BENGALURU: “In 1970, scientist CV Raman asked me why India was not powerful in science. I am feeling the same now,” said Bharat Ratna awardee Prof CNR Rao, on Saturday. Speaking at Children’s Science Congress segment of the 107th Indian Science Congress in Bengaluru on Saturday, Rao said “These are things one should worry about; teachers must talk about this to students and newspapers should report these trends. Science is above all discrimination. Science does not know religion, caste or colour. It’s the mind that makes science. The minds of men and women in India will have to ponder on science.”
“What we lack in India are hardworking, dedicated, and devoted scientists. They want to make money and do little science on the side. But science takes time...You have to sacrifice for knowledge,” he added.
Rao said that India is not doing well in scientific accomplishments, while it was doing exceedingly well in banking and business. “There is huge potential among children in the villages of India. There are 5-6 crore children with extraordinary minds. We need to get their talents,” he said.
Don’t look for advice, just be curious: Nobel laureate to kidsNobel Laureate Ada Yonath on Saturday delivered a valuable tip to the children during the inauguration of the Children’s Science Congress. She said: “Don’t look for advice, just be curious!” “Don’t look for advice. Go after your thinking and curiosity and wish to understand. My wish is that you will be successful and love the work you’re doing,” she told students.
She backed her advice with an instance of her life. She said, as a child, she was given her first experiment – to check the distance from the floor to the ceiling of the balcony of her house. She did so by stacking up all the chairs, but fell down and broke her bones in the process. However, it was the beginning of experimentation and her journey with science, she added.“When I was five, I made my experiments at home. We were really poor with five families in one apartment. The first place to experiment was the balcony,” said the Nobel laureate in Chemistry.
An apparatus that gives one-hour lifetime underwater
Bengaluru: To save precious lives of armed forces who get stuck in tanks that break down underwater, the Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation has developed an individual underwater breathing apparatus (IWBA) for the T90 tank that can move in water of five-metre depth. The closed circuit apparatus with a light weight aluminium alloy cylinder of half litre capacity for air that facilitates one hour breathing underwater weighs about 5 kg, said Arun Kumar, scientist, DEBEL. The apparatus was cleared for design and development in 2017 by the Defence Acquisition council (DAC) as part of the Make in India initiative, he added. Kumar said the armed forces have already placed an order for 2,430 pieces of the apparatus and the technology will be transferred to Elite Polymer of Kolkata for production. The apparatus was displayed at the Pride of India Expo at the 107th Indian Science Congress, a five-day event that began on Friday.