Snowflakes Under The Microscope

SNOWFLAKES UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

 If you've ever wondered how the snowflakes really look like, under the microscope, and now you can see.

        You can see photo that has been made in the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, in Beltsville in the U.S. state of Maryland. Otherwise there are investigating pathogens of cereals and animal diseases, and there consider that the study of the structure of the snow flake is important for several research areas and activities that affect our daily lives.

 But leave the science aside, because the common people these photos will primarily represent yet another proof of how wonderful is nature around us.

 Although different, all snowflakes have hexagon shape because the molecules are always together at the angle of 120 degrees. The average flake has a diameter of five millimeters and a weight of 0.004 grams. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest snowflake ever seen had a diameter of 38 centimeters

Day Length

DAY LENGTH IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

Venus is the only planet in the solar system that rotates clockwise. All the other planets rotate anticlockwise. Venus (radius 3,760.4 miles) is similar to Earth (radius 3,963.19 miles) in size and structure but spins very slowly. A day on Venus is 243 Earth days long. Earth is the densest planet in the solar system and the only one not named after a god. Earth orbits the sun at an average speed of 66,629 mph (107 229 km/h). One year on earth is 365.24 days long. One day is 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4,06 seconds long. The extra day in a leap year was introduced to compensate for the discrepancy in the Georgian calendar. It’s easy to remember the order of the eight planets with this line: My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nachos. The capital letters stand for the order of the planets, starting closest to the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

A New Planet

NASA DISCOVERED A NEW PLANET

          Kepler 10-b is the name of the new planet discovered by Kepler space telescope. Planet is similar to Earth in size, and it was named as the telescope. It's the smallest planet ever detected outside of our solar composition.          

          Discovery of a small rocky planet is said to be one of the most important because it announces further research and methodology for precise measurement and discovery of the planet, which could have or already have a life.  

          Exoplanet is called Kepler 10-b as the space telescope with which was located it. Its surface is 1.4 times bigger then Earth from which it is located a 560 light years. The discovery was presented at the 217th annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle.          

          On the project Kepler, scientists emphasized that in this result were combined their best measurements and they can now create an image of the planet. Kepler features 10-b are determined by the unprecedented accuracy and for the first time can safely say that the planet is rocky.     

          Even on this planet life isn't possible. Daily temperatures reach up to 1371 degrees Celsius, said the main scientist on the project Natalie Batalha, which is more than enough to the molecules that make up RNA and DNA to disintegrate.                      

Future Modern Technologies

WHAT AWAITS US IN THE FUTURE

Modern technology is advancing so fast, that the present invention may become outdated. In the next ten years is expected to be much progress in the technology field, which will spawn the incredible inventions which previous generations could only dream of. See what inventions will be made available to us over the next decades         

The 2012. year 

Ultrabook

          Ultrabook is considered a successor to the iPad, and soon it will become available for around 700 euros. This device would have to replace the classical books printed on paper. 

Laboratory on Mars 
          By August of 2012. latest mission will travel to the surface of Mars and begin the tests to determine if there are some conditions for the life of any organism. The mission will cost about 1.6 billion euros.

Paralyzed people will walk
          Scientists are currently working on the design of the system impulse that could help paralyzed people to control their limbs via brain. The same system is used by the military, but the project is progressing slowly because it requires a lot of money.        

The 2013. year 

4G as a new standard         
          All mobile phones will function according to 4G, which means that the downloading go equally fast as the computer. Thus, the Internet will become available over the phone even to more consumers.

The telescope of a billion pixels  
          The telescope of a billion pixels, entitled "The Eye of Gaia" will be directed towards the universe to begin photographing and mapping the universe. This telescope will be able to reach out beyond our galaxy.

The 2014. year 

SD memory card of one terabyte        
          Number of data exchange via computers is increasing, so we need even more memory. Therefore, it is unrealistic to anticipate a memory card that will be able to store the data size of up to one terabyte.        

The most advanced ship that breaks the ice
          One of the goals of scientific development of the European Union is the most advanced ship design that will be able to break glaciers and collect data on the temperature. This is particularly important because of the unforeseen consequences of global warming.    

The 2015. year 

The first sustainable city    
          Outside Abu Dhabi will be built the first sustainable city, which will only draw energy from the sun and other sources that are self-regenerating. It is expected that the city will settle more than 50 thousand people.

3D printing        
          The option of printing three-dimensional images at this time is reserved for those with deep pockets, but this service will become more affordable in the future. Anyone will be able to print a 3D image in their home.       

The 2016. year 

The development of space tourism      
          In the next few years provides a rapid development of space tourism and space tourist visits. One such flight now costs between 15 and 20 million, and predicted that the price will start to fall.

The rebirth of a mammoth
          Scientists from the Japan Center for Developmental Biology, argue that it is possible to create genetically extinct species, such as the mammoth.

The 2017. year 

Laser pen that heals wounds      
          If it happens that you cut yourself and there is no one near you, you no longer have to worry. First aid you can provide yourself without the assistance of others, thanks to a portable laser pen that heal wounds.

The 2018. year 

Insect-sized robots spies     
          The U.S. military is already working on designing a miniature spy robots, which would be the approximate average size of the fly. Secret weapon of these insect-robots is that it will be resistant to spray for bugs.         

The 2019. year 

The computer with the power of the human brain        
          According to the estimates of scientists, we are on the brink of developing artificial intelligence. Computers in a few years will be able to handle data apparently equal to the speed and power as the human brain.        

The 2020. year 

Cars resistant to crashing  
          The company "Volvo" promises to design a special kind of car that is resistant to impact. It will work with a radar and alarm system, and if it's successfully implemented, it will save many lives.  

2021. year         

What can we expect in the 2021. year? This no one knows so far. What we do know is that in the next decade technology will have very fast and unstoppable progress.

Is FDI in retail good or bad...???

Is FDI in retail good or bad?

With the government campaigning for FDI in retail, the question is, is it really going to help? If yes, then whom?

Today, the ministry of commerce and industry took its campaign to promote FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in retail to the literate population of India, with full page advertisements in newspapers.

The advertisement claims that such direct investment will bring huge benefits not only to the farmers but to the society at large and that it will generate over 10 million new jobs and so on. Naturally, it does not give any time frame to achieve this end.

 The ministry calls this as “another revolutionary leap” for the Indian economy. Reading such an ad makes it nice, but whether it will truly benefit the people in the long run remains to be seen. At least in US, it did not do so, according to the media.

The first and foremost fear is that farmers will be exploited by the predatory pricing policy of the large retailers, a job that is probably and already being done by a host of middlemen. So, instead of many such middlemen, there will one source where the farmer will face a single-window ‘clearance’, and that of the FDI retailer!

 Having said that, will this process reduce the ultimate cost that the actual consumer has to pay for the farm products? Yes, in more ways than one, as the present Indian retails and supermarkets reveal.

Let's take a look at any Indian major city, like Bangalore, for instance.  There are several big business houses in retail, such as Reliance, Tatas, Goenkas, and supermarkets like Spar, Big Bazaar, etc to name a few.  In this category, we could include government sponsored HOPCOMs too.

There is intense competition amongst all these organizations. The pricing is sharp and the range of products covered is going up by the day.

And who are the buyers? They are the growing middle-class rich consumer society, where the chances are that both husband and wife earn a living and have a reasonably comfortable lifestyle. In all probability, they shop once in a week to make the purchases and do it methodically; no spur of the moment purchase, but needs are listed and shopping is done at leisure on chosen days.

The only thing that is left to buy is the odd item that may fall short which the family member at home or the cook may resort to purchase from the nearest Kirana shop or buy from the cart vendor, whose prices are at least 50% higher than the retailers mentioned above. This is based on the actual experience of the writer’s family.

FDI in retail is not a simple exercise to be covered in a single article but an in-depth study will take quite sometime and its impact cannot be visualized easily. If Reliance and Big Bazaar have come to stay, so will the FDI in retail, in due course.

FDI in retail will be subject to a lot of discussions and scrutiny. To generalize and compare how other countries have fared and still let kirana (small shops in road corners) survive or bring about better returns to farmer is a futile exercise. The conditions in India are different. We need to clearly spell out some basic pre-conditions that have to be complied within a specified time-frame, failing which, the licensee will have to pack up and go home.

 a) At least 30% of the indigenous farm produce will have to be retailed

b) Each FDI-R licensee be given the choice of seven to 10 locations where it can commence its actual retail operations

c) These operating centres will have to be supported by actual infrastructural development of warehouses, cold storage and transportation logistics in identified sources of supply at the produce points

d) The next set of new cities will be after successful performance, a minimum of 18-24 months later, with the same conditions relating to infrastructure development or by expansion of existing ones

e) The activities of the FDI-R licensee will be subject to a close check and follow-up by a regulator who will maintain a watchdog committee for keeping a track of purchase pricing to retail selling; of the actual commitments in terms of fulfilling employment growth and how these actually are benefiting the country in terms of taxes earned

f) These FDI-R licensees should not become the single largest selling point for marketing products of other countries when identical or similar products of indigenous makes are readily available

Paper Stronger Than Steel

PAPER STRONGER THAN STEEL

   

 Scientists at the University of Technology in Sydney have been able to make a new kind of material that is lighter, has a lower density, it's stiffer and stronger even than steel. This material is not only one of those discoveries that end up as a dead letter. It is the paper and provided the hopes and expectations of scientists, it could experience a wide use. 

            It is a graphene paper, which is made of several single-hexagonal sheets of carbon that is chemically reformed from graphite. In comparison with steel, graphene paper is six times lighter, it's twice as strong, there are six times less dense, 10 times the tensile strength and 13 times greater flexibility than steel.

 Because it is a graphene, this paper has some interesting electrical, thermal and mechanical properties. But what is perhaps the most important thing is that its production is neither difficult nor expensive. This means that the possibility of its application in industry is almost unlimited, like the automobile industry, or aircraft, who would become easier and more economical then ever.

Earth Like Planets

50 NEW EARTH-LIKE PLANETS

            About 50 new planets are discovered by astronomers from Europe. They are behind the planets of our solar system. Six of them remind of Earth very much.

          The largest planet in this set of 50 planets that European astronomers have found is the planet labeled as HD 85512 and it is by weight three times heavier than Earth, and it is about 36 light years far from us and it's located in the constellation Vela.          

          Otherwise this is just one of 50 new planets found in the solar environment system. Scientists and astronomers believe that among these 50 new planets discovered at least 16 planets have water, and assume that they have a life on them.

          Discovery of the HD 85512 b planet suggests that the possibility of other planet similar to Earth where life is possible and that there are some stars that are similar to our Sun, said astronomer Michael Mejor the universality in Geneva.

          Some of these planets have the same mass as Earth, while others are such as 10 times more heavier, and they are especially interesting to astronomers because they believe that the development of life on them was feasible and easier than on our planet Earth.