Engineers of Tomorrow - 3

8/2/2019 Engineers of Tomorrow - 3

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Journal Club, BPHC

First published April, 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted, in any form or by any

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I N TODAYS world I believe no-body is unaware of scenarios of Power-Cuts and water shortage. For me these two are quite horrible, primarily because I

am from deserted area of Rajasthan. To overcome issues like these we focus on attempts to avoid misuse of natural resources but we need to ask ourselves what wewant? A temporary solution like preservation of resources or a permanent solutionfull of alternatives.

A temporary solution is going to extend the time to switch back on something more abundant and easily replenish-able in nature but the focus is always this self-replenish able resource. The most sensible solution hence seems is to GO GREEN.

Thus we the team of Journal Club brings you the latest developments in the mottoto GO GREEN in various fields of science. Hope that this issue may inspirepeople among us to take the developments in Green Technology to the next level.

UEditing & Designing Team Head


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GREEN WHEELS

By-Veda Samhita

The relation between transportation andenergy is a direct one--greater the rise indemand for transportation, greater is theenergy required. Here, transportationincludes different modes like land,maritime and air. It accounts forapproximately 25% of world energydemand and for more than 62% of all theoil used each year.

Transportation is almostcompletely reliant (95%) upon petroleumproducts. With this kind of dependency,the relation between transportation andenvironmental pollution has also been a

direct one. Transport sector contributesto quarter of all energy related CO R 2 R emissions. With the fast depletion andrising demand of the fossil fuels, the costof transportation is also increasingtremendously. This is evident from theincrease in petrol and diesel prizes severaltimes in the past few months. With thenumber of vehicles escalating rapidly,there is an urgent need to shift to betterenergy sources for transportation.

The starting step in dealing with theseissues is moving towards Electric drive

Vehicles (EV). This could be the start of a revolution that helps to cut down globalwarming gas emissions and end the oiladdiction in near future. EVs standout fortheir potential to comprehensivelyaddress some of the biggest issuesconcerning cost, energy consumption andenvironmental impact. Compared tointernal combustion engine technology(ICE), some of the benefits with the EVsare:

The potential to use large range of energy sources, including all typesof renewable energy, in

combination with higher energyefficiency.

The potential for sustainable andcarbon neutral (CO2-free) mobility,zero emission if powered byrenewable energy sources.

Less or no air pollution (dependingon the type of power production)

along with lower noise levels.Different types of electric vehicle

technologies include: hybrid electricvehicles (HEVs), and all-electric vehicles(EVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles(PHEVs). These vehicles use electricityeither as their primary fuel or to improvethe efficiency of conventional vehicledesigns.


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0THybrid Electric Vehicles 0T :

HEVs run on gasoline with a motor and

use batteries to improve efficiency. Thesedo not use electricity from any externalsource.

0TAll-Electric 0T Vehicles:

EVs use a battery to store the electricenergy that powers the motor. EVbatteries are charged by plugging thevehicle into an electric power source. EVsare sometimes referred to as batteryelectric vehicles (BEVs).

0TPlug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles 0T :

PHEVs can be charged with electricity likeEVs and run under engine power like

HEVs. The combination increases theefficiency, reduces the emissions andcosts. PHEVs can be classified into SerialPHEVs and Parallel PHEVs.

Among these, Electric vehicles

(EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

(PHEVs) provide very promisingopportunities for the future development

of a sustainable transport sector.

Electric cars are not a completelynew technology. Back in 1800s, thesevehicles were widely used. Restriction onrange, recharging of the batteries werethe limitations then, and they continue aschallenges till date. With adequateimprovements in these areas, numerous

models have already hit the market andvirtually every major company ispromising either a plug in hybrid or a fully

electric car. Chevrolet Volt and HondaInsight are competing in the hybridmarket with gas engines to take overwhen batteries run out of charging. Thereis also Nissans Leaf, an all electric thatcan go up to 160km before needing arecharge.

The challenges with these electric carsare still huge! Important ones being:

EVs involve high initial costs Requires additional equipment- a

charging station is required torecharge the battery in an allelectric

Power source- if charging of several vehicles is done at a time

from a local distributiontransformer, blackout can happen
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_hev.htmlhttp://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_hev.htmlhttp://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_hev.htmlhttp://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_hev.htmlhttp://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_ev.htmlhttp://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_ev.htmlhttp://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_ev.htmlhttp://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_ev.htmlhttp://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_phev.htmlhttp://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_phev.htmlhttp://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_phev.htmlhttp://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_phev.htmlhttp://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_phev.htmlhttp://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_ev.htmlhttp://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/electric_basics_hev.html


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due to overloading

Battery life and capability- batteriesdeliver less range after a couple of thousands of charging anddischarging

Recharging time-it may take 18hours to recharge the battery at theavailable voltage

Disposing of the batteriesGiven these enormous

challenges, rapid advancements in these

fields resulted in some solutions to makeEVs a practicality. Coupled with smart grid

technology, batteries can be charged duringoff-peak hours allowing proper electricitymanagement.

The life of Li-ion batteries has beenimproved and their bulk production canbring down the costs. By using the oldbatteries for lower wattage needs (likehousehold lighting) we can reduce thedisposability problem to some extent.Rather than utilizing the electricityproduced from conventional sources, the

EVs can run on renewable sources like solarenergy, making the transport sectorsustainable for future generations.


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ROAD TO PS-1By- Atharav Gupta

Whats PS-1 all about? Why the hell are wedoing it when friends from other colleges are

having a great gala time? Probably these will bethe questions in the minds of 2010 batchstudents.PS-1 is an excellent opportunity toimprove your resume, making new friends andcontacts, learning from you peers from Goa andPilani Campuses, enhancing yourcommunication skills and exploring new places.Its the first step towards the professional lifeand this often turns out to be a really greatexperience.

As you will be aware PS-1 is 50 days longprogram. The first 15 days is all about adjustingto your workplace. During this period youll bebusy with orientation, interaction and projectallocation. If PS-1 station is not in yourhometown then youll be a having a tough timearranging for food and accommodation .Thencomes what BITS is known for. You would haveguessed it. Yes, its Quiz-1.You cannot escapethe tests even at the PS-1.Quiz-1 is a verygeneral test and all you need is to cram thehistory ,objectives and additional features of

your PS-1 station .The best way to prepare isfrom the organization website and theorientation program.

Now this is the time when students at some of the PS-1 stations will become extremely choosyin visiting the centre .Its all about matchingyour time of visit with that of an instructor.While, students at other PS-1 will be having atough time in starting up with the project work.Some of the PS-1 stations provide really greatprojects. These projects will be exciting and willbe a huge asset for your resume. What youmust understand is that PS is a distinctivefeature of BITS brand name? They will be usingit as one of their strengths while cajoling theindustries for campus recruitments. Therefore,

its very important to do your project workdiligently.

Also you ll be having a great learningexperience from Group Discussions andSeminars .There will be 2 GDs in total and youllbe provided with a list of probable topics .Thereport is very important component and carriesa lot of weightage. There will be 2 reports intotal and seminars corresponding to each. Inreport-1 youll need to include details about theorganization and compilation of the projectwork done until that time. While, report -2 willbe more project oriented and should include allthe details of the project work done at the PS-1station. In seminars we need to present on theproject and details included in the report.Seminars are followed by question and answersession and this may be attended by the peopleat organization. Quiz-2 is also there whichincludes the questions about the project .Itwould be better to listen to the seminar-1 of your peers or go through their slides whilepreparing for Quiz-2 because Quiz -2 alsoinclude the questions on project work of your

peers also. So, this was all about the evaluationcomponent of your PS-1. Apart from theevaluation PS-1 adds a greater value to yourexperience at BITS. Take it as an opportunity formaking good friends, contacts and exploringnew places. Interact as much as you can withyour peers. Learn about their future plans, theelectives they have taken or are planning to do,their cultural and technical fest and the trendsof placements and higher education in theircampuses. Do take your project seriously as this

adds to your resume as already mention .Thisalso helps to earn recommendations from theorganization which may be beneficial whileapplying for higher education.BEST OF LUCK!!!


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DROP OF LIQUID SOLVES MAZE!!-A review by Adharsh Raghavan

In the scientific world, either lab-rats are used by experimental psychologistsor algorithms are designed by computerprogrammers in order to solve mazes. Butwho in their right minds would haveguessed that acid droplets could do thetrick!? You probably think the topic seemsbizarrely absurd and that Im crazy. Fairenough, because I felt the same way too,

until I had gone through the details of theexperiment. A team led by NorthwesternUniversitys chemistry professor Bartosz AGrzybowski has shown that an acid dropletcan navigate a complex maze.

1T Although the experiment hascomplex equations associated with it, theprimitive intelligence of the droplet can beexplained by a simple chemical mechanism

that is primarily based on a pH gradient.Such a 1Tp 1Thenomenon, in which somaticcells, 0T1T 0T1Tbacteria, and other single-cellor 0T1T 0T1Tmulti-cellular 0T1T 0T1Torganisms direct theirmovements according to certain chemicalsin their environment, is defined aschemotaxis.

1T

The Experimental setup :

1T Then team in Northwestern Universityin Evanston, Illinois used a commonpolymer to create a 2-D labyrinth some 2cms on each side. They then flooded themazy with strongly alkaline KOH solution,and then placed a HCl-soaked chunk of gelat the maze exit. The chunk (and itsposition), as you have probably guessed bynow, is the source of the pH gradient acrossthe maze.

1TAfter about 40 seconds later (this isminimum time required to set up thegradient) they placed a droplet of mineraloil containing hexyldecanoic acid at theentrance to the maze. 1TThe droplet wasdyed with Calco Oil Red (American

Cyanamid) in order to illuminate the pathtaken by it. 1TThe oil cannot mix with theKOH, and it sits on the surface, but not forlong. It starts moving through the mazetowards the acid-soaked gel, solving themaze in the process.

1TWhy at all does the droplet move in such afashion? The answer lies in the pH gradient.As the droplet leaches its acid into thesurrounding solution, it loses H+ ions; thisaffects the surface tension of the droplet.The pH gradient that was set up ensuresthat the front and the rear of the droplethave a different pH. This small differenceaffects the amount of deprotonation that


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happens at the ends of the droplet andhence sets up a surface tension gradient.This forces the droplet into motion. AsGrzybowski says, the droplet is self-

propellant.1T

1TThis might sound fairly simple, and Ithought so too, until I saw the following twophotographs:1T

1TThe dark colour represents earlier times,and lighter colour represents later times.

1TFigure 1: Here the droplet (1L, 20% v/vHAD (hexyldecanoic acid) in DCM(dichloromethane) assumes the shortestpath available in order to solve the maze.

1TFigure 2: The most amazing part of thisexperiment is depicted here, where thedroplet goes astray at two locations, butdecides theres something wrong with thatand so it reverses its direction!! Its almostas if the droplet has a brain of its own!!

1TThe technique seems to have uniqueapplications. Sources claim that running oilagainst a H gradient could generatemechanical energy in a nano-machine orrunning it through a special maze could help

solve a class of maze-like math problems,called NP-complete problems (computersare poor at completing these kind of problems).

1TIn the world of medicine, it is not unusualthat the drugs that are effective in the labfail to cure a disease because the medicineis unable to navigate the maze of bloodvessels that lead to a tumor. But using theresults of this experiment, scientists mayhave found a way to carry the drug to theright spot even after it takes a wrong turn.A good reason is that cancer is more acidic

than the rest of the body, Grzybowski says .


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THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCESBy - Prakhyat

Being intelligent does not alwaysmean that someone does well in tests - aproblem with which teachers and schooladministrators have struggled since theearliest days of organized education.Howard Gardner's Theory of multipleintelligences helps educators thinkdifferently about "IQ," and about whatbeing "smart" means. The theory is

changing the way some teachers teach .Gardners outlook on intelligence

differs greatly from the traditional viewwhich usually recognizes only twointelligences, verbal and computational.Howard Gardner first identified andintroduced to us seven different kinds of intelligence in his book Frames of Mind . Linguistic

Logical -mathematical

Musical

Spatial

Bodily -kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal This theory provides insight into

people's preferred learning styles, as well astheir behavioral and working styles, andtheir natural strengths. For example,imagine that your teacher has assigned you

to read a novel and then develop a projectof your choice based on the book. Onestudent immediately decides to draw acomic strip depiction of several differentscenes from the novel. Another student inthe class decides to compose a brief musicalinterpretation of the book, while anotherstudent opts to write a creative essay fromthe point of view of one of the characters in

the story.The tendency to choose such widely

varied projects based on the same novelcan understood by looking at each student'sindividual strengths. Students who are goodwith visual information often prefer to workwith visual imagery, such as drawing ascene or image. Students who are strongwith tone or rhythm might prefer to do aproject that incorporates music, whilestudents who are good with words mightprefer to write about their thoughts andideas.

Subsequent research and reflectionby Howard Gardner and his colleagues haslooked to three particular possibilities: anaturalist intelligence, a spiritualintelligence and an existential intelligence.


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As the education system hasstressed the importance of developingmathematical and linguistic intelligences, itoften determines a student's success onlyon the measured skills in those twointelligences. Supporters of Gardner'sTheory of Multiple Intelligences believe thatthis emphasis is unfair.

Children whose musical intelligences arehighly developed, for example, may beoverlooked for gifted programs or may beplaced in a special education class becausethey do not have the required math orlanguage scores. Teachers must seek toassess their students' learning in wayswhich will give an accurate overview of their strengths and weaknesses.

As all children do not learn in thesame way, they cannot be assessed in auniform fashion. Therefore, it is importantthat a teacher create an "intelligenceprofile" for each student. Knowing howeach student learns will allow the teacherto properly assess the child's progress. Such


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credible feedback will help a teacher toteach in an easy manner catering to eachkid.

Traditional tests (e.g. multiple

choice, short answer, essay. . .) requirestudents to show their knowledge in apredetermined manner. Supporters of Gardner's theory claim that a betterapproach of assessing students is byassigning them creative projects,journalswhich engage most of their intelligences.The theory of multiple intelligences is beingfollowed in many educational institutions.

Despite being doubted upon initiallythe theory has found great utility in thesystem. It has helped a significant numberof educators to question their work

and to encourage them to look beyond thenarrow confines of the dominant discoursesof skilling, curriculum, and testing. Forexample, Mindy Kornhaber and her

colleagues at the Project SUMIT (SchoolsUsing Multiple Intelligences Theory) haveexamined the performance of a number of schools and concluded that there have beensignificant gains in respect of SATs scores,parental participation, and discipline.

Howard Gardner's multipleintelligences theory has helped educatorsto reflect on their practice, and given them

a basis to broaden their focus and to attendto what might assist people to live theirlives well, then it has to be judged a usefuladdition.


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WIFI: INTERNET IN THE AIR by- N . Sai Chaitanya

.Most of the technologicalwonders that we see in andaround us in these moderntechnological times areintriguing .One non-denyingfact about the new technologiesis that they make our lifesimple and easy.We all are

curious to learn about how thisthings workOne suchtechnology is the WI-FI theabbreviated as the WIRELESSFIDELITY. If you've been in anairport , coffee shop, library or hotel recently, chances areyou've been right in the middleof a wireless network.

WiFi has a lot of advantages.Wireless networks are easy toset up and inexpensive.They're also unobtrusive --unless you're on the lookoutfor a place to use your laptop , you may not even notice whenyou're in a hotspot. In this

article, we'll look at thetechnology that allowsinformation to travel over theair.

A wireless network uses radiowaves , just like cell phones , televisions and radios do. Infact, communication across awireless network is a lot liketwo-way radio communication.Here's what happens:

1.A computer's wirelessadapter translates data into aradio signal and transmits itusing an antenna. A wirelessrouter receives the signal anddecodes it. The router sendsthe information to the Internetusing a physical, wired

Ethernet connection. 2.The radios used for WiFicommunication are verysimilar to the radios used for walkie-talkies, cell phones andother devices. They cantransmit and receive radiowaves, and they can convert1s and 0s into radio wavesand convert the radio wavesback into 1s and 0s.Using the above encryptionand decoding technique thesignals are transmitted. This is how the wifi that we useto wirelessly connect to theinternet works . Thetechnologies that we useare really easy to work with but what actuallymakes them run issomething for all of us tobe curious about andlearn.
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THE TINY TRANSISTORSBy Sahaja T.

The idea of a single-atom transistor is theoutcome of researchers and the consumersworldwide to fit all the devices in theirpockets.

The basic principle behind atransistor is simple : Just arrange twoelectrodes, a source, a sink and a GATE thatmanipulates the flow of current betweenthem. The common semiconductortransistors use silicon or othersemiconductor material, and one moreelectrode to control the flow of currentbetween source and sink.

Just like any other transistor, it hastwo electrodes made of gold which arecovered entirely with a non-conductingmaterial except for the immediate contactarea. This contact area functions as an

electrochemical working electrode. Theserepresent the source and the drain of ourtiny transistors. These electrodes areimmersed in an electrolyte and anadditional voltage of the order of 0.001V isapplied to deposit silver on each of them.And as the small crystal chunks touch, thereis an atomic scale contact between them.

By monitoring the conductancebelow a fixed value, the deposition is

stopped and the voltage is reversed todissolve the junction again, and whenconductance falls to a lower value, thedeposition starts again. After repetitivecycles, the conductance is stabilized at aninteresting quantized integer multiple of GR o R =2e P

2P/h.

The quantization provides on-state and off-state potentials for the tiny transistor thatare regulated by a gate potential set athold between on and off. So they work atthree potentials - on, off and hold. Thisexplains the hysteresis - As we movebetween two states of switch, the energybarrier needs to be overcome from aconducting state to non-conducting state.These quantizations make theconfigurations mechanically and thermallystable by snapping into the magicenergetically preferred states and areretained during long sequences of switchingcycles.

One more question that arose wasif such a gate-electrode controlled switchingwas possible between two conductingstates of same contact. Since this involves

no breaking of contact, such type of multi-level logics and storage devices on anatomic scale would be of extremeimportance, because this enables efficientdata storage, and processing with lesserlogical gates.

But there are some unavoidable andundesirable problems that arise in thiscontext. Since the size of transistor shrinks,unpredictable quantum mechanical effectsshow up, challenging the usual transistoroperation. However, the design of thesingle-atom transistor marks the beginningof active-controlled electronics on anatomic scale and opens up fascinatingperspectives for quantum electronics and

logics we are yet to witness .


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NANO-TECH MAKESMEDICINE GREENER

By -Aishwarya Srivastava

O ver the last 5 years the Bionano Group at theNano-Science Center and the Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology at theUniversity of Copenhagen has been workinghard to characterize and test how moleculesreact, combine together and form largermolecules, which can be used in thedevelopment of new medicine. The group hasbasically been working towards thedevelopment of a new method that will make itpossible to develop drugs faster and greener.Their work promises cheaper medicine for

consumers.

The researchers' breakthrough, as published inthe journal Nature Nanotechnology, is that theyare able to work with reactions that take placein very small volumes, namely 10-19 liters. Thisis a billion times smaller than anyone hasmanaged to work with before. Even moreintriguing is the ability to do so in parallel for

millions of samples on a single chip.

"We are the first in the world to demonstratethat it is possible to mix and work with suchsmall amounts of material. When we reach suchunprecedented small volumes we can test many

more reactions in parallel and that is the basisfor the development of new drugs. In addition,

we have reduced our use of materialsconsiderably and that is beneficial to both theenvironment and the pocketbook," saysProfessor Dimitrios Stamou, who predicts thatthe method will be of interest to industrybecause it makes it possible to investigate drugs

faster, cheaper and greener.

THE TECHNIQUE MAKES PRODUCTION GREENER

The team of professor Stamou reached suchsmall scales because they are working with self-assembling systems. Self-assembling systems,

such as molecules, are biological systems thatorganize themselves without outside control.

This occurs because some molecules fit withcertain other molecules so well that they

assemble together into a common structure.Self-assembly is a fundamental principle innature and occurs at all the different size scales,ranging from the formation of solar systems to

the folding of DNA.

The self-assembling systems consist entirely of biological materials such as fat and as a resultdo not impact the environment, in contrast tothe materials commonly used in industry today(e.g. plastics, silicon and metals). This and thedramatic reduction in the amount of usedmaterials makes the technique moreenvironment friendly, 'greener'," explainsDimitrios Stamou, who is part of the SyntheticBiology Center and director of the Lundbeck

Center Biomembranes in Nanomedicine.

The ultra-small nano reactors have walls madeof lipids. During their fusion events volumes of one billionth of a billionth of a liter weretransferred between nanoreactors allowingtheir cargos to mix and react chemically. Wetypically carried out a million of individualchemical reactions per cm P2 P in not more than a

few minutes .


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Depreciation of Rupee-Kausthubh Annam

A ll of you must have heard aboutthe huge depreciation in the valueof Rupee, which caughteveryones attention and affectedour country and economy in manyways. The Rupee fell from 44/$ toabout 53/$ in the last fewmonths. After reading this article,you will have a basic idea on whatcaused the fall and the impacts of it.

Usually, the volatility in currencyprices depends on the Supply & Demand. But this fall was notbecause of any particular reason,but it was a combined effect of many factors/events. Some of themain factors are:

Stock Market Performance(Withdrawal of FIIs)

FIIs are Foreign InstitutionalInvestors, and the Indian stockmarket is dominated by them.They are responsible for morethan 60-70% of the volumes andturnover in our Stock Exchanges.They invested a lot when the BullRun was on and when India was

performing well, and when theystarted pulling their money outfrom the markets (Because of factors like US Economyproblems); it triggered a huge fallin the markets and also theRupee. Indian markets haventperformed well since quite sometime after that happened. Theretail investors (whose turnover is

less than 5%) are alwaysscapegoats whenever the big

players trade. They generallyfollow the big institutions andhence pulled out their money too.The further fall in Rupee loweredthe confidence of the Indianinvestor.

Inflation

Inflation in India is hitting newhighs every month, which is

definitely a cause of concern. Thisdecreases our purchasing poweragainst the other currencies(Because the Rupees value islesser than what it was before).

Strengthening of the Dollar ($)

The Euro crisis led to a fall inEuro/USD which significantly

strengthened the Dollar. So, ingeneral, the Dollar is gettingstronger in the world currencymarkets. The demand and supplyconcept can be applied here. Theincrease in the demand in Dollarindirectly lessens the value of Rupee.

Current account deficit is high

This occurs when a country's totalimports of goods and services aregreater than the country's totalexport of goods and services. Ourcountrys deficit is more than theexpected level now. This hasaffected investor sentiments andhas led to the fall. Now whileyouve known the factors of depreciation, lets look at some of

its impacts-


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Products which are directlyimported from overseas,such as Crude Oil,Fertilizers, Metals etcbecome costlier due toRupee depreciation.

Prices of products withcomponents which areimported from othercountries, like PCs,electronics also increase.

Depreciating rupee is badfor companies which importthings and good forcompanies that are exportoriented. Investors inimport oriented companieswill be affected. Forcompanies, borrowing costwill increase which reducestheir profit margin.

Importers have to pay anadditional Rs 489.8 perbarrel to import the samequantity of Crude oil, anadditional Rs 684.6 pertonne of Coal etc.

The consumer is directlyaffected because thecompanies sell the productsat a higher price to the

public in order to not loseout on their profits.

India is heavily dependenton oil imports. A weakcurrency makes theseimports expensive. Theworst part is that theseexpensive imports areheavily subsidized in India.

Cost of borrowing increases.

Inflation rises even more,with prices of householdproducts increasing makingit costlier for consumers;and increase in prices of raw materials affecting theindustries.

For people working abroad,investing in India was avery good choice sinceeverything they need to buycosts relatively cheaperthan what they were before.

India is running a very high fiscaldeficit. This deficit is beingfinanced by foreign investment.The dependence on foreigninvestment to bridge the fiscalgap is because of unproductivesubsidies and concessions. Thismakes our currency even morevulnerable. This is risky because

there can be a catastrophic fall inthe Rupee in case of a globalevent .


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LEAP OF SCIENCEBy - Shubhankar Joshi

Robot: the very thought of the wordbrings in mind vivid pictures of manyscience-fiction movies likeTransformers, I-Robot, ShellysFrankenstein and much recent Indianblockbuster Robot starring thesupposed strongest man on earth,Rajnikanth!

The study of robots, robotics,involves electronics, engineering,mechanics, mechatronics, softwareand biology. Electronics served as thedriving force of development of robots with the advent of the firstelectronic autonomous robot createdby William Grey Walter in Bristol,England in 1948.

In general humanoid robots havebasic human features. Some have ahead, two arms and two legs. Somemay also have a face with eyes and

mouth. Androids are humanoidrobots built to resemble a malehuman, and Gynoids are humanoidrobots built to resemble a humanfemale.

Although all of these are just work of fiction, humanoid robots are not toofar-fetched a dream. For example:TOPIO, a humanoid robot played PingPong at the Tokyo Robot exhibition(IREX)2009. Technically speakinghumanoid robots are just a class of robots (although the most complexbecause of their obvious function:imitating humans).

However, there are robots whichdont have the basic or rather thecomplex parts like limbs, torso andskull at all. The rovers used in moonexpeditions, military drones and thelatest college fad line followers, etcare all examples of autonomous ornon-autonomous robots!

Recently, the media had covered asurprising number of new humanoidrobots emerging on the commercial

market. Like many new technologies,these early generations of commercially available humanoidsare costly curiosities, useful forentertainment, but little else. Yet, intime, they will accomplish a wide


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variety of tasks in homes, battlefields,nuclear plants, governmentinstallations, factory floors, and evenspace stations. Robonaut: A robotdeveloped at NASA Johnson SpaceCenter to inhabit the space station.

Already, humanoid robots canautonomously perform taskdecomposition necessary to carry outhigh-level, complex commands giventhrough gesture and speech.Humanoids can adapt andorchestrate existing capabilities aswell as create new behaviors using avariety of machine learningtechniques. In fact, some researchersclaim to have implemented a firststab at the "seed" which will allowrobot intelligence to developindefinitely. As they adapt to theirown, unique experiences with theworld, we will look out upon apopulation where no two humanoidsare exactly alike. Also, Robots that

can incrementally acquire newknowledge from autonomousinteractions with the environmentwill accomplish tasks by means theirdesigners did not explicitlyimplement, and will adapt tounanticipated circumstances of unstructured environments.

For decades, popular culture hasbeen enthralled with the possibilityof robots that act and look likehumans. We are promised by film,fiction and television that humanoidswill cook for us, clean for us, becomeour best friends, teach our children,and even fall in love with us. Well,the good news is that the forerunnersare here already! In a world in whichmanual workers are getting obsolete,robots seem poised to be the futureof all physical tasks ranging fromarchitecture to warfare, fromexcavation to exploration.


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TELEPATHYBy- Sri Vaishnavi.V

T elepathy (from the Greek words, tele

meaning "distant" and, pathe meaning"affliction, experience"), is the inductionof mental states from one mind toanother. The term was coined by theclassical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers.You communicate using only the powerof your mind without using any othersense organ.

Two different theories known asPsychological symbiosis and thoughtinsertion/removal explain telepathy. Inthe early psychological experience of thechild (during earliest infancy), the childis unable to tell the difference betweenhis or her experience and that of the

mother, This state of mind is calledpsychological symbiosis withdevelopment it ends but, aspects of itcan still be detected in the psychologicalfunctioning of the adult. Thoughtinsertion/removal is a symptom of psychosis, particularly of schizophreniaor schizoaffective disorder. Psychiatricpatients who experience this symptomfalsely believe that some of theirthoughts are not their own and thatother people, aliens, or conspiringintelligence agencies are puttingthoughts into their minds.

Telepathy is the way otherspecies communicate with each other. Ithas been proved in numerous studiesthat animals like dolphins communicateamong themselves using telepathy,sometimes over great distances.Primitive tribes exist around the worldeven today who have developedtelepathy and have retained the ability

to communicate among themselvesentirely by the power of 'thought' alone.People across the world haveexperienced as well as mastered it. Thisskill may occur to people within a shortdistance from each other or may evenoccur to people who are miles awayfrom each other.

Sigmond Freud, the Columbus of the mind visualized telepathy as a linkbetween two beings who share a strongemotional bond which was contrary tothe theories of parapsychologists. Freudalways had a scientific explanation toany mental phenomena. He proposed apossible physical basis for telepathybased on an analogy with the telephone.He postulated that the thoughts orother mental processes that aretransmitted are transformed intophysical processes such as waves orrays. Once these waves or rays reach


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their target, they are transformed backinto the original mental processes.Additional evidence for Freud's belief inthis physical basis for the occult can be

found in a letter of his to Ferenczi, inwhich he describes his opinion of asoothsayer whom they had both visited.Freud thought that she had a"physiological gift" that allowed heraccess to the thoughts of others.

People who possess telepathy aresaid to be have psychic abilities andmany claim that psychic powers areinherent powers. So is telepathypossible for normal people other thanpsychics? Yes, actually, psychic abilitiescan be learnt and we don't even have toinherit it from our parents or anyancestor. What's the point in trying tomaster telepathy? Well, what if u can

influence a person to work according toyour wish and command? Maybe talk toone another in class without using yourmobile or speech and know what theother person is thinking (much likeEdward's ability in THE TWILIGHT SAGA).

Telepathy is often used in fiction andfilms proving to be a fascinating subjectto deal with.

Be it the harry potter franchisee wherelord Voldemort often forces into Harrysmind using legilimency or even the X-men series where professor Xavier usestelepathy to save many people.There isJedi in star wars, Matt Parkman inheroes and the Dragon, Sapphira inEragon in the long list of fictionaltelepaths.

So here's something u can beginwith, take a friend and five simplecards(plain white cards with simpledesigns...like a heart, square, star,..) sitat opposite ends of the room facingaway from each other and ask yourfriend to choose a card, try guessingwhat it is. Who knows maybe you arethe telepathic genius the world is

waiting for .


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SEE THROUGH WALLS..!!! By Sri Prakyath

Not many people would use theword "transparent" to describe cement. Buttransparent cement made its debut at theItalian Pavilion during the World Expo lastyear in Shanghai, and its qualities are prettyremarkable.

Fig: Italian Pavilion at World Expo,Shanghai, 2010.

The technology is based on a matrixof cement embedded with resins that aredesigned to allow a certain amount of lightthrough without compromising the integrityof the material. Trademarked as i.light,the substance created by Italcementigroup contains multicolored resins that fill 2to 3 millimeter holes that look likerectangular slats. These resins react toallow soft light to fill the building's interior-a potential cost savings on energy bills,since the need for artificial lighting isreduced.

During the day and when viewedupon head on, the Italian pavilion appearedsimilar to a normal cement building. Butfrom the inside, at night or when viewed atan angle, the building takes on an etherealquality not characteristic of concrete.

Fig: Transparent cement panel

Italcementi used i.light for around40 per cent of the 18-metre high Expopavilion, or 3,774 transparent panels and

semi-transparent panels made from 189tonnes of the product. In each transparentpanel there are approximately 50 holes,leading to about 20 per cent transparency.The semi-transparent panels were around10 per cent see-through and were createdby modulating the insertion of the resins.The transparency can be changed bymodifying the amount of resin in the

panels.


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Previous attempts at a similar feathad been made using a synthetic materialcalled LiTraCon (light transmitting concrete)in which fiber optic cables were mixed with

concrete but the "transparent cement"made from plastic resins is much cheaperthan the one made from optical fibers.Moreover, the ability to capture light isgreater, since the resins contain a widervisual angle than optical fibers.

Developed by Hungarian architectAronlosonczi, LiTraCon (Light TransmittingConcrete) is the worlds first commerciallyavailable transparent concrete. Thetranslucent material is created bycombining concrete and thousands of opticfibers strands that act like aggregate. Theoptical fibers form a matrix between thetwo main surfaces of concrete block,connecting and directing light between thetwo block faces.

The fibers are oriented in a parallelpattern which produces a brighter anddarker side of the block. Since the opticalfibers dont suffer loss of light, the LiTraCon

blocks can theoretically transmit light up toa thickness of 65 feet. The material is usedin projects around the world including themuseum cellaseptichora in Hungary.

This transparent or rathertranslucent cement not only complementsthe aesthetics of the building but is alsoecofriendly as it saves energy.

So the next time you think of building a"green home" let i.light strike your mind.


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VENGEANCE [FICTION]- By Aishwarya Srivatsava

As Mr. Arora walked through his cabindoor, his mind started racing back. Abouta decade ago there was a time when hewas a rich and eminent business man witha flourishing automobile business.However, on the 25 Pth P of December 2129things changed dramatically. The modernworld now entered an amazing era of speed and mobility.

It all began when aBulgarian scientist who hadsuccessfully invented a wayby which people could travelat one tenth the speed of

light. Clubbing his work withanother humongous scientistDr. Andrew, who haddeveloped a technology to bring downmen to Nano-dimensions, the impossiblewas made possible. Now people couldboard by being sucked into cables at oneend and within no time, reach the otherend which belonged to an altogetherdifferent part of the globe.

Now, there was no looking back.Within a span of five years, cables werelaid down across the globe. The worldhad turned into a global village. Now, noone had to bank on any other modes of

transport. As a consequence of this, MrAroras business had gone to the dogs. Hehad to sell all his assets in order to payback his shareholders and thus turnedinto a poor technical assistant too lonelyeven to be noticed. The irony of thesituation was that he now worked at one

of the branches operating the very cablesthat devastated his life forever.

However, in the meanwhile, an evilplan was germinating in his mind. Hestarted considering the possibility of bringing the entire South Asian cable line

to a standstill. He used all his savings tobribe one of the software experts of the

firm to hack thepassword. He sneakedinto the managers cabinmaking an excuse that hewas called for technicalassistance. He asked the

manager to goimmediately to unit A of the company stating that

there was an emergency. As the managerhastily walked out, Mr. Arora punched inthe password but of course there camethe LCT detector. The LCT detector couldrecognize faces and study features todetect what a person was up to andaccordingly give access. As his plan blewback on his face Mr. Arora could no longercontrol his anger. He started breaking and

kicking anything and everything he couldspot. All of a sudden there were sparksflying across the room followed by adeafening blast. Within seconds his bodywas up in fumes. However his evil plan didsucceed, the entire South Asiantransportation system had come to astandstill. Hundreds of thousands of people were stuck in cable lines. There

was mayhem and havoc across the globe.

Man had mastered time

and speed. Within a split

second, he would travel

from one part of the

globe to another.


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No one could understand for quitesome time as to how it all started. Sincethey were never in a similar situationbefore they had no idea as to how they

were going to combat it. Within hours thework of all the eminent scientists finallybore result. They drew a theory that allthis time the energy was being suppliedfrom the inside to push commuters out;what if they could make a pump whichwould pull them out. They implementedthis plan and the first two passengers tobe pulled out died in the process. There

were approximately two hundredthousand passengers stuck in thosecables. This was catastrophic. There wasconfusion, terror and tension all over theglobe.

All the eminent scientists started workingon their project again. There had to be a

way out. After improvising certain majorchanges to their machinery they werefinally ready to give it a second shot. Thistime miraculously they had a living

passenger coming out of the cables.Similar machinery was set up at variousstations and people were rescued.

This incident left a greatimpression on all the people of themodern world. They realized that there isa limit as to how fast they advance. Nowpeople were back to using old modes of

transport and did not rely entirely on theirwonderful cables. As for the thousands of other Mr. Arora(s) who had lost theirbread and butter to this new technicaladvancement - they started getting their

jobs back.

.


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3D LITHIUM ION BATTERY-By Ranjan

The age of electronics and informationtechnology unravels itself before our eyes,as new and infinitely more promisingavenues open up in a whirlwind of fanfareand cutting edge technology. As the worldfinds itself reeling in a pit of smoke, a newdrive has come to the fore, growing instrength and tenacity, a drive to bring insustainable and eco-friendly technologies

directly to the consumer market, and slowthe decay of Mother Earth as we speak.

The French government in its recentmove introduced a new rental scheme forelectric cars, in a bid to curb pollutions andfume emissions and to avoid anotherParisian Petrol Scare of 97, in which thepollution levels reached such a height thatcars with odd plate license numbers werebanned from the following day. The movehowever, leaves us at a critical point.

Why doesnt everyone use electriccars?One major reason is that they take 5-6hours of recharging time, a fact thathopelessly draws people away from theelectric car market. Cause yeah, lets faceit. Who has the time for it?

However, at the 241 Pst P National Meeting andExposition of the American ChemicalSociety (ACS), scientists have claimed thatthe next generation of batteries might be3D, a special type of lithium ion batterywith a three dimensional interior

architecture, specially designed for easy andquick charging.

Developed by a group of scientists lead byPaul Braun at the University of Illinois,Urbana-Champaign, the battery is claimedto charge 10-100 times faster than theircurrent counterparts, withoutcompromising on storage capacity andperformance. In other words, when anormal lithium ion takes about 2 hours tocharge, this takes around 12 minutes.Laptops could charge within minutes andmobiles in seconds. Electric cars that run onthese batteries could charge within 5minutes, almost the same amount of time ittakes to fill your tank with fuel.

Typical rechargeable batteries, like the thin

lithium-ion blocks in modern gadgets andnickel metal hydride batteries degradesignificantly if charged or discharged toofast. You can swap the battery's activematerial with a thin film to get fastercharging, but because the material lacks thearea to store energy, your iPad would runout of power in seconds.

The solution proposed was to wrap thefoldable material into a three dimensionalshape, thereby increasing its surface areaand subsequently the storage capacity. Tomake this novel structure, the team createda tiny lattice of closely-packed spheres.Metal is used to fill in the space between


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the spheres, and then the whole thing ismelted to leave a sponge-like 3D scaffold.

Next, a process called electro polishinguniformly etches away the surface of the

scaffold to enlarge the pores and make anopen framework. Not only can thesebatteries charge at a phenomenally fastrate, the unique interior design can alsodouble the lifetime of these lithium ionbatteries. Since these batteries

contain more lithium per unit volume,commercial versions would be thinner,

lighter and slimmer, and can be introducednot only in mobile phones, laptops andother high end consumer devices, but alsoin medical and military devices. These

batteries can also be used for a variety of electronic devices and have foundapplication in high-powered lasers, militarypacks and defibrillators that don't needtime to power up before or between pulses.

Braun sees tremendous potential in thesustainable electric car developmentmarket, as his teams brain child couldhopefully usher in a new era of significantreduction in gas and pollution levels fromautomobiles.

Braun sees tremendous potential in thesustainable electric car developmentmarket, as his teams brain child couldhopefully usher in a new era of significantreduction in gas and pollution levels fromautomobiles.


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NFC: NEAR FIELD COMMUNICATIONBy B. Anusha

H ave you ever wanted to get

things done with just a tap or a swipe of your smart phone? With the NFC feverspreading across the wireless industry,this has become a reality. As the namesuggests, Near Field Communication orNFC, in short, is an electromagneticwireless technology that comes into

operation in a very short range of 20 cmor less. NFC has provided a new anduniversal interface for mobile phones andother electronic devices through a simpleone-touch set up. The origin of thiscontactless technology dates back to2003, when it was approved as an openISO/IEC standard. The NFC forum, initiallyfounded by the leading mobile phone

makers Nokia, Sony and Philips, aims tostandardize, implement and promote theNFC technology.

Exploring the technical side of thetechnology reveals that it is based on RFIDtechnology and uses the principle of magnetic induction between two loopantennae placed in each others fieldeffectively forming an air-coretransformer. Operating at a frequency of 13.56 MHz with data rates ranging from106 kbps to 424 kbps, NFC has a readermode wherein the active NFC device readsa passive RFID tag, and a peer-to-peermode which enables two NFC devices tocommunicate. NFC tags embedded withinelectronic devices make them NFC

enabled. Low power consumption, one-touch-triggered pairing of NFC devices and

compatibility with RFID technology wouldbe the answer to the probable question,Why not Bluetooth? that arises in theminds of many.

Moving on to the NFC applications, theyare limited only by our imagination.Though NFC is yet to revolutionise, it hasfar-reaching impact on broadest range of

industries, essentially due to its reach andavailability, versatility of use andcompatibility with existing infrastructure.Presently, contactless payments, ticketing,data sharing, electronic identification,access control, social networking, multi-player games on distinct devices, patienthealth monitoring and information accessthrough smart posters are some of the

uses that NFC has found and the avenuesare still growing.

Though NFC has begun to show itsinfluence in almost all walks of life, it stillhas a long way to go before it can carve aniche for itself, in the wireless industry.NFC, being primarily dependent on themobile phone system, has the potential to

be tapped to the maximum extentpossible, only by the interoperation of,mainly, mobile phone manufacturers andnetwork operators. Co-operation of banksand credit card companies is also neededto support highly secure transactionsusing NFC. Finally, the developercommunity, which drives the technologyforward, by delivering NFC-based simple

and effective solutions, is inevitable.


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DECODE THE CODEBy- Sagarika

A girl facing the gunpoint was asked bythe assassin what her last wish beforedying was. In reply, she said she wanted tomessage her dad about how much sheloved him. So, she typed in the assassinsphone, I miss inspiring nana good byeparents are real kings home ever lainpeace. The assassin sensed nothingthreatening and found no clue about theirhideout, so he clicked send and snapped

the sim card into two. Half an hour laterthe girl happily walked off with her dadback home. The girl survived because sheand her dad always used inconspicuousmessages to communicate where theyfollow a code picking the first letter of every word. Hence her dad figured shemeant, I M IN G.B PARK HELP and drovestraight to the almost dilapidated parkwith the police. This is precisely an

example of the simple yet complicated artof steganography in the form of nullciphers.

Steganography is the art of hidinginformation, which follows a code of which only the sender and recipient areaware of and raises no suspicions at all. Itis famously known as `` security viaobscurity .One of the most ancientsteganography techniques was in ancientGreece where the head of the messengerwas shaved and tattooed with themessage and when the hair regrows hewas sent to the recipient and shavedagain. This was the literal translation of steganography in Greek meaning,covered writing. Other techniques,include pinpricks on certain letters onpaper, misspelling words and even changein spacing are used to indicate hidden

messages.

It is a vast area of field, not limited only towriting, but also radio, T.V, e-mail andblogs. It is speculated that the videos of Osama Bin Laden and other terroristsshown now and then on T.V have a codedmessage, perhaps to instigate peopleworldwide. It is also suspected thatattacks made in New York, WashingtonD.C., Pittsburgh on 9/11 were using e-mailspam. What makes steganography sospecial is that it is really sophisticatedbecause it not only encodes, but alsohides the information leaving the thirdparty a tougher job to not only find, butalso decrypt the message.

While cryptography is the science of writing secret codes when compared tosteganography it sticks out like a sorethumb. It was in Sherlock Holmess Studyin Scarlet where the word rache writtenby the deceased leaves everyonewhacking their brains to figure out themeaning. The Scotland Yard tells Holmesthat it means revenge in German andholds no significance at all. But it was avital clue and meant Rachel, the daughterof the deceased. Even the famous portrait

Mona Lisa, appears to have tiny lettersand numbers in her eyes, which are onlyapparent when viewed with a magnifyingglass. Steganography is a wonderful artbeautifully visualized in movies holding amuch higher value in reality. It is in theinterpreters mind and what he sees. So,keep looking for those clues you have to

find to unravel your mystery .


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OUR TEAM

Photo Credit :Ankush Choudhary

From Left to Right:

Top Row: Sanjana Shah,Apeksha Singhaneri,Garv Malik,Himanshu Rai

Middle Row : Sumeda Acharya, Aishwarya KVN,Sahaja Thallam , K. Soumya,Jatin Chuglani, Arshdeep Singh, Jatin Adlakha

Bottom Row: Vaidehi Murarka, Kriti Poddar, Srishti Rani, Aishwarya Srivastava,

Jasleen Sachdeva, N. Sai Chaitanya, Ramit Mehta, Vaishnavi, Palak Jha, Sripriya

, Anusha B. , Prathima


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Club Members

Existing membersUReporters:

1. Kedar Apsingekar(Reporting Team Head)2. Jatin Adlakha3. Garv Malik ( Event coordinator)4. Prakhyat5. Ramit Mehta6. Himanshu Rai7. Jatin Chuglani8. Srishti Rani9. Veda Samhita10. Sumedha Acharya11. Aishwarya Reddy12. Himshi Bachchas13. Sheetal Modi14. Spandana15. Apeksha16. Shubhankar17. Sanjana Shah18. Kriti Poddar19. Sripriya P.

UEditors & Designers: 1. Arshdeep Singh Takkar (Secretary)2. Ankush Choudhary (Editing & Designing Team Head)3. B.Anusha (Designing team leader)4. Adharsh Raghavan(Editing team leader)5. Chaitanya (Assistant Editor)6. Vaidehi Murarka (Treasurer)7. Prathima Devarasetty8. Aishwarya Srivastava9. Jasleen Sachdeva10. Sri Vaishnavi V.11. Sahaja12. Palak Jha13. T.Sagarika14. K.Sowmya


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Documents

Engineers of Tomorrow - 3