Dr Rajiv Desai
An Educational Blog
Cloud Seeding
Cloud Seeding: _ _ Section-1 Prologue: In the 1956 movie The Rainmaker, Burt Lancaster plays a con man catering to the dreams of spinster Katharine Hepburn. And while both stars triumph in the end — the rain does fall, and she comes out of her shell. In Hindu tradition, mortals prayed and performed elaborate rituals to please Indra, the god of rain. Legend has it that musician Tansen’s melodious voice could summon showers from cloudless skies. Humans have long sought to purposefully alter such atmospheric phenomena as clouds, rain, snow, hail, lightning, thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and cyclones. The modern era of scientific weather modification began in 1946 with work by Vincent J. Schaefer and Irving Langmuir at the General Electric Research Laboratories in Schenectady, N.Y. Schaefer discovered that when dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) pellets were dropped into a cloud composed of water droplets in a deep-freeze box, the […]
The Enigma of Quantum Entanglement
The Enigma of Quantum Entanglement: _ _ Section-1 Prologue: Physicists and philosophers of physics have been debating the meaning of quantum mechanics in general, and quantum entanglement in particular, ever since quantum mechanics was first formulated, and are still debating it today, almost 100 years later. At the heart of quantum mechanics lies a concept that feels almost magical—quantum entanglement. Imagine two particles of the same type becoming so intertwined that a change in one instantly affects the other, no matter how far apart they are. This is the essence of quantum entanglement, a phenomenon that Albert Einstein famously described as “spooky action at a distance.” Quantum entanglement stands as one of the strangest and hardest concepts to understand in physics. Two or more particles can interact in a specific way that leave them entangled, such that a later measurement on one system identifies what the outcome of a […]
Junk Food
Junk Food: _ _ Section-1 Prologue: There are few things in this world more delicious than a candy bar. Notice how your tongue begins to tingle and mouth fills with saliva while you’re still unwrapping the darn thing. Then that first bite, an intoxicating tsunami of sweet, salty, rich and creamy, lighting up the pleasure centers in your brain. And there’s only one way to keep the thrill alive − another bite. Junk food is a miracle of edible engineering. It has no equal in the natural world − or else we’d all have a candy bar tree in the backyard − and has been fine-tuned to deliver pure pleasure through generous combinations of fat, sugar and salt. Not only does junk food taste amazing, but it’s also cheap, convenient, long shelf life and available in every fast-food restaurant, grocery store, gas station, truck stop, movie theater and […]
Spying
Spying: _ Clockwise from top left: Orlin Roussev, Katrin Ivanova, Ivan Stoyanov, Biser Dzhambazov, Vanya Gaberova and Tihomir Ivanchev. These six Bulgarians have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for spying for the Kremlin in the UK and across Europe. ___ Section-1 Prologue: The old phrase ‘gentlemen don’t read each other’s mail’ was unfortunately the dominant U.S. attitude before the Second World War — with catastrophic consequences at Pearl Harbor. … America learned the hard way: In reality, that was what everyone else was doing, and America was being not only naïve, but putting itself at risk by not doing so. Throughout history, espionage has shaped the dynamics of power, politics, and security. Throughout history, adversaries have routinely taken their competitive efforts beyond the battlefield. Nazi spies during World War II tried to penetrate the secrets behind American aviation technology, just as Soviet spies in the Cold War targeted […]
Critical Minerals
Critical Minerals: _ Tesla would not go out of business if supplies of cobalt vanished. But without it, the current generation of electric vehicles would not be able to drive as far between charges or remain in service as long without replacing the batteries. _ Section-1 Prologue: Archaeologists and historians describe early civilizations and periods of human history using terms such as the Stone Age, the Copper Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. Such descriptions reflect the fundamental importance of nonfuel minerals, metals, and materials technology and applications. Early civilizations were built to a significant degree using the seven metals of antiquity (in order of discovery): gold (6000 BC), copper (4200 BC), silver (4000 BC), lead (3500 BC), tin (1750 BC), iron (1500 BC), and mercury (750 BC). Each discovery led to a range of innovations and applications that provided a marked advantage until such time […]
