Mandarinfish

This is the Mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus), a small, brightly colored fish native to the Pacific.

domain ownership

This Post confirms my ownership of the site and that this site adheres to Google AdSense program policies and terms and conditions.

internal power

Bioinspired fibers change color when stretched

Color-tunable photonic fibers mimic the fruit of the 'bastard hogberry' plant


Cambridge, Mass. – January 28, 2013 - A team of materials scientists at Harvard University and the University of Exeter, UK, have invented a new fiber that changes color when stretched. Inspired by nature, the researchers identified and replicated the unique structural elements that create the bright iridescent blue color of a tropical plant's fruit.

The multilayered fiber, described today in the journal Advanced Materials, could lend itself to the creation of smart fabrics that visibly react to heat or pressure.

"Our new fiber is based on a structure we found in nature, and through clever engineering we've taken its capabilities a step further," says lead author Mathias Kolle, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). "The plant, of course, cannot change color. By combining its structure with an elastic material, however, we've created an artificial version that passes through a full rainbow of colors as it's stretched."

Since the evolution of the first eye on Earth more than 500 million years ago, the success of many organisms has relied upon the way they interact with light and color, making them useful models for the creation of new materials. For seeds and fruit in particular, bright color is thought to have evolved to attract the agents of seed dispersal, especially birds.

The fruit of the South American tropical plant, Margaritaria nobilis, commonly called "bastard hogberry," is an intriguing example of this adaptation. The ultra-bright blue fruit, which is low in nutritious content, mimics a more fleshy and nutritious competitor. Deceived birds eat the fruit and ultimately release its seeds over a wide geographic area.

"The fruit of this bastard hogberry plant was scientifically delightful to pick," says principal investigator Peter Vukusic, Associate Professor in Natural Photonics at the University of Exeter. "The light-manipulating architecture its surface layer presents, which has evolved to serve a specific biological function, has inspired an extremely useful and interesting technological design."







Vukusic and his collaborators at Harvard studied the structural origin of the seed's vibrant color. They discovered that the upper cells in the seed's skin contain a curved, repeating pattern, which creates color through the interference of light waves. (A similar mechanism is responsible for the bright colors of soap bubbles.) The team's analysis revealed that multiple layers of cells in the seed coat are each made up of a cylindrically layered architecture with high regularity on the nano- scale.

The team replicated the key structural elements of the fruit to create flexible, stretchable and color-changing photonic fibers using an innovative roll-up mechanism perfected in the Harvard laboratories.

"For our artificial structure, we cut down the complexity of the fruit to just its key elements," explains Kolle. "We use very thin fibers and wrap a polymer bilayer around them. That gives us the refractive index contrast, the right number of layers, and the curved, cylindrical cross-section that we need to produce these vivid colors."

The researchers say that the process could be scaled up and developed to suit industrial production.




"Our fiber-rolling technique allows the use of a wide range of materials, especially elastic ones, with the color-tuning range exceeding by an order of magnitude anything that has been reported for thermally drawn fibers," says coauthor Joanna Aizenberg, Amy Smith Berylson Professor of Materials Science at Harvard SEAS, and Kolle's adviser. Aizenberg is also Director of the Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology at Harvard and a Core Faculty Member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard.

The fibers' superior mechanical properties, combined with their demonstrated color brilliance and tunability, make them very versatile. For instance, the fibers can be wound to coat complex shapes. Because the fibers change color under strain, the technology could lend itself to smart sports textiles that change color in areas of muscle tension, or that sense when an object is placed under strain as a result of heat.

Automatic road light or Head light circuit

tiny helicopter

Do you want to obsessively share every detail of your life with everyone you know? Maybe you spend so much time playing video games that you would really just feel more comfortable having a third-person perspective on your own life? Maybe, you’re really short and just want to know what’s going on around you. Whatever the case may be, advances in technology have now brought our society to the point where you will soon be able to buy a tiny little camera-equipped robot helicopter that will automatically follow you around and film every single thing you do.

Known as the MeCam, San Francisco-based Always Innovating designed the little helicopter to aide in the ever-challenging task of taking selfies. The video recorded by the camera can be streamed live to your phone, or uploaded to various social media sites. Tech site Liliputing explains:


The camera is docked in a nano copter with 4 spinning rotors to keep it aloft. There are 14 different sensors which help the copter detect objects around it so it won’t bump into walls, people. or anything else.

Always Innovating also includes stabilization technology so that videos shouldn’t look too shaky.

The company doesn’t intend produce the helicopters but is licensing the technology behind the copter-cam to other manufacturers. Soon enough, anyone will be able to live like Beyoncé, who has a “visual director” filming her approximately 16 hours a day. Just remember—you’ll need some sort of digital archive to keep all the footage organized.

Read more: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2013/01/tiny-robot-helicopter-will-follow-you-around-filming-everything-you-do/#ixzz2JXVDsk8q
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

every kid is scientist

blood lamp

LED VOLTMETER

LED VOLTMETER-YOU CAN MAKE IT ON UR OWN

do you know?

Who is the youngest cricketer to score a century in one-day cricket.
1.Md.Ashraful
2.Imran Nazir
3. Shaid Afridi
4.Mitali raj
5.Anjum Chopra

choose answer

The kakapo

The kakapo is a strange little flightless bird native to New Zealand. Sadly there are now only 126 kakapo left in conservation areas, where they eat a range of plants. But researchers who have been studying ancient poo samples have recently found that around 900 years ago kakapo ate a lot of pollen from a root parasite known as "Hades flower". The two no longer exist in the same place and Hades flower is also rare, which begs the question - were the birds responsible for pollinating it? Further research needs to be done, but it's an interesting conservation link.

quiz

Q1. In which of the following cities, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose laid the foundation of 'Indian National Army'?
1. Singapore
2. Rangoon
3. Tokyo
4. Taiwan

ratio

what do u think the ratio of  like:comment:share  on fb??

Top 10 Most Corrupt Nations of The World

Even though corruption is present in almost all the countries in the world, it’s extremely high in some and leads to their poor economical and social conditions. This article will provide you an insight on the Top 10 most corrupt nations based on the Transparency International report.

Transparency International is a nongovernmental organization is the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption. It uses CPI (Corruption Perception Index) to rank the countries. This score reflects the perceived level of corruption for each country.

1. Somalia

Somalia has been experiencing famine, drought as well as civil unrest since long. It is estimated that more than one third of the population of this country is dependent on aid for food. Since last 20 years, there has been no stable government in this country leading to a poor economy. Its CPI rate is highest in the world measuring 1.

2. North Korea

North Korea takes the 2nd spot in our Top 10 list of least transparent countries in the world. Most of the bribes come from the refuges residing in the country. They bribe the officials for their escape. The gap margin between rich and poor is this country is exceptionally high and its CPI rating is 1.0.
3. Myanmar

Myanmar has given a CPI score of 1.5 to this country. Ruled by military, it’s always in the news because of military coups and scams. It also comes in the list of the poorest countries of Asia and has got high rate of HIV and crimes

4. Afghanistan

For the past few decades the condition of Afghanistan has turned from worse to worst. Taliban has practiced authoritarian regime in this country and there is civil unrest leading to violence as well as corruption. Intense violence has shattered the economy and CPI score of this country has been given as 1.9.

5. Uzbekistan

You cannot be a free person if you are in Uzbekistan. There are so many restrictions on assembly, speech, religion as well as press. It is an authoritarian state which is marred by corruption in almost every vertical. The transparency international report has given it a high CPI score of 1.6.

6. Turkmenistan

Social equality and corruption are biggest threat to this nation. The restriction on the press in this county is highest in the world and this has lead to a drastic increase in the corruption. It has a CPI score of 1.6.

7. Sudan

Sudan has got almost no natural resources and is one of the poorest countries in the world. The gap between rich and poor is extremely high and the infrastructure is simply not present. Even the government officials are involved in frauds and scams. It has a CPI score of 1.6.

8. Iraq

Iraq has been in a state of war since the year 2003. Even though the former dictator, Saddam Hussein was overthrown and executed and reins were transferred to a democratic Iraqi government, no major improvement in seen in this country, which has a CPI score of 1.8. The political instability has lead to poor economy and widespread corruption.

9. Haiti

Haiti has been suffering from slavery since quite some time. Ever since the forced ousting of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 20004, the country’s economic and social stability took a hit. The CPI score of Haiti is 1.8.

10. Venezuela

Even after discovery of sizeable petroleum reserves in recent years, the economic unstability of Venezuela is increasing. However, worst human right conditions and corruption are a hindrance to its developments. The CPI score is 1.9

BANKING UPDATES questions asked in interview

Bearer Cheque

When the words "or bearer" appearing on the face of the cheque are not cancelled, the cheque is called a bearer cheque. The bearer cheque is payable to the person specified therein or to any other else who presents it to the bank for payment. However, such cheques are risky, this is because if such cheques are lost, the finder of the cheque can collect payment from the bank.

Anti-Dated Cheque

If a cheque bears a date earlier than the date on which it is presented to the bank, it is called as "anti-dated cheque". Such a cheque is valid upto six months from the date of the cheque.

Post-Dated Cheque

If a cheque bears a date which is yet to come (future date) then it is known as post-dated cheque. A post dated cheque cannot be honoured earlier than the date on the cheque.

drug

A drug originally developed to treat leukaemia could also prevent asthma, surprising new research has found. The drug has been shown to trigger a protein that's suppressed by asthma, effectively treating one of the causes of the disease rather than just the symptoms.

The kitti's hog-nosed bat

The kitti's hog-nosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai), also known as the bumblebee bat is the smallest known species of mammal.

Its natural habitat is in the countries of western Thailand and southeast Burma, where it occupies limestone caves along rivers. The bat is about 29 to 33 mm (1.1 to 1.3 in) in length and 2 g (0.071 oz) in mass, and is listed as a vulnerable species.

octopus eggs

These are octopus eggs! When a female octopus is ready to mate she releases a chemical to let males know, causing them to fight over her. The winner gives her packages of sperm called 'spermatophores' and she then seals herself into a den where she lays and fertilises her eggs. A female octopus can lay tens of thousands of eggs, and they all hang from the roof of the den. After up to around six and a half months (depending on the species) of caring for them, the babies hatch and swim to the surface. The female octopus then crawls out of the den and dies

physics art

This photograph shows a lens created by spherical water droplets through which light refracts (bends). Not only is it beautiful, but it is also physics!

Major Indian towns on rivers

>Allahabad - At the confluence of the Ganga
and Yamuna
>Patna, Varanasi, Kanpur & Haridwar - Ganga
>Badrinath - Alaknanda
>Agra & Delhi, Mathura - Yamuna >Ferozpur -
Satluj
>Ayodhya - Saryu
>Ahmedabad - Sabarmati
>Kota - Chambal
>Jabalpur - Narmada
>Panji - Mandavi
>Surat - Tapti
>Jamshedpur - Swarnarekha
>Dibrugarh & Guwahati - Brahmaputra
>Hyderabad - Musi
>Nasik - Godavari
>Vijayvada - Krishna

Intresting facts on maths

‎111,111,111 multiplied by
111,111,111 equals
12,345,678,987,654,321.

INTERESTING FACTS

⇥ The word " MATHEMATICS"
comes from the Greek μάθημα
(máthema) which means
"science, knowledge, or
learning"; μαθηματικός
(mathematikós) means "fond of
learning".

⇥ The word "FRACTION" derives
from the Latin " fractio - to
break".

⇥ GEOMETRY(Ancient Greek:
γεωμετρία; geo = earth, metria =
measure) is a part of
mathematics.

⇥ "ALGEBRA" comes Arabic word
(al-jabr, literally, restoration)

lets play a game

In dis game ppl hav to start up with a
word related to physics and the next person has to continue
with the last
letter of that word
lets start ............ here we go!!!!
I started from Gravity now, 1st
comment should start from -y

new finding

A new finding by Harvard stem cell biologists turns one of the basics of neurobiology on its head -- demonstrating that it is possible to turn one type of already differentiated neuron into another within the brain.

Current Affairs

1. The Nation celebrated the 64th Republic Day yesterday with special parades and display of the rich cultural heritage and the armed forces might and achievements in various fields.


2. Google yesterday commemorated India's 64th Republic Day with a doodle featuring a collage of our national symbols.

The doodle features India's national animal, the Royal Bengal Tiger, and its national flower, the lotus.


3. 108 eminent persons get Padma Awards: Pranab Mukherjee, the President of Union of India on 25 January 2013 approved conferment of 108 Padma Awards.


4. Victoria Azarenka of Belarus has won the Women’s Singles title of the Australian Open Tennis tournament at Melbourne.


5. Top seeded American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan won the men's doubles title.


6. Andy Murray became the first Briton to reach three Australian Open finals after ending his Grand Slam hoodoo against Roger Federer in a five-set thriller.


7. Dharamsala set to host fifth ODI between India-England.

Some facts about Tigers

1) The night vision of tigers is 6 times better than humans.

2) The stripes on each tiger are unique, like human fingerprints.

3) Tigers do not normally roar at other animals, but instead they roar to communicate with far-off tigers. A tiger about to attack will therefore not roar, but might hiss and fuff instead.

4) Tigers can bite through bones with their powerful teeth and jaws. They will break the neck vertebrae of prey simply by biting straight through them.

5) A group of tigers is called an ambush or a streak.

Giant tortoises

Giant tortoises are characteristic reptiles of certain tropical islands.Often reaching enormous size—they can weigh as much as 300 kg (660 lbs) and can grow to be 1.3 m (4 ft) long—they live, or lived (some species are recently extinct), in the Seychelles, the Mascarenes and the Galapagos.