April 2019 24054714/6268 for Private Circulation Only
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VidnyanBhavan, National Centre for Science Communicators V. N. PuravMarg, Sion-Chunabhatti, Newsletter Mumbai 400022 Tel. :091-22- April 2019 24054714/6268 For Private Circulation Only. www.ncscmum.org From the Editor’s Desk Hello members! It’s time again to review our scientific accomplishments at the NCSC. The National Centre for Science Communicators (NCSC) has had a restructuring of the executive committee at the Annual General Body Meeting held in August 2018. We welcome Dr. A.P. Jayaraman, Nuclear scientist and senior science communicator, into the committee as the Chairman and Dr. Paresh Vaidya, senior scientist and senior science communicator as the Hon. Treasurer. Like every year, new laureates were awarded the Nobel Prizes 2018 for their achievements that conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. It takes years of dedicated research and hard work to reach the pinnacle and receive the most esteemed and coveted of all awards. I am sure the report on Nobel Prize winners will be a good read for all. It gives a bird’s eye-view on the creditable research that fetched the winners their prestigious award in respective disciplines of Science. United Nations proclaimed 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table (IYPT) of chemical elements. IYPT aims to unite scientific concepts with broad implications in Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, Biology and other natural sciences. Incidentally, IYPT coincides with the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the Periodic Table by Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev in 1869. Mendeleev presented the first Periodic Table of elements to the Russian Chemical Society. The crater Mendeleev on the Moon, as well as the element number 101, the Mendelevium, is named after him. Elements 113,115,117 and 118 have already been added to the Periodic Table on November 28, 2016. NCSC proposes to celebrate IYPT with a host of scientific programs in the coming months. On February 28, 2019, we lost Mr. Mukul Sharma, editor of Science Today, a monthly published by the Times of India (TOI), Mumbai. He was a fine editor and a versatile journalist to work with. My memories take me back to those times when I worked for Science Today. Mukul was a popular science fiction writer. His regular column ‘Mindsport’ had literally a cult following. The scientific community will miss you immensely Mr. Sharma. Dr. Parul R. Sheth 1 Chairman’s musings It is an amazing privilege for me to share my professional perspectives with our members. As history has it, the growth of NCSC since its creation in 1997 has been monumental under the pioneering leadership of our founder Chairman, Shri A.P. Deshpande. Over the years, the Centre has acquired a distinctive organizational culture. As we move to the third decade of the 21st century, we need to retrospect and reflectively redesign our culture. Accordingly at the operational level, I wish to concentrate on events to bring visibility to NCSC banking our intellectual and academic capital piggybacking on the infrastructural and managerial skill sets of complementary institutions. At the tactical level, I wish to explore theme-based partnering with educational institutions supplying our science capital and thus attempt to surmount the constraints and restraints of infrastructural and financial resources. We started this chain reaction with the IYPT-2019 launch event. All through the year we will be having programs on the Periodic table in schools and colleges, which make up a fascinating market pool. At the strategic level, I will strive to align us to the best world-class practices of NGO governance with utmost stress on accountability, functionality transparency and propriety in all our transactions with stakeholders both internal and external. This will attract Corporate Social Responsibility sector to hold hands with us. I take this opportunity to rededicate myself to the professional call of the Scicom community in the highest traditions of public service. I also assert most emphatically my unflinching loyalty to the letter and spirit of our constitution and my commitment to work as a team in coherent synergy. Yours in the Scicom Service Dr. A.P. Jayaraman Chairman, NCSC ***** Scicom activities under the banner of NCSC Talks Dr. G.P. Kothiyal, a distinguished materials scientist, former Head of Glass and Advanced Ceramics Division, BARC and Vice Chairman NCSC, delivered a talk on “Quest for New Materials: A journey through Micro to Nano Structured Glass and Glass Ceramics” on March 16, 2019 at the Marathi Vidnyan Parishad (MVP), Chunabhatti, Sion, Mumbai. The program was held under the joint auspices of MVP and NCSC. Shri A. P. Deshpande, Secretary MVP and former Chairman, NCSC, introduced the speaker to the audience. 2 It was a fascinating presentation starting with the fundamental definition of non-crystalline and amorphous solid materials; he conducted a calibrated journey to the state of the art of the science and technology of glass. He mentioned that pioneers in glass science and technology, all over the world have expressed in different international forums about the arrival of Glass Age. A remarkable feature of the talk was the introduction of his research work to the totality of glass science, including technology and its applications. TEDx BocconiUMumbai organized a TED event at SDA Bocconi Asia Center campus in Powai, Mumbai on March 2, 2019. NCSC Chairman, Dr. A.P. Jayaraman gave a TED Talk titled “The Physiology and Anatomy of Science Capital” - Science Capital and Societal Impact: HDI perspective. On the event of National Science Day – 2019, Dr. A.P. Jayaraman delivered Sir C.V. Raman Memorial Lecture – “Raman: An ideal Student Model” on February 28, 2019 at Nehru Science Centre (NSC), Mumbai. Exhibition: Gandhi and Science “Gandhi and Science” an interesting exhibition was inaugurated by the Chief guest Dr. A.P. Jayaraman on February 28, 2019 at Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai, where rich and rare images were assembled and displayed by Shri Shivaprasad Khened, Director, Nehru Science Centre and his team. Shri Shivaprasad Khened with Dr. A. P. Jayaraman Physics in the City of Mumbai– a report NCSC organized a lecture by Professor Vijay Singh on “Physics in the City of Mumbai” at the Bhaudaji Lad Museum on February 21, 2017. A select gathering of over 100 attendees including preselected science students from colleges, invited group of High School science teachers and respondents to Museum announcements listened to the address in rapt attention as classical physics unfolded into the structure, infrastructure and superstructure of the city. 3 Dr. A. P. Jayaraman, Chairman NCSC, explained the rationale of the lecture as finding meaning and attributing significance to the theme of the museum with science capital. He highlighted the academic personality of the presenter and the creative singularity of the topic as innovative initiatives of science communication by NCSC. Dr. Singh started his lecture with the historical glimpses of the city. Tongue in the cheek mode, he referred to the dowry element of then Mumbai and Manhattan cities. He delved deep into the fractal geometry of cities and explained the Manhattan Grid and Moscow radial models Professor Vijay Singh and positioned Mumbai in the Manhattan matrix. In Delhi roads fan out from Connaught place in Moscow mode. Taking a poetic detour, he took the audience to the familiar landmark of Haji Ali and pitched its glory of its minaret with the functionality of a lighthouse. Asking the question, how far is the horizon and using the height of the minaret as 25 meters he did a back of the envelope calculation using Pythagoras’ theorem and showed that one could see as far as 18 kms perched atop Haji Ali. He illuminated the acute housing problem of the city with the physical surface to volume concept. He explained the spread of foliage of trees, the function of cell division, the drying of ‘papads’ in Dharavi on a convex surface and the three dimensional growth of multi-rise buildings as the design thinking on the same concept. Drawing the attention of the audience to the Moire patterns used in the late 1800s for comic books and sharing it with the students, he explained the patterns seen at the sea-link at Worli. It was a short jump to the computer screens, peacock feathers and oil spills on wet roads. Thundering the slogan to Mumbaikars‘ ‘Never Ever Cross railway Tracks’, he used the Newtonian dynamics equation V*2= U*2 + 2as and showed the breaking distance of the local train as 625 meters! Expanding, he elucidated Bernoulli’s principle, the imaginary ghost that surely drags people standing near tracks as trains move! Taking cool calculations gracefully forward, he showed how passenger car occupants were trapped inside their cars in the deluge of July 2005, as the force on the car door by water was 5000 Newtons. He continued his majestic journey as the Titan of Physics through the eerie world of physics targeting objects, 4 events and episodes of the city of Mumbai for 90 minutes. After the formal presentation like an unyielding Atlas he spent another 90 minutes with the curious attendees clarifying concepts. The Management of Bhaudaji Lad Museum provided and powered all infrastructural, logistic facilities and hospitality. STEAM Academy curated the program and supported it with cherry picked attendees. -Report filed by Dr. A.P. Jayaraman ***** News Music healing MVP jointly with NCSC organized a lecture and musical program “Sur Sanjeevan” on music healing by Pandit Shashank Katti on February 16, 2019, at Marathi Vidnyan Parishad, Vidnyan Bhavan, V. N. Purav Marg, Chunabhatti, Mumbai 400022. Go Blue Mumbai Cluster of VIBGYOR schools organized a one-day Water Summit to celebrate Go Blue campaign at VIBGYOR Roots and Rise, Malad (West) on February 16, 2019. The 1st Annual Water Summit showcased student talents in creating an aesthetic and scientific narrative on the themes of water, energy and their interfaces.