Space has frequently been called the last frontier. Certainly, this is true in the sense of physical frontiers, since humankind has now explored the entire land area of the earth, and our sway is rapidly being extended to the oceans and the air as well. Thus, our species has reached a fundamental turning point in history, imposed by the finite size of the earth itself. Either we are to remain an earth-bound civilization, working out our future confines of this single planet, or else we will expand into the solar system and perhaps someday even beyond.
The dream of space is more than a century old, dating from the pioneer writings of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky of Russia and Hermann Oberth of Germany, and from the inspired backyard engineering carried out by Robbert H Goddard, Wernher Von Braun, and others in the private space and rocket organization.
In the early 20th century, American physicist Robert H Goddard came across the idea of liquid fuel propellant while he was conducting a series of practical experiments in rocketry. Goddard, at least figuratively, was over the moon.
Goddard’s fascination with space flight tracked back to his college days at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He was actually interested in achieving higher altitude but it was a daunting task to build a liquid fuel rocket than solid –propellant rockets. Despite a lack of resources and sufficient funding, Goddard was able to build a liquid-propellant rocket by 1926. This was game-changing.
But the euphoria of Goddard’s discovery did not leave everyone in awe.
Some thought he was a charlatan, others believed science could not have such a leap of discovery in the 1920s. Such was the disbelief in Goddard’s work that the New York Times in an editorial not just ridiculed Goddard’s intellect and integrity but, also accused him of not understanding Newton’s third law of motion.
“Professor Goddard with his chair at Clark College and countenancing of Smithsonian Institution [from where he held the grant to continue his research independently] does not know Newton’s third law of motion,” read the editorial, “and the relationship between action and reaction, and of a need of something better than a vacuum against which to react. Of course, he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.”
In the same year, a similar campaign simultaneously sparked out another controversy when Goddard published one of his research works in Scientific American that intensified the prevailing wave of harsh criticism. This propelled other science outlets also arguing that space travel is nearly impossible. Some even claimed that rocketry can be traced back to more than 2,000 years and never had anyone been able to do the unthinkable: travel to space.
But Goddard was a scientist and such criticism by non-scientists was mere noise to him.
Perhaps the greatest influence and the lifelong gift of Goddard to humanity was his deep understanding of rocketry, inspiration, and celebration that space travel would be a reality in a few decades or so later. It was actually Goddard who initially outlined an uncrewed mission to the moon. Little did he realize that this work would become instrumental in American foreign and defense policy. Goddard’s legacy has arguably quietly been absorbed by engineers and scientists at NASA and the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, who worked frantically on Vostok, Gemini, and Apollo space programs.
In 1919, Goddard published his research work entitled “A method of reaching high extreme altitude”, condensation February 1920, Scientific American and Nature August 1920. The paper thoroughly explained the method of attaining a high altitude around 20 miles, beyond the range for surrounding balloons and developed a theory of rocket propulsion taking into account the air resistance and gravity.
Goddard concluded with the statement that if most of the mass of the rocket consists of propellant, its superiority will increase enormously.
Fifty years after, when NASA’s mission “Apollo 11” successfully landed on the moon with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins on July 1969, those who doubted that space travel was a possibility were left stunned. Those in scientific communities who had belligerently opposed the idea of a small capsule being able to land on the moon could not believe the images.
But it was the New York Times who first came to realize its biggest mistake — dismissing the notion of rocket propulsion and the scientist behind it.
“Further investigation and experimentation have confirmed the findings of Isaac Newton in the 17th century and it is now definitely established that a rocket can function in a vacuum as well as in an atmosphere. The Times regrets the error.”
Though this correction was made 24 years after Goddard’s death, history absolved him.
A new image has been revealed by NASA that was taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. It shows the globular cluster NGC 1805 which has many colorful stars packed close together. There is a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way called the Large Magellanic Cloud near the edge of which this tight grouping of stars is present. They tend to move around each other in an orbital manner which NASA has compared to “bees swarming around a hive.” The planetary systems around these stars are also speculated to be unlikely because, in the dense center of one of these clusters, the stars are 100 to 1000 times closer together than the nearest stars are to our Sun.
This image combines different types of life and thus illustrates the sharp difference in star colors. Blue stars, shining brightest in near-ultraviolet light, and red stars, illuminated in red and near-infrared. As the Hubble telescope is positioned above the atmosphere of the Earth, it can observe ultraviolet. The atmosphere itself absorbs UV, so the telescopes on the ground are unable to visualize that.
NASA also says that “this young globular cluster can be seen from the Southern Hemisphere, in the Dorado constellation, which is Portuguese for dolphinfish.”
Most of the time, globular clusters contain stars that are born at the same time. But NGC 1805 is different as it appears to have two varying star populations which have a difference of million years in ages. The study of this type of phenomenon can aid researchers and astronomers to understand the evolution of these bodies and determine how the end their lives.
Recently, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope also captured an image featuring the blue and orange stars of the galaxy called NGC 2188. On a closer first look, the galaxy appears to be made up of a narrow band that produce a mesmerizing look. The astronomers have classified it to be a barred spiral galaxy.
In every society and culture, there are certain words or phrases that, when being said out loud, consequently turn heads. These are the words that often have a particular stigma attached to them. Hence, the topics associated with the words are never talked about in open spaces. Mental health is one such example in Pakistan, among the many more.
What exactly are mental disorders? Mental disorders are defined as the psychological and behavioral disorders that lead to impairment in critical areas of functioning in everyday life. These include a wide range of illnesses such as anxiety, depressions, several personality disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia, and many more. Contrary to popular belief, these are not only caused by one’s life experience. Genetics, traumatic exposures, the stress in early life, and your surroundings all play a role in the development of these disorders. Mental healthcare practitioners, including psychiatrists and psychologists, diagnose these disorders mostly by using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), up to 450 million people suffer from mental disorders in the world. However, a large proportion of them do not seek help.
The overall scenerio in Pakistan is not so different from the rest of the world. In fact, the mental health sector is probably the most neglected sector in Pakistan. In 2016, Dawn Newspaper published that there are 50 million people in Pakistan suffering from mental disorders and that the number of trained psychiatrists is only 400. This statistics that shows the number of people with mental disorders is probably much higher considering the fact that most people are not diagnosed due to the scarcity of psychiatrists and social norms.
State of Mental Healthcare System in Pakistan
The scarcity of clinical psychiatrists is not the only reason that Pakistan’s mental healthcare system is flawed. The last time any legislation regarding mental disorders was passed was in 2001. The latest policy change occurred in 2006. Mental health was made a provincial topic rather than owned by the federal government, and currently, only Sindh and Punjab have mental health acts in place (Tareen & Tareen, 2016). Moreover, there is no policy regarding the conviction of a mentally ill person. In fact, schizophrenia – a disorder that leads to hallucination, delusion, and disordered thinking – was removed from the list of mental disorders as it did not fall in the legal definition of such disorders in Pakistan. Therefore, any schizophrenic convict may be up for execution in case of murder (Janjua, 2020). Only 0.4% of the healthcare expenditure of the country is allocated to mental health, and there are only five mental hospitals currently operating in Pakistan as compared to hundreds of hospitals for the other sectors.
The stigma; What will people say?
One of the primary reasons that people prevent themselves or their families from seeking mental health advice is due to the stigma associated with the term ‘mental health.’ There are many definitions of stigma. Still, to put it simply, it is a sign of shame related to an event, quality, or person. In rural areas of Pakistan, people would believe their loved ones are possessed rather than just ill and used to take them to the shrines instead of hospitals due to poverty, stigma, and superstitions (BBC, 2016). People are also afraid to hear what others might say if they consult a psychiatrist or psychologist. This fear leads them to ignore any symptoms present around them and disregard them completely. Furthermore, this inevitably leads to the formation of an ignorant society. In fact, anyone who decides to go for a career in mental health is constantly discouraged by others and sometimes even to the point that they are forced to go with another profession.
There is immense stigma associated with the term ‘mental health’
Another reason for this negligence is a severe lack of education regarding mental health in Pakistan. Since we are young, we are taught about the importance of nutrition and the effects of malnutrition on our physical health. What schools fail to teach us is the importance of our mental wellbeing. Is it appropriate to completely disregard mental health as long as we are physically healthy? Moreover, no counseling facility is provided to the students at school to help them deal with stress which is leading to an increase in anxiety, depression, and an overwhelming suicide rate in Pakistan, especially in students.
Susceptibility
Some people are more susceptible to mental disorders than others, and these are the ones who require interventions by mental health professionals to get back on track with their lives. Pakistan is a developing country with a long history of terrorist attacks being conducted in it. The people who come in direct contact with the destruction and tragedy of these attacks need help from professionals to overcome and move on. Psychological first aid should be provided to reduce the occurrence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). One such example includes the students, teachers, and their families who bore the brunt of the terrorist attack on Army Public School, Peshawar, in 2014. The proper way for them to deal with the trauma would have been through therapies, but unfortunately, there were not enough mental health professionals who could help them.
Since getting independence in 1947, Pakistan has faced multiple wars and tensions on her borders. The soldiers who come back from these missions often suffer from PTSD but they wouldn’t be provided with the help they need. Additionally, there are other issues that pave the path for the rise of mental disorders such as domestic abuse – an endemic on the rise in Pakistan – which is not only harmful for the victim but also the other family members.
Other than that, several students suffer from depression, anxiety, and stress in school and university life. These are caused due to the burden of studies, peer pressures, and the need to maintain a cheery personality with others at all times. Such instances are often disguised so well that if that person ends up committing suicide, his/her peers say that ‘He/She was happy all the time’. This is why we need mental health education so that we, as a community, may learn to recognize the symptoms and patterns, eventually guiding anyone suffering, for getting help.
Even in the current situation, the COVID-19 pandemic, people have become more vulnerable to mental disorders. Constant checking of the rising COVID-19 cases and deaths, being quarantined in their homes for long periods of time, not being able to meet with their families for months, witnessing a plane crash in a residential area of Karachi, and many people losing their jobs due to lockdown has taken a toll over the whole country.
It is beyond time that we start realizing that mental health is just as important as physical health.
Psychotherapies
In Pakistan, the lack of knowledge and awareness regarding the mental health sector is so extreme that we still believe there are only 2 ways a psychiatrist or a psychologist helps a person and those are either talk therapy or medicine. Different disorders require different types of therapies and ‘talking’ is not the cure for all. In this advanced world, several different types of therapies have been introduced that are used according to the disorder and the patient. For example, we do not have Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) mostly used to treat depression and anxiety. This is used to change the patterns of thoughts and behaviors that cause difficulties. Moreover, there is Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in which seizures are electrically induced to treat mental disorders. It is an extreme form of therapy and only used when other methods fail to provide results.
CBT is used to treat depression and anxiety. Credit: Neelesh Rastogi
These two are not the only types of psychotherapies available around the world. However, they show the great differences present in the modern methods of treatment of mental disorders. A wide range of treatments are known to mental health professionals but in Pakistan, there are not enough professionals who might be specialized in these methods.
What do professionals have to say?
For a better understanding of the ongoing state of mental health in Pakistan, I reached out to a couple professionals. Iqra Nasir, a behavioral therapist, said that there are a lot of people suffering from mental disorders in Sindh but they cannot afford the treatment as there are no such hospitals in close proximity. Contrary, , in several cities there are no schools for children with special needs such as down syndrome and autism. She believes that the government needs to get involved and make more governmental hospitals for the mentally ill people and establish at least one special needs school in each city.
Inamullah Ansari, the Director of Mental Health Emergency and Human Resilience Solicitors Drug Crimes Criminal Defense Lawyer, says that we need to implement psychiatry facilities in teaching hospitals where consultant psychiatrists are available. More public awareness programs should be launched on the media platforms (Ansari, 2015).
Muhammad Tahir Khalily, Senior Clinical Psychologist, believes that mental healthcare needs to be incorporated as a core service in primary care and supported by specialist services. There is a strong need to provide adequate training for general practitioners and postgraduate training for mental health professionals to meet the current demands. A collaborative network between stakeholders in the public and private sector, as well as non-governmental organizations, are required that promote mental health care and advocate for changes in mental health policy (Khalily, 2011).
Solutions
Involvement of government
The government needs to provide the country with an up to date mental health legislation and a refined legal definition for mental disorder. A person with a mental disorder needs the help of a psychiatrist and does not need to be locked up for a crime that he/she does not even understand. On the other hand, prisons should be seen as a correctional facility and the convicts should be helped to become better by the time they have served their sentence, thus forensic psychologists should be present in these facilities at all times.
In Pakistan, people encourage their children to follow professions like medicine, engineering, or finance. Children are primed from the beginning to believe that these are the only areas of study one should pursue. We need to let children know that there are multiple options out there for them to consider instead of just these. The government should also encourage the study of psychiatry and psychology by providing incentives that would make youngsters willing to pursue these fields as it has become prominent that Pakistan needs many more mental health professionals working in the country to help all the people who might need them.
Provision of hospitals and services
We are in dire need of more mental hospitals across the country. The five that are currently operating are located in major cities – Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, and Quetta – which makes them inaccessible to a lot of people who are not willing to travel long distances or cannot manage to find the time for travelling. Mental health treatments should be available to people easily, which is why more hospitals need to build on immediate notice and the inside workings of the old ones should be updated to provide humane treatment to all the patients.
Conversely, there should be online treatment facilities which could be used to educate parents. People who are unable to travel to the nearest hospital should have access to psychiatrists online. Multi-stakeholder collaboration should be promoted among the private hospitals, pharmaceutical agencies, and international companies to advance local, national and global efforts in favor of good mental health.
In recent years data and technology has played a vital role in treating mental illness and avoiding crisis. By using cell phones and health apps, data can be used to monitor a patient’s progress, behavior patterns, and activities to signal it out that help is needed before a crisis, such as a panic attack, occurs. Moreover, mental health care applications should be advertised and encouraged such as 7Cups, which is an app run mostly by volunteers who are trained to listen to people and then refer them to professionals associated with the app.
7Cups is an app run mostly by volunteers who are trained to listen to people and then refer them to professionals
Mental health Education in Schools
We cannot ignore the significant role that education plays in spreading awareness about a matter and helping in stemming the stigma surrounding something. Psychology should be integrated in the curriculum of schools, either as a permanent subject or a small mandatory course for all students to take. Along with this, every school should have at least one counsellor available on the campus during school hours to help students through any difficulty they might be facing in school or at their homes. Workshops should also be held for the teachers and other staff which educates them in distinguishing symptoms present in students and helping them.
Moreover, mental health workers from Pakistan and other countries should be invited to schools with the help of the government to come forward and raise awareness regarding the matter. Such events should be hosted regularly and have compulsory attendance for the students and their parents along with the school teachers. There are a variety of ways in which these events could run. The visiting professional could use recent articles regarding a problem that is common in Pakistan and explain to the audience how important it is to solve the issue. They could hold a question and answer session with everyone to clear any doubts in the minds of the audience and help them better understand mental health.
Special Need Schools
As mentioned by the psychaitrist Iqra Nasir, Pakistan also needs to invest in schools that are trained to provide education to students with special needs. Most of the schools that fall under this category in Pakistan are for the visually impaired and serve no purpose for the children who suffer from mental disorders such as autism or ADHD. Due to the lack of special need schools, children with mental disorders are prevented from getting the education that is their basic right. There are children with learning disabilities such as dyslexia who fail to get diagnosed and are admitted in normal schools where they lag behind. Unless such children get specially trained teachers and environment to express themselves in other ways and learn in unique styles, they will always be seen as less than other children. These reasons alone should be enough to help establish special educational institutes all over Pakistan.
The role of the NGOs
NGOs are playing a significant role in spreading awareness about mental health and providing help. Their numbers, too, are low but even with their limitations, NGOs could lead in creating more awareness and transforming the mental health status in Pakistan.
Having mental disorders is not a choice or a lifestyle disease, unlike many physical diseases that could be prevented by correcting your lifestyle. Mental health is a grave concern in Pakistan and should be regarded as one. We must have more educated conversations on it so that we can finally break free from the toxic stigma placed on us by our ancestors.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image featuring the blue and orange stars of the galaxy called NGC 2188. On a closer first look, the galaxy appears to be made up of a narrow band of stars that produce a mesmerizing look. The astronomers have classified it to be a barred spiral galaxy.
Its tilted shape appears like that from our viewpoint on Earth as the center and the spiral arms are farther away from us. Only the outer edge of the disk, which is comparatively narrower, is visible to us. It can be understood by the example of having a dinner plate in your hands and turning it at a certain angle so that only its outer edge is visible. Scientists found out the true shape of the galaxy when studies were done on the distribution of the stars in the inner central bulge and outer disk and by observing the stars’ colors.
NGC 2188 is thought to be approximately half the size of our galaxy (The Milky Way). It is located in the constellation of Columba (the Dove) at 50,000 light-years across. The constellation itself is named after the prophet Noah’s dove in the biblical stories and is relatively small but has many alluring astronomical objects.
Every now and then, we are blessed with beautiful images from the outer space, courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope. And we can expect many more amazing images in the near future. The James Webb Space Telescope is all set to receive the stardom of being the most magnificent and multifarious orbital observatory to be launched into space. It has seven times the capability of collecting light as Hubble, along with modern infrared imaging technology. With it, scientists mean to find out about distant celestial masses from an unmarred perspective. It is set to launch in 2021.
“The theme that cuts across all of the different research that I’m doing is how do you amplify human potential and reduce inequity in the society,” said Lama Nachman, the Intel scientist who built Stephen Hawking’s communication system is updating it, adding more artificial intelligence to it. Assistive computing for people with disabilities is one piece of that puzzle. She is trying to help Peter Scott Morgan, another scientist and roboticist. He has advanced Motor Neuron Disease, which is similar to ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease and is losing control of his body.
Nachman’s goal is to enhanced independence, capability, and empowerment for those who are losing control of their bodies. To build something like an AI-enabled exoskeleton-equipped human being. In short, a cyborg. And along with that, try to figure out some deep and fundamental questions about AI, life, and humans.
Intel Fellow and research scientist Lama Nachman.
Stephen Hawking could control nearly one muscle in his body, his cheek. When Nachman worked on a communicator for Hawking, she placed a proximity sensor next to his cheek, dangling down his glasses. By flexing his cheek, Hawking could push a button or click on the attached mouse. This was how Intel built a hardware component for Hawking. The software component, however, was much harder. That required building a complete software platform on top of Windows so that Hawking could control an entire operating system from just one single button.
The system worked like old-fashioned radar: scanning for a horizontal line, then scanning for a vertical line. The intersection of the two lines was the point where Hawking needed to click the mouse in each of his attempts; it took literally minutes of interaction.
To avoid relapse in communication, Nachman and her team worked to built predictive technology that would anticipate what Hawking needed and automate it.
Now Nachman is working to provide this facility to thousands or millions differently-abled to use quickly and cheaply. Along with her team, she is getting very close to releasing that into open source is essentially utilizing a straightforward set of electrodes that you can have in a cap, very cheap system. This is a high fidelity, gazillion electrodes, will available in a few hundred dollars.
Astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala has been named the newDean of MIT’s School of Science, effective Sept. 1. She will succeed Michael Sipser, who will return to the faculty as the Donner Professor of Mathematics, after six years of service.
Mavalvala, the Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics, is renowned for her pioneering work in gravitational-wave detection, which she conducted as a leading member of LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. She has received numerous awards and honors for her research and teaching, and since 2015 has been the associate head of the Department of Physics. Mavalvala will be the first woman to serve as dean in the School of Science.
Quantum Astrophysicist Nargis Mavalvala in an MIT lab (Photo by Darren McCollester/for MacArthur Foundation)
Dr. Nergis Mavalvala attended the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Karachi, for her O-Level and A-Level. She moved to the United States in 1986 and enrolled at Wellesley College and got a bachelor’s degree in physics and astronomy in 1990. As a graduate student at MIT, she conducted her doctoral work under Dr. Rainer Weiss and developed a prototype laser interferometer for detecting gravitational waves. Before graduation, Nargis with her physics professor, Robert Berg, co-authored a paper in Physical Review B: Condensed Matter.
After graduate school, Dr. Mavalvala served a postdoctoral researcher and a research scientist at the California Institute of Technology, kickstarted her work with cosmic microwave background, and then eventually indulge the LIGO project. Mavalvala mainly focuses on two fields of physics: Gravitational Waves Astrophysics and quantum measurement science. She went on to do her Ph.D. in physics from MIT in 1997.
Dr. Mavalvala joined the MIT physics faculty in 2002 and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2017. Born to a Parsi family, she was the younger of the two children. Her parents highly valued their daughters’ educational experiences and encouraged her to pursue higher education overseas. She was always interested in math and science and believed that she was intrinsically good at it.
Mavalval frequently questioned for gender discrimination and how she was able to break down this barrier. In an interview with the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, she states, “I grew up in a family where the stereotypical gender roles were not really observed. Everyone is capable, and I set benchmarks for all these women willing to pursue a career in STEM. Mawalwala is often viewed as a role model for aspiring female scientists of South Asian descent. In her childhood, she involved in handy work and was not bound to stereotypical gender roles in South Asian culture.
In a television interview in 2016, She stated that “When everyone has access to education, that’s when all the other things come into place. You’ve got to do what gives you pleasure, got to find a way to do it. People should just do what they enjoy most, and I think for all of society whether it’s in Pakistan or elsewhere we have to create opportunities for young girls to do what they’re good at and do what they love to do must cultivate the sense of wonder in a child.”
Mavalvala was among the team of scientists who, for the first time, observed ripples in the fabric of spacetime called gravitational waves. On February 11, 2016, the detection of gravitational waves confirmed a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity. After the announcement of the observation, she became an instant celebrity scientist in her birthplace of Pakistan. Talking to the press, she claimed that “we are really witnessing the opening of a new tool for doing astronomy.”
During an interview with Pakistani newspaper Dawn, after the detection of gravitational waves, she claimed that she was baffled by the public interest in her research in Pakistan. She said, “I really thought of what I want people to know in Pakistan as I have garnered some attention there. Anybody should be able to succeed — whether you’re a woman, a religious minority, or whether you’re gay. It just doesn’t matter.”
Dr. Mavalvala has also worked on the development of exotic quantum states of light, and in particular, the generation of light in squeezed coherent states. By injecting such states into the kilometer-scale Michelson interferometer of the LIGO detectors, her group significantly improved the sensitivity of the detector by reducing quantum noise such squeezed states also have many other applications in experimental physics.
She also worked on laser cooling, where the Optical cooling of mirrors to nearly absolute zero can help eliminate measurement noise arising from thermal vibrations. Part of her work focused on the extension of laser-cooling techniques to optically cool and trap more and more massive objects, both for the LIGO project and for other applications, such as to enable observation of quantum phenomena in macroscopic objects. Prominent results from her group in this area included cooling of a centimeter-scale object to a temperature of 0.8 kelvins and inspection of a 2.7-kilogram pendulum near its quantum ground state. These experiments lay the foundations for observing quantum behavior in human-scale objects.
On February 20, 2016, Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States, Jalil Abbas Jilani, conveyed the Government of Pakistan’s message of felicitation to Nergis Mavalvala for her outstanding achievement in the field of astrophysics. She won the first Lahore Technology Award launched by Information Technology University on December 17, 2017. In 2017, the Carnegie Corporation of New York honored Mavalvala as one of its Great Immigrants awards recipients. The awards go to “naturalized citizens who have made notable contributions to the progress of American society.” In 2014, NOGLSTP recognized Nergis Mavalvala as the LGBTQ Scientist of the Year. She was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2010.
Exploring the other celestial bodies for the signs of life and a new home has always been a curiosity for humankind. We have sent hundreds of probes failed and successful in learning more vividly about our solar system. Considering our search, Mars is the only planet after Earth in the habitable zone (Habitable Zone: an orbital zone in a solar/star system, where conditions for life are suitable as it’s not too cold or not hot). In scientific circles, since NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander 2008, confirmed the presence of “Water Ice” on mars, water ice means that the discovery has the same elements of waters, what we have on Earth. Scientists and Space Exploration Agencies are trying to uncover more and possibly the colonization of the neighboring planet shortly.
Humanity has tried different attempts in the past to get information and data about the fellow planet. NASA, ESA, ROSCOSMOS/Russia, CNSA/China, ISRO/India, JAXA/Japan, UAESA agencies are the among who have been trying persistently to reach the red planet through their dozens of missions in the past 50 years. Some of the main interests are to find any evidence for the past or any possible form of life there.
In this article, I will be sharing the different approaches, features, and objectives of the missions sent under different space programs by the CNSA, the UAESA and NASA last month of July.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES SPACE AGENCY’s (UAESA) MISSION
The ambition is regarded as the ‘first interplanetary mission’ by the Arab World with the launch support of a private company in Japan. On July 20, 2020, UAESA with the help of Japanese H-IIA rocket, operated by ‘Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ launched a spacecraft called “Hope” developed by Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder and with the support ofMohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC).
Engineers of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre work on the Hope spacecraft. Credits: UAE Space Agency
As per the UAESA, the orbiter will provide us with the first very complete picture of the Martian Atmosphere. More specifically, it will attempt to answer scientific questions such as why the martian atmosphere is losing Hydrogen and Oxygen from its atmosphere, a correlation of upper and lower atmospheric conditions will be made. Further, it will make attempts to understand and structurize a model for weather and seasonal change of the red planet. The gained information will also help scientists to understand more about the patterns and models of Earth’s atmosphere over the past millions of years.
The entire data of the mission will be shared with over 200 international universities and institutes for research and study purposes.
UAE’s ambition to transform itself from an oil-based economy into a knowledge-based economy will inspire the other rich middle-eastern countries to be a part of the “Elite Club of Space Nations”.
CHINA NATIONAL SPACE ADMINISTRATION’s (CNSA) MISSION
The People’s Republic of China, the world’s most populated country has sent a globally challenging spacecraft in the scientific race called “Tianwen-1”, this is a marvelous 5000-Kilogram robotic spacecraft consisting of an orbiter, lander, and rover. The mission was successfully launched from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on 23 July 2020 and will reach in next year February 2021.
The Chinese orbiter will loop the red planet for an entire Martian year.
The orbiter will study the Martian atmosphere and particular ionosphere. A magnetic field detector will provide us with essential insights about the past magnetic field of the planet.
Interestingly, the orbiter will loop the red planet for an entire Martian year (687 days of Earth), it will act as a communication transmitting linkage between the rover and us, the rover has a lifetime of 90 martian days-typically 93 days on our planet earth.
Here, quoting David Flannery, an astrobiologist at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, “The china will share the new data from Tianwen-1 with the scientific community as it shared few data sets of the moon before”. Further added, “Space belongs to everyone.”
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION’s (NASA) MISSION
An illustration of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
As the world’s leading space agency, the “Perseverance” is a part of the long-term endeavors of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. This pioneering, state-of-art, scientific proposal will be two-part: first the rover, ‘Perseverance’, and a flying drone called “ingenuity”. The mission was launched on 30th July 2020 and expected to reach the Red Planet on 18th February 2021 at the ‘Jezero Crater’ a natural crater on the mars. The ultimate approach is to explore the planet from an “Astrobiological’’ aspect, searching and trying to identify the environment of the planet in the past to support any form of microbial life.
The rocks will be studied from a geological perspective to seek signs of habitability, as rocks are particularly known to preserve signs of life over-ages. Further, it’s core data collection would be “Testing oxygen production from the atmosphere” for future human landings. Besides that summing up the payload consists of around seven main instruments:
Mastcam-Z: Zoomable Paranormal Cameras
Laser Micro-Imager
A Subsurface-Radar
X-ray Spectrometer
Ultra-violet Spectrometer
MOXIE: Produces Oxygen from the Atmosphere
MEDA: A Weather Station
The curiously exciting part is the solar-powered Helicopter “Ingenuity,” which is 1.8-Kilogram, the small helicopter is expected to fly no more than 3 minutes per day and not more than five times in its 30-day flight testing period at the planet. It will serve as a foundation of a technology demonstrator for future developments of aerial vehicles for mars and other planetary bodies.
As we have discussed the aspirations of different magnitudes of Space Programs, from an infant “Hope” of the UAE to a competitive spacecraft “Tianwen-1” by the CNSA and till the end, where we can see “Perseverance” a striving instrument by the leading agency NASA, all putting their money, resources and scientific understandings for an unknown but possibly-promising future for humankind.
The Perseids meteor shower is without a doubt, one of the best showers to observe as it lights up the skies beautifully. They are known for the bright meteors and astronomy enthusiasts seek to capture the stunning phenomenon, this time of the year.
This shower runs annually from July 17 to August 24. This year, it peaked on the night of August 12 and the morning of August 13. At its peak, the display can produce as many as 150 meteors an hour. It takes place when our planet moves through the debris left by Comet Swift-Turtle.
Here are some beautiful images of the Perseids meteor shower captured around the world.
The shower seen in Gran Sasso d’Italia in L’Aquila, Italy. LORENZO DI COLA/NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
Over the ancient city of Blaundus in Usak, Turkey, the shooting stars create a beautiful scene. ALIBEY AYDIN/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES
The meteor streaks across the sky near the city of Ohrid, Macedonia. ROBERT ATANASOVSKI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Upcoming events
If you missed the shower, don’t worry as there are plenty of astronomy events lined up in the calendar.
Mars Opposition: In 2020 besides sending missions to Mars, we will also have it a bit near to us. On October 13, Mars will be at the closest opposition to Earth and will be well lit.
Solar Eclipse: On December 14, a total solar eclipse is expected. This phenomenon occurs when the moon blocks out the Sun’s outer atmosphere.
Geminids Meteor Shower: It is the best of meteor showers and is able to produce approximately 120 multicolored meteors per hour when it is at its peak. The shower runs annually from December 7-17. It peaks this year on the night of the 13th and morning of the 14th.
COVID-19 has become a question of survival for not only people but industries, education systems, tourism, businesses, and even economies of countries. Healthcare systems around the world are pushed to their limits. Now and then, experimental drugs are tried by doctors to find a comfortable and better treatment for the disease. Clinical trials are run not only on pre-existing drugs but also on newly developed ones. In times like these, people look up to science for answers. Scientists and biotechnologists around the world are busy in finding potential drugs and vaccine for the disease.
As of July 6, 2020, the World Health Organization has 19 coronavirus vaccines undergoing clinical trials while the other 130 are in the pre-clinical evaluation stages. Many are still in preparation and research stages. We hope to have an effective vaccine by the end of this year or the start of the next.
Pakistan confirmed its first two cases on February 26, 2020, and it now has over 240,000 confirmed cases with a recovery rate of 56%. Pakistani scientists and academicians are also fighting against the pandemic along with academicians worldwide. Even though the country itself isn’t working on any vaccine for COVID-19, scientists of Pakistani origin are involved in some international projects. Here are a few developments in the field coming from Pakistani scientists.
NUST’s Coronavirus Testing Kit
On March 15, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad (NUST) announced that researchers at their Atta ur Rehman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB) had successfully established a diagnostic assay for the detection of coronavirus. The assay includes the conventional as well as real-time PCR- based methods of Syber Green and Taqman. Dr. Aneela Javed and Dr. Ali Zohaib were the researchers who worked on the kit.
This feat was achieved in collaboration with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, China, DZIF Germany, Columbia University, USA, and armed forces INstitute of pathology (AFIP), Rawalpindi.
Successful tests were performed on 330 blind samples. Finally, after testing and trials of three months, the N-CovKit has been approved by DRAP – Pakistan’s drugs and medical pieces of equipment regulating authority – for public use.
The fascinating thing about this kit is that it costs one-fourth of the imported ones and can be produced locally in any number.
Associate Professor Dr Aneela Javed and Assistant Professor Dr Ali Zohaib from NUST ASAB, worked on establishment of these assays for diagnosis of the pandemic. Courtesy: NUST
Punjab University’s Coronavirus Testing Kit
A day after NUST announced a cheap coronavirus testing kit, Punjab University announced its own that was even cheaper.
A team of scientists headed by Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology’s Prof. Dr. Muhammad Idrees developed the diagnostic kit. Dr. Idrees, a famous virologist and ex-VC University of Hazara, said that the kits would be available in 5$ (~Rs. 800).
The estimated cost of the kit developed by NUST is around 20$ (~2000 rupees roughly).
AI-Based COVID-19 Detector
A final year student from Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute (GIKI) claimed that he had developed an AI-based covid-19 detector that could detect positive coronavirus cases from the x-rays. This method was used by China’s Ali Baba. They could detect cases from CT scans with an accuracy of about 90%. Ali Baba did not open-source its application, so the working of the system was unknown.
Aleem independently came up with the same system with 96% accuracy for X-rays (much cheaper than CT Scans). He used a neural link and a dataset of COVID-19 positive X-rays from Dr. Joseph Pau Cohen’s GitHub repository and normal ones from Kaggle.
Drugs Research at Karachi University
International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) at the University of Karachi has many COVID-19 projects ongoing. One made waves when Dr. Atia-ul-Wahab and her team, under the supervision of ICCBS director Dr. Iqbal Choudhry, identified nine compounds that could be used to inhibit the growth of the virus, the host cells.
Experiments of this medicine were performed at Dr. Panjwani Centre for molecular medicine and drug research, a subsidiary of ICCBS. Unfortunately, this and many more research centers were closed by the government owing to the pandemic, and hence the hunt for medicine was stalled.
In the same research center, researchers under the supervision of Dr. Zaheerul Haq and Dr. Riaz ud Din employed computational technology. They found three drugs, Remdesivir, Darunavir, and Saquinavir, to be effective against COVID19. Two other molecules were also identified. This study was published in the journal of Biomolecular structure and dynamic.
These findings were later corroborated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as it authorized doctors to use Remedesivir for the treatment of severely ill patients.
International Studies and Pakistani Scientists
Pakistan’s science and technology minister in a tweet said that 66 international studies were in progress. 43 of them focusing on vaccine development, 16 on antivirals, and re-purposed drugs while 7 on antibody-related treatments for COVID-19. He further said that Pakistan was actively contributing to these studies.
Genome Sequencing of Sars-CoV-2
Dr. Aneela Javed and Dr. Ali Zohaib from NUST’s Attaur Rehman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), who had also developed the diagnostic array, sequenced the entire genome of Sars-CoV-2 virus. This project was completed with the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), Rawalpindi, and Charite-Berin Germany. The sequence was published through the National genome Data Centre, China making it the first genome of Sars-CoV-2 to be published from Pakistan. This is now also available on NCBI, NextStrain, and GISAID.
Determining the genomic sequence was crucial for evolutionary study and accurate diagnostic assays and drug development against the virus. Efforts of NUST were also lauded by the Bureau of South and Central Asian affairs of the US state department, the US, in a tweet.
Jamil ur Rehman center for genomic research, ICCBS at Karachi University, sequenced a Sars-CoV-2 genome using the MiSeq next-generation DNA sequencing system. This sequencing identified 8 mutations as compared to the Wuhan sample. 5 such genomes have been sequenced all over Pakistan yet.
PROTECT
‘Pakistan Randomized and observational Trial for evaluation of Covid-19 treatment’ were initiated to test hydroxychloroquine efficacy alone and in combination with azithromycin and ostelmavir. Iran, Lebanon, and Sudan also opted for participating in the clinical trials.
Government College University Faisalabad’s Epitopes Research
Scientists from the Bioinformatics and Biotechnology Department of Government College University, Faislabad published research in which they used a reverse vaccinology technique for classifying surface-exposed antigens rather than focusing on the whole pathogen. T and B cell epitopes were identified through a sequence, structural and conservational analyses. Due to their prediction methods, yields, speeds, and low costs, B and T cels epitopes have become the focal point of the immunoinformatics studies. A preliminary sequence of epitopes for future vaccine developments could be seen in this study.
Dow University’s Intravenous Immuno-globulins Development
Dow University made a huge breakthrough when their research team lead by Dr. Shaukat Ali prepared hyper intra-venous immunoglobulins (H-IVIG) from the plasma obtained from recovered covid19 patients. They isolated antibodies chemically from the blood sample, purified it, and later concentrated them using ultrafiltration techniques by removing extra substances.
This was the first global report of isolation, formulation and safety demonstration of immunoglobulins purified from recovered covid19 patient. This technique is safer than conventional plasma therapy as it doesn’t risk carrying other harmful substances into the bloodstream.
Vaccine Developed By Pakistani Origin Virologist
A Pakistani origin virologist from The Lancaster University, Dr. Muhammad Munir, developed a vaccine listed by the WHO as one of the most potential ones. He also said that he had approached Pakistani authorities but couldn’t get a severe response.
Quaid-e-Azam University’s Research Identifying Vaccine Candidates
A team of researchers at the Computational Biology Lab in Centre for Bioinformatics, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad headed by Dr. Syed Sikandar Azam identified novel vaccine candidates against COVID19. They utilized indigenously developed computational techniques to identify novel multi-epitopes based vaccine candidates.
The study was published in the ‘European Journal of pharmaceutical sciences. A study designing vaccination strategies that target immune responses focusing on these conserved epitopes could provide protection across beta coronaviruses.
Mobile Application To Combat COVID-19
A Pakistani technology entrepreneur, Afzal Kothari, developed an app called “COVID Track,” a real-time contact tracing app that can help steer through the health crisis. The app uses GPS services to record contact with people. When one is diagnosed with covid19, the app can tell who he has been in contact with in the past 14 days and send SMS notification. It can also determine which path or which time is safer to go out for grocery etc. The app has other additional features too.
COVID Track uses GPS services to record contact with people.
Participating in UWARN- The global Research Initiative
United World for Antiviral Research Network (UWARN) is a research initiative into infectious diseases and pandemics. Under this initiative, research organizations from six different countries, including the US, Brazil, Pakistan, Senegal, South Africa, and Taiwan will collaborate under an $8.75 million grant spread over 5 years.
Agha Khan University from Pakistan will participate in the project under the supervision of Najeeha Talat Iqbal from the Paediatrics and Child Health and Biological and Biomedical Sciences Department. Dr. Farah Qamar and Dr. Ali Faisal from the same department while Dr. Erum Khan from pathology and Laboratory Medicine are co-investigators on the project.
LUMS’ AI-Based study for COVID Drugs
Graduate students Hafsa Iftikhar and Nayyer Ali in the Biochemistry and Structural Biology Lab of LUMS led by Shahzad ul Hassan used artificial intelligence to identify potential drugs and drugs like molecules specifically targeting Sars-CoV-2 virus. The team used computational techniques to identify 3 molecules among 5000 already known drugs that could inhibit the replication of the virus.
This study has been published in ‘Computers in Medicine and Biology”. They now aim to experimentally verify the efficacy of the drugs.
UVAS-Lahore’s Sewage Water Research
Dr. Tahir Yaqub and his team at the biosafety level-3 laboratory for Emerging Pathogens of the University of Veterinary and Animal Science (UVAS), Lahore detected Sars-CoV-2 genome in sewage water and patients’ feces. This helps determine the covid19 burden in a specific area. The study was conducted in a bid to develop a smart surveillance strategy at the community level, which may add in better execution of smart lockdowns.
Medical pieces of equipment
Like many other countries, Pakistan faced a sudden shortage of medical equipment. Thanks to government efforts and devotion of local engineers, Pakistan overcame the scarcity in a short time.
Pakistan has started manufacturing oxygenators that 80% of the covid patients require. Pakistan Engineering Council has received over 53 ventilator designs, of which 13 were selected. 7 of them are in trials and will soon be mass-produced and made available for use. This will not only fulfill the local need but can also be exported to other countries.
Volunteers from all around Pakistan have come together to provide ventilators for the hospitals. ‘Open Source Venillators Pakistan’ is one such initiative under the supervision of Bahria University professor, Muhammad Umair. A prototype developed by them is currently undergoing various trials to ensure quality. The tests at Dow Medical University, Agha Khan Hospital, and Pakistan Engineering Council, Karachi, have been successful.
Other volunteers, including biomedical engineers, doctors, academics, Pakistani diasporas, resource mobilizers, and scientists called” Pakistan Against Covid19 Volunteers – PAC-V”, have also been working to develop and 3D print ventilator parts and other biomedical equipment under the supervision of Dr. Bilal Siddiqui.
The government itself has also inaugurated a ventilator production facility at NRTC. The facility has produced 15 units of indigenously developed economical and reliable portable ventilators called “SafeVent PS-100”. It can provide 250-300 ventilators monthly. This will help meet the domestic need and be exported to the rest of the world.
Recently a Lahore-based company, SPEL, has got European Union CE certification to produce face shields for healthcare professionals.
Pakistan Council for scientific and industrial Council (PCSR) has been tasked to prepare disinfectants and sanitizers. Pakistan now has sufficient sanitizers for its own people and a position to export them. PCSIR produces 1000 liters of sanitizers daily.
Local engineers also assisted in making 163+ out of service ventilators operational again. Along with these, Pakistan is already exporting masks to foreign countries.
Helping the Muslim World
Pakistan has offered its support to other Muslim countries for developing coronavirus testing kits. COMSTECH has submitted a proposal to Islamic Development Bank to enhance the testing capacity of OIC member states. The proposal aims to develop RT-Loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) as well as antibodies based detection kits for covid-19 diagnosis.
While walking into a public hospital in Pakistan, one should be prepared for the depressing sights. From beds overflowing with patients to long lines of poor people seeking help for calamities that they can barely afford to fight, it seems that there is not much hope. In villages, the health facilities are scarcer and insufficient for the needs of communities. In a country where more than 70 million people live below the poverty line, health policies and the system are not coping up. No health insurance plans and rising costs of surgical procedures force many to give up and rely on divine help.
But there are many souls who think beyond themselves. They notably come forward and play their part in helping such groups and caring for their needs. Lack of healthcare is an opportunity for many welfare groups and charitable organizations to work for the vulnerable and the poor. And these support systems are heavily dependent on philanthropic contributions and make a large part of the country’s healthcare system.
The people of Pakistan are generally motivated to contribute towards philanthropic causes. In comparison to other places, there are several reasons why people are more giving. One of the most important ones includes the obligatory provision of Zakat to the deserving, a gesture much promoted and encouraged in the Muslim majority country. According to an economic survey, around 240 billion rupees were given for philanthropic efforts in 2013-14. The motivations may vary along with the accessibility and reach. Still, it is striking and incredible how much people like to give in this developing nation, which itself is marred by trials and tribulations. It is also to be noted that it is not just individuals but also other institutions from the private and corporate sectors that support the communities and non-profits with varying motives.
Health is one of the sectors where a large chunk of such contributions goes. Over the years, many new organizations have popped up that, along with the existing ones, employ an expert workforce and efficient management systems to look after the lives of those unable to afford the health facilities and treatments. They cover a variety of treatments for patients of all ages. For children, there are several renowned charitable organizations that treat malaria, birth disorders, congenital diseases, etc.
The sights in local hospitals of Pakistan are mostly depressing. Lack of services in remote areas pushes crowds to seek help at other sources. Photo by Matiullah Achakzai/News Lens Pakistan
They also cover the diagnosis and surgeries of diseases in adults like tuberculosis, diabetes, disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, heart, lungs, and kidneys. It is necessary that such services are continuously provided because the other traditional, outdated, and overburdened healthcare system cannot handle it. The quality of life in the country is very low for the vast majority of the population, and lack of healthcare services deteriorates it even more. This tends to extend and ultimately affect the workforce and the overall economy.
One of the best and perhaps the most prominent non-profit welfare organizations that contribute majorly towards the provision of health services is the Edhi Foundation. Founded by the great Pakistani philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi in 1951, it has become a leading provider of various facilities and is one of the largest ambulance services in the world, with more than 1800 vehicles stationed across the country. Their exemplary services are extended to providing foster homes for the abandoned and orphans and caring for those rejected by society, including those suffering from mental disorders. The mobile dispensaries of the Edhi Foundation also provide free medicines and supplies to those in need.
Talking about organizations that cater to specific individual needs, Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital, SIUT, and The Indus Hospital, are few of the leading providers of services that target deserving individuals with particular disorders. Cancer is one of the most widespread diseases in the country, and SKMCH is an institution that looks after the patients and provides modern therapies and consultation of experienced healthcare professionals. It runs through donations and funds generated through campaigns and with the help of committed donors. The Trust has established several centers around the country that work to diagnose and treat patients and also raise awareness through special programs. The Indus Hospital initially set up as a provider of tertiary care with 150 beds, has now grown into an extensive network. The not-for-profit entity is managed through donations and Zakat and seeks to serve the underprivileged members of the community without any discrimination. There are also centers for blood transfusion for patients with life threatening diseases like Thalassemia around the country that provide services in affordable amounts.
A call for donations for the treatment of cancer patients. Philanthropic efforts for providing healthcare services by SKMCH and other similar organizations are worth appreciating.
As mentioned before, these efforts are not just based on or work through secondary institutions. With fast online applications, many people are quick to post and call for help on social media platforms. From groups of transplant services updates to pages that feature lists and needs of those seeking help, these platforms play a significant role in propelling the movement and getting the word out. Now, with a WhatsApp status, it can take less than a minute to get collections for a deserving person, and those having influence are able to generate an even bigger impact.
There are still many people who are skeptical of the role philanthropy plays in the healthcare system. Transparency is an essential element that needs to be strengthened, and lack of it is the reason for casting clouds of doubts. Still, the confidence is somewhat there as the groups continue to use any help and assistance provided, and organizations are running well using charitable investments. The impact they generate helps in increasing visibility and encouraging others to do the same.
The allocation of GDP to the health sector is less than 1 percent. It shows that when the incentives by the government are so scant and almost non-existent, it is up to philanthropic efforts to help stabilize the troubled system and provide accessible services in rural and urban areas. The role they play is enormous and must be appreciated, but there is a long way to go. It also does not mean that the local systems should be ignored. Standards of health need to be raised sufficiently in order to compensate portions of these diverse groups and communities.
The fundamental human right to healthcare is meant for every individual regardless of their backgrounds and income group. We have seen committed groups springing up over the years to support at-risk groups who are left on their own. Life-saving surgeries and alleviation of miseries are just some of the contributions they made and are making. Disparities in the healthcare system of Pakistan need to be addressed urgently. Until then, we should continue to support as much as we can and keep encouraging the positive attitudes that can, among other things, give someone a second chance to live.
