World Top Scientists Awards

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited Tonga to highlight a serious global issue—rising sea levels. He spoke at the Pacific Islands Forum, emphasizing how quickly sea levels are increasing and the dangers this poses, especially to low-lying nations like Tonga. Understanding Rising Sea Levels Rising sea levels mean that the ocean water is getting higher over time. This is happening faster than ever before, mainly because of climate change. The Pacific region, where Tonga is located, is seeing some of the fastest rises in sea levels, with some places experiencing rates more than twice the global average. The two main reasons for this are: Warmer Oceans: As the ocean water gets warmer, it expands and takes up more space. Melting Ice: Glaciers and ice sheets in places like Antarctica and Greenland are melting, adding more water to the oceans. How Does This Affect Coastal Communities? Rising sea levels have several harmful effects on communities living near the coast, including: Mor...

The Philippine government accused China of acting aggressively and illegally in the South China Sea. This accusation came after a series of confrontations between the two countries at sea and in the air. The situation has increased tensions between the Philippines and China, reflecting the ongoing disputes over control of this important region. What is the South China Sea Dispute? The South China Sea is an important area in Southeast Asia, surrounded by countries like Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. These countries have been arguing for a long time over who controls different parts of the sea. These disagreements have become more serious recently because China has become more powerful and is trying to assert more control over the area. Historical Background In 1947, China’s Nationalist government created a map that showed the “nine-dash line,” which is a boundary that claims about 90% of the South China Sea as part of China. Even though the Na...

India celebrated its very first National Space Day on August 23, 2024. The theme for the day was “Touching lives while touching the Moon: India’s space saga,” highlighting how the country’s space missions impact everyday life while also reaching extraordinary heights, like the Moon. This date is special because it marks the anniversary of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which successfully landed on the Moon in 2023. This achievement made India the fourth country in the world to land on the Moon and the first to land at the Moon’s South Pole. The Importance of Chandrayaan-3 The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a major milestone in India’s space journey. It showed how much progress India has made in space technology and how determined the country is to explore space. By successfully landing on the Moon, India strengthened its reputation in the global space community, proving that it is a significant player in space exploration. Celebrations Across India Across the country, many institutions celebrat...

Astronomers at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) have come up with a new way to study the Sun’s atmosphere by looking at its magnetic fields in different layers. This is a big breakthrough because it uses data from a special telescope called the Kodaikanal Tower Tunnel Telescope. By understanding these magnetic fields better, scientists can learn more about how the Sun works, including things like the solar wind, which affects us here on Earth. Understanding the Solar Atmosphere The Sun’s atmosphere is made up of several layers, each connected by complicated magnetic fields. These magnetic fields are like pathways that move energy and particles from inside the Sun out to its outer layers. One of the big mysteries in solar physics (the study of the Sun) is why the Sun’s outer layer, called the corona, is so much hotter than its surface, and these magnetic fields might hold the answer. Why Magnetic Fields Matter To really understand how the Sun works, scientists need to measure ...

Today, manufacturing and services organizations across the world employ advanced technology to produce better output. This results in reinventing the manufacturing landscape while giving immense opportunity to the youth. Keeping the industry needs in mind, World Skill Center Bhubaneswar (WSC) has launched a new program in ‘Precision Engineering’ under its School of Engineering. The World Skill Center has been established at Bhubaneswar under the state government’s ‘Skilled In Odisha’ programme. The ‘Precision Engineering’ program has been introduced at this advanced facility from Academic Year 2024-25 onwards. This unique one-year program requires youth to have completed either a 2-year ITI or 3-years diploma in any Polytechnic of the state. “Precision engineering is a cutting-edge subject. There are attractive employment opportunities at the national and international levels for professionals trained in this field. Keeping this in mind, this new course is being implemented at the Wor...

Air pollution is increasing the severity of summertime thunderstorms, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at James Madison University and published in the journal Atmospheric Research. JMU geography professor Mace Bentley, the lead author of the study, says, "Pollution acts as cloud nuclei. It gets brought into the cloud through the updraft; the updraft and downdraft then separate the pollution particles, which divides the electrical charges in the cloud and leads to more lightning production." The three-year study examined nearly 200,000 thunderstorms in the Washington, D.C., area and more than 300,000 in the Kansas City area. Using 12 years of lightning data from the National Lightning Detection Network and data from hundreds of air pollution stations in the two cities, the researchers were able to determine that in environments with high instability, adding more pollution increases cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, Bentley said. Bentley is doing similar r...

Planet is headed for at least 2.5°C of heating, finds poll of scientists Almost 80% of respondents from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, foresee at least 2.5°C of global heating. Almost half are concerned that temperatures would rise to at least 3°C, with only 6% thinking the internationally agreed 1.5°C limit would be possible. The survey found that opinions were dependent on age and gender, but not based on geographical location. Younger scientists were found to be more pessimistic. 52% of respondents under 50 expected a rise of at least 3°C, compared to just 38% of those over 50. A similar difference was found between genders. 49% of female scientists believe that global temperature will rise to at least 3°C, compared with 38% of male scientists. Peter Cox, at the University of Exeter, told The Guardian that: “Climate change will not suddenly become dangerous at 1.5°C – it already is. And it will not be ‘game over’ if we pass 2°C, which we might well do.” The climate f...

The last couple of years have seen a lot of job titles updated from DevOps engineer to platform engineer. For most, it’s been a change in name only. It wasn’t a natural substitution anyway, since DevOps focuses on operations, while platform engineering centers on developer experience. A successful DevOps or platform engineering transformation will optimize technology, people and processes on both sides of that persistent silo. It will also consider all the other stakeholders in the increasingly complex software development life cycle. That’s exactly what Allianz Direct, an international insurance company, sought to do when it set off on its journey of a DevOps team toward platform engineering. Sergiu Petean, as director of cloud engineering and operations, shared this story of scale on a recent episode of the Platformers Community livestream. Getting Started with Platform Engineering When Petean joined Allianz in 2021, he found his team in what he dubbed “a state of fake SRE topology,...

Forests in Khandwa and North Betul, located in Central India, are increasingly at risk of forest fires due to a combination of human activities and natural factors. This concern was highlighted in a study published on August 14, 2024. Study Overview The research was led by Vibha Sahu from the Indian Institute of Forest Management. By analyzing 22 years of satellite data from the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), the study uncovered a troubling trend: the number of forest fires in Khandwa has been rising by an average of three fires per year, while North Betul has seen an increase of one fire per year. Fire Risk Assessment The study found that about 45% of Khandwa’s forests and 50% of North Betul’s forests are now in areas classified as having a high or very high risk of fire. In Khandwa, the most vulnerable areas are in the northern and southeastern regions. In North Betul, the high-risk zones are mainly in the northwestern and northeastern parts. Factors Influenc...

                                               Recently, Tata revealed the Curvv Petrol / Diesel model in all its glory. It is a feature packed SUV which will be launched on 2nd of September 2024. The Curvv will get three engine options – 1.2-litre turbo petrol, 1.2-litre TGDi, & 1.5-litre diesel engines. Interestingly, even the diesel engine will be mated to a DCA gearbox. Later, the Tata Motors website revealed the DCA option for the Nexon diesel as well. Having said that, will Tata Motors introduce this technology on India’s Cheapest Diesel Car? Talking about India’s Cheapest Diesel Car, it is undoubtedly the Tata Altroz. In fact it is the only Non-SUV car under Rs 50 lakh to offer a diesel engine. The Altroz gets Nexon’s 1.5-litre diesel engine which produces 113bhp & 260Nm of peak torque. However, the brand introduced an all new Kryojet diesel engine with ...

                                                              Scientists hope to accelerate the development of human-level AI using a network of powerful supercomputers — with the first of these machines fully operational by 2025. Researchers plan to accelerate the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) with a worldwide network of extremely powerful computers — starting with a new supercomputer that will come online in September. Artificial intelligence (AI) spans technologies including machine learning and generative AI systems like GPT-4. The latter offer predictive reasoning based on training from a large data set — and they can often surpass human capabilities in one particular area, based on their training data. They are sub-par at cognitive or reasoning tasks, however, and cannot be applied across disciplines. AGI...

Catalysts are the unsung heroes of modern chemistry, powering everything from the creation of life-saving pharmaceuticals to the production of fuels. A team of researchers at Stony Brook University discovered a breakthrough that opens new avenues for designing highly efficient and sustainable catalysts. For the first time, they have been able to directly observe tiny islands of oxidized metals on the surface of nanoparticles, the workhorses that drive countless chemical reactions essential to modern life. “In the field of catalysis, it is the equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack,” said Prahlad Routh, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Materials Sciences and Chemical Engineering and first author of the study recently published in Nature Communications. The corresponding author of the article is Anatoly Frenkel, a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering at Stony Brook, who also holds a joint appointment at Brookhaven National...

  Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been making waves across various industries, and the art world is no exception. AI-generated art, a blend of technology and creativity, is rapidly gaining popularity. This blog post explores how AI is transforming the artistic landscape, the debates it has sparked, and what the future holds for this innovative fusion of machine learning and human creativity. In recent years, the intersection of technology and art has given birth to a fascinating new trend: AI-generated art. This novel form of creativity is redefining the boundaries of what we traditionally consider as art and who we recognize as artists. AI-generated art utilizes machine learning algorithms to create images, paintings, music, and even literature, opening up endless possibilities for innovation and expression. The Emergence of AI-Generated Art The concept of AI in art isn't entirely new, but advancements in machine learning and neural networks have propelled it into the spotlight. ...