17-Oct-2020: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awardee’s demystification of transformation of glass to crystal can help dispose liquid nuclear waste safely
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent amorphous solid which is mostly formed by rapid cooling of its molten form. However, under certain conditions, during its formation, molten glass may rebel and transform to a crystal - the more stable state, an avoidable process called devitrification.
However, the process of devitrification remains poorly understood as this process can be extremely slow, and this makes it difficult to study it. Scientists have now visualized devitrification in an experiment, thus taking a step closer to understanding it. This could help avoid devitrification in processes of pharma industries – a sector in which dodging this is of paramount importance. This is because an amorphous drug dissolves faster than after devitrification, and ensuring that it remains amorphous is therefore essential during storage.
A team of researchers led by Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize recipient in Physical Sciences (2020) category Prof. Rajesh Ganapathy from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India in collaboration with Prof. Ajay Sood (IISC) and their graduate student Ms. Divya Ganapathi (IISC) observed glass made of colloidal particles and monitored their dynamics over several days.
Using real-time monitoring of the particles with an optical microscope and machine learning methods to determine subtle structural features hidden in the glass, they identified a parameter called ‘softness’, which determines the extent of devitrification. They found that regions in the glass which had particle clusters with large "softness" values were the ones that crystallized and that "softness" was also sensitive to the crystallization route.
The authors fed their machine learning model pictures a colloidal glass, and the model accurately predicted the regions that crystallized days in advance. The authors suggest that techniques to tune "softness" by introducing impurities may help realize long-lived glass states, which has numerous technological applications. The research published in the journal Nature Physics can also help in vitrification of liquid nuclear waste as a solid in a glass matrix to safely dispose it deep underground and prevent hazardous materials from leaking into the environment.
22-Sep-2020: Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) likely to bet commissioned in 2022
The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha that Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) being constructed by Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI) is expected to get commissioned by October 2022. On completion of commissioning, PFBR will be adding 500 MW of electrical power to the national grid.
Presently there are technical issues which have resulted in delay in commissioning of PFBR. In the last three years, while commissioning activities of the various Systems, Structures & Equipment of PFBR are progressing, a large number of technical challenges as well as design inadequacies (owing to the first-of-a-kind status of the PFBR) are being encountered at each stage, thereby resulting into delay in commissioning. These issues are being attended in close coordination with the designers and the experts within Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
21-Sep-2020: Government to set up Neutrino Observatory in the country
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today said in a written reply in Lok Sabha that Government has a proposal to set up Neutrino Observatory in the country.
India based Neutrino observatory (INO) will observe neutrinos produced in the atmosphere of the Earth. This observation will tell us more about the properties of neutrino particles, whose main source is the Sun and the Earth's atmosphere. The neutrino detector will be a magnetized iron calorimeter, which will be the heaviest one made by any country. The site identified is in Bodi West Hills, in Theni district, Tamil Nadu.
As per the information provided by the Department of Science and Technology, State-wise number of observatories are as follows:
- Karnataka - Six Astronomical observatories.
- Uttarakhand- Four Observatories for study of Astronomy & Astrophysics and Atmospheric Studies.
- Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) operates strategically located Magnetic Observatories across the country as follows:
- Andhra Pradesh - One
- Tamil Nadu - One
- Assam - One
- Meghalaya - One
- Gujarat - One
- Maharashtra - One
- Rajasthan - One
- Jammu & Kashmir - One
- Uttar Pradesh - One
- Andaman & Nicobar Island (UT) - One
- Puducherry (UT) – One.
5-Dec-2019: Neutrino Observatory in Tamil Nadu
The India based Neutrino Observatory is being planned in the Theni district in Tamil Nadu.
There has been opposition from some sections of the local populace. INO has been conducting outreach programmes in & around Madurai and Theni for students in schools & colleges, for faculty as well as journalists and media professionals. A large outreach program took place during May-August 2018 covering other towns in Tamil Nadu and a few in Kerala.
Many students, faculty and members of the public have visited the INO transit campus where an 85 ton mini-ICAL detector is operational detecting naturally occurring cosmic ray muons. This is a much smaller version of the detector that is planned in the cavern at the end of a 2km horizontal tunnel at the INO site.
In June 2010, a public meeting, though not mandated by Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), was called by the Theni Collector. It was attended by about 1200 local people, including the Panchayat President, who endorsed the project. All the statutory norms and regulations are also followed in implementing the INO project. The INO site is not in the Eco Sensitive Area as identified by the High Level Working Group (HL WG) chaired by Dr. Kasturirangan and referred to in the MoEF Notification F.No.1-4/2012 - RE (Pt.) dated 13-11-2013.
11-Jul-2019: Setting up of Neutrino Observatory
The Government of India has approved a project to build the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) at Pottipuram in the Theni District of Tamil Nadu. Briefly, the project aims to set up a 51000 ton Iron Calorimeter (ICAL) detector to observe naturally occurring atmospheric neutrinos in a cavern at the end of an approximately 2 km long tunnel in a mountain. This will help to reduce the noise from cosmic rays that is ever present over-ground and which would outnumber the rare neutrino interactions even in a detector as large as ICAL.
The INO project does not disturb the ecosystem around the site and does not release any radiation, as it does not have any radioactive substance. It measures cosmic rays.
There is no other neutrino detector anywhere in India at present. ICAL at INO would be the first of its type.