Ignited young minds prove science has no frontiers
Children’s Science Congress has global warming, transport models on show.
By : b.r. srikanth
Update: 2016-01-04 22:49 GMT
MYSURU: Global warming, its impact on life on Earth, and reduction of carbon footprints are certainly of utmost concern for wannabe scientists among schoolchildren, going by the number of papers presented by them on these issues at the Children’s Science Congress, organized as part of the 103rd edition of the Indian Science Congress here on Monday.
Some extraordinary studies by schoolchildren across the country came to the fore at the event. For instance, Nitin Menon and his friends Harshitdayal, Aryan, Mohammed Yunus, and Tanaymaskara, all students of Delhi Public School of Danapore near Patna, presented the results of their effort ‘Effects of global warming on growth rate of plants and their yield’ citing the impact of global warming on five types of plants, Amaranths, brinjal, corn, paddy and pea. They have concluded that though global warming promotes increased growth, it affects the quality and quantity of the yield.
Another group, Amana Akber, Nasheeha Hamza, Fathima Aslaha, and Naseefa Furqana of Government Senior Basic School, Agatti, Lakshadweep, analyzed weather reports of last 30 years to arrive at a conclusion that ailments reported in certain seasons and all seasons were found in the community in Agatti island. Most of the diseases affect eyes, ears, nose, skin, and lungs. “We submitted a representation to officials about the situation and decided to conduct educational programmes about the importance of hygiene, health and nutritious food as follow-up activity,” concludes their paper.
Omkar U. Halagatti of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Dharwad, has discovered a method to mitigate the impact of greenhouse gases. This student reported in his paper how the use of silver Nano particles helps combat global warming, and suggested that the Nano-solution mixed with cellulose fibre connected to outlets of industrial chimneys and exhausts of automobiles and aircraft would help absorb these gases and thus reduce the effects of global warming.
Nobel laureates: Discover, invent and make in India
Discover, invent and make in India’ rather than relying solely on the ‘Make in India’ initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with a significant hike in allocation of funds for research & development would help the country gain a competitive edge.
This was the joint call of five Nobel prize winners who are here to participate in the 103rd edition of Indian Science Congress.
Prof David Jonathan Gross of the United States (Nobel prize in Physics, 2004), who was the most vocal among them during an interaction with the media here on Monday, minced no words as he criticized successive Prime Ministers and their governments for not keeping their promise of budgeting more funds for R&D. His lament was that the quality of research in India has nose-dived though the number of institutions has increased because of inadequate financial support to higher education. And his solution: Emulate South Korea through a substantial increase in the budget for education and await the turnout of students with an extraordinary quest for innovation. “You need good schools that add value than ones that hand out certificates to get jobs,” he added.
He was also critical of the fact that none of the governments in New Delhi initiated programmes to check brain drain or to encourage those who migrated to return home.
Though the United States had benefited because of migration of a large number of Indian engineers and scientists, he was aware of the fact that many were keen to return but could not because of lack of initiatives to lure them back.
Download the all new Deccan Chronicle app for Android and iOS to stay up-to-date with latest headlines and news stories in politics, entertainment, sports, technology, business and much more from India and around the world.