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reflections

Science at Your Service

by Andaz
SOMETIME. WHEN YOU CAN isolate yourself from the high-pressure life in Bangladesh, if you wish to create, or duplicate (!), the vast universe (cosmos, not earth) you live. in. with all the stars, planets and the microbes (the macrocosm and the microcosm), the magnitude of the task would be mind boggling.
Just imagine this setup: You have to aim. within the vast volume of the universe (billions and billions of miles), at a tiny spot smaller than an invisible atom or electron, and you have to hit the bull's eye the first time, to get the process of creation working. We have an infinite universe with an infinite number of galaxies (our planet Earth is in one of these galaxies). Space, or matter, may be created practically out of nothing, or, from an expanding single point, according to the latest trend of scientific thinking.
To appreciate how far human knowledge has progressed, here is a realistic and practical example from real life. Did you know that man has measured the vast distance between the earth and the moon — 384,400 km of 238,850 miles — correct to within a few feet? This was achieved soon after the first man landed on the moon. The astronauts left a small aluminium panel on the moon, to reflect back tq the earth a
laser beam sent out from the earth, a total distance of 477.700 miles. Without computer and information technology, this achievement would not have been possible.
More divine marvels. Man's seat of consciousness is not inside the brain (or mind, if you can define it to anybody's satisfaction) but it is supposed to be located in each cell of the body; and each cell has the complete picture or consciousness ol the universe! Old news to the Eastern minds; our mystics have been hinting at it for ages. However, the scientists have added some complication. They believe that the images we hold in our memory (say. a telephone number, a face or a scene) are stored outside the body in space, similar to the holographic image. Think, and the picture appears. The research in virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (Al) continues.
Some more unusual information. The animals can have inspiration like the humans, and dolphins can philosophise. According to the Quantum Theory, a cricket ball could be seen in two places at the same time. Recall the bowling of one of the world's fastest bowlers in the world. Waqar Yunis, and the Doppler effect or Wasim Akram's fantastic swing of the ball at nearly 100 miles per hour. To confuse you further,
can a video camera realize it is recording; and what the live camera thinks when it is pointed at a mirror? The camera does not, but the computer does to some extent (simulation and the cursive theory). No laughing matter — the scientists do think about these aspects.
We humans have a great weakness, the limitation of the language. How much you love her cannot be described in language; or for that matter, the pangs of a toothache or of a child-birth.
More quiz: Is truth a process of natural selection? There are parallel computers in the brain. Not only that, the configuration of the brain computer is changing all the time: that is, the brain has a variable computer adjusting itself continuously to match the input, the output, or the task to be performed (processing) — a machine that is changing its specifications automatically according to the stimulant or input.
The created (man) is vainly struggling with the neuron computer. Basically. the computers are not that complex, philosophically speaking. A computer system may be based on rolling marbles or the water flowing through a pipe (says Martin Gardner, the famous science writer). If you understand some function of Nature, then it is "natural";
if not, the unexplainable phenomenon is labelled as "supernatural". "Supema ture" by Lyall Watson is super reading at the popular science level.
The communication system of the dolphins and the whales are being applied for human communication with submerged submarines located anywhere in the world, using ultra longwave radio transmissions. Further information is classified. The Polaris atomic submarine does not need the earth’s magnetic filed for navigation; that is. the compass. It uses the celestial navigation principle, with the stars as reference points.
The neuron nerves in the brain operate digitally. Digital technology was not invented by man. but discovered quite late this century. Did you know that your nose is in front of you for magnetic direction finding?
These are some examples of the mar vels of the discoveries of science not generally known to the laymen. These are many interesting books on scientific general knowledge, but many fas cinating items of information lie buried in specialist books written by experts beyond the grasp of the general readers, especially those with "non-technical" background. Some interesting tit bits are collected here and brought to the attention of the general readers who do
not have the time or inclination to enjoy this pastime.
Under the tree plantation campaign throughout the country, about 70,000,000 saplings have been planted on voluntary basis. The man-tree relationship is more environmental that agricultural. The unique properties of the leaves of a tree are scientific marvels far beyond current scientific knowledge. The efficiency of the manmade solar energy cell or panel is now around 14 per cent (of the energy contained in sunlight) — a mere three per cent increase after a decade of research; whereas the leaf can convert almost 75 per cent of the sunlight's energy in the sunlight. Solar power is free and limitless, if it can be harnessed efficiently and cheaply for use in the undeveloped countries.
The scientists are busy trying to detect gravity waves, a scientific mystery yet unsolved, but theoretically predicted long ago. The detection and confirmation of the existence of gravity waves would throw light on many aspects of the modern science of cosmology, or, how the universe was created in the first place.
There is another unexplored area: the bottom of the sea. five or more miles below the sea level. It is strange that
man could probe the distant planets with space probes hundred of millions of miles away, and land man on the moon, but could not penetrate even 50 miles beneath the earth's surface or a few miles to the bottom of the sea. According to the Sufis, there is a time for knowledge to be revealed to man. We all must await our turn. Bangladesh is passing through an exciting stage of potential development. Let us hope the tide will turn.
These reflections was written after browsing through (for the third time) a fascinating book dealing with the hi-tech mysteries of science and the marvels of Nature, that is. brilliant human minds probing at the very frontiers of science: "The Emperor's New Mind". written by Prof Roger Penrose (at the University of Oxford), and published by the OUP in 1989 (466pp. $25). Penrose shared the 1988 Wolf Prize working with Stephen Hawkins. ("A Brief History of Time"} — the latter is currently regarded as the world's greatest scientist. A recent publication is a book written by Hawkins and Penrose The Nature of Space A Time. A secret still under investigation: if there is no space, time is not necessary! Don't worry, there is plenty of time. (1
■— Dharitrt Feature .