compounds tarnishing Taj Mahal found by scientists

 

An international team of scientists have found exactly what is tarnishing Taj Mahal's pristine white marble.

Every several years, the Archeological Survey of India apply a clay mask to India's iconic but yellowing Taj Mahal to remove layers of grime and reveal the white marble underneath.

Now scientists are getting to the bottom of what kinds of pollutants are discolouring one of the world's celebrated wonders.

In what is the first published study that has looked closely at what specific compounds are causing it to appear yellow, scientists have conclude that black carbon and brown carbon from the burning of trash and fuels are among the primary pollutants tarnishing the monument of love.

The latest findings will now help inform efforts to protect the mausoleum and other surfaces from pollution.

Mike H Bergin and Sachchida Nand Tripathi from the American Chemical Society note that Indian officials have tried to reduce the effects of pollution on the Taj Mahal by restricting nearby traffic and limiting local industrial emissions.

But despite regulations and an occasional deep clean, the domes and minarets continue to accrue a layer of soot.

Researchers analyzed particles in the air and on marble samples near the main dome over several months.

Using a novel method they developed, the team estimated how these specks reflect light and therefore affect the color of the building.

In the future, their approach could be used to craft strategies to address the chronic yellowing and improve air quality, they say.

Indias first jellyfish lake discovered

Marine biologists have discovered a jellyfish lake in Gujarat, probably the first such in India.

"This is probably the first jellyfish lake to have been found in India. The concentration and density of jellyfish is very high here. You can even see them from outside during low tide and when the water is clear," wildlife scientist BC Choudhury said.

Led by him, a team of researchers from the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) have recently stumbled on the jellyfish habitat during a routine field visit to a small town named Armabada in Gujarat.

A couple of WTI marine biologists in snorkeling kits and armed with an underwater camera found that the bottom of the lake, spread over 5-6 hectares, was carpeted with a type of jellyfish known as 'upside down jellyfish'. They are called so because they are found swimming upside down unlike others.

"They position themselves on their bottom side to receive maximum sunlight as they harbour photosynthetic algae called Zooxanthellae, which have a symbiotic relationship with jellyfish similar to corals," explained marine biologist S Goutham.

Another unique feature of the lake is that these jellyfish are present all around the year unlike other places where they are reported to be seasonal. According to experts, the big bloom of jellyfish in the lake might be attributed to low predation.

Jellyfish are found in different parts of coastal India but are seen rarely in lakes. The world renowned jellyfish lake is located on Eil Malk Island in Palau.

Scientists launch R2R Foundation to promote Indian researchers

A group of scientists and academicians have started the Right to Research (R2R) Foundation to support foreign-educated and trained Indian researchers to help them find suitable jobs upon their return to the country.

"An alarming number of Indian researchers are returning from overseas, after obtaining their MS, PhDs and post doctorate fellowships. And despite their enriched education and training, many of them do not find worthy jobs or get engaged in research," Foundation head Dr Jayant Khandare, told PTI.

"At R2R Foundation, this is termed as 'Intelligent Reverse Brain Drain'. Therefore, to engage such researchers, the foundation has been incubated and has started operations near Pune's Hinjewadi Biotech Park," he said.

Some corporates have shown interest in supporting the Foundation, Khandare said, a fellow of the prestigious 'Alexander von Humboldt Experienced Researcher Fellowship' for his research work in Macromolecular Chemistry .

The standard of research training acquired by these scientists is exceptional and is unmatched, he said, adding, "The selection criteria of many domestic academic institutions hold these scientists as 'ineligible', as our peers have their own definitions of excellence."

The Foundation head said hiring of such researchers has been limited in the Indian institutes.

"In recent times, the number of such hirings has been quite limited. India has a dearth of innovation based start-up companies. To obtain government funding for research, there are varied norms and conditions. Therefore, many researchers prefer to return aboard," he said.

"To start with, R2R Foundation has set up dry lab facilities, to engage around 25 researchers. The researchers will be engaged in research thought process across inter-disciplines, and find good avenues in India," he said.

Khandare, who earlier worked with Piramal Life Sciences Limited, is among the researchers called 'Humboldtians', 44 of whom have so far received the Nobel Prize.

The Germany-based Humboldt Foundation promotes academic cooperation between top scientists and scholars from within and outside that country.

Sun belches out radiation plume SEVEN times the size of Earth

By Ellie Zolfagharifard
    

• The huge curtain of solar radiation erupted on May 9 but didn't affect Earth
• It was the first ever coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by the Iris probe
• During a CME, changes in sun’s magnetic fields can cause a section of the solar surface to expand, ejecting billions of tonnes of particles into space
• CMEs can disrupt communication signals and cause surges in power grids

Nasa’s latest solar observatory has captured footage of the sun belching out a stream of charged particles at 1.5 million miles per hour.
The curtain of radiation, which erupted on May 9, was the first coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or Iris.

The footage reveals the CME in ‘extraordinary detail’ showing a field of view about five Earths wide and seven-and-a-half Earths tall.

HOW DO CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS IMPACT EARTH?

CMEs are a mass of charged particles and magnetic field energy that bursts from the sun like a volcanic eruption.
Material from a coronal mass ejection takes two to three days to reach Earth, but in this case, the coronal mass ejection didn't affect our planet.
Coronal mass ejections interact with Earth’s magnetic field to generate auroras and magnetic storms.
The CME's magnetic fields peel back the outermost layers of Earth's fields changing their very shape, distortions which can can degrade communication signals and cause unexpected surges in power grids.
They also can cause aurora. Storms are rare during solar minimum, but as the sun nears solar maximum, large storms occur several times per year.

Because the observatory has to position itself a day in advance, it was a stroke of luck that the eruption happened just as the probe was pointing the right way.
‘We focus in on active regions to try to see a flare or a CME,’ said Bart De Pontieu, the Iris science lead at Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory in California.

And then we wait and hope that we'll catch something. This is the first clear CME for Iris so the team is very excited.’
During a CME, changes in the sun’s magnetic fields cause a large section of the surface of the sun to expand rapidly, ejecting billions of tonnes of particles out into space.

Material from a coronal mass ejection takes two to three days to reach Earth, peeling back the outermost layers of the planet’s magnetic field.

CME’s can degrade communication signals and cause unexpected surges in power grids. However, this CME is not thought to have made a significant impact on Earth.
CME’s often accompany a solar flare – a solar eruption that pushes out waves of light all across the spectrum.

Iris can observe both types of eruption. It was launched in June 2013 to study what's known as the interface region, which is a layer between the sun's surface the corona that has long baffled scientists.

HOW DO FLARES AFFECT US?

Solar flares can damage satellites and have an enormous financial cost.
Astronauts are not in immediate danger because of the relatively low orbit of this manned mission. They do have to be concerned about cumulative exposure during space walks.
The charged particles can also threaten airlines by disturbing the Earth’s magnetic field.
Very large flares can even create currents within electricity grids and knock out energy supplies.
A positive aspect, from an aesthetic point of view, is that the auroras are enhanced.
Geomagnetic storms are more disruptive now than in the past because of our greater dependence on technical systems that can be affected by electric currents.

By capturing light emitted by atoms of different temperatures, Iris can looks at different heights above the sun's surface to analyse this obscure layer. 
The line moving across the middle of the movie is the entrance slit for Iris’ spectrograph, an instrument that can split light into its many wavelengths – a technique that ultimately allows scientists to measure temperature, velocity and density of the solar material behind the slit.
While the strength of this CME is yet to be revealed, it follows on the heels of the most powerful type of solar flare that’s ever been recorded by the space agency.
The huge event on the sun occurred on 29 March 2014, but Nasa has only now analysed the data from their fleet of observatories.
This fleet consisted of four telescopes in space and one observatory on Earth.
The flare observed was an X-class flare, the biggest and highest-energy solar flares that have ever been observed.