Officer In Indian Coast Guard – 02/2014 Batch

The Indian Coast Guard, an Armed Force of the Union, offers a challenging and inspiring career in various branches as a Group ‘A’ Gazetted Officer in the rank of Assistant Commandant at pay scale of Rs.15600-39100 with Grade Pay Rs 5400.

Branch and Eligibility :
Unmarried Indian citizens having following minimum qualifications are eligible to apply :

(a) General Duty : 

  1. Bachelor’s degree with minimum 60% marks in aggregate of a university recognised by the Central/ State Govt./UGC. 
  2. Should have qualified 12th standard with aggregate of 60% marks in Physics and Maths.
  3. Men 01 Jul 89 to 30 Jun 93 (both dates inclusive). 

(b) (i) Pilot (ii) Navigator or Observer :

  1. B.Sc with Maths & Physics with 60% marks in aggregate. (Physics or Maths should be one of the subject in final year of B.Sc Degree). 
  2. Should have qualified 12th standard with an aggregate of 60% marks in Physics and Maths. 
  3. Men 01 Jul 87 to 30 Jun 95 (both dates inclusive). 

(c) Technical branch (Mechanical and Electrical) :

  1. Engineering degree with 60% marks in aggregate or Should have passed sections A and B of Institute of Engineers (India) examination in any of the discipline listed below with 60% marks
    1. (a) Engineering Branch Mechanical/ Naval architecture/ Marine/ Industrial and Production/ Metallurgy/ Mechatronics/ Aeronautical/ Aerospace Engg. 
    2. (b) Electrical Branch Electrical/Electronics/Power Engg/Electronics and Communication/Instrumentation and Controls/Power Electronics/ Instrumentation Engg. 
  2. 60% marks in aggregate in Physics and Maths in 12th class. or Three year diploma course with an aggregate of 60% 
  3. Men 01 Jul 84 to 30 Jun 93 (both dates inclusive).

Short Service Appointments : 
Short Service Appointments as Assistant Commandant for a period of 08 years, which may be extended to 10 years and further extendable upto 14 years. 

(d) Pilots (Helicopter and fixed wing) : 
  1. Commercial Pilot License holders 12th class pass with 60% marks in aggregate and should possess current / valid Commercial Pilot license (CPL) approved by DGCA on the date of Preliminary Selection. 
  2. Men and Women 01 Jul 87 to 30 Jun 95 (both dates inclusive). 
(e) General Duty(Women) :
  1. Bachelor’s degree with minimum 60% marks in aggregate of a university recognised by the Central/ State Govt./UGC. 
  2. Should have qualified 12th standard with aggregate of 60% marks in Physics and Maths. 
  3. Women 01 Jul 89 to 30 Jun 93 (both dates inclusive).

How to apply :

(a) Applications will be accepted only 'Online' from 02 Dec 2013 to 12 Dec 2013
(b) Applicants can take printout of the filled application form with date and time of examination through URL .
(c) To fill up "Online" application the candidates need to logon to the Indian Coast Guard Website and click on opportunities button. 
(d) Read the instruction carefully and proceed as given in the advertisement for Recruitment of Assistant Commandant- (02/2014 Batch) .

SSC Jul 2014 - Executive Officers Entry in Indian Navy

Applications are invited from unmarried Men/Women candidates for grant of Short Service
Commission in Executive Branch (General Services/Hydro Cadre/IT/Naval Architecture) and
Technical Branches of the Indian Navy for Jul 2014 Course at Indian Naval Academy (INA) Ezhimala, Kerala.

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

Age :

(a) Executive (GS)/Hydro Cadre 19½ to 25 years 02 Jul 1989 to 01 Jan 1995
(b) SSC X (IT) 19½ to 25 years 02 Jul 1989 to 01 Jan 1995
(c) Technical (General Service) 19½ to 25 years 02 Jul 1989 to Branch (‘E’ & ‘L’) 01 Jan 1995
(d) Submarine Specialisation 19½ to 25 years 02 Jul 1989 to 01 Jan 1995
(e) Naval Architecture 19½ to 25 years 02 Jul 1989 to 01 Jan 1995

Educational Qualifications :

Completed BE/B. Tech Degree with minimum 65% marks in aggregate from a recognised university in one of the following specified streams: -

EXECUTIVE (GS) BRANCH :

(a) Executive(GS/Hydro BE/B. Tech (Any discipline) Only Cadre) Men
(b) SSC (IT) (i) BE/B.Tech (Computer Science/Computer Only Engg/IT) (ii) B.Sc (IT) (iii) M.Tech (Computer Men Science) (iv) M.Sc (Computer) (v) BCA/MCA
(c) Naval Architecture (i)Mechanical (ii)Civil (iii)Aeronautical/Aerospace Men & (iv) Metallurgy (v) Naval Architecture Women

TECHNICAL BRANCH (GENERAL SERVICE) :

(d) Engineering (E) (i) Mechanical (ii) Marine (iii) Automotive Only Branch (iv) Mechtronics (v) Industrial & Production Men (vi) Metallurgy (vii) Aeronautical/Aerospace (viii) BS Marine Engg.
(e) Electrical (L) (i) Electrical (ii) Electronics (iii) Tele Only Branch Communication (iv) Instrumentation Men (v) Instrumentation and Control (vi) Electronics and Instrumentation
(vii) Electronics and Communication (viii) Power Engineering (ix) Control System Engineering (x) Power Electronics

SUBMARINE SPECIALISATION :

(f) Engineering Branch (i) Mechanical (ii) Marine (iii) Automotive Only (iv) Mechtronics (v) Industrial & Production Men (vi) Metallurgy (vii) Aeronautical/Aerospace (viii) BS Marine Engg. (ix) Instrumentation (x) Instrumentation & Control (xi) Automation & Robotics (xii) Industrial Engg. & Management (xiii) Production Engg. (g) Electrical Branch ‘Electrical’ or ‘Electronics’ or ‘Control’ or Only ‘Telecommunication’ or Instrumentation or Power Men Engg. or Electronics & Communication or Control System Engg. or Power Electronics



SELECTION PROCEDURE :

(a) The candidates will be issued call up for Services Selection Board (SSB) based on
their performance in Degree Course. If a candidate possesses higher qualification with better
percentage, his higher qualification will be considered for cut off. Integrated Headquarters,
Ministry of Defence (Navy) reserves the right to shortlist applications and to fix cut off percentage.
No communication will be entertained on this account. SSB interviews for short listed candidates
will be scheduled at Bangalore/Bhopal/Coimbatore during Jan 14 to May 14.
(b) SSB interview will be conducted in two Stages. Stage I test consisting of intelligence

HOW TO APPLY :

Candidates are to submit ‘e-application' (Online) for this entry. The candidates desirous
of applying can do so from 11 Nov 13. The online application registration will cease on
29 Nov 13.

Official Advertisement can be downloaded from here : SSC Jul 2014 Advertisement

IMPORTANT - Please read the instructions given on the Indian Navy Website carefully before submitting
your ‘e-application’ form.

TGC 119 - Entry for Technical Officers in Indian Army

Indian army has published the notification of TGC 119 Technical Graduate Course.

TGC 119 is  a technical course for Engineering graduates which they can apply during final year and after passing out from college. TGC 119 is going to commence in July 2014 at Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.

Any engineering student who satisfies the eligibility criteria as per the official notification of TGC 119, can apply for it online. Later, Indian army will shortlist the candidates as per their percentage from 1st to 6th semester. The minimum cut off went up to 65% till 6th semester in engineering in TGC 118.



TGC 119 Educational Qualification
  • For Engineers : BE/ BTech in the discipline mentioned below, Candidates studying in the Final Year of Engineering Degree and who are qualified graduates of the Degree Course in Engineering Engineering will be eligible to apply.

TGC 119 Age Limit

  • For Engineering Graduates: 20 to 27 yrs
  • For AEC: 23 to 27 yrs
  • For Military Farms: 20 to 27 yrs

TGC 119 Eligible Branches 

  • Civil
  • Mechanical
  • Electrical/Electrical and Electronics
  • Automobile/Workshop Technology
  • Aeronautical/Aviation/Aerospace/Ballistics/Avionics
  • Computer Sc and Engineering/Computer Technology/Info Tech / M.Sc Computer Sc
  • Electronics and Telecom/Telecommunication/Electronics and Communication /Satellite Communication
  • Electronics/Opto Electronics/Fiber Optics/Micro Electronics and Microwave
  • Electronics and Instrumentation/Instrumentation
  • Architecture/Building Construction Technology
  • Food Tech/Bio Tech/Bio Medical Engineering
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Metallurgy and Explosives/Metallurgical Engineering
  • Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering/Industrial Engineering and Management/Production

TGC 119 Important Dates

  • Starting Date for Online Registration: 15 November 2013.
  • Last Date for Online Registration: 14 December 2013.

How to Apply for TGC 119

  1. Candidates need to apply through online application form only.
  2. Visit Indian Army Official Website to apply for TGC 119.
  3. There is no need to send the educational documents and application to Indian army.
  4. All other instructions are given in the online portal.

An Elevator to Space !!

Decades ago, people only dreamed about traveling to space. Then they only dreamt about landing on the moon. Both of these became reality though. And then humans built a space station. So it would make sense that things that we can only dream about today will someday be real. One such thing is an elevator to space. Sound crazy? The Japanese are currently working to create just that. More specifically, Obayashi Corp is hoping to build an elevator to space by 2050.
 
 
The contraption would carry passengers to space at 124 mph and deliver them to a space station 22,000 miles above the earth. This trip would take a little longer than a week to complete. A cable would be anchored on earth and stretch to an altitude of 60,000 miles above earth (about halfway to the moon). At the end of the cable would be a counterweight that would anchor the cable in space.
Will this ever happen? Will people travel to space like they currently travel to the top of a skyscraper? Only time will tell.

Contact Lens Will Display Text Messages !!

These contact lenses have a spherical curved LCD display, which can be worn at all times.  

Ever fancy high-tech gadgets from sci-fi thrillers? Well, a gadget is coming to the real world direct from the reel world! In a recent innovation, a new type of contact lenses have been designed that can display all your mobile phone content direct on your lenses. 

Designed by the center of micro-systems technology at the Belgium-based Ghent University, these contact lenses have a spherical curved LCD display, which can be worn at all times. Enabling a true blue hands free function, it will literally turn your lenses into a mobile phone display.



According to a Telegraph report, the lenses are different from the previous versions that utilized just a small area on the lens for image reproduction, now the lenses utilize the whole surface as a display. The lenses presently utilize wireless technology such as Bluetooth to receive data and project it on the user's eye.
As of now the lenses can only show you text messages but eventually it will be capable of full grown functionality. 

Commenting on this innovative technology, professor Herbert De Smet, chief researcher of the project said, "This will never replace the cinema screen for films. But for specific applications it may be interesting to show images such as road directions or projecting text messages from our smart phones straight to our eye.” 

Cool VLC Media Player Trick

We all are well familiar with VLC media player. Here I'm going to tell a cool and funny trick for VLC Media player.



  • Open VLC Media Player
  • Press Ctrl + N
  • Type 'screen://' ( without the quotes )
  • Click on Play
  • Now , wait and watch
  • Enjoy

Watch Glowing Light Bulb Floating In Mid-Air !!

A combination of the two technologies--wireless power transfer and magnetic levitation--does this trick.  


Watching a thousand glowing light bulbs floating in mid-air, is no longer a distant reality. It could now be possible thanks to a project by Chris Rieger, an electrical engineering student currently enrolled at University of Queensland. What did the trick for Rieger was a combination of the two technologies called wireless power transfer and magnetic levitation. While he modified an existing circuit built by Eric Taylor for levitating the bulb, he made changes to the circuit design by Marko for building a wireless power transfer. 


Sharing the details of the project, Rieger says: "This is a project I've been working on for about six months now next to my regular studies. It is a levitating light bulb. This project came to life when i saw Jeff Lieberman's implementation of it a few months before starting. I was fascinated and started research on building my own, reading many academic papers and spending long nights reading up on pretty much every project which included wireless power transfer or magnetic leviation. What I found is that there are many many existing projects of both, but only a few have combined both these technologies. Once you have both working, it's really just a matter of overlaying them. The high frequency magnetic field generated from the wireless power transfer circuit does not effect the leviation aspect of the build."

He adds: "For the levitation system, I ended up slightly modifying an existing circuit built by Eric Taylor. My configuration is slightly different and am using a 3-pin linear hall effect sensor from RS components to act as the feedback mechanism. I opted for a 1.325mV/g sensor (the smallest sensitivity i could find), as the magnetic flux it was sensing was maxing out the reading on others. If you are looking to build one, this circuit is simple and works with only slight modification depending on the input sensor you have. The drive coil I'm using is 300 metres (1kg) of 20awg wire. It draws about 0.2 - 0.25A when stable at 12V. It doesn't seem to heat up over time, unless the light is not levitating, in which maximum (0.8A) current is driven through the coil."

To read more about this project go here : http://chrisrieger.com/LevLight.aspx

World’s Thinnest Screen Made Using Soap Bubble!

The researchers can control the surface, texture and the reflectance of the surface by using speakers that emit ultrasonic sound waves.

Talk about thin displays and this news can truly take the cake away. A set of researchers at the University of Tokyo developed the world's thinnest screen, using a soap bubble! This screen is different from regular screens because a soap bubble is transparent and the "micro-membrane" allows the passage of light and displays colors. Researcher, Yoichi Ochiai along with his colleagues created an ultra-thin and flexible Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF). They used a mix of two colloidal liquids to make the screen. Ochiai's official blog states: "There have been several researches on dynamic BRDF display in the past. However, our work is different in several ways."


That blog states that the researchers can control the surface, texture and the reflectance of the surface by using speakers that emit ultrasonic sound waves. It further reads: "The combination of the ultrasonic waves and ultra thin membranes results in more realistic, distinctive, and vivid imageries on the screen. This system contributes to open up a new path for display engineering with sharp imageries, transparency, BRDF and flexibility." Interestingly, one can even poke the bubble allowing for interactivity. 

If their claims are anything to go by, this may give way to a new chapter for flexible displays. The soap bubble display will be visible at SIGGRAPH 2012 (The 39th International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) which is set to be held.

Lab Grown Blood Successfully Experimented on a Human

Luc Douay, a researcher at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris was successful in creating artificial red blood cells in a lab. The researchers were also able to inject it into a human and the results were positive without any side-effects.

A healthy volunteer was first selected for the program, and his hematopoietic stem cells were extracted from his bone marrow. Some of the basic growth factors that are required for the growth of a red blood cell were also mixed with this sample. Luc’s team labelled these cultured cells for tracing, and injected 10 billion of them (approximately equal to two millilitres of blood), back into the same donor’s body.



They found out that almost the whole percentage of blood cells remained circulating in the body for the first five days. Like in the case of naturally produced red blood cells, about (45-65)% of the blood cells remained in the body after 26 days of experimentation. As no serious conditions were registered for a month after the experiment was conducted, it was sure that the red blood cells injected were working like a normal blood cell, and carried the oxygen around the whole body.

This experiment is sure going to be a stepping stone to further technologies, and a clear way to produce an artificial blood reserve without the help of any blood donor. Though the numbers of blood donors have increased in the past couple of years, their reserve list is still short in some parts of the world, where the number of people suffering from HIV and blood cancer are comparatively more.

There are also researches going on in developing an artificial blood substitute that is known to be less toxic than the protein in its unbounded state. Such a substitute was first developed by Chris Cooper of the University of Essex in Colchester. He was able to develop a haemoglobin based blood substitute that could easily provide a solution for transfusion in worst cases like natural disasters, and combat fields. The main advantage of such a system is that there is no need to store it in a cool place like a fresh and stem cell-grown blood.

But the former technology has more advantages than this one. Since the blood grown through stem cell method resembles a real blood cell, it can easily alleviate some of the safety concerns that continue around the use of the current generations of artificial products.

World’s Lightest Material Discovered !!!

When it comes to light weight materials, the first thing that comes to our mind is Thermocol. 
Since its discovery in the year 1941, it has been used in many applications that are suitable for the common man like small life raft, disposable coffee cups, cushioning material in packaging, and so on. Since then, the weights of most light weight materials are compared to Thermocol, and have been given a special category called Ultra-light materials. A team of researchers from HRL Laboratories (Hughes Research Laboratories), in collaboration with Caltech and the University of California, developed a new material that weighs only 1/100th of the weight of Thermocol.  The material is also known o be lighter than a diamond aerogel, one of the best ultra-light materials in the world. Before going into detail about the lightest material, let us make a brief study about diamond aerogels.



Diamond aerogel was discovered by researchers at the Lawrence Rivermore National Laboratory by combining high density diamond substances and least dense materials called aerogels. Aerogel is known to be a porous, diffuse rigid material that looks similar to a solid block of smoke and with the texture of a chunk of thermocol. They are industrially manufactured by constructing a conventional gel and then removing the liquid though supercritical drying. The material finds various applications in the making of insulate space suits, pick up cosmic particles, and even home insulation.

The combination of both the materials gave birth to a spongy, translucent version of a diamond. This material when tested was found out to be the least dense diamond ever, and thus the most expensive aerogel ever. They called it a diamond aerogel, definitely the least dense diamond ever and perhaps one of the most valuable aerogels ever. The material was found to be a little denser than air and has all the physical capabilities of a non-liquid gel component. This material also found many applications in the field of structural engineering, optical engineering, and quantum computing and so on.

The lately found ultra-light material has a density of 0.9 mg/cc, and is known to have its own unique kind of “micro-lattice” cellular architecture. The researchers were successful in making a material that consists of 99.99% open volume by designing the 0.01% solid at the nanometer, micron and millimetre scales.

The material was developed for DARPA so that it could be used for applications in battery electrodes, catalyst supports, vibration or shock energy damping applications and so on. The material has shown excellent mechanical behaviour for a metal, including complete recovery from compression exceeding 50% strain and extraordinarily high energy absorption, when compared to its compact architecture.

This discovery has led the researchers to bring in more ideas to revolutionalize lightweight materials by using this concept to the materials level and designing their architectures at the nano scale.

Satellite Surgery Robot Developed to Repair Satellites


Artificial satellites placed in orbits are used for a variety of purposes like communication, GPS, military applications, TV broadcasting, and so on. 

No matter how much time and money has been spent on building these hi-tech devices, satellites are basically just machines, and constant use can damage any machine. Every year NASA is spending millions of dollars just for the maintenance of these satellites, but they have not found a feasible way to repair a damaged one. Till present, there was only one option left for the researchers –completely blow–off the satellite!!They could not find any other feasible method to repair it. They tried using manpower by sending them directly to the repair site. This turned out to be a bad idea, as they could not adapt themselves to the outer space characteristics.


NASA had to face a lot of criticism for blowing up satellites in outer space. Since a single satellite contains millions of electronic equipments, blowing them off would literally mean the disposal of e- waste all over the outer space. These toxic wastes could bring serious threats to humans by affecting the Earth’s atmosphere in the coming future.


A remotely operated robot could easily do the job but controlling of the robot will be a difficult task. Precise controlling of the robot is necessary, as things are different in outer space.




Engineers at John Hopkins University are known for designing robots for medical purposes.  They have created various robots that were used in medical transplants and other complex surgeries. Currently they are working on a project in which a medical surgery robot called da Vinci console is transformed into a robot that can be used for repairing satellites.


A brief description of this robotic surgery project has been presented by two graduate students Tian Xia and Jonathan Bohren from John Hopkins’ Homewood campus . In this demonstration, researchers showed how the da Vinci console, which was used for the treatment of cancer was modified as a satellite-repairing robot.  It consists of a 3D eyepiece by which the operator can remotely control the robot. By using the 3D eye piece the user gets a better vision which helps him to repair with ease .


It also includes a touch or haptic feedback to the operator. With the technology the user gets to know the exact amount of force, vibration or motion applied to the machine through computer stimulation.


This robot was successfully tested on 29th November 2011. The modified da Vinci console was used to control an Industrial robot at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre about 30 miles away . This test was successful and researchers concluded that they could use it in space mission too. The most challenging problem is that the satellites are travelling in an orbit and thus, prone to time delay for signal reception. Researchers may have used special algorithms to refine this problem. The robot can also be used for refueling satellites.

Make Airplane Invisible using Stealth Paint


Radar detection has always been the nightmare of military aircrafts. Once spotted in the radar zone, it is easy to destroy the aircraft in mid air by using anti-aircraft missiles. 

Defense personnel’s across the world are investing billions to develop better stealth equipped aircrafts that will easily escape from radar eyes. The concept of stealth is applied on an aircraft by making changes in the aircraft design such that it deflects the radar beams instead of reflecting them. The aircraft design is such that there are no perpendicular sections in the body of the plane, so the radar beam never reflects back to the receiver.  While making a stealth aircraft we have to compromise with one of its main factor – the engine power. Though reducing the engine power can reduce the heat signature, the speed of the aircraft will also be compromised.  What if we could develop a better stealth technology without compromising the aircrafts’ speed?  We are talking about a technology that will make any aircraft invisible for radars.


Researchers have invented a special nano tube paint to make any object ultra black. This concept is also used for making aircrafts invisible to radars.




Engineers of NASA developed carbon nano tubes, being the ‘blackest ‘known material for their space missions. Carbon nano tubes will absorb 99 percent of any light- ultraviolet, visible or infrared that strikes on it. The material is also known for its excellent electrical conductivity and high strength .Carbon nano tubes are tiny yet long tubular structures made of pure carbon.  A professor from Michigan University L J Guo first realized that by applying the nano paint or the nano tube coating, the aircraft could absorb the radar waves there by making it virtually invisible.


The researchers implanted large volumes of nano tubes into various substances like silicon wafer. Nano tubes have to be planted in a particular manner to make its reflective index similar to surrounding air. After implantation, the light is absorbed without being scattered. A practical method to implant nano tubes on the surface of aircrafts has not been developed until now. Perfect results were obtained only when nano tubes were implanted in tiny particles under the influence of high temperature and pressure. Guo suggested that first, the nano tubes has to be implanted in tiny particles and then suspended in the paint for stealth aircrafts. Earlier, to prevent absorption and radioactive properties, a metallic mixture was added to black paint and then coated on the aircraft. However, this would add excess weight to the machine. Since nano tube has ultra black property  and is denser, there is no need of any additives.

3D Transistors !!!


A transistor is the fundamental building block of all electronic devices.

A transistor can be defined as a device, which is used to amplify signals and power. Integrated circuits are used in making of chips inside electronic gadgets such as smart phones, laptops and so on. Researchers in Purdue and Harvard Universities have created a new type of transistor that will make the Integrated circuits more compact. This transistor is made from another material other than silicon and as the name suggest, a 3-D structure is given to the device compared to the conventional flat chips. Nano wires are used in these transistors instead of silicon so they will be more compact and more efficient. The nano wires used in this transistor are made from iridium gallium arsenide semiconductor.


Iridium-gallium-arsenide is replaced for silicon in this device. As they are elements from the 3rd and 5th group of the periodic table, they are collectively known as the III-V group semiconductors. These semiconductors are known to conduct electrons five times better than silicon. The mobility of this material is also known to be higher. All these characteristics have urged chip manufacturers to replace silicon with this semiconductor in the coming years.




The 3D transistor was made by a process termed ”top- down method” in which components of the transistor is etched. This method will gain huge acceptance as it is compatible with most of the industrial processes. In 2012, a new generation of integrated chips is believed to come into market in which transistors will be placed horizontally rather than vertically. This is the reason for the 3D effect posed by these transistors. Thus, this device is the world’s first 3D-gate-allround transistor.


The transistor consists of a gate by which rapid ON-OFF switching action is possible and helps in the direct flow of current.  By the introduction of 3D transistors, it is estimated that this gate length will reduce from 45nm to 22 nm. The nano wires are coated with a dielectric, which acts as the gate. Further research is being conducted to reduce the gate length to 18 nm. The only option available is to make a thinner dielectric layer by a process called atomic deposition.  A thinner dielectric layer offers greater speed, low voltage requirements and lower power consumption. The device has improved its clock speed to 20 GHz. This experiment was funded by the National Science foundation and Semiconductor research group. The latest development in this field was the design of a “finFET or fin Field Effect Transistor” in which the device has a fin like structure other than the conventional flat design.


By the introduction of 3D transistors computers will become faster, cooler and smarter. Intel is planning to release processors made from 3D transistor integrated chips in 2012. These chips are expected to be 10 times faster than the ones used now and will be more compact.
It is heard that a Japanese company named “Unisantis” is working with the researchers of Singapore’s Institute of micro electronics to develop a new 3D transistor called the SGT (Surrounding Gate Transistor) which will increase the clocking speed of the computers from 20 GHz to 50 GHz.

Now Fire Laser From Your Body !!!


Cyclops, a superhero from the famous comics “X men” has been the favorite of many people across the world. In the story, the character produces powerful laser beams by optical blast from his eyes.

This fiction has become a reality by the joint efforts of Seok-Hyun Yun and Malte Gather, two physicists at Massachusetts General Hospital.


 They were able to develop a technique by which laser can be produced from human cells. The device used to produce this laser consists of the same components that are used to produce a real time laser. That is, a pump source, an optical cavity and a gain medium. The pump source is used to produce the initial energy, the optical cavity to concentrate the energy, and the gain medium is a substance in which the electrons are exited until they go from a lower energy level to a higher energy level.



The researchers began experimenting on human kidney cells to produce green florescent proteins (GFP). This substance is known to produce luminance in jellyfish. Many steps were carried out to produce the laser. They began by placing the modified cell between two mirrors there by creating an optical cavity (a cell sandwich as called by researchers).  Then a blue light pulse was passed through the cell and the light bounced between the mirrors, causing the cell to glow. When the cell was observed through a microscope, they saw that the cell was glowing with a spot of laser.



Researchers suggest that this laser is suitable for many medical applications. For the diagnosis of diseases, nowadays a laser beam is passed into the body to get images or to attack the disease causing cells. There might also be a time when the human cells can be illuminated as laser. The illuminated cells can gather more information about the interior of the human body by penetrating the damaged tissues more deeply. More research has to be done to realize this as laser needs an external light source to illuminate.


Some say that this technology will be more useful in gaining information about individual cell characteristics than medical applications as the laser needs an external light source and it is difficult to produce it inside human body. Yen suggests that by integrating a nano scale cavity to laser cell we can produce a cell that will illuminate itself without any external source. Let’s hope that this technology will come into reality in the near future itself – who doesn’t want to shoot a laser from our own body.

World’s Smallest Magnetic Data Storage


There will be a time when all the major technologies in the world will be in nanoscale. Recent developments have been undergone in daily used electronic gadgets like mobiles, computers, laptops and so on. 

As a part of this, a group of researchers from IBM and CFEL (Centre for free-electron Laser Science) have been successful in developing the world’s smallest magnetic data storage unit. The newly invented unit needs only 12 atoms for storing one bit. That is, 96 atoms for storing one byte. In a conventional memory storage unit a byte consists of half a billion atoms and hence this new technology will prove to be a breakthrough for producing the new generation of devices called “nanogadgets”.


This nano data storage unit was made by placing atom by atom by using a STM (scanning tunneling microscope) at IBM’s Almaden research centre in San Jose, California. First a regular pattern of iron atoms were constructed and then they were aligned in such a way that each row contains six atoms. The storage density of this nano structured memory unit is supposed to be a hundred times better than the currently used hard drives.




With the help of an STM data is written to the nano storage unit. The pairs of the atoms will be having two magnetic states representing zero and one. By using the STM the polarity of the atoms are changed to the desired value. For this purpose, an electromagnetic pulse is applied to the electrons from the STM. A weaker electronic pulse is used to read the data from the nano structure.


In conventional hard drives and other data storage structures data is stored by ferromagnetism but here special form of magnetism called the anti ferromagnetism is used here to record data. As the materials are anti ferromagnetic, the atoms can be spaced more closely as the magnetic fields will not be interfering with each other and hence nano size can be achieved. Scientists say that this discovery will open new doors to quantum physics and smarter gadgets can be developed in the near future.

Waterless Washing Machine


Waterless Washing Machine Cleans Laundry Through Magnetic Levitation

New inventions have made strainful works always easier for people. Let us take an example of a washing machine. In early days, people used to wash their own clothes by hand and scrub all the dirt away using a brush and detergent. Later, the washing machine was invented, which simplified laundry cleaning. The device was further developed to produce semi-cleaners and lately fully automatic washing machines.


A new concept has been introduced by a designer named Elie Ahovi, which works under the principle of magnetic levitation.


The device, named as “Laundry Orb” consists of a spherical drum that cleans clothes by scrubbing them using dry ice, instead of water. The spherical drum is basically a ring filled with batteries. These batteries produces magnetic levitation inside the ring. To levitate, a super-conductive metal laundry basket is introduced inside. A low temperature is required inside the ring. This is produced by using liquid nitrogen. A double layered shatterproof glass is also introduced inside. Thus, the whole drum levitates as soon as a magnetic field is produced. The whole process is controlled using  a touch screen interface.




The dry ice is introduced inside the ring at supersonic speeds. As soon as it hits the dirty clothes, the carbon dioxide interacts with the dirt and separates them from the clothes. The dirt is then collected and filtered out through small pores. The carbon dioxide is then removed and re-frozen. Thus, the clothes are cleaned and dry.


The cleaning process will take only a few minutes. Since no water and soap is used, the clothes are prone to look new without any wear ad tear. The environment can also be protected to a certain extent by saving soap. Besides, we can use the surplus carbon dioxide for something useful.


Though the whole concept sounds interesting, there are certain cons. The removing of carbon dioxide and refreezing it requires a lot of energy.

The Sketching Robot - Piccolo


Piccolo can be said as the perfect companion for a graphic designer or an engineer as it helps him to sketch his creativity. 

Piccolo is a small pocket sized robot which uses servo mechanism for developing and deploying the accurate 2D or 3D output. Like all other robots, this one also works according to CNC technology. CNC is the acronym of Computer Numerical Control. Here the computer converts the design produced by the computer aided design software (CAD) into numbers. These numbers denote different coordinates – that is X, Y and Z in a graph. This technology is employed in a number of places such as the automatic machine cutting, or the drawing tool.  We can sketch a simple drawing or cut a sheet using a laser tip by attaching the corresponding tip to this bot. Piccolo will work according to the type of tip attached to it. Another important advantage of Piccolo is its portability. We can carry this cool machine anywhere with us. When compared to other CNC based robots, this one does not cost thousands of dollars but just $70.This device was introduced by the Diatom studio from London with the collaboration of Cheng  Xu and Huaishu Peng  From CoDe Lab.




Piccolo is open source – anyone can modify its design. The prototype is simple; it can be assembled quickly and is easy to use. The Piccolo includes Arduino and processing libraries so that we can use Piccolo as we wish like moving automatically or by responding to a sensor. We can engage multiple piccolos to work together so that it could create a larger canvas. In the Piccolo kit we are provided with the facility to create 3D or 2D sketches according to our desire.


The elegant design and ease of use has made Piccolo the favorite of designers. It can be used as a learning tool for beginners who want to explore the vast capabilities of the CNC field.  Now piccolo is only in the prototype stage but we expect the Arduino -compatible platform to turn our visions into neat sketches in the near future.

Technology to Help Visually Impaired In Driving...

The engineers are using Vision Impairment Simulator which helps them understand how a person with eye disorders might see objects while driving.

 This goes out to all the people whose visual abilities have got affected because of ageing and troubles like cataract and glaucoma. Cambridge University and Ford Motor Company have come up with a technology that will help the visually impaired patients drive their cars with much ease.

The technology initiative is brought by a team of scientists at Cambridge University’s Engineering Design Centre along with Ford. The two are developing vehicles for the visually impaired. The engineers are using Vision Impairment Simulator which helps them understand how a person with eye disorders might see objects while driving.





According to a report, a designer loads an image in the simulator and selects a desired ‘impairment’. The simulator then simulates the image and the engineers then work out solutions to handle those problems. The designers can also change the degree of impairment with the simulator when any object’s image is loaded.

The designers also compare how a person suffering from glaucoma might see an object as against someone suffering from cataract. They assess all the permutations and combinations possible in the comparison.

The Visual Impairment simulator helps in simulating the images for the problems involved in driving when an eye patient is driving. Cars with this technology are expected to be seen on the roads soon.

Roll Your TV To Fit In Pocket !!!

A new technology developed by British scientists has brought the dream of television screens that can be rolled up and carried in a pocket closer to reality.

The researchers have developed a new form of light-emitting crystals, known as quantum dots, which can be used to produce ultra-thin television sets, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.





The tiny crystals, 100,000 times thinner than a human hair, can be printed on flexible plastic sheets to produce a paper-thin display, or on to wallpaper to create giant room-size screens.


According to Michael Edelman, the chief executive of Nanoco, a spin-out company set up by the scientists behind the technology at Manchester University, the firm was working with "major Asian electronics companies".


It is believed that Sony, Sharp, Samsung and LG are working on the quantum dot television technology.

DRDO Developing 'Robotic' Soldiers

Going futuristic with unmanned fighting systems, the Defence Research and Development Organisation said it is developing robots to function as soldiers.

"We are in the process of developing robots that can work like soldiers. They are working on the data and artificial intelligence that is needed in the process,"Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Director General of DRDO and Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister, told a press conference.
Earlier, Saraswat inaugurated Bharat Earth Movers Limited - Combined Vehicles Research and Development Establishment Technology Centre, Suspension Test Facility and Combat Vetronics technology Centre for CVRDE, the DRDO lab which is making India's Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun.



Stating that India needs to produce aircraft landing gear indigenously, he said organisations like BEML should take the initiative, while CVRDE should get into transmission systems.
"DRDO should join hands with defence PSUs to open offset labs," he said. "There is no major design centre to develop landing gear. This institution along with BEML should take the initiative to start making landing gears. That will be useful for UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and aircraft. And one day we shall have our own commercial aircraft also."
Observing that DRDO was good in designing and prototyping, but has a 'syndrome' of lacking in converting the technology into production, he said collaborations with PSUs are the solution.
Chief Controller (R&D) of Armament and Combat Engineering S Sundaresh said future MBTs should be light weight and set an example to the world. CVRDE director P Sivakumar said trials of MBT Arjun Mark-II would commence from October 2012.