harikumar1964's blog

On this day in 1809, the man -who redefined the origin of life in the world forever with his theory on Natural selection- was born. His was the first comprehensive treatise on Natural selection and evolution. His book “On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection” based on his experiences in his trip aboard HMS Beagle between 1831- 1836 was published in 1859 creating an upheaval in the world. It may be that this process of natural selection was not really a spark originated in his brain. This theory was in circulation even before him, but his journey aboard HMS beagle collecting botanical samples and his visit of Galapagos Islands and seeing species nowhere else seen- but perfectly well adapted to the environment of Galapagos- an archipelago of volcanic islands in Pacific ocean separated from South America by almost 1000 Kms- that gave him compelling evidence for his theory. This separation made the flora and fauna unique in the island. And this provided the first visible example of Natural selection. Darwin completed the work on natural selection in 1844, but kept his research paper locked for fear of angry  reaction from Church and believers. And this would have remained locked till his death had he not got the letter from his junior Alfred Russel Wallace in 1858 seeking his opinion on a  theory similar to his own based on his separate studies in the East. This sounded alarm bells for Darwin and he without wasting anymore time published his works in 1859. The scientific world received his theory with Surprise, awe and consternation. People who till date were believing that we came into being by the Intelligent design of a supreme being suddenly had a big jolt. But Unlike Galileo and Copernicus, even though he faced criticism and outrage from the church, he was never persecuted. His second book “ the Descent of Man” was even more stunningly controversial but since the world was already familiar with the theory, this book was received with less of an outrage.

Contrary to popular belief, Darwin never coined the term Survival of the fittest in his book. It was coined later by someone else. Even after  150 years of publication, concepts of  his theory is still not understood fully. Even today we see people arguing – if we descended from monkeys, why then are monkeys still around- all monkeys should have become men. – This is a sheer case of lack of understanding. Natural selection only proposes organisms change to adapt well to the changing environment, and those which adapt well has a better chance of survival. So it  is not that monkeys are becoming humans. Some 6-7 million years ago, some ancestral  apelike forefathers due to compulsion from their environment in which they lived, gradually evolved into homo category and gradually evolved into homo sapiens may be some 200000 years ago.

Despite partial acknowledgement by Vatican, even today people in US and many other countries still don’t accept this theory and are compelling their governments to teach in science class the concept of Intelligent Design of Bible along with Natural selection. As late as in 2008, Ben Stein starrer film Expelled: No Intelligence allowed tried to propagate the idea of Intelligent design and the evils of  natural selection. This is how misunderstood the concepts are even today.

Charles Darwin may not be an Einstein as far as the originality of the concept is concerned. But definitely his works changed the way we understood the biological world and the research that followed helped understand our position in the world vis-à-vis other animals. This is even more relevant in the times of Global warming and ecological disasters as a direct outcome of human actions.

I salute this great naturalist on his 200^th Birth Anniversary.

Infinite, incomprehensible,  inexplicable the cosmos that is

how foolish for the man in this ordinary planet to think he knows  a lot.

-          Rough translation of a Malayalam poem.

Surface of the earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. From it we have learnt most of what we know. Recently we have waded a little out to the sea, enough to dampen our toes or at most wet our ankles. The water seems inviting. The ocean calls. Some part of our being knows this is from where we came. We long to return.

-            From Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos”.

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

-          From Douglas Adam’s” Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy, Part –II-Restaurant at the end of Universe.”

As promised, Moon impact probe (MIP) successfully impacted the moon on children’s day- giving some very close up photographs of the lunar surface. Upon landing the probe was destroyed but then our tricolor was painted on MIP making our presence in Moon. This is just a prelude to a planned surface rover launch by 2012. Fresh from this success, ISRO has ambitious plans to send man to space in the next 5 years and then missions to the Sun (Aditya) and  to the red planet (Mars). Hats off to ISRO scientists.

Human beings have always been explorers. Our ancestors set out on a voyage out of Africa on foot and spread all across the globe excepting Antarctic by  the end of last ice age some 12000 years ago.  Our body is composed of matter which is of cosmic in origin- as we know most of the matter in the universe was formed within the first few seconds of  big bang. Those atoms passing through so many inanimate and animate objects has reached us and will eventually return to the cosmos. We are made of stardust. It is natural  for  one to explore his origins- and by spacefaring , we are just exploring our roots.

Last week also marked the demise of Phoenix- the Mars lander which  confirmed the presence of water in the form of ice on Mars.  But life is still elusive on the red planet. Phoenix could not find any traces of life – present or fossilized -  on mars. Probably this is a reminder to all those alien crazy public, that life in the universe is very difficult to detect. All those alien invasions and abductions are pure fantasy. Phoenix mission which was supposed to last for three months outlived it by another three months-  with the onset of Martian winter ( the probe was landed in the arctic region of the planet) solar energy starved battery system went dead marking the end of the mission. But scientist are still hopeful and mars reconnaissance mission orbiting mars is still trying to contact Phoenix. And some scientist believe, with the onset of mars spring some 6 months later, probably Phoenix will spring back to life. Will this Phoenix emulate the mythical one by rising from its ashes? Lets be optimistic.

Universe if full of surprises. Last week astronomers photographed (?) for the first time an exo planet. If subsequent analysis proves this dot around a star is that of a planet, then we will be seeing for the first time the photograph of an exoplanets. So far we have detected their presence through indirect means ( wobble and change in intensity of light of parent star). Space exploration is an area of limitless possibilities. India has ventured into it at the right time. So let us embark on a journey of exploration to  those areas where no man has gone before. Happy voyage.

Occultation is a natural phenomenon of one heavenly object hides another one from our view when earth and these objects happen to be in a straight line. Most visible and feared occultation is the solar eclipse wherein sun is hidden from our view by the passing moon.  Lunar eclipse is not exactly occultation, but earth’s shadow falling on moon thereby making it less visible (bright). These events are not known as occultation – but as eclipses.

But when moon or some other planet hide another planet from our view (because of straight line alignment) it is called occultation. It is much less talked about and much less spectacular and ofcourse much less feared!

On 10^th May 2008, because of the angular position of Mars and Moon, an occultation will be visible from throughout India. The start time for the event is around 7:30 PM about 45° in the western horizon, and Mars will resurface from behind Moon in just over an hours time. (Exact time for different locations may be checked with local papers. However, in the north it starts around 7:30 PM and in south by around 8 PM).

Enjoy the celestial phenomenon. Show it to kids and generate interest in science in them.  And just a humble request to all those Desi news channels- spread the scientific spirit not superstition . Call some astronomers rather than astrologers for discussions. I know I cannot remove the deep rooted superstitions of humanity by writing blogs. But still I request you to kindly watch the phenomenon. Atleast I hope this time around, for this event,  there will be no fear psychosis generated by certain sections the way it used to before solar and lunar eclipses and the huge propaganda the desi media gives to such nonsense.  ( I for one, have been watching eclipses , occultation and transit of planets across sun since  1980 (with the famous solar eclipse) ofcourse with proper protections  like using reflective methods to focus sun or using optical filters for viewing sun- whenever sun is involved as viewing sun directly with naked eye is dangerous. And let me assure you these celestial phenomena are truly spectacular.)

So come and enjoy the red planet hiding behind our very own moon.

(If anybody has any clarifications, questions or additional information  regarding eclipses /occultation , feel  free to share. )

Since becoming aware of the enormity of the universe, Man has always been dreaming of a voyage to the unexplored. Intelligent alien life has always been a hotly contested issue with the so many purportedly spotting of UFOs. We are more than eager to make contact with them.  Even there are sects who support the theory of  ancient astronomers firmly believe that human being is not an evolutionary but a cloned product of an alien civilisation on their brief sojourn here on earth. But how feasible is the space travel-  the travel through the vast expanse of time and space.

The universe is so vast that in spite of the billion trillion stars and their possible associated planetary system, the chance of an object falling from nowhere landing on a star or a planet is one in a trillion trillion. This simply means the universe is mostly empty space.  Covering such enormous distances is time consuming- generations consuming – even evolution consuming. Today if we embark on a space journey to the nearest star- Proxima Centauri- with the available technology, the space craft will not be back on earth in the next 200000 years, and that is more than the present existence period of homo sapiens. Even if the crew and their successors survive such a long voyage, on their return they may encounter an earth where either the humans have become extinct or evolved into a new species. So those who return may look like aliens. There is even a possibility of these space travellers evolving into something else during their long space journey.

Technology has taken centre stage only in the last one century. Within such a short period, we the human race have acquired potential to efface signs of life from  this planet – and we have very nearly done it.  So the long term survival of an intelligent race is always threatened by the our own incoherency. Can a select few of such a species complete  an arduous and generations long journey  successfully. Also they must be innovative- technologically. Otherwise within a few years, their technology will be so obsolete that a future generation with vastly improved technology will overtake them in the space journey. Without innovation, those who return will look terribly out of place and time.  Had there been some space travellers in the voyager mission, and if they  return to earth after their encounter with the Kuiper belt objects, they may be starting their return journey now, and will be reaching back earth in another 30 years. Imagine the space craft and people with technology of the 1970s returning to earth in the 2030s.

This is only the journey within our own solar system. The nearest stars are so far away that the journey to Pluto would  be  like a child’s play. Only a self sustainable society with the capacity to avoid internal strife can accomplish such a feat . The first part itself is very cumbersome as a self sustainable society may within a couple of generations develop serious genetic disorders due to lack of variation of DNA. Also if at all such an exploration eventually become successful, the people who will be finally landing on another inhabited planet will no longer be the true representatives of Earth – but the citizens of the space- which will be the only thing they know .

So it is absolutely naive for an intelligent civilisation to venture into such a voyage. The feasible alternative is (presuming that their technological development is somewhat in the similar lines as that of ours)  to try and  establish radio contact provided their frequency match with ours- ie., the messages are decipherable.

Intelligent beings  devote the right quantity of energy for the right purpose .