Blip over radar technology

Scientists at the Radio Physics department of Calcutta University have expressed resentment over a recent decision taken by university authorities to transfer technical knowhow to Tata Steel from their pioneering research on anti-collision radar.

No easy smokes

DRIVERS of polluting vehicles will now find it harder to evade the long arm of the law. Remote sensing devices being developed in the US will have the capability of latching on to the exhaust plume of a polluting car or truck which exceeds the regulatory limits.

Fridges without the pong

Opening the refrigerator door can sometimes be a smelly jolt and conventional deodorants are not much help. But now a Japanese firm, Arromic Co Ltd, has come up with a ceramic-based deodorant that can take care of the offensive odours (New Technology, Vol 22, No 2).

Sitting cool

A misplaced cigarette butt on the polyurethane seats in an aircraft, the most inflammable material besides the fuel, could lead to an aerial disaster. But Indian Airlines can cease to worry about the problem, thanks to scientists at the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) at Roorkee, Uttar Pradesh. CBRI scientists have developed a chemical treatment which is applied on a thick cotton fabric which is then draped over the polyurethane foam.

Digital palimpsest

Digital palimpsest: In 1991, the National Remote Sensing Agency, Hyderabad, used GIS to undertake a pilot study for wasteland development in Bellary district of Karnataka. The wastelands were divided into 16 classes based on various parameters. Digitised maps of single parameters, such as distance to roads (top left), soil type (top right), slope (middle left), villages and forests (middle right) and groundwater resources (bottom left) were generated. The various layers of information were then superimposed (bottom right), to generate a composite map with various wasteland types

Maps of the world

SANICHAR is a smalltime grocer in the straggling, dusty town of backyard Jhumri Talaiya in Bihar. He barely manages to sell a few dozen bars of soap and detergent a month. But 1,600 km away in Bombay, a man with a computer is keeping tabs on Sanichar's bottomline sales.

Microwave pollution detector

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Testing in Maryland, USA, have developed an instrument that can detect gases present in infinitesimal amounts (Environmental Science & Technology, Vol 28, No 6). The instrument uses microwaves similar to those used in microwave cookers to measure as little as 10 parts per billion of any volatile organic or inorganic matter.

The science of spatial information

• global warming Showing changes in sea temperatures and sea-level rise and their effect on fish movement • philanthropy Determining how much money is donated to the arts versus impoverished areas • rural marketing

Roadblocks

The greatest obstacle to the spread of GIS, feel experts, is the access, or rather the lack of it, to authentic and accurate and unstoppable information - the soul of GIS. Says Subhan Khan of NISTADS, "In India, it is particularly bad. Here, it would appear, every piece of information is crassified."

Hi-tech exchange

AS COMPANIES move towards corporate profitability through technological advancements, Indian industries have come up with the Technology Platform -- a forum for the interaction of Indian and international research and development organisations, industries, and institutes involved in applied industrial research. The platform assumes importance in global markets as a forum to commercialise processes and products, as well as a marketplace for patented or patentable technologies.