The Superconducting Quantum Interference Device, or SQUID, is a sensitive magnetic flux-to-voltage transducer. It may be the most sensitive detector of any physical quantity, with an energy resolution that approaches the quantum limit. The sensitivity of the SQUID has caused it to be incorporated into a variety of systems. SQUIDs have been used to measure cortical activity in the human …

These are thin narrow flat strips made of wood or metal, which are used as an auxiliary air foil at the leading edge of the wing of an aeroplane.

Sciophytes are shade-loving trees or plants. These plants have larger photosynthetic units than sun plants or heliophytes. Sciophytes are also known as photophobous plants and they reach their saturation level in only 20% sunlight. Shade-plants essentially follow strategies of optimum use of available energy and conservation of energy. Adaptation to achieve these strategic goals include thinner leaves with a relatively …

Movements of plates in the top layers of the Earth’s crust create enormous tension, which sometimes makes long cracks, or faults, in rocks. Continuing tugging movements make blocks of land sink down between roughly parallel sets of faults, forming troughs called rift valleys. The world’s biggest rift valley runs from south-eastern Africa, through East Africa and the Red Sea to …

Most of the movements we make are completely under our control, but some the reflex actions, are not. A reflex action is an automatic response to a stimulus, for example pain, and we cannot control it at all. If you were to touch something very hot, your hand would automatically be pulled away before you had realised that it was …

Red tides are a natural phenomenon caused by high concentration of microscopic algae that are poisonous. The organism produces a toxin that affects the central nervous system of fish, paralyzing them. As a result, dead fish are washed ashore. They can cause human illness and deaths too, following consumption of toxic fish. When red tide algae reproduce in dense concentrations …

परब्रह्म परमेश्वर के किसी भी स्वरूप, अवतार अथवा देवी – देवता की उपासना के अंतिम चरण में उनके किसी मन्त्र की कम से कम एक माला का जप अवश्य किया जाता है। प्रायः उनके नाम के साथ ‘ॐ’ तथा ‘नमः’ लगातार यह जप करने का विधान है। इस रूप में यह नाम ही उस देवता के मन्त्र का रूप ले …

The modern woman doesn’t need society to validate her existence. She is charting unmapped territories where the limits are often self-imposed. The Tribune looks at this brave new world where women are not afraid to live it up, and on their own terms Aruti Nayar There is something about success stories that gives wings to our aspirations and drives our …

The word quasar is short for quasi-stellar object, which means an object that resembles a star. But quasars are not like ordinary stars. Many are thought to be near the edge of the observable universe and moving away from us at nearly the speed of light. But quasars produce intense amounts of light and radio waves, and may be as …

For close to three decades, nucleons (protons and neutrons) were considered to be the ultimate subatomic particles. As scientists delved deeper, they detected shadows of yet another layer of matter inside nucleons. Unable so far to crack open a nucleon and bring out one of these shadowy objects for observation and measurement, they named them quarks. It is believed that …