Aristotle once said, “The True end of a tragedy is to purify the passion.” Perhaps that’s the best way to describe the life of Dr. Abdul Salam. The makers of Salam – The First ****** Nobel Laureate indulge the audiences in the extraordinary life of the boy who was born without even ordinary privileges.
The documentary starts with the childhood stories of Dr. Salam. How his work ethic was build and the struggle his family goes through to nurture the genius. I especially like the part where audiences were told how his parents identified the intellect inside him and gave him privileged treatment within the family, given the financial constraints. In our childhood, we heard these sorts of stories for foreign scientists, but, regrettably, we have buried the same of our own.
Conventional isn’t the word associated with Dr. Salam, the documentary showcased interviews of his students and colleagues who believe his mind is always exploding with ideas. Though 90% of them are full of non-sense, the remaining 10% is worth winning a Nobel Prize. An exciting incident on that matter was also recorded when Salam sent a scientific paper to famous physicist Wolfgang Pauli which he declared absurd and dismissed it completely. Later, two physicists published the same idea and won the Nobel Prize for it. Salam obviously disappointed took it comically and always advised his student to “Never listen to grand old men.” Wolfgang Pauli later did apologize to Salam, and it all becomes a history.
The documentary also shares some personal stories of the Laureate
Eventually, he received Nobel Prize in 1979 for his theory in the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles along with two other scientists. He was an advisor to the Ministry of Science from 1960 till 1974. It was quite surprising to know about his contributions to laying groundworks for the program that build up and lead to the attainment of nuclear deterrence of Pakistan. It is quite unfortunate that such notable work has been systematically removed from the books of history.
A strong force invoked when a populist leader, Z. A Bhutto in a constitutional amendment declared Ahmadiyya’s non-muslims. Later on, Gen. Zia also passed the legislation on that amendment. It was he believe that whole Ahmadiyya’s community had been downgraded to 2nd level citizens at once. This impacted him to the core, and he was pushed to part his ways from the government in 1974. The environment in Pakistan had isolated him and made him moved abroad permanently.
Dr. Salam Founded the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Italy in 1964, He devoted his later life for the development of the ICTP. His passion for Pakistan was no secret, and according to his son, a handful of government officials stayed in touch discreetly with Dr. Salam. Later on, after his Nobel Prize achievement, the Government of Pakistan awarded him the highest Civilian award in his recognition. This reflects the bigotry and hypocrisy of our leaders how distinguished scientist from Pakistan was treated due to intolerance and religious extremism.
A close-up shot of Salam’s tombstone
Abdul Salam remained the champion of science and was the protagonist in the story of theoretical and particle physics. It is a matter of great disenchantment of how his intellectual contributions were made controversial due to his religious belief and presented him as an antagonist to the nation of Pakistan. This is very well elaborated through facts in this documentary, and all praise goes to the makers for portraying it to precision.
I think the only criticism goes to this documentary is I expect more from it on the scientific part, I wish there were more on how his contributions help the scientific community. There is also rather some debatable choice of religious extremism incidents portrayed, which I feel is twisted in reflecting an accurate background of extremism in Pakistan.
All in all, it was a well-rounded documentary that helps us understand why we need to cherish our heroes instead of abandoning them. To this day, I can say this is the most comprehensive documentation of Salam’s life and his passion for the people of Pakistan.
Stephen Hawking, one of the most accomplished scientists of our time for whom we don’t need to scroll social media or follow science news. But what made him the scientists of the twentieth century? His scientific discoveries on the black holes and parallel universes, his dozens of books on challenging scientific topics, or his inspiration for millions of differentially abled people around the globe?
Hawking’s life was a juxtaposition of sparkling intellect and a deceased body. He was like a testament that “disability is not inability” and that differentially abled people could get anything once they hook to. Stephen Hawking caught by a debilitating motor neuron decease at the age of 21, gradually his nerve cease functioning, and he was trapped in the body, but his mind was fully active and functionally till his date on 14th March 2018. He lived around 50 years more as was early diagnosed and estimated by his doctors that he can live only two or three years. Later, Hawking was entirely dependent on a team and electric chair with a speech synthesizer to communicate to the world outside.
One of his significant contributions merely is being visible when the voice of differentially abled persons were missing in popular culture. Despite his severe disability, he made appearances in popular science shows like Star Trek and Big Bang theory, his life dramatized in “Theory of Everything,” a movie based on real-life events and his relationship with his first wife, Jane Hawking. He breathed fully and was an incredible exemplar of there being no boundary to human endeavor.
Thomas Eddison was the greatest inventor of his time. He is well-known as the ” father of electricity,” caught by the fever that ended on complete deafness of both ears. Eddison converted his medical condition into his greatest strength. He believed that his mostly silent existence helps him to wholly absorbed in his research with no external distraction.
Einstein, the genius of all time, suffered a learning disability, and could not speak appropriately until age four. In school, Einstein was often confronted by his teachers for his inability to grasp the concept. It is widely considered that he suffered through dyslexia. Alone, Einstein, and Stephen Hawking, and Eddison are enough to show that ” Physics is the heritage of the disabled.”
There remains an extensive list of scientists with disabilities includes Gustav Kirchoff, Charles Steinmetz, Edwin Krebs, John Forbes Nash, Jr(an acclaimed mathematician), Ralph Bruan, Geerat Vermeij,Farida Bedwei, and Leonardo Da Vinci. They stand as an inspiration to those who are physically perfect but unable to show enthusiasm toward their career and life.
In the modern era, millions of other scientists have been contributing to high-level scientific research around the globe with their severe disability and health conditions. Only in the United States, half million people serving in STEM have some sort of disability. Their medical conditions challenged them to tackle scientific problems uniquely and differently.
However, scientific research is barely designed to meet the basic necessities of scientists with disabilities. This situation can be understandable in Asian and third world countries like India and Pakistan, where STEM research hardly puts in Government’s’ agenda, but the fact is that differentially abled scientists have been facing hurdles in US and European countries as well. Alone in the United States, 20 percent population and 40 percent worldwide are suffering and the countdown is intensifying each day after growing cases of mental illness.
Despite the obstacles these peoples face daily in their education, research, and career moves, they are incredibly genius, hardworking and devoted to their profession and hundreds of them have demonstrated as successful only because they have access to modern technology, emotional and institutional support, and better health facilities.
In western societies, disable persons are fully getting benefits that come from their differences even a couple of scientists with mental illness have shown that thinking differently was instrumental in playing their role as a researcher. Having said that, they were able to use their creative skills with emotional weight to make case sensitive decisions with their fragile health conditions.
There are a handful of examples in Western societies that disability cannot define a person and his capabilities. The personal problems these scientists encounter daily spur them to tackle technical issues in a novel way and they were able to play their part in making this world a better place.
The contribution of Women has grown in different fields of science, technology, and STEM. Pakistan is a developing country that is striving to accelerate its economic growth and catch up with the pace of the fast-growing economies of the region. Women are about 48.5 % of Pakistan’s total population, they have remained somewhat under-represented in most disciplines, and despite all the challenges at multiple levels, women’s contributions to science and technology are extraordinary in Pakistan. Here, we are highlighting some of the brilliant women working in STEM and making a name for Pakistan.
Tasneem Zehra
Based In Lahore, Tasneem Zehra received her early education here. At the age of 13, she sat for her O Levels privately, through the British Council and went on to take her A-Levels at the age of 15. During these years, Zehra wrote extensively. Her articles were featured in various national newspapers as well as the magazine Newsline. In 1988, she won an international essay competition held by the Children as the Peacemakers Foundation based in California, USA. In 1990, Zehra won First Prize in an essay competition held by the Pakistan Post Office and received the Boswell Medal for excellence, which is awarded to students who excel academically and are also exceptionally well-rounded.
Zehra helped establish the LUMS School of Science and Engineering
Zehra attended Kinnaird College Lahore and obtained her Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Mathematics and Physics. Later on, she attended Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad, where she earned her Master of Science (M.S.) in Physics.
Zehra’s journey got a twist when she went to Trieste, Italy, on a scholarship awarded by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) for a yearlong post-graduate degree in the field of High-Energy Physics. She completed her Ph.D. in theoretical physics and became the first Pakistani woman String Theorist. After which she went to Harvard University for a two-year-long postdoctoral research position.
Later she moved back to Pakistan and joined the LUMS as an Assistant Professor of Physics. Zehra helped establish the LUMS School of Science and Engineering and was assigned as a founding faculty member. Her academic research focuses on using 11-dimensional supergravity to arrive at a classification of the flux backgrounds that arise when M-branes wrap supersymmetric cycles.
Zehra has been an excellent writer throughout her career, and her debut novel, Only The Longest Threads (Paul Dry Books, 2014), reimagined defining moments of discovery when new scientific theories changed our understanding of the universe, and our place in it. Once she said, “Since no one comes up with better brain teasers than Nature, my love for physics was an inevitable outcome. I gravitate towards fundamental, abstract concepts, so string theory reeled me in. I was fascinated by the idea that all the rich diversity of matter and forces in our universe could be manifested by the flutters and oscillations of infinitesimal strings.”
Mobina Zafar
Mobina Zafar based in Lahore, she is SMEC Senior Programmer and was honored as Young Female Professional of the Year at the Surbana Jurong (S.J.) International Awards held in Brisbane, Australia, in December 2018. She has been working with SMEC, a member of the Surbana Jurong group of companies, since 2012. The annual S.J. International Awards recognize the most outstanding employees, projects, and innovations of the Surbana Jurong Group, which operates in more than 40 countries. From several exceptional nominees, Mobina was chosen for her technical skill, innovation, and dedication.
Mobina has been working with SMEC, a member of the Surbana Jurong group of companies, since 2012
She played a crucial role in pioneering the development of a Project Management and Monitoring Information System (PMIS) for our water resources projects here in Pakistan. Mobina raised in a family that values female education, with both parents working in Pakistan’s education sector. Her mother has worked as a secondary school principal and education development officer. Her siblings opted to study engineering and information technology, and she recalls being excited by the digital transformation from a young age.
Once Mobina said, “Information technology has changed our world, and this fascinates me! It’s why I chose to do my graduate degree in Computer Sciences and later completed a Master of Science in Software Engineering.” Training to be a female programmer in a traditionally male-dominated industry has not been without its challenges. There are specific perceived barriers for females in STEM fields, mostly based on stereotypes and cultural ethos, and She was not an exception. She accepted and overcame these challenges with the encouragement and support of her parents, husband, friends, and colleagues at SMEC. There are indeed barriers, but she feels the way to break them down is to demonstrate our true potential and quality contribution to our fields. She is keen to see more females study for and take up careers in STEM.
Mobina believed that “We should support and motivate more females in Pakistan to enter STEM fields. Information technology is such an exciting sector with tremendous opportunity for innovation and learning.”
Zartaj Waseem
Zartaj Waseem was born in Karachi and belonged to a middle-class family. Her father is a Mechanical & Electrical Engineer (retired), and she studied Science/Computer Science, and she ended up doing Software Engineering. Her favorite subject was English and Science. She didn’t like Math during her schooling, but in college, her math teachers helped her to nurture an interest in mathematics.
Zartaj founded the Robotics & STEM Studio at Haque Academy
She said, “I firmly believe that teaching strategies and engagingly imparting subject knowledge are a vital element for inspiring students. Many people have content/subject knowledge, but not all of them can teach.” Presently, Zartaj is serving as STEM Education Professional, CEO & Co-Founder of Pakistan Space Science Education Centre (PSSEC). Nahyan Farooq, Chief Design Officer (CDO), came up with the idea of introducing Space Science Education in Pakistan, and together they founded PSSEC. He confided in her capabilities to join hands with him in inspiring and educating our young generation and present them with the quality STEM Education opportunities available to the children in the developed countries.
In addition to her corporate experience in the field of I.T., Zartaj has enjoyed being in the STEM Education field since 2010. STEM Education was quite a novel idea back then, and she has always wanted to do something different, something unique, and not just follow the trends. She finds herself as more of a leader and trendsetter, somebody who confidently spearheads initiatives.
She founded the Robotics & STEM Studio at Haque Academy, followed by a leading role in establishing Pakistan’s first STEM Education organization, Robotics Labs. Becoming a coach/trainer for school kids Robotics teams and representing Pakistan at International Robotics Competitions with her team, like FIRST Lego League and Destination Imagination and as International Judge at FIRST Global.
This experience has led her to enjoy facing challenges when she tries to execute and implement a new idea. She realized that Computer Science is a very diverse field, be it in the education or the corporate sector, it gives one the autonomy and flexibility to make almost everything possible. Yet, Software Engineering is a male-dominated field. Although the team members she has worked with have always been very supportive and respectful, she realizes that people do not have enough faith in a woman’s capabilities, but Zartaj stood as a symbol that women can handle matters independently in such fields.
STEM Education has been quite a game-changer for her. She has been on a roller coaster ride all these years, struggling to strike a balance between home/family and work. At the same time, she has been blessed with opportunities that she had never thought would come her way. Her family has been quite understanding and supportive, particularly her kids. As far as where she derives inspiration from, Bill Gates has been her role model. His character trait of being innovative in ideas and introducing newer and better technology to the world has always inspired her.
“I consider barriers as challenges to overcome, just like in a game you progress by overcoming obstacles, and you keep trying until you succeed. I don’t think that these challenges are meant to stop us. I feel that barriers are there to make us change our strategy about approaching something and becoming better at it.”
Zartaj is a true inspiration for girls who dream of something big. She said, “Girls are a miraculous creation of Allah, we have a compelling role, be it at home or in the field as a professional. First of all, it is imperative to get an education, and then something that I have assimilated and found very useful is the skill of self-learning. If you are good at self-learning and you are self-motivated, you are unstoppable. Our girls should be adaptable, assertive, and committed to what they dream of achieving.”
Nargis Mawalwala
Nergis Mavalvala is a Pakistani-American astrophysicist well-known for her role in the first observation of gravitational waves back in 2015. She is the Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics and the Associate Head of the Department of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Nergis Mavalvala was born in Lahore but primarily raised in Karachi, Pakistan.
Quantum Astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala in an MIT lab (Photo by Darren McCollester/for MacArthur Foundation)
Nargis 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, she 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. Mawalwala 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.
Mawalwal 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.”
Nergis 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.”
She 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.
Hiba Rehmani
Hibah Rahmani was born in Pakistan, and her family moved to Kuwait when she was one month old. Since she was a child, she has been fascinated by the beautiful night sky. Her fondest memories are walking with her family at nights in desert and sidewalk by the Arabian Gulf, looking up at the sky to admire the moon and stars, and thinking about astronaut Neil Armstrong.
In 2008, Hiba accepted a position with NASA at KSC as an Avionics & Flight Control Engineer
It is around this time when Hiba developed a passion for space and astronomy. In 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, her family had to evacuate and then flew to Pakistan. She moved back to Kuwait with her family in 1992. Her parents always emphasized the value of high education and hard work. When she was in the 8th grade, she wished to become an engineer. After completing high school in Kuwait, Hiba moved to the USA in 1997 to pursue a B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Central Florida (UCF). This was her first time away from my family, and she had to learn how to live by herself at just 17 years old.
After graduating from UCF, she joined the Boeing Company at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) as a Systems Engineer working on International Space Station (ISS) processing. She was involved with integrated testing of the ISS components, and sometimes astronauts would stop by to either view or participate in the examination. It is during this time that she developed a strong desire to become an astronaut and started taking steps towards this goal. She obtained an M.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech while working full-time.
In 2008, Hiba accepted a position with NASA at KSC as an Avionics & Flight Control Engineer. After Kickstarted work at NASA, she felt that a bit closer to her dream to be an astronaut. Currently, she is in the Engineering and Technology Directorate, supporting the NASA Launch Services Program (LSP), working on expendable launch vehicles like Pegasus XL and Falcon 9. Hiba’s role is to provide technical expertise, follow launch vehicle testing, perform data reviews, and provide functional assessments of engineering issues. She has the privilege of working with a fantastic team.
NASA has provided her all the opportunities for professional development, and she obtained a Graduate Certificate in Space Systems Engineering from Stevens Tech and participated in the 2012 Space Studies Program offered by the International Space University. In addition to her engineering work, she often volunteers for outreach and public affairs activities because she loves to inspire others as a woman in STEM. She speaks to students at local schools about her career and has volunteered as a science fair judge. She also provides real-time updates to the NASA LSP Twitter and Facebook accounts during LSP launch countdowns when she is not directly providing engineering support for the mission itself.
She asks the youth, especially girls, to “stay focused and dream big and give up, you can achieve whatever you want if you work hard.”
Get ready stargazers! A rare meteor shower i.e. Alpha Monocerotids, is expected this week (between the nights of Nov 21-22).
The prediction has been shared by scientists from the SETI Institute and NASA’s Ames Research Center who along with other fellows calculated the estimated time and distance of the outburst. The provided time is 11:50 pm ET (or 04:50 UT) and the shower will be the brightest at 15 minutes. The total expected time is 40 minutes. The best views will be in South America, Western Europe, etc.
The first time the Alpha Monocerotids was
observed in 1925 in Virginia. Witnesses saw “three bright meteors” within a
minute and noticed and marked its location around the Orion constellation. It
was later observed in 1935 in India and almost 100 meteors were counted in a
span of around half an hour. And they have observed quite sometimes in the skies
around the world.
The original source of Alpha
Monocerotids is relatively unknown but their orbital period has been found to
be of around 600 years. It might have left a trail and some of it is thought to
be completing its first revolution around the sun.
What makes it so rare is the fact that
the torrent only goes around the orbit of the Earth sometimes and this year,
the conditions are similar to those of 1995 when it occurred, igniting hope in
scientists that maybe we can witness it in 2019 as well.
To enjoy the expected Alpha Monocerotids shower, pick out an open location where you can have a good view of the sky to increase your chances. Don’t forget to prepare for the winter breeze, if you live in an area that has welcomed the season. One might be lucky even if one doesn’t own a telescope because this expected show is so bright, there is no need for any special equipment to marvel at it.
Even after being the most efficient existing species in this world, our communication system is still not up to the mark. We face hurdles while communicating our thoughts -as simple as giving directions to someone while driving or sharing any experience, but what if we surpass this barrier where we don’t need words for effective communication, but our brain does all the work. For years, this digital medium of communication using brain was restricted to the fiction movies only but embraced yourselves, now it’s making its way to the real world.
A recent study published in Scientific Reports highlighted the work of such researchers at Washington University, who developed a device named “Brain Net,” which is “the first multi-person non-invasive direct brain-to-brain interface for collaborative problem-solving.” Brain net involves the collaboration of three human brains that communicate directly via their thought system.
It isn’t the first example of brain-to-brain communication. In 2014, a team from Spain made a setup that allowed two participants that were located 2,000 miles apart, to play a game, and the winning percentage was 80%.
For the research, led by Dr. Rajesh P.D. Rao, three participants were hooked up. Two senders with the EEG (electroencephalographs) and one receiver with TMS (transcranial magnetic simulations). EEG reads and decodes the neural activity of the sender, and TMS encodes that useful information back into the brain of the Receiver.
Linxingg Preston Jiang sets up Savannah Cassis as a sender for this experiment. (credit: Mark Stone/ U. Washington)
The team led the three people to play a Tetris-like-game, where the only sender could see the screen, and the Receiver has to play the game by interpreting the information received from the sender through TMS. For rotating a block appeared on the screen, the sender would focus on a high-frequency light source of 17hz and would stare on a low-frequency light source of 15hz, if the block didn’t need to be rotated. The Receiver would interpret what kind of light they are focusing on and would rotate the block accordingly.
Brain to brain interface
In 13 out of 16 trials, Receiver correctly rotated the block and cracked the game with 81 percent accuracy. Andrea Stocco, an assistant professor of psychology at UW, explained the experiment in a statement.
“To deliver the message to the Receiver, we used a cable that ends with a wand that looks like a tiny racket behind the Receiver’s head. This coil stimulates the part of the brain that translates signals from the eyes,” Stocco said. “We essentially ‘trick’ the neurons in the back of the brain to spread around the message that they have received signals from the eyes. Then participants have the sensation that bright arcs or objects suddenly appear in front of their eyes.”
In the second round, after the Receiver makes the decision, both the sender and receiver can see the output of the Receiver’s action, and the sender can check if the block has placed correctly; if not, Receiver has given a chance to rectify the error.
The researchers also check the sender’s learning ability to rely on a more reliable sender. They purposely tricked Receiver by flipping one of the sender’s response in 10 out of the 16 trial- so that a “Yes, rotate the block” suggestion would be given to the Receiver as “No, don’t rotate the block,” and vice versa; representing it as a bad sender. With time, the Receiver learned to rely only on the information of the excellent sender instead of being neutral.
All these results point in the direction of a progressive future where human brains can collaborate digitally for a common cause and open gate of enormous possibilities for researchers.
Future of Brain Net Technology
The neuroscientist is aiming for a future of more developed human beings who don’t need a physical medium for communication, but electrical impulses can do the work. However, the level of complexity of information is still the same binary i-e simple yes or no. Still, scientists are working towards the advancement of a system from binary to stochastic using functional MRI to deal with more complex statements.
Scientists aim to use functional MRI to deal with more complex statements
The ultimate goal of this technology is the development of “Internet of Brains that can solve a common problem,”; collaborating human brains using a social network for a common cause.
But not everyone is the advocate of this technology, as it has come with a price to be paid. We-the humans of this evolving digital era will pay this price by the trade of our privacy. This new technology will open the way to breach the data even present in one’s mind, compromising individual autonomy, which can turn into an alarming situation if not dealt properly.
Researchers must consult with the Neuroethics team first to discuss all the preventive measures that should be taken to ensure that people’s privacy is respected before introducing this technology in the market.
“But for now, this is just a baby step. Our equipment is still expensive and very bulky, and the task is a game,” Rao says. “We’re in the ‘Kitty Hawk’ days of brain interface technologies: We’re just getting off the ground.”
Now, it is time for us to decide the dimensions where we want humanity to go. Are we ready to pay such a heavy price for just a fancy way to communicate?
The same medicine may react differently to different people. Some people recover quickly while some need a bit higher dose or sometimes longer time for effective results. The reason is that medicine does not respond the same way to every individual. There are a lot of factors involved that can enhance or suppress the activity of medicine in one’s body. Sometimes the pathogens show resistance to the same medicine which means they cannot be treated with the same antibiotic for a long time, which is called Multi-Drug Resistance (MDR).
Precision medicine may be the answer
To overcome this ambiguity, scientists have come up with the idea of ‘Precision Medicine’. Which is a new field combining pharmacology (study of medicine) and genomics (study of genes and their function).
Precision medicine deals with the prescription of medicine to patients that are solely designed for one genetic group taking into account the variation in their genes, environmental factors, lifestyle, and even the normal microbial flora living inside the body.
Medicines may react differently to different people
With the evolution of this new field, it is now important to better understand and study the patient’s pharmacogenomics before prescribing any dose of medicine. The pharmacogenomics will help us understand how the genes of an individual can affect the response of a particular drug in his/her body. Studying a patient’s pharmacogenomics before prescribing any drug can help the physicians and scientists prescribe and develop more effective, precise and safe medication for each particular individual.
According to Jia Ruan, MD, Ph.D., a scientist working on precision medicine from the USA, “If we could know ahead of time, we could have the treatment designed and tailored to maximize treatment effectiveness and minimize adverse events.”
Another scientist from a leading team of scientists from the USA added: “Precision medicine means to find the root cause of each patient’s unique condition and apply the best, most precise treatment.”
Looking into the future, the precision medicine for each individual is dependent on one’s genome and a few other factors but nowadays everybody can get their sequenced genome for just $1000, which can be then followed by their own personalized pills/drugs.
SpaceX’s plans to provide global broadband service through a mega constellation of low-earth satellites successfully passed the initial steps on Nov 11 when its Falcon 9 rocket was used for the 9th time to launched 60 Starlink satellites into orbit.
The Starlink satellites, staked closely atop the veteran Falcon 9, were launched from Cape Canaveral Florida, marking the fourth time the first stage boosters, the most expensive part of the rocket, were used.
“The
Falcon has landed for the fourth time,” SpaceX Starlink engineer Lauren
Lyons, said during launch commentary. “These boosters are designed
to be used 10 times. Let’s turn it around for a fifth, guys.”
Falcon 9 and Starlink on the pad ahead of the launch
Space X is an American company that, along with other out-of-the-world endeavors, aims at providing fast internet services across the globe. SpaceX has made several attempts to launch space satellites and satellite constellations for this purpose. Starlink is a satellite constellation and it consists of many small satellites that work together to provide internet service. This satellite constellation sends signals and these signals are received by the signal receiving system present on earth.
SpaceX dedicated the flight of Falcon 9, which occurred on Veteran’s Day in the US, to the US military and war veterans. “Liftoff! With gratitude to our veterans today and always,” a SpaceX commentator said. “Go, U.S.A.!”
Other than successfully reusing the Falcon 9, SpaceX accomplished another milestone when SpaceX’s drone-ship landing platform “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Atlantic Ocean captured the first stage booster, marking the company’s 45th booster recovery.
The satellites in the launch were quite heavy, weighing almost 500 pounds and it is the heaviest payload so far
The company aims at providing faster and reliable internet access to consumers with poor or no internet access. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says that they have improved the quality and reliability of the satellites and confirmed the working of satellites by tweeting. This launch is a great achievement of the company which aimed at providing internet access to North America by 2020. According to Musk, they are one step closer to their goal of providing internet to almost all parts of the world.
One exciting feature of the launch is that it has reused fairing which was a dream of Musk and is now a reality. For the first time, Space X has reused a nose cone of the rocket.
Cameras attached to the fairing captured the moments of deploying the satellites and then return of the fairing successfully back to earth. The satellites in the launch were quite heavy, weighing almost 500 pounds and it is the heaviest payload so far. Musk says that this satellite constellation will help generate more cash for the company and labeled it a milestone moment in his pursuit of creating a city on Mars.
Pakistan has no doubt amazing potential in the
technology sector, and this just got proven at TechWomen 2019, where a team
from Pakistan, consisting solely of energetic females, was declared among the
top 5 seed-grant winners.
TechWomen is an exchange program that aims to connect, bring together and empower females that are the potential leaders of the future, especially those working in the field of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (referred to as STEM). The target regions are Africa, Middle East, Central and South Asia where such women are recognized who have big goals like helping their communities and serve as a symbol of inspiration for others. It was launched in 2011 by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is managed by the Institute of International Education.
Team Pakistan was one of the seed-grant winners at TechWomen 2019
The team from Pakistan included Asmara Rahat, Ayesha Mumtaz Khan, Farhat Yasmeen, Asna Javed, and Zeenat Anjum who work in and came from different domains such as IT and digital media. Their plan comprised of creating an online portal called Bacha-O.org which will aid in promoting the awareness of the issue of child abuse, which is a grave problem in Pakistan, and of Mera Bacha, that is an already established platform created by the government where child sexual abuse cases can be reported.
In a statement provided on the website, the team
said,” Our mission is to reduce child sexual abuse in Pakistan by raising
awareness and providing child protection tools, using a new digital platform
called Bacha-O. Our objective is to make every child safe by activating the
community and engaging all the stakeholders to reduce the number of incidents.
A recent report by the Pakistani government depicts an alarming rise in the
number of cases of child abuse. Children need a safe environment for societal growth.
Our plan is to create a portal, Bacha-O.org, to promote awareness of the issue
and of Mera Bacha, an existing government portal for reporting child sexual
abuse cases. As awareness increases, we will manufacture wristbands for child
protection, create community hubs and an AI chatbot for children, and deliver
training for parents and teachers on recognizing and reporting child abuse.”
The TechWomen community just got stronger: after an incredible five weeks of exchange and learning, our 106 Emerging Leaders are now fellows. Welcome to the powerful TechWomen alumnae community! #twimpactpic.twitter.com/I0kYiIzf02
TechWomen provides mentorship to the teams with the best pitches and especially focuses on enhancing the professional capacity and developing more interest in STEM careers. The grant helps them to apply and work on the prophets in their home countries.
Students at the Pharmaceutical University of Nanjing, East
China took these words of inspiration way too literally!
By taking different colored strains of bacteria and placing them in Petri dishes, students created microbial masterpieces for an art competition arranged in November 2018.
Taking creativity to the next level in the labs!
Now, this practice has become a whole ‘art’, where schoolchildren are introduced into the world of microorganisms in a fun and colorful way! Here are some interesting pictures which take you into a world where biology and creativity beautifully merge.
Pigmented bacterial strains are used in the process
Agar plates are used as a canvas, while pigmented or fluorescentbacteria and yeasts represent the paint. In order to preserve a piece of microbial art after a sufficient incubation, the microbe culture is sealed with epoxy.
A technique called “bacteriography” involves selectively killing certain areas of a bacterial culture with radiation, in order to produce artistic patterns. After incubation, the culture is sealed with acrylic.
One really wishes after seeing these artistic pieces
that universities in Pakistan also adopt such learning activities. It would
really help in developing students’ interest in science!
Taking agar art to the next level, successful attempts are made to create detailed portraits and sceneries.
The American Society for Microbiologists hosts an annual contest for microbial art: Agar Art. The 2015 edition covered 85 submissions, of which microbial art created by Mehmet Berkmen and Maria Peñil called Neurons won first place. They have been working together since 2011 on making bacterial art. The artwork used yellow Nesterenkonia and orange Deinococcus and Sphingomonas.
At the beginning of this decade, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took some images of the surface of the planet Saturn which showed the details of a storm. It was seen around 35 degrees north latitude of the planet and continued to rage on the months later as well. That storm was almost five hundred times larger than the previously observed storm which appeared from 2009 to 2010.
Below are some of the images of the observed storm!
As seen in December 2010
Another view of the storm
Here the evolution of the storm is depicted, which usually occurs every 30 years
In Cassini- Huygens mission, NASA JPL along with European space agency (ESA) and Italian space agency (ISA) decided to launch a probe to the planet Saturn to study its rings and natural satellites. This mission involves Cassini probe and Huygens lander, which was the largest interplanetary spacecraft the Fourth probe that reached to the Saturn was Cassini, named after Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini.
Cassini launched in October 1997 and stayed on board for more than 20 years, out of which 13 years spent in orbiting Saturn and studying the planet and its system. The spacecraft accompanied by comet rendezvous asteroid flyby (CRAF) spacecraft but due to a shortage of budgets, CRAF construction had terminated to continue the synthesis of Cassini. Main objectives of the mission include:
To determine the 3D structure and dynamic behavior of the rings of Saturn.
To determine the composition of the surfaces of the various satellite.
To measure the three-dimensional structure and dynamic behavior of the magnetosphere.
To explore the dynamic behavior of Saturn’s atmosphere at cloud level.
To Study the time variability of Titan’s clouds and hazes of planet Saturn.
