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What is El Nino climate pattern?

This affects ocean temperatures, speed and strength of ocean currents, the health of coastal fisheries, and also the local weather in several countries

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has predicted a high probability of El Nino developing later this year. This will fuel higher global temperatures. Let us know more about this phenomenon.

El Nino

El Nino, Spanish word for ‘little boy’, is a natural climate pattern associated with the warming of the central Pacific Ocean waters near South America. It is the warm phase of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a recurring phenomenon involving changes in the Pacific Ocean temperature.

El Nino affects the ocean temperatures, speed and strength of ocean currents, the health of coastal fisheries, and also the local weather in several countries. For instance, El Nino can cause rain in South America while threatening drought in Indonesia and Australia.

It occurs irregularly at two- to seven-year intervals and episodes usually last nine to 12 months. An El Nino year creates a mini global-warming crisis because the warm water spreading across the tropical Pacific releases a large amount of heat into the atmosphere. It results in hot and dry weather in Southeast Asia.

El Nino events are indicated when the temperature of the sea surface increases by more than 0.5° C for at least five successive overlapping three-month seasons.

El Nino events of 1982-83 and 1997-98 were the most adverse of the 20th Century. During 1982-1983, the sea surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific were 7.8-12.8° C above normal. These strong temperature increases caused harsh drought in Australia, typhoons in Tahiti, and record rainfall and flood in central Chile.

The 1997-1998 El Nino event was the first time that was scientifically monitored from beginning to end. It caused drought conditions in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Peru faced very heavy rains and severe flooding. While California faced winter rainfall, the Midwest received record-breaking warm temperatures. Strong El Nino events can cause weaker monsoons in India and Southeast Asia and increased rainfall during the rainy season in sub-Saharan Africa.

ENSO and La Nina

ENSO involves changes in the temperature of the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. This affects the rainfall distribution in the tropics and weather across the world. El Nino and La Nina are the extreme phases of the ENSO cycle. Besides, there is another phase neither El Nino or La Nina. It is known as the ENSO-neutral.

La Nina, Spanish word for ‘little girl’, is the cool phase of ENSO. During La Nina events, trade winds (blowing east to west just north and south of the Equator) are stronger than usual and push more warm water toward Asia. Meanwhile, near the west coast of the Americas, upwelling increases, bringing cold and nutrient-rich water to the surface. During such a year, the winter temperatures are warmer than normal in the South and cooler than normal in the North. La Nina ended this year after a three-year run and the tropical Pacific is at present in an ENSO-neutral state.

Prediction

The WMO has predicted a 60% chance for a transition from ENSO-neutral to El Nino during May-July 2023, an increase to about 70% in June-August and 80% in July-September.

This April, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that an El Nino will likely develop during this southwest monsoon. However, the IMD has stated that India will likely receive a normal amount of monsoon rain this year despite the probability of the weather phenomenon.

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What is the status of new parliament in India?

The new Parliament building inaugurated in New Delhi recently is high on symbolism and reflects the aspirations of "new India"

If you have been following the news, you must be aware of the recent inauguration of the new Parliament building in New Delhi. Now let's look at some fascinating features of the new structure.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the new Parliament building in New Delhi to the citizens on May 28, 2023. After installing the historic "Sengol" (a sceptre signifying the transfer of power from the British in 1947) in the Lok Sabha chamber, he delivered a speech in which the PM said the new Parliament reflected the aspirations and resolve of the "new India" to work towards achieving greater heights and that it would be a testament to the dawn of Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). He lauded the use of material from different parts of the country in the building to symbolise "Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat".

In the shape of a triangle

The new Parliament building is part of the Central Vista redevelopment project. A beautiful blend of traditional motifs and modern technology, the new building reflects India's diversity in its architecture. Constructed by Tata Projects Ltd, it was completed in about two-and-a-half years at an estimated cost of nearly Rs 1,200 crore. The triangular-shaped four-storeyed building has a built-up area of 64,500 sq. m. The building has three main gates – Gyan Dwar, Shakti Dwar, and Karma Dwar. It also has a Constitution Hall on the ground floor to showcase India's democratic heritage, a lounge for MPs, a library, multiple committee rooms, dining areas, and ample parking space.

State-of-the-art facilities

The new building has been designed keeping in view the future increase in the number of members. The Lok Sabha Chamber has 888 seats and the Rajya Sabha chamber has 384 seats. The LS can accommodate 1,272 members during a joint session of the Houses. The new Parliament building is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and high-tech gadgets to enable members to perform their functions in a better way. The Houses will be paperless with Wi-Fi enabled tablets provided to members. The new building also has six new committee rooms and 92 rooms for use as offices of Ministers.

The public entrances lead to three galleries – the Sangeet Gallery which exhibits dance, song, and musical traditions of India, the Sthapthya Gallery depicts the architectural heritage of the country, and the Shilp Gallery showcases distinct handicraft traditions of different States.

High on symbolism

The new parliament building is home to nearly 5,000 artwork, including paintings, wall panels, stone sculptures, and metal murals. While the interior in the Lok Sabha has motifs and colours of the national bird peacock (on carpets, ceiling and lattice work of windows), a lotus theme runs through the Rajya Sabha chamber. The "Sengol" in the Lok Sabha symbolises India's freedom, sovereignty, and fair governance. A Foucault's Pendulum hanging from the roof of the Constitution Hall is meant to symbolise "the integration of the idea of India with that of the universe". The national emblem made of bronze sits atop the building.

With carpets from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, bamboo flooring from Tripura and stone carvings from Rajasthan, the new Parliament reflects India's diverse culture. The teakwood used in the building was sourced from Nagpur in Maharashtra, while the red and white sandstone was procured from Sirmathura in Rajasthan. The Kesharia green stone was from Udaipur, and the red granite from Lakha near Ajmer. The steel structure for the false ceilings in the LS and RS chambers was sourced from the Union Territory of Daman and Diu, while the furniture in the new building was crafted in Mumbai.

Besides, the building used manufactured sand or M-sand from Charkhi Dadri in Haryana for preparing concrete mix for the construction. M-sand is considered environment friendly as it is manufactured by crushing large hard stones or granite and not by dredging of river beds.

It is said that the construction of the new Parliament building gave employment to 60,000 workers and a digital gallery dedicated to them forms part of the complex.

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Scientists have achieved the world’s first X-ray signal (or signature) of just one atom

From medical examinations and airport screenings to space missions, X-rays have been used everywhere since its discovery by German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895. A group of scientists from Ohio University, Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Illinois-Chicago, and others, have now taken the world's first X-ray signal (or signature) of a single atom. The groundbreaking achievement could revolutionise the way in which scientists detect the materials.

One atom at a time

Before this, the smallest amount one can X-ray a sample is an attogram, which is about 10,000 atoms or more. The paper brought out by the scientists was published in the scientific journal Nature on May 31, 2023 and also made it to the cover of the print edition on June 1. The paper details how physicists and chemists used a purpose-built synchrotron X-ray instrument at the XTIP beamline of Advanced Photon Source and the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory.

Specialised detector

The team involved picked an iron atom and terbium atom for their demonstration. Both atoms were inserted in respective molecular hosts. Conventional detectors were supplemented with a specialised detector by the research team.

This specialised detector was made of a sharp metal tip. It is positioned at extreme proximity to the sample, enabling it to collect X-ray excited electrons. This technique is known as synchrotron X-ray scanning tunnelling microscopy or SX-STM.

Apart from achieving the X-ray signature of an atom, the team also succeeded in another key goal. This was to employ their technique to find out the environmental effect of a single rare-earth atom.

The scientists were able to detect the chemical states of the individual atoms inside respective molecular hosts and compare them. While the terbium atom, a rare-earth metal, remained rather isolated and didn't change its chemical state, the iron atom interacted with its surrounding strongly.

Many rare-earth materials are used in everyday devices like cell phones, televisions, and computers. This discovery allows scientists to not only identify the type of element, but also its chemical state. Knowing this enables them to work on these materials inside different hosts, paving the way for further advancement of technology.

This team aims to continue to use X-ray to detect properties of a single atom. They are also seeking ways to revolutionise their applications so that they can be put to use in critical materials research.

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What was the Mercury space capsule project?

On June 11, 1963, the Mercury space capsule was patented and assigned to NASA. The patent was received less than a month after the last flight of Project Mercury had been carried out.

Receiving a patent generally signals a major milestone. As an exclusive right granted for an invention, be it a product or a process, it usually denotes a new way of doing something, thereby becoming important. In the case of the Mercury space capsule, however, the patent came closer to the end.

Project Mercury was conceived as a NASA programme to put the first American astronauts in space. Named after a Roman god who was very fast, the project notched up many successes. At the centre of this success was the Mercury space capsule.

“Space capsule”

The principal designer of the Mercury spacecraft was Maxime Faget, a mechanical engineer who also contributed to the designs of the Gemini and Apollo spacecraft. Faget, along with Andre Meyer, Robert Chilton, Willard Blanchard Jr., Alan Kehlet, Jerome Hammack and Caldwell Johnson filed for a patent titled “Space capsule” on October 16, 1959.

In this patent application, they described their invention relating to space vehicles as a “manned capsule configuration capable of being launched into orbital flight and returned to the Earth’s surface.”

Additionally, it was capable of providing “protection for its occupant from the deleterious effects of large pressure differentials, high temperatures, micrometeorite collisions, high level acoustical noise, and severe inertial and impact loads.”

Not cosy

It did all that, but the capsule was a rather small one, with room for just one astronaut. What’s more, this astronaut had to stay seated throughout the flight. While there was very little room for even the single seated astronaut to make any movements, it was argued that not much was required as the pilot would only need to move his arms and head, and was to never leave the spacecraft during flight.

Following uncrewed flights and those with primates as part of Project Mercury, the first crewed flight took place on May 5, 1961. Alan Shepard made the first crewed Mercury flight in a capsule that he named Freedom 7. The 15-minute flight that went into space and came back down made him the first American in space.

Between 1961 and 1963, there were six successful flights as part of Project Mercury that showed that Americans could fly in space. While two of these flights were suborbital flights (reached space and came right back down), the other four made it into orbit and circled our Earth.

Every time the Mercury spacecraft re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, the blunt end came in first to not only slow down the spacecraft, but also shed the heat caused by friction with the air during the descent. With layers of heat resistant ablative resins coating the curved heat shield, it charred away to minimise structural heating, preventing damage to the spacecraft, and of course, protecting the crewman.

The last of the six successful crewed Mercury Project spaceflight took place on May 15, 1963. Each of these flights lasted from 15 minutes to 34 hours, with most lasting less than nine hours.

Just a formality

This meant that by the time the patent for the Mercury capsule was awarded on June 11, 1963, it had already been put to use multiple times successfully, with each of the successes celebrated by an entire country. The patent, which was assigned to NASA, was merely a formality.

In fact, NASA retired the Mercury capsule in the same week in which the patent was awarded. The first manned space vehicle of the U.S. was retired with honours of course, having been central to a project that came at the height of the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

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What are the meaning, origin and usage of word ‘Florescence’?

Pronounced as: fluh-res-uhns

Meaning: A noun. "florescence" means a state or period of flourishing

Origin: Its origin is from the Latin word "florescentia" meaning "blossoming." Its first known use was in 1793.

Usage: The 1960s was a period of florescence of art, music, and culture and it ushered in a significant change in the social spectrum.

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What are the meaning, origin and usage of word ‘Splinter’?

(pronounced splint uh)

Meaning: A noun, splinter refers to a small, sharp piece of wood, glass, or similar material that has broken off a larger piece, a fragment or a sliver. It can also be used as an adjective and a verb.

Origin: The term which has been in use in English since the early 14th Century, was borrowed from Middle Dutch splinter, splenter meaning "a sharp fragment of a material". Its adjective form was first recorded in 1935. Figuratively, the word can be used to describe something that separates in a violent way.

Usage: My little sister came crying with a splinter in her finger.

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What are the meaning, origin and usage of word ‘Miff’?

(Pronounced mif)

Meaning: This noun refers to a slight annoyance or offence, often resulting from a minor disagreement or misunderstanding. It describes a feeling of being slightly put out or irritated.

Origin: The word miff originated in the early 18th Century and is believed to have derived from the Old English word "mifle," meaning to stammer or speak in a faltering manner. Over time, it evolved to connote a state of being displeased or offended.

Example: Jane was in a bit of a miff after her colleague criticised her presentation during the meeting.

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What professionals in the field of science risk their lives for a living?

There are many professionals in the field of science who risk their lives for a living. Let’s look at a few such professions today

Many seemingly enviable science jobs are fraught with danger. Members of the bomb disposal squad do heroic service by defusing bombs during terrorist attacks. They are well-trained professionals who have expertise in the field, but if they make a slight mistake, the consequences would be disastrous! Interestingly, bomb disposal or mine clearance experts in the British army are known as ‘Felix because they are like cats with nine lives!

Scientists researching for vaccines against deadly diseases such as Ebola, Marburg or Anthrax willingly put their lives in great danger. Russian scientist Antonina Presnyakova, working on the Ebola vaccine, died after accidentally sticking herself with a needle laced with the virus.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, as many as over 1,000 doctors died in the line of duty in India alone.

In troubled waters

The job of a diver is indeed extraordinary. Deep sea divers face the possibility of fatal injuries when they are under water, because pressure is very high at depths below 90 metres. They also face the risk of drowning if they run out of oxygen supply before making it back to the water surface.

Diver Rob Robbins dives into the frozen depths of the Antarctic for a living! He assists scientists doing underwater research in the Antarctic. Typically, the scientists have to dive under a 4-6 metres thick ice sheet to study the underwater world. Over the years, Rob and his colleagues have rescued at least a dozen scientists. But there have been casualties too. Although Rob acknowledges that losing sight of the ice hole-the exit point can be terrifying, he enjoys his job thoroughly. He loves the stark contrast: above the ice there is nothing alive, only ice. But when you drop through the hole you are treated to a vibrant, colourful world of sea creatures like a deep red starfish or a soft pink coral.

Playing with fire

For a volcanologist, watching an erupting volcano is an exhilarating experience that far outweighs the risks. Many have had a close brush with death while studying volcanoes. Sonia Calvari can never forget September 13, 1989, when she narrowly escaped death in the volcanic eruptions on Mount Etna in Italy.

But French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Kraft were not so lucky. They died along with 41 others when a fast-moving, massive flow of extremely hot gas and rock erupted from the volcano on Mount Unzen in Japan. Katia and Maurice were often the first to arrive at an active volcano for filming and documenting it.

Diving inside n-reactors

American Charlie Vallance’s job involves diving inside nuclear reactors! Nuclear reactors need huge amounts of water in suppression pools to keep the reactor core from melting and also as an emergency coolant. Vallance dives into these massive tanks made of carbon steel to inspect and maintain them. Although water provides a very effective shield against radiation, divers have to take extra precautions while diving into water contaminated with radioactive substances.

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What are the meaning, origin and usage of word ‘Marvel’?

(Pronounced maa-vl.)

Meaning:  As a noun, it refers to a thing or person that is very surprising or causes a lot of admiration. As a verb, marvel means to show or experience great surprise or admiration.

Origin: As a noun, this Middle English word is derived from the Old French word merveille, in turn, from late Latin mirabilia, a neuter plural of the Latin word mirabilis, meaning ‘wonderful’. This is from mirari, meaning wonder at. The verb is from merveillen (of persons), meaning ‘to be filled with wonder’. This is from Old French merveillier, meaning ‘to wonder at, be astonished’, from the word merveille.

Example: I marvel at her knowledge and grasp of the subject.

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