SCIENCE CAPSULES

    100, 1100100, 64,25      all represents the number  hundred in  different numerical languages.     We count the minutes as 1,2,3...60 and mark it as one hour.  Again we start counting the minutes from 1.  So the minutes and seconds are having the base of 60 or radix 60. We count the inches 1,2,3 ....12 and mark it as 1 foot. It is having base 12.      In our day today life, we use numbers of base 10. (tenary numbers or decimal numbers) We are used to this 10 number system and very comfortable with it.  But a number system can have any base.     Unary numbers  uses only one digits.    1-----l    2-----ll    3-----lll    4-----llll You know using this unary numbers is highly difficult. Next we have binary numbers using only two digits. 0,1,10,11,100  These numbers are widely used in all digital devices.  the signal like ...

When we approach a bank for a loan , the first question thrown at us is "where do you live?  How long you have been living in that address?" We require address for passport, ID card, driving license and for many other documents.  Without address we do not exist.      We have been following the following system of address for very many years.   Door no, street, local area, land mark, city, postal code. This system of address is called S42 address standard.     In spite of your perfect address, how many phone calls you received from couriers, friends, and strangers to locate you.  Does our address system 100% perfect?  It seems no .       Last mile delivery is affected due to inadequacy in the address.  Money, time, and effort is wasted in locating the proper place.  Consequently it affects the country's economy also.      So what is the alternative?  We can use Geo code. ...

  We have seen 3 dimension movies, 3D holograms, 3D printer etc.,  Is there anything higher than 3 dimension?  Can we imagine and comprehend it?  Cosmologist Stephen hawk says that there are worlds with higher dimension.      A point is having zero dimension.  When two points are connected by line, its dimension is 1.  Electrical wire may thought to have one dimension.  If 2 parallel lines are connected by two other lines, we get a two dimensional square.  A  sheet of paper is the example.  Take 2 parallel square surfaces .  Connect the four corners by four lines, we get a cube of three dimension.  The living room is the example.      Following the same logic, take 2 cubes and connect 8+8 corners. we must get four dimensional cube called tesseract.  The figure shown is only 2D representation of 4D cube.  Higher than 4D is very difficult to model.       ...

     The national geographic magazine is well known for its breath taking photographs.  To select one good photograph,  it rejects hundreds.      While sculpting a statue, the sculptor chisel out lot of unwanted portions from the stone and a beautiful figure emerges.     In making gold jewelery, there will be a wastage.  Every brand claims, there wastage charge is minimum.  In all electrical appliances, electricity produces unwanted heat energy.  Hence we lose electrical energy in the form of heat.      Hence the wastage is unavoidable.  The prime aim of science and technology is to reduce wastage to a minimum in energy, time, space and resources etc Energy:  Take the tungsten bulb invented by Edison.  We say today, it is highly inefficient, even though it illuminated the world nearly for 100 years.  It emits lot of heat besides light.  Hence we have ...

Beautiful numbers: 1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,...   In the above sequence each number is a sum of previous two numbers{of course starting with 1}.  This sequence is called Fibonacci sequence.        This sequence is found everywhere in nature.  You can easily observe in a garden that the leaves arrangement on a branch or a petals arrangements in a flower follows 2,3,5,8,... pattern.  Fibonacci arrangement naturally save space and also gives good exposure of sunlight.  The bracts of a pine cone; the scales of a pine apple; the reproduction of rabbits follows Fibonacci order.  The Fibonacci numbers are therefore applicable to the growth of every living thing.  A divine proportion: If you divide the consecutive numbers in the sequence, that is : 2/1,3/2, 5/3, 8/5,...  The ratio will gradually zero in on 1.618...  This number is called golden ratio phi ⏀ .  It has got a  divine tou...

    Sometimes CD and DVD get scratched .  The signal sent from satellite and space ships may be corrupted.  Information sent over the INTERNET is prone to error.  The mistakes that creep in 'the credit card numbers and the amount of money entered in mobiles' would be costly and dangerous.  There is a technique to detect and correct errors.  We will go through it with a simple example.   I want to transmit a 16 digit credit card number error free. The number is 5196 2017 2486 8720 Transmission: Step 1 . Split the number into 4 blocks of 4 digit each and arrange them as 4x4 matrix. 5196 2017 2486 8720 Step 2: The sum of the digits in the first row  5+1+9+6 = 21.  Throw the first digit in the sum and retain the second digit,   2 1 = 1.  This "1" is called check-sum which plays an important role in error correcting.  Find the check-sums for each row as well as each column. 5196 1 2017 0 2486...

    We have studied the picture of electric field and magnetic field in the school.  What is the picture of gravitational field?  How it permeates the space?        The interstellar space is like a thin flexible rubber sheet.  When a celestial object is present on the sheet, it dips and sags at that point and creates a saucer like shape around the object.  The object may be the sun, a star, a planet or a satellite.        All the bodies are attracted and fall  on the planets and the earth because the space around them is curved.  We say, they are attracted by gravitational force.       The cycle race take place in a saucer shaped stadium.  As a speed increases, the cyclist automatically moves to the inner or bottom level of the stadium.  similarly the planets revolve around in the sun's stadium.  The planets cannot escape from the well formed by the sun.  ...