Expert Insight

The Seasonality of Changing Times

The Seasonality of Changing Times

A Novel Technique developed by IIT Kharagpur Researchers Can Trace Ancient Seasons and Climate Change Imagine to actually know the temperature when the ice age era began or the weather experienced by the residents of Dholavira in the Harappan era.What changes in climatology such as extreme heat or lack of rainfall had on our flora and fauna? What kind of temperatures led to the mass migration and then extinction of certain species of animal or plant life? Or to deduce the actual climate when the evolution of man actually began. The historians have faced challenges, tracing ancient seasons and climate…
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The Relics of Being & Becoming – ‘Us’

The Relics of Being & Becoming – ‘Us’

The present is just a synoptic one on the IIT Kharagpur IKS calendar of 2022 based on the scientific realization of Being and Becoming (ontology of the Vedas as recognized by 1977 Nobel laureate Ilya Prigogine), Yogakshema-complementarities of ascent and descent of human mind to and from Divinity (realized by the Scientific principles developed by International Experts like Abraham Maslow and Arnold Toynbee), The idea of Cosmic Matrix or Vedic Matarisvan (Idea of MATRIX forwarded by top International Experts namely Joseph Campbell, Marija Gimbutas, Rene Guenon, Mircae Eliade and many more Scientist like James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis on ‘Gaia’s…
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The 14th Webinar of “Saturday Manufacturing Talk” was conducted @IIT Kharagpur

The 14th Webinar of “Saturday Manufacturing Talk” was conducted @IIT Kharagpur

Centre of Excellence in Advanced Manufacturing Technology (CoEAMT) at IIT Kharagpur has conducted the 14th webinar of “Saturday Manufacturing Talks” on 12th  June 2021. The session was commenced with an introductory remarks by Prof Surjya K Pal, Chairperson, CoEAMT. Director of IIT Kharagpur, Prof V K Tewari has stressed on the importance of the event to the audience with his insightful speech on the “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav – a celebration to commemorate completion of 75 years of India’s Independence”. He has also welcomed the small and medium industries and start-ups for collaborative works utilizing the state-of-the art facilities of…
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Who needs quantum gravity?

Who needs quantum gravity?

By Sandipan Sengupta, Dept of Physics, IIT Kharagpur Nature is made up of elementary particles, the interactions among them being manifested as forces of various kinds. A modern language to describe these phenomena is provided by quantum field theory, which is based on a set of relativistic fields. Within this framework, particles typically emerge as excitations over a (quantum) ground state, and macroscopic forces arise due to the exchange of particles. For instance, for the all so well-known case of the electromagnetic force, the associated particle is the photon, whose exchange between a source and a sink leads to their…
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Saturday Manufacturing Talks by CoE in Advanced Manufacturing Technology

Saturday Manufacturing Talks by CoE in Advanced Manufacturing Technology

The Centre of Excellence in Advanced Manufacturing Technology of IIT Kharagpur is conducting a mega event titled "SATURDAY MANUFACTURING TALKS". Join Online Every Saturday, from 8:30 to 9:30 pm IST https://iitkharagpur.webex.com/iitkharagpur/j.php?MTID=m00ba321c9f62cf6aeb29a33edab1b210 It is planned to be a year-long series of webinars on topics of advanced manufacturing. It will stress the need for an industry-academia collaboration perspective. The topics include but not limited to : - Robotics, Automation, and Use of AI and ML in manufacturing - Simulation in manufacturing - Specialty materials in manufacturing - Additive manufacturing - AI in Supply Chain - Design of Experiments in engineering Watch Video…
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Insights into Blockchain by Dr. Sandip Chakraborty

Insights into Blockchain by Dr. Sandip Chakraborty

The term "Blockchain" has now become a buzzword, and several myths, propagandas, misconceptions, and fairy tales have been around throughout the past ten years concerning this new yet powerful technology. Let me start by highlighting the real power of this technology and its plausible use cases.  Blockchain ≠ Bitcoin! If we consider Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as the "Electric bulbs," Blockchain is the "Electricity." Let me try to explain it with an example.  Trade financing during international trades involves prolonged negotiations and risks with complex legal obligations. Consequently, such tradings are facilitated by the banks as the intermediaries, who provide…
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Using Air to Store Energy

Using Air to Store Energy

Authored by Dr. Rohan Dutta (Former Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cryogenic Engineering Centre) and Dr. Pavitra Sandilya, Assistant Professor, Cryogenic Engineering Centre Highlights of the Research Potential application: Large-scale energy storage system throughout the world. With its demonstrated efficiency as high as 55% to 90%, this invention is a potential alternative to existing systems including compressed air energy storage and similar technologies. Possible end users: Various power generation and distribution agencies, large energy-intensive industries (iron and steel, cement, chemical, petrochemical, LNG handling, glass etc.) with the potential of low and medium grade waste heat. Potential of marketability: Large; considering the…
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Promotion of Micro-irrigation installation for improving horticultural production

Promotion of Micro-irrigation installation for improving horticultural production

By Prof. K N Tiwari, Dept. of Agricultural and Food Engineering, IIT Kharagpur Adoption of micro-irrigation system in the country rose from a meagre 1500 hectares in the 1980s to nearly 86.21 lakh hectares in 2016, yet the technology adoption is confined only to 18 States and the area is negligibly small in most of the eastern and North Eastern States. Presently, this technology is in vogue only for very few crops. Among the horticultural crops, drip technology is adopted mostly, in fruits with a penetration of 34%. This is followed by vegetables (14%), plantation crops (13%), coconut (12%). citrus…
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Groundwater Insights from Hydrogeoscience Expert Prof. Abhijit Mukherjee

Groundwater Insights from Hydrogeoscience Expert Prof. Abhijit Mukherjee

Dr. Abhijit Mukherjee, Associate Professor, Dept. of Geology & Geophysics and School of Environmental Science and Engineering, IIT Kharagpur and globally renowned expert in groundwater shares insights on his decadal work exploring suitable and sustainable drinking water sources in different parts of India and other parts of the world. Prof. Mukherjee has recently been awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and named in a special publication of 50 under 50 by the Dept. of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. 1. Please share your observations about changes in the groundwater scenario in India…
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Novel coronavirus – Insights by Prof. Arindam Mondal

Novel coronavirus – Insights by Prof. Arindam Mondal

COVID-19 infections in India are nearing 15000 cases while claiming more than 100000 lives globally. Coronaviruses are a virus family causing various diseases, ranging from common cold to those like SARS and MERS which can have a high fatality rate. The novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic is a new strain and has been named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 abbreviated as 19-nCoV or SARS-CoV-2. Dr. Arindam Mondal, Assistant Professor at IIT Kharagpur’s School of Bioscience speaks with The Kgp Chronicle regarding frequently asked questions about novel coronavirus. Dr. Mondal leads the Molecular Virology Laboratory in the School of…
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