What is over 1400 scientists from 35 nations searching in three tunnels 1.5 km below earth? Answer will leave you shocked
How was the universe formed and how did the stars, planets, and even we began to exist? To find answers to these big questions, two teams of scientists one in the US and the other in Japan are racing to uncover the secrets of the universe. According to a report by BBC, both teams are using a tiny particle called a neutrino to help them solve the mystery of how everything started. Right now, the Japanese team is a few years ahead, but the American scientists are catching up fast. Why does our universe exist at all?
Deep inside a laboratory located above the misty forests of South Dakota, American scientists are trying to solve one of science's biggest puzzles i.e. why does the universe even exist? Meanwhile, their Japanese counterparts are also working toward the same goal and are currently leading the race.
Despite all our technological advancements, we still don't fully understand how the universe came into being or why galaxies, stars, and planets and even life itself exist. To get closer to an answer, both the American and Japanese teams are building advanced detectors designed to study neutrinos, a strange and tiny subatomic particle that might hold the key to how everything started. America's DUNE Project
In South Dakota, at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), scientists have built three huge tunnels about 1,500 meters below the ground. These tunnels are so important for research that people call them a 'cathedral of science.' Here, a massive experiment called the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is taking place. More than 1,400 scientists from 35 countries are working together on this project.
Dr. Jaret Heise, the director of the project, says that they're building a special detector that could completely change how we understand the universe. As part of the experiment, scientists will send powerful beams of neutrinos and antineutrinos from Illinois to South Dakota, about 800 miles away.
They want to observe whether these tiny particles behave differently during their journey. If neutrinos and antineutrinos change in different ways, it might help explain one of the biggest mysteries in science: Why did matter win over antimatter after the Big Bang? Understanding this could explain why the universe—and life as we know it—exists at all. Japan's Hyper-K Project
In Japan, scientists are building a new neutrino detector called Hyper-K, which is an upgraded version of their current detector, Super-K. This new setup looks like a glowing golden structure and is often described as a 'temple of science.' The Japanese team is nearly ready to launch their neutrino beam in less than three years, putting them several years ahead of the U.S.-based DUNE project.
Dr. Mark Scott from Imperial College London says that because the Hyper-K detector is larger, it can collect data faster and with better accuracy. Who will win the race?
Dr. Linda Cremonesi from Queen Mary University, who works on the DUNE project, believes that Japan's Hyper-K still lacks some of the technology needed to clearly detect the differences in behavior between neutrinos and antineutrinos. While both projects aim to uncover similar mysteries, having them run side by side will actually provide more detailed information.
But Dr. Scott admits, 'I'd rather be the one to get the results first!'
The final answers might still take a few years, but until then, the question of why and how we exist remains one of the universe's biggest puzzles. This scientific race is a major leap toward unlocking the secrets of our cosmos.
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The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
A tribute to M.S. Swaminathan, ‘the man who fed India'
The Viksit Bharat aspiration, which has gained considerable momentum, will require a significant development of scientific capability, and some of this, especially in the new digital economy, will have to be aatmanirbhar. There is much to learn in this context from the most successful experiment in atmanirbharata in the past, which was the achievement of food self-sufficiency in the 1960s. M.S. Swaminathan was the man who did it and he was a living hero to all of us. This is the centenary year of his birth and it has seen the publication of a new biography, M.S. Swaminathan: the Man who Fed India, by Priyambada Jayakumar. Ms. Jayakumar had the benefit of detailed discussions with him on both the personal and professional side of his life and she has produced a book which is a great read. However, in this article, I will focus on some lessons from his experience which have relevance for the future. The planting of a seed of an idea Scientific advancement was at the core of the Green Revolution and the book brings out that such advances are not achieved by dedicated scientists working in isolation in a lab. They involve collaboration with other scientists and a cross-fertilisation of ideas. It was known that wheat productivity could be increased through application of fertilizers and other inputs, but the problem was that the higher weight of grains caused the plant to bend and lodge if the stalk was not strong enough. Swaminathan was trying to use radiation to develop a genetic mutation that would have a stronger stalk, but this approach was not getting anywhere. In 1958, a Japanese scientist visiting Delhi told Swaminathan that a dwarf wheat variety developed in Japan, and which had a shorter, stronger stalk, could hold the higher weight of grain without bending. Swaminathan found that the new variety had been taken to the United States where a seed breeder was working on it. The breeder told Swaminathan that they were developing a winter variety, which would not be suitable for India, but Norman Borlaug in Mexico was developing a different variety that might work. As it happened, Swaminathan had met Borlaug earlier at a seminar in the U.S. He was able to persuade him to send a small quantity of his Mexican seeds to India. These seeds did well and Swaminathan wanted to invite Borlaug to come to India to discuss ways of adapting these varieties to Indian conditions. The proposal to invite Borlaug was promptly approved by the Director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in 1960 but it took more than two years to get the bureaucratic approvals needed to send the invitation and Borlaug arrived only by March 1963. Swaminathan often quoted Pandit Nehru's phrase, 'everything can wait but not agriculture', but the bureaucracy was clearly unaware of it. It is interesting to speculate on what would have been the benefits if the Green Revolution had come two years earlier. The important lesson is that for science to flourish, our scientists must be much better connected to relevant scientists abroad and become familiar with cutting-edge work in their field. This means they should travel more freely to attend conferences abroad and build personal contacts, all of which means bureaucratic control must be drastically reduced. The next step was to subject the seeds to trials on the fields of actual farmers. Swaminathan could not get the Ministry to fund the effort. Fortunately, Lal Bahadur Shastri, who became Prime Minister in 1964, wanted to give higher priority to agriculture and for this purpose appointed C. Subramaniam as Minister of Agriculture. This made a critical difference. Subramaniam called about 20 agricultural scientists for a meeting to hear their views on how to increase food production. When Swaminathan was asked to speak, he frankly told the Minister that he had identified the new seeds that would solve the problem, but the Ministry was unable to fund the necessary trials. Subramaniam promptly called for the file and ensured that the funds were provided. It is a pity that we have no record of what the other scientists said in the meeting, and in particular whether the more senior scientists (Swaminathan was then only 39) had a different view. The politician needs to listen to the scientist This yields the second important lesson. In dealing with complex technical issues, the political leadership must hear the scientists/technical people involved directly instead of relying on the generalist bureaucracy to convey their views. Swaminathan greatly admired Pandit Nehru's commitment to science, but the book brings out that he soon realised that this 'had few takers even in his own government, ministries and the bureaucracy'. On page 48 the author puts it bluntly: 'Most ministers barely supported, understood, or believed in research and development…. this was also true of the Agriculture Minister in 1958.. (who ) would order scientists like Swaminathan to go into the field and 'sort out the problems' without really understanding the ground realities.' One of the reasons China has done so well on the economic and technical front is that Ministers are usually technically qualified people, often engineers with a track record of successful management. Subramaniam exemplified that type of political leader: he was a physics graduate and had a good knowledge of science. If we want to achieve Viksit Bharat, and explore new and increasingly complex areas of science, we will need many more such Ministers in the years ahead, not only at the Centre but also in the States. The field trials were a great success and the next step was to roll out the Green Revolution across the country. This required importing 18,000 tonnes of seed — the largest seed shipment in history — costing ₹5 crore in foreign exchange. There were objections from many fronts. The Finance Ministry was not happy releasing that much foreign exchange. The Planning Commission opposed the proposal on the grounds that it did not believe that the new seeds would do better than what we already had. The Left also opposed the move because the seeds were developed under a grant from a U.S. institution (the Rockefeller Foundation). Shastri was understandably concerned about these conflicting views. Fortunately, Swaminathan persuaded him to visit the IARI to see for himself how the new wheat was doing. Shastri was convinced and the import of new seeds was duly approved. Tragically, Shastri passed away in January 1966 but Indira Gandhi, who took over as the next Prime Minister, also gave Swaminathan full backing. The lesson is that when dealing with new and untried ideas, there will always be conflicting opinions even among so-called experts. It is important that all the different points of view are appropriately aired and considered. However, this process may not always result in a consensus. In such a situation, a decision has to be taken at the highest level. Once taken, the thing to do is to back the effort fully. But it must also be subjected to truly independent monitoring, with course corrections. In the case of the Green Revolution, the results were amply evident within a few years. We reaped a bounteous wheat harvest in 1968 and we were able to start phasing out PL 480 imports. Over time, new problems arose. The excessive dependence on water and also fertilizer use led to environmental problems. Swaminathan himself, having left the government by then, warned about the corrections needed to make the Green Revolution environmentally sustainable. It is a pity that we are yet to implement these corrections. The issues India needs to look at Looking ahead, we know that climate change will have a severely negative effect on agricultural productivity. Once again, science will be critical and much will depend upon the performance of our research institutions. India was ahead of China in agricultural research in the late 1960s, but today, China has eight agricultural research institutions in the world's top 10 and India does not have any in the top 200. One reason is inadequate funding: we spend only 0.43% of our agricultural GDP on research and development, whereas the percentage in China is twice our level. But there is also the issue of the quality. Do our agricultural research institutions have the institutional autonomy and governance structure that they need to recruit and promote meritorious scientists? And can we ensure that our top agricultural scientists have the kind of access to political decision makers that Swaminathan had? Filling these gaps is the best way of really honouring M.S. Swaminathan. And the lessons are relevant for other areas of scientific development also. Montek S. Ahluwalia is Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Social and Economic Progress
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Indian Institute of Science researchers uncover traffic jams inside cells linked to diabetes
Bengaluru: Just as traffic jams choke city roads, a similar gridlock inside our cells may explain why Type 2 diabetes develops, a new study from Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has found. After meals, the body must clear rising blood sugar quickly. Pancreatic beta cells do this by taking up sugar from the blood and releasing insulin. The entry of sugar is managed by proteins called glucose transporters, which act like gates moving to the cell surface when needed. Scientists from IISc's department of developmental biology and genetics, led by assistant professor Nikhil Gandasi, discovered that in people with diabetes, this movement slows down — like vehicles stuck in a jam. Fewer transporters reach the cell surface, blocking sugar entry and weakening the release of insulin. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru | Gold Rates Today in Bengaluru | Silver Rates Today in Bengaluru Using live-cell imaging, the team watched these "gates" in action. In healthy cells, transporters move smoothly in and out, keeping sugar flow steady. In diabetic cells, however, the system falters, causing a molecular traffic jam. "Most studies look at what happens after sugar enters the cell. We focused on the step before that — the entry itself — and saw how it breaks down in diabetes," Anuma Pallavi, PhD student and first author of the paper, said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, open up new treatment possibilities. Current drugs target insulin's action in muscles and fat. This study suggests improving glucose "traffic flow" in beta cells themselves could help. Gandasi's team has also tested a plant-based compound, Pheophorbide A, that boosts insulin release by acting on these transporters. "If we can clear these traffic jams inside cells, we may be able to slow disease progression and design more personalised therapies," Gandasi said. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Time of India
At 14, he worked for Elon Musk; at 16, he will design trading systems: Kairan Quazi's education, qualification, career
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