NATURAL WONDERS OF INDIA

 The Pulicat lake

The second largest saltwater lagoon in India, after the Chilika Lake, is the Pulicat lake, a brackish water lagoon, rich in floral and faunal diversity, that is spread over the Nellore and Thiruvalluvar districts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu respectively. About 60 km in length, the lake is spread out over an area of 720 sq km, of which 84% lies in Andhra Pradesh and the remaining 16% in Tamil Nadu.

Pulicat lake is fed by three rivers– the Swarnamukhi from the north, the Kalangi from the northwest, and the Arani from the south – and some smaller streams. Aligned parallel to the coastline with its western and eastern parts covered with sand ridges, the lagoon is separated from the Bay of Bengal by a spindle-shaped barrier island named Sriharikota (on which the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, a satellite and rocket launch centre of the ISRO, is located).

Water flows into the lagoon from the sea through an inlet at the island’s northern end and back from the lagoon to the sea through an outlet channel at the southern end. Salinity of the water varies from season to season, reaching its highest during the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon months and lowest during the monsoon season.

The lake and its environs are steeped in history. Pulicat, under the name Podouke, is mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman records as an important port on the east coast of India in the 1st and 2nd centuries. In the 13th century, the shores of the lagoon became a refuge for Arab mariners who migrated here after being banished from Mecca. In subsequent centuries, the lagoon was colonised first by the Portuguese and then by the Dutch.

The Dutch East India Company set up a factory in the area in 1610, which was to be their principal trading post for the next 200 years. Later it was ceded to the British, who converted Pulicat into a fishing village and health resort.

Pulicat lake is considered a storehouse of rich biological resources, as it supports active commercial fisheries and a large and varied bird population. It is known to support 168 species of fish, including both seawater and freshwater species. Over 12000 fishermen and their families, residing in the vicinity, make their living on the catch obtained from the lake. 

Known for its diversity of aquatic birds, the lake is an important stopover on migration routes and is considered the third most important wetland for migratory shorebirds along the eastern coast. Resident and migratory waterfowl found here include pelicans, herons, storks, flamingos, ducks, shorebirds, gulls, terns and many species of raptors. The lake is a legally notified bird sanctuary, managed by the Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu Forest Departments.

Today, the Pulicat lake faces several environmental and industrial issues threatening the biodiversity of the wetland and the livelihood of the fisherfolk. A major threat is pollution in the form of garbage (plastic bags and other non-biodegradable materials) dumped by tourists, oil spills from boats in the satellite port of Ennore creek, and industrial wastes, including toxic fly ash, discharged fromt he nearby thermal power station. 

3D PRINTING OF TISSUES AND ORGANS

Bioprinting 

3D printing has become increasingly popular in the engineering space for a variety of uses. We see it being used in Robotics, Architecture and even in Automobile manufacturing. But one unimaginable and incredible development has been its use in the field of medicine for bioprinting. The ability of being able to print organs and tissues can significantly change healthcare as we know it, reducing the burden on organ donation lists and even making it affordable. So how is this incredible feat achieved? To get into that, let us first understand more about 3D printing.

Much like printing with ink on paper, 3D printing (also known as ‘additive manufacturing’) prints out the required 3 Dimensional object layer by layer. It creates a 3D object from a digital file. If one were to slice a finished 3D printed object open, one can see each of the thin layers, a bit like rings in a tree trunk. The key advantage of this process is that it makes it easier and environmentally friendly to construct complex shapes, while even using less materials than in conventional manufacturing techniques. 3D printing makes it easier to create customised and personalised products and what is even better is that it can print with pretty much any material: plastic, obviously, but also metal, powder, concrete, liquid, even chocolate! 

In 1981, Dr. Hideo Kodama developed one of the first rapid prototyping devices that built items layer by layer out of resin that could be polymerised by UV light. This invention gave rise to the first 3D printer.

We now come back to the marvel that is bioprinting. Bioprinting is a branch of 3D printing, which also prints layer by layer in the same way normal 3D printers do, except instead of using plastic or metal, it uses a material called bio ink. Bio ink is a printable material that contains living cells. The bulk of many bioinks are water rich molecules called hydrogels and mixed into those are millions of living cells, as well as various chemicals that encourage cells to communicate and grow. Some bioinks include a single type of cell, while ethers combine several different types to produce more complex structures.

Bioprinted organs could be a revolution in transplantation and regenerative medicine. It opens up for possibilities like simply printing a compatible organ for patients instead of going through a tedious process of finding a matching donor and also hoping the organ indeed does match.

How are tissues  bio-printed:

Step 1: The cells required for creating the required organ are extracted from a donor or the patient themselves.

Step 2: The bio ink gets loaded into a printing chamber and gets pushed through a round nozzle, rarely wider than 400 microns in diameter, attached to a print head.

Step 3: A computerised image guides the placement of the strands, either onto a flat surface or into a liquid bath that will hold the structure in place.

Step 4: After printing, some bio inks will stiffen immediately, while others might need UV light or an additional chemical or physical process to stabilise the structure.

The future possibilities of this technology are immense, where it can go beyond printing for transplants and into creating superhuman features. However, currently the field is held back from it as replicating complex biochemical environments of major organs is a steep challenge. 

One of the most formidable challenges is how to supply oxygen and nutrients to all the cells in a full-size organ. This explains why the greatest successes so far have been with structures that are flat or hollow, and why researchers are busy developing way to incorporate blood vessels into bioprinted tissues. 

While the field has not reached capacity to print complex organs like the heart yet, simpler tissues including blood vessels and tubes responsible for nutrient and waste exchange are already in the works. But once we do overcome these challenges, how far do you think humanity can go? Can we create custom features and organs, like anti-ageing technology?

A VERY SPECIAL BANK ACCOUNT

 Time 

Imagine you had a bank account that deposited $86,400 each morning. The account carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day. What would you do? 

Draw out every dollar each day! 

We all have such a bank. Its name is Time. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever time you have failed to use wisely. It carries over no balance from day to day. It allows no overdraft so you can't borrow against yourself or use more time than you have. 

Each day, the account starts fresh. Each night, it destroys an unused time. If you fail to use the day's deposits, it's your loss and you can't appeal to get it back. There is never any borrowing time. You can't take a loan out on your time or against someone else's. The time you have is the time you have and that is that. 

Time management is yours to decide how you spend the time, just as with money you decide how you spend the money. It is never the case of us not having enough time to do things, but the case of whether we want to do them and where they fall in our priorities.

STONES THAT MOVE

 Racetrack Playa

The Racetrack Playa is a dry lake found within Death Valley National Park, California. It is famous for a very mysterious phenomenon that takes place here. The Racetrack Playa is where stones move alone, with no animal or human intervention. 

Hundreds and hundreds of rocks scattered about this surface have left trails behind them where they have moved across the surface. The stones vary from pebble size to half-tonne boulders in size and shape. Their tracks also vary in length and go every way from zigzags to loops and sometimes they double back on themselves. Some travel only a few feet; others go for hundreds of metres. 

The Racetrack Playa is a seasonally dry lake, meaning that in times of heavy rains, water fills the lake, and under the heat of the hot sun, it dries back. It can also freeze in winter and early spring, leading to the first of many possible theories that the rocks move because of the newly-formed ice sheets after the Playa is flooded. Another explanation is that the high winds drive the stones; on rare occasions when the playa is wet enough to be extremely slippery, conditions are just right. 

Nobody has ever seen a rock move, and the best part is that no scientist has been able to come up with a satisfying reason for this mystery till now, despite all the explanations given!

INDIA’S YOUNGEST IPS OFFICER

Safin Hasan 

22-year-old Safin Hasan, from Gujarat, became India’s youngest IPS Officer and joined Jamnagar police as Assistant Superintendent of Police. 

Hasan, a native of Kanodar village in Palanpur district, Gujarat cracked the coveted 2017 Union Public Services Commission exams by securing an all-India rank of 570.

Having seen a District Collector in his village meeting people and promising to solve their problems, Hasan was inspired to prepare for the UPSC Civil Services exam. 

Hasan belonged to a  low-income family. When his father lost his job in a diamond unit, he took up a job as an electrician to support the family. His mother started rolling out hundreds of rotis for local restaurants every day. "I have seen my mother soaked in sweat even in cool mornings as I studied in the kitchen," says Hasan. 

After clearing AIEEE, he got admission in NIT Surat in B.Tech (EC). He shifted to Delhi for CSE preparation when he finished his graduation and stayed there for 11 months. 

For his studies, Safin also received timely assistance from a local business family, teachers and friends. “People have held my hand and opened doors for me to fulfil my dreams. I would have never become what I have, if not for the kindness of society at large,” says Safin.

His success story is full of challenges and inspiration. On the day of the exam when he was going towards the exam centre, he met with an accident and his knee ligament got completely torn. He had injuries on his left hand and head. The only thing he noticed was his right hand which was safe and hence he decided to go to the exam centre. Even though he was not successful, Hasan attempted without regret for the second time and became the youngest IPS making the country proud. 

Mr. Safin Hasan’s tips for the new aspirants: “Focused preparation with well-planned strategy along with confidence, patience and dedication is the key. I got guidance from many successful candidates which was very helpful to me. Proper combination of Smart study methods, Repeated self tests and Perseverance help to clear the UPSC exam.”

A GEORGIAN FOLK TALE

The witty reply 

Once there was a king in Georgia, who was so angry with one of his noblemen that he asked his servants to chain him and throw him into the dungeon. Just as the man was being taken away, the king said, “I will set you free on one condition!”

The nobleman looked at the king hopefully.

“You should bring me a horse which is not grey or black, or brown or bay,” said the king. “It should not be white or cream, or chestnut or chocolate-coloured….” The king went on naming the colours that he didn’t want the horse to have and the nobleman realised that the king had no plans to set him free. He quickly thought of a reply that could possibly get him back his freedom.

“I’ll get you such a horse, Your Majesty,” he said to the king, “but you must set me free first so that I can find you one.”

The king asked his servants to release the man, knowing fully well that the task was well nigh impossible.

As soon as he was set free, the nobleman said to the king, “I’ll find your horse but please send the groom to collect the horse on any day that suits Your Majesty as long as it’s not a Monday or a Tuesday, a Wednesday or a Thursday and definitely not a Friday, Saturday or a Sunday!”

The man’s clever reply pleased the king who forgot all his anger and reinstated him in the royal court.

DO YOU KNOW

What is a satphone and how does it work?

A satellite phone or satphone is a type of mobile phone that communicates with the help of satellites instead of cell towers. The device may connect to geostationary satellites which are in a fixed position about 35,786 km above the equator or to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites which are stationed at a lower height ranging from 160–2000 km in space.

When a satphone user makes a call, the signal is sent to the satellite, which sends it back to its destination on Earth via a gateway. The gateway then routes the call using regular landline and cellular networks. If the call is made to another satphone, then the satellite directly sends the signal to the receiver without using the land networks.

Satphones may be fixed—they are installed on ships and buildings. Handheld satphones may be as small as regular cell phones. However unlike a cell phone, a satphone is not affected by storms, floods and bad weather and does not have to be in the vicinity of a cell tower. All it needs is a clear and direct line of sight to the satellite i.e. nothing solid like trees, buildings, hills, etc. should block the antenna’s view to the sky. Hence a satphone is best used outdoors and in remote areas where there is no cell phone network.

Satellite network companies like Iridium provide extensive coverage on Earth, including the Poles and oceans. Satphones enable extreme adventurers, survivalists, sailors and travellers on cruise ships to keep in touch with civilisation. However, it is illegal to use satellite phones in some countries like India.