In the past decade, Artificial Intelligence has revolutionized the digital world in marvelous ways. Almost every smart appliance uses AI in one way or the other making human life easier and more joyful.
Worldwide
spending on artificial intelligence (AI) systems is forecast to reach
$35.8 billion in 2019, an increase of 44% over 2018, and to more than
double to $79.2 billion in 2022 (IDC). Apple, IBM, Facebook, Google, Amazon are
undoubtedly the heavy investors of this year again.
Every
year the world witnesses some huge breakthroughs in AI, unleashing the
potential of AI in the digital world and setting new benchmarks for the
following year. This year was no different in this regard and we have seen some
stunning technology making its way to the digital world.
Some of the jaw-dropping technologies of 2019 you don’t want to miss are:
Generative Adversarial Network (GAN)
GAN is a deep neural net architecture that can learn to mimic any distribution of data. It is known as the robot artist that can generate artificial pieces of art, music, speech or prose by impersonating the real data.
GAN generates realistic human faces. Source:smart2Zero
In May 2019, Samsung used a GAN based system to produce a full-motion video from a single picture. Researchers in Samsung’s AI lab used it to animate Britney Spears, Neil Patrick Harris, Marilyn Monroe, even the Mona Lisa herself.
GUAGAN is another interesting GAN model of this
year, that turns doodle and sketches into stunning photorealistic landscapes.
GAN is one of the greatest breakthroughs for AI this year because of its huge potential. It can be used to generate high-resolution images, text to image synthesis and high-quality videos. It can also play a vital role in strengthening face recognition systems as it has the ability of 3D face reconstruction. GANs are also very useful in the medical field for image analysis, anomaly detection or even for the discovery of new drugs. It has also become a part of online retail sales because of its promising visual content having remarkable accuracy.
Deep Learning
Deep learning is the field of artificial intelligence where machines can learn from experience, acquire skills and do tasks that require human intelligence without the supervision of any human. Deep learning basically involves an artificial neural network algorithm inspired by the human brain.
2019 has been a year of immense growth for deep learning, as we have seen very impressive emerging technologies based on deep learning making. Generative model, reinforcement learning, algorithms used in biomedical research, advancements in Computer-Aided Drug Designing (CADD) and unsupervised text translation all are based on Deep learning.
Deep learning in AI
AI Augmentation
Augmented intelligence is the partnership model of human and AI working together to enhance the efficiency of performance. It includes learning, decision making, new experiences, and many more.
“This year we have seen artificial intelligence evolve into augmented intelligence;
a technology specifically created to assist enterprise decision-making rather
than to replace it. Augmented intelligence drives business results by
monitoring and summarizing to create intelligent insights that help surface
previously unseen issues.”
According to Gartner,
Inc. In 2021, artificial intelligence (AI)
augmentation will create $2.9 trillion of business value and 6.2 billion hours
of worker productivity globally.
Natural Language
Processing (NLP)
NLP is an important component of AI, which enables the computer program to understand the human language as it is spoken and respond intelligently in real-time. NLP is capable of interpreting free text and make it analyzable.
2019 is marked to be the gamechanger in the field of NLP by releasing BERT and ROBERT, the revolutionary model of NLP that is superlative in terms of functioning as compared to conventional NLP models, achieving state-of-the-art performance in General Language Understanding Evaluation (GLUE).
One of the major applications of the NLP model is text classification and categorization. It can also be used to classify if an email is a spam or not. BERT is also now being utilized in many conversational AI applications like a chatbot for customer support.
Reinforcement
Learning
Reinforcement learning is the training of machine learning model to make a sequence of decisions in order to chase a goal in a complex environment.
Reinforcement learning remained one of the most important domains of this year. In January 2019, Google DeepMind introduced AlphaStar- an intriguing and unorthodox AI player that played one of the most challenging real-time strategy games Star Craft II using a deep neural network based on supervised and reinforcement learning.
DeepMind AlphaStar AI beats StarCraft II pro players. Source: SlashGear
In October, DeepMind announced that AlphaStar has reached the grandmaster level and is beating 99.8% of humans including the top professional players.
Retail Vision
This year has massively revolutionized the brick and mortar store through retail vision, making it an essential part of digital enterprise transformation. Retailers are using Al enabled computer vision to speed up their business operations like data management, store security, shelf management, compliance, employee performance and also for automated payments like in AMAZON GO.
Retailors are also using computer vision for face recognition of customers and for monitoring their purchases. Retailors use these tactics to improve customer experience by offering discounts on the goods that are more likable for the customers, also to make their occasional customers their local customers and for in-store advertisements via smartphones using location data.
Face recognition is also used for sentimental analysis like when the customer is happy, frustrated or delightful and to monitor salesman and customer interaction.
QUANTUM COMPUTING
Quantum
computing has taken a quantum leap this year, having its immediate applications
in machine learning in AI. It has the capacity to perform even the tedious
tasks of AI within nanoseconds that can be achieved through traditional
methods.
Google and NASA have just announced that they
have achieved ‘quantum supremacy’. Their quantum computer solved a problem in
200 seconds that would take the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000 years.
Quantum computing as described by Google AI: “is a new paradigm that will play a big role
in accelerating tasks for AI. We want to offer researchers and developers
access to open source frameworks and computing power that can operate beyond
classical capabilities.”
Black Hole Detection
The first image of the black hole revealed to the world by Dr. Katie Bouman and a team of scientists at MIT in APRIL, was generated using a machine learning algorithm known as CHIRP (Continuous High-resolution Image)
Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm this year, it proved to be a real game-changer, bringing reality to the fantasies we have seen only in sci-fi movies. It is now intertwined in almost every aspect of our life, but we have to be considerate about the ethical dilemmas regarding AI and have to define the extent to which we wan to integrate AI in our lives before it’s too late.
It took William Herschel a lifetime to discover Uranus back in 1781. Cosmologist James Peebles and astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz took nearly 7 years discovering and confirming the existence of an exoplanet in the year 1995, for which they were awarded for the Nobel Prize for physics in 2019. But a 17-year-old just outperformed them.
Wolf Cuckier joined NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center as a summer intern under Planet Hunters TESS citizen science project. He was assigned to examine the variation in the brightness of distant stars in search for the existence of exoplanets. And guess what!! He did it in just 3 days into his internship. This was the quickest discovery of an exoplanet. What he discovered was a dip in the brightness of a Double Star system. The resulting comprehension confirms the presence of a circumbinary planet, a world orbiting two stars.
The planet, called TOI 1338 b, is around 6.9 times larger than Earth, or between the sizes of Neptune and Saturn. It lies in a system 1,300 light-years away in the constellation Pictor. The stars in the system make an eclipsing binary, which occurs when the stellar companions circle each other in our plane of view. One is about 10% more massive than our Sun, while the other is cooler, dimmer and only one-third the Sun’s mass. TOI 1338 b’s transits are irregular, between every 93 and 95 days, and vary in depth and duration thanks to the orbital motion of its stars. TESS only sees the transits crossing the larger star — the transits of the smaller star are too faint to detect. Its orbit is stable for at least the next 10 million years. The orbit’s angle to us, however, changes enough that the planet transit will cease after November 2023 and resume eight years later. (Source:NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center)
This remarkable discovery is a part of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission which started in early 2019 with a launch aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 on April 18, 2019. The mission objective is to search for planets outside of our solar system (technically called exoplanets), that can support life or have earth-like features. The mission uses transit photometry as a tool to determine the existence of such planets. In this method, the periodic variation in the brightness of the light coming from a distant star is measured to determine the presence of an exoplanet around it. The photometric signature is used to find the size, distance, orbit and relative position of the star with that of its orbiting planet.
The TESS mission has been planned to conduct this extraterrestrial search in a very systematic way. According to NASA, TESS will survey the entire sky over the course of two years by breaking it up into 26 different sectors, each by 24 degrees by 96 degrees across. The powerful cameras on the spacecraft will stare at each sector for at least 27 days, looking at the brightest stars at a two-minute cadence. From Earth, the moon occupies half a degree, which is less than 1/9,000th the size of the TESS tiles. TESS will create a catalog of about thousands of exoplanets and upon compiling the data, a ground-based analysis will be conducted in order to confirm the existence of these exoplanets.
The ground-based telescopes will collaborate with other ground-based telescopes to measure the masses of the planets. Using the known planet size, orbit and mass, TESS and ground-based follow-up will be able to determine the planets’ compositions. This will reveal whether the planets are rocky (like Earth), gas giants (like Jupiter) or something even more unusual. Additional follow-up with ground- and space-based missions, including NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, will also allow astronomers to study the atmospheres of many of these planets.
The quest for the search of extraterrestrial life has been the hottest interest of modern astronomy lovers. And this discovery by Wolf has triggered worldwide interest in ‘Exoplanet Hunting’. However, the relevance of this discovery or this very objective remains a debatable topic among scholars given the present scenario. Despite being able to find life on such a remote planet, humanity does not justify the sustenance of life on earth itself.
Pakistan as a signatory of many international conventions and agreements is under numerous obligations related to the environment. However, the environment of Pakistan is under severe crisis which is degrading in many ways at an alarming rate, for instance, water pollution and scarcity, land pollution, air pollution, soil erosion, and deforestation. These deteriorated conditions also adversely affect the lives of common masses.
According to the Ministry of Climate Change in 2015, Pakistan had only 5% of land covered with forest while at present only 2.5% of the land is left with forest. In Asia, Pakistan has the highest deforestation rate per annum. Hence, the country is under ‘Green emergency’ which needs to be addressed on an immediate basis or else, Pakistan is expected to exhaust its natural resource of forests in the next 50 years. Under consideration of these threats and to combat the effects of climate change, the current government has taken measures to meet posed challenges. Under the PTI government, a policy of reforestation is adopted. ‘10 Billion Tree Tsunami’ is a project which aims to plant about 10 billion trees within span of five years. However, among the tree saplings that are being planted the ‘eucalyptus’ tree is of great concern which is likely to lead to the situation of ‘green desertification’.
Eucalyptus is considered to be a favorable plant species in most reforestation programs due to its fast growth and adaptability. These pros are why Pakistan government is excessively using eucalyptus in its reforestation programs. However, despite the heavy pros it also carries quite many cons that significantly outweigh the pros.
Eucalyptus trees can cause trouble in the ‘10 Billion Tree Tsunami’ project.
Eucalyptus affects the soil fertility, it kills the microorganisms that are vital for biodegradation, it also ruptures the natural process of germination, oil on its leaves is highly flammable and prevents birds from building nests which in turn pose threat to biodiversity and above all the water consumption, which can deplete a country from water if it is already having acute shortage of water. These cons were not considered by the policymakers as well as their emphasis on its timber value in the reforestation program is also of great concern.
Eucalyptus plant is planted in different countries because of its commercial value. It boosts paper Pulp and Timber industries. It is not favorable for usage in Environmental reforestation policies. This plant is native to Australia where the soil is not very fertile and climate is quite harsh than Pakistan, which is suitable for its growth but its plantation in highly fertile soil can be counterproductive. Patterns of rainfall are already disturbed in Pakistan due to Global Climate Change under such circumstances eucalyptus tree will only add fuel to the fire.
If the current situation continues there is little chance of improvement and the millions of dollars and thousands of hours put into the reforestation program will all be for naught. Therefore, it must be asserted with environmental and technical considerations. In this regard model of china can be adopted which is also using eucalyptus for its afforestation program but is also taking steps to manage its impacts on biodiversity and its water consumption.
It is now essential that Pakistan start acknowledging the effects this foreign tree is causing and take immediate actions by drafting proper policies and planning to turn this situation around in its favor to provide prosper and healthy environment to its generation to come as it initially was meant to.
From
managing global supply chains to optimizing delivery routes, artificial
intelligence is helping in industries to improve productivity and capacity of
work. AI has widely influenced every facet of our daily lives to improve
efficiency and augments human capabilities. Algorithms are playing a vital role
in obtaining the optimized solution of problems. NEH (Nawaz, Enscore, Ham)
algorithm is an efficient algorithm developed in the early ’80s that works by
minimizing makespan for scheduling problems.
Today we are going to introduce with this brilliant engineer of Pakistan who developed the NEH algorithm in 1980 during his Master of Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, US, which is an essential part of almost all references or textbooks covering Scheduling topics. No graduate course on Scheduling is complete without a discussion on NEH. Furthermore, the paper covering the NEH algorithm is one of the most-cited research articles by a Pakistani, given the First or lead author was affiliated with a Pakistani institution (University college of Engineering, Taxila), as shown on the paper. Only a few research papers by Pakistani researchers as lead authors and affiliated Pakistani institutions have more than 1000 citations. A story was published by Pennsylvania State University, the US in October 2019, in their engineering news on Eng. Nawaz’s contribution to NEH algorithm advancement.
Engr Mohammad Nawaz
Mohammad Nawaz was born in Lahore completed his BSc from the University of engineering and technology, Lahore. After his Master from Pennsylvania State University, the US, he has been served in the University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila. Here are some excerpts of his conversation with our Editor-in-Chief Saadeqa Khan.
Let
us know about your academics and who inspired you the most in such an offbeat
career in early 1980?
In
my school years, the teachers who inspired me were mathematics teachers. If to
name one that influenced me the most was my year 9 & 10-grade mathematics
teacher, Mr. Sheikh Abdul Qadir, whom we used to call Baba. He had his own
notes to teach us and textbooks even he asked us not to buy books – He was a
true inspiration due to his devotion to his profession and indeed was a rare
example in the 1960s era.
Another
teacher of mine, Professor Emory Enscore of Penn State University, was the
Supervisor of my Master thesis. He was an excellent Professor and a gentleman
who showed me the real essence of academic integrity and professionalism. I
honestly give all credit for the publication of my paper to Prof Enscore.
Let
us know an event that would have proved as a turning point in your life?
During
1978-80, I was a Graduate student at Pennsylvania State University, USA. As
part of my M.Eng degree, in addition to other courses, I was supposed to do a
six Credits Minor Research Project or Thesis. I chose ‘Scheduling’ as my
Research field and Professor Emory Enscore Jr as my Supervisor and Professor
Inyong Ham as Second Supervisor. I had only six months to complete the research
work, write the report, and get it typed in the approved format. Two months
passed by, and I had no clear direction.
One
day, an idea sprang in my mind to solve the ‘problem’ that was completely
different than what other researchers were working on in this field. I tried
the approach on a few examples, and it worked. I shared it with Prof Enscore,
and he provided me enough computing time to prove that my ‘heuristic’ was at
least as useful as past researchers’ work. Since there were no PCs in the ’70s
or early ’80s, and we had only one big IBM mainframe in Penn State, and I had
to do all my work in the PSU Computer Centre). I did prove that my heuristic (self-programming
approach) was best to be considered for future work. I completed my research work
within three months and handed over a copy of my short thesis to Prof Enscore.
He went through and made corrections in a week or so. I got my thesis typed and
submitted for final approval. The whole process did not take more than 6
months. I got my MEng degree at the end of August 1980 and decided to go back
to Pakistan.
Just
two weeks before my departure to Pakistan, Prof Enscore asked me to write a
paper summarizing my research. He thought my work was worthy of being
considered for publication. I did whatever I could and gave a handwritten copy
of the work to him before leaving for Pakistan.
Prof
Enscore converted my work in a proper format and submitted to a research
journal. The journal sent the paper to referees for comments; the referees
asked for further analysis and evaluation of the proposed heuristic algorithm.
I was in Taxila, Pakistan, and had no computing facility to do any statistical
analysis. Prof Enscore assigned the job to another of his Master student, YB
Park analyzed and got his own MEng degree. Late 1981, Prof Enscore submitted
the paper with my algorithm, and its evaluation to Omega – The
International Journal of Management Science for publication, Omega accepted
the newspaper in July 1982 and published in January 1983.
Prof Enscore had an excellent academic of integrity when I finished my studies at Penn State University, I did not think of getting the paper published. From September 1980 to January 1983 – the paper publication date, there was not much communication between me and Prof Enscore – just a couple of letters. I’m talking about pre-email times; there were no fax machines; there were only a couple of phone lines in the Taxila campus, and because of the time difference between Taxila and Penn State, it was hard to make phone calls. Prof Enscore did all the work – putting the work in a proper format for publication, communicating with journals, asking another researcher to do further analysis, and much more. He could have put his name as the First Author, but he did not. He put my name – as the First Author, and University College of Engineering, Pakistan as my affiliation just because I was working in the College at the time.
I Salute to Emory Enscore and believe that such academic integrity is nearly impossible in Pakistan until and unless our teachers devote their life and all energies to their profession.
What
is the NEH (Nawaz Encore Ham) algorithm? How can it be useful for improved
quality solutions?
Before talking about the NEH algorithm, I would like to elaborate on a couple of simple terms for the lay-readers.
Sequencing
The
sequencing problem is a method of defining an order in which tasks to be done.
In other words, the sequencing problem involves the determination of the relative
position of tasks amongst all others. An issue may include jobs in a
manufacturing plant, aircrafts waiting for landing clearance, customer orders
in a fast-food facility, programs to be executed in a computer, loads of linen
to wash and iron in an industrial laundry, etc.
Let’s
consider this: you have two jobs, there are two possible sequences. Similarly,
if there were 3 jobs, the possible sequences would be six. And if you have 10
jobs to execute, mathematically you would have 3,628,800 (a factorial of 10)
possible sequences. Now imagine, you have 50 jobs, how many possible sequences
are there? Possibly 50 factorial.
If
all jobs are exactly the same, it does not make any difference in which
sequence you choose from. However, if each job is different, we need to determine
which the best sequence is. In the case of 2 or 3 jobs, one can quickly check
which the best out of 2 or 6 is. However, if we have 50 or 100 jobs, there is
no way to check every possible sequence to find the best one.
Flow-shop
Flow-shop is
a term used for a system where all tasks are to process on machine 1, namely
processer 1, then to machine 2 (processor 2), and so on. A simple example is, consider
an industrial laundry; where Loads of dirty linen from local hospitals, to be
washed first in a washing machine (machine 1), then go to a dryer (machine 2),
then to ironing press (machine 3). The sequence of loads remains on all
machines.
If
one keeps the same sequence of all works on every machine, the problem becomes
a bit simpler; this problem is called Permutation Flow-Shop Problem
(PFSP).
Scheduling
Scheduling is just a timetable indicating the start and finish of any job on any machine or conversely, the beginning of the first job on the first machine which will end up the last job on the last machine.
For
researchers or practitioners, the question is which sequence is the best out of
many possible ones. But before this, one must decide what criterion is to be
used to judge if the selected sequence is the best. One criterion used
for PFSP (easiest flow-shop) is the Minimization of
Makespan – the time between the starting of the first job on the first
machine and finishing the last job on the last machine.
Now back to your question, Johnson SM (1954) developed an algorithm to find the optimal solution for the PFSP for any number of jobs, but only for 2 machines (3 machines only as a special case). Theoretically, one can find the optimal sequence for any number of jobs and any number of machines, but for a larger number of jobs and machines, the time required to get optimal is prohibitive.
NEH (Nawaz, Enscore, Ham) is a heuristic algorithm to find a sequence of jobs to Minimize the Makespan for a PFSP for any number of jobs and any number of machines. The NEH algorithm gives a very quick and good solution. The algorithm uses a simple strategy to evaluate only a small number of sequences to get a better solution. For example, if we have 10 jobs, to process on any number of machines, the algorithm evaluates only 55 sequences. The algorithm does not guarantee optimal but gives an excellent sequence most of the time. Many researchers have dissected the working of this simple algorithm, analyzed its results, and found it be one of the best. The algorithm is straightforward; it needs only a few lines of coding.
NEH and your name are well-known in the decision Sciences or Scheduling field, but I could not find an academic article/ research or a simple blog about your work in Pakistani publications. How can we popularize scientific research and breakthrough news in our media?
I
would like to make it clear that the NEH algorithm is ‘older enough; however,
my paper’s citations and NEH’s applications are increasing with time. One can
check Google
Scholar and Scopus for its
citations.
In
general, a lot of research is being done in the scheduling field in many
institutions around the world; for the last 10 years, most papers are from
China. Interestingly, many researchers from Iran are publishing excellent
articles in reputable journals in the field too. One can see NEH’s applications
in those papers.
I
have seen a few outstanding papers in international journals by Pakistani
researchers referring to my algorithm. Almost all these papers by Pakistani
researchers are in collaboration with Chinese academic institutions.
How
to popularize scientific research and breakthrough news in media? People like
to read stories or articles or watch a program only of their interest. For the
average person, the new medicine is a news, and average (popular) media gives
coverage of this. Even in this case, the benefits of modern medicine would be
given in detail, but there could be no mention of a scientist(s) or
researcher(s) who developed the drug.
On the other hand, if someone develops a new variety of wheat, it would not make a news item in the popular media at all. Then what can we do? Here are a few suggestions:
Pakistan needs more science magazines like your Scientia Pakistan, Spectra, and Global science along with skilled scientist journalists who can write articles acceptable to news outlets such as DAWN or Tribune. Not everybody would read those articles, but a specific intellectual circle is really interested in topics.
Pakistani scientists, engineers, mathematicians, researchers, and most importantly, academics should visit institutions other than their own to present their research works. HEC, NSF, and similar organizations should support this type of program.
Students of M.Sc, M Phil and Ph.D., should be asked to visit Degree and Intermediate Colleges to show Pakistani researchers’ works.
College Principals and School Heads should be ‘trained’ to popularize science in their institutions.
Trainees in Teaching Training College should be coached on how to get Pakistani scientists or researchers’ success stories and then pass on to students and media.
How
much further study and improvements have been done in the NEH algorithm since
1983 when you developed it?
The
NEH was devised to minimize makespan; however, its concept has been
used to solve other related PFSP problems like minimization
of average flow- time; this is the amount of time machine takes to process
all the steps include wait or a rework. A number of researchers have also
developed many variants of NEH to tackle different problems. Like, in 1990,
Eric Taillard, did not change my algorithm but suggested improvement to cut
down its computing time. Some researchers call this the Taillard’s accelerated
NEH.
You developed the NEH algorithm as a part of your Master of Engineering program at Pennsylvania State University, US, in 1980. Let us know about its importance in academics?
The
NEH algorithm is in almost all references or textbooks covering Scheduling
topics. No graduate course on Scheduling is complete without a discussion on
NEH.
The
PSU, the US, has recently published a story on the NEH algorithm in its yearly
magazine as a highly cited publication in Omega. How do you feel about such a significant
achievement?
The
paper covering the NEH algorithm is one of the most-cited research articles by a
Pakistani, given the First or lead author was affiliated with a Pakistani
institution, as shown in the paper. Only a few research papers by Pakistani
researchers as lead authors and affiliated Pakistani institutions have more
than 1000 citations.
How
do I feel myself? Well, I usually see two or three citations every week, and
sometimes a new article with NEH in the title, I feel content and pleasure that
my contribution to the scheduling field is worthwhile. But I equally ponder
why? I’m not a hardworking person, I’m not a good researcher/writer; the answer
comes – Sometimes Allah gives you than what you deserve.
Below
is the story published in PSU Engineering News:
Let
us know about some NEH algorithm applications in non-manufacturing disciplines?
An
important example of NEH algorithm applications in non-manufacturing
disciplines is as under.
Search for missing Tourist
In recent years, there have been overwhelming incidents of missing tourists around the world. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has significantly improved the performance of search and rescue operations. However, planning the search paths of UAVs can be a highly complex optimization problem, and one of the most challenging tasks in the problem formulation is the estimation of target location probability distribution over time. This method presents a UAV, s solution to search for missing tourists, and also proposed estimation of tourist location probabilities which change with topographic features, weather conditions, and time.
A couple of other useful applications of the NEH algorithm is Primitive matching in World Wide Web searching and energy-efficient real-time computing.
Google
has recently announced breakthrough research on Quantum computing, which
enables new generation computers to work on the fastest speed. What do you
think Super AI will be beneficial or harmful for humankind?
AI is beneficial for humankind, but ONLY if it is used for good causes. The AI is a technology, its benefits or harms depend on its users, just like nuclear technology that can be applied to cure deceased, or to generate electricity for lighting homes, and the same technology can be used to kill thousands of people in minutes.
Every year in science, there are new advancements and
researches based upon the previous ones. The science world keeps molding its
facts and figures with new experiments and techniques in order to dig deeper
into the working of life, chemistry, physics and how their principles work.
Scientists are a group of humans who work tirelessly around the clock in order
to achieve something big.
The scientific field of food and nutrition interprets the interaction of nutrients and other substances in our food in relation to maintenance, growth, reproduction, health, and diseases of an organism. It basically includes food intake, absorption, assimilation, biosynthesis, catabolism, and excretion.
I think the most interesting topic for gossip and chitchat is what we eat, what others eat, and how it affects our mood and body. Meetings, events, and plans all circulate around a common question; what’ll be the menu? When students are free from classes in educational institutes, they head straight to the cafeteria thinking, what should we eat today? When tea break time arrives, the decision of whether you should have a hot samosa or a creamy pastry with your cup is an important one to ponder upon. Even when you get up in the morning, the first thing you want is a nice cup of tea or the aroma of an egg sizzling. Let’s face it, one corner of most of our minds daydream or unconsciously think about foods and cravings.
On average, people may spend from 40 minutes to an hour of their day thinking about food, and it goes without surprise that chocolate is the most popular food to be thought of. While each of us has developed our tastes and preferences in the department of munching, little thought is devoted to our health. Is your daily food intake fulfilling the requirements of your body? Do you eat junk food on a daily basis? What about fast food? Fried food? Sugary ones? Fizzy drinks? How many glasses of water do you drink? Do you examine food labels and ingredients before you buy a pack of food? Are salad and fruits important for you? Do you eat red meat? What new diet trends are common in society for keeping yourself trimmed, and are they effective?
Let’s look at some of the latest research and
findings in nutrition during the year of 2019.
1. Unhealthy habits can start young; Infants, toddlers, and added sugars. (Elsevier,14 November 2019)
It is usually believed that little babies should be given more sugar. It is added to their milk, baby food, etc. this makes them develop a sweet tooth from a very early age. Eating sweet foods can be bad for the teeth as well as increasing the likeliness for obesity. Little kids are always happy for sweets, chocolates, sugary cereals, and sandwich spreads, etc or want to eat boiled rice or milk with sugar as well. Mothers in Pakistan are happy to feed their kids with Ghee and sugar etc, believing that they are providing them with a healthy diet. This is utterly incorrect. A child needs to develop all the tastes from an appropriate age and eat a balanced diet of whole grains, meats, vegetables, etc along with sweet dishes. Also, since sugars are merely carbohydrates, children need a colorful diet with vitamins, minerals, etc which helps in their proper development. The main point to note here is that the present sugars in food are enough for a child. The extra ones added to ‘fatten’ him up will not be beneficial at all in the long run.
2. Micro-particles could help fight malnutrition. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 13 November 2019)
According to this research, staple food fortification
has become much easier and efficient. The micro-particles are made from a
biocompatible polymer that protects the nutrients from degrading during
cooking. This new strategy makes it easier to fortify foods with vitamin A and
Iron. According to a clinical trial that followed, it was shown that women who
ate bread fortified with encapsulated iron were able to absorb it from the
food, thus proving its compatibility. Fortified food is a better and more
economical option than dietary supplements and neutraceuticals.
3. Food comas and long-term memories: New research points to an appetizing connection. ( New York University, 10 October 2019.)
Food comas refer to the periods of rest observed after eating. Neuroscientists have linked these with the formation of long-term memories in humans. After the intake of a hefty amount of calories, we start to feel drowsy. This helps us to form a long-term memory of the flavor of the food. Insulin and the insulin-like growth receptor II help in redistributing the energy away from active behavior to the storage of both nutrients and memory. That is why it is important to not busy yourself immediately, both mentally and physically, right after a meal.
4. No need to cut down red and processed meat for health reasons, controversial findings suggest. (McMaster University 30 September 2019)
Well, this one is a huge surprise. I’ve heard so many doctors and nutritionists highlighting the link of red meat with cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure and even cancer that I had to read the heading twice just to make sure. Yes, the heading does mention a controversy, but it is still quite unbelievable that a paper could be published in favor of red and processed meat. The main point discussed here is that five systematic reviews by McMaster and Dalhousie researchers show that cutting back has a little positive impact on health. According to the professors, their studies were contrary to previous ones and no link was established between coronary disease or cancer and consuming red meat. Meat-lovers, dig in!
5. What and how much we eat might change our internal clocks and hormone responses (Helmholtz Zentrum Munich- German Research Center for Environmental Health. November 8, 2019)
Such research has been carried out for the first time, showing how glucocorticoid hormones e.g. cortisol control sugar and fat levels differently during the day and night, while feeding and fasting, rest and activity, over the course of 24 hours.
Each cell in the human body is driven by the circadian rhythm of 24 hours. It is synchronized with the natural cycle of day and night mainly by sunlight, but also through social habits. In a healthy system, glucocorticoid stress hormones are produced every morning by the adrenal gland. The secretion reaches a peak before awakening and propels the body to use fatty acids and energy sources for the day’s activities. When this rhythm is disturbed due to nightshifts, jetlags, etc, metabolic dysregulation like obesity and type2 diabetes, etc prevail.
The knowledge of the action of these hormones can be used to understand their anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties. They can be synthesized artificially and administered in patients with diabetes, obesity and liver disorders. A link can be developed between lifestyle, hormones and physiology and adaptation to a good routine can be encouraged with strong evidence. Chronomedicine explores the interaction between biological rhythms, medicine, and drugs.
6. Individuals with obesity get more satisfaction from their food
(Elsevier, July 30, 2019)
We can all relate. It’s usually the chubby ones who enjoy every morsel of their food and describe it as scrumptious, finger-licking good and indulge in its flavor and aroma. Even in all the movies and cartoons, the fat characters are shown to be the foodies e.g. Homer Simpson, Joey Tribbiani, Fred Flintstone, Pumbaa, Garfield, Winnie the Pooh, Fuzzy Lumpkins, etc.
A new study found no significant difference in taste perceptions between participants of normal weight and those who were overweight. However, obese ones had higher initial taste perceptions, and this may explain why some people eat more than others. People who are foodies actually have good feelings and pleasure associated with foods and are eager to try more tastes and eat more to attain the satisfaction that they crave for.
7. Seeing greenery linked to less intense and frequent unhealthy cravings.
(University of Plymouth, July 12, 2019)
This study is the first to demonstrate that passive exposure to nearby green-space is linked to both lower frequencies and strengths of craving. It supports the fact that greeneries be preserved and that eating in a peaceful, natural environment induces the brain to calm down and think about similar natural foods. No wonder expensive restaurants have outdoor fancy lawns and captivating raw salads and fruit drinks on their menus. Cravings for alcohol, sugary bakery items, cigarettes, etc decrease when sitting in a natural environment compared to a hotel crammed with loud music and a zillion people or a fast food outlet teeming with loud mobs. So next time you want to plan an outing, make some cold sandwiches and a nice salad and head to the park! I’m sure that’ll be light on your pocket too, along with your health!
8. It’s OK to indulge once in a while, study suggests: The body adapts to occasional short-term overeating. ( American Physiological Society April 25, 2019)
A smile is surely evident on the reader’s face upon reading this title! Yes, it sure does make everyone happy. Who doesn’t want a nice sweet bite here and there, or an ooey-gooey, cheesy one? Even the strictest of nutritionists allow a cheat day a week, because, yes, our body deserves a break once in a while too. Always worrying about dieting and weight control may affect our mood and body. Our body understands us and covers up our little bouts of snacking once in a while. If within a limit and not too frequent, these itsy bitsy trips down snack lane don’t hurt us at all!
9. The heart ‘talks’ to fat cells. (Temple University Health System. May 9, 2019)
Interesting, isn’t it? And cute, too. To imagine that the tiny cells of our body chitchat with each other in order to pass messages and perform functions. After all, all the cells of our body do reside next to each other in a community. Communication is rudimentary. So, what sacred message does Mr. Heart send to Mr. Fatty?
The senior investigator leading this research, Walter J. Koch, says that this is the first study to provide evidence of crosstalk between the heart and fat tissue that is regulated by the enzyme GRK2. The heart relies on GRK2 to relay information to fat cells regarding metabolism. It directs them on how and where to accumulate in the body and how to act in different body conditions.
10. Only-children are more likely to be obese than children with siblings. (Elsevier, November 6, 2019)
Now, this was quite an unexpected finding! The main point in this study was that families with multiple children tend to make more healthy eating decisions than families with a single child. Researchers also noted that mothers of singletons were obese themselves as well.
As to the conclusions, scientists were confused. Having siblings and eating with them leads to less intake than when a single child sits all alone. Social and domestic factors do also play a part in the food intake of a family. More surveys need to be done in this case to establish a link between eating habits and the no. of family members.
More similar researches regarding advances in Nutrition science research can be found on sciencedaily.com!
2020 brought with it the first Wolf Moon of the decade. The full moon was apparent in the sky in a penumbral lunar eclipse, with one side showing the outer edge of the shadow of the Earth. This phenomenon was visible to skywatchers at night on January 10th and 11th across Europe Asia, Europe, and Africa. Four more lunar eclipses are expected in 2020.
The next month’s full moon will be on February 9th and will be called the “Snow Moon”.
Images below show what the wolf moon looked like.
Full moon during the penumbral lunar eclipse over Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Jan. 11, 2020. Earth’s shadow can be seen on the top left. (Image credit: Chamila Karunarathne/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Progression of the partial lunar eclipse in Ankara, Turkey. (Image credit: Ali Balikci/Anadolu Agency/Getty)
A Full Wolf Moon can be seen rising over the horizon at the beach in Malaga, Spain. (Image credit: Jesus Merida/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty)
A beautiful image captured in Kuratica, Macedonia. (Image credit: StojanStojanovski)
Astronomy Events Coming Up Soon
2020 has started and brought many exciting events for astronomy lovers who long to gaze up at the skies and witness the celestial marvels. Here are some of the events coming up soon.
Back in the 1900s, 20,000 camels were specially imported to Australia from the Indian subcontinent, and since then they have become feral, which means that they have become wild and uncontrollable after escape from domestication. The population of camels doubles every 10 years.
The camels have somewhat become a huge problem for locals as they freely roam the streets searching for water. They have damaged walls and houses in order to grab a sip from people’s air coolers or supplies of domestic animals. The locals fear the safety of their children. The scene is pretty much like gangsters basking the streets looking for victims to bully, only this time they are camels!
Australia
has faced drought for several years and the struggles were multiplied with the
recent bushfires and the vast destruction they caused. And since the climate
keeps getting warmer thanks to global warming, the future scares Australia with
further bushfires.
Camels also release huge amounts of methane gas, which adds up to the troublesome greenhouse effect. All these problems caused by the camels have forced the authorities to take action.
The camels have somewhat become a huge problem for locals as they freely roam the streets searching for water.
From Wednesday, a five-day program has begun in which sniper fire from helicopters is used to finish off the animals. The exercise is precisely taking place in Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in the south of Australia and up to 10,000 camels have been rounded up. Aerial marksmen riding in two Robinson R44 four-seat light helicopters are culling the animals and their carcasses will be burnt.
CONCERNS
Isn’t this
two-faced approach to animals unfair? On one side, koalas are being cuddled and
given water while on the other side, these camels are being shot down? If they
were once imported, surely they can be exported rather than being finished off?
The people of APY used to sell these camels first, but now that they can’t
afford to keep them, tame them and care for them so they have agreed to have
them shot? Also, if they release harmful gases, is burning their carcasses
expected to release heavenly perfumes? Surely the authorities who have allowed
this inhumane mass massacre of innocent wildlife could come up with better
solutions for the camels’ feral behavior.
The Indus Valley is indeed a historical treasure, located in Pakistan and northeast India. In this valley, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are two of the spectacular and immensely crucial cities to be unearthed by archaeologists. Harappa is thought to have supported a population of 50,000 in its time, which is about five times more than the population of towns and villages scattered around it. These cities have been planned very carefully, keeping the urban criteria in mind. In their time, they were based on an intertwined network of streets and alleys with magnificent city walls, warehouses for food storage, and the world’s first sanitation system. The houses were equipped with all the possible luxurious quarters like courtyards, cooking and resting areas, second stories, etc.
Scientists have discovered a beautiful collection of carved stone seals, minuscule figurines, pretty beads and various cooking utensils made of clay, gold, ivory, copper, and glass and embellished with precious stones. It seems to be evident that several pairs of skillful hands resided in or near these districts.
Seals recovered from the Indus Valley had images of animals
The Seals
These tiny beauties were first carved from stone and then fired to increase their durability. 3500 of these have been so far found, with the most typical shape being a square along the top, an animal at the center and other symbols at the bottom. The animals include rhinos, elephants, bulls, and unicorns. The back of the seal has a projection for gripping, as well as a hole so as to carry around the neck.
Early writing?
The top of the seals bears a few symbols, which most probably must be in the language of the valley. We can predict so because identical symbols have also been found on other objects, pots, etc. The styles of writing of the time can be observed from these texts, but the script itself remains to be deciphered. These scripts may be business transactions or trading records for all we know.
Indus civilization seal at the Indian Museum
What might the seals indicate about trading?
Since they were used to close jars and be imprinted on fabrics, these seals may be used as tags. Indus Valley seals have been found in cities of Central Asia and the coast of the Arabian Peninsula, indicating that they were placed on the exported goods. A large number were also discovered in a city in India. Mesopotamian written records also found confirm trade with the Indus. We can conclude that the Indus Valley was a substantial part of an extensive and long-distance trading network.
In northeast China’s Jilin Province, the residents living in Fuyu were treated to a rare phenomenon in the sky on the last day of 2019, known as the “Sun Dog.”
Approximately at 8 a.m., there was the appearance of two bright glowing spots on both the left and right side of the sun. The ones that were additional, were bigger than the actual one in the middle. This mindblowing phenomenon lasted for around 20 minutes.
This atmospheric optical beauty occurs on either side of the Sun within a 22-degree halo. It is caused by the refraction of the sunlight by the ice crystals that are present in the atmosphere that act as prisms, and hence the sun dog occurs in cold areas.
This photo, captured by an eye witness, shows the two extra suns on either side of the actual visible in the Chinese city of Khorgas.
Sun dog occurs on either side of the Sun within a 22-degree halo.
Sun dogs observed in Fargo
In China, this rare sky wonder went viral and users shared their pictures on social media and marveled at the beautiful halos. In old times, the sun dogs were labeled as a bad omen and people associated them with wars and other awful things. But that mindset changed in 1461 when three suns shine in the sky before a major battle during the War of the Roses and were pointed to as the three sons of the Duke of York, who were ultimately victorious.
Mars has been mankind’s wonderland since the very advent of a scientific revolution. With the advancement in technology, we have been able to delayer the mysteries posed by the red planet. Various exploration missions by NASA and other world-class agencies have documented many facts and events occurring on the planet. Highly advanced rovers like Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity have roamed miles on the Martian terrains and have telecasted a spectrum of data revealing the topography, weather, atmospheric configuration, etc.
All this data has led us to a more evident knowledge of the red planet. The frequent events recorded on the planet cast a pattern and help us develop a sound understanding of Martian nature. Earth-dwellers are fascinated by the composition & nature of Mars and the possibility of the existence of life for Mars’ surprising similarity with the earth. One such event is the Martian ‘Earthquakes’, better termed as ‘Marsquakes.’
Mars – Seismic wave simulation (artist concept; 2019)
Tremors have earlier been detected on Moons and even Venus, but on Mars, despite being somewhat similar to Earth in lithospheric composition, they are seldom to be felt. Marsquakes occur once in a million years or so. Mars, we can say, has a reputation of being seismically inactive. The real estate builders may find this as an excellent future possibility on Mars! But, to their hard luck, recent seismic activity has been detected on Mars by NASA’s InSight lander on 6 April 2019. According to NASA, the lander’s seismometer detected three distinct kinds of sounds.
While three more shocks were recorded on 14 March, 10 April, and 11 April, respectively but the signals were weaker and more ambiguous in origin, making it difficult to determine their cause. This historical event follows a long-time attempt to detect any seismic movement on the planet since 1975, Viking Mission. Below is the recorded audio of the marsquakes ( Source NASA).
InSight’s seismometer, SEIS, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, is around a dome-shaped instrument that stands on the planet’s surface and records the “pulse” or seismic vibrations inside. This is much like a Doctor’s stethoscope used to measure heartbeats. The device craves any pulse, or wave or even meteorite thumps with substantial sensitivity and can detect surface movements even smaller than a Hydrogen atom. It houses several sensors inside a 3 Liter volume vacuum chamber that runs on up to 8.5 W power and returns 38 Megabits of data every day.
The SEIS depends on the waves that can travel to long distances inside the planet and even get altered due to various materials on the way. This helps me understand the detail of the internal structure of mars. Scientists believe that the area up to 1000-2000 Km around the SEIS experienced quakes 1-10 million years ago. That’s recent for a planet. Mars has several evidence that mark various gigantic movements caused by volcanic eruptions like Olympus Mons (the highest volcanic peak in the solar system) or Elysium Mons and tectonic cracks like the iconic 4,000 km (2,500 mi) long canyon system, Valles Marineris, which was supposed to be the remnant of an ancient strike-slip fault of the planet.
Cut Away Section of SEIS, uses for the detection of marsquakes
That historical discovery brought relief to the scientific community, has been working on this project for a decade. Upon finding, scientists at NASA have expressed their excitement, saying, “InSight’s first readings carry on the science that began with NASA’s Apollo missions,” as told by the InSight Principal Investigator Bruce Banerdt of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. “We’ve been collecting background noise up until now, but this first event officially kicks off a new field: Martian seismology!” he added. We believe science has all the answers to our questions. All it requires is a quest from us. We do worship Earth as our mother, but deep inside, we still are obsessed with Mars. Aren’t we?
