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The new age superheroes of building materials 

The new age superheroes of building materials 

by | May 12, 2024 | Science


Morpho butterflies are famous for their stunningly beautiful, blue wings. If you are able to catch one, just check out their wings; you’ll find that the wings have no pigmentation. They are just multiple layers of scales arranged in a way that they reflect only the blue light.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany drew inspiration from these Morpho butterflies and have developed a special coating for solar panels. They have branded it, appropriately, as MorphoColor. Give a coat of this on ‘building integrated photovoltaics’ (BIPV) — the panels that meld unobtrusively into windows and also generate electricity. BIPVs have been around for some time — but without takers, because they don’t look pretty. But with MorphoColor coated panels they can be of any chosen colour — so they can potentially enhance, rather than depress, aesthetics.

Materials such as MorphoColor are among those that can be called as the ‘superheroes of building materials.’ These new class of materials are emerging to gladden the hearts of green building enthusiasts. We are talking of greener replacements for cement (including for green cement) and super insulation materials (SIM). They are not yet market-ready, due to their high costs, but efforts are on to make them market-ready, given their importance in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the construction sector, which is a big emitter. To illustrate, the total electricity demand in India in 2021-22 was 1,296 billion units; a third of it (334 BU) was due to the building sector. According to the Ministry of Power, this is set to increase further to 761 BU by 2031. A big chunk of this demand comes from room air conditioners. So, how to keep our rooms cool while reducing the air conditioning load? Here is where the superheroes of building materials come in.

Greener cement

Cement production emits a lot of greenhouse gases. Globally, around 4.4 billion tonnes of cement is produced, which accounts for about 8 per cent of GHG emissions. The movement towards replacing cement with other cementitious materials (fly ash, blast furnace slag and silica fume) in concrete has taken root.

But there are other materials cooking in the crucible of technology. One is ‘photocatalytic materials’. Aamar Danish et al, in their paper, say that photocatalytic materials “have the ability to absorb light, generating electron-hole pairs that facilitate chemical transformations of contaminants such as oxides and organic pollutants, converting the contaminants into greener products.

Another way of making concrete is with the addition of materials with CO2 capturing ability (like zeolite) and recycled aggregates. Then, there are efforts in using natural fibres — such as basalt, coconut, banana, sugarcane bagasse, hemp, kenaf, bamboo, jute, sisal, abaca and cotton, and even human hair — for ‘fibre-reinforced concrete’. A very interesting paper on the subject by a group of Indian and Emirati researchers, discusses the merits and demerits of each of these in detail and notes that “natural fibres exhibit excellent resistance to corrosion and fatigue and are biodegradable, non-toxic, readily available, non-abrasive, lightweight, inexpensive, and possess strong specific strength.”

‘Natural fibre composites’ for concrete making is a promising area, but requires further research to understand the full contours of the material. The authors of the paper note that research is particularly needed to investigate hybridising fibres for optimal properties.

Aerogels and VIPS

Among the best super insulation materials are aerogels and vacuum insulation panels (VIP). These are used in the packing industry and in refrigerated trucks, but researchers are wondering why not bring them into construction. (Well, their cost is a problem.) Aerogels are fascinating materials. A gel is a gooey mixture of solid and liquid—a lot more liquid than solid. An aerogel is a material in which the liquid in a gel has been removed, leaving only the solid. This must be done carefully or else the material will crumble. The sol-gel process is the predominant method of making aerosols.

Aerosols are incredibly light. An aerosol developed by the Lawrence Livermore National Research Lab in the United States is said to be the world’s lightest material — a cubic cm of it weighs 0.003 grams. Theoretically aerogels can be made with any material, including metals, but the most typical aerogel is the one made with silicon dioxide. Aerogels are great super insulation materials. You can give a lining of an aerogel, say, silica aerogel, over a concrete wall for excellent insulation.

Likewise, VIPs are increasingly finding mention in construction narrative. VIPs consist of a core material enclosed within a gas-tight envelope from which air has been evacuated, resulting in a near-vacuum environment. This design minimizes heat transfer through conduction and convection, making VIPs highly effective thermal insulation materials. VIPs are used in walls, roofs, and floors to provide high levels of insulation while minimizing thickness. This is particularly useful in retrofitting existing buildings where space constraints may limit the thickness of insulation that can be added.

So, from MorphoColor to VIPs there are exciting green building materials that show a lot of promise. Notably, many of these offer entrepreneurial opportunities. A whole new industry is rising.





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ISRO chairman sees billion biz opportunity in India’s space sector

ISRO chairman sees $10 billion biz opportunity in India’s space sector

by | May 11, 2024 | Science


The Indian space industry is offering a tremendous opportunity for the private sector in the country as a new area of growth and development, S Somanath, Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman of Indian Space Research Organization has said.

The centre envisages the space industry in the country to $9-10 billion industry in the next five to ten years from the current levels of $2 billion, he said after launching the zero emission initiative of the SFO Technologies of the NeST Group at its Hi-Tech Park in Kalamasery on Saturday.

According to Somanath, 400 private sector companies have benefited from the technology developed by ISRO for its various missions and companies such as SFO Technologies are well positioned to take further advantage of the new policy initiatives in the space sector by the Government.

He also unveiled a replica of Chandrayaan at the campus highlighting the cooperation of SFO Technologies and ISRO. Somanath also interacted with the NeST engineers and management team. 

The Carbon Reduction initiative of the NeST Group is in tune with the United Nations’ objective of achieving a 50 per cent reduction by 2035 and zero emissions by 2040.

SFO Technologies has close association with ISRO for many years. The two have worked in multiple programmes such as the RF sub-systems for Chandrayaan and Aditya Missions, manufacturing of Antenna Systems, and Cryogenic Engine Control Systems for launch vehicles.

NeST Group Chairman N Jehangir said discussions are on with ISRO for various projects including the Gaganyaan project aiming to carry human beings to space for the first time through the Indian Space Mission.





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What risks do advanced AI models pose in the wrong hands?

What risks do advanced AI models pose in the wrong hands?

by | May 10, 2024 | Science


Washington

The Biden administration is poised to open up a new front in its effort to safeguard United States’ artificial intelligence (AI) from China and Russia, with preliminary plans to place guardrails around the most advanced AI models.

Government and private sector researchers worry US adversaries could use the models, which mine vast amounts of text and images to summarize information and generate content, to wage aggressive cyber-attacks or even create potent biological weapons.

DEEPFAKES AND MISINFORMATION

Deepfakes, realistic yet fabricated videos created by AI algorithms trained on copious online footage are surfacing on social media, blurring fact and fiction in the polarised world of US politics.

While such synthetic media has been around for several years, it has been turbocharged over the past year by a slew of new “generative AI” tools such as Midjourney that make it cheap and easy to create convincing deepfakes.

Image creation tools powered by artificial intelligence from companies including OpenAI and Microsoft can be used to produce photos that could promote elections or voting related disinformation, despite each having policies against creating misleading content, researchers said in a report in March.

Some disinformation campaigns simply harness the ability of AI to mimic real news articles as a means of disseminating false information. While major social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have made efforts to prohibit and remove deepfakes, their effectiveness at policing such content varies. For example, last year, a Chinese government-controlled news site using a generative AI platform pushed a previously circulated false claim that the United States was running a lab in Kazakhstan to create biological weapons for use against China, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in its 2024 homeland threat assessment.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, speaking at an AI event in Washington on Wednesday, said the problem has no easy solutions because it combines the capacity of AI with “the intent of state, non-state actors, to use disinformation at scale, to disrupt democracies, to advance propaganda, and to shape perception in the world.”

“Right now, the offense is beating the defense big time,” he said.

BIOWEAPONS

The American intelligence community, think tanks and academics are increasingly concerned about the risks posed by foreign bad actors gaining access to advanced AI capabilities. Researchers at Gryphon Scientific and Rand Corporation noted that advanced AI models can provide information that could help create biological weapons.

Gryphon studied how large language models (LLM), the computer programs that draw from massive amounts of text to generate responses to queries, could be used by hostile actors to cause harm in the domain of life sciences and found they “can provide information that could aid a malicious actor in creating a biological weapon by providing useful, accurate and detailed information across every step in this pathway.”

They found, for example, that an LLM could provide post-doctoral level knowledge to troubleshoot problems when working with a pandemic-capable virus.

Rand research showed that LLMs could help in the planning and execution of a biological attack. They found an LLM could for example suggest aerosol delivery methods for botulinum toxin.

CYBERWEAPONS

DHS said cyber actors would likely use AI to “develop new tools” to “enable larger-scale, faster, efficient, and more evasive cyber attacks” against critical infrastructure including pipelines and railways, in its 2024 homeland threat assessment.

China and other adversaries are developing AI technologies that could undermine US cyber defenses, DHS said, including generative AI programs that support malware attacks.

Microsoft said in a February report that it had tracked hacking groups affiliated with the Chinese and North Korean governments as well as Russian military intelligence, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, as they tried to perfect their hacking campaigns using large language models.

The company announced the find as it rolled out a blanket ban on state-backed hacking groups using its AI products.

NEW EFFORTS TO ADDRESS THREATS

A bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled a bill late Wednesday that would make it easier for the Biden administration to impose export controls on AI models in a bid to safeguard the prized US technology against foreign bad actors.

The bill, sponsored by House Republicans Michael McCaul and John Molenaar and Democrats Raja Krishnamoorthi and Susan Wild, would also give the Commerce Department express authority to bar Americans from working with foreigners to develop AI systems that pose risks to US national security.

Tony Samp, an AI policy advisor at DLA Piper in Washington, said policymakers in Washington are trying to “foster innovation and avoid heavy-handed regulation that stifles innovation” as they seek to address the many risks posed by the technology.

But he warned that “cracking down on AI development through regulation could inhibit potential breakthroughs in areas like drug discovery, infrastructure, national security, and others, and cede ground to competitors overseas.”





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Only Indian entities can disseminate satellite data, say new IN-SPACe rules

Only Indian entities can disseminate satellite data, say new IN-SPACe rules

by | May 3, 2024 | Science


Only Indian entities can seek IN-SPACe authorisation to disseminate data from satellites. The user of the data does not need the regulator’s authorisation, but the ‘data disseminator’ shall also make sure that the data is not further transferred to a third party in any manner. And rocket companies may be required to take ‘third party liability’ insurance before they launch their vehicles. 

These are among the rules brought out today by India’s space activities regulator, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Center (IN-SPACe). These rules are to govern private sector activities in ‘space’. 

In April 2023, the government of India unveiled the Indian Space Policy – 2023, effectively paving the way for private sector participation in space activities from and over the Indian territory. Today, the government brought out the ‘Norms, Guidelines and Procedures for Implementation of Indian Space Policy-2023 in respect of Authorisation of Space Activities (NGP). 

The NGP deals with the authorisation process, space-based communications (which require any company, including foreign-owned entities like Elon Musk’s Starlink, to get the Indian regulator’s authorisation before launching satellite communications), operation of remote sensing or amateur satellite systems, access to Indian orbital resources to Indian entities, dissemination of satellite data, operation of ground-based systems, operation of space transport systems (rockets) and liability-related issues.  

For all these activities, IN-SPACe authorisation is required. The NGP also deals with other issues, for example, changes in management of the authorized entity and adherence to international rules and India’s treaties with other countries.  

The long-awaited NGP essentially gives effect to the India Space Policy 2023 and effectively opens up the space sector for private participation. 

India aspires that the annual space economy should be $44 billion by 2033; three-fourths of this should come from within India and the rest from abroad, Pawan Goenka, Chairman, IN-SPACe, had told businessline in March. There are over 200 space start-ups in India. As of March 1, 2024, IN-SPACe had received 466 applications for authorization, Dr Goenka had said. 





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Need to clamp down on prescription-less sales of antibiotics

Need to clamp down on prescription-less sales of antibiotics

by | Apr 28, 2024 | Science


Most of us have the experience of getting antibiotics from a pharmacist without a doctor’s prescription. Commercial pressures propel the pharmacist to commit a blatant violation of law. Nobody complains, because whether the ailment goes after taking the antibiotic or not, the episode of buying the medicine without a prescription is quickly forgotten.

But several studies have emerged to show that the rampant practice of consuming antibiotics indiscriminately silently contributes to a much bigger health issue, namely, antimicrobial resistance (AMR, aka antimicrobial drug resistance or ADR). This refers to the infection causing microbes developing resistance to an antibiotic — the medicine fails to cure.

Studies show that India has a high prevalence of AMR. For example, in 2019, a group of Indian and American researchers led by Sumanth Gandra of the Centre for Disease Dynamics, Washington DC, conducted a patient-level antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST) over 5,103 patients from ten hospitals. “The overall mortality rate of patients was 13.1 per cent and there was a significant relationship between multi-drug resitance and mortality,” the authors say in their paper.

AMR comes from several sources. “The OTC sale of antibiotics is recognised as a pathway for the emergence of antimicrobial resistance; a serious public health challenge in need of urgent regulatory responses,” says another, 2021 paper which delves into the regulatory aspects of antibiotics dispensation. The authors conducted a study of 261 pharmacies in Bengaluru, in which the pharmacy was requested to give antibiotics, without a prescription, for two ailments — for an adult complaining of upper respiratory tract infection and a child suffering from acute gastroenteritis. As many as 174 pharmacies gave the medicine over-the-counter (OTC), even though neither condition didn’t require antibiotic treatment.

Similarly, in Tamil Nadu “observations and interviews with pharmacists at 24 pharmacies revealed that 78.7 per cent of antibiotics sold within the study period were given without a prescription.” Another study of the same authors reported that of the 40 New Delhi pharmacists, none said they refused to sell antibiotics without prescription. “Despite being illegal, OTC sales of antibiotics by pharmacies without a valid prescription from a registered medical practitioner (RMP) appear widespread in India, highlighting serious problems around the regulation of this pathway for emergence of AMR,” the paper says.

Often people take antibiotics even for viral infections, which are indifferent to antibiotics and self-limiting.

The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules (DCR), 1945, designates all antibiotics as prescription drugs under the Schedule H category. In 2014, an amendment was made to the Schedule H category to include second- and third-generation antibiotics into a new category called Schedule H1. For Schedule H1 drugs, pharmacists are required to maintain a separate register for the sale of these antibiotics and retain prescription copies. This amendment was implemented to curb the widespread practice of antibiotic purchase from retail pharmacies without a valid prescription (old or outdated). “However, several studies before and after 2014 indicate that consumers can still purchase antibiotics without a valid prescription as pharmacists still dispense antibiotics to their customers/clients/patients by attending to their symptoms,” notes yet another paper.





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Inside India’s XR revolution

Inside India’s XR revolution

by | Apr 28, 2024 | Science


As we navigate through a transformative era shaped by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, a new technological frontier is on the horizon — eXperiential Technologies (XT), also known as Spatial Technologies. The XT wave includes Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR), which are not just reshaping entertainment through immersive gaming experiences but also revolutionising learning with simulators and interactive applications. Moreover, XT is carving out significant roles in sectors like healthcare, travel and tourism, offering experiential solutions that redefine our interaction with the digital world.

Since many of these technologies are used by the gaming and entertainment industries, there’s a fair amount of conflation between the “lighter” and more “serious” usage of these tech. However, the DNA of these two sectors — entertainment vs other industries — are so different, and the skill sets required are vastly diverse. Therefore it is essential to advocate for strategic policies that will bridge these disparities

In this context, the IIT Madras’ IoE Research Center for Virtual Reality and Haptics released a whitepaper on the AR/VR/MR and eXtended Reality (XR) in India to act as a basis for policy and framework recommendations for this space. The report forecast that by 2030, XR would see significant advancements including powerful and compact devices, advanced sensor technologies, 6G connectivity and convergence with other technologies. And by 2047, XR would undergo further transformations with holographic displays and light-field displays, neural interfaces, quantum computing, decentralised platforms, and enhanced global collaboration. Therefore, it is imperative that efforts and investments into this set of technologies be guided properly to ensure India’s share in this space.

Some History

The roots of XT can be traced back to mid-20th century when pioneers like Morton Heilig and Ivan Sutherland laid the foundation for immersive technologies. Heilig’s Sensorama in the 1950s and Sutherland’s groundbreaking work on head-mounted displays in the 1960s marked the early experiments in creating immersive experiences.

The concept of Virtual Reality gained momentum in the 1980s and ’90s with the development of advanced computer graphics and simulations. Companies like VPL Research played a significant role in popularising VR applications for industries such as gaming, training and simulation.

Augmented Reality, which overlays digital information onto the real world, started to gain prominence in the early 2000s with the advent of smartphones and wearable devices. Applications like AR gaming, navigation and marketing began to showcase the potential of blending digital content with the physical environment.

Mixed Reality, which combines elements of both VR and AR, emerged as a powerful tool for creating interactive and immersive experiences. Companies like Magic Leap and Microsoft HoloLens pushed the boundaries of MR technology, enabling users to interact with digital objects in real-world settings.

Extended Reality emerged as a comprehensive term encompassing VR, AR, and MR technologies, offering a spectrum of immersive experiences.

Benefits, challenges

XR/XT bring immense benefits by enabling immersive experiences as well as enhanced interactivity (multi-modal, including voice, touch, gestures etc.) which are important for training and skill development in otherwise risk-prone sectors such as healthcare and exploration.

As a general advantage, working across industries, it enables remote collaboration and interaction across locations as well as improve inclusivity and accessibility for individuals with disabilities and special needs. However, XR/XT face some challenges as well, the foremost of which is hardware capabilities and availability of capable hardware at affordable prices.

XR applications also raise concerns about data privacy, security vulnerabilities, and potential misuse of personal information, requiring robust safeguards and regulations.

New things to learn

Perception engineering forms the foundation of XR, representing a new engineering discipline that leverages insights into human perception to design XR hardware and software. This novel field merges traditional engineering methodologies with an understanding of human perception, harnessing these insights to innovate in XR development.

Central to perception engineering is the consideration of sensory perception, cognitive load, motion sickness, and other dimensions of human perception, ensuring that XR technologies are not only functional but also ergonomic and user-friendly.

Perception Algebra is an emerging mathematical field that applies algebraic principles to analyse the interactions of different perceptual systems at sensory, perceptual, and cognitive levels.

Perception Physiology investigates the bidirectional relationship between perception and physiology, exploring how each influences the other.

Recommendations

Recognising the advantages of open source technologies and advocating for their adoption, the authors of the whitepaper believe it can foster collaboration, standardisation and inclusivity in the development of eXperiential Technologies. The whitepaper emphasised that for XR Innovations, India needed to establish technology leadership and invest in education, research, development, and innovation aligning with the idea of moving beyond being solely a services player in the domain.

The report presents a gap analysis to assess XR skills in India, in line with global initiatives. Identifying gaps in hardware, software, and application skills helps outline a roadmap for skill development for the Government of India and for the policymakers.

With the exception of optics, there is moderate to high level of expertise in hardware. There is a modest prevalence of expertise in software, except in VR OS where skills are virtually non-existent. It is apparent that the XR community in the country is focused predominantly on applications with a large number lingering at basic levels of skill.

The vision is to move the practitioners up the value chain by focusing on advanced education, R&D and innovation. While the Hardware and Software components of XR are driven by R&D, XR ‘Application Development’ is devoid of research content.

The report also has proposed several initiatives for infrastructure and skill development in India: an XR-Superhighway, XR-Corridor, XR Innovation Centers, XR Skill Training Centers, XR Experience Spaces, XR Manufacturing Centers, and XR Education Centers.





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