traveled by light in one year (light year) is given as 95 followed by 11 zeros in words (which is correct) and 9,50,00,00,00,00,000 km in numbers (which is actually 95 followed by 12 zeros and hence wrong. Again in words, it is mentioned as 95 trillion which is wrong. It should be 9.5 trillion kilometers.

These are few of the mistakes/errors I have come across. I may be wrong in some or there may be more such which a knowledgeable person can find out!

4. East vs West?

There is an East vs West problem in the book. No! Not between people. But between the number system. The book in most places use Western names for numbers (millions, billions) in words and use Indian comma system in figures which is quiet confusing. The errors like the one in light year's distance could have been avoided to sticking to any one system properly! I think this will confuse young readers a bit as this problem runs throughout the book.

Not only the numbers, even titles of people are confused between West and East. In Acknowledgments, almost all the people are addressed Mr or Ms but in the last paragraph three persons are addressed with Shri! Though this is irrelevant, there is a striking similarity between numbers and people in the East-West confusion aspect!

Conclusion:

So this book seems to be more of a self-help/motivation book than a popular science book. Actually it is a dangerous mixture of both, as I consider both scientific errors and self-help dangerous, especially for young readers. As I have pointed out in my earlier blog post about MBA, it seems the co-author, who is a person from management stream may be a contributing factor for the sorry state of the book. So, if you are looking at this book as a popular science book for young readers, like me, think again!

When I Was a Kid...

When I was a kid, I used to play with kids next door. Suddenly a faint fluttering sound would appear. We would stop playing and listen carefully. When luck is by our side, the sound would steadily grow and grow. And one of the boys would cry "There!" Pointing his finger towards somewhere in the sky. A grey dot would appear. "Wow! Helicopter!” We would run behind it, street after street till the helicopter vanishes again with that faint fluttering sound in to the horizon. We used to stare at the sky for some time with the stray hope that it may return.

Sometimes the sound of a Bullet bike next street or some load-auto on road would cause me to run out and stare the sky and when the sound fades quickly, it was time to realize that it was not a helicopter and return home to face my mom awaiting to scold me for leaving the lunch behind. Rainy seasons were somewhat different. The moist air would make hearing the flying machines easy but clouds would make it tough to get a glimpse of them.

Jets and small planes used by forest department in nearby hills were like unicorns and mermaids. They were very rare, hard to spot and usually less visible due to distance and height. The smoke left behind by jets would remain for sometime and I used to stare at the sky with mouth open till the smoke dissolve in to the blue sky. Night time sightings were special due to those colorful blinking lights.

Me and my friends even believed that by climbing on a tree or roof of a tall building we can touch the helicopter or at least distract the people inside to drop us something. We tried that with my house's roof. Nothing happened! Then we thought my house was not tall enough. Some "big brothers" even told tales of hitting planes with stones, which we never believed but promptly nodded to them out of fear.

Then days rolled... I was an adolescent back then. I would be sitting with a book and reading or helping my dad with totalling corrected answer sheets when that familiar humming sound was heard. "Yes. It is a helicopter!" My heart would want to run out and look at the sky. But "grown up boys” won't be that silly right? That's what people say. So with a sigh, I used to continue what I was doing.

Now, after many years, I live near an airport. With hundreds of flights coming and going everyday. I work in upper floors of a very tall building and could see the flights even though it is bit far from the airport. Now I even earn enough to fly occasionally. But I have no time to stare at the sky, no interest left in watching them. I live/work in tall buildings but don't believe that i can touch the flights any more.

Last time I was bit excited about the sky was, when I accidentally clicked a photo of exploding space craft sent by ISRO. And dreams about reaching for the skies lasted seconds when I saw in news that NASA is looking for volunteers for a one way trip to Mars. Yup! We used to see beauty in petty things and longed for them to happen. Once grown up, things we thought boring when we were kids, like paying electricity bills or buying ration becomes priority. And this is the real beauty of our life!

Movie Review: Gravity

I watched Gravity movie last week. It was amazing with all those good visual effects, music and the actors had done a very good job. I can say compared to usual Hollywood movies that portray violence and sex, this is 100 times better and a must see for everyone.

Even people without English knowledge can understand. This will trigger interest about astronomy and science among children. Also, the movie has no unwanted scenes and very short, yet delivered the content what they wanted to deliver the audience.

But movies are not textbooks. So we should not assume whatever they show in that movie are 100% real. So there are many inaccuracies in the movie. Let me tell you some.
1. Russians never struck their own satellites with missiles, but Americans did in past.
2. Not all space-stations/satellites orbit in same altitude. So the chances for the events shown in the movie are very remote.
3. It is quite impossible to navigate large distances using MMUs. They were not in use for more than two decades. There is no need to separately say that fire-extinguishers can't do the job any better.
4. Where are the crew of Chinese space station?

These are all really minor errors or details overlooked explicitly to spice-up the movie. But the movie is so good. I have some friends who deny moon landing and say they are all made up videos. If they watch this movie, they will conclude men never traveled to space and everything about space is just computer generated effects! :)