Welcome to the official blog of Science Club, Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata

THE DARK PRESENCE OF DARK MATTER Dark matter is undoubtedly one of the half-solved mysteries of the universe. The existence of dark matter is suspected in many areas of our universe and is even believed to constitute 85% of the total energy density but we cannot see it, observe it or even manipulate it by conventional means like normal matter. Dark matter is much like Ronald Weaseley’s deluminator because it ends up absorbing the light emitted by normal matter. Dark matter is quite intriguing because even though its presence is suspected, much of its characters are still unknown. The origin of dark matter could be traced back to the 1600s. Although Jacob Kapteyn first raised speculations regarding the concept of dark matter via stellar velocities, it was Fritz Zwicky (anonymously considered as the father of dark matter) who ended up applying the virial theorem to the Coma cluster of galaxies. In simpler words, he just found it odd that a whole bunch of galaxies could rem...

NASA’s dragonfly travels to TITAN Saturn’s moon Titan is the second-largest moon and natural satellite in our solar system. It is even larger than planet mercury and only 2 percent smaller than the largest moon of the solar system, Ganymede. Titan is the only place in the solar system besides Earth known to have liquid lakes, rivers, seas but all are of methane and ethane. Titan’s atmosphere also has some similarity with that of Earth. It is mostly made of nitrogen but the pressure on its surface is 50% more than that of Earth. We still do not know whether it can harbour life or not. Titan may or may not be a lifeless world. However, the surface temperature is much more different than that of Earth’s. Titan’s average surface temperature is -179 degree Celsius which is too cold. NASA has announced the dragonfly mission to TITAN which will launch from Earth in 2026 and land on the surface of Titan in 2034 after exploring it. The cost of the entire project is around $1 bi...

TIME DILATION: A review of The Twin Paradox “Time and space are modes by which we think and not conditions in which we live” -Albert Einstein Time measurement began with the invention of Sundials as early as 1500 B.C. Till now humans have defined time by a set of rules which seemed convenient to them. Several Concepts have been surrounding this physical quantity since then. We shall take a look at one of those concepts named “TIME DILATION”.   Time dilation is a famous phenomenon featured in various sci-fi movies including the popular one, Interstellar. It may be defined as the difference in the elapsed time between two clocks because they have a relative velocity between them. A simple thought experiment which can validate this is the twin paradox which shows that time passes at relative speeds when relative velocities are involved. Here, two twins (X and Y) are taken - Y flies in space at nearly the speed of light  (90%...

Parallel universe: Does it exist? One might be in love with the idea of a parallel universe, which is basically a parallel dimension or an alternate universe. Maybe it's appealing because one gets second chances, and things might turn out differently. An alternate reality where one might actually get into Hogwarts or Napolean wins the Battle of Waterloo or the British Empire holds on to its American colony or where you were never born. For over a hundred years, science has been haunted by a dark secret: that there might be mysterious hidden worlds beyond our human senses. Collection of an infinite number of such parallel universes constitute a “multiverse”. But is there really such a place in science for such wistful speculations. I mean if the universe is everything in itself, then we actually cannot have an identical copy of it right? Then the concept of the universe altogether would have been a lie. The problem here lies with the terminology. When the physicists...

FUCHSIA OS: GOOGLE'S NEW ANDROID Well, now most smartphone users over the world are using Android as their Operating System. But is that forever? As we all know Android is controlled by Google Inc. and we are now quite satisfied with its interface and looks as one might say. But at the present day, Google has decided to come up with something new, called the Fuchsia Operating System which is thought to conquer all IoT(Internet of things) and UI(User Interface) based devices in near future. Now the question arises, why such a sudden change? What will happen to Android? Well to answer all of these, first we will have to know a few things.                   ANDROID AND ITS FLAWS: Well, do you know Android was developed way before Apple's iOS?But then, it was only used as an operating system in other gadgets except mobile phones. Android was basically developed to serve Cameras and other devices. Later when Google adopted it, th...

 Vikram: India's Journey  to the South Pole of the     Moon Moon, the only natural satellite of earth has become the most interesting space object from the dawn of civilization. Since spacecraft was created , people have t ravelled towards the moon most ly. ISRO's Chandrayaan 2 is the most recent update in the history of lunar expedition s. Chandryan 2, I SRO's second lunar mission was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on 22nd July 2019.It was carried by GSLV Mark 3 rocket. The spacecraft was destined t o reach the Moon's Orbit on 20th August 2019. The main objec tive of the mission was to map and study the variation of lunar surface and composition as well as to trace l unar water. T he main lunar module consisted of three important parts: an Orbiter, a Lander named Vikram and the Rover named Pragyan. The Lunar Lander Vikram, named in tribute to Vikram Sarabhai, father of Indian space research programme got separated from th...

FIFTH MODE OF TRANSPORTATION-“HYPERLOOP” The concept of Hyperloop was first conceived in 2012 by renowned entrepreneur and founder of SpaceX and TESLA, Elon Musk . He was in search of a new, the fifth mode of transportation which can redefine the future of travelling by drastically reducing the travel time on land. It is termed hyperloop as it would go in a loop. Hyperloop is the greatest leap in mode of transportation infrastructure for generations. With passengers sitting in a pod and travelling through evacuated sealed metal tubes at a speed greater than that of an airline, the concept seems to be fictitious but it is on the verge of becoming reality. The speed of conventional mode of transportation i.e. buses, cars or trains is limited by air resistance and friction.   Hyperloop drastically reduces friction and air resistance by means of magnetic levitation, electric Propulsion and partially vacuum steel tubes. The concept is open-sourced by Elon Musk, the result of...

NEUROIMAGING IN IDENTIFYING DISORDERS Neuroimaging deals with the in vivo applications of various techniques to illustrate and study the structural & functional characteristics of the nervous system. Neuroimaging can be classified into two categories: • Structural neuroimaging, which involves the imaging of the structure of the nervous system and the diagnosis of intracranial injuries and tumours. • Functional imaging, which involves the study and diagnosis of metabolic diseases and cognitive research. The most widely used techniques involved in the process of neuroimaging are: 1. Computed Tomography (CT) or Computed Axial Tomography (CAT), in which X-ray images of the brain from various directions are taken and presented as cross-sections of the brain. 2. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), which uses magnetic fields and radio waves to obtain high-resolution 2D or 3D images of the brain. 3. Positron Emission Tomography (PET), which measures emissions from radioac...

BLACK HOLE & SPACE-TIME RELATION                                 W e are all pretty familiar with the term  'Black   Hole' . Well, what does it really mean? Firstly, the 'Black Hole' is not black at all. It is a kind of void from which light cannot escape. According to the general theory of relativity, proposed by Sir Albert Einstein, the black hole is that region of space and time, where the gravitational attraction is so strong that nothing can escape from or through it. A huge, enormous amount of mass is concentrated over a very small volume. And, consequently, the density of the black hole becomes incredibly strong. ⮚       Formation of the 'Black Hole':  Well, so far as the creation of the black hole is concerned, it is speculated that if the centre of an enormously distributed star collapsed and, as a result, the 'SUPERNOVA EXPLOSION' occurred. The...

                      'The God particle' also known as Higgs boson particle was discovered in 2013, with the help of the Hadron collider. It was said to be “the missing cornerstone of particle physics” by the CERN director.         Many disputes have been over why this is named so. Basically this particle gives an explanation of the origin of the universe.  It is a physical proof of an invisible, universe wide field which gave mass to all particles after the Big Bang.         This field better known as the “Higg's field” is different from all other fields as it is present everywhere even in vacuum. Now after providing mass it forced all particles to merge and form the stars, planets and led to the formation of the whole Milky Way galaxy.          So it was a very essential particle leading to the origin of the universe and gradua...