Mar 17

What is Kevlar?

Science No Comments »

Kevlar is a synthetic material called a polymer which was discovered by Stephanie Kwolek who was working at the DuPont Laboratories at the time.  You would probably know it best from its use in Kevlar Motorbike Armour and Kevlar Bullet Proof vests which are products that take advantage of the high toughness of Kevlar. It has become such a successful and highly used material due to its properties, which include:

  • High Cut Resistance
  • High Tensile Strength at Low Weight
  • Structural Rigidity
  • Flame Resistant, Self-Extinguishing
  • Low Thermal Shrinkage
  • Low Electrical Conductivity
  • High Chemical Resistance
  • High Toughness (Work-To-Break)
  • Excellent Dimensional Stability

These properties mean that it is lightweight, keeps its shape and is very resistant to tearing and punctures.  Due to these features, Kevlar is used in the manufacturing of bike, plane, truck and racing car tyres, as well as other products such as tennis rackets, Kayaks, canoes and skis.

written by The Scientist

Jul 27

LED TV Technology

Science 7 Comments »

The newest technology in HD TV is the LED TV.  LED backlights are being used by some manufacturers such as Sony and Samsung to replace the traditionally used CCF Lamps.  The TV is still an LCD but with a different back light as the LCD panel doesn’t product light on its own. Thinner TV’s can be manufactured using this technology and there are some environmental benefits too.

There are many advantages in the new LED Television technology as well as with the new OLED TV which uses the LED at a much more advanced level and really is a different style of picture altogether.

So far there are only a few on the market but they are using better techniques to make clearer pictures and truer colours and it won’t be long before they become the new standard for TV.

written by The Scientist

May 19

Prosthetic Legs

Medicine, Science 5 Comments »

Orthotics & ProstheticsProsthetic legs, also known as artificial legs, provide amputees with a replacement for a fully functioning limb. This prevents the need  for a wheelchair. Of all prosthetics, artificial limbs are critical for patients to resume a normal life.

Although wheelchairs help with mobility, most amputees would prefer a leg replacement to a wheelchair. Prosthetics can sometimes be bought through medical supplies stores or can be ordered for your specific situation by your doctor.

The need for leg prosthetics can be from amputation because of an accident, birth defect, vascular disease or other medical complication. They can generally be divided in to two types of prosthetic leg.

Above the knee prosthesis or below the knee prosthesis.
Below the knee prosthetics
Below the knee or Trans-Tibial prosthetics is where the lower limb needs to be replaced, and patient retains a stump for the artificial leg to be attached.
Below the knee prostheses for normally consist of a socket, shank or shin and a foot.
Patellar-Tendon-Bearing or PTB sockets are a common design where the weight of the amputee is transferred to the stump of the leg. PTB sockets totally enclose the stump and can contain either a soft or hard liner. Attachment of the leg prosthesis can be by a cuff above the knee cap or by the shape of the brim or socket. Alternatively an elastic sleeve can be used creating suction between the socket artificial limb.
A diagram…

written by The Scientist

Apr 07

Scientific Research Studies on Spiritual Science and Philosophy

Science 1 Comment »
Today’s era predominates with a high intellect. Every aspect of our life is fully influenced by the modern scientific principle of proof and sound logic. As a result world humanity requires both proof and logic as far as philosophy is concerned too. Only after testing it thus will they deign to accept its usefulness. Truth and Reality will be imbibed only after it is tested via logic and scientific proof. This insistence of ‘proof’ has greatly challenged the very existence of Spiritual Sciences. Man’s glory and social arrangement has its roots in high leveled faith that encompasses both sacred ideals and principles. Sheer intellectualism with its emphasis on direct proof has truly harmed man’s faith potential. Logic and proof says that faith is ‘blind’. Hence today’s need of the hour is to test Spiritual Values like faith, trust, ideals etc on the basis of scientific logic and principles along with its utility and proof of its very existence. For this those very scientific research need to be deployed which are today being used by Modern Material Science.Today everyone fully accepts the importance of Material Science. Its utility and importance have always remained in vogue because it tests itself on the basis of logic, experimentation and research. In addition to this it never wavers when it is required to give up beliefs that are not scientifically sound and rational. Of course it is a well known fact that scientific findings do tend to change every now and

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written by The Scientist

Apr 01

Funding for Science

Science No Comments »
No country is against the development of science and scientific research.It has been recognized by everyone that without science there is no development.Therefore, promotion of scientific research in all area is taken up seriously.Research both in basic and applied sciences is essential to achieve national and international developments.In fact, basic science is costly as compared to the applied science.In a recent article on science for sustainable development published in Current Science (Curr. Sci.) Dr. I. P. Abrol mentioned that low level of funding is frequently cited as one of the major factors for the declining state of science in India.Not only Dr. Abrol, many other Indian scientists used to tell the same ‘low level funding’ for the poor science in India.It was the state of affair once, but now the situation is considerable improved.All branches of science, agriculture, engineering, medicine, veterinary, biotechnology, nanotechnology, information technology do not suffer from ‘low level of funding’ nowadays.In fact, most of the research institutions are not able to spend the allocated fund for scientific research in time.Anyway much of the fund goes for salaries, some for the upkeep of the building and other infrastructures and the rest only is used for scientific research.In the name of research projects funded by various foreign agencies and also the Government of India itself, amounts to over funding sometimes.I still remember some of the World Bank funded projects in Agricultural Sciences.Crores of rupees allotted to Agricultural Universities and National Agricultural Research Institutes.In addition to

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written by The Scientist

Mar 29

Science as a Media Event

Science 6 Comments »
One need not make any extensive surveys of different media to provide evidence for this failure. It is enough to see how sports has managed to gain more coverage in various media over the last few decades vis-a-vis science. One may argue that this is so because there are always some sports events occurring all over the world which naturally draw the attention of media. But contention here is that scientific activity, scientific community and laboratories all over the world can also be turned into what are called ‘media events’ if enough pains are taken by science communicators to achieve this status for science. First and foremost it will require the maximum cooperation of scientists.For instance, anniversaries of scientists, institutes, organisations and societies, including the World Health Day, etc., can be celebrated; discussions and debates with the concerned scientists organised; and doors of concerned laboratories and organisations thrown open to masses and media.Be that as it may, intention through this paper is to highlight the essentials and limitations of science popularisation so that there appears a fundamental change in the way of looking at this subject. Hopefully, it will lead to more effective strategies to popularise science among the masses.Science writing is an artScience popularisation is mostly done by science- trained persons and professional scientists. It is therefore looked upon more as a scientific activity rather than anything else. But science writing is more of an art rather than a science. It is scientific only in

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written by The Scientist

Mar 18

Cognitive Science – Nature of Intelligence

Science 2 Comments »
COGNITIVE SCIENCE – NATURE OF INTELLIGENCE            Many people reading this article may not be familiar with the term ‘Cognitive Science’. But the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ may sound familiar, as its often heard term and its a booming research area. ‘Cognitive Science’ may be considered as opposite of ‘Artificial Intelligence’, as former deals with study of intelligence in human ,where as  later deals with intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science which aims to create it.            Cognitive science, the term was coined by Christopeher Longuet – Higgins in 1973. It is an interdisciplinary field. The interdisciplines are Psychology, Neuro science, Linguistics, Philosophy of mind, Computer Science, Anthropology, Biology and Physics. The objective of Cognitive Science is to attain a complete understanding of the mind/brain and its processes.            Attaining the complete understanding of the mind/brain is not possible by single level analysis.  As the field is highly interdisciplinary, research often draws research methods from different fields such as Psychology , Neuro Science , Computer Science etc., Any of the research methods on their own would not fully explain the process of brain. The relational study of the outcomes of the researches can give a clear picture of process of brain, but to its limits.            Consider the problem of remembering a phone number and recalling it later. The problem can be approached in many ways. Two of the ways are explained here. One approach is to study the behavior through direct observation i.e. accuracy of the response could

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written by The Scientist

Mar 05

Cool Science Projects for the Science Fair

Science 5 Comments »
I was under the impression they were supposed to be cool science projects, but I just could never get the hang of them. I feel so fortunate to have come across the secret to the coolest projects…I can still vividly remember the look of disapointment on Bens face. It was my first try at planning a science fair project, but still I really upset my son. I sill feel sad about the whole thing.It all went wrong and it was all my fault. If I hadn’t thought I could be clever and get a free science project online, none of this would have happened. All that time spent planning and preparing, and still a complete faliure…The free project I grabbed off the Internet was absolutely awful! It seemed that everything that could go wrong, went wrong. The water and salt speedily became insoluble, the balloons burst leaving my kitchen in a awful mess, and I’m not even gonna go into the price of the materials for the experiment.Thats when the state of affairs elevated. Ok so considering my prior faliure, I went back on the internet and purchased a science package this time. What a complete waste of time and money! I paid $25 for the kit and it was completly useless, they gave us nothing of real value. Oh it was just awful! All they did give was details to a really boring science project and a list of materials adding up to another $40!The

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written by The Scientist

Feb 27

Writing a Science Dissertation in Word Presentation

Science 2 Comments »
Writing a science dissertation in word presentation has to be a formal piece of dissertation writing. When writing a science dissertation one should have good knowledge about the topic that is going to be researched. It is better to make a complete plan of the entire process in advance. It is important for a science dissertation in a word presentation to carry good and practical experiments and examples as well. In a science dissertation one has to demonstrate critical and analytical thinking and with precise and already proven concepts.A science dissertation should also include science terminology. All sentences have to be clear and precise. In addition a science dissertation has to be a serious piece of work with no room for jokes and humor or any form of informal language.A science dissertation in word presentation should be written in a logical and consistent manner. Only verified facts should be used throughout the work. Most importantly, a science dissertation in word presentation has to be very systematic and concise and should not discuss circumstances or issues. However, if certain experiments mentioned in the dissertation were not performed under normal circumstances special notes or footnotes should be added.Special care should be taken when writing the conclusion of a science dissertation as the entire work should be based on real solid facts. Similarly in a dissertation science sport all experiments should be factual and complete. A dissertation science sport in word presentation should include relevant figures and diagrams as

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written by The Scientist

Feb 17

Cool Science Projects for Kids

Science No Comments »
Have you ever wondered why students and parents alike dislike 4th grade science projects so strongly? Once again, we look forward to the mandatory and yearly stunning displays of the 4th grade science project. Why are these assigned, are they actually a requirement, and what is the point in doing an 4th grade science project? These questions and many more are often the fuel used to light fires by parents all over, because they seem to lack an understanding of the need for an 4th grade science project.If you stop for a moment and take a look at what the main excuse is for not having a 4th grade science project turned in on time, you may be surprised to find that most parents are in fact guilty of taking over their child’s(rens) 4th grade science project in an attempt to turn it in on time. Most of this dislike of 4th grade science projects is due in part from a lack of adhering to the schedule set by their instructors, which allows them to end up late for everything and rushing at the last minute to create an 4th grade science project that was spanned over several months, into one night before it is due. By allowing this reaction to an 4th grade science project to become normal behavior, we are, in essence, setting ourselves up for future disasters by creating mindless generations that have no understanding of how to organize, plan, exert effort, and

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written by The Scientist

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