Historicising Hinduism from Vedic period

                                                         

                                                                                                                        T. Satyamurthy

 

For the iconoclasts of India, the idols that the conformists worship are the true images of the transcendental Absolute. There were many cults and many manifestations of gods, worshipped by various strata of the society. For several thousands of years, these groups interacted among themselves at various levels and exchanged ideas, including that of religion and gods. So much so, there appeared to happen a massive process, covering all over India, in which the gods were integrated and metamorphosed into one cult. As a result, we have a pan-Indian concept of manifestation of gods. It is very likely that many gods, with distinctive regional roots, were syncretised with gods from other regions. 

In this scenario, the roots of the gods of the Hindu pantheon have to be obviously in the Vedas, being the oldest collection of hymns propitiating the divinity. In the initial stage of study of the significance of these idols, western scholars recorded their limitations in correlating the texts with sculptures. It was exactly 100 years ago, T. A. Gopinatha Rao, under the patronage of Travancore rulers, published Elements of Hindu Iconography and opened the way for proper interpretation of this most pressing desideratum. 

Now, R. Nagaswamy has come out with an excellent book tracing the Vedic roots of Hindu iconography. Among the scores of books he has authored, this stands out to be the book where his extraordinary knowledge on India’s past is brilliantly revealed. 

There are 33 articles in the collection of essays on various gods like Agni, Linga, Siva, Sakti, Muruga, Varaha, Rama, Krishna, and Balarama besides on the rituals associated with Agni and other miscellaneous subjects. In the opening article on Agni, he delineates the prime position accorded to him in the Vedic hymns. Relying on passages from various hymns and quoting them, he proposes that Agni is the embodiment of various manifestations including that of Siva and Vishnu. Later he proceeds to define the importance of the great purifying ceremony punyahavacanam. He cites the texts to show that the purification is not only for the body but for the space around human beings and the prayer includes prosperity and peace for all. 

After a few articles akin to rituals, he goes on to explain how the ‘whole human body has always been praised as the temple and pulsating prana is the divine deva’. The temple is conceived in general parlance as the universe and Narayana-sukta, the mystical appendix to the Purusha-sukta of the Veda, played a vital role in the evolution of concepts relating to all temples. 

In fact he effectively records that the Narayana-sukta bridged the gap between the Vedic texts and agama tradition. Again, the relevance of these agamas even today was demonstrated when it helped in retrieving the lost idol of Nataraja from overseas and shows the authority of these texts. He deals in detail how these texts helped him during the trial in a London court in establishing the origin of the icon in general and the ownership of it to the temple in particular. 

The article on Linga contests the theory that the worship of Linga as Siva originated from the worship of phallus. He shows that there are many aspects to the worship of Linga. In fact Vedic passages reflect the inseparable unity of Siva and Vishnu in Linga. Nammalavar’s quotations are shown as authority to prove that clearly demarcated cult of Siva and Vishnu were not professed by great saints. They always considered them as the manifestations of the supreme god. 

In a classic article on Sandhya Vandanam, he concludes that the nature of the dance of Siva is the dance of Surya who performs the samasta samhara by entering the solar orbit and it is adoration of Sun in all his Vedantic form that flowers into the dance of Siva. 

The article on the meaning of Khandariya Mahadeva Temple at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh is an example of the author’s scholarship in interpreting the great Indian temples through the texts and other temples such as Lakshmana, Jaina, and Yogini temples at that place. He declares that the temple belongs to the Bhairava cult. The representation of matrikas in the base of the temple, according to him, represents syllables and the adhishthana of the temple is the Vidyapitha. For young research scholars, the documentation of various evidences is the methodology of the analytical study of Indian art. 

Sakti worship

 

Then he delves into the Tamil literature, by critically analysing the position of various gods in the ancient and medieval Tamil works, beginning with the Sakti worship in Tamil Nadu and moves on the status of Murgan, and Balarama. To the critics on the role of Ramayana in Tamil Country, he has proved emphatically that it was not a new introduction, but is known even from the Tamil Sangam literature and Tamil epic Silapadikaram. The work on Vedic traditions in the Tamil epic Manimekalai is another example of his understanding of both Tamil and Sanskrit works. 

To encapsulate, this monograph highlights the role of religion in understanding India’s past. It is also apparent that one has to undertake relentless research to co-relate the literature of the past with the present.

Sharp insights, shallow conclusions

                                                                                     

 Narendar Pani                                                                      

The expectations raised by the analysis are shattered by the self-imposed constraint of only mapping the conjunctures in their present

 

Among the many challenges that globalisation has thrown up is one relating to the very understanding of the process itself. The early euphoria about a virtual world where distance is dead and all thinking is global has long faded as we remain rooted in national and even sub-national concerns like the sharing of Cauvery waters. At the same time the alternative view that globalisation can, and must, be stopped has also lost some of its intensity with the anti-globalisation protests themselves becoming global.

In confronting this lack of clarity with a mix of theoretical innovation and empirical evidence from the Indian experience, this collection of essays addresses an important need even if it does not go far enough in breaking out of the straitjacket Indian social scientists find us in.

Bhupinder Brar’s introduction brings out the theoretical challenge quite succinctly. He outlines the two seemingly opposing extreme views of the ‘hyperglobalists’ and the ‘sceptics’, pointing out their methodological similarity in trying to reduce globalisation to an abstract model. He then introduces the term globality, only to find its different meanings are not without their own difficulties in coming up with definite answers to the questions of globalisation.

Conjunctures

Brar tries to get out of these constraints by challenging the need for such clearly determined answers. Falling back on Althusser’s concept of overdetermination he prefers to focus on conjunctures that emerge “from a constellation of complex and indeterminate relationships in which it was impossible to maintain the dichotomous distinction between ‘the cause’ and ‘the caused’”. 

While this approach helps bring on board the exceptions thrown up by specific models, it is not without its costs. “The possibilities of a conjuncture unfold in a largely uncharted territory so that we cannot infer from its present any definitive indications of its future … All that we can do by way of meaningful research is map, to the degree it is possible, the conjuncture in its present ”. The map that emerges in India is peppered with stories of resistance, relocation, and reinvention.

The eight other contributions to this book are predominantly empirical mappings of how globalisation has played itself out in India. The focus of the articles is quite diverse ranging from Aditya Nigam imagining the global nation to Pampa Mukherjee’s more specific history of Uttarakhand’s development dreams; from Janaki Srinivasan’s analysis of the role of global forums in India’s development debate to Kumool Abbi’s story of globality and the reinvention of Punjabi cinema.

Each of the contributions is marked by a consistent degree of detail and sophistication. Whether it is the making of overseas citizens or the CPI(M)’s dilemmas with globalisation, the analyses are marked by insights that demand serious reading.

And yet the very expectations that are raised by the depth of the analysis are shattered by the self-imposed constraint of doing no more than mapping the conjunctures in their present. Even in contributions where important issues are gone into in considerable detail there is a tendency, more often than not, to arrive at conclusions that do not appear entirely worthy of the authors’ insights.

This would be true even of some of the more insightful pieces in this volume. Building on Bhupinder Brar’s elucidation in the introduction on how Indians have faced globality with resistance, relocation and reinvention, Neera Chandhoke brings the results on an extensive survey to bear on the relationship between globality, the state and collective imagination. 

 This takes her through a series of interesting individual insights into, among other things, the role of the state. But when it comes to stringing these insights together to point to an alternative analysis she goes no further than listing three cautions: against over-generalised abstract notions of the state, against notions of a ‘global community’; and against assigning an exaggerated role to civil society. Important as these cautions are, we cannot help wishing for at least some pointers to where the Indian state is headed.

This excessive caution in the conclusions may be academically safe, but it also reflects an implicit methodological choice that is not always above board. It implies that it is preferable not to point to a possible, even likely, truth rather than take the slightest risk of being considered wrong by the current members of the academic community. While this may be an excellent choice for an individual seeking academic credentials, it can reduce the output of academia as a whole to a set of statements of little value. 

With academics waiting for the perfect answer and globalisation developing a momentum of its own, the burden of reacting to this process has fallen on those who cannot afford to wait. The bureaucrat responding to a global trade crisis or the media entrusted with reporting it in real time are often forced to do the best they can. This is often less than a well-researched response to processes that have a significant impact on diverse parts of the country. 

Facing Globality appears to treat this reality as an inevitable consequence of academic rigour. But there are other methods of social analysis, especially those that focus on processes rather than systems, that would beg to differ. And the longer Indian social science stays away from that methodological debate the greater is the danger of its sliding into irrelevance.

Vettel leapfrogs Alonso in standings

A peerless Sebastian Vettel leapfrogged Fernando Alonso at the top of the world championship on Sunday as the Red Bull driver led from the first corner to win the Korean Grand Prix.

With four races to go starting in India in two weeks, Vettel, the reigning champion who is chasing a third drivers’ title in a row, sits atop the standings with 215 points. Alonso, who finished third, is on 209.

It was the 25-year-old German’s third win in three races and he will now be favourite to retain his crown, in what had been a highly unpredictable season until he took the championship by the scruff of the neck.

Second at a cool but sunny Yeongam was Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber, who started on pole. It was the first Red Bull one-two of the season.

Alonso’s fellow Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, second at Suzuka seven days ago, continued his resurgence with a fourth-placed finish.

Lewis Hamilton, who still had title aspirations going into this Grand Prix, finished down in 10th.

It now looks increasingly like a two-horse race for the title. Hamilton and his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button, who was shunted out moments after the start of the race, admitted they were out of contention.

Fifth was Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus, followed by Nico Hulkenberg in a Force India. Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo (both Toro Rosso) and Hamilton rounded out the top 10.

“Very pleased. Fantastic, I'm very happy,” Vettel told the crowd, having celebrated his 25th career victory by jumping on top of his Red Bull with his arms aloft. “It was a fantastic race.

Alonso, also a double world champion, put a brave face on losing his lead in the standings. “I think we have to be happy with the performance today, we finished third and fourth, just behind Red Bull, that at the moment are difficult to beat,” he said.

Vettel, who started second on the grid behind Webber, nipped in front of his team-mate at the first corner. Behind them Alonso and Hamilton duelled over third place, with the Spaniard winning through.

Button’s bad weekend finished almost as soon as the race began. His fine start from lowly 11th was wrecked when Kamui Kobayashi came flying down the inside, smashing into Button and destroying his suspension.

“I've just been hit by Kobayashi. What an idiot!” the McLaren driver and 2009 world champion exclaimed over the team radio.

Also out, not long afterwards, was Nico Rosberg, who retired his Mercedes because of the same incident. The Sauber driver Kobayashi, third last week in his native Japan, was forced into the pits.

He was then landed with a drive-through penalty for causing the early carnage and bowed out soon afterwards when Sauber decided that the damage to his car was too extensive. Kobayashi later apologised to Button and Rosberg.

Third in the championship is Raikkonen, on 167 points, followed by Hamilton (153), Webber (152) and Button (131).

Hulkenberg’s eight points, with a sixth place finish, Force India reduce the gap with close rival and sixth-placed Sauber to 27 points as the none of the Swiss team’s driver finished inside the top-10.

“That race was a lot of fun and it’s great to get such a mega result. It wasn’t easy though, and for most of the race I had the Lotus of Romain [Grosjean] pushing me and some great battles,” 

Hulkenberg said. “I was just told by the team that we had a rear-suspension failure, but it was safe to drive so they kept me going,” said former world champion Hamilton, who also had some artificial turf caught under his car for the last portion of the race.

“It was tricky to even keep 10th place,” he added, conceding that failure to make the podium in the last three races had cost him a shot at another world title in his final season at McLaren before he moves to Mercedes.

The results: 1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 1:36:28.651 secs, 2. Mark Webber (Red Bull) + 8.231s, 3. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) + 13.944, 4. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) + 20.168, 5. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) + 36.739, 6. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) + 45.301, 7. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) + 54.812, 8. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) + 1:09.589, 9. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) + 1:11.787, 10. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) + 1:19.692, 11. Sergio Perez (Sauber) + 1:20.062, 12. Paul di Resta (Force India) + 1:24.448, 13. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) + 1:29.241, 14. Pastor Maldonado (Williams) + 1:34.924, 15. Bruno Senna (Williams) + 1:36.902, 16. Vitaly Petrov (Caterham) + 1 lap, 17. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham) + 1 lap, 18. Timo Glock (Marussia) + 1 lap, 19. Charles Pic (Marussia) + 2 laps, 20. Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) + 2 laps.

Retirements: Jenson Button (McLaren), 1st lap; Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 2nd lap; Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) 17th lap; Pedro de la Rosa (HRT) 17th lap.

Overall standings: Drivers: 1. Vettel 215 points, 2. Alonso 209, 3. Raikkonen 167, 4. Hamilton 153, 5. Webber 152, 6. Button 131, 7. Rosberg 93, 8. Grosjean 88, 9. Massa 81, 10. Perez 66, 11. Kobayashi 50, 12. Hulkenberg 45, 13. di Resta 44, 14. Schumacher 43, 15. Maldonado 33, 16. Senna 25, 17. Vergne 12, 18. Ricciardo 9.

Constructors: 1. Red Bull 367 points, 2. Ferrari 290, 3. McLaren 284, 4. Lotus 255, 5. Mercedes 136, 6. Sauber 116, 7. Force India 89, 8. Williams 58, 9. Toro Rosso 21.

“Looper”… Past forward

It’s probably too soon to rejoice that a golden age of action-cum-sci-fi filmmaking is upon us, but there are at least glimmers of a trend, thanks to recent releases such as Inception, The Book of Eli, In Time, The Adjustment Bureau, Limitless, and, now, Rian Johnson’s Looper. After a period where science fiction was merely a backdrop on which to paint increasingly complex visual effects — nothing wrong with that, certainly, but just how many movies could we watch where there was nothing but these visuals? — it’s a relief to witness films that cleave to the median between suspense-fuelled thrills and the what-if wistfulness of science fiction.

Few audiences had the stomach for a pure, glacially paced science fiction feature like Duncan Jones’ excellent Moon, whose truck was with ideas and not action, but a larger audience warmed up to his next film, Source Code, which made us feel smart even as our visceral responses were being manipulated in the more conventional ways of commercial filmmaking.

Looper, too, is built on tried-and-tested tropes. You could say that it’s the film Terrence Malick might have made from a Stephen King-meets-The Terminator scenario — a going-back-in-time plot revolving around an apple-cheeked child with fearsome telekinetic powers, and set amidst a cane field so thick and so silent that it looks like God’s own burned-out backyard.

The references to James Cameron’s great sci-fi thriller are inescapable. Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a “looper,” an assassin who disposes of people sent to him from the future by the mob. Imagine his surprise when he’s awaiting his next target, shotgun cocked, and ends up staring at an older version of himself (Bruce Willis). Older Joe, like Arnold Schwarzenegger from the Cameron film, is on a chilling mission, though one leavened with more rueful emotion. Even the name of the frazzled cigarette-smoking single mother (played by Emily Blunt, channelling Linda Hamilton’s predilection for heavy weaponry, like axes and rock salt-filled guns) is the same: Sarah.

The story takes a while to get going, looking to be, at first, more Moon than Source Code. The director isn’t after flashy effects. His future-world is one of graffiti-splattered buildings and overflowing trash cans, and even his time machine is devoid of dazzle. But once we see who’s doing what to whom and why, we realise that the film isn’t as deep as it appeared.

Looper, finally, morphs into a tense thriller, punctuated by terrific action scenes (including an Alien-like chest explosion) and an exquisitely wordless flashback involving Willis. The actor is in top form, and the authority with which he calls his younger self a mere boy is a testament to the kind of wearily masculine hero the laddish-looking Gordon-Levitt can only hope to become in his most fervent dreams. Worse, Gordon-Levitt is burdened with the film’s sole miscalculation. In an attempt to embody a more youthful version of Willis, he slaps on a smirk and a pair of thick eyebrows. He ends up resembling a more youthful version of Joan Crawford. Now that’s real science fiction.

Microsoft sets Windows 8 for pre-order

The interior of a Microsoft retail store is seen in San Diego. Credit: Reuters/Mike Blake

Microsoft Corp opened its Windows 8 operating system for pre-orders on Friday, setting the price for an upgrade to the full version of the software at $70 for a DVD pack.

Users can also wait for launch on October 26 to download the system onto their computers for $40, an offer price that will expire at the end of January. PCs running Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 will be able to upgrade to Windows 8

Shoppers can reserve the software pack at Microsoft's own stores, Amazon.com, Best Buy, Staples and elsewhere. Microsoft has not yet announced the price of the full software to install from scratch, as opposed to the upgrade. The current price for a comparable version of Windows 7 is $200.

Any customer who buys, or already bought, a Windows 7 PC between June 2 and the end of January 2013 will be able to get an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $15, a move designed to prevent a drop-off in PC sales before the launch of Windows 8.

Microsoft also said PC makers such as Acer, Asustek, Dell, HP, Samsung and Sony were also now taking pre-orders for machines with Windows 8 pre-installed.

The world's largest software company did not mention its own Surface tablet PC, which is expected on the market at the same time as Windows 8. Microsoft has not revealed the price of the product it hopes will challenge Apple Inc's iPad.

Find the Current Location of Indian Trains on Google Map

Now you can spot a train's exact location on a Google map. Railways have just launched online application RailRadar, where one can find the exact geographical location of about 6,500 trains on a Google map on real time basis. The system enables a colour code method as trains highlighted in blue indicate those that are running on time while the red markers indicate the trains that are delayed or behind schedule.

Railways operate more than 10,000 trains everyday but currently the RailRadar can spot about 6500 trains, said a senior Railway Ministry official involved with the project.

He said if you click on a particular train, the map will show the exact route of the train including all the stoppages and the current location of the train on the real time basis.

RailRadar can be accessed through the railway website.

The official said to know the current running status of the train, one can either enter the name of the train, or the train number if you remember it, and the system will tell you whether that particular trainis delayed or running on time.

One can also see all the trains which are arriving at the station or have just departed with the name of the station.

We have launched the RailRadar on a pilot basis and later on it will be a permanent feature, the official said.

The new website has many new features which will not only provide the running status of trains but will also help you track the exact location of trains across the country.

The Indian Railways has just launched RailRadar, a useful website that shows the current geographical location of any train on a Google Map.

To get started, you can zoom-in to any location /city on the map to see all the trains which are arriving at the station or have just departed. Or you can use expand the left sidebar to search trains by name, by train number or by the station name.

If you click a particular train, the map will also show the exact route of the train including all the stops and the current location of the train. The train markers highlighted in blue indicate trains that are running on time while the red markers indicate trains that are delayed or behind schedule.

The press release says that the train data is refresh every 5 minutes and the displayed location and running status of any trains displayed on the Google will always be delayed by at least 5 minutes.
The site is extremely useful and it will work on your mobile phone as well.

Nobel prize in chemistry 2012 for work on cell receptors: as it happened

The award of this year's chemistry Nobel prize to Robert Lefkowitz (left) and Brian Kobilka

The first Nobel in chemistry for two MDs?

David Kroll, a blogger at Terra Sigillata, believes this may be the first Nobel prize in chemistry awarded to two medical doctors.

I asked David Phillips (see interview below) about the biological emphasis of this year's Nobel prize in chemistry. Here's what he makes of it:

The field of chemical biology is burgeoning because at its heart, at the heart of certainly cell biology, is an understanding at the molecular level of what's going on and that's chemistry essentially. So other sorts of chemistry are still going on and still very important, but this level of understanding which has been made possible by advances in techniques over the last 20 years or so is crucial to mankind. I'm not worried at all that many of my colleagues are working in what is essentially a biological field, because I think it's so crucial that we understand the molecular processes that are going on in cells in animal and human bodies.

In our eyes, nose and mouth, we have sensors for light, odours and flavours. Within the body, cells have similar sensors for hormones and signalling substances, such as adrenalin, serotonin, histamine and dopamine.

 As life evolved, cells have repeatedly used the same basic mechanism for reading their environment: 

G-protein–coupled receptors. But they remained hidden from researchers for a long time. 

In a human, tens of thousands of billions of cells interact. 

Most of them have developed distinct roles. Some store fat; others register visual impressions, produce hormones or build up muscle tissue. 

In order for us to function, it is crucial that our cells work in unison, that they can sense their environment and know what is going on around them. For this, they need sensors. 

Sensors on the cell surface are called receptors. Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka are awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for having mapped how a family of receptors called G-protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) work. In this family, we find receptors for adrenalin (also known as epinephrine), dopamine, serotonin, light, flavour and odour. 

Most physiological processes depend on GPCRs. Around half of all medications act through these receptors, among them beta blockers, antihistamines and various kinds of psychiatric medications.

Knowledge about GPCRs is thus of the greatest benefit to mankind. However, these receptors eluded scientists for a long time.

An elusive enigma

At the end of the 19th Century, scientists began experimenting with adrenalin’s effects on the body. They soon realised that it does not work via nerves in the body and they concluded that cells must have some kind of receptor that enables them to sense chemical substances — hormones, poisons and drugs — in their environment.

But when researchers attempted to find these receptors, they hit a wall. They wanted to understand what the receptors look like and how they convey signals to the cell. The adrenalin was administered to the outside of the cell, and this led to changes in its metabolism that they could measure inside the cell. 

Each cell has a wall: a membrane of fat molecules that separates it from its environment. How did the signal get through the wall? How could the inside of the cell know what was happening on the outside?

The receptors remained unidentified for decades. Despite this, scientists managed to develop drugs that specifically have their effect through one of these receptors. 

In the 1940s, the American scientist Raymond Ahlquist examined how different organs react to various adrenalin-like substances. His work led him to conclude that there must be two different types of receptors for adrenalin. He called the receptors alpha and beta. 

Such drugs undoubtedly produced effects in the cells, but how they did so remained a mystery. We now know why the receptors were so difficult to find: they are relatively few in number and they also are mostly encapsulated within the wall of the cell. 

It was only at the end of the 1960s that Robert Lefkowitz enters the history of these receptors.

Luring receptors

The young top student has his mind set on becoming a cardiologist. However, he graduates at the height of the Vietnam War, and he does his military service in the US Public Health Service at a federal research institution, the National Institutes of Health. There he is presented with a grand challenge: finding the receptors.

Lefkowitz’s supervisor already has a plan. He proposes attaching radioactive iodine to a hormone. Then, as the hormone binds to the surface of a cell, the radiation from the iodine should make it possible to track the receptor. Lefkowitz would also have to show that the hormone’s coupling to the cell’s outside actually triggers a process known to take place on the inside of the cell. 

Lefkowitz begins working with adrenocorticotropic hormone, which stimulates the production of adrenalin in the adrenal gland. As the project enters its second year, Lefkowitz finally makes some progress. In 1970, he publishes articles in two prestigious journals where he outlines the discovery of an active receptor. 

He is recruited to Duke University in North Carolina where he begins working on adrenalin and noradrenalin, so-called adrenergic receptors. 

Using radioactively tagged substances, including beta blockers, his research group examines how these receptors work. And after fine-tuning their toolkits, they manage with great skill to extract a series of receptors from biological tissue.

Meanwhile, the knowledge about what happens inside cells has been growing. Researchers have found what they call G-proteins (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1994) that are activated by a signal from the receptor. The G-protein, in turn, triggers a chain of reactions that alters the metabolism of the cell. By the beginning of the 1980s, scientists are starting to gain an understanding of the process by which signals are transmitted from the outside of the cell to its inside.

New insights

In the 1980s, Lefkowitz decides that his research group should try to find the gene that codes for the beta receptor. 

This decision would prove to be crucial to this year’s Nobel Prize. The idea was that if the research group could isolate the gene and read the blueprint for the beta receptor, they could get clues as to how the receptor works.

At about the same time, Lefkowitz hires a young doctor, Brian Kobilka. Kobilka wanted to study the power of epinephrine in its smallest molecular detail. 

Kobilka engages in the hunt for the gene. However, during the 1980s, trying to find a particular gene in the body’s enormous genome is a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack. 

However, Kobilka has an ingenious idea that makes it possible to isolate the gene. With great anticipation, the researchers begin to analyze its code; it reveals that the receptor consists of seven long and fatty (hydrophobic) spiral strings — so-called helices. 

This tells the scientists that the receptor probably winds its way back and forth through the cell wall seven times.

Seven times. This was the same number of strings and same spiral shape as a different receptor that already had been found elsewhere in the body: the light receptor rhodopsin in the retina of the eye.

An idea is born: could these two receptors be related, even though they have completely different functions? 

Robert Lefkowitz later described this as a “real eureka moment”. He knew that both adrenergic receptors and rhodopsin interact with G-proteins on the inside of the cell. He also knew of about 30 other receptors that work via G-proteins.

The conclusion

The conclusion: there has to be a complete family of receptors that look alike and function in the same manner!

Since this groundbreaking discovery, the puzzle has been assembled bit by bit, and scientists now have detailed knowledge about GPCRs — how they work and how they are regulated at the molecular level.

Lefkowitz and Kobilka have been at the forefront of this entire scientific journey, and last year, in 2011, Kobilka and his team of researchers reported a finding that put the crown atop their work. 

Adrenalin effects

After successfully having isolated the gene, Brian Kobilka transferred to Stanford University School of Medicine in California. There he set out to create an image of the receptor — an unattainable goal in the opinion of most of the scientific community — and for Kobilka, it would become a long journey.

Imaging a protein is a process involving many complicated steps. 

Scientists use a method called X-ray crystallography. The first image of a crystal structure of a protein was produced in the 1950s. Since then, scientists have X-rayed and imaged thousands of proteins. 

However, a majority of them have been water-soluble, which facilitates the crystallization process. 

Fewer researchers have managed to image proteins located in the fatty membrane of the cell. 

In water, such proteins dissolve just as poorly as oil, and they are prone to form fatty lumps. 

Furthermore, GPCRs are by nature very mobile (they transmit signals by moving), but inside a crystal they have to remain almost completely still. Getting them to crystallize is therefore a considerable challenge.

It took Kobilka over two decades to find a solution to all these problems. But thanks to determination, creativity and molecular biology sleight of hand, Kobilka and his research group finally achieved their ultimate goal in 2011: they got an image of the receptor at the very moment when it transfers the signal from the hormone on the outside of the cell to the G-protein on the inside of the cell.

Life needs flexibility

The mapping of the over one hundred human receptors still presents challenges to scientists, as their purposes have yet to be figured out.

Researchers have also found that they are multifunctional; a single receptor can recognize several different hormones on the outside of the cell. The receptors’ number and flexibility enable the fine-tuned regulation of cells that life requires.

manipulate quantum systems,measure to easy methods

 A possible application is the development of a super-fast computer and highly precise clocks that could be the future basis for a new standard of time

Serge Haroche & David J.Wineland shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in physics

Serge Haroche and David Wineland have opened the door to a new era of experimentation with quantum physics by demonstrating the direct observation of individual quantum systems without destroying them. 

Through their ingenious laboratory methods they have managed to measure and control very fragile quantum states, enabling their field of research to take the very first steps towards building a new type of super fast computer, based on quantum physics. These methods have also led to the construction of extremely precise clocks that could become the future basis for a new standard of time, with more than hundred-fold greater precision than present-day caesium clocks.

For single particles of light or matter, the laws of classical physics cease to apply and quantum physics takes over. But single particles are not easily isolated from their surrounding environment and they lose their mysterious quantum properties as soon as they interact with the outside world. 

Both Laureates work in the field of quantum optics studying the fundamental interaction between light and matter. 

In David Wineland’s laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, electrically charged atoms or ions are kept inside a trap by surrounding them with electric fields. 

One of the secrets behind Wineland’s breakthrough is the mastery of the art of using laser beams and creating laser pulses. A laser is used to put the ion in its lowest energy state and thus enabling the study of quantum phenomena with the trapped ion. A carefully tuned laser pulse can be used to put the ion in a superposition state, which is a simultaneous existence of two distinctly different states. 

For instance, the quantum superposition of the ion’s energy states can be studied by using the laser pulse to nudge the ion halfway between the high- and low-energy levels.

Controlling single photons

Serge Haroche and his research group employ a different method to reveal the mysteries of the quantum world. In their laboratory in Paris microwave photons bounce back and forth inside a small cavity between two mirrors, about three centimetres apart. The mirrors are made of superconducting material and are cooled to a temperature just above absolute zero. These superconducting mirrors are so reflective that a single photon can bounce back and forth inside the cavity for almost a tenth of a second before it is lost or absorbed. 

During its long life time, many quantum manipulations can be performed with the trapped photon. Haroche uses specially prepared atoms, so-called Rydberg atoms to both control and measure the microwave photon in the cavity. A Rydberg atom has a radius of about 125 nanometres which is roughly 1,000 times larger than typical atoms. The Rydberg atoms are sent into the cavity one by one at a carefully chosen speed, so that the interaction with the microwave photon occurs in a well-controlled manner. 

The Rydberg atom traverses and exits the cavity, leaving the microwave photon behind. But the interaction between the photon and the atom creates a change in the phase of quantum state of the atom: if you think of the atom’s quantum state as a wave, the peaks and the dips of the wave become shifted. This phase shift can be measured when the atom exits the cavity, thereby revealing the presence or absence of a photon inside the cavity. With no photon there is no phase shift. Haroche can thus measure a single photon without destroying it.

Physics in the quantum world has some inherent uncertainty or randomness to it. One example of this contrary behaviour is superposition, where a quantum particle can be in several different states simultaneously. 

Why do we never become aware of these strange facets of our world? Why can we not observe a superposition of quantum marble in our every-day life? The Austrian physicist and Nobel Laureate (Physics 1933) Erwin Schrödinger battled with this question. Like many other pioneers of quantum theory, he struggled to understand and interpret its implications. As late as 1952, he wrote: “We never experiment with just one electron or atom or (small) molecule. In thought-experiments we sometimes assume that we do; this invariably entails ridiculous consequences...”

In order to illustrate the absurd consequences of moving between the micro-world of quantum physics and our every-day macro-world, Erwin Schrödinger described a thought experiment with a cat: Schrödinger’s cat is completely isolated from the outside world inside a box. The cat must be in a superposition state of being both dead and alive.

The box also contains a bottle of deadly cyanide which is released only after the decay of some radioactive atom, also inside the box.

The radioactive decay is governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, according to which the radioactive material is in a superposition state of both having decayed and not yet decayed. Therefore the cat must also be in a superposition state of being both dead and alive. Now, if you peek inside the box, you risk killing the cat because the quantum superposition is so sensitive to interaction with the environment that the slightest attempt to observe the cat would immediately ‘collapse’ the ‘cat-state’ to one of the two possible outcomes — dead or alive. Instead of Schrödinger’s cat, Haroche and Wineland trap quantum particles and put them in cat-like superposition states. These quantum objects are not really macroscopic as a cat, but they are still quite large by quantum standards. 

Inside Haroche’s cavity microwave photons are put in cat-like states with opposite phases at the same time, like a stopwatch with a needle that spins both clockwise and counterclockwise simultaneously. The microwave field inside the cavity is then probed with Rydberg atoms. The result is another unintelligible quantum effect called entanglement. 

Entanglement has also been described by Erwin Schrödinger and can occur between two or more quantum particles that have no direct contact but still can read and affect the properties of each other. Entanglement of the microwave field and Rydberg atoms allowed Haroche to map the life and death of the cat-like state inside his cavity, following it step by step, atom by atom, as it underwent a transition from the quantum superposition of states to a well defined state of classical physics.

Computer revolution

A possible application of ion traps that many scientists dream of is the quantum computer. In present-day classical computers the smallest unit of information is a bit that takes the value of either 1 or 0. In a quantum computer, however, the basic unit of information — a quantum bit or qubit — can be 1 and 0 at the same time. 

Two quantum bits can simultaneously take on four values — 00, 01, 10 and 11 — and each additional qubit doubles the amount of possible states. For n quantum bits there are 2 possible states, and a quantum computer of only 300 qubits could hold 2 values simultaneously.

Wineland’s group was the first in the world to demonstrate a quantum operation with two quantum bits. Since control operations have already been achieved with a few qubits, there is no reason to believe that it should not be possible to achieve such operations with many more qubits. 

However, to build such a quantum computer one has to satisfy two opposing requirements: the qubits need to be adequately isolated from their environment in order not to destroy their quantum properties, yet they must also be able to communicate with the outside world in order to pass on the results of their calculations. David Wineland and his team of researchers have also used ions in a trap to build a clock that is a hundred times more precise than the caesium-based atomic clocks which are currently the standard for our measurement of time. Time is kept by setting, or synchronizing all clocks against one standard. Caesium clocks operate in the microwave range whereas Wineland’s ion clocks use visible light — hence their name: optical clocks.

Optical clocks

An optical clock can consist of just one ion or two ions in a trap. With two ions, one is used as the clock and the other is used to read the clock without destroying its state, or causing it to miss a tick. The precision of an optical clock is better than one part in 10 — if one had started to measure time at the beginning of the universe in the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago, the optical clock would only have been off by about five seconds today. 

With such precision, some extremely subtle and beautiful phenomena of nature have been observed, such as changes in the flow of time, or minute variations of gravity, the fabric of space-time. According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, time is affected by motion and gravity. 

The higher the speed and the stronger the gravity, the slower the passage of time. We may not be aware of these effects, but they have in fact become part of our everyday life. When we navigate with the GPS we rely on time signals from satellites with clocks that are routinely calibrated, because gravity is somewhat weaker several hundred kilometres altitude. 

With an optical clock it is possible to measure a difference in the passage of time when the clock’s speed is changed by less than 10 metres per second, or when gravity is altered as a consequence of a difference in height of only 30 centimetres.

Mano The Spark: How to promote a post yourself on Facebook?

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Kohli solitary Indian in ICC world T20 XI

Virat Kohli was the lone Indian cricketer to find a place in the ICC World Twenty20 men’s XI of the tournament, which was dominated by champions West Indies and runners-up Sri Lanka.

Kohli scored 185 runs runs in India’s five matches. 

In the women’s XI, Poonam Raut was the only Indian to make the cut. Suresh Raina was named 12th man of the men’s team. 

Finalists Sri Lanka and West Indies contributed a total of five players to the men’s team with Mahela Jayawardene named as captain, the ICC said in a statement. 

In the women’s team, finalists Australia and England provided nine players with again the losing captain in the final, Charlotte Edwards, selected to lead the team. 

Edwards was also named yesterday as the women’s player of the tournament. 

Chosen by a group of experts, the team was aimed at being suited for Sri Lankan conditions on the basis of performances in the tournament only. Statistics were used but were not the sole basis for selections. 

In all, there were three players from beaten finalists Sri Lanka and two from champions West Indies while Australia, England, New Zealand and Pakistan were also represented in the 12-member men’s squad. 

Players who were considered included AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn of South Africa, David Warner of Australia, Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Smith and Sunil Narine of the West Indies. 

In the women’s side, five players from champions Australia were represented while beaten finalists England have four in the side including Edwards. The team also features players from West Indies and New Zealand.

For the women’s team, players who were considered included Danielle Wyatt and Lydia Greenway of England, Sophie Devine of New Zealand, Deandra Dottin of West Indies, Erin Osborne of Australia and South Africa’s Dane van Niekerk. 

ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 Men’s Team of the Tournament: Chris Gayle (West Indies), Shane Watson (Australia), Virat Kohli (India), Mahela Jayawardena (Sri Lanka -- captain), Luke Wright (England), Brendon McCullum (New Zealand -- wicketkeeper), Marlon Samuels (West Indies), Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka), Mitchell Starc (Australia), Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan), Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka) 

12th Man: Suresh Raina (India)

Revival of a great cricketing legacy

The “Gangnam-style” dance craze galloped into Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo on Sunday night as a jubilant West Indies cricket team celebrated winning the ICC World Twenty20 tournament, beating the host nation by 36 runs in a low-scoring but mesmerizing final.

Fittingly, it was birthday boy Dwayne Bravo who prompted the celebrations after catching Lasith Malinga on the boundary to end the Sri Lankan innings on 101 runs. Arms aloft, he was joined by his teammates and coaching staff, sprinting onto the pitch from the sidelines, for celebrations that would go into the next day and no doubt beyond.

This is a team that loves to have fun almost as much as it loves to play cricket. There’s always a smile on the faces of the West Indies players, who make a team full of wonderful people like Chris Gayle, the man who adopted the “Gangnam-style” dance – an unlikely global hit from South Korean rapper Psy – throughout this tournament. Gayle and his teammates bring such unbridled joy to the sport.

Sri Lanka’s cricketers are on a similar level in that respect. A team full of inspirational characters and statesmen like Mahela Jayawardene – who stepped down as T20 captain after the final – and Kumar Sangakkara, as well as brilliant rays of sunshine like Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara.

With heroes like these for youngsters to look up to, the future looks bright for cricket in both island nations.

The stage was set for the perfect final. The world’s two most loveable cricket countries, both starved of success in recent years, both with scant regard for conventional play, head-to-head in a stadium filled with cheering fans. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa wasn’t going to miss this one – he was in a prime spot at the stadium to witness events unfold from his armchair.

But the president, like the majority of the crowd, left disappointed as the home team came up short.

Cricket means an awful lot in this part of the world, and after hosting a terrific sporting carnival over the past three weeks, it seemed that Sri Lanka was destined to win the trophy to add to its one and only triumph, in the 50-over World Cup way back in 1996.

And it started so well, as the West Indies team – after winning the toss and choosing to bat – just couldn’t find the room to score any runs off an extra disciplined Sri Lankan bowling attack.

ohnson Charles, frustrated after failing to score a single run from the first four deliveries of the match, mistimed a shot off Angelo Mathews and the ball lobbed into the hands of Kulasekara. Disastrous start for the West Indies, perfect for Sri Lanka.

With Chris Gayle at the crease, Sri Lanka was always in danger. But this wasn’t Gayle’s night, on an individual level at least, as he was out for just three runs after facing 16 deliveries. In a typical T20 match, Gayle would usually have scored 30 or more runs after facing that many balls. But this wasn’t a typical match, it was a major final, when strange things happen.

The crowd erupted in celebration when Gayle was out. The West Indies is much more than a one-man team, but Gayle is still a bellwether and with him out of the batting equation, Sri Lanka’s task looked significantly easier.

The bowlers continued to pin the West Indies back, so much so that the team had only scored 32 runs after 10 overs, the halfway stage. But then Marlon Samuels wrestled the initiative back, scoring 78 runs off 56 deliveries. Not many people can make easy work of Sri Lankan bowler Malinga, but Samuels did so on Sunday night, including hitting him for three sixes in the 13^th over.

It was an outstanding innings, particularly under the circumstances, and Samuels – who is bringing his once troubled career back on track – was rightly named player-of-the-match. When he came to the crease, it was the first over and his team was on 0 for 1, when he was out – to a fantastic catch by 19-year-old Akila Dananjaya – it was in the 17^th over and he’d dragged the score to 108 for 6.

The West Indies ended on 137 for 6, a total that Sri Lanka’s Mathews said was below par. But it still proved too high for the host team, as the chase fizzled out for 101.

Dananjaya, who was brought back in for the final, was at the crease at the end, but sadly for him never got to face a delivery. This bright young star, who only played his first game of professional cricket a few months ago, will hopefully go one step further when Sri Lanka gets to its next major final, which one feels won’t be too far away.

A sense of sadness surely spread from Colombo throughout Sri Lanka on Sunday night. But at least the West Indies were worthy winners. And Sri Lankan cricket fans can take heart in the fact that the nation put on a great tournament and their players did them proud.

                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                           - By Will Davies

                                                           

Top spot in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2012-2013

 

The California Institute of Technology kept its top spot in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2012-2013 which also saw the University of Oxford rising two positions — ahead of Harvard — to jointly share second place with Stanford University

US and British universities continue to dominate in academic excellence but Asia is catching up fast, said an influential education rankings report. 

The California Institute of Technology kept its top spot in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2012-2013 which also saw the University of Oxford rising two positions — ahead of Harvard — to jointly share second place with Stanford University. 

The US retained the overall number one spot with 76 of its universities securing a place in the top 200 institutions, followed by Britain. 

The University of Cambridge slipped one place to seventh while the Imperial College London held on to the eight spot. 

France has seven institutions in the top 200 compared to five last year. 

A closer analysis of the rankings, however, showed many US and British institutions losing ground in contrast to Asia. 

Universities in China, Singapore, Taiwan and especially South Korea witnessed a surge in performance in what was described as evidence of a power shift from the West to the East. 

Dirk Van Damme, head of the Innovation and Measuring Progress Division at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), said: “Academic excellence is gradually shifting away from the 20th-century centres. The US and the UK still dominate the absolute summit, but they face a severe loss of total position in the top 200 list.” 

The ranking system warned of Britain slipping into global mediocrity within a generation due to funding cuts, higher tuition fees and rising global competition. 

“Outside the golden triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge, England’s world-class universities face a collapse into global mediocrity,” Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education rankings, said. 

“Huge investment in top research universities across Asia is starting to pay off. And while the sun rises in the East, England faces a perfect storm,” he added. 

The Times used 13 performance indicators to evaluate more than 700 universities including on research, teaching, knowledge transfer and international outlook. 

 Note: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/?gclid=CIXiqoCq6bICFQV76wod930AxQ

Vellore Institute of Technology tied up with the Wuhan University

Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore has tied up with the Wuhan University, China to strengthen their existing relationship.

The two universities will jointly establish new programmes related to information technology and business.

Since 2006, the two universities were working closely in the field of student exchange, faculty exchange and research programmes, says a VIT press release

Prof. Li Jian, Chairman, University Council, Wuhan University, along with six other Deans from the university visited VIT for a discussion on taking their partnership further, the release says.