REJUVENILE INVENTION BY MIT

MIT engineers have transformed bacterial cells into living calculators that can compute logarithms, divide, and take square roots, using three or fewer genetic parts.
Inspired by how analogue electronic circuits function, the researchers created synthetic computation circuits by combining existing genetic “parts,” or engineered genes, in novel ways.
The circuits perform those calculations in an analog fashion by exploiting natural biochemical functions that are already present in the cell rather than by reinventing them with digital logic, thus making them more efficient than the digital circuits pursued by most synthetic biologists, according to Rahul Sarpeshkar and Timothy Lu, the two senior authors on the paper, describing the circuits in the May 15 online edition of Nature.

“In analog you compute on a continuous set of numbers, which means it’s not just black and white, it’s grey as well,” says Sarpeshkar, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science and the head of the Analog Circuits and Biological Systems group at MIT

Analog computation would be particularly useful for designing cellular sensors for pathogens or other molecules, the researchers say. Analog sensing could also be combined with digital circuits to create cells that can take a specific action triggered by a threshold concentration of certain molecules.
“You could do a lot of upfront sensing with the analog circuits because they’re very rich and a relatively small amount of parts can give you a lot of complexity, and have that output go into a circuit that makes a decision — is this true or not?” says Lu, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science and biological engineering.
Lead author of the Nature paper is MIT postdoc Ramiz DanielJacob Rubens, a graduate student in microbiology, is also an author of the paper.
Analog advantages
Sarpeshkar has previously identified thermodynamic similarities between analog transistor circuits and the chemical circuits that take place inside cells. In 2011, he took advantage of those similarities to model biological interactions between DNA and proteins in an electronic circuit, using only eight transistors.
In the new Nature paper, Sarpeshkar, Lu and colleagues have done the reverse — mapping analog electronic circuits onto cells. Sarpeshkar has long advocated analog computing as a more efficient alternative to digital computation at the moderate precision of computation seen in biology. These analog circuits are efficient because they can take in a continuous range of inputs, and they exploit the natural continuous computing functions that are already present in cells. In the case of cells, that continuous input might be the amount of glucose present. In transistors, it’s a range of continuous input currents or voltages.
Digital circuits, meanwhile, represent every value as zero or one, ignoring the range of possibilities in between. This can be useful for creating circuits that perform logic functions such as AND, NOT and OR inside cells, which many synthetic biologists have done. These circuits can reveal whether or not a threshold level of a certain molecule is present, but not the exact amount of it.
Digital circuits also require many more parts, which can drain the energy of the cell hosting them. “If you build too many parts to make some function, the cell is not going to have the energy to keep making those proteins,” Sarpeshkar says.
Doing the math
To create an analog adding or multiplying circuit that can calculate the total quantity of two or more compounds in a cell, the researchers combined two circuits, each of which responds to a different input. In one circuit, a sugar called arabinose turns on a transcription factor that activates the gene that codes for green fluorescent protein (GFP). In the second, a signaling molecule known as AHL also turns on a gene that produces GFP. By measuring the total amount of GFP, the total amount of both inputs can be calculated.
To subtract or divide, the researchers swapped one of the activator transcription factors with a repressor, which turns off production of GFP when the input molecule is present. The team also built an analog square root circuit that requires just two parts, while a recently reported digital synthetic circuit for performing square roots had more than 100.
“Analog computation is very efficient,” Sarpeshkar says. “To create digital circuits at a comparable level of precision would take many more genetic parts.”
Another of the team’s circuits can perform division by calculating the ratio of two different molecules. Cells often perform this kind of computation on their own, which is critical for monitoring the relative concentrations of molecules such as NAD and NADH, which are frequently converted from one to the other as they help other cellular reactions take place.
“That ratio is important for controlling a lot of cellular processes, and the cell naturally has enzymes that can recognize those ratios,” Lu says. “Cells can already do a lot of these things on their own, but for them to do it over a useful range requires extra engineering.”
That extra engineering included modifying the circuits so that they can compute with inputs over a range of 1 to 10,000 — much wider than the range of a naturally occurring cell circuit.
“It’s nice to see that frameworks from electrical engineering can be concisely and elegantly mapped into synthetic biology,” says Eric Klavins, an associate professor of electrical engineering and adjunct associate professor of biological engineering at the University of Washington who was not part of the research team.
The researchers are now trying to create analog circuits in nonbacterial cells, including mammalian cells. They are also working on expanding the library of genetic parts that can be incorporated into the circuits. “Right now we’re using three of the most commonly used transcription factors in biology, but we’d like to do this with additional parts and make this a generalizable platform so everyone else can use it,” Lu says.
“We have just scratched the surface of what sophisticated analog feedback circuits can do in living cells,” says Sarpeshkar, whose lab is working on building further new analog circuits in cells. He believes the new approach of what he terms “analog synthetic biology” will create a new set of fundamental and applied circuits that can dramatically improve the fine control of gene expression, molecular sensing, computation and actuation.
The research was funded by MIT Lincoln Laboratory, the Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation.

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JU prof nominated for Becquerel Prize!!!

Courtesy: Times of India

A teacher of the electronics engineering department in Jadavpur University — has been nominated for the 2013 Edmond Becquerel Prize.

    Colleagues of Ghosh consider the nomination as a huge achievement in itself, given the rarity of the award been conferred to scientists beyond Europe. Japan’s Masafumi Yamaguchi is the only recipient of the award from Asia.

    World Council for Renewable Energy chairman Wolfgang Palz has nominated Ghosh “for his outstanding contributions in developing photovoltaic cells in general and thinfilm photovoltaic cells in particular.”

    “It is important considering one cannot self-nominate himself and neither can his institute recommend the name for the award,” said Ghosh, who is currently working in various projects in Kyrgyzstan and Sierra Leone.

    “In Kyrgyzstan, I have been working on a project to take solar power to the rural population of that country. In Sierra Leone, we have set up a business incubation centre and the solar power work was done by me. In Gujarat, I am involved in the solar power project of 10 mega watt.

    “In addition, the philosophy behind my nomination also mentions that I have taken PV power in 1984 to the deep island village in Bay of Bengal for their participation in education, entrepreneurship development, quality and effective economic activities. Implementation of PV power enhanced the human development index to 16-17% higher than its previous figure. The results have been published in a paper at the Solar World Congress.”

    It may be noted that Ghosh has authored 150 scientific and technological publications.

    Partha Pratim Biswas, his colleague at the university, said: “He is a valuable asset to the institution and has already received international recognition for his work. Now, his nomination for the award yet again proves the multi-dimensional excellence of JU.”

Biswajit Ghosh was nominated by World Council for Renewable Energy chairman Wolfgang Palz 

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CABLE TESTER

Have you ever wondered if a particular cable is delivering mains power supply to your device or not? Here is a solution that helps you test cable continuity without requiring any physical contact with the bare cable. The circuit practically detects AC signal frequencies and gives an LED indication if the cable is conducting. The circuit is highly sensitive and can detect signals from the surface of the cable itself and thus no direct contact with the bare cable is necessary.
The circuit can be used to test other cables, including modem, audio/video and dish antenna cables to name a few.




Circuit and working 
Above figure shows the circuit of cable tester. The circuit is built around op-amp CA3130 (IC1). IC1 is a BiMOS operational amplifier with MOSFET inputs and CMOS output. It has P-MOS transistors in the inputs for providing very high input impedance and very good speed performance. The input readily accepts even weak signals.

IC1 is wired as a non-inverting amplifier with feedback resistors R6 and R7 to set the closed-loop voltage gain. Capacitor C1 is added to provide a progressive roll-off. The non-inverting input of IC1 is biased by a combination of resistors R1 through R5. Capacitor C2 is added between the offset null (pin 1) and Strobe (pin 8) pins for phase compensation.

Working of the circuit is simple. Bring antenna of the circuit near the cable that you want to test. The LED will glow if the cable is conducting perfectly.

                                                           Component layout for the PCB

                                                            Actual-size, single-side PCB for cable tester
Construction and testing
An actual-size, single-side PCB for the cable tester is shown in Fig. 2 and its component layout in Fig. 3. After assembling the circuit on the PCB, enclose it in a suitable case. Antenna can be a telescopic antenna or a 10cm long wire.

To test the circuit, check 9V at test point TP1 with respect to TP0 to verify the correct power supply to the circuit. Bring antenna of the assembled circuit near some power cable and check status of LED1.

 

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LITER OF LIGHT

We dream about tomorrow’s glowing world………...........We are the team of “Liter of Light” in India……..

Mission

spreading this innovation in our country and installing the liter of light in India.

Description

The  source of light consists of a plastic bottle filled with a water solution which is embedded in the roofs of houses. The solar bottle harnesses the light from the sun, capturing and diffracting the light to all parts of the room. Our aim is to support this idea which has already launched in many countries around the world.

 Founded - September 12,2011

Products- A soda bottle as a light source in underprivileged households.

Liter of Light India Abstract :
             We are a group of under graduate students working to install liter of lights or solar blubs all over India.Our motto is to lighten up the most unprivileged communities by installing solar bulbs.Introducing such low-cost technologies we aim to glow about one million homes throughout India.
What is Liter of Light :
              A Liter of Light is a zero-carbon emitting solar lighting project which is first initiated by members of My Shelter Foundation and students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Solar Bottle Bulb uses appropriate technologies that are highly replicable and sustainable. The materials used are found easily in the poorest neighborhood.They can be easily built with simple carpentry skills and little knowledge about the solar bulb. This simple mechanism of installing Solar Bottle Bulb made the expansion of movement easy.
Do it Yourself Liter of Light:
               The bulb is nothing but a A 1.5 liter clear PET bottle which is used as source of light.It is filled with the mixture of water and bleach.The bottle with this mixture is inserted into a metal sheet.This kit is embedded on the roofs of houses which acts as a source of light.
Working principle of Liter of Light :
                Solar Bottle Bulb works by the refraction of light rays.The sun rays falling on the bottle gets refracted when it immediately enters water i.e. due to change in medium form air to water.This refracted light spreads at an angle of 360 degrees in a room and produces light equivalent to 60 watts bulb.
                The solar bulb lasts for 5 years without any sort of maintenance with the change of water at regular intervals.Bleach is added to maintain the clarity of water and make the water free from microorganisms.
 Why Liter of Light :

• Solar Bottle Bulb does not have any carbon emissions when compared to any conventional light.
• Solar Bottle Bulb is a source of livelihood for the local unemployed people.
• It is very economic and reliable.
• It reduces the impact of global warming on earth.
• Disposed plastic is up-cycled.
  
    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Liter-of-Light-in-India/204926342960861 - FOLLOW THIS LINK .

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Future wire ''NANOWIRE''

A nanowire is a nanostructure, with the diameter of the order of a nanometer (10⁻⁹ meters). Alternatively, nanowires can be defined as structures that have a thickness or diameter constrained to tens of nanometers or less and an unconstrained length. At these scales, quantum mechanical effects are important — which coined the term "quantum wires".

Many different types of nanowires exist, including metallic (e.g., Ni, Pt, Au), semiconducting (e.g., Si, InP, GaN, etc.), and insulating (e.g., SiO₂, TiO₂). Molecular nanowires are composed of repeating molecular units either organic (e.g. DNA) or inorganic (e.g. Mo₆S_9-xI_x).

The nanowires could be used, in the near future, to link tiny components into extremely small circuits. Using nanotechnology, such components could be created out of chemical compounds.

Synthesis of nanowires

There are two basic approaches to synthesizing nanowires: top-down and bottom-up. A top-down approach reduces a large piece of material to small pieces, by various means such as lithography or electrophoresis. A bottom-up approach synthesizes the nanowire by combining constituent adatoms. Most synthesis techniques use a bottom-up approach.
Nanowire production uses several common laboratory techniques, including suspension, electrochemical deposition, vapor deposition, and VLS growth. Ion track technology enables growing homogeneous and segmented nanowires down to 8 nm diameter.

Suspension

A suspended nanowire is a wire produced in a high-vacuum chamber held at the longitudinal extremities. Suspended nanowires can be produced by:

• The chemical etching of a larger wire
• The bombardment of a larger wire, typically with highly energetic ions
• Indenting the tip of a STM in the surface of a metal near its melting point, and then retracting it

VLS Growth

A common technique for creating a nanowire is Vapor-Liquid-Solid (VLS) synthesis. This process can produce crystalline nanowires of some semiconductor materials. It uses as source material either laser ablated particles or a feed gas such as silane.
VLS synthesis requires a catalyst. For nanowires, the best catalysts are liquid metal (such as gold) nanoclusters, which can either be self-assembled from a thin film by dewetting, or purchased in colloidal form and deposited on a substrate.
The source enters these nanoclusters and begins to saturate them. On reaching supersaturation, the source solidifies and grows outward from the nanocluster. Simply turning off the source can adjust the final length of the nanowire. Switching sources while still in the growth phase can create compound nanowires with super-lattices of alternating materials.
A single-step vapour phase reaction at elevated temperature synthesises inorganic nanowires such as Mo₆S_9-xI_x. From another point of view, such nanowires are cluster polymers.

Uses of nanowires

Nanowires still belong to the experimental world of laboratories. However, they may complement or replace carbon nanotubes in some applications. Some early experiments have shown how they can be used to build the next generation of computing devices.
To create active electronic elements, the first key step was to chemically dope a semiconductor nanowire. This has already been done to individual nanowires to create p-type and n-type semiconductors.

The Future 

The next step was to find a way to create a p-n junction, one of the simplest electronic devices.

After p-n junctions were built with nanowires, the next logical step was to build logic gates. By connecting several p-n junctions together, researchers have been able to create the basis of all logic circuits: the AND, OR, and NOT gates have all been built from semiconductor nanowire crossings.

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About the Author

Amrit Mandal is a final year B.tech (EE) Student, Admin of this blog. He likes to work in the renewable energy field-specially in solar energy field.
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Sensitive Smart Skin : New Technology

An array of piezotronic transistors capable of converting
mechanical motion directly into electronic controlling signals

Knitting  zinc oxide nano-wires vertically, researchers of Georgia Institute of Technology have fabricated arrays of piezoelectric transistors which are capable of converting mechanical motion directly into electronic controlling signals.It can sense touch with the same level of sensitivity as the human fingertip, which could result in better bots and prosthetic.

"Any mechanical motion, such as the movement of arms or the fingers of a robot, could be translated to control signals," lead author Zhong Lin Wang of Georgia Tech's School of Materials Science and Engineering said in a news release. "This could make artificial skin smarter and more like the human skin. It would allow the skin to feel activity on the surface."
The transparent and flexible arrays use about 8,000 taxels. A taxel is a touch-sensitive transistor that can generate piezoelectric signals independently, i.e., emit electricity when mechanically agitated. Each of those two-terminal transistors are constructed with 1,500 zinc oxide nano-wires(500-600 nanometers in diameter). In the array the vertical piezotronic transistors are placed between top and bottom electrodes which are made of indium tin oxide aligned in orthogonal cross-bar configurations. A thin layer of gold is deposited between the top and bottom surfaces of the zinc oxide nano-wires and the top and bottom electrodes, forming Schottky contacts. A thin layer of the polymer Parylene is then coated onto the device as a moisture and corrosion barrier.The array density is 234 pixels per inch, the resolution is better than 100 microns, and the sensors are capable of detecting pressure changes as low as 10 kilo-pascals (resolution comparable to that of the human skin), Wang said. The Georgia Tech researchers fabricated several hundred of the arrays during a research project that lasted nearly three years.

Figure shows a scanning electron microscopy image (A) and topological profile image of fabricated strain-gated piezotronic transistor array. An optical image shows (B) the transparent and flexible SGPT array on flexible substrate

The arrays are fabricated on flexible substrates

In the laboratory, the research group has fabricated arrays of 92 X 92 transistors. The researchers used a chemical growth technique at approximately 85 to 90 degrees Celsius, which allowed them to fabricate arrays of strain-gated vertical piezotronic transistors on substrates that are suitable for microelectronics applications.
 The research group measured the tiny polarization changes when piezoelectric materials such as zinc oxide are placed under mechanical stress. Zinc oxide is used because it can accumulate current. In those transistors, then piezoelectric charges control the flow of current through the nano-wires.Passing the control is known as  “strain-gating.” The technique only works in materials that have both piezoelectric and semiconducting properties. These properties are seen in nano-wires and thin films created from the wurtzite and zinc blend families of materials, which includes zinc oxide, gallium nitride and cadmium sulfide.
The arrays could help give robots a more adaptive sense of touch, provide better security in handwritten signatures and offer new ways for humans to interact with electronic devices. "This is a fundamentally new technology that allows us to control electronic devices directly using mechanical agitation," Prof Wang said. "This could be used in a broad range of areas, including robotics, MEMS, human-computer interfaces, and other areas that involve mechanical deformation."

 Potential Applications:

•     Multidimensional signature recording, in which not only the graphics of the signature would be included, but also the pressure exerted at each location during the creation of the signature, and the speed at which the signature is created.
•     Shape-adaptive sensing in which a change in the shape of the device is measured. This would be useful in applications such as artificial/prosthetic skin, smart biomedical treatments and intelligent robotics in which the arrays would sense what was in contact with them.
•     Active tactile sensing in which the physiological operations of mechanoreceptors of biological entities such as hair follicles or the hairs in the cochlea are emulated.

Future work will include producing the taxel arrays from single nano-wires instead of bundles, and integrating the arrays onto CMOS silicon devices. Using single wires could improve the sensitivity of the arrays by at least three orders of magnitude, Wang said.
The research was reported April 25, 2013 in the Journal Science online and will be published in a later version of the print journal. The research has been sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Air Force (USAF), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Source : Georgia Institute of Technology

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About the Author

Amrit Mandal is a final year B.tech (EE) Student, Admin of this blog. He likes to work in the renewable energy field-specially in solar energy field.
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Wind Turbine Inspector::Helical Robotics

How do you inspect the outside of a wind turbine? Either stand on the ground and use a telescope, or set up some climbing gear and scale the tower. The first solution is imprecise and the second is expensive and dangerous. Both are time-consuming. Now there's a third option: the HR-MP20 Light Weight Magnetic Climbing Robot by Helical Robotics.



 This remote-controlled robot can scale a turbine tower while carrying up to 9 kg (20 lbs) of inspection gear such as cameras and ultrasound. It clings to the tower using five neodymium magnets, the strongest type of permanent magnet available. A technician stands on the ground with a transmitter, directing the robotic inspector to various places on the turbine.

The HR-MP20 features a zero turning radius and it can climb at a rate of 20 meters per minute (65 ft/min) and descend at 27 m/min (90 ft/min). It uses a 15 Ah lithium-polymer battery pack for its drive motors, a 10Ah NiMH battery pack to power its payload, and a 4.5Ah NiMH battery for its radio. The radio operates in the 2.4GHz band with a range of 762 m (2500 ft). Its size and capacity can be custom-engineered according to client needs. 

Inspecting the blades of a wind turbine requires that the blades be stopped. Using the telescope method, a technician stands away from the turbine and looks at the blades through a telescope. This process can take up to four hours per turbine. Climbing a turbine requires a lot of rope, a strong technician, and a hefty insurance premium. Robotic inspection is faster, safer, less expensive, and more reliable than the telescope or climbing methods. Less down-time translates into more energy production. The HR-MP20 has been proven to work in high winds (which you're likely to find on a wind farm, right?) and bad weather, both of which will delay manual inspections. Of course, you still need a technician to climb up the inside of the tower to perform maintenance on the internal gears, generator, and other moving parts. But the towers have ladders on the inside, and wind is not a factor inside the tower. 

Here it is action:

Link to the original site : :Helical Robotics : HR-MP20 Magnetic Platform Lifting Vehicle


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About the Author

Amrit Mandal is a final year B.tech (EE) Student, Admin of this blog. He likes to work in the renewable energy field-specially in solar energy field.
Follow Us on Twitter #REnergy_Blog

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Bajaj Auto quadricycles RE60 ready for launch

It is expected to be a revolutionary product. Bajaj Auto quadricycles RE60 is finally ready for launch, it is awaiting government nod. here are details about mileage and price

Quadricycle is a new concept and Bajaj Auto is trying its best to get the approval for its light four wheel vehicle from the Indian government. The company says it is neither an auto-rickshaw nor a car, but a quadricycle that it wants o sell cheaply in the market.




 The company recently showcased its product to the whole world and says its demand is going to be substantial not just in the country, but in many other foreign nations who would fall for it immediately.

Bajaj that is second largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the country and is the number one manufacturer of three wheelers or auto-rickshaws in the country has excited a large number of people across the country by claiming that its quadricycle will run 35-40 kilometre on every litre of petrol. To be true, even Tata’s much talked about Nano doesn’t give more than 20 kilometre average on a single litre of petrol. In a country where petrol is among the costliest in the world, a good mileage is going to be a huge attraction for everyone.

Meanwhile the company has said that it is waiting for the government-appointed committee to come up with the final rules on quadricycles. While it is waiting and waiting for the approval from government on the issue, deputy Prime Minister of Singapore is expected to visit Bajaj Auto on May 4 to discuss export potential for the RE60. Meanwhile talking about the release date of RE60a top Bajaj Auto official RC Maheshwari says, “At present, a committee comprising of government officials and auto industry executives who are members of SIAM, are finalizing the rules for quadricycles. We understand the process of final inclusion of the new class in the Central Motor Vehicle Rules would take few more months”. But aside from government approval, everything else seems to be ready for launch.

Many have talked about the product being unsafe. But a step ahead from the original auto rickshaw, Bajaj RE60 is packed with a powerful 214 cc engine having maximum power output of 20 bhp. The light vehicle weighing 450 kg is expected to give an average of 35 to 40 kmpl. Given the stats, speculations are rife that following its launch, the auto rickshaws plying on the road would soon be a thing of past. Though the initial set of the vehicle would be fitted with a petrol engine, the Bajaj Auto has spent three and half years developing the RE60 and designing the platform in such a manner that the vehicle could be fitted with fuel options like CNG, diesel, and electric power train in the future.

About the Author

Amrit Mandal is a final year B.tech (EE) Student, Admin of this blog. He likes to work in the renewable energy field-specially in solar energy field.
Follow Us on Twitter #REnergy_Blog

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Digital Poster making competition! Rich awards are waiting for the creative ones !!! Hurry UP !!!!!!!

Source @ Tuna-eco-generation Subject: Digital Energy/Environment Poster making competition  Content as follows [Asia Pacific] Digital poster-making competition
by Eco Generation
Digital Poster-Making Competition UNEP, UNESCO and Samsung Engineering are teaming up to start a visual conversation in Asia and the Pacific around sustainable development – to engage young people in sustainable actions that results in positive environmental benefits in their local communities through art. The purpose of the contest is to engage youth to share their story of how, in their own capacity, to address environmental issues in their communities or countries.  This is a digital poster-making competition that captures environmental issues and/or encourages sustainable action in areas such as energy, waste and water. Themes: Sustainable action in areas such as energy, waste and water Sub-themes: Inertia: A tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged (the problem) UNertia: A tendency to act upon existing awareness (the solution) The two sub-themes may be combined. We are looking for captivating, inspiring and effective posters that speak to youth and the general public. Eligibility: This competition is open to anyone aged 6-24 years old and resident in any Asia-Pacific country. Children aged under 13 should submit the posters via their parents' accounts and please specify the name and age in the application form. Eligible countries are: Afghanistan, American Samoa, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Georgia, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Macao, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russian Federation, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor Leste, Tonga, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu and Viet Nam. Poster Requirements: Posters created by students must be their own original artwork. Copyrighted characters (such as Mickey Mouse, etc) or copyrighted clip art will not be accepted. Dimensions: A2 size 420mm x 594mm in 300 dpi Posters can be in the form of graphic designs, digital illustrations, or photographs. Feel free to use any available design applications/programs. For initial submission, prepare a design of no larger than 1MB (we will be asking you for a hi-resolution copy and original AI/PDF/PDS file once your work is selected as one of the winners). You can add a quote or a line on your poster (no more than 20 words). Make sure to quote the author if you wish to copy existing messages. We will be sharing your art work to our websites: www.unertia.org (UNertia website to be confirmed) and http://tunza.eco-generation.org/. By submitting your work to us, you agree that we can use your work for advocacy/awareness-raising campaigns. We will credit your work accordingly. Judging Procedure: We only allow ONE entry per participant. Judging Criteria: 1. Clear message conveyed by the text and artwork 2. Creativity, originality and artistic quality 3. No copyrighted artwork, characters, or brand names are used in the poster. 4. Number of 'likes' of the entries posted at the Gallery Awards: Awards Number Prizes 1st Prize 1 Samsung ATIV Smart PC 2nd Prize 1 Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 wifi 3rd Prize 1 Samsung Galaxy Player 5.8 Honorary mention 10 Samsung portable memory station 500 GB Samsung Thai Engineering Prize 2 Invitation to 2014 Global Youth for the Environment Forum to be held in Seoul, Korea *Samsung Thai Engineering Prize for Thailand: Among students aged 13-15 in Thailand, TWO winners will be invited to 2014 Global Youth for the Environment Forum to be held in Seoul, Korea in February 2014. English phone interview shall be given to candidates who listed on the finalists.  * Since UN official from Bangkok shall accompany, parents cannot join the trip to Korea. The flight will be from Bangkok to Incheon. Details will be informed later.   * Some countries do not allow to pay customs duties from the senders in advance. In that case, winners shall be responsible for the duties to receive the winning gifts. Submission: Please post your poster at Gallery of Tunza.eco-generation with detailed explanation of the poster and send the same @ application form page  Deadline: All submissions must be received by 22 May 2013 with 'My sustainable action' in the subject.

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Mahindra Reva launches all-electric car in Chandigarh

Mahindra Reva, country's electric vehicle pioneer, part of the USD 15.9 billion Mahindra Group, today unveiled its all-electric, zero-emission 'Mahindra e2o'in Chandigarh which would be available at a per month cost of Rs 12,802 (including EMI and running cost).
Speaking on the launch, Arun Malhotra, Chief Sales and Customer Care Officer, Automotive Division, Mahindra and Mahindra said "We are certain that the cutting-edge technological innovation that has gone into the Mahindra e2o will help customers remain connected in a convenient and cost-effective manner."



"Electric cars have always had the potential to emerge as a serious alternative to fossil fuel driven vehicles. Prospective customers have a choice in their hands as they now have the opportunity of shaping the future of mobility" said R Chandramouli, Chief of Operations, Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles Private Limited.
The company has made a case to Chandigarh Administration for a subsidy of about 30 per cent on the total cost of the car which otherwise comes to about Rs 918 lakh in Chandigarh(Rs 12,802 per month installment for five years plus Rs 1.50 lakh down payment). which is in Chandigarh. the new car would be available in Chandigarh at a price of about Rs nine lakhHe said that Mahindra e2o is an Electric Vehicle (EV) designed as an urban mobility solution for a sustainable zero-emission society and gains relevance in the face of issues like environmental degradation, pollution related health concerns and climate change. Powered by lithium–ion batteries and a three phase induction electric motor; the new car is fully automatic and designed for city driving with no changing of gears in bumper-to-bumper traffic. It can accommodate four adults and a driving range of 100 kms per charge. The smart phone application can help lock the car by simply sending it a lock command and activate the car's air-conditioning remotely. One can plug in to charge like the cell phone, laptop or tablet. It comes with factory fitted GPS navigation system, radio, DVD, Blue tooth and I-pod connectivity.
He said that no petrol or diesel means freedom from often increasing oil prices, the Mahindra e2o needs to be serviced only once a year that too at one's door step. It will be available in six colours-arctic silver, coral blue, eco green, oceanic white, spanish red and sunfire yellow.

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New Green Buildings Coming Up In ISRO Campus!!

Space technology is getting a green lining to it these ‘power-less’ summer days. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is embracing green building concepts and solar power big-time with the southern states, where  the space agency has most of its frontline facilities, starved of power this summer.

 ISRO has instructed all its units, including those in Kerala, that new green building technologies and ‘sun power’ are to be tapped to the utmost in new buildings coming up on their campuses.

 The space agency, which has some big missions lined up for this year, is chanting the energy conservation mantra quite seriously when it comes to day-to-day use of electricity on its campuses, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said.

“We’ve been practising energy conservation for decades. But we are are fully aware of the current situation,” Radhakrishnan said.

 

“Two of our units, the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) at Hyderabad and the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory near Tirupathi, have already begun tapping solar power.

 “New civil constructions coming up on our campuses will be using green technologies, especially how natural light can be exploited,” he said.

 Some ISRO facilities, like the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu, have test facilities which are real power-guzzlers. At the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thumba in Thiruvananthapuram, such tests are relatively rarer.

But those tests which indeed demand large amounts of electricity -  hypersonic wind tunnel tests and the plasma wind tunnel tests, for instance - are now performed during off-peak hours, VSSC director S Ramakrishnan said.

“The power crisis has not affected our work here so far. But definitely we have to think about alternative sources of energy in the days ahead,” he said.

 Energy conservation is the buzz-word at another ISRO unit in the district - the LPSC at Valiyamala.

Switch off fans and lights when not needed and go soft particularly on air conditioners, the staff have been told, LPSC director M C Dathan said.

“I’ve already issued a circular in this regard,” he said.

Please view my project report on 5KW BIPV solar power system.

 

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Soaring on the power of the sun: World's most advanced solar plane flies

                                    

The world's most advanced solar-powered plane successfully carried out its latest test flight on Tuesday, soaring at 3,000 feet above the Bay Area of California and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.



 

The Solar Impulse, which weighs only about 3,500 pounds, runs completely on power from the sun drawn from 12,000 solar cells that send energy into batteries that power propellers running on four electric motors.

Tuesday's flight was a technical test run to prepare for a planned cross-country trip beginning in early May.

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Advanced Earthquake Resistant Design Techniques

Intro

The conventional approach to earthquake resistant design of buildings depends upon providing the building with strength, stiffness and inelastic deformation capacity which are great enough to withstand a given level of earthquake–generated force. This is generally accomplished through the selection of an appropriate structural configuration and the careful detailing of structural members, such as beams and columns, and the connections between them.

(fig. 1)

In contrast, we can say that the basic approach underlying more advanced techniques for earthquake resistance is not to strengthen the building, but to reduce the earthquake–generated forces acting upon it. Among the most important advanced techniques of earthquake resistant design and construction are base isolation and energy dissipation devices.

Base Isolation

It is easiest to see this principle at work by referring directly to the most widely used of these advanced techniques, which is known as base isolation. A base isolated structure is supported by a series of bearing pads which are placed between the building and the building's foundation.(See Figure 1) A variety of different types of base isolation bearing pads have now been developed. For our example, we'll discuss lead–rubber bearings. These are among the frequently–used types of base isolation bearings. (See Figure 2) A lead–rubber bearing is made from layers of rubber sandwiched together with layers of steel. In the middle of the bearing is a solid lead "plug." On top and bottom, the bearing is fitted with steel plates which are used to attach the bearing to the building and foundation. The bearing is very stiff and strong in the vertical direction, but flexible in the horizontal direction.

Earthquake Generated Forces

(fig. 2)

To get a basic idea of how base isolation works, first examine Figure 3. This shows an earthquake acting on both a base isolated building and a conventional, fixed–base, building. As a result of an earthquake, the ground beneath each building begins to move. In Figure 3, it is shown moving to the left.
Each building responds with movement which tends toward the right. We say that the building undergoes displacement towards the right. The building's displacement in the direction opposite the ground motion is actually due to inertia. The inertial forces acting on a building are the most important of all those generated during an earthquake.
It is important to know that the inertial forces which the building undergoes are proportional to the building's acceleration during ground motion. It is also important to realize that buildings don't actually shift in only one direction.
Because of the complex nature of earthquake ground motion, the building actually tends to vibrate back and forth in varying directions. So, Figure 3 is really a kind of "snapshot" of the building at only one particular point of its earthquake response.

(fig. 3)

In addition to displacing toward the right, the un–isolated building is also shown to be changing its shape– from a rectangle to a parallelogram. We say that the building is deforming. The primary cause of earthquake damage to buildings is the deformation which the building undergoes as a result of the inertial forces acting upon it.
The different types of damage which buildings can suffer are quite varied and depend upon a large number of complicated factors. But to take one simple example, one can easily imagine what happens to two pieces of wood joined at a right angle by a few nails, when the very heavy building containing them suddenly starts to move very quickly — the nails pull out and the connection fails.

Response of Base Isolated Building

By contrast, even though it too is displacing, the base–isolated building retains its original, rectangular shape. It is the lead–rubber bearings supporting the building that are deformed. The base–isolated building itself escapes the deformation and damage—which implies that the inertial forces acting on the base–isolated building have been reduced.
Experiments and observations of base–isolated buildings in earthquakes have been shown to reduce building accelerations to as little as 1/4 of the acceleration of comparable fixed–base buildings, which each building undergoes as a percentage of gravity. As we noted above, inertial forces increase, and decrease, proportionally as acceleration increases or decreases.
Acceleration is decreased because the base isolation system lengthens a building's period of vibration, the time it takes for the building to rock back and forth and then back again. And in general, structures with longer periods of vibration tend to reduce acceleration, while those with shorter periods tend to increase or amplify acceleration.
Finally, since they are highly elastic, the rubber isolation bearings don't suffer any damage. But what about that lead plug in the middle of our example bearing? It experiences the same deformation as the rubber. However, it also generates heat as it does so.
In other words, the lead plug reduces, or dissipates, the energy of motion—i.e., kinetic energy—by converting that energy into heat. And by reducing the energy entering the building, it helps to slow and eventually stop the building's vibrations sooner than would otherwise be the case —in other words, it damps the building's vibrations. (Damping is the fundamental property of all vibrating bodies which tends to absorb the body's energy of motion, and thus reduce the amplitude of vibrations until the body's motion eventually ceases.)

Spherical Sliding Isolation Systems

As we said earlier, lead–rubber bearings are just one of a number of different types of base isolation bearings which have now been developed. Spherical Sliding Isolation Systems are another type of base isolation. The building is supported by bearing pads that have a curved surface and low friction.

(fig. 4)

During an earthquake, the building is free to slide on the bearings. Since the bearings have a curved surface, the building slides both horizontally and vertically (See Figure 4.) The force needed to move the building upwards limits the horizontal or lateral forces which would otherwise cause building deformations. Also, by adjusting the radius of the bearing's curved surface, this property can be used to design bearings that also lengthen the building's period of vibration.
For more information read this article titled Protective Systems for Buildings: Application of Spherical Sliding Isolation Systems as it describes one particular type of spherical sliding isolation system, and its successful use in making some structures more earthquake resistant.

Energy Dissipation Devices

The second of the major new techniques for improving the earthquake resistance of buildings also relies upon damping and energy dissipation, but it greatly extends the damping and energy dissipation provided by lead–rubber bearings.
As we've said, a certain amount of vibration energy is transferred to the building by earthquake ground motion. Buildings themselves do possess an inherent ability to dissipate, or damp, this energy. However, the capacity of buildings to dissipate energy before they begin to suffer deformation and damage is quite limited.
The building will dissipate energy either by undergoing large scale movement or sustaining increased internal strains in elements such as the building's columns and beams. Both of these eventually result in varying degrees of damage. So, by equipping a building with additional devices which have high damping capacity, we can greatly decrease the seismic energy entering the building, and thus decrease building damage.

Accordingly, a wide range of energy dissipation devices have been developed and are now being installed in real buildings. Energy dissipation devices are also often called damping devices. The large number of damping devices that have been developed can be grouped into three broad categories:

• Friction Dampers– these utilize frictional forces to dissipate energy
• Metallic Dampers– utilize the deformation of metal elements within the damper
• Viscoelastic Dampers– utilize the controlled shearing of solids
• Viscous Dampers– utilized the forced movement (orificing) of fluids within the damper

Fluid Viscous Dampers

Once again, to try to illustrate some of the general principles of damping devices, we'll look more closely at one particular type of damping device, the Fluid Viscous Damper, which is one variety of viscous damper that has been widely utilized and has proven to be very effective in a wide range of applications.
The article, titled Application of Fluid Viscous Dampers to Earthquake Resistant Design, describes the basic characteristics of fluid viscous dampers, the process of developing and testing them, and the installation of fluid viscous dampers in an actual building to make it more earthquake resistant.

Damping Devices and Bracing Systems

(fig. 5)

Damping devices are usually installed as part of bracing systems. Figure 5 shows one type of damper–brace arrangement, with one end attached to a column and one end attached to a floor beam. Primarily, this arrangement provides the column with additional support.
Most earthquake ground motion is in a horizontal direction; so, it is a building's columns which normally undergo the most displacement relative to the motion of the ground. Figure 5 also shows the damping device installed as part of the bracing system and gives some idea of its action.

Source:

 Research work mainly in US

 

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Upcoming Strong Growth of Wind Power:Globally

Worldwide installations of wind power grew by 10 percent in 2012 and with the exception of 2013, this trend will continue over the next five years according to latest figures released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

The GWEC’s Annual Market Update (PDF) sums up the state of the industry at the end of 2012, along with a detailed five-year forecast of the wind energy market through to 2017.

It predicts steady global growth throughout the period, mainly on the back of emerging large-scale wind power coming out of China, Brazil, India and Latin America.

In 2012, global installed wind capacity reached 282.5 gigawatts, with the USA and Europe breaking records for new installed capacity, contributing to a total of 44.8 gigawatts of new wind power worldwide – up 10 percent from 2011.

A slight downturn is forecast in 2013, before the market returns to growth and wind power continues its march to parity with fossil fuels.

"Wind power may be variable, but the greatest threat to the continued stable growth of the industry is the variability and unpredictability of the politicians who set the frameworks for the energy sector", said Steve Sawyer, GWEC Secretary General.

In the U.S., an extension of a Production Tax Credit on new wind projects will slow growth in that country, while the report states Europe’s record installations in 2012 are unlikely to be repeated in 2014 as a result of policy uncertainty and backtracking, which is undermining investor confidence in new ventures.

But despite these obstacles - which Sawyer points out include "fossil fuel subsidies which last year amounted to an incentive to emit CO2 of about $110/tonne" – the global wind market is expected to grow by 13.7 percent out to 2017, with capacity nearly doubling to 536 gigawatts.

"...all of the fundamentals which have driven wind power to date are still in place: energy security, price stability, local economic development, climate change mitigation and local air and water pollution issues; and wind is now competitive in an increasing number of markets," said Sawyer.

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Solar Summer T-shirt

A Kolkata based scientist has come up with a concept of a "solar summer shirt" which will come with with inbuilt solar cells and fans to keep the wearer cool during hot days.

"We are trying to develop technology to fix small solar cells either into the fibre of a shirt or in its pocket," said Santipada GonChaudhury, a specialist in photovoltaic system engineering and design.

GonChoudhury says the shirt could produce around 400 watts of energy with the help of solar cells whose size will vary from 2.5 inches to 3 inches.



He said the shirt would store enough power to charge cell phones, tablets or other digital devices.
Explaining the concept, the scientist said the shirt will have two layers, one of which will have two to four small "fans" which will work on solar energy. The size of these miniature fans will be smaller than those found inside a computer.
"Suppose a person is 5.5 feet tall. Then the amount of sun rays that fall on every square feet of his body is sufficient to create 400 watts of energy by using solar cells - enough to charge mobiles, tablets, ipods etc," GonChoudhury told PTI.
The Ashden award winner, who teaches at the Bengal Engineering and Science University, has submitted the research proposal to the Science and Technology Department of the central government.
GonChaudhury said it was not necessary to wear the shirt all the time. Its exposure to the sun for a specific period of time would allow the gadgets to be charged.

Asked about the price of the shirt, the scientist said, "If the cost of a normal shirt is Rs 1,000, the cost of the same shirt equipped with solar cells will be around Rs 1,600."

He also ruled out adverse reaction of the solar shirt on the human body. The scientist said the cost of solar energy is bound to come down with more and more research in the field all over the world.

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