Category Science

The Universe

 

What was the Big Bang?

The Big Bang is the most popular theory about the creation of the Universe. According to it, the whole Universe was created in a split second in one huge explosion. All matter was squeezed together into a tiny, super-hot, dense ball that was smaller than an atom. The ball gradually expanded as it cooled, then exploded, releasing energy and matter in all directions. We cannot see the Big Bang because it would have happened billions of years ago. But we can see that the Universe is growing steadily bigger. All the galaxies are speeding away from each other as the Universe expands.

 

 

 

 

 

What is the Universe made of?

The Universe is made up almost entirely of hydrogen and helium. These are the two lightest elements. All the rest of the matter in the Universe is very rare. Elements such as silicon, carbon and others are concentrated into clouds, stars and planets. The Universe is held together by four invisible forces. Gravity and electromagnetism are the two familiar forces. The other two kinds are strong and weak nuclear forces. These operate only inside the incredibly tiny nucleus of atoms, holding the tiny particles together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How old is the Universe?

It is possible to calculate the approximate age of the Universe by looking at how fast distant galaxies are moving away from us. However, it is not possible for us to make this calculation accurately. Scientists have estimated that the Universe is between 13,000 and 18,000 million year old.

Anil Kumar Gain

Anil Kumar Gain (1 February 1919 – 7 February 1978) (also spelt Anil Kumar Gayen) was an Indian mathematician and statistician best known for his works on the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient in the field of applied statistics, with his colleague Ronald Fisher. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Henry Ellis Daniels, who was the then President of the Royal Statistical Society. He was honoured as a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and the famous Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Gain was the president of the statistics section of the Indian Science Congress Association, as well as the head of the Department of Mathematics at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. He later went on to found Vidyasagar University, naming it after the famous social reformer of the Bengali renaissance, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

Fields

  • Mathematics and Statistics

Institutions

  • University of Cambridge
  • University of Calcutta
  • Presidency College, Calcutta
  • Indian Statistical Institute
  • Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

Awards

  • RSS
  • FCPS

To know more about Anil Kumar Click Anil Kumar

Yellapragada Subbarow

Yellapragada Subbarow (12 January 1895 – 8 August 1948) was an Indian biochemist who discovered the function of adenosine triphosphate as an energy source in the cell, and developed methotrexate for the treatment of cancer. Most of his career was spent in the United States. Despite his isolation of ATP, Subbarow did not gain tenure at Harvard though he would lead some of America’s most important medical research during World War II. He is also credited with the first synthesis of the chemical compounds folic acid and methotrexate. Subbarow died in the United States.

Known for

  • Discovering the role of phosphocreatine and adenosine triphosphate in muscular activity;
  • synthesis of folic acid;
  • synthesis of methotrexate;
  • discovery of diethylcarbamazine

Fields

  • Biochemistry

Institutions

  • Lederle Laboratories, a division of American Cyanamid (Acquired by Wyeth in 1994, now Pfizer)

To read more Click Yellapragada Subbarow

INTRODUCTION – WEATHER

An understanding of the weather is often vital to daily life – framers, for example, require information about the weather to try and protect their crops. Extremes of weather can ruin entire crops.

Sometimes even our safety depends on knowing about weather conditions. With advance warning of a major storm, ships or aeroplanes can be routed away from danger. Flood warnings can be issued and people moved to a safe area.

Farmers need to irrigate, or water, their crops if there is no rain.

Heavy rain can cause rivers to burst their banks and flood large areas of land.

THE WEATHER

When we say “The Sun is shining”, we are talking about the weather. However, when we say “It’s always sunny here”, we are talking about the climate. The climate describes the way weather behaves over many years. The climate depends on many factors, including how far from the equator a place is. Weather is caused by changes in the ‘atmosphere’ – the layer of air surrounding the Earth.

Generally, weather and climate are caused by parts of the world becoming warmer than others when the Sun’s rays heat the Earth’s surface. These differences in temperature make the air move and these air movements cause the different types of weather we know.

The changing weather – hot, sunny conditions in summer heavy snow in winter. Some parts of the world get hurricanes – very strong winds.

THE WIND

Winds carry warm and cold air around the world. Knowing which way the wind is blowing is a useful guide to the type of weather we can expect. Around the world, there are many differences in temperature. Air in contact with hot land or sea is warmed. As warm air is lighter than cooler air, it rises. Cooler air then moves in to take its place. This movement of air is what we call wind.

Winds can be extremely powerful; they can knock down trees, and can push along boats fitted with sails. The map shows the routes of the main winds across the globe. These routes were once followed by sailing ships carrying their cargoes around the world.

 

Sea breezes

As the Sun shines, air over the land is heated more than air over the sea, and this hot air rises. Cooler air from over the sea moves in to take its place.

The hot air cools as it rises, but it does not fall straight back down. Instead, it spreads out over the sea and falls down there. This circular air current causes an onshore breeze.

 

 

 

 

The map shows the major winds of the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yachts with the wind in their sails