Technolgies useful for Indian problems

[Sharat]

Six Sigma : Can it be a tool against terrorism??

At a time, when fighting the war against militancy has become arguably the most important issue facing the World, experts are looking into an unlikely weapon to aid their fight: Six Sigma. Six Sigma is nothing like a laser-guided smart bomb but rather a statistics-heavy regimen of analysing problems that has saved corporations billions.

We all know that, Six Sigma is a set of statistical and management tools that can make leaps in improvement. When something reaches Six Sigma, it has a failure rate of 3.4 per million, or 99.99966% accuracy. However, being just 99.0% accurate can sometimes spell disaster. It means: At least 200,000 wrong drug prescriptions each year. Around 2 short or long landings at major airports each day, 5,000 incorrect surgical procedures every week. ,50 dropped newborn babies each day and so on. So question is "can an arcane management process save lives by helping prevent militant attacks"?

Mikel Harry, the father of Six Sigma, says it can, in a major way. He estimates the World would be safer from terrorist attacks by a factor of hundreds or thousands. Six Sigma is "powerful stuff" that could work even in the sprawl of the governments, Dell Computer CEO Michael Dell says.

Consider the mountain of information that flood into the Intelligence agencies, such as intercepted phone calls, applications to pilot schools, etc. Suppose e-mail is intercepted that includes a disguised threat on an important target. A quick decision must be made to discard the e-mail or take it seriously. Discarding bad information is crucial because useless data can paralyse decision makers further up the line. There may be 50 points where such pass-fail decisions must be made about the usefulness of a piece of information. In Six Sigma talk, these points are called "decision nodes." If each of those 50 nodes passes judgment on 60 pieces of information each day, there are 300 opportunities for a decision error each day as intelligence moves up the chain to Security Chief and Head of Govt.

If decision nodes average 99.38% accuracy, they are at Four Sigma, which is about the accuracy of services such as prescription writing by doctors and airline baggage handling. If improved to Six Sigma, accuracy is 99.99966%. That means only one of about every 294,000 pieces of vital information would be erroneously discarded. At Six Sigma, there is a 99.9% chance that all 300 decisions are accurate on a given day. There is a 97% chance all decisions in a month will be right. Where there is only a 15% chance that all decisions are right on a given day at Four Sigma, there is a 15% chance that all decisions will be right over a five-year period at Six Sigma. Such efficiency would be invaluable when lives are at risk. That's how attaining Six Sigma in the war on terrorism could make the World 1,800 times safer.

Deploying Six Sigma against terrorism would be little different than when it was used to determine that most steps in a Japanese patent system's application process were wasteful. The cost of each filing was slashed to $1,200 from $48,000. Communication satellites are rented out by the seconds and are not always used efficiently. General Electric used Six Sigma to make sure its satellites were being used 97% from 63%, adding $1.3 million a year in revenue. Former CEO Jack Welch, who drove Six Sigma deep into GE's culture before his retirement, counts himself among the cautious optimists that Six Sigma could work against terrorism.

But Things are not so simple. Even diehard fan like Michael Dell warns that it could take years for intelligence agencies to fully implement Six Sigma but adds, "It's possible." Fighting terrorism isn't really much different than marketing, Harry says. Marketing executives, like intelligence experts, must digest mountains of mostly useless data, analyse the fraction that is important and persuade decision makers to get the right product on the shelf just as consumer tastes are changing. At its best, marketing influences consumer tastes, which like terrorists, are a moving target.

Even after hearing about the billions saved at companies like GE, others have abandoned the Six Sigma effort in frustration. Companies that don't stick it out for at least five years soon revert and lose all progress. That doesn't bode well for the governments, where attention spans often don't survive election cycles. Also, there will be "a gantlet of pain" to get it implemented.

Experts say it won't work without an "obsessive, compulsive" leader behind it, someone like Jack Welch. "Who in the Government can claim to look similar", there lies the whole crux.

[Himanshu]

NOT technology but an idea borrowing from US


Can't we have Day Light Saving concept in India also.. it will save a lot of energy bills...

[NK Naveen]

Guys,
Of all things what we need is a management system for a billon people. eGovernance is the answer. The best part is that different parts of this are available in different states (Andhra/Gujarat have the max projects implemented). Any ideas, suggestions, disagreements..please let me know. I am trying to understand what members on this forum think about eGovernance and NationalId initiatives.

[Vick]

Tsunami centre in India to have 12 seafloor sensors

The Tsunami Warning Centre, planned for India, will be almost equal in technology deployment when compared with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre set up by 26 member countries.

[SureshP]

UK scientist's bright idea to fight global warming

Professor Colin Humphreys is a man who works on a very small scale but has some big, bright ideas.

While environmentalists warn about the dangers of global warming and governments hail the start of the Kyoto Protocol to tackle climate change, Humphreys is working on a novel way to help ease the problem with a new form of lighting.

The Cambridge University scientist is making a material that he and others believe could help to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 15 percent – by making low-voltage, longer-lasting and more efficient light bulbs. "We can save about 15 percent on CO2 emissions, not by installing wind power which a lot of people don't like, nor by using our cars less, but simply by developing gallium nitride-based lighting," said Humphreys, the Goldsmiths' Professor of Materials Science at the university's Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy.

Gallium nitride is a compound that emits intense light. Humphreys believes the material that scientists are creating in the laboratory atom by atom could be the most important new electronic material since silicon.

He is convinced that using it in a light-emitting diode (LED), a device that emits visible light when an electric current passes through it, could help to curb global warming.

LEDs are already used in digital clocks, bicycle lights, mobile phones and traffic lights. Unlike normal light bulbs, which burn out quickly after about 1,000 hours, an LED lasts 100 times longer and fails gradually.

Denver gives the green light: Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, developed nations will have to cut emissions of greenhouse gases to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12. Humphreys said that by 1997 most nations were already 5 percent above 1990 levels. "So effectively this is saying that nations commit to reduce their CO2 levels by about 10 percent."

Lighting in Britain and other developed nations accounts for about 20 percent of all the electricity used. In poorer countries the figure rises to 40 percent, according to Humphreys.

The Japanese firm Nichia used gallium nitride to make the first LED to emit blue light in the early 1990s.

Humphreys and other scientists around the globe are using the material to develop tiny LEDs that emit a soft white light, instead of the current harsh one, which could eventually be five times more efficient than normal light bulbs. "At the moment in the laboratory, gallium nitride is three times as efficient as light bulbs but in the next few years it will be five times as efficient, I'm sure," he said.

Singapore, Denver, Colorado and other cities have replaced old traffic lights with LEDs and have seen considerable financial and energy saving, according to Humphreys. "Although the capital cost of LEDs is greater than conventional light bulbs, over 10 years which is the lifetime of these LED traffic lights, Denver calculates it will save $5 million," said Humphreys. But the real savings could come when homes and offices can be converted to LEDs.

Bright future: "At the moment the white LED is a harsh white. Coaches and cars will soon have white LEDs inside but for homes it will not be very acceptable," said Humphreys.

He estimates it could take about 5-10 years before the technology to produce gallium nitride LEDs with a more subtle white will be available. But when this happens it could lead to real savings.

In addition to being more economic and efficient, LEDs in the home are also very safe because of their low voltage and they never become hot like other light bulbs. "It's 4 volts but it gives off a brilliant light. One reason they are so efficient is that they stay cold. Light bulbs waste a lot of energy because they get incredibly hot," said Humphreys.

White LEDs won't solve global warming but they could be part of an overall plan to lower emissions of greenhouse gases.

Instead of lighting taking up 20 percent of the electricity LEDs could cut it to five percent which translates to a 15 percent saving on overall electricity use. "You need a number of power station to provide electricity. If you reduce the electricity demand by 15 percent, you can close 15 percent of power stations and then you save 15 percent of the CO2 they emit," said Humphreys. "Everything benefits." reuters

If power is expensive increase efficiency

[Kati]

Check this co website. Recently they got a contract from the USArmy to develop solar-powered tools for the battlefields.

http://www.konarkatech.com/about/leadership_team/

[anil ambani]

Hydrogen fuel cell forklift. Canada. This tech should come to India fast.

[ramana]

This could have major impact on India's agricultural economy. From Deccan Chronicle , 8 July 2005

More water? Lower rice yields

By L.C. Jain

Mexico gave us the magic wand for wheat revolution some decades ago. Now the small island of Madagascar, off the Mozambique coast, has sent India a heavenly gift: System of Rice Intensification (SRI), a new method of rice cultivation. Count your blessings. Under SRI, paddy needs only half the volume of water consumed by the conventional method of rice cultivation. First, this means doubling the irrigation coverage for paddy with no extra rupee to be spent on augmenting irrigation supply. Second, it raises paddy yields by 50 per cent at the same time. Hard to believe, isn’t it?

But my disbelief vanished in thin air listening to hundreds of farmers from the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala at a convention organised by Jala Spandana on May 26 at Bangalore. The clinching evidence came from a woman farmer, S. Poongodi of Erode: She has adapted SRI over her entire two acres of land since 1999. This year she tried new experiments in the SRI, depending upon her soil features.

She cultivated the traditional variety, called “Ponni”, a fine rice variety. In one portion of her land she followed the regular SRI method of planting younger seedlings, wide spacing, shallow planting, intermittent watering. In another portion, which is seepage-affected area, she raised nursery beds after dry ploughing and transplanted the seedlings in the raised beds after irrigation. In another small patch of land she tried just throwing the seedlings instead of planting.

In all the fields she applied one tonne of Vermi compost as the fertiliser. A herbal decoction to repel leaf rollers, and other insects that cause damage, was sprayed twice in this crop season. In addition, she sprayed a special brew called “Panchakavya”, a brew made out of cow dung, cow’s urine, milk, curd and ghee. This brew is widely used by organic farmers to promote disease resistance, drought resistance, and for increasing the yield. The coconut milk and buttermilk combination is used as a growth promoter.

The average yield per acre obtained by Poongodi under SRI is 2161.57 kg, about 50 per cent higher than the 1,560 kg per acre obtained by non-SRI farmers. Poongodi, of course, got an added bonus for her adventurous spirit. The entire produce was purchased by an admiring consumer at Rs 3,450 per pothi (260 kg). During this time the same variety of rice with non-SRI fetched Rs 1,600 per pothi.

At the end she delivered a startling message of great impact to the country. Poongodi says happily, “When fellow farmers were fighting for water in the command area, I was watchfully avoiding more water into my field as it proved that more water means less yield.” What a magical solution to the core problem of the farming community. Farmers from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu said this means that they don’t have to break each other’s heads for sharing scarce water.

The SRI method has doubled the availability. They cited this as an example of finding solutions by the community itself, and not waiting for the endless inter-state water disputes to be resolved. How one wishes the Prime Minister and chief ministers were listening.

They beamed this message to Karnataka’s law and parliamentary affairs minister, H.K. Patil, who chaired the farmers’ convention. They reiterated, “Please promote the SRI method of paddy cultivation, which requires less water, to save water and prevent inter-state disputes.” Patil was not only one with them, but was one up. He said in his water scarce district Gadag, several farmers were already trying the SRI method — and with equally encouraging results — maximising yields, minimising water use. He was busy advocating its spread.

“Such methods should be popularised as their use will help in ending water disputes between states,” he said. Patil added: “Because the state borrows from external agencies, such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, these agencies tell us what we should do. But this does not mean we do not know anything. We should think of ways of resolving inter-state water disputes, and it can happen through the use of advanced technology in cultivation.”

The good news is that our agricultural scientists and universities have responded to Madagascar SRI technology very seriously. In Tamil Nadu, during experiments in 2003-04 at Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Killkulam, found that on average 53 per cent less irrigation water was used on SRI farms. The experiments showed that SRI recorded higher water productivity of 0.699 kg/m3 compared to conventional farm productivity.

The partial factor productivity of nitrogen was 28.3 per cent more under SRI. SRI farms recorded a grain yield of 3892.7 kg/ha, 28 per cent higher than that from conventional farms. The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has recommended SRI as a technology to increase rice productivity and save irrigation water.

In Andhra, on-farm demonstrations were organised in all 22 rural districts for SRI in Kharif 2003 by Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad. A study done after contacting 291 respondents, including 67 SRI farmers, 71 neighbouring farmers, 77 researchers and 76 extension workers, found that in SRI farms, 95 per cent of seeds were saved as a seed rate of 5 kg/ha was sufficient, about 50 per cent of water was saved and an average yield advantage of 2 tonnes per ha was reported. Some of the difficulties faced by SRI farmers were in use of rotary weeders, transplantation of young seeds and water management. They all reported that the plants looked much healthier on SRI farms.

[Himanshu]

Bio Diesel (Btw.. Mercedes Benz is promoting/collaborating on this in India)

http://www.sol.net.in/bio/biodiesel.html

http://www.jatrophaworld.org/9.html

http://www.bsmotoring.com/2005/aug27_1.htm

[member_7654]

Dear Shri L.C. Jain,

I am Shekhar Sinha and was fortunate to have received my PRGDRM (IRMA) diploma from your hands.

In Kharif 2004 I worked with some 100 poor farmers of Purulia, west Bengal. They all went for SRI and I too am convinced about its strength. I did a systematic survey and found that not only does the output go up but input costs also reduces significantly. The average output was in the range of some 5-6 tons for SRI plots whereas it was only 2-3 tons for Conventional plots. The result of the entire exercise has resulted in a paper which is under consideration for publication in EPW. If it can help you in any manner i am ready to send you the paper.

Regards,

Shekhar

This could have major impact on India's agricultural economy. From Deccan Chronicle , 8 July 2005

More water? Lower rice yields

By L.C. Jain

Mexico gave us the magic wand for wheat revolution some decades ago. Now the small island of Madagascar, off the Mozambique coast, has sent India a heavenly gift: System of Rice Intensification (SRI), a new method of rice cultivation. Count your blessings. Under SRI, paddy needs only half the volume of water consumed by the conventional method of rice cultivation. First, this means doubling the irrigation coverage for paddy with no extra rupee to be spent on augmenting irrigation supply. Second, it raises paddy yields by 50 per cent at the same time. Hard to believe, isn’t it?

But my disbelief vanished in thin air listening to hundreds of farmers from the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala at a convention organised by Jala Spandana on May 26 at Bangalore. The clinching evidence came from a woman farmer, S. Poongodi of Erode: She has adapted SRI over her entire two acres of land since 1999. This year she tried new experiments in the SRI, depending upon her soil features.

She cultivated the traditional variety, called “Ponni”, a fine rice variety. In one portion of her land she followed the regular SRI method of planting younger seedlings, wide spacing, shallow planting, intermittent watering. In another portion, which is seepage-affected area, she raised nursery beds after dry ploughing and transplanted the seedlings in the raised beds after irrigation. In another small patch of land she tried just throwing the seedlings instead of planting.

In all the fields she applied one tonne of Vermi compost as the fertiliser. A herbal decoction to repel leaf rollers, and other insects that cause damage, was sprayed twice in this crop season. In addition, she sprayed a special brew called “Panchakavya”, a brew made out of cow dung, cow’s urine, milk, curd and ghee. This brew is widely used by organic farmers to promote disease resistance, drought resistance, and for increasing the yield. The coconut milk and buttermilk combination is used as a growth promoter.

The average yield per acre obtained by Poongodi under SRI is 2161.57 kg, about 50 per cent higher than the 1,560 kg per acre obtained by non-SRI farmers. Poongodi, of course, got an added bonus for her adventurous spirit. The entire produce was purchased by an admiring consumer at Rs 3,450 per pothi (260 kg). During this time the same variety of rice with non-SRI fetched Rs 1,600 per pothi.

At the end she delivered a startling message of great impact to the country. Poongodi says happily, “When fellow farmers were fighting for water in the command area, I was watchfully avoiding more water into my field as it proved that more water means less yield.” What a magical solution to the core problem of the farming community. Farmers from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu said this means that they don’t have to break each other’s heads for sharing scarce water.

The SRI method has doubled the availability. They cited this as an example of finding solutions by the community itself, and not waiting for the endless inter-state water disputes to be resolved. How one wishes the Prime Minister and chief ministers were listening.

They beamed this message to Karnataka’s law and parliamentary affairs minister, H.K. Patil, who chaired the farmers’ convention. They reiterated, “Please promote the SRI method of paddy cultivation, which requires less water, to save water and prevent inter-state disputes.” Patil was not only one with them, but was one up. He said in his water scarce district Gadag, several farmers were already trying the SRI method — and with equally encouraging results — maximising yields, minimising water use. He was busy advocating its spread.

“Such methods should be popularised as their use will help in ending water disputes between states,” he said. Patil added: “Because the state borrows from external agencies, such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, these agencies tell us what we should do. But this does not mean we do not know anything. We should think of ways of resolving inter-state water disputes, and it can happen through the use of advanced technology in cultivation.”

The good news is that our agricultural scientists and universities have responded to Madagascar SRI technology very seriously. In Tamil Nadu, during experiments in 2003-04 at Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Killkulam, found that on average 53 per cent less irrigation water was used on SRI farms. The experiments showed that SRI recorded higher water productivity of 0.699 kg/m3 compared to conventional farm productivity.

The partial factor productivity of nitrogen was 28.3 per cent more under SRI. SRI farms recorded a grain yield of 3892.7 kg/ha, 28 per cent higher than that from conventional farms. The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has recommended SRI as a technology to increase rice productivity and save irrigation water.

In Andhra, on-farm demonstrations were organised in all 22 rural districts for SRI in Kharif 2003 by Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad. A study done after contacting 291 respondents, including 67 SRI farmers, 71 neighbouring farmers, 77 researchers and 76 extension workers, found that in SRI farms, 95 per cent of seeds were saved as a seed rate of 5 kg/ha was sufficient, about 50 per cent of water was saved and an average yield advantage of 2 tonnes per ha was reported. Some of the difficulties faced by SRI farmers were in use of rotary weeders, transplantation of young seeds and water management. They all reported that the plants looked much healthier on SRI farms.

[Purush]

Design of $100 Laptop for Kids Unveiled
Yahoo link

--excerpt--
The $100 laptop computers that Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers want to get into the hands of the world's children would be durable, flexible and self-reliant.

The machines' AC adapter would double as a carrying strap, and a hand crank would power them when there's no electricity. They'd be foldable into more positions than traditional notebook PCs, and carried like slim lunchboxes.

For outdoor reading, their display would be able to shift from full color to glare-resistant black and white.

And surrounding it all, the laptops would have a rubber casing that closes tightly, because "they have to be absolutely indestructible," said Nicholas Negroponte, the MIT Media Lab leader who offered an update on the project Wednesday.
----------------
Within a year, Negroponte expects his nonprofit One Laptop Per Child to get 5 million to 15 million of the machines in production, when children in Brazil, China, Egypt, Thailand, South Africa are due to begin getting them.

[SaiK]

http://beta.news.com.com/Images+MITs+10 ... =nefd.lede

Its a hand crank!!!

--
btw, its sad, that india is not listed or wanting to have our kids to own one at 4,500 rupees.

[astal]

This is truly amazing. I hope the idea flies.

http://www.moller.com/skycar/

From your garage to your destination, the M400 Skycar can cruise comfortably at 350+ MPH and achieve up to 28 miles per gallon.

With obvious military applications.

Added Later: Only drawback is cost at 21 million $. Rats @!$%!. There go my aspirations . Will have to wait a couple of hundred years for affordable, practical personal air transport.

[geeth]

>>>>If it can help you in any manner i am ready to send you the paper.

Mr. Sekhar Sinha,

If you could assist, I have some queries:-

a) Understand it is very difficult to control the weeds in SRI. Also, the transplanting is cumbersome. Labour costs also turns out to be very high.

Is the extra yield commensurate with the extra expenditure?

Also, is the rotary plough effective enough to suppress the weeds?

I may have more queries..if only you could send me your e-mail

[Manu]

Link

[SaiK]

http://deccanherald.com/deccanherald/oc ... 051018.asp
Indian tech displayed at World Forum
By Keya Acharya,Geneva:

Three Indian initiatives on sustainable urban planning for cities presented their technologies at the recently concluded world platform on sustainable development for cities held here.

The Centre for Science & Environment (CSE), The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) and CleanTech Foundation from New Delhi as well as the Pondicherry-based Auroville were invited by the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation(SDC), in collaboration with UN agencies to offer their expertise to an international audience. Auroville is based on neutral, non-Indian territory by a formal agreement with India, made at the international township's inception in 1966.

The Pondicherry-based Auroville offered solutions to local authorities and organisations on technologies in waste, water, housing, alternative energy and traffic systems. "We are saying to keep innovating on your own systems", Auroville Urban Planner Lalit Kishore Bhatt told Deccan Herald.

CSE offered their expertise in changing public transport systems to alternative fuels to national governments in developing countries. The organisation outlined the methodologies involved in changing New Delhi's buses to CNG(compressed natural gas). The process, which overcame complications, has dramatically changed Delhi's air quality in recent years.

Air particulates from buses reduced from 0.32 grams per kilometre to 0.007 g/km in 2004.

Gas grid

The Indian government is now constructing a National Gas Grid connecting 24 Indian cities to a CNG supply, due for completion in the next five years.

Chirag Shah, Assistant Coordinator of CSE's Air Pollution Prevention Unit said that other Asian and African cities needed to 'push their governments' for change to happen.

TERI, in collaboration with the Geneva-based World Business Council for Sustainable Development(WBCSD), has formed a regional private sector network with 54 Indian firms in petroleum, chemical, foundry, banking and others to reduce pollution in their technologies.

Ashok Leyland, a partner in the programme, has now shifted to an ISO 14001 certification after improving its environmental management systems.

Amongst the most impressive of innovations offered to industries in India and elsewhere, were displayed by Clean Tech who offered solutions for electroplating, food, chemical and manufacturing concerns.

Membrane technology, microwave drying, thermo cooling and ozonation for water conservation, helium power for energy conservation and various simple re-use methods for industrial wastes generated made good economic sense for industries not willing to change to expensive environmental systems.

[SaiK]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/10/19/wi.f ... index.html
we could do this too.. help our agriculture and more... WiFi enabled tractors, with simputer / mobilis based solutions.. just take the extra step where the money is.

[Amarko]

New tech can sense gravity before calamity

Deccan Chronicle
Hyderabad, Oct. 24: The Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Agency has built a laser-based system that can predict the gravity of floods and sea surges about six hours before they occur anywhere in the country. This technology could greatly benefit disaster management efforts. The system, called Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar), forecasts the places or locations which are most likely to get inundated. The system was indigenously built by scientists at NRSA and those from the Council for Industrial Scientific Research.

The system can be used in a variety of situations including planning urban drainage systems and locating telephone and electricity poles, land mapping and examining changes in forest cover. Lidar works like a radar that tracks, for example, an aircraft. The lidar system beams pulses of laser light through the atmosphere and catches light reflected by dust and other particles in the air, called aerosols. The time between sending the laser ray and collecting the reflection helps the scientists determine the distance of the aerosols. The shift in colour of the light determines the velocity of particles.

An airborne version of lidar generates 3-D electronic representations of different terrain. This allows repeated, precise measurements of a terrain where changes caused by geologic, hydrologic, or human processes can be spotted. When combined with ground surveys, the airborne lidar can rapidly collect topographic data and measure it to predict likely changes.

“Information about the areas which would be flooded can be known beforehand because lidar can accurately ascertain the terrain. The system has multiple uses,” said a senior official from NRSA’s aerial service and digital mapping division.

“The Survey of India has plans to use this technology to create digital maps for the country,” said a top official from Aerial Service and Digital Mapping, National Remote Sensing Agency Department of Space, Government of India. Director for BM Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad, B.G Sidharth said, “Lidar data can be used during terrestrial and coastal floods. It aso provides data for management of urban problems like drainage and sewerage and the location of telephone and electricity lines." He said that use of the technology is widespread in Europe and the US. “Scientists and land surveyors use this technology a lot,” Mr Sidharth said.

Mr Anil Kumar, senior scientist with the airborne light terrain mapping laboratory at NRSA, said, “It can be used to analyse the forest terrain and timber volume. It is useful in pipeline and electric powerline surveys.” He said that the NRSA had released a set of graphics on the earthquake that hit Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on October 8.

link

[bala]

Solar power to the aid of dairy farmers

With power cuts hampering dairy farms, a new machine has been introduced in the market which uses solar power to milk animals.

The machine creates no sound or air pollution, says K.Georgekutty, managing director of Lifeway Solar, the company which distributes the machine. The machine comprises a pulsator and vacuum pump apart from the solar panels and battery to store power.

The solar milking machine ensures hygienic milking practice matching international standards, he says. "Earlier, in the absence of power, dairy farms had to depend on diesel machines to provide power to the milker. Air and noise pollution had become a natural fallout then," he said.

The machine needs about 2 sq. m to install near the cowshed so that the solar panels are exposed to sunlight for about six hours. It provides power for milking 25 animals twice a day. There is also provision for a tube light, he said.

[Sanjay M]

Please read some of these articles touting the return of airships in a modernized form:

http://spot.colorado.edu/~dziadeck/airship/india.htm

http://www.iitb.ac.in/~insight/issues/n ... irship.htm

http://www.gizmag.com/go/4538/

http://www.millenniumairship.com/products.htm

http://www.aero.iitb.ac.in/~airships/


The new buzz seems to be around hybrid heavier-than-air vehicles, which are only partially buoyant, and relying on airfoil and vectored thrust dynamics to govern their flight.

The promised specs on paper look very interesting, particularly the very heavy lifting capacity and long loitering capability.

[SaiK]

http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/10/stories ... 820100.htm


way to go!

[vijayk]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10020271/site/newsweek/

Ten Eco-Friendly Companies

Lot of companies into research in clean energy technologies. Hope India is taking this serious too.

[Sanjay M]

Gee, I've neglected this thread for too long. Here's one:

http://www.techreview.com/NanoTech-Mate ... 18,p1.html

Here's a couple more:

http://www.techreview.com/NanoTech-Devi ... 03,p1.html

http://www.dewalt.com/us/articles/artic ... ss&ID=1409

[Sanjay M]

Some New York company has developed a faster, cheaper, and smaller means of performing PCR (polymerase chain reaction) for DNA amplification, which is used for DNA analysis:

http://physorg.com/news8361.html

Since India has a large biotech workforce and fast-growing biotech industry, we should pay attention to stuff like this.

[Sanjay M]

A faster way to identify pathogens for infectious diseases:

http://www.theengineer.co.uk/Articles/2 ... potter.htm

[Sanjay M]

Due to the threat of mosquito-borne encephalitis and West Nile virus, the US Dept of Agriculture is evaluating the effectiveness of active mosquito-trapping devices:

http://www.mosquitomagnet.com/mmtesting.html

The device is powered by a propane tank, which also produces the CO2 that is used to lure the mosquitoes (Mosquitoes are attracted to CO2 exhaled by animals and people)

Here's a rival manufacturer which claims to be better, and their product uses a direct CO2 cartridge rather than propane tank.

http://www.mosquitocentral.com/

Why can't India cheaply manufacture their own devices like this? Instead of having some independent CO2-generating device, you could instead have some generator-set used to provide electrical power for the home/village, and use its CO2 biproduct to lure and trap the mosquitoes in the same way. That way you could put CO2 generation to good use, instead of wasting it.

USDA claims these devices have shown significant impact against local mosquito populations. They are safer than rampant use of chemical spraying, and they can operate 24/7.

The latest initiative is to link them together in a mesh-network:

http://news.com.com/Wi-Fi+mosquito+kill ... 61535.html

Haha, I never thought the first targets of network-centric warfare technology would be mosquitoes!

[Sanjay M]

A minor invention, perhaps. But with our 2-wheeler economy, it might save a number of lives:

http://www.gizmag.com/go/4855/

Especially when you consider how Indian truck-drivers are.

I once remember an episode of the news program 60 Minutes which mentioned how Israeli Air Force pilots were able to rig a set of automotive-style rear-view mirrors for their F16s, as a way to increase the field of view for their pilots, and give them an edge in combat. I wonder if a rearview helmet like this might not give a combat pilot a better rearward view in a suitable bubble canopy?

[Sanjay M]

Wave power is combined with desalination for a more efficient overall process:

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003776.html

Perhaps it could help coastal state like Tamil Nadu get more fresh water for drinking and irrigation, with less dependence on Cauvery.

[Sanjay M]

A new microwave device has been announced which can generate large amounts of hot water on demand:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... Technology

This eliminates the need to have a hot-water boiler tank to give hot water plumbing. The unit uses microwave energy to heat the water more efficiently than a hot water boiler, and can thus save a lot on energy costs.

This approach is also more hygienic as hot water boiler tanks are a source of stagnant water where bacteria can breed. You can then literally use fresh running water to take a hot bath or shower, or to cook with, because the device can superheat cold running water instantaneously.

The unit is also fairly compact in size, allowing savings on space by replacing hot water boilers which are usually fairly large.

A competing device is being offered by Electro-Silica:

http://www.pmengineer.com/CDA/ArticleIn ... 06,00.html

Clever, and easily deployed. Also consider that you would never run out of hot water, as with the case of the hot water boiler tank when it runs out of stored hot water.

[Sanjay M]

The superior street-lamp, also acts as a communication tower and as an electrical power source:

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/e624a7e4-5b59- ... 511c8.html

To debut initially in Kenya, but further rollouts are planned in India, China, etc.

[Sanjay M]

Here's an article about the new holographic data storage drives:

http://www.eet.com/news/latest/showArti ... =174400345

http://www.maxell-usa.com/Content/Pages ... n=datapr41

Holographic disk drives will be by far the most powerful form of data storage yet, surpassing all existing media by a wide margin.

Those systems will come to market by end of 2006 or early 2007, but their sheer storage capacity and data transfer rates will blow everything else on the market away.

[Tilak]

Cheaper Veggie Diesel May Change the Way We Drive
November 15, 2005

Japanese scientists may have found a cheaper and more efficient way to produce "biodiesel." The renewable, vegetable oil-based fuel can be used in conventional diesel engines, which are found in about 2 percent of cars currently sold in the U.S. and in about 40 percent in Europe.

The breakthrough could be just in time—industry experts say that demand for the cleaner, greener fuel is on the rise.

Any vegetable oil can become fuel, but not until its fatty acids are converted to chemical compounds known as esters. Currently the acids used to convert the fatty acids are prohibitively expensive.

Michikazu Hara, of the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Yokohama, Japan, and his colleagues have used common, inexpensive sugars to form a recyclable solid acid that does the job on the cheap. Their research is reported in last week's issue of the journal Nature.

"We estimate the cost of the catalyst to be one-tenth to one-fiftieth that of conventional catalysts," Hara said.

The breakthrough could provide cost savings on a massive scale, he said, because the technique could fairly easily make the transition from the lab to the refinery—if interest warrants.

"We have developed this material for large-scale chemical production," Hara said. "Unfortunately, interest in biodiesel in Japan is not higher than in the U.S. and Europe."
.....

[Sanjay M]

An Israeli system which translates dog barks can interpret when they are raising the alarm:

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001966.html

Hmm, not sure how practical it is, but it's interesting, anyway.

[Sanjay M]

US Military are looking at switching over to waterless 'no-flush urinals', which do not require any water to dispose of the urine. They are apparently being touted for the ability to save tremendously on water consumption:

http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/KSD/FP/FC/ele ... specs.html

http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/artic ... 10210b.xml

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13045288.htm

Water resource disputes are said to be a major looming problem for SouthAsia.

On a related note, an NRI has developed what may be the world's most advanced toilet:

http://wired-vig.wired.com/wired/archiv ... oilet.html

Uh, Jai Hindquarters!

[Sanjay M]

Various advanced technologies related to coal-burning and emissions reduction are highlighted:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4466040.stm

Is clean coal in the offing?

[bala]

Water filtering
`Desi' water filters a hit in villages

Pune-based maker uses CSIR technology to provide virus-free water

Design wins both Indian and U.S. patents
Rural model priced around Rs. 8,000

Bangalore: A small-scale industry unit near Pune is turning out a range of water filters based on indigenously developed technology that has won national and international patents for the elimination of both bacteria and viruses — without needing any power source.

Developed at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Pune-based National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), the filter system which uses multiple ultra fine porous membranes, has been tested at the National Institute of Virology and found to remove the Hepatitis A and E virus, while a test house in Mumbai has found it proof against water-borne bacteria and E-coli.

The models made with lightweight plastic bodies, use five stages of filtration with ultra thin ceramic and carbon filters. The ability to deliver 2-5 litres of pure drinking water per minute, even from brackish or badly polluted sources, has made the Purioin filter a quiet champion in hundreds of villages since its first launch six months ago.

Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram was one of the first to deploy the units in his constituency, while the Science and Technology Ministry has acquired 2000 units to be deployed in any national disaster situation.

[Sanjay M]

Minefield-clearing device from Raytheon uses a barrage of arrows:

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8355

a competitor, Metalstorm:

http://www.metalstorm.com/index.php?src ... egory=Main

[Sanjay M]

The amazing properties of Aerogels:

http://www.gizmag.com/go/4881/

Incredible insulation, incredibly lightweight, incredible strength-to-weight, incredible surface area

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel

A nanotech material.

[bala]

A washer like device can save 10% or more on energy consumption of existing light bulbs and the bulb lasts longer.

Washer-like device makes bulbs last longer

LongLite, makes a little doohickey resembling a faucet washer with a small silver disk inside. Stick it on the base of any incandescent bulb (regular or halogen) and presto, your light bulb lasts three times as long, uses 10 percent less energy and still burns just as brightly.

Using voltage sensing as a starting point, he developed a semiconductor chip that acts like a solid-state switch, turning off power feeding the bulb for microseconds at a time, an interval that can't be detected by the human eye. Any lighting expert knows that cranking the voltage down by 8 percent gives an incandescent bulb a 313 percent longer life and saves about 10 percent in energy costs.

LongLite's little gadget has been tested and retested, most recently by the New Jersey Corporation for Advanced Technology (NJCAT), which evaluates new technologies, and Independent Testing Laboratories, as well as a host of national corporations that all wanted to check out the LongLite claims.

According to NJCAT's draft report (which will be voted on in December), putting the LongLite on 1,000 bulbs will save more than 100,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. Put another way, using LongLites on 1,000 bulbs will have the same effect as taking about 84 cars off the road for a full year. Hilton Hotels stuck them on bulbs high up in chandeliers in a San Francisco hotel and they worked as promised.

[varhadi]

I read this some time ago. Lot of potential in this product.

http://www.goodnewsindia.com/Pages/cont ... karve.html

By the way, Dr. Karve is a Grandson of "Bharat Rathna" Dhondo Keshav Karve.