Wednesday, December 26
Tuesday, December 25
Testing wave energy devices at the Wave Hub
As offshore wind power is developing at commercial scale, other sources of marine energy are being investigated to complete the renewable energy package (for example, see this older post).
The Wave Hub is a kind of giant seabed socket connected to the UK grid located 16 kilometers off Hayle on the north coast of Cornwall in South West England. The hub offers four separate berths (total capacity of 16-20 MW) allowing developers to test their wave energy devices. This offshore infrastructure is complemented by the Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy, a center of excellence providing world-leading research, facilities and technology transfer in marine energy (see PRIMaRE website). The Wave Hub is the world’s largest grid connected offshore marine energy test site.
After Ocean Power Technologies (OPT), which has already signed a commitment agreement to deploy its PowerBuoy® 
device at the Wave Hub, a second berth has been filled by Ocean Energy that expects to install a full-scale device by the end of this year (press release). This will actually be the first device deployed at the Wave Hub. Ocean Energy has been testing a quarter-scale prototype of its OE Buoy in Ireland for three years. The 1.5 MW OE Buoy uses the oscillating water column to generate electricity as air is forced through a turbine both as waves enter a subsea chamber chasing air and as waves recede causing a vacuum. Efficiency is improved as the turbine rotates continuously.
After Ocean Power Technologies (OPT), which has already signed a commitment agreement to deploy its PowerBuoy® 
device at the Wave Hub, a second berth has been filled by Ocean Energy that expects to install a full-scale device by the end of this year (press release). This will actually be the first device deployed at the Wave Hub. Ocean Energy has been testing a quarter-scale prototype of its OE Buoy in Ireland for three years. The 1.5 MW OE Buoy uses the oscillating water column to generate electricity as air is forced through a turbine both as waves enter a subsea chamber chasing air and as waves recede causing a vacuum. Efficiency is improved as the turbine rotates continuously.
France about to authorize experimentations on hydraulic fracturing
Le Monde, the famous French newspaper, revealed in its edition from March 24th that the “Report on source rock hydrocarbons” (in other words, shale oil and gas) was discretely published on March 22nd. This report, ordered by the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Environment, recommend the authorization of a limited number of drill in order to experiment hydraulic fracturing.
According to the French law of the 13 July 2011, hydraulic fracturing is prohibited, but Article 4 recognizes the right for experimentations. The evaluation comityargues that France cannot neglect substantial resources that would allow to reduce its energy costs. According to the comity, hydraulic fracturing is for the moment the only available technique allowing the exploitation of shale hydrocarbons. The experts therefore argue that “scientific drills” should be allowed in order to reduce the potential risks of this technique. They recommend that these experimentations be limited to the Parisian Basin where exploration licenses for shale oil are already granted. This is probably also a prudent approach in order to avoid the regions were protestations of the locals were more vigorous and could still be easily roused.
Monday, December 24
Types of Orbits
What we have just described in the previous section is how a satellite orbits the Earth - it is just like the baseball that goes all the way around the Earth. Let's look at that in more detail.
Low Earth Orbits
Most satellites, the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle, and the Hubble Space Telescope are all in Low Earth Orbit (commonly called "LEO"). This orbit is almost identical to our previous baseball orbiting example, except that it is high enough to miss all the mountains and also high enough that atmospheric drag won't bring it right back home again.
1) From our previous discussion to this point, you should know that if an astronaut isn't moving fast enough, his orbit will bring him back to Earth's surface. What is the minimum speed he needs in order to stay at least as high as he is? At that speed, how long will it take the astronaut to go around the Earth once?
Advantages and Disadvantages of LEO
Low Earth Orbit is used for things that we want to visit often with the Space Shuttle, like the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. This is convenient for installing new instruments, fixing things that are broken, and inspecting damage. It is also about the only way we can have people go up, do experiments, and return in a relatively short time.There are two disadvantages to having things so close, however. The first is that there is still some atmospheric drag. Even though the amount of atmosphere is far too little to breath, there is enough to place a small amount of drag on the satellite or other object. As a result, over time these objects slow down and their orbits slowly decay. Simply put, the satellite or spacecraft slows down and this allows the influence of gravity to pull the object towards the Earth.
The second disadvantage has to do with how quickly a satellite in LEO goes around the Earth. As you can imagine, a satellite traveling 18,000 miles per hour or faster does not spend very long over any one part of the Earth at a given time. So what happens if we want a satellite to spend all of its time over just one part of the Earth? For instance, a weather satellite wouldn't be very effective for us in North America if it didn't have a long dwell time over us. (Dwell time = the time a satellite sits over one part of the globe.) Also, a communications satellite wouldn't work very well for us in North American if it spent most of its time over Africa or Asia.
There are two ways to accomplish this. One solution is to put a satellite in a highly elliptical orbit and the other is to place the satellite in a geosynchronous orbit.
Highly Elliptical Orbits
Remember Kepler's second law: an object in orbit about Earth moves much faster when it is close to Earth than when it is farther away. Perigee is the closest point and apogee is the farthest (for Earth - for the Sun we say aphelion and perihelion). If the orbit is very elliptical, the satellite will spend most of its time near apogee (the furthest point in its orbit) where it moves very slowly. Thus it can be above home base most of the time, taking a break once each orbit to speed around the other side.
With the highly elliptical orbit described above, the satellite has long dwell time over one area, but at certain times when the satellite is on the high speed portion of the orbit, there is no coverage over the desired area. To solve this problem we could have two satellites on similar orbits, but timed to be on opposite sides of the orbit at any given time. In this way, there will always be one satellite over the desired coverage area at all times.
If we want continuous coverage over the entire planet at all times, such as the Department of Defense's Global Positioning System (GPS), then we must have a constellation of satellites with orbits that are both different in location and time.
In this way, there is a satellite over every part of the Earth at any given time. In the case of the GPS system, there are three or more satellites covering any location on the planet.
Geosynchronous Orbits
Another solution to the dwell time problem is to have a satellite always sitting over the same location on the planet. The way we do this is to have the orbital period of the satellite exactly the same as the rotation period of the Earth, which is one day. This is called a geosynchronous orbit, or GEO for short.
In this case, the satellite can not be too close to the Earth because we already figured out that it would not be going fast enough to counteract the pull of gravity. If you recall, the space shuttle, in order to stay aloft, must circle the planet every 90 minutes.
We can use Kepler's third law to figure out how far out a satellite must be to spend all its time over one part of Earth. The answer is that a satellite has to be placed approximately 22,000 miles (36,000 km) away from the surface of the Earth in order to remain in a GEO orbit. That is a lot farther than a low Earth orbit, or a relatively close highly eccentric GPS-like orbit, so it costs more to get it there. However, then you only need one satellite to do the job and it is on the job 24 hours per day.
1) How fast is this satellite going relative to Earth?
By positioning a satellite so that it has infinite dwell time over one spot on the Earth, we can constantly monitor the weather in one location, provide reliable telecommunications service, and even beam television signals directly to your house. If you have satellite TV at home, notice that the small dish antenna outside is pointing at the same location in the sky at all times. There is a geosynchronous satellite sitting 22,000 miles away in that direction sending the signal to your house! The down side of a geosynchronous orbit is that it is more expensive to put something that high up and not possible to repair it from the shuttle. When a satellite is in LEO, the shuttle can repair it if needed, as we have done with the Hubble Space Telescope several times. So you only put something in GEO if you really need to have it in the same location in the sky at all times.
If it is hard to appreciate the value of these satellites, consider the following true story: One of the people responsible for this web site was on a small freighter (ship) on its way from Sweden to the US in November of 1959. The ship had just reached a particularly nasty part of the North Sea (not too far from the rocky coast of Scotland) when it was caught in a storm that had not been predicted or seen. For several days, the ship tossed back and forth on waves as big as it was - or bigger - tipping more than 30 degrees each way. (If you have seen "The Perfect Storm" then you have some idea of what that was like.) This ship made it to port some days later, but quite a few did not, in that storm. A couple of year later, the first weather satellites were launched, and no ship has been caught by a surprise storm since then!
Scholarships In India 1. Post Doctoral Fellowship To Women Candidates For The Year 2011-12 Last Date : 24.02.2012 ------------------------------ 2. Igenius Scholarships 2012 Last Date : 31.03.2012 ------------------------------ 3. Lalit Kala Akademi Scholarships 2012 - 2013 Last Date : 31.03.2012 ------------------------------ 4. RBI - Scholarship Scheme For Faculty Members  Last Date : 27.04.2012 ------------------------------ 4. Central Sector Scheme Of Scholarship Renewal Last Date : 30.04.2012 ------------------------------ 5. Narotam Sekhsaria Scholarship ------------------------------ 6. Jawaharlai Nehru Memorial Fund Last Date : 31.05.2012 ------------------------------ 7. SAHU JAIN TRUST - Educational Scholarships Last Date : 30.05.12 & 30.07.12 ------------------------------ International Scholarships 1. Maitri Global Education Scholarship for Master Programs @ POLIMODA ------------------------------ 2. East Tennessee State University International Students Academic Merit Scholarship ------------------------------ 3. Netherlands Fellowship Programmes ------------------------------ 4. Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship ------------------------------ 5. Beachell-Borlaug International Scholars Program ------------------------------ 6. HSP Huygens Programme ------------------------------ 6. Computing and Information Technology Scholarship Programme In New Zealand ------------------------------ 7. GIIS Singapore Scholarships Last date : 19.03.2012 ------------------------------ 8. K.C. Mahindra Scholarships for Post-Graduate Studies Abroad Last date : 31.03.2012 ------------------------------ 9. DEAKIN University Australia PhD Scholarships for Indian students Last date : 02.04.2012 ------------------------------ 10. IITB-Monash Research Academy PhD Scholarships Last date : 04.04.2012------------------------------ 11. Jubilee Scholarship Award 2012 Last date : 22.04.2012------------------------------ 12. Goa Education Trust (GET) Scholarship Last date : 15.05.2012------------------------------ 13. Commonwealth Scholarship in New Zealand - 2012 Last date : 31.05.2012------------------------------ Awards & Competitions 12. Imagine Cup 2012 ------------------------------ 1. Google Science Fair 2011 ------------------------------ 2. IBM - The Great Mind Challenge 2010 ------------------------------ 3. Tata Jagriti Yatra 2011 ------------------------------ 4. ThinkQuest International Competition ------------------------------ 5. National Cyber Olympiad ------------------------------ 6. National Science Olympiad ------------------------------ 7. International Mathematics Olympiad ------------------------------ 8. NASA Space Settlement Contest 2010 ------------------------------ 9. National Institute of Ocean Technology Student Competition ------------------------------ 10. Competition on Innovation for School Students ------------------------------ 11. All India Creative Audio Script Contest ------------------------------ 12. SAARC Youth Award 2011 Last date : 05.03.2012 ------------------------------ 13. Saura Yaathrika For Students Last date : 12.03.2012 ------------------------------ 14. National Award For School Teachers For Use of ICT in education 2012 Last date : 31.03.2012 ------------------------------ 15. Google Science Fair 2012 Last date : 01.04.2012 ------------------------------ 15. International Business Project Competition Last date : 15.04.2012------------------------------ Fellowships In India 1. Ramanujan Fellowships Last Date : No Last Date ------------------------------ 2. J C BOSE NATIONAL FELLOWSHIPS Last Date : No Last Date ------------------------------ 3. Fast Track Scheme for Young Scientists ------------------------------ 4.Senior Research Associateship Last Date : No Last Date ------------------------------ 5.Senior Research Associateship Last Date : No Last Date ------------------------------ 6. International Fellowship In Forestry Last Date : No Last Date ------------------------------ 7. Chandrasekhar Post-Doctoral Fellowships Last Date : No Last Date ------------------------------ 8. KCHR Fellowships And Internships Last Date : No Last Date ------------------------------ 9. Indian Institute of Advanced Study ------------------------------ 10. Research Degree Studentship ------------------------------ 11. JRF In Manipal University ------------------------------ 12. Indian Institute of Advanced Study ------------------------------ 13. Anna Cantenary Research Fellowships ------------------------------ 14. Delhi Technological University Post Doctroal Fellowships ------------------------------ 15. IGCAR - JUnior Research Fellows Last Date : 23.03.2012 ------------------------------ 16. AWARD OF DBT-RESEARCH ASSOCIATESHIP IN BIOTECHNOLOGY & LIFE SCIENCES Last Date : 30.03.2012 ------------------------------ 17. Joint CSIR - UGC Test 2012Last Date : 26.03.12 & 02.04.12 ------------------------------ 18. Indian Institute Of Forest Management Fellow Programme In Management (Doctoral Level)Last Date : 02.04.2012 ------------------------------ 19. ICMR International Fellowships Last Date : 30.04.2012------------------------------ 20. ICMR's Junior Research Fellowship Last Date : 30.04.2012------------------------------ Ramalingam Aero |
NTSE (National Talent Search Examination)
NTSE (National Talent Search Examination) is a very prestigious school-level scholarship exam conducted by NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) every year in the month of May, notification for which is issued in the July month of previous year.
As per Wiki, Close to 1,50,000 students appear in this scholarship exam every year, in which only 1000 gets the scholarship – thus only 1 in every 150 is ultimately selected – the acceptance rate is only 0.67%! Compare this with the acceptance rate of Ivy League institutes like Harvard –7.1% (22,955 students applied, 2,058 accepted), Yale – 8.3%… source: NY Times.
Above means that getting a seat in Harvard is easier than getting the NTSE scholarship!
This blog post is introductory in nature and would focus on What is NTSE and Why NTSE. In four subsequent blog posts, I would cover:
What is NTSE?
NTSE is a very prestigious exam held by NCERT every year to identify bright young Indian minds (studying in India as well as in abroad) and offer scholarships right from Class-VIII onwards till he/she completes Ph.D. In fact it is one of the very few Catch-Them-Youngprograms launched by Government, which has been a resounding success.
NTSE has been conducted for the last 47 years by NCERT – It was started for only Delhi in 1963 and was called National Science Talent Search Scheme (NSTSS). In 1964, it was extended to all the state/union territories. Thus NTSE is almost as old as NCERT, which came into existence in 1961.
Why NTSE?
i) Instant recognition:
As said, NTSE is a very prestigious exam and once you clear it, you get instant recognition at a very young age. When you grow older and write your own resume for jobs/admissions etc., credential of a NTSE scholar puts you far ahead of others.
ii) Monetary benefits:
You can self-support some of your study cost with the scholarship amount of Rs.500/= right from Class-VIII till PhD. While in PhD, you get scholarship as per UGC norms.
iii) Exposure to a National Level Test:
Yes, this is the greatest reason why you should go for NTSE. At the very young age of 12/13, you are exposed to a National Level Test! Since the exam is very competitive and you have to pass through written test as well as Interview at so young an age, when you attempt NTSE, you are groomed automatically for the future exams like IAS, CAT, GRE etc. It is very rare to find a NTSE scholar who has not succeeded in his further careers. Thus regardless of whether you clear NTSE, you should at least make an attempt, just for the experience.
Therefore you should appear NTSE – for recognition, for money and as well as for the experience.
How much is the NTSE scholarship amount:
The amount is Rs. 500/= per month from Class-VIII till:
1.0 Ph.D. level (for the courses in Basic Sciences, Social Sciences and Commerce)
2.0 Post Graduation level (for professional courses like Engineering, Medicine, Management and Law).
What is the Exam Pattern of NTSE?
NTSE is a two stage scholarship exam:
Stage-1) State Level: Written Test only for the purpose of screening qualifying students.
Stage-2) National Level: Written Test followed by Interview.
State Level examination is conducted by each State/UT to screen out students and to recommend the qualifying students to NCERT for the National Level examination. NCERT than conducts the National Level examination.
Thus after NCERT brings out the advertisement regarding NTSE along with the application form, the whole responsibility of the exam shifts to State Level.
At State Level, the particular Liaison Officers accepts the application forms, conducts the State Level examination and than recommends the list of qualifying students to NCERT. So for all purposes after you Download the application form for State Level NTSE Examination, till you are called by NCERT for the written test of National Level examination, you have a single point of contact – the NTSE Liaison Officer of the state you belong to. What is the address & phone number of the Liaison Officer of your state? Click here to find it!
Hope above introductory information on NTSE exam helped you in knowing about the exam in a nutshell. In my continuing blog post, I would cover “NTSE Exam Dates, Eligibility & Forms” to help you apply for the exam and “NTSE Syllabus & Exam Pattern” as well as “NTSE Sample Papers & Books” to help you prepare for the NTSE exam.
Apr 21
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NTSE 2013: All you wanted to know
NTSE-2013 will see a HUGE change. From 2013 onwards, NTSE will be conducted for Class-10 students. With that, the course structure, difficulty of questions and competition too will change. Read on to find out more about NTSE 2013.
NTSE or national talent search examination is by far the oldest, most reputed and well recognized of 20+ talent search competition for school students in India. Natuarally, with dates approaching for NTSE 2013, students have several questions about the exam e.g. What is it? How do you prepare for it? What is the course? How to apply for it? etc. SchoolCountry answers all your queries here with the help of an NTSE Scholar himself. So here goes ...
What is NTSE:
National talent search examination or NTSE is an annual examination conducted on a national level by NCERT. It was started in the year 1963 and has grown in prestige and scope ever since. The objective of the exam is to identify students who have the potential to excel in Science, Social Science, Engineering, Medicine, Management and Law. The successful students, called NTSE Scholars, receive financial support / scholarships from NCERT till the time they continue to study.
How is NTSE exam conducted:
NTSE or National talent search examination is conducted on a national level in 2 stages.
- National Talent Search Examination’s Stage-1 is conducted by states and union territories. This is a written exam where students are supposed to answer questions related to mental ability, general science and maths. Each state / union territory selects a pre-specified number of candidates to represent it in the second round i.e. State-2.
- Stage-1’s written exam consists of MAT (mental aptitude test) and SAT (scholastic aptitude test). Both the tests have 100 multiple choice questions to be answered in 90 minutes. More information on the paper content, sample paper etc can be found here.
- NTSE’s stage-2 is conducted at a national level by NCERT. Only students who clear stage-1 of NTSE are eligible to sit in this stage. Though first stage has quotas or pre-specified number of seats for each level, there are no state quotas for the final round. However, pre-specified reservation for SC/ST and physically challenged candidates exists.
- Like stage-1, NTSE’s stage-2 also has MAT and SAT. Further, those candidates who qualify the written exam at the national level will be called for interview.
What are the important dates for NTSE 2012:
There are 4 important dates regarding NTSE that you must be aware of. For academic year 2012, the dates for NTSE are as follows
- Start date for sale of NTSE forms is 1st August 2012 (tentative)
- Last date for submission of completed NTSE application form is 31st August 2012 (tentative)
- Stage-1 NTSE exam will be conducted on Sunday 18th November 2012. However for Mizoram, Meghalya, Nagaland and Andaman & Nicobar Islands the stage-1 exams will be conducted on Saturday 17th November 2012. (tentative)
- Stage-2 NTSE exam will be conducted on Sunday 12th May 2013 (tentative). The dates may vary from state to state. Further, the candidates who qualify the 2nd round written exams will be intimidated by post about the dates for interviews.
Who is eligible to appear for NTSE 2013:
All Indian students studying in class-10 of recognized schools are eligible to appear for the first stage of NTSE. Please NOTE that this is a changed from previous years. There is no domicile restriction. in class-10 can take NTSE exam. Even Indian students living abroad can appear for NTSE. They can directly apply for stage-2 exams if they fulfil conditions prescribed in NTSE brochure for Class-10.
What is the course for NTSE 2013:
NTSE exam follows NCERT prescribed syllabus and the exam is conducted in both English and in Hindi
How to prepare for NTSE 2013:
National Talent Search exam has become very prestigious. Therefore, schools and parents encourage the students to prepare well for this exam. Students often sit for support classes conducted in schools or special coaching exams. However, we think just a simple systematic approach can help students ace the exam. You can learn all the details about how to prepare for NTSE and sample questions in our articles. Click here for NTSE stage 1 sample papers and questions. For NTSE stage 2 sample papers and questions, click here.
What is the NTSE scholarship value:
1000 NTSE scholars are selected every year based on the exam. Each NTSE scholar receives INR 500 per month from NTSE for the period he/she chooses to continue studying. Usually it is defined as the period till one finishes PhD or earlier. This could be any of fields specified above including Science, Medicine, Social Science, Maths, Management and Law.
PS: The scholarship amounts will be revised from 2013 on wards. The discussion is on to raise it to Rs 1000 per month and then to Rs 2500 at the college level. However, formal announcement is not out yet.
Is there any reservation in NTSE:
NTSE reserves 15% of its scholarships for students belonging to SC category. Another 7.5% is reserved for ST category students and 3% is reserved for students who are physically challenged. There is a state quota defined for first round. However, for the final round, there is no state quota.
How can I apply for NTSE 2013:
Usually information for release of forms is sent to schools and schools often help students procure the form. However, you can also get the NTSE forms from State / UT liaison officer or they can be downloaded from the NCERT website. The completed forms, with the signature of principal should be submitted to liaison officer before the last date. Again, schools may be able to help you here.
Just like NTSE, there are several other talent search exams conducted at school level every year. Further, there are other scholarships and awards for school students too that are instituted by government bodies, corporates and other organization. Some of them have gained in prestige over the years. You need to keep aware of these exams and their last dates.
Further, we release useful tips, sample papers and ideas as the date for NTSE approaches closer. With just a few days remaining for the NTSE exam, we bring to you the last minute guide to NTSE. You will hear from our NTSE scholars on exactly how to approach the paper, how to write answers and how to make best use of your last few days before NTSE. These are some very critical last minute tips that they had found useful. You can follow us on face book (click the like button above) so that you do not miss out on the crucial last minute tips for cracking your NTSE. We will post the updates there as they happen. You can see your 2012NTSE results here with Name, roll number and category information provided. If you got some value out of this post, please press the like button to help spread the word and benefit others too.
Apr 21
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NTSE eligibility for students outside India
Students of Indian origin, studying outside India in class 8 too can appear for the NTSE Scholarship. Here are some details that you must know
- You need to be a student of Indian origin and studying in class 8 outside of India
- You need to have secured a minimum of 60% marks (or equivalent thereof) in your previous qualifying examination
- If you are studying aborad, you are exempt from appearing in the first round (qualifying round) of theNTSE that is conducted by the states and you directly need to appear for the second round (the final round) conducted at the national level.
- To apply for NTSE scholarship, you need to send an application through the head of your school/institute to the Department of Educational Measurement and Evaluation, NCERT, New Delhi - 110016. You will also need to encluse an attested copy (attested by the head of your institution) of your marksheet for the previous year
- The NCERT will then allot roll number to you and in subsiquent communication, also send you the date, time and venue of the exam. You will need to bear the cost of commuting yourself.
- The NCERT typically will not entertain requests for change of dates and venue for NTSE.
RamalingamAERO
Students of Indian origin, studying outside India in class 8 too can appear for the NTSE Scholarship. Here are some details that you must know
- You need to be a student of Indian origin and studying in class 8 outside of India
- You need to have secured a minimum of 60% marks (or equivalent thereof) in your previous qualifying examination
- If you are studying aborad, you are exempt from appearing in the first round (qualifying round) of theNTSE that is conducted by the states and you directly need to appear for the second round (the final round) conducted at the national level.
- To apply for NTSE scholarship, you need to send an application through the head of your school/institute to the Department of Educational Measurement and Evaluation, NCERT, New Delhi - 110016. You will also need to encluse an attested copy (attested by the head of your institution) of your marksheet for the previous year
- The NCERT will then allot roll number to you and in subsiquent communication, also send you the date, time and venue of the exam. You will need to bear the cost of commuting yourself.
- The NCERT typically will not entertain requests for change of dates and venue for NTSE.
RamalingamAERO
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