MEET THE SCIENTIST

 Albert Einstein

I am Albert Einstein, a scientist. I was born on March 14, 1879 in Germany. I spent most of my childhood in Munich, Germany. My father had an electronics company and I learned a lot about science and electronics from him. I loved maths and science and wanted to pursue those subjects in school. But I did not finish school in Germany, but went to Switzerland for my studies. I had a sister named Maja.

Did you know that I had speech problems when I was a child? And my parents were worried that I was not very smart. I also failed my entrance exam for college. After schooling and college I wanted to become a professor but did not get that job for a long time. So, I worked in the patent office for my monthly income.

Later, I immigrated to the United States in 1933. This was because I had to flee Europe as the Nazis did not like me since I was Jewish. If I had stayed in Germany I would not have been able to get any suitable job. At one point the Nazis had even put a bounty on my head. After I went to USA I got citizenship there and was safe from Nazis.

Do you know what scientific achievements I have done when I was alive? No? Then let me tell you. I am most famous for my Theory of Relativity. This theory changed much in the way scientists looked at the world of physics. The Theory of Relativity explains how time and distance changes due to the relative or different speed of the object and the observer. It is also the foundation for many modern inventions like the nuclear bomb and nuclear energy. One equation from the theory is a formula called E=mc². This formula explains how energy (E) is related to mass (m). In this formula, "c" is the speed of light and is a constant. It is assumed to be the fastest speed possible in the universe.

I have other exciting discoveries also. In 1905, I came up with the concept that light is made up of particles called photons. My scientist friends did not agree but later experiments showed this was true. This discovery led to many branches of science and I was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. In 1940, Word War II was going on. So, I auctioned off my hand written version of my Theory of Relativity for 6 million dollars to help with the war effort. Finally, I died on 18 April 1955 in Princeton, New Jersey. 

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑨𝑵𝑺𝑲𝑹𝑰𝑻 𝑬𝑭𝑭𝑬𝑪𝑻

                          

India’s ancient heritage of chanting mantras has been appreciated time and again by various scholars across the globe. It has been found that memorising Vedic mantras can increase the size of our brain and enhance our problem solving and cognitive skills!

The influence of the West and pressure of learning foreign languages, for suitable career options, have made Sanskrit quite old fashioned despite its immense potential.

James Hatrzell, a neuroscientist, conducted research on 21 Pandits who regularly chanted Sanskrit mantras. Similar study was conducted by AIIMS on Gayatri Mantra. The conclusions were startling! The MRI test results confirmed a 10% increase in grey matter across both cerebral hemispheres.

In a world of shrinking attention spans, where we are flooded with information daily, and children display a range of attention deficit disorders, ancient Indian wisdom has much to offer. Even introducing small amounts of chanting and recitation could have an amazing effect on our brains.

The Gayatri Mantra is a part of regular prayer in many schools. If children are made to chant it for 5-10 minutes a day, their problem solving and stress-bearing capacity can be increased considerably. And, in this way, we can preserve our ancient heritage too!

ENTREPRENEUR AND BUSINESSMAN

 Is ‘entrepreneur’ another word for ‘businessman’?

No, although both are self-employed and carry out business activity, there is a fine line separating the two.

A businessman treads a well-defined path by setting up a business with an existing idea offering products to the customers.

A businessman may start a new business or he/she may inherit one and take it forward. Typically, he will opt for a business where he thinks he can make good profit. However, as there will be existing players, he often faces tough competition. For example, Mukesh Ambani is a businessman.

An entrepreneur on the other hand is a person who charts out his/her own path by starting an enterprise with a fresh idea or concept, to solve a problem or meet a latent need.

An entrepreneur is usually a creative, innovative person who is willing to take significant risks. He conceives a unique idea and translates it into reality knowing well that it may or may not succeed. His company is known as a ‘start-up’. If his idea works, an entrepreneur may eventually become a businessman and others may follow him. But he will always remain a pioneer or market leader.

For example, entrepreneur Garret Camp came up with a unique concept of an on-demand car service that is available via a mobile phone application. He co-founded a company called Uber, which became popular in a short time, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Sergey Brin and Larry Page (Google) and Bill Gates (Microsoft) are all examples of successful entrepreneurs.

STORY

The Erect Green Doctor

                                           

Krishn was a farmer. One year, due to good weather and ample rain, Krishn harvested a large quantity of crops and vegetables. He was also able to sell a large quantity in the market. Sakshi, his wife, was very happy.

“Keep the extra money in a big pot,” advised Sakshi. “Bury it under the Ashoka tree on our farm. This savings will be of help to us on a needy day.”

Krishn did as told. Time passed. There came a day when Krishn urgently needed money. He ran to the Ashoka tree and dug the mud beneath it. He found the pot, but there was no money in it!

“It’s empty!” shouted Krishn.

 “We have been robbed!” wailed Sakshi. “Let’s go to the king. He will find the thief for us and severely punish the paise-chor!”

So they went to the palace and met the king. The king summoned his wisest minister.

“Maharaj!” said Veerabhadra, as he bowed to his king.

“Veerabhadra!” said the king. “Find the chor and bring him to me!”

“Krishnji, who are your closest friends?” asked Veerabhadra.

“Mohan, Vishal and Raju,” replied Krishn.

Mohan, Vishal and Raju were summoned to the court.

“Maharaj!” said Mohan, Vishal and Raju as they bowed to the king.

“Did you steal Krishn’s pot of money from underneath the Ashoka tree?” asked Veerabhadra.

“No!” said Mohan. “I was in Jammu for the last three months!”

“No!” denied Vishal. “I was busy working full-time at the hospital. I had no time to go to Krishn’s farm.”

“No!” shouted Raju. “I had a skin problem, so I did not go to meet Krishn. I was scared it would be infectious.”

“Are you taking any medical treatment for it?” asked Veerabhadra.

“Yes!” replied Raju. “I am now much better. Nature has some wonderful medicines!”

Veerabhadra bowed to the king.“Maharaj!” said Veerabhadra. “I know who stole Krishn’s pot of money!”

“It is not me!” shouted Mohan,Vishal and Raju, simultaneously.

“He is the thief!” said Veerabhadra, pointing a finger at Raju.

“I am not the thief!” shouted Raju. “I was suffering from an itchy skin problem. I never met anybody!”

“Did you go to a doctor?”

“No! I used the ……I used…...” Raju did not complete the sentence.

“Maharaj!” said Veerabhadra. “Raju was using leaves and crushed flowers of Krishn’sAshoka tree to cure his itchy skin problem. Everyone knows that these cure dermatitis, psoriasis, eczema, and scabies. They remove the toxins from the body and purify the blood. Raju saw Krishn bury the pot. He heard him tell Sakshi that their money was in a safe place!”

Raju fell down on his knees. “Forgive me Maharaj!” sobbed Raju. “I will never steal money again!”

“Give your friend all the money you stole from him,” said the king, in a stern voice. “I do not want to see your face in my court again.”

Krishn and Sakshi were very happy. They had found their pot of gold. Veerabhadra too was very happy. The king had rewarded him with ten gold coins!

KINDNESS WINS HEARTS

                               

Once, an emperor heard of a rebellion in a remote part of his kingdom. He gathered his soldiers and went to the area to destroy his enemies. The people of the region, frightened by the might of his army, put up a red flag of surrender. Then the emperor gave them all gifts and turned his horse around to go home.

 His soldiers were perplexed and asked, “Your highness, what’s happening, we have come to destroy these enemies?”

The emperor replied, “We have. By our kindness we have destroyed their destructive intentions and turned our enemies into friends”.

“Kindness is a language that the deaf can hear and the dumb can understand”, explained the philosopher Seneca. The world is today badly in need of kindness. We hear and read about lots of unpleasant happenings from newspapers, television and other sources. Many of these occur because of the lack of love, kindness and concern for others.

In life we can often opt to win or destroy the hearts of others; make their hearts throb out of joy or break out of grief. It is entirely up to us to make others as well as ourselves happy.

Let us not avoid any occasion to express or show kindness and love. Always remember that kindness makes us feel good; it softens our hearts and brightens our world as well as the world of others. Last but not least, let us not forget the great saying that kindness makes you the most beautiful person in the world, no matter what you look like.    

THE KING OF FOOTBALL

 Pelé

The legendary sports genius and greatest footballer of all times, the iconic Brazilian footballer Edson Arantesdo Nascimento, globally known as PELE, passed on into immortality on December 29, 2022, aged 82, after a prolonged battle with cancer. For millions around the world, football became what Pele made it mean.

Pele, the ‘Black Pearl’, ‘Man with the Golden Feet’ and undisputed ‘King of Football’ was born on October 23, 1940 in Tres Coracoes, Brazil, as the elder of two children of Dondinhodo Nascimento, a footballer, and his wife, Celeste Arantes. He was named Edson, after the inventor Thomas Alva Edison. Edson’s childhood was spent in poverty in a low-income neighbourhood in Sao Paolo, where the only source of entertainment available to a young boy was football. He took to the game like a fish to water, playing barefoot on the streets for hours with his friends, using a makeshift ball fashioned from a newspaper stuffed into a sock. He also contributed to the family income by polishing shoes and waiting tables at the local teashop; however, every spare minute was spent on the street football matches. The magic of the game made him forget the pains of poverty and deprivation. At some point, he acquired the name ‘Pele’, by which name he became internationally renowned. However, he does not remember how exactly the name came about. A legend goes that it was his mispronounced version of Bile, a fellow player’s name, which his friends picked up on and started using to tease him. Ultimately, the name stuck! In his teens, Pele started playing for a local league club. Here, he was spotted by Valdemar deBrito, a national-level footballer, who was impressed by his skills and introduced him to the directors of Santos; a famous Brazilian league football club. Santos signed him on, and his brilliant performance in their matches soon marked him out as a future star.

Pele was only 16 when he was called to join the Brazilian national team. Playing his first international match against Argentina, he scored the first of his many goals, becoming Brazil’s youngest-ever goal scorer at the age of 16 years and 9 months.

In 1958, Pele went to Sweden to play in the World Cup, the youngest player of that tournament and at that time the youngest ever to play in the World Cup. He achieved a hat-trick against France in the semi-finals and scored two electrifying goals in the final against Sweden, which Brazil won 5:2. By the time the World Cup ended, Pele had become a household name across the world. His popularity was so great that the Brazilian government declared him a national treasure to ensure that he would continue to play for Brazil, and not be lured away by any of the big European clubs. Back in Brazil, Pele’s winning streak continued with Santos. In 1958, he set a record as top scorer of Sao Paulo’s Campeonato Paulista football championship with 58 goals – a record that remains unbroken. His overall contribution to Santos was an astounding 643 goals in 659 games!

By the time of the 1962 World Cup, Pele was the best rated player in the world. However, an injury in an early match forced him out the rest of the tournament. In the 1966 World Cup, Pele was singled out for rough treatment by Bulgarian and Hungarian players. He became the target of vicious fouls that prevented him from scoring. In spite of this crushing disappointment, he made a spectacular comeback in the1970 World Cup, scoring several memorable goals and helping his team beat Italy in the final and lifts the cup.

A small incident serves as a measure of Pele’s popularity worldwide. In 1967, the arrival of his team in Nigeria in the midst of a civil war raging in that nation caused the declaration of a 48 hour cease-fire - just so that everyone could watch the legend in action!

Pelé was a whizz in striking the ball with either foot, as well as anticipating the movements of his opponents’ on the field. Although chiefly a striker, he could also drop deep and take on a playmaking role, providing needed support with his vision and passing ability. He would also use his great dribbling skills to go past opponents. He helped the Brazilian team win three FIFA World Cup titles (1958, 1962 and 1970) and remains the only player in history to achieve this feat. Famous for his two-footed play, rapid pace, and high stamina, Pele was Brazil’s star No. 10 forward.

Pele, who bamboozled defenders not just with skill, but also with speed and intelligence, retired from international football in 1974. He is also credited with significantly increasing public interest in football the world over. This was by sheerly being brilliant, captivating crowds, and doing wonders with his feet that mesmerised watchers.

Awards and honours won by Pele include the International Peace Award and nomination as Athlete of the Century. After his retirement, he campaigned extensively for social causes in addition to serving as a sports ambassador. Pele was also fortunate to watch the greatest of all 2022 FIFA World Cup Football tournament and applauded the winning team on Instagram, saying“Congratulations Argentina! Certainly Diego is smiling now”. He added, “Today, football continues to tell its story, as always, in an enthralling way; Messi winning his first World Cup, as his trajectory deserved. What a gift it was to watch this spectacle to the future of our sport.”

After retiring, Pelé composed music, wrote several books about his life, and appeared in a number of films. He also worked for children’s causes. During his career Pelé played in 1,363 games and scored 1,281 goals. By overcoming the obstacles of poverty to rise to the heights of sporting eminence, Pele, and his great football legacy, remains a source of inspiration for the poorest and most disadvantaged people all over the world. Moreover, as long as there is football, every player and football lover will pay homage to the genius who immortalized this game and has now ‘kicked off’ into eternity.

FUTURE FUEL

 Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the simplest and most abundant element in the universe. Stars such as the sun primarily consist of hydrogen-the sun is essentially a giant ball of hydrogen and helium gas. Today, hydrogen is emerging as an important source of energy, and a replacement for fossil fuels, to meet the world's ever-growing demand for energy.

History

Hydrogen energy was discovered in 1671 by Robert Boyle. In 1776, a British scientist named Henry Cavendish noticed that hydrogen is very flammable. Specifically, it quickly and violently undergoes a combustion reaction with oxygen.

2H₂ + O₂ → 2H₂O + heat

Hydrogen and oxygen molecules combine to form water. This reaction is exothermic, which means it generates heat energy.

Cavendish also noticed that hydrogen is quite a light gas and could lift things. Eventually, people started filling massive balloons with hydrogen and flew in them. These were called blimps and were relatively short-lived as hydrogen was highly flammable and could cause much damage.

The Process

Hydrogen is usually produced by separating it from other compounds such as methane (CH4). One way of doing this is steam reform. Commercial hydrogen producers and petroleum refineries use steam-methane reforming to separate hydrogen atoms from carbon atoms in methane (CH4). The steam reforming process results in some carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions.

The other way of producing hydrogen is electrolysis. Electrolysis is a process that splits hydrogen from water using an electric current. Electrolysis is commonly used to demonstrate chemical reactions and hydrogen production in science classrooms. On a large commercial scale, the process may be called power-to-gas, where power is electricity and gas is hydrogen.

Electrolysis itself does not produce any byproducts or emissions other than hydrogen and oxygen. The electricity for electrolysis can come from clean, renewable energy sources such as hydro, solar or wind energy. If, however, the electricity for electrolysis is produced from burning fossil fuels (coal, natural gas and petroleum) or biomass, then the related environmental effects and emissions are more significant.

Applications

Hydrogen was used in rocket fuel in the 1950s. The ability of hydrogen fuel cells to generate electricity is a recent discovery. Energy is produced by combining hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Many different hydrogen fuel cells are available for a wide range of applications. Small fuel cells can power laptop computers and cell phones. Large fuel cells can provide electricity for emergency power in buildings and remote areas that are not connected to electric power grids.

There is also a growing interest in the use of hydrogen to power cars. Since it produces no carbon, it is clean and harmless, even for the ozone layer. Most hydrogen-fuelled vehicles are automobiles and transit buses that have an electric motor powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. The high cost of fuel cells and the limited availability of hydrogen fuelling stations have, however, limited the number of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles.

Advantages

Hydrogen is a renewable gas due to its abundance, which means it will never run out. Hydrogen, especially in fuel, is seen as a clean gas, which means it does not produce any harmful gases that may be detrimental to the environment. It is also more efficient than fossil fuels, making it powerful. Hydrogen does not make any noise when used as a fuel, so it causes no noise pollution. It is also highly versatile.

As technology advances, hydrogen fuel cells will provide energy for a range of stationary and mobile applications. Hydrogen-powered vehicles are just one example, but hydrogen could also be used in smaller applications such as domestic products and larger-scale heating systems.

Disadvantages

Despite being the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen does not exist on its own, so it needs to be extracted from water via electrolysis or separated from fossil fuels. Both of these processes require a significant amount of energy to achieve. They also need a large investment. Precious metals such as platinum are required to speed up the process. The cost of storing hydrogen is also exceptionally high. Moreover, hydrogen is flammable. Therefore, it may have dangerous impacts.