INNOVATION – Page 6 – Take off with Natarajan

Top 31 Amazing Innovations from Young Indians….

December 9, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

The National Innovation Foundation India (NIF), Ahmedabad shared the ideas that shined at the IGNITE 2015.

Every year, the National Innovation Foundation India (NIF), Ahmedabad invites students from across schools in the country to share their innovative ideas on how to build a better world.

The competition is organised by NIF in association with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Society for Research and Initiatives in Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI), various State Education Boards and other partners.

Students in (up to class 12) or out of the school (up to the age of 17 years) can participate in the IGNITE competition by sending their original technological ideas to solve any problem in day to day life or real life technological innovations demonstrating innovative ways of solving problems/ reducing drudgery/generating efficiency/ conserving resources etc.

More than 28,000 entries were received this year of which 31 best ideas made the cut.

This year the ‘Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Awards 2015’ were given by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in the presence of state chief minister Anandiben Patel.

President Pranab Mukherjee interacts with a young innovator at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Awards 2015

1. Innovation: Water filter/purifier at source

Names: Soring Lepcha, Class 4, and Subash Prodhan, Class 5, Lingzya Junior High School

Place: North Sikkim, Sikkim

Inspiration behind the idea: Most people today prefer to use a water filter/purifier at their home.

Both the children have given idea to have filter/purifier at the source of water so that everyone has access to clean water without having to make an investment in purchasing a filter/purifier.

Soring’s idea is to have a centralised purification system at the point of distribution like water tank while Subash’s idea is to have such purifiers attached to public taps.

2. Hand rest for fractured hand

Name: Adi Kumar, Class 5, Deens Academy

Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka

Inspiration behind the idea: Generally shoulder arm slings are used to provide support to a fractured hand.

Using this for a long time sometimes give discomfort to the neck/ shoulder region.

Adi’s idea is to have a waist worn appendage, which can provide support to a fractured hand instead of the sling. The fractured arm would be rested comfortably on the appendage and kept in position by straps.

3. Umbrella for more than five persons

Name: Tarna Joy Tripura, class 6, Kabi Guro Rabindra Nath Smiti

Location: Dhalai, Tripura

Inspiration behind the idea: Many times, it becomes difficult for more than one person to share an umbrella during rains. Young Tunnab has given an idea of an umbrella, which could be held by two children from two sides under which other children can stand and thus go to school together without getting wet.

4. Alerting system for bus drivers

Names: Pradyumna Kumar Pal, class 7, Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandir, Unit-3, Khordha, Orissa; and Rahul Kumar, class 9, Rajkiya Balak Uchh Vidyalaya, Patna, Bihar

Sometimes accidents occur when a passenger puts his body part outside the bus window. Pradyumna and Rahul have independently conceived an idea of an alerting system for the bus driver, which enables them to know which passenger has put his hand or head outside the bus window.

5. Reversible benches at public places

Name: Simran Chadha, Class 8, BCM Arya Public School

Location: Ludhiana, Punjab

Simran’s idea is to have reversible benches at public places so that if they become wet (due to rains) or dirty, they can be rotated using a handle so that the other side, which comes up can be used.

6. Solar seeder

Name: Subash Chandra Bose, Class 8, St Sebasthiyar Matriculation School

Location: Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu

Subash has developed a solar powered seed drill, which can undertake plantation for different size of seeds at variable depth and space between two seeds.

7. Looms for physically challenged

Name: R Elakkiya, Class 6 and R Pavithra, Class 9, SRC Memorial Matriculation

Location: Erode, Tamil Nadu

The two sisters have come up with loom for lower limbed physically challenged. In their loom they have replaced the pedal operated system with a motor and a gearbox attached to a pulley mechanism.

8. A device to collect Mahua flowers from ground

Name: Lipsa Pradhan, Class 9, Government High School, Kamagaon

Location: Bargarh, Orissa

Mahua flowers have many medicinal properties and are also used to make pickles, jams, and now ice creams as well. Lipsa has suggested a manual device like a lawn mover, which can collect Mahua flowers, which are otherwise picked up by hands, which is a time consuming and tiring process.

9. Pebble indicating system for cooking vessel

Name: Mohd. Tawseef Thoker, Class 9, Government Higher Secondary School, Nihama

Location: Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir

It happens many a times that while cleaning food grains for cooking, some impurities remain, which get cooked with the food. Tawseef suggests having a vessel with sensors, which can indicate the presence of pebbles or other similar impurities in rice or other food grains being cooked.

10. Gas lighter with gas leak alarm

Name: Nilesh Ras, Class 9, DAV Inter High School

Location: Patna, Bihar

A lot of mishaps occur when cooking gas regulator has been left on accidentally or due to a gas leak. Nilesh’s idea is to have a gas lighter, which can sense and indicate gas leakage before it is lighted thereby preventing accidents.

11. Innovative dustbin

Name: Prem Ranjan Singh, Shivani Singh, Ankush Pal, Class 9, Divya Jyoti English High School

Location: Daman, Daman & Diu

Concerned with the sight of overflowing garbage bins, the three friends have come with an idea of a dustbin with separate slots for bio-degradable and non bio-degradable waste with a message sending facility to the municipality once dustbin is filled up to a preset level.

12. Lac extraction machine

Name: Saurabh Dey, Class 10, Govt. High School, Barajamda

Location: West Singhbhum, Jharkhand

For lac extraction generally the lac coated branches of host trees are cut, crushed and sieved to remove impurities.

Saurabh has made a machine, which can remove lac from the branches without breaking them. As a result, the amount of impurities is lesser in lac and it takes lesser effort to clean it.

13. Pay as you weigh!

Name: Rishab Mallick, Class 10, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Fort William

Location: Howrah, West Bengal

An idea of an automatic ticketing system where fare is calculated as per the weight of the passenger and his luggage

14. Passcode based locking system in gas stove

Name: Nim Lepcha, Class 10, Gor Secondary School

Location: North Sikkim, Sikkim

An idea to have a manual or digital pass code system for gas stoves to avoid accidents involving children.

15. Spectacle microscope

Name: Hadasha Ruangmi, Class 10, Lorna’s School

Dimapur, Nagaland

An idea to have wearable microscope like a spectacle so that it becomes easy to store, carry and use.

16. Seed container that indicates growth of germs

Name: Deepti Manjari Dakua, Class 10, Bahadjhole Girls High School

Location: Nayagrah, Orissa

An idea to have a seed container, which can detect the growth of organism by detecting increase in temperature of the container and alert

17. Colour coded thermometer

Names: Jaspreet Kaur, Class 10, Police DAV Public School, Jalandhar, Punjab; and Janmejay Rathore, Class 12, CMR PU College, Bangalore, Karnataka

An idea to have a colour coding scheme in thermometers to indicate fever level.

It shows red for emergency, orange for intermediate temperature and green for normal.

It also gives out precautionary measures and even dials an ambulance in case of an emergency!

18. Machine to pluck Tendu leaves

Name: Bharat, Class 11, Shashkiya Uchhtar Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Bacheli

Location: Dakshin Bastar, Chhattisgarh

Collecting Tendu leaves is one of the important sources of income in the tribal regions.

The leaves are plucked manually, which is a tedious process. Bharat’s idea is to have a machine to pluck Tendu leaves from the tree.

It would have blades for cutting the leaves, a container to store leaves and a sensor based sorter to segregate leaves according to their size.

19. Watch with medicine delivery system

Names: Navjot Kaur, Class 11, Senior Secondary Model School, Chandigarh; and Vaishnavi Patra, Class 9, Odisha Demonstrated Multipurpose Public School, Khorda, Orissa

An idea of a watch, which can store and timely deliver appropriate dose of medicine to the person.

20. Printed paper reclaiming machine

Name: Arvind Gopalkrishnan, Class 11, Smt. Narbada Devi J. Agarwal Vivekananda Vidyalaya Jr College

Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu

An idea of printer like device, which can erase all data on a printed page fed to it making it plain and hence reusable.

21. Smart Walking Stick

Name: Siddhant Khanna, Class 11, Sanskriti School

Location: New Delhi

A walking stick for the elderly and the visually challenged with many features like counting of steps, medicine reminder, locator, emergency alarm, fall detector and automatic torch, etc.

22. Drawbridge door for trains

Names: Ram Akash, Class 11, Excel Central School, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu; and Nimisha Katyayan, Class 12, DAV Kapil Dev Public School, Ranchi, Jharkhand

An idea to have a drawbridge door for trains, which when opened at the railway platforms, acts like a ramp, making it easy for people to carry their luggage inside the train bogie.

23. Solar pulse thresher

Name: Dipankar Das, Class 12, Govt. Senior Secondary School, Diglipur

Location: North Andaman, Andaman & Nicobar Islands

A device for efficient threshing of matured pulses (grains, green gram, black gram, arhar, horse gram) without using electricity or fossil fuels, thereby reducing the harvesting cost.

24. Differentiating artificially and naturally ripened fruits

Name: Neha, Class 12, Govt. Model Sr. Secondary School, PAP campus

Location: Jalandhar, Punjab

Neha suggests having paper like litmus paper, which can change its colour depending upon the level of naturally occurring sugar in a fruit thereby helping distinguish between artificially and naturally ripened fruits.

25. Stress monitoring mechanism in animals

Name: Diva Sharma, Class 12, GD Goenka Public School

Location: New Delhi

An app, which records the respiratory rate, temperature, pulse rate, heart beat rate of animals, through sensors attached to their bodies.

The program also performs an analysis of the co-dependency of these parameters to each other and prompts for a stressful condition, if parameters vary beyond a range.

26. Foot operated door opening mechanism

Name: Jayprakash B Rathwa, Class 12, Shree Gram Shala Grambharti, Gandhinagar, Gujarat; and Tanmay Takale, Class 12, Shri Mhalsakant Vidyalya

Location: Pune, Maharashtra

An idea to have a system using which a door can be opened by activating a sensor using a leg.

This may be useful for the physically disabled or someone carrying load in both hands. It can also be used in public toilets.

27. Punching machine with hole reinforcement feature

Name: Tanmay Takale, Class 12, Shri Mhalsakant Vidyalya

Location: Pune, Maharashtra

An idea to have a punching machine with a hole reinforcement mechanism so that the punched holes last longer and do not tear off from inside.

28. Body suit

Name: Ayush Gupta and Arnov Sharma, Class 12, Delhi Public School

Location: Haridwar, Uttrakhand

An mechanical exoskeleton or suit, which can support a physically disabled person, and aid orthopedic patients.

29. Low cost grass and leaf cutting machine

Name: Sapir Debbarma and Klishan Debbarma, Class 12, Bharat Sardar H. S. School

Location: Khowai, Tripura

A hand held cutting machine for cutting grass and leaves.

30. Portable latch for restrooms

Name: PS Senthur Balaji, Class 12, Maharishi International Residential School, Kanchipuram

Location: Erode, Tamil Nadu

An idea of a latch useful for people travelling frequently or in rural areas, which can be used for locking a door temporarily. This can be used in public restrooms or other places that lack latches.

31. Soundproof hammer

Name: Prithwish Dutta, Class 12, Don Bosco High & Technical School

Location: Howrah, West Bengal

An idea of a soundproof hammer, which would not make any sound when struck against any object. The impact energy would be absorbed in the hammer itself, which will be covered with a foam like substance.

So, which of these innovations did you like the most? Tell us! Share your views in the messageboard below!

All Photographs: Courtesy National Innovation Foundation India

Source…..www.rediff.com

Natarajan

10 Brilliant Indian Tech Solutions to Keep Your Child Safe…..On the Internet & on the Street…

November 29, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Many children today have very easy access to the latest technologies – internet being the scariest one of them, if you ask parents and teachers. While there is a very advantageous side to the fact that internet is being used by children to enhance their knowledge with just a few clicks, one of the major concerns remains that it is not a very safe place for a child. With cases of cyber bullying, frauds and scams surfacing so often, it is quite natural for parents to be worried every time their child picks up a smartphone or tablet to browse.

Thankfully, when technology causes distress, it is technology that comes to the rescue as well. There are numerous apps which have been developed with the sole purpose of giving parents peace of mind with regards to the safety of their children. And it’s not just about protecting them on the internet; these apps are meant to keep an eye on their whereabouts, to find them in time of need, to provide them with tools to reach out for help, and more. Working parents are also anxious when they have to leave their kids behind for long hours. For them, and many others, here are 10 apps/devices that can help ensure a safe environment for your child, and also help them sleep peacefully at night.

1. eKavach

This is a digital parenting app meant to increase awareness among parents about their children’s online activities. Available in Android and iOS platforms, eKavach was launched last year by a Delhi-based technology start-up, Certus Technologies. Noopur Raghunath, mother of a 10-year-old, is the brain behind the app. She was worried about her son’s obsession with internet browsing, and decided to do something about it. Parents just need to download the app on their phone, and on their children’s phones or tablets. This is how it helps them:

Manage applications: eKavach tells parents what applications are being used by a child, and how much time he/she spends on any particular app. It also provides information about new apps installed.
Web filtering: It allows parents to block certain web categories, content, websites etc. Parents can also set time limits on web surfing, and enable safe search options to ensure that a child does not come across any adult, profane, or objectionable content while searching for something.
Get real time alerts: eKavach monitors the child’s online activities all the time. The instant any boundaries set by parents are breached, the app sends a notification on their phone. One can also receive SMS alerts in case the internet is not working. The app also makes the details of a child’s whereabouts available on the map, and enables children to send SOS messages in case of a problem.

Download here.

2. Angel Child Monitoring

Bangalore based Krishnendu Dasgupta, a telecom industry veteran, developed Angel Child Monitoring device after the incident of rape of a 6-year-old girl at a school in the city. It is a GPS- and GSM-card-enabled device that can be carried by a child like a mobile phone, or can used like an ID card given in schools, thus tracking the location. It also enables parents to learn about the real time surroundings of a child. For this, they can call the gadget. It does not ring but the call gets answered automatically and parents can hear all that is happening around the child.

Parents can also create safe zones by including all the usual places that the child visits every day, and get alerts if the device is somewhere else. They get a notification when the child leaves one safe zone, and then again when he/she enters another. Parents can access the device through their computers, or the Safe In City Android app that was also developed by Dasgupta.

Weighing 25 grams, the device can register two mobile numbers that will be called automatically in case of an emergency. It has been differentiated based on age of children. For children below six, there are no buttons on the device, and it is completely remote controlled. Angel candy, made for slightly older kids, allows children to make a call as well.

“We’re very particular about the devices being used for children below 12. Teenagers want their privacy and we have to respect that. The kids, however, actually like having the device, as do their parents!” Krishnendu Dasgupta toldDeccan Chronicle.

3. IT Act, 2000 & Cyber Law India

This is an app that was developed with the aim of creating cyber awareness in India among all sections of the society. With tips for general safety on the Internet, the app is very useful for children, educators, and parents. It provides information on how to be safe on the internet, and also explains the cyber law as applicable in India, including the Information Technology Act 2000, as amended by IT (Amendment) Act, 2008.

With the help of the cyber dictionary, the app helps people get familiar with the jargon, so they can understand the law and the various cases in a simple manner. There is a dedicated option named cyber safety tips for children that parents can go through, while also reading about different cyber law cases to understand situations better.

Download here.

4. Safe Browser

This is a cloud-based browser that monitors more than 8 million websites and a billion web pages every day to prevent children from opening inappropriate pages. Every time a child browses the internet, this app will make sure that he/she is not able to reach the wrong places.

Download here.

5. Kids Place

There are guests in the house. Your child asks for your phone and you know you will not be around to check what he/she is using it for. What do you do? This parental control app can come handy in such situations. It an app that launches parental control and child lock kits to protect sensitive data and restrict kids from accessing adult content or apps that are not age appropriate. It also prevents children from downloading unnecessary apps, materials etc. Just run Kids Place before handing the phone to the child and you will be set.

Download here.

6. Talkative Parents

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you got a chance to interact with parents of other kids in your child’s classroom? And not just during parent teacher meeting, but whenever you want? Well, now you can! It is sometimes important for different parents to interact with one another so they can help each other. So, Bengaluru-based Mahesh Vorkady, launched the Talkative Parents app last year.

With a database of 6,900 schools and over 2,000 active users, the app connects the parents of children studying in the same class. Called the social network for parents, this app enables parents to chat with one another. It helps them pool resources, share information, coordinate a child’s travel to and from school, keep up with assignments, learn about tuition options, and so much more. It also offers schools the option to send notices, documents, files etc. to parents.

Download here.

7. BabyChakra

Source: Facebook

Many first time parents are often hassled by the numerous options of child care facilities available these days, with absolutely no information about which one is trust worthy. To help them out of their misery, Naiyya Saggi from Mumbai started an online platform that connects parents to childcare services and products. She came up with Babychakra after coming across several Facebook pages that were filled with questions from worried parents about various services available for their child. BabyChakra helps parents find plays schools, doctors, products, events related to children or parenting – all at one place. With the help of reviews from other parents, they are able to take more informed and confident decisions.

Visit here.

8. ItsMyChild

This is a comprehensive app that helps parents keep track of their child’s physical safety and academic achievements, while also managing healthcare, digital communication and socialising. Developed by entrepreneur Adris Chakraborty and tech professional Animikh Sen, the app has the following options:

• Emergency Alerts – Sends an alert to six contacts from your child’s phone in case of an emergency.
• Find My Child – Helps parents locate their child with just a click.
• Ping my child – Helps parents connect with their child.
• Find a Doctor – Quickly Search for a physician nearby in case of an emergency.
• Phone Safety – Parents can set usage limits, times and categories on their child’s phone.
• Health – Enables parents to maintain complete health records online.
• Memories – Parents can also store special moments and achievements of their child, all at one place.
• Event Calendar & Reminders – Set up reminders for all academic and non-academic activities.
• School Notifications – Schools can send notifications to individual parents or common announcements to everybody.

Download here.

9. Children TV

Want to be sure that your kid is watching the right things online? Then this is the right app for you. Children TV is meant for children and adults to enjoy watching child friendly video clips on YouTube. Parents can search for their child’s favourite video clips. The app also provides the option for parents to suggest a video clip that might not be available on the app but is there on YouTube, by filling out a simple form. Selection can be done on the basis of age group and language. This way parents can be sure that the child is watching age appropriate things online, and does not come across something objectionable.

Download here.

10. MamaBear

This all-in-one parenting app creates a private hub for families to interact. It has several social media monitoring features, family mapping features, alerts about cyber threats to children, and more. Parents can know where their child is, what is on their social media page, and also get alerts if someone in the family is over speeding.

Download here.

Source…….Tanaya Singh…….www.the better india .com

Natarajan

Can Drinking Water Be Produced from Thin Air? Yes, and It Is Happening Right Here in India…

November 23, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

In a country where women often have to walk miles to find and collect drinking water for their families, the WaterMaker project to produce water from thin air is no less than magical. It is, in the words of one grateful recipient, “khuda ka paani.”

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words: “producing water from air”? When Meher Bhandara, the founder and director of WaterMaker India, heard them, she was intrigued. “Water from air? How is that possible?” she wondered.

Today, Meher and her small team of eight people, are making it possible for many places in rural India to enjoy clean and pure drinking water produced right out of air.

People taking water from an Automatic Water Generator

“When we first heard of this technology in 2004 from a scientist in the US, we laughed. But after he told us more about it, the first thought that struck us was that India needed clean drinking water desperately. We checked out the machines that use this technology and were really amazed. As social entrepreneurs, we decided to make these unique Atmospheric Water Generators (AWGs) in India, so we could provide clean and healthy drinking water to people who needed it the most…Today we are proud to say that we have the largest range of AWGs — producing from 120 litres to 5000 litres per day. We also export these WaterMakers (AWGs) to many other countries,” says Meher.

Meher and her team took part in an exhibition in Delhi, where they showcased one AWG machine just to see how people would react to it. “The people were completely amazed. They could actually see drops of water forming from thin air. People were literally walking around the machine and looking under it to see if there were any hidden pipes.”

It was then, in 2004, that they decided to manufacture the machines in India itself so as to have control over the quality and delivery of the machines.

An Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG)

WaterMaker India is the sole and exclusive licensee for US-based Atmospheric Water Technology Inc./Air Water Corporation. WaterMaker thus has the authority to market, sell, manufacture and distribute air to water machines in India and several parts of the world, including Africa, the Middle East, Far East and South Asia.

How does it work?

So how does air lead to the production of water? The machines work basically on the simple refrigeration technique of condensing the humidity in the atmosphere and collecting the resultant water. After the condensation process, the water is passed through various filters to purify it, resulting in clean drinking water.

“Our technology is most effective in areas where the temperature is between 25 and 32 degrees Celsius, with relative humidity conditions over 65-75% or more. Producing water directly from air, WaterMakers need no water source. Using electricity or any alternate energy source, we use techniques optimized to condense water from air. Water quality complies with WHO/BIS standards and the water contains no harmful chemicals, bacteria, pesticides, or minerals,” explains Meher.

Inside villages in India

AWG installed in Gandhigram

WaterMaker India is a for-profit company, which aims to give back to society through its CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiative. With the help of this amazing technology, the company has made Jalimudi in Andhra Pradesh the first village to have drinking water supplied from air. Like many other parts of rural India, this village too was facing several issues like lack of pure drinking water, ground water being contaminated, and villagers walking long distances to collect water.

“Our very first project was our own CSR project at Jalimudi village in Andhra Pradesh, where we set up an Air Water Station in 2009 to provide safe drinking water to over 600 villagers. We have just installed another Air Water Station at Gandhigram in Gujarat for the local water authorities. The first one was already installed for the villagers in April, 2015, and consisted of two 1000 litre WaterMakers, which generate 2000 litres of fresh drinking water per day, and three storage tanks. An insurance company has also set up WaterMaker drinking water stations at night libraries for students in Mumbai and more projects are in the planning stages.”

We are not a completely green technology yet because we need power to run the machines. We hope to change this in the future with solar, wind, and alternate power sources. Can you imagine if we have alternate power giving alternate water, what a great thing that would be? That is my ambition right now,” says an excited Meher. She also plans on expanding the reach of WaterMaker by working with more government initiatives and NGOs, so as to impact as many people as possible.

The Impact

Happy residents of Gandhigram

“When we set up our very first Air Water Station at Jalimudi village in 2009, the villagers were thrilled to see water being produced from air, drop by drop. I was extremely touched when a very old lady came up to me and blessed me, saying ‘you have given us Khuda ka pani!’ She had tears in her eyes and so did I. The women and young girls who had to walk almost 3 kms every day to collect water couldn’t thank me enough for this ‘magical water,’ which would save them precious time for more productive activities. I will never forget the look in their eyes and am determined to set up many more WaterMakers wherever I can. Though we are a for profit organization, I also firmly believe in giving back – drop by drop!” concludes Meher.

To know more about WaterMaker India, you can visit their website here.

Source….Tanaya Singh …www.the betterindia.com

natarajan

The ” World Map” on the banks of Lake Klejtrup , Denmark …

November 22, 2015November 22, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

The World Map on the banks of the Lake Klejtrup in Denmark is a 4,000-square-meter walkable map of the world built out of soil, stones and grass. It’s the work of only one man — Søren Poulsen, who spent the last 25 years of his life building it.

Søren Poulsen, the creator of “The World Map”, was born in Denmark in 1888. Having spent part of his life in America, he returned to the village where he was born by the lake in Klejtrup. In 1943, Søren Poulsen was working on the drainage of the surrounding meadows when he found a stone shaped like Jutland, inspiring him to create a small world of his own. The following year, with the help of primitive tools and a wheelbarrow, Poulsen started laying big stones on the ice on the lake, and slowly the World Map took shape.

Photo credit: Frank Vincentz/Wikimedia

Søren Poulsen continued building his map until his death in 1969. The final map measures 45 meters by 90 meters, and was built entirely to scale —one 111-kilometer degrees of latitude corresponds to 27 centimeters on the map. Today, the Verdenskortet ved Klejtrup Sø (Danish for “World Map at Lake Klejtrup”) is a popular attraction in the Viborg area.

Photo credit: Frank Vincentz/Wikimedia

Sources: Wikipedia via Atlas Obscura http://www.amusingplanet.com

Natarajan

These Skyscrapers Look Normal, But Something Amazing Happens When The Sun Hits Them….

November 21, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

The United Arab Emirates is known for their incredible, luxurious views. Gorgeous architecture punctuates the entire region, but these towers in the capital city take things to a whole new level.

Designed to resemble the ornate mashrabiya shades that have been used in their culture for centuries, these majestic skyscrapers have a secret that makes them even more unique.

These intricate shades wrap around the Al Bahar buildings in Abu Dhabi.

YouTube / WikiArquitectura

They bring a unique texture to the tall structures.

YouTube / WikiArquitectura

And on top of that, they totally morph when the sun hits them from different angles.

YouTube / CNBC International

No one ever has to worry about the mid-afternoon glare of the sun beating down on those inside.

YouTube / WikiArquitectura

The architects at Aedas are responsible for the incredible effect.

The architects at <a href="http://www.aedas.com/" target="_blank">Aedas</a> are responsible for the incredible effect.

YouTube / WikiArquitectura

These shades are perfect for beating the heat.

YouTube / CNBC International

(via Bored Panda)

The blending of traditional design and innovative technology has never looked more beautiful. If only I could hire them to do the same thing for my house…

Source…. Jessica Catcher……www.viralnova.com

Natarajan

Musical Roads That Play Melodies When Cars Drive Over….!!!

November 17, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

A Japanese engineer by the name of Shizuo Shinoda was digging with a bulldozer when he accidentally scraped some markings into a road with its claw. Later when he drove over the markings he realized that the vibration produced in his car can be heard as a tune. In 2007, a team of engineers from the Hokkaido Industrial Research Institute refined Shinoda’s designs and built a number of “melody roads” in Japan. These roads have groves cut at very specific intervals along the road surface. Depending on how far apart the grooves are and how deep they are, a car moving over them will produce a series of high or low notes, enabling designers to create a distinct tune. The closer the grooves are, the higher the pitch of the sound. The critical ingredient in the mix is the speed of the car.

The Civic Musical Road in Lancaster, California. Photo credit: roadtrippers.com

There are four melody roads in Japan, one each in Hokkaido, Wakayama, Shizuoka and Gunma. They all play different tunes. They stretch between 175 to 250 meters, and are carved with thousands of groves. Aside from street signs, the roads are marked by colored musical notes painted on the surface of the road which alert motorists of the incoming musical interlude. The grooves are laid down on the side of the road near the curb and not in the middle, so drivers have the option to either go over them or avoid them. In order to hear the tunes, they need to keep the car windows closed and drive at 28mph keeping one wheel over the grooves . Drive too fast and it will sound like a tape on fast forward. Drive too slow and it will have the opposite effect.

The first musical road, however, was not Japanese. It was created in Gylling, Denmark, by two Danish artists Steen Krarup Jensen and Jakob Freud-Magnus, in October 1995. Called the Asphaltophone, the street is made from a series of raised pavement markers, spaced out at intermittent intervals so that as a vehicle drives over the markers, the vibrations caused by the wheels can be heard inside the car.

Grooves on a melody road in Japan. Photo credit: Yusuke Japan Blog

The idea of musical roads has caught engineers in several other countries. There is one “Singing Road” in South Korea close to Anyang in Gyeonggi. It plays the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. Unlike other melody roads, it was designed not to draw tourists but to help motorists stay alert and awake. The Singing Road is located on a particularly treacherous section of a highway where lots of accidents occur due to dozing and speeding. 68% of traffic accidents in South Korea are due to inattentive, sleeping or speeding drivers.

America got its first melody road in 2008. It was originally built on Avenue K in Lancaster, California, for a Honda commercial. The Civic Musical Road, named after Honda Civic, stretches for a quarter-mile and plays back a part of the Finale of the ‘William Tell Overture’. But the intervals are so far off that the melody bears only a slight resemblance to the original tune. Later, when residents complained that the grooves produced too much noise from nocturnal drivers, they relocated the strip to Avenue G.

Another musical road is located in the village of Tijeras, in New Mexico. Driving over the grooves at 45mph causes the car to play the famous song “America the Beautiful”. The project was funded by the National Geographic Society, and overseen by the New Mexico Department of Transportation who said that the real motive behind the musical road is to get drivers to slow down.

A sign ahead of the Civic Musical Road in Lancaster, California. Photo credit: roadtrippers.com

The Civic Musical Road in Lancaster, California. Photo credit: roadtrippers.com

Photo credit: Yusuke Japan Blog

The musical road in New Mexico.

Amazing Singing Road of Anyang

Melody Roads….Japan

Source….www.amusingplanet.com

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Indian Student in London Designs Low Cost Baby Incubator with Cardboard ….

November 8, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Malav Sanghavi, an Indian student studying in London has developed the prototype of a low cost baby incubator that has the potential to save many lives across the world.

It is a cardboard incubator called BabyLifeBox. Malav is studying for his innovation Design Engineering (IDE) Master’s dual degree course at Imperial College London and Royal College of Art.

A graduate from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, he participated in a start-up competition held at St James’ Palace in London and won the 3rd prize for his innovation.

The incubator can be used in developing countries like India which lack adequate grassroots-level infrastructure for neonatal care of premature and underweight infants. It provides basic functions necessary for child’s survival in their first days of life.

The bottom part of the incubator can be given to the parent of the child after birth as a make-shift cot.

Malav showed his BabyLifebox invention to the Duke of York during the Pitch@Palace Bootcamp –

According to reports, more than 300,000 babies die within 24 hours of their birth every year in India. And the cause of these deaths are preventable like complications during birth, prematurity and infections. More than half of all Indian women give birth without the help of skilled health care professionals, thereby leading to complications.

Malav came up with this idea a few years ago after his cousin’s daughter had to be kept alive in an incubator. While she had all the facilities available in a modern Indian city, Malav thought about all those infants who fail to get immediate care in remote villages of India. As of now, he is looking for initial seed funding to expand his team and bring more experts on board, develop minimal viable prototypes and start clinical trials.

He put his idea out at the Pitch@Palace event hosted by Queen Elizabeth II’s younger son, Prince Andrew – the Duke of York. Pitch@Palace supports UK entrepreneurs by connecting them with potential investors. There were about 200 entries this year at the fourth Pitch@Palace event. The theme was Internet of Things and Smart Cities. All start-ups, whose products are aimed at creating a smarter world and empowering people, could participate.

“According to our initial research, we found that India’s healthcare service has facilities to deal with a standard birth at sub-centres, primary health centres and community health centres but it lacks infrastructure for neonatal care of premature and underweight infants,” Malav told PTI.

All pictures: Facebook

Source…Tanaya Singh…www.the betterindia.com

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Plant This Paper and Watch It Grow!!!…Amazing !!!

November 8, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

One young lady from Jaipur came up with an interesting idea – to create a paper that could be planted. Skeptical about her own idea, Kritika didn’t know that it would one day become a successful project. She started a company called Tomato & Co. that designs a paper which can grow into beautiful saplings.

Kritika Parwal, a young lady from Jaipur, was in the middle of a course at Kellogg when, for a particular branding assignment for a coffee chain, the students were required to come up with ‘out of the box’ ideas.

Having grown up in the handmade paper hub of the world, Jaipur, Kritika came up with the idea of creating paper that could be planted.

For this idea, Kritika says, “I received a lot of appreciation in my class. But, though I had done enough research on the subject before I announced the idea, I was sceptical about how it would actually turn out once I put it in practice.”

On coming back to India, Kritika happened to meet the Brand Manager of a multi-national FMCG company, and she spoke to him about her idea of making plantable paper. On an impulse, he asked her to implement it for his brand. This time, the still sceptical Kritika made a trip to Sanganer, a suburb of Jaipur, which is the home of the handmade paper industry.

She worked hard on her theoretical idea and, over a period of fifteen days, experimented with different organic materials, pigments and seeds.

“After a lot of trial and error and desperately waiting for saplings to grow out of the paper, we were successful in developing ‘tomato paper’ from tomato seeds, and we decided to name our company ‘Tomato & Co.,’ says the proud entrepreneur.

‘Seed paper,’ which is another name for the handmade paper made by Tomato & Co, is made through a rather tedious and complicated process. The basic ingredients are organic cotton shreds, few naturally existing bio-binders, resins, and of course seeds.

“A homogeneous pulp of cotton shreds, seeds, binders, and resins of required consistency is made and is flattened out on screens of a specific thickness using muslin membranes. After the paper is semi-dried, it is taken through a few processes to preserve the germination of the seeds used. The sheets are then air dried and shaped into the required products,” explains Kritika.

For printing on the paper, organic and naturally existing pigments like indigo, cochineal, weld, and cutch are used.

It has been over a year since Tomato & Co came into being and the company has made successful attempts in using the seeds of tomato, lavender, chillies, carrot, jasmine, basil, lemon mint, lettuce, marigold, sunflower, wheat, parsley, and orange to make plantable paper.

Some of the brands that they have worked with are Unilever, Kissan, Tedx, and Mindshare. For their customers they have created product tags and little cards that carry the name of the brand.

They have also created calendars, postcards, greeting cards, wedding invites, and visiting cards. Bookmarks, door hangers, coffee cup sleeves, wristbands, seed coins, and coasters are some of the other interesting products that have made it to their list.

Anyone who interacts with Kritika is indeed impressed with her plantable paper. Naturally, most people do not take her seriously until they see, touch and ‘grow’ the paper.

Kritika has been using different seeds in these papers for over a year now. Raghav Sharma is one such person who has first hand experience of planting the paper and seeing it germinate. In his words, “When I first heard about Tomato & Co, I could not believe that such paper could exist. Being a resident of Jaipur, it was not hard for me to visit Kritika and learn more from her. I picked up the paper from her and once home, I followed the instructions given by her. I planted the paper in a flowering pot and would water it every day. Finally, after around 11 or 12 weeks, little sprouts were seen shooting out of the mud…..well, the seeds did germinate in my very own back yard!” –

Until now, the company has been working only with corporates and individual customers, customising the products of ‘seed paper’ for their specific requirements. According to Kritika, “The concept of a plantable paper echoes very beautifully with the common people and almost every day, someone or the other asks us when we will get into the retail market. We are presently working on a few retail products that will soon be in the market.”

Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can all buy greeting cards, postcards, coasters, diaries, pads and folders made of this unique paper and then plant them to see the seeds germinate in our very homes.

To know more about Tomato & Co. or order from them, visit their website.

Source…..Aparna Menon….www.thebetterindia.com

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Earthquake-Resistant Houses? These Residents of Uttarakhand Had Cracked It 900 Years Ago! ….

November 6, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Despite being located in an earthquake-prone region, residents of Uttarkashi do not hesitate in constructing multi-storey houses. These elaborate buildings in Rajgarhi area of Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand are perfect examples of splendid architecture as well as earthquake-resistant engineering.

Called Koti Banal, these buildings have been named after a village in the district and have successfully survived many minor and major earthquakes in the past ten centuries.

Even the extremely disastrous earthquakes, in recent times the 1991 and the 1999 ones that killed thousands of people and caused immense damage to property including many concrete structures in the state, could not move these buildings. One such building in Guna has been standing tall for more than 728 years now.

Koti Banal style came into existence about 900 years ago and is hailed as one of the finest specimens of architecture as well as of earthquake-resistant design. The houses are built using locally available materials like stone-filled solid platforms and there is an extensive use of wood, which offer special advantages over other materials during earthquakes.

The height of these houses is usually 7 to 12 metres above the base. The traditional houses usually have five storeys. Some of the key features of these houses include a simple layout of the structure; construction on an elaborate, solid and raised platform; incorporation of wooden beams all through the height of the building at regular intervals; small openings and shear walls.

Extensive use of locally available wood was made in these homes since wood is an elasto-plastic material with the ability to absorb the brunt of an earthquake.

The sole objective behind the construction of these houses was safety and not much attention was paid to the comfort of the inhabitants. This reason has led to many such dwellings being abandoned in recent times.

People have also started destroying these structures in order to use the building material for the construction of new and modern houses. Lack of awareness is further causing the slow death of these traditional houses which represent a strong cultural heritage.

Photos and inputs from : Dr. Piyoosh Rautela and Girish Chandra Joshi. Check out their full report on these extra ordinary structures.

Watch the video that explains more about the technique – –

Featured image: www.worldfpa.org]

source….Shreya Pareek

http://www.the betterindia.com

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Two guys wearing jetpacks fly alongside an Airbus A380….!!!

November 6, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

We’ve already seen ex-fighter pilot Yves Rossy — a.k.a. Jetman — fly his jet-propelled wing in formation with another pilot, and we’ve seen him whizz around Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.

His latest stunt, however, again performed with parachuter Vince Reffet, is perhaps the most impressive so far. The two pilots fly their jetpacks in formation with an Emirates-owned Airbus A380.

In the stunt, once again available in 4K resolution, the pilots whir incredibly close to the airplane as it flies above the Dubai skyline. The airplane’s size — the A380 is the world’s largest passenger airliner, some 238 feet long — gives a great sense of scale, showing how incredibly small the pilots’ jetpacks really are.

Filming the video was no easy feat either; every little detail had to be carefully planned, with a team of videographers recording the stunt from another, smaller plane. Check out the “making of” video below.

Source…… STAN SCHROEDER…..www.mashable.com

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