Farmers protest against Hydro Power Project in Himachal

Rampur (HP), Sept 18 (ANI): Hundreds of residents and farmers here protested against the construction of run-of-river hydropower plant project on the river Satluj.

The campaigners called for Save Satluj drive and complained that the hydropower plant would disturb the ecological balance of the region.

“Our protest is to save our environment and our natural resources. They are being affected by the project. Because of this, the Sutlaj river will dry up, water mammals will die and the temperature of the region will also rise,” said Mohan Singh, a farmer.

Environmentalists believe that the 412MW Rampur hydropower project is not suitable to the fragile ecology of the region.

“The project will divert this river through the tunnel leaving the river bed dry which will disturb the ecological balance. This will not only affect the course of river but will also harm the crop grown in the area,” said Jai Chand, head of the Village Committee for Environment Protection.

The activists were protesting against the Rampur hydropower project authorities and the district administration.

The campaigners later staged a sit-in-protest outside the office of Sub-Divisional Magistrate demanding his intervention into the matter.

Rampur Hydropower Project will provide renewable and low carbon energy to the country’s over-stretched Northern Electricity Grid. (ANI)

‘Toxic cocktail’ in tunnels can increase air pollution levels by up to 1,000 times

Washington, August 28 (ANI): A new study has found that a toxic cocktail of ultrafine particles, which is lurking inside road tunnels, can increase air pollution levels by up to 1,000 times, enough to harm drivers and passengers.

The study measured ultrafine particle concentration levels outside a vehicle travelling through the M5 East tunnel in Sydney.

According to study co-author and director of Queensland University of Technology’s International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Professor Lidia Morawska, road tunnels were locations where maximum exposure to dangerous ultrafine particles in addition to other pollutants occurred.

“The human health effects of exposure to ultrafine particles produced by fuel combustion are generally regarded as detrimental,” Professor Morawska said.

“Effects can range from minor respiratory problems in healthy people, to acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) in people with existing heart complaints,” she added.

Professor Morawska said the study involved more than 300 trips through the four kilometres of the M5 East tunnel, with journeys lasting up to 26 minutes, depending on traffic congestion.

“What this study aimed to do was identify the concentration levels found in the tunnel. It generated a huge body of data on the concentrations and the results show that, at times, the levels are up to 1000 times higher than in urban ambient conditions,” she said.

She said that drivers and occupants of new vehicles which had their windows closed were safer than people travelling in older vehicles.

“People who are driving older vehicles which are inferior in terms of tightness and also those riding motorcycles or driving convertibles, these people are exposed to incredibly high concentrations,” she said.

“When compared with similar studies reported previously, the measurements here were among the highest recorded concentrations,” she added.

Professor Morawska said that tunnels were becoming an increasingly necessary infrastructure component in many cities across the world.

“When governments are building tunnels for urban design reasons, they should also consider the impact these tunnels are having on the environment and to people’s health,” she said.

“The study highlights why governments need to consider how they are going to deal with the air pollution levels inside the tunnel and removal of ultrafine particles in the outside environment,” she added. (ANI)

Freediver swims through longest Oz ocean cave in record 2minutes 40secs

London, Aug 25 (ANI): A freediver has set a new world record by swimming through Australia’s longest underwater cave.

Mike Wells swam almost 400ft to create a new record.

And it took him two minutes and 40 seconds to master Fish Rock Cave, off New South Wales.

Wells, the first man to do this, said that it was a difficult task to complete.

“It was very hard. But I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, literally,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

He had reportedly tried similar feat twice earlier on the cave, which is 85ft below the surface, but had to pull out due to cramp. (ANI)

Pak raises lands drying up issue due to Indian conspiracy with Holbrooke

Islamabad, Aug.21 (ANI): The Pakistan Government is reported to have raised the issue of its agrarian lands drying up due to India’s water conspiracy with visiting US Special Representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke.

Though Holbrooke told officials in Islamabad that American experts will soon be in town to help the country resolve its energy crisis, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will make a further announcement on energy needs during her scheduled visit in October, the latter highlighted the fact that India has reduced the country”s agro-based economy to tatters by building the Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project on the Jhelum River.

The News quotes Indus Water Commissioners Ishrat Ali Khan and Jamaat Ali Shah, as saying that Pakistan has handed over credible evidence in June of this year to India, which establishes 14 agenda items; including the contentious Wullar barrage project.

Both officials says that while the talks were essentially a failure, the fact remains that India is taking steps to stop the flow of water through a 22-KM long tunnel into the Wullar Lake.

India, on the other hand, claims that the project, which includes buidling a dam, will help maintain better water levels in a nearby lake and regulate the flow of flood waters.

Islamabad fears the proposed dam on the Jhelum river, a tributary of the Indus, will affect water levels further downstream in the plains of its Punjab province threatening irrigation and power projects.

In the wake of inconclusive talks on water flow of Jhelum, it says that the Indian attempt to use water as a geo-strategic tool, is unfair and in contravention to the Indus Water Ttreaty, 1960.

According to Indus Water Treaty of 1960, India has been allotted exclusive control/right over the waters of the eastern rivers, namely; the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej. Pakistan controls the waters of three western rivers; the Indus, the Jhelum and the Chenab.

It is interesting to note that the base-source of water of all the rivers flows from the Indian side of Kashmir.

According to Pakistan, the treaty bars India from storing any water or constructing any storage works on the western rivers that would result in a reduced flow of water to Pakistan and destruction of the country”s Rabi crop.

Pakistan maintains that India, under the treaty, can store water but it cannot divert it to any other side. Thus, any diversion would violate the provisions of the treaty.

Pakistan believes Wullar barrage can be used as: (1) a geo-strategic weapon, (2) potential to disrupt the triple canal project of Pakistan, (3) badly affecting the Neelum-Jehlum hydro-power project, (4) agriculture in Pakistan Kashmir (5) drying the lands of Punjab province.

The Indian side is of the view that Pakistan is not developing its hydel resources anyway and should not get so serious about its objections. (ANI)

Uttarakhand villagers marooned for over two years

Chai (Uttarakhand), Aug 21 (ANI): Residents of Chai village in Uttarakhand are still struggling to cope up with the predicament, which they encountered nearly two years ago when water from a tunnel of a powerhouse project gushed into their homes.

It was on October 25, 2007 that a massive leakage in the tunnel of the 400 MW powerhouse project constructed by the Jaiprakash Power Ventures Limited, a subsidiary of Jaypee Group of Industries resulted in the entire Chai village being inundated.

Only couple of families out of 25 were compensated.

With no roof over their heads and facing Herculean task to travel to the nearby villages or other places for their work, these families have reached the limit of their patience.

“When the tunnel built by JP Company (Jaiprakash Power Ventures Limited) poured out two years ago, our complete village was wiped out. Every day we are living under the fear of losing our lives. All our homes have been destroyed. We face a lot of problems while commuting from one place to another, as there are no roads,” said Yashoda Devi, a villager.

She also complained that many families are living in shacks and tents since the government has not rehabilitated them even after two years.

Despite repeated appeals, the government has rehabilitated just seven to eight families out of the 25 gravely affected households.

So much so, relief if any seems to have become a mirage for these families.

“We took our problem to the Chief Minister and the District Magistrate and every authority concerned, but so far they have provided houses to just seven to eight families. Those families who were severely affected by the leakage were promised a compensation of 365,000 rupees.

But the villagers were not in favour of the compensation but wished to move to some safer place,” said Pratap Lal, former Pradhan (headman) of Chai village.

Reacting to all the plight of the villagers, the government of Uttarakhand has contended that the grievances of the affected villagers are being looked into and that the District Magistrate is being instructed to address the problems of Chai village.

“This problem is now under consideration. We will be referring the matter to the District Magistrate and strict instructions will be issued to him. The problem is very grave in the village ever since the tunnel had leaked.After that commuting has been very dangerous for the villagers.

The District Magistrate will be looking into the matter at the earliest,” asserted Khajan Das, Minister of Disaster Management, Uttarakhand. (ANI)

Pak accuses India of reducing its agro-based economy to tatters

Islamabad, Aug.19 (ANI): Authorities in Pakistan have once again charged India with reducing the country’s agro-based economy to tatters by building the Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project on the Jhelum River.

The News quotes Indus Water Commissioners Ishrat Ali Khan and Jamaat Ali Shah, as saying that Pakistan has handed over credible evidence in JUne of this year to India, which establishes 14 agenda items; including the contentious Wullar barrage project.

Both officials says that while the talks were essentially a failure, the fact remains that India is taking steps to stop the flow of water through a 22-KM long tunnel into the Wullar Lake.

India, on the other hand, claims that the project, which includes buidling a dam, will help maintain better water levels in a nearby lake and regulate the flow of flood waters.

Islamabad fears the proposed dam on the Jhelum river, a tributary of the Indus, will affect water levels further downstream in the plains of its Punjab province threatening irrigation and power projects.

In the wake of inconclusive talks on water flow of Jhelum, it says that the Indian attempt to use water as a geo-strategic tool, is unfair and in contravention to the Indus Water Ttreaty, 1960.

According to Indus Water Treaty of 1960, India has been allotted exclusive control/right over the waters of the eastern rivers, namely; the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej. Pakistan controls the waters of three western rivers; the Indus, the Jhelum and the Chenab.

It is interesting to note that the base-source of water of all the rivers flows from the Indian side of Kashmir.

According to Pakistan, the treaty bars India from storing any water or constructing any storage works on the western rivers that would result in a reduced flow of water to Pakistan and destruction of the country’s Rabi crop.

Pakistan maintains that India, under the treaty, can store water but it cannot divert it to any other side. Thus, any diversion would violate the provisions of the treaty.

Pakistan believes Wullar barrage can be used as: (1) a geo-strategic weapon, (2) potential to disrupt the triple canal project of Pakistan, (3) badly affecting the Neelum-Jehlum hydro-power project, (4) agriculture in Pakistan Kashmir (5) drying the lands of Punjab province.
The Indian side is of the view that Pakistan is not developing its hydel resources anyway and should not get so serious about its objections. (ANI)

Pre-historic cave discovered in Madhya Pradesh

Raisen (Madhya Pradesh), July 16 (ANI): A cave, which is of great archaeological interest and could hold immense tourism potential, has been discovered at Patni village of Raisen district in Madhya Pradesh.

The one-mile long cave known as Mrigendranath cave sits underneath the green and partially rocky hill of Patni village. Locals had known it for long as a religious site where Hindu sages and ascetics used to come for meditation.

However, it has recently been acknowledged as an important archaeological site, prompting the state Culture and Public Relations Minister, Laxmikant Sharma, to visit the cave along with officials of archaeological department.

After walking 100 metres down into the cave, it becomes so narrow that only one person can walk at a time literally clinging along the wall. As one moves deeper in the cave it feels as if one is walking in a pitch-dark, narrow and air-conditioned tunnel.

However the cave becomes wider in the middle and there is enough room to seat a large number of people there. This wide space in the middle of the cave has been a favourite place for Hindu sages to mediate and perform rituals in front of the dhooni (holy fire). There are some paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses on the wall and some rocks resembling animal figures.

After visiting the cave, Sharma said he would do his best to develop it as a tourism spot and facilitate basic infrastructure at the site.

” We will do everything possible for the development of the hill and the cave from the point of archaeology. However, it has a great potential of tourism. World tourism will be attracted to this. This place should be developed from the tourism point of view, the entrance of the cave should be more open and convenient and the place should be more reachable and there should be basic facilities installed at the place,” he added.

Kapoor Singh, a villager who is the most frequent visitor of the cave, even after coming here on and off for over two decades had admits that he still hasn’t explored the cave fully and doesn’t know where it ends or leads to.

“I know the cave since 1984-85. Many sages used to come here to this cave. I stayed with them. Basically they discovered this and there are many images of Hindu gods and goddesses in the cave,” he said.

Experts are working to ascertain the period the cave belonged to even though a large circle of archaeologists link it to the prehistoric period.

According to some experts the cave could be deemed a world heritage site like the Bhimbetka cave, which is only 80 kilometres away from it.

It will be studied whether there was any link between the two caves or the people who used them. Both the caves are in Raisen district.

“It seems, primitive man used to live in large groups. In the other Bhimbetka cave primitive man lived in smaller groups. But after seeing this cave, it seems they lived here in a community,” said DK Mathur, Archaeological department official.

The newly-discovered cave is expected to boost tourism in the state which boasts of other sites of historical importance. By Ramchandra Sahu (ANI)

Work in progress on longest tunnel of rail network in J-K

Banihal (Jammu and Kashmir), July 12 (ANI): Construction of the longest tunnel in the Indian Railways network is proceeding at a rapid pace in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, irrespective of several topographical odds.

Considered as an engineering marvel, the tunnel is expected to be completed by 2012 and would connect the valley to other parts of the country.

The tunnel is being constructed with the most advanced technology, known as New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), and would pass through the mountain range of Pir Panjal.

“The mining of the tunnel running from Qazigund to Banihal will be completed in 2010. And after that we will take one and a half year more to complete its finishing and other things,” said R K Gupta, Divisional Railway Manager of Firozpur Division of Northern Railway.

“We will try that the work on the tunnel is complete and rail is operational for traffic by the end of 2011,” he added.

The construction of the 11 kilometers long stretch had begun in 2006 and working against numerous odds, such as difficult terrain and unpredictable weather, engineers and other specialised technicians of Railways hope to complete the work on time.

Besides the most advanced ventilation and drainage systems, the tunnel will also have a service road alongside the railway track for emergency and routine maintenance purposes. (ANI)

Award-winning device to revolutionise treatment of hand injuries

Washington, July 8 (ANI): Bioengineering students at Rice University have invented a device to measure intrinsic hand muscle strength, called PRIME, which could revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of hand injuries and neurological disorders, specifically carpal tunnel syndrome.

The OrthoIntrinsics team behind the patent-pending creation have won first place and 10,000 dollars at IShow, an innovation competition for graduate and undergraduate students.

Graduates Caterina Kaffes, Matthew Miller, Neel Shah and Shuai “Steve” Xu invented PRIME, or Peg Restrained Intrinsic Muscle Evaluator, for their senior project.

“Twenty percent of all ER admissions are hand-related. Neuromuscular disorders like spinal cord injuries, Lou Gehrig’s, diabetes, multiple sclerosis-all these diseases affect the intrinsic hand muscles,” said Xu.

For starters, the team is focusing on carpal tunnel syndrome.

“U.S. surgeons will perform over 500,000 procedures for carpal tunnel this year. We spend $2 billion per year treating this disease but up to 20 percent of all surgeries need to be redone. Our invention can be used across the spectrum of care from diagnosis to outcome measurements,” said Xu.

Xu said that previous devices lacked the repeatability to be useful and did not adjust for small hands or unusual morphologies.

PRIME has three elements: a pegboard restraint, a force transducer enclosure and a PDA custom-programmed to capture measurements.

In a five-minute test, a doctor uses pegs to isolate a patient’s individual fingers.

“You wouldn’t think it works as well as it does, but once you are pegged in, you can’t move anything but the finger we want you to,” said Miller.

A loop is fitted around the finger, and when the patient moves it, and the researchers measure the amount of force generated.

“PRIME gets the peak forceThen the doctor can create a patient-specific file with all your information, time-stamped, and record every single measurement,” said Xu.

PRIME integrates with existing systems in a manner compliant with the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, better known as HIPAA, he said.

According to Xu, it will help hospitals and rehabilitation clinics compare the effectiveness of surgical interventions and diagnose neuromuscular degenerative diseases. (ANI)

Anti-drug campaign to spread awareness in Punjab

Amritsar, July 6 (ANI): In a bid to raise awareness about the cost the society due to drug addiction, a play was staged here recently.

At Patti, a town located at the India-Pakistan border, the Punjab Police, in association with the State health department, launched a campaign to raise awareness about the menace.

It intended to educate public about drug-addiction’s deadly effect in daily life, as drugs have been noticed being the root cause of many crimes and social evils. And, the play highlighted its ill effects on the society and on the addicts’ families.

The play demonstrated how a family raises a happy child and bad company leads him towards drugs addiction. And the end is very tragic.The Indian government has decided to celebrate an Anti-drug Campaign Day. And it has been taken up by the Punjab police that observe the day to spread mass awareness. This programme makes the locals aware of the consequences and aftermath of drug addiction. I appeal to the officials to take this campaign to smaller towns and villages so that they can also benefit from it,” said Prof. Lakshmi Kanta Chawla, State Health Minister in Punjab.

“We want cooperation from everyone, the society, government authorities, and family members. We should also know that how and what to advocate so that maximum awareness can be spread, and for that there should be advocacy camps. Heads of the village Panchayats should be made aware of the consequences of drugs on both family and society,” said Dr. Rana Ranbir Singh, the Village Head.

A survey conducted by the Department of Social Security Development of Women and Children reveals that 67 per cent of the rural households in the state have at least one drug addict.

Also, the spread of AIDS is linked with the malady due to sharing of syringes. The death rate and the HIV positive cases have increased in Punjab by 60 per cent due to widespread use of intoxicants.

However, light has dawned on many individuals after passing through the dark tunnel of drug addiction.

Over 100 families want to spread this light through ‘Wisdom Club’, formed by DR. JPS Bhatia, a renowned psychotherapist. Apart from medical treatment, Bhatia counsels the patient to reject drugs.

“We have taken addiction as a disease. And we have drafted a plan to counter this disease. We have drawn it up according to the Punjabi culture. We do not follow the western style. So this programme of combating the addiction is planned to take care of Punjabi population, culture, beliefs, and identity. We are also focusing the NRI’s from the outside states. We try to understand their psychology and motivate them. We take the help of religion. We work on the patients with a very humanistic approach,” said J.P.S. Bhatia, a psychotherapist related to de-addiction of drugs.

For many years, Punjab was a transit point for drugs from Afghanistan, which were being routed to other parts of the world or metropolitan cities in the country.

Drug trafficking has increased by at last 30-40 per cent in the last year since cross-border civilian movement increased between India and Pakistan. By Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)

India begins providing river outflow data to Pak

Lahore, June 30 (ANI): As part of an annual practice, India has started providing Pakistan with data on the outflow of the Ravi, Sutlej, Beas and Chenab rivers from today.

After the Indus Basin Treaty, 1960, the Indian Indus water commissioner’s office provides the river outflow data on an annual basis, the Daily Times reports.

Under the treaty, Pakistan is entitled to the use of the waters of western rivers, Chenab, Indus and Jhelum, while India has rights over the water of eastern rivers, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas.

Earlier, Pakistan’s Indus Water Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah had said that there had not been any violation of the agreement on the Ranbir and Partap Canals on India’s part.

He also rejected reports that Pakistan was going to the International Court of Justice on the Kishanganga Dam project.

Pakistan has been opposing the construction of the Kishanganga hydropower project on Ganga River in Kashmir, which is called Neelum upon entering Pakistan.

Pakistan believes that the diversion of waters of Neelum is not allowed under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, and it will face a 27 per cent water deficit, when the project gets completed.

The reduced water flow in the Neelum would not yield the required results of the proposed 1.6 billion dollars Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project that has been designed to generate 969 MW of electricity.

It has said that India has almost completed a 22-kilometre long tunnel to divert Kishanganga waters to Wullar Lake in Jammu and Kashmir. (ANI)

Advanced ground-penetrating radar may be used to spot tunnels dug by criminals

Washington, June 30 (ANI): Patrol agents along the US border are using a sophisticated ground penetrating radar to spot illegal tunnels dug by criminals.

While most tunnels are used to move drugs or people, they could also be used to move in weapons and explosives for a terrorist attack.

Tunnels are a serious challenge for border patrol agents because they can begin and end almost anywhere.

Their entrances and exits are often hidden inside old warehouses or under trees; if old ones are discovered, new ones are quickly begun.

Of every tunnel ever discovered by US border patrol agents, 60 percent have been found in the last three years.

“All of them have been found by accident or human intelligence,” said Ed Turner, a project manager with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S and T). “None by technology,” he added.

To battle these secret burrows in the 21st century, S and T thinks this will have to change. In partnership with Lockheed Martin, DHS S and T is pursuing a fresh approach that uses sophisticated ground penetrating radar.

The new design technology is to place the radar antennas in a trailer that will be towed by a Border Patrol truck.

The antennas shoot a signal directly into the ground and use it to construct a multi-colored picture of the earth.

Tunnels show up as red, yellow, and aquamarine dots against a blue background. Border patrols agents would see these images on a monitor mounted inside their truck.

Ground penetrating radar is a promising technology because it is already used by civil engineers to reconstruct underground images.

These engineers, however, are usually only interested in detecting cables or pipes that may be a few meters beneath the earth.

S and T must find tunnels that often run much deeper.

To find these, the radar uses much lower frequencies that penetrate the ground much better, and a sophisticated new imaging technology that can display clear pictures of deep tunnels.

If successful, the tunnel detection technology will help agents locate and plug tunnels almost as fast as the criminals can dig them. (ANI)

Secret behind “delta wing” dolphins’ speed and agility revealed – partly

London, June 21 (ANI): US researchers have partly been successful in solving the mystery behind the speed and agility of dolphins and porpoises.

They believe the secret can be explained by the mammals’ ability to deploy flippers in the same “delta wing” pattern as jet fighters.

Boffins have found that the sea mammals use swept-back design to generate lift while minimising drag from the water – a similar mechanism to that used by aircraft.

Tiny twists to the flippers can also generate sharp changes in direction – the key to agility, reports The Times.

The finding may come handy in explaining how they are able to reach extraordinary speeds, such as the 20mph achieved by the striped dolphin.

Theoretically speaking, such speeds in water should produce so much friction that the creature should never be able to sustain them – or so researchers have thought.

However, Frank Fish from West Chester University, Pennsylvania, worked with the US Naval Academy and other researchers to build up exact profiles of the flippers of seven species, from the Amazon river dolphin and pygmy sperm whale to the striped dolphin.

To reach the conclusion, the shapes were analysed with computerised tomography of real flippers, and the researchers built exact scale models for testing in a water tunnel, they told a meeting of the American Physical Society.

“We found that swept-back flippers generate lift like modern delta-wing aircraft,” said Fish. (ANI)

Drogba faces a big UEFA ban for F-word tirade at referee

London, May 7 (ANI): Chelsea striker Didier Drogba faces a big UEFA ban after he hurled an F-word tirade at Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo as Barcelona hit a 93rd-minute goal to reach the Champions League final.

Millions of stunned TV viewers saw Drogba square up to the ref on the pitch after he had rejected four penalty appeals.

Drogba screamed obscenities at the TV cameras, forcing Sky to issue a rushed apology. Then the Ivory Coast star stormed down the tunnel and hurled abuse at Ovrebo, The Sun reports.

An eyewitness said: “Drogba was coming down the tunnel with referee Ovrebo alongside him. He kept shouting at Henning and the referee stopped.” Drogba turned towards the ref and put his face just three or four inches from the ref’s face and kept shouting. He told the ref ‘This is a f***ing disgrace, you don’t have respect, something like that can’t happen. You can’t do that’.

“All the time he used his hand to intimidate the ref further. He kept slamming his hand to the wall just inches from the ref’s face. Ovrebo looked terrified – but never said anything,” the eyewitness added.

Chelsea star Michael Ballack then joined in until the terrified referee ran back on to the pitch to avoid more confrontation.

The eyewitness also added: “Drogba looked crazy. He had lost control. But he never laid a finger on the ref, even though his behaviour was anything but civil.”

Last night Ovrebo admitted to UEFA representatives at the match that he had made “significant mistakes” during the game. But Drogba’s behaviour is certain to trigger a UEFA probe.

Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink defended the disgraceful reaction of his players. “I can fully understand the emotion of the game, the players’ disappointment. It’s not just one decision made in doubt but several decisions.” (ANI)

Large Hadron Collider may one day discover nature’s fifth force

Washington, April 29 (ANI): A group of physicists at the University of Nevada, Reno has analyzed data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that could ultimately prove or disprove the possibility of a fifth force of nature.

The LHC is an enormous particle accelerator whose 17-mile tunnel straddles the borders of France and Switzerland.

In a forthcoming Physical Review Letter article, the University of Nevada, Reno physicists are reporting an analysis of an experiment on violation of mirror symmetry in atoms.

Their refined analysis sets new limits on a hypothesized particle, the extra Z-boson, carving out the lower-energy part of the discovery reach of the LHC.

Andrei Derevianko, an associate professor in the College of Science’s Department of Physics, who has conducted groundbreaking research to improve the time-telling capabilities of the world’s most accurate atomic clocks, is one of the principals behind what is believed to be the most accurate to-date low-energy determination of the strength of the electroweak coupling between atomic electrons and quarks of the nucleus.

Derevianko and his colleagues have determined the coupling strength by combining previous measurements made by Dr. Carl Wieman, a Nobel laureate in physics, with high-precision calculations in a cesium atom.

The original work by Wieman used a table-top apparatus at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

The Boulder team monitored a “twinge” of weak force in atoms, which are otherwise governed by the electromagnetic force.

The Standard Model of elementary particles, developed in the early 1970s, holds that heavy particles, called Z-bosons, carry this weak force.

In contrast to the electromagnetic force, the weak force violates mirror symmetry: an atom and its mirror image behave differently.

This is known to physicists as “parity violation.”

The Boulder group’s experiment opened the door to new inquiry, according to Derevianko.

“It pointed out a discrepancy, and hinted at a possibility for new physics, in particular, extra Z-bosons,” he said.

In contrast to previous, less accurate interpretations of the Boulder experiment, Derevianko’s group has found a perfect agreement with the prediction of the Standard Model.

This agreement holds important implications for particle physics.

“Atomic parity violation places powerful constraints on new physics beyond the Standard Model of elementary particles,” Derevianko said. “With this new-found precision, we are doing a better job of ‘listening’ to the atoms,” he added.

By refining and improving the computations, Derevianko said there is potential for a better understanding of hypothetical particles (extra Z-bosons), which could be carriers of a so-far elusive fifth force of nature. (ANI)

12 workers killed in dam collapse in India

New Delhi – At least 12 workers were washed away when a dam that was under construction collapsed in India’s north-eastern state of Sikkim, a news report said Friday.

The Rang Po dam collapsed Thursday night in eastern Sikkim and efforts were being made to retrieve the bodies from a tunnel downstream, police officials told the PTI news agency.

The small dam was being built by a private company for storing water for hydropower generation at a project nearby.

According to the officials, the dam suddenly burst because of a surge in the water level of the Rongli River caused by heavy rainfall over the past few days.

Police were investigating amid allegations that substandard materials might have been used in the dam’s construction.(dpa)

Sikkim authorities battle to retrieve dead bodies from under collapsed dam

Gangtok (Sikkim), Apr 18 (ANI): Authorities in Gangtok, Sikkim, have said that it will take two to three days to recover the bodies of twelve workers who drowned after the Rangpo Dam collapsed earlier this week.

Rangpo Dam is located near Rongli in East Sikkim District.

According to the officials, the tunnel is flooded with the gushing waters of the River Rongli, and efforts are still being made to retrieve the 12 bodies.

The length of the tunnel is about 1100 meters.

The concerned authorities said that it would take them two to three days to clear the water from the tunnel.

The dam has been built by the Gati Infrastructure Limited, a private company for a 99 megawatts hydroelectric project. (ANI)

Termite Season Approaches: Tips for Homeowners

AUSTIN, Texas, April 15 /PRNewswire/ — With the arrival of late spring,
homeowners need to be on guard for an annual menace that threatens their
homes: termites. April and May are the height of termite season – the time
when the temperature is just right for termites to begin swarming out of their
nests to build new colonies in another location. These “swarmers” look a lot
like flying ants – but the damage they can do in the long run is much more
serious.

Homeowners who see flying termites in their area should be aware of the
following tips, courtesy of Killthetermites.com:

First, you need to find out if they came from your property. Termites commonly
live underground, but tunnel into your house to eat the wood as a food source.
Be on the lookout for tunnels on your home made of mud. If the swarmers seem
to be mostly indoors, it’s a good sign you’re already infested.

Second, turn off your lights at night if you see swarmers in your area. Like
most bugs, they’re attracted to the light, and will go straight for your home.

If you think the termites are coming from your property, you should get it
inspected by a professional. It’s very difficult to get rid of termites on
your own, and the damage they can do is severe.

If they’re coming over from the neighbor’s property, you need to take a
different approach. Make sure to warn your neighbor about it. If they won’t
call out the exterminator (or can’t afford to), you’re in a bind – your house
will be ground zero in both the spring and the fall. You’ll want to, at a
minimum, get annual inspections. Don’t panic – it can take years for termites
to actually do any serious damage. However, you should ask a local pest
control professional about installing a bait system in your yard. These
systems use wooden bait to serve as both a warning sign and a way to kill
termites. The exterminator can check the bait stations to see if there has
been any activity. Any termites that eat from them will also spread poison to
the budding colony.

Finally, it’s always a good idea to do a regular inspection on your own -
looking for mud tubes, sawdust, bubbles in the paint on your walls, or small
holes in exposed wood.

SOURCE Killthetermites.com

Killthetermites.com, +1-512-420-8407, kneukm03@gmail.com

Easter Weekend: Travel Chaos Underway

Roads and ports are filling up with holidaymakers as around ten million Brits set off on their Easter breaks. Skip related content
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Easter Weekend: Travel Chaos Underway
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Major routes have already become congested, particularly on the M25 around Heathrow and on the Birmingham M6 toll road.

Heavy traffic has also hit the picturesque A303 through Wiltshire and the A66 in Cumbria.

With forecasters predicting temperatures could reach 19C (66F) in parts of southern England, travellers are keen to make the most of the bank holiday.

The RAC predicts that 33% more people intended to take short trips by road this year than last, and is expecting congestion on the M25, M1 and M6.

The AA said resorts such as Brighton and Bournemouth could be busy as well as historic cities such as Cambridge and Edinburgh.

More than 30 sets of roadworks are in place across the country whilst 51 have been suspended until the end of Easter Monday.

The Highways Agency, which is responsible for England’s motorways and major roads, said it had completed 37 sets of roadworks in time for Easter.

On the railways, passengers on a number of routes face service suspensions while a £55m programme of engineering work goes ahead.

P and O Ferries will carry 132,000 passengers on its Dover-Calais route from Good Friday to Easter Monday – an increase on the 98,000 figure last Easter.

A total of 200,000 passengers will travel with the Channel Tunnel high-speed Eurostar train company in the period from today until Easter Tuesday.

Those travelling by rail will have to contend with the closure of the West Coast Main Line between Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire and Rugby in the West Midlands from Easter Saturday until 12 noon on Easter Monday.

Services in and out of London’s Liverpool Street and Waterloo stations will also be disrupted by engineering work, although 64,000 train services will run over the holiday period (today to Monday) which is around 5,000 more than last Easter.

The most popular destinations for Brits travelling abroad this Easter include Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia.

British Airways said its top long-haul destinations for the holiday period were New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

Follow our live traffic updates from the Highways Agency and your reports.

Twitter Users: If you see anything on the road, please tweet a message with #eastertravel when you pull over. To follow our live travel updates please follow: skytravelupdate.

Kasab trial to begin from April 15

Mumbai, Apr 6 (ANI): The trail of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured in the Mumbai terror attacks last year, will begin from April 15.

The trial will begin at Arthur Road central jail.

On Sunday, Kasab’s trial was put on hold by a week, as the construction of the special court in the jail premises was not yet over.

“The construction of court’s slab is still on and the work is expected to be completed in six to seven days,” special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said.

Jail authorities were informed by the Public Works Department (PWD) that the construction work, that began last month, would be over soon.

Only then PWD will be able to hand over the court premises to the jail authorities.
A portion of the jail has been segregated for Kasab’s cell and the court. The authorities have built a bomb-proof tunnel between Kasab’s cell and the court to allow Kasab direct access to the court from the prison.

Earlier TADA court, which conducted the 1993 bomb blast trial, was housed here. (ANI)