Kuthiraikkaran vilakku - some Science - some Maths !!

 

Sure, you have been to many temples – observed people pouring Oil in lamps hanging from high ceiling … one often wonders, how they hang in good balance – Symmetry, distribution of mass, and some more Scientific reasons come to mind.  

Starting with calculating the weight - there are few things more frustrating than weighing an item twice only to receive two radically different results. One seeks a  precise measurement, and one cannot  trust  digital scale too.

 

Here is a photo of lamp (background edited and colour enriched)  and some Science behind the surprising design – the parts are not symmetric – and it defies imagination on how equilibrium and the mass distribution are designed – how artisans were so Scientific  -  “Kuthiraikkaran Vilakku” (Horseman’s lamp) seen at Padmanabhapuram Palace. 

A lamp hanging on chains stays up because the chain is in tension, and the lamp’s  weight is pulled downward by gravity while the chain pulls upward with an equal and opposite force. When those forces balance, the lamp is in static equilibrium and remains suspended without accelerating.

The important idea is the center of mass. The lamp hangs stably when the vertical line through its center of mass falls below the suspension point, so gravity does not create a turning effect that would make it tip over.

 

If the lamp is shaped like the one in this  photo, the decorative body and the tray are to be precisely arranged  so the whole assembly balances around the hanging point. 

In hanging lamps, the chain is flexible, so each link carries tension along its own direction, and the chain naturally settles into the shape needed to support the load. The hanging shape of a chain is called a catenary (the curve formed by a flexible chain or cable hanging freely under its own weight between two fixed points. Its name derives from catena, the Latin word for "chain"), and its geometry helps distribute force smoothly from the lamp to the ceiling. This is why chains are often used instead of rigid hooks when the design needs some swing or slight adjustment.

 

Catenary pic – Wikipedia By Geek3 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7728690

 

When the hanging lamp is nudged, it may sway like a pendulum, but if the center of mass is low enough and the suspension is properly aligned, gravity tends to pull it back toward the resting position.   

The lamp hangs in balance because its center of mass is arranged so the vertical line of gravity falls through the support point, and the turning effects on either side cancel out. In physics terms, it is in static equilibrium: the net force is zero and the net torque is zero. 

The heavy decorative horse and the lamp tray are not just ornamentation; they are positioned to shift the combined center of mass to a stable point below the chain attachment. When the center of mass hangs directly under the suspension point, gravity creates no twisting tendency, so the lamp does not tip.  When you observe the photo,   the chain is attached above the horse figure, and the lamp bowl is offset but still balanced by the mass distribution of the full hanging assembly. The support point, the horse body, and the tray together form a system where clockwise and counterclockwise torques balance each other. 

It is beautifully positioned as though it is a seesaw that has been carefully weighted so both sides match. Even if the parts look uneven, the object can remain steady as long as the overall center of mass is below the hanging point.  It takes care of both Static equilibrium as also dynamic stability – meaning it is firm at rest and does not fall even when disturbed and is moving.  Only a  well-designed hanging object can be in static equilibrium and also be dynamically stable, because gravity pulls its center of mass back under the suspension point. 

“Kuthiraikkaran vilakku” at  Padmanabhapuram Palace is a  horse-shaped hanging lamp, hailed for its balance and physics.   In this horseman-style lamp, the decorative horse is not just ornamentation; it is part of the mass distribution that helps position the center of gravity correctly. Even though the bowl and horse look visually uneven, the total weight is arranged so the system hangs in static equilibrium.   The lamp’s geometry works like a carefully weighted hanging system.   The horse body acts like a counterweight and also moves the mass distribution away from the bowl. The tray-like lamp part adds weight low down, which helps keep the overall center of gravity beneath the chain attachment, making the system stable. 

Imagine drawing a vertical line straight down from the chain hook. If that line passes through the combined center of mass of the horse, hook, and tray, the lamp stays balanced. If it were to move outside that support region, the lamp would rotate until balance is restored. So the geometry is really a weighted balance problem: the shape is designed so that the center of mass stays under the support point, and that is why the lamp can hang neatly without toppling. 

Padmanabhapuram Palace is a magnificent 16th-century wooden palace located in Thuckalay, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. Notably, while the palace is physically situated in Tamil Nadu, it is owned, controlled, and maintained by the Government of Kerala as it served as the ancient capital of the erstwhile Kingdom of Travancore. It is widely celebrated as one of Asia's largest and finest surviving examples of traditional wooden architecture

 
Interesting !
 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
24.5.2026

Venus over Triplicane Rajagopuram

 

Nightflight to Venis

Way out there in space

Nightflight to Vee n  uus !!

Our new fav'right place 

 

A picture of Thiruvallikkeni Sri Parthasarathi Perumal Rajagopuram taken on 19.5.2026 at around 18.56 hours ! – the light flare and colour edited to make this appear as it is now.  

On the evening of 19 May 2026, a very thin crescent Moon appeared close to Venus in the western sky and was widely reported as a striking conjunction visible all over India after sunset. Astronomy forecasts for that date mention the Moon passing near Venus on 18–19 May, with Jupiter also in the same general area but fainter and higher, making the brightest object near the Moon in the early evening unmistakably Venus.  

Perplexity search states that in this   image, the bright point of light just below‑left of the Moon matches exactly where Venus would appear: low in the west, near a slim crescent Moon, shortly after sunset from Chennai.  The “spray” or flare pattern above the Gopuram and around the lights is lens flare and scattering caused by strong point light sources (the decorative and flood lights) shining directly into the camera lens. This is common in night photos where bright lights are in or near the frame.  

Multiple internal reflections between the glass elements of   phone lens create radial streaks and ghost images, especially when the lens is slightly dusty or has micro‑scratches. The small secondary “moon” closer to the top of the gopuram is also a lens‑flare ghost of the real Moon, produced by the same internal reflections when you have a very bright object against a dark sky.  

Venus, the second planet from the sun, is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty and is the only planet named after a female. Venus may have been named after the most beautiful deity of the pantheon because it shone the brightest among the five planets known to ancient astronomers.  

The words  at the start are the lyrics of a famous Album released in 1978 by Boney M.  Nightflight to Venus is the third studio album by Euro-Caribbean group Boney M., and became a major success in continental Europe, Scandinavia, and Canada, topping most of the album charts during the second half of 1978 and also became their first UK number one album. In Canada, it received a nomination for a 1980 Juno Award in a category 'International Album of the Year'. Nightflight to Venus includes the worldwide hits "Rivers of Babylon" and "Brown Girl in the Ring", a double A-sided single that topped the UK singles chart and has sold over 2 million copies there.  The follow-up was another Boney M. classic, "Rasputin”.

 

Interesting !  - any comments !!
 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
23.5.2026

3 Birds in One frame !! - missing shadow !?!?

 

Very happy with this picture of birds at Foreshore Estate .. ..there are three different species in distinct poses (standing, foraging and mid-flight) in the same frame !!   They are : 

•          Black-winged Stilt: A wader with distinctive long, slender red legs and black-and-white plumage, commonly found in Indian wetlands.

•          Black-tailed Godwit: A large migratory wader captured here in flight, characterized by its long bill and orange-brown breeding plumage.

•          Little Egret: A small, white heron with a black bill and legs, often seen wading in shallow water.

 

                      At first glance, it looks like the Black-tailed Godwit (the bird in flight) is "shadowless," while the Great Egret and Black-winged Stilt have clear reflections below them. 

However what we see directly beneath the white Egret and the Stilt are actually reflections, not shadows.

•          Reflections occur when light bounces off an object, hits the water, and travels to camera lens. They appear directly "attached" to the object if it is touching the water.

•          Shadows occur when an object blocks the sun's light from hitting a surface. Depending on where the sun is, the shadow might be cast far away from the bird. 

The Egret and the Stilt are standing in the water. Because they are in direct contact with the surface, their reflections are perfectly aligned and highly visible right beneath them.  The Godwit, however, is flying. Since the bird is higher up, its reflection would appear further down the "canvas" of the water from the specific camera angle. If the water were perfectly still and the frame wider,  we might see it lower down. Because the bird is moving and the water has small ripples, the light scattering makes it much harder to see a crisp reflection compared to the birds standing still.

Interesting inputs gotten from Google GeminiAI

 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
22.3.2026
 

 

Red hued moon behind Garuda ~ மலரும் வான் நிலவும் சிந்தும் அழகெல்லாம்

 

மலரும் வான் நிலவும் சிந்தும் அழகெல்லாம் உன் எழில் வண்ணமே...

குழலும் யாழிசையும் கொஞ்சும் ஒலியெல்லாம் உன் குரல் வண்ணமே... 

 

A photo taken at 5.42 am – Garuda on the wall of Sri Parthasarathi Perumal gopuram and Chandran (Moon) ornately behind  his head. It was a fantastic red hue (thanks to MAPs for pointing out !)  

The striking red or orange hue captured behind the Garuda   is due to   total lunar eclipse (Chandra Grahanam), visible as the Moon rose.  This phenomenon is called blood moon.  This phenomenon occurs because Earth positions itself between the Sun and Moon, blocking direct sunlight while allowing indirect red light to reach the lunar surface.  

Sunlight passing through Earth's thick atmosphere scatters shorter blue wavelengths more than longer red ones, similar to why sunrises and sunsets look red. The remaining red-orange light bends around Earth's edge and illuminates the Moon. This is known as : Rayleigh Scattering.  

Read that normally,  the early morning Moon looks pale yellow, white, or slightly golden due to Rayleigh scattering through the atmosphere—similar to sunrises—but never as intensely red as today. Such dramatic red "blood moon" colors occur only during total lunar eclipses (2-5 times a year globally, not daily), when Earth's shadow blocks other light. In Chennai, the next lunar eclipse visibility is partial in 2027.  

The song at the start is from movie ‘Mahakavi Kalidas’ produced and directed by RR Chandran in 1966 – written by Ku ma Balasubramaniam and sung by P Susheela and TM Soundararajan to the tune of KV Mahadevan.  

Interesting !  

Regards – S Sampathkumar
3.3.2026

National Science Day ~ Scattering of lights !!!

 

Often we spend time discussing worthless things – people are so worried about the scenario of Pak making it to Semis !!   Today 28^th Feb is a  great day and we should be hailing a genius from this motherland .. .. did WE ??.. . in a Nation where even Science projects have been named after Nehru / Indira / Rajiv and not after great great Scientists – do you know which place has Pincode 560093 ???

 

 

A major question in physics is the maximum size of a system that can demonstrate quantum mechanical effects. This year’s (2025)  Nobel Prize laureates conducted experiments with an electrical circuit in which they demonstrated both quantum mechanical tunnelling and quantised energy levels in a system big enough to be held in the hand.

Quantum mechanics allows a particle to move straight through a barrier, using a process called tunnelling. As soon as large numbers of particles are involved, quantum mechanical effects usually become insignificant. The laureates’ experiments demonstrated that quantum mechanical properties can be made concrete on a macroscopic scale. 

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis for their groundbreaking discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling and energy quantization in electric circuits. Their experiments proved that quantum behavior can be observed in electrical systems large enough to be seen and held. 

              The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded 119 times to 230   laureates between 1901 and 2025. John Bardeen is the only laureate who has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics twice, in 1956 and 1972.   Does that strike a chord?   

Rhishard Llewellyn Jones (1865 – 1932) was a Welsh professor of physics who worked at the Presidency College Madras and also served as a director of the Madras Observatory. The man of this post was his student !  Jones  worked at Dulwich College and joined as a professor of physics at the Presidency College, Madras in 1889. He received an MA in 1893. At Madras he also served as Government Meteorologist from 1899.  

In 1902, the man  joined Presidency College in Madras  where his father had been transferred to teach mathematics and physics.  In 1904, he obtained a B.A. degree from the University of Madras, where he stood first and won the gold medals in physics and English.  At age 18, while still a graduate student, he published his first scientific paper on "Unsymmetrical diffraction bands due to a rectangular aperture" in the British journal Philosophical Magazine in 1906.  He earned an M.A. degree from the same university with highest distinction in 1907.  Aware of his capacity, his physics teacher Rhishard Llewellyn Jones insisted he continue research in England.  Sadly, the man was of  poor health and was considered as a "weakling." And was considered not healthy enough  to withstand the harsh weathers of England.  

His was an illustrious family.  His father was a Maths & Physics teacher.  His elder brother joined the Indian Finance Service (now Indian Audit and Accounts Service),  the most prestigious government service in India. In no condition to study abroad, our hero  followed suit and qualified for the Indian Finance Service achieving first position in the entrance examination in   1907.  He was posted in Calcutta   as Assistant Accountant General where he developed acquaintance with  Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), the first research institute founded in India in 1876.   In 1909, he  was transferred to Rangoon, British Burma   to take up the position of currency officer. After only a few months, he had to return to Madras as his father died from an illness.  He came back and   was promoted to Accountant General in 1911 and again posted to Calcutta.  Not any story of a successful bureaucrat !  - but that of a Great Scientist  - Sir C.V. Raman ! 

C. V. Raman was born in Tiruchirapalli,   to Tamil Brahmin parents, Chandrasekhara Ramanathan Iyer and Parvathi Ammal.  He was the second of eight siblings.  Raman discovered that when light traverses a transparent material, the deflected light changes its wave-length and frequency. This phenomenon, a hitherto unknown type of scattering of light, which they called "modified scattering" was subsequently termed the Raman effect or Raman scattering. Raman received the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery and was the first Asian to receive a Nobel Prize in any branch of science.  

CV Raman  topped the bachelor's degree examination of the University of Madras with honours in physics from Presidency College at age 16. His first research paper, on diffraction of light, was published in 1906. In 1917, he was appointed the first Palit Professor of Physics by Ashutosh Mukherjee at the Rajabazar Science College under the University of Calcutta. On his first trip to Europe, seeing the Mediterranean Sea motivated him to identify the prevailing explanation for the blue colour of the sea at the time, namely the reflected Rayleigh-scattered light from the sky, as being incorrect. He founded the Indian Journal of Physics in 1926. He moved to Bangalore in 1933 to become the first Indian director of the Indian Institute of Science. He founded the Indian Academy of Sciences the same year. He established the Raman Research Institute in 1948 where he worked to his last days.

The Raman effect was discovered on 28 February 1928. The day is celebrated annually by the Government of India as the National Science Day. In 1954, the Government of India honoured him with the first Bharat Ratna, its highest civilian award. He later smashed the medallion in protest against Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's policies on scientific research.  

Here is something extracted from Nobel Prize web :  Prize motivation: “for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the effect named after him”  

When light meets particles that are smaller than the light’s wavelength, the light spreads in different directions. This occurs, for example, when light packets—photons—encounter molecules in a gas. In 1928 Venkata Raman discovered that a small portion of the scattered light acquires other wavelengths than that of the original light. This is because some of the incoming photons’ energy can be transferred to a molecule, giving it a higher level of energy. Among other things, the phenomenon is used to analyze different types of material.  

Sir CV Raman was a great personality – awards at least the ones pertaining to Physics must be named after people like him but in our Nation, we have -   Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR); Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai; Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR);  Indira Gandhi Science Complex / Planetarium (Taramandal), Bihar; Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram  .. .. and more !!!!   

.. .. and did you remember him today .. .. if not, though late, let us celebrate and remember that great Scientist, Nobel Laureate  who brought glory to mother India.  The Pincode mentioned  at the start 560093 is CV Raman Nagar in Bengaluru named after the great Scientist. It is a residential area near tech hubs of Indira Nagar and Kaggadasapura.    

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
28^th Feb 2026 
 
Biblio :  https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1930/raman/facts/
Science day poster : X post of @madhav_ghodekar
Sir CV Raman teaching : X post of @Sudarshn_chakra

 

Rayleigh effect !! ~ சிந்து நதிக்கரை ஓரம், அந்தி நேரம் !!

 

Two photos taken from Napier Bridge, Chennai – in a gap of 2 minutes – one showing Sun bright coloured and other through some shadows caused by moving clouds -  heard of Rayleigh !! 

John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh [1842 – 1919], was a British Physicist and hereditary peer who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1904 "for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases and for his discovery of argon in connection with these studies". 

சிந்து நதிக்கரை ஓரம், அந்தி நேரம், எந்தன் தேவன் பாடினான்

தமிழ் கீதம்  .. .. … பாடினான்  ~  heard this song ! 

அந்தி நேரம்" என்பது மாலை நேரத்திற்கும், இரவு நேரத்திற்கும் இடைப்பட்ட காலத்தைக் குறிக்கிறது. சூரியன் மறைந்த பிறகும், வானம் முழுமையாக இருட்டாவதற்கு முன்னதாக இருக்கும் மங்கலான ஒளி சூழ்ந்த வேளை இதுவாகும்.

இது "அந்திப் பொழுது", "மாலை வேளை" என்றும் அழைக்கப்படுகிறது.  "அந்தி" என்ற சொல்லுக்கு முடிவு அல்லது சந்திப்பு என்று பொருள். பகல் முடிந்து இரவு தொடங்கும் நேரத்தின் சந்திப்பு என்பதால் இப்பெயர் வந்தது. 

          A Sunset is the daily event when the Sun disappears below the western horizon due to the Earth's rotation, marking the end of the day and the beginning of twilight. It is renowned for the beautiful colors (yellow, orange, red, and purple) that often appear in the sky during this time.  The colors of a sunset are caused by a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering, which involves how sunlight interacts with the gas molecules and other particles in the Earth's atmosphere. 

Rayleigh scattering is the scattering or deflection of light, or other electromagnetic radiation, by particles with a size much smaller than the wavelength of the radiation. For light frequencies well below the resonance frequency of the scattering medium (normal dispersion regime), the amount of scattering is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the wavelength (e.g., a blue color is scattered much more than a red color as light propagates through air). The phenomenon is named after the 19th-century British physicist Lord Rayleigh (John William Strutt). 

பாடல் : சிந்து நதி கரையோரம் ; படம் : நல்லதொரு குடும்பம்

பாடகர் : டி.எம். சௌந்தரராஜன்; பாடகி : பி. சுசீலா

இசை : இளையராஜா; பாடலாசிரியர் : கண்ணதாசன்

வெளியானஆண்டு   1979; தயாரிப்பு கவிதாலயா புரொடக்சன்ஸ்

 
 
Interesting !
 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
20.11.2025

Are Sun & Moon - of the same size !!

Every day we look towards the Sky – the Sun, the Moon, the Stars are very attractive.  To a naked eye the full moon and Sun appear somewhat similar in size !  Are they of the same size ! – do our eyes deceive us !?!

 

The human eye is a sensory organ in the visual system that reacts to visible light allowing eyesight. Other functions include maintaining the circadian rhythm, and keeping balance.  The eye can be considered as a living optical device. 

According to the Indian Evidence Act – a crime is established by statement of evidences.  All persons shall be competent to testify unless the Court considers that they are prevented from understanding the questions put to them, or from giving rational answers to those questions, by tender years, extreme old age, disease, whether of body or mind, or any other cause of the same kind.   Ocular evidence is direct testimony from an eyewitness to a crime, while medical evidence is scientific data from medical professionals about injuries or the cause of death. Courts generally give primacy to ocular evidence from an eyewitness unless medical evidence directly contradicts and completely rules out the possibility of the ocular testimony being true.

 

Are Sun and the Moon of the same size ??  certainly NOT - The Sun’s diameter is about 400 times larger than that of the moon – and the sun is also about 400 times farther from Earth.

 

Life is not about – ‘who is big or powerful’ – howsoever mighty the Sun could be, it is always the  Moon that attracts  people more.  In villages Sun would disappear behind hill or natural scenery; at places, He would disappear into the Sea – but in Metropolis, He has to hide behind manmade structures and cloth hangings !! 

Regards – S Sampathkumar
21.9.2025

  

Did you witness Blood Moon !!

Likely you would have watched the spectacle of Lunar eclipse yesterday – full glowing moon, then partially covered and at the time of full eclipse, I thought it would be pitch dark and nothing would be visible !!  (I was wrong though !) 

The longest total lunar eclipse visible from India since 2022 occurred last night and it was  the first time since July 27, 2018, that an entire total lunar eclipse was  observable from all parts of the country.   Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. When the Moon is totally eclipsed by the Earth (a "deep eclipse"), it  takes on a reddish color that is caused by the planet when it completely blocks direct sunlight from reaching the Moon's surface, as the only light that is reflected from the lunar surface is what has been refracted by the Earth's atmosphere. This light appears reddish due to the Rayleigh scattering of blue light, the same reason sunrises and sunsets are more orange than during the day.            

Yesterday,    Sky-watchers across the globe witnessed a total lunar eclipse which turned the full Moon red.  The Blood Moon is visible during a total lunar eclipse. As the earth is placed between the sun and the moon, only some sunlight, filtered from the earth’s atmosphere, reaches the moon. When sunlight collides with the molecules suspended in the air, blue light scatters away easily, and only the red light reaches the moon, making it look red. As the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow, it takes on a deep red hue, creating a striking "Blood Moon" – Astro scientists explained.  

When the moon is passing through the inner, darkest part of the earth’s shadow, called umbra, it appears dimmer. When it passes through the penumbra, or the outer part of the shadow, the dimming can be too small to be noticed prominently. Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is safe to watch with the naked eye. 

According to an article in Space.com, the scientists examined accounts from 1100 to 1300 AD, and “linked five dark and two reddish lunar eclipses to major eruptions during the High Medieval Period. Dark lunar eclipses were observable for three to 20 months after an eruption.”

 

While billions watched directly the sight of Earth’s shadow sweeping over the lunar disk, few thousands of Professional photographers and more nos. of amateur were trying to capture with their lenses from across Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe to see and show the distinct phases of the eclipse in exquisite detail.   

 

I had posted on article on lunar eclipse lacing it with two photos taken at around 21.45 hrs (full moon) and  the last two here [eclipsed ones] taken at 22.21 hrs.  When I tried to capture the eclipsed moon at around 11 pm – initially nothing was visible to my eyes – thought was looking at a wrong direction, then as the clouds moved, could sight faintly crescent of moon.   Then changing my Camera settings all the way, could capture these – much better than what I saw with naked eye around 22.55 hours .. .. not exactly a full blood moon but !!!

 
Regards – S. Sampathkumar
8.9.2025   

the wing patterns of a dragonfly !!!

Identify this !!

 

Our school days were lost without our understanding many things – remember this English poem of William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850), an English romantic poet whose magnum opus is considered to be ‘the Prelude’ : this was ‘butterfly’ 

I'VE watched you now a full half-hour;

Self-poised upon that yellow flower

.. .. .. ..

I know not if you sleep or feed.

How motionless!--not frozen seas 

The opening lines  reveals his apparent entrancement.  It  perhaps was no poem on a simple butterfly, but more of what it could represent ! It's fragile, delicate, short lifespan and every moment could be it's last, with all the "predators" out there.  Though we take solace planning longer things, our life too is fragile… 

Not as attractive is the one that we see generally when it is cloudy and about to rain – a  dragonfly,  an insect belonging to the order Odonata, having hindwing broader than front wing. Adult dragonflies are characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches and an elongated body. Dragonflies are agile fliers, while damselflies have a weaker, fluttery flight.  Have seen blue, green and black dragonflies – and rare  red ones too. 

Dragonflies are predators, both in their aquatic larval stage, when they are known as nymphs or naiads, and as adults. Several years of their lives are spent as nymphs living in fresh water; the adults may be on the wing for just a few days or weeks. Found nearer water bodies, they  have a uniquely complex mode of reproduction involving indirect insemination, delayed fertilization, and sperm competition.   Adult  dragonflies eat other insects and can consume hundreds of mosquitoes in one day! They are valued predators, since they help control populations of harmful insects. Dragonflies are usually found around lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands because their larvae, known as "nymphs", are aquatic. Adult dragonflies do not bite or sting humans, though nymphs are capable of delivering a painful but harmless bite. 

The wings are unique,  not flat, but deliberately shaped. The grooves on the surface create tiny cyclones on the upper surface during flight, creating substantial lift. Dragonfly wings possess great stability and high load-bearing capacity during flapping flight, glide, and hover. Scientists have been intrigued by them and have carried out research for biomimetic applications. 

The wings of dragonflies are mainly composed of veins and membranes, a typical nanocomposite material. The veins and membranes have a complex design within the wing that give rise to whole-wing characteristics which result in dragonflies being supremely versatile, maneuverable fliers. The wing structure, especially corrugation, on dragonflies is believed to enhance aerodynamic performance. Dragonflies can move and rotate each of their four wings independently. Thanks to this unique ability, these insects can fly backwards, up and down. They can turn on a dime and can hover, all contributing to their great flying abilities. 

There are a number of key structures in the wing which contribute to the manner in which it bends in flight and therefore help to facilitate the wing’s aerodynamic properties.   The vein structure of the dragonfly has an optimum shape which is adapted to the forces acting at the location of the vein. The leading edge consists primarily of rectangular frames whereas the trailing surface is largely formed of hexagons and other polygons with more than four sides, which guarantee wing stability against loading.     

If you are wondering what the photo at the start represents – it is a dragonfly sitting on a wire, and only its wings are fully visible !!

 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
30.8.2025 

Xenon gas ~ scaling Mt. Everest ! - Bachendri Pal

 

It  is a chemical element; with  symbol Xe and atomic number 54. Xenon gas is a noble, colorless, odorless, and unreactive gas. It's a trace component of Earth's atmosphere, present in small amounts (less than 1 ppm). Xenon is also known as a "stranger gas" because the Greek word "xenos" means "stranger".

 

History was scripted on this day 41 years ago, when Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman to summit Mount Everest. She scaled the world’s highest peak at 8,848 metres as part of India’s fourth expedition to Everest. Is it really a Sport  ?   – certainly one of a physical pursuit demanding an affinity for suffering, where it is cerebral in its requirement of good judgment, most importantly in extreme situations when the mind is most clouded and consequences of bad decision-making tend to multiply.  Considering the level of  risks of what the participants call the objective level, it  involves assessing dangers one may encounter – weather, avalanches, poor rock, and many more unthought of ! – really very tough challenges experienced and willfully pursued  by mankind.  .. .. it is conquering Mount Everest called ‘mountaineering’ !

 

The world’s highest mountain peak Mount Everest is called Chomolungma in Tibetan and Sagarmāthā  in Nepali.  Mount Everest, located on the top of the world, attracts people.  Sagarmāthā is Earth's highest mountain. Its peak is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft)  ~ although more than 4,000 people have scaled the summit since Sir Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay first conquered the mountain in 1953, hundreds have also perished.  Statistics reveal that scaling Everest is much easier than it used to be. In 1990 just 18 per cent of summit attempts were successful, but in 2012 that figure was 56 per cent. 

The first recorded efforts to reach Everest's summit were made by British mountaineers. As Nepal did not allow foreigners to enter the country at the time, the British made several attempts on the North Ridge route from the Tibetan side. After the first reconnaissance expedition by the British in 1921 reached 7,000 m (22,966 ft) on the North Col, the 1922 expedition on its first summit attempt marked the first time a human had climbed above 8,000 m (26,247 ft) and it also pushed the North Ridge route up to 8,321 m (27,300 ft). On the 1924 expedition George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made a final summit attempt on 8 June but never returned, sparking debate as to whether they were the first to reach the top. Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first documented ascent of Everest in 1953, using the Southeast Ridge route. Norgay had reached 8,595 m (28,199 ft) the previous year as a member of the 1952 Swiss expedition.

 

Bachendri Pal was born on 24 May 1954 in Nakuri village, in the Uttarkashi district, as  one of five children to Hansa Devi, and Shri Kishan Singh Pal, – a border tradesman who supplied groceries from India to Tibet. Just a few days less than year before,  was the day of original ascension of Mount Everest by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. She completed her M.A. and B.Ed,  started mountaineering at the age of 12 when, along with her friends, she scaled a 13,123 ft (3,999.9 m) high peak during a school picnic.  She became the first female to climb Mount Gangotri 23,419 ft (7,138.1 m) and Mount Rudragaria 19,091 ft (5,818.9 m) in 1982. In that time, she became an instructor at the National Adventure Foundation (NAF), which had set up an adventure school for training women to learn mountaineering.

 

Pal encountered stiff opposition from her family and relatives when she chose a career as a professional mountaineer rather than a schoolteacher. However, she soon found success in her chosen field when, after summiting a number of smaller peaks, she was selected to join India's first mixed-gender team to attempt an expedition to Mount Everest in 1984.  In 1984,  India scheduled its fourth expedition to Mount Everest, christened "Everest '84". Bachendri Pal was selected as one of the members of the group of six Indian women and eleven men to attempt the ascent of Mount Everest.  The team was flown to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, in March 1984, and from there the team moved onwards. Recalling her first glimpse of Mount Everest, Bachendri reminisced, "We, the hill people, have always worshipped the mountains... my overpowering emotion at this awe-inspiring spectacle was, therefore, devotional."  The team commenced its ascent in May 1984. Her team almost met disaster when an avalanche buried their camp, and more than half the group abandoned the attempt because of injury or fatigue. Bachendri Pal and the remainder of the team pressed on to reach the summit.    

On 22 May 1984, Ang Dorje (the Sherpa sirdar) and some other climbers joined the team to ascend to the summit of Mount Everest; Bachendri was the only woman in this group. They reached the South Col and spent the night there at Camp IV at the altitude of 26,000 ft (7,924.8 m). At 6:20 a.m. on 23 May 1984, they continued the ascent, climbing "vertical sheets of frozen ice"; cold winds were blowing at the speed of about 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) and temperatures touching −30 to −40 °C (−22 to −40 °F). On 23 May 1984, the team reached the summit of Mount Everest at 1:07 p.m. and Bachendri Pal created history.  She achieved this feat on the day before her 30th birthday, and six days before the 31st anniversary of the first ascension of Mount Everest.

 

With a great accomplishment, she has been conferred many awards and accolades that include :  Gold Medal for Excellence in Mountaineering by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (1984);  Padma Shri in 1984;  Arjuna Award 1986;  National Adventure Award by the Government of India (1994);  entry in Guiness book of World records;   •          Honorary Doctorate from the Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University  .. ..  &  Padma Bhushan 2019.  

Everest is named after the colonial-era British surveyor George Everest, who never actually saw it.   

Kritika Sharma, a 19-year-old woman and college student from Himachal Pradesh  has captured nationwide attention, as  she successfully scaled Mount Everest on May 18, 2025. Kritika belongs to a remote village of Gattadhar, within the Sangrah subdivision of Sirmaur district. With her historic climb, she took the Indian tricolour, NCC flag and college insignia to this 8,848m summit, symbolizing her respect for her country, her commitment to her career of choice and the spirit of Indian youth, all at once.  

Chhonzin Angmo, a tribal woman from a remote village in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district, suffers from total blindness but she has never let her visual impairment stand in the way of her dreams.  This week, she scripted history by becoming the first visually-impaired woman from India and the fifth such person in the world to scale Mt Everest, planting the Tricolour on Earth's highest mountain. 

.. .. if you remember the first para still  !  ~  Four British climbers have become the first to summit Mount Everest using Xenon gas to accelerate their acclimatisation, shaving weeks off the traditional expedition timeline.  The historic ascent, organised by Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures, marks a new chapter in high-altitude mountaineering. Typically, climbers spend several weeks or even months on Everest, gradually adjusting to the mountain’s thin air before attempting the 8,848-metre summit. Rapid ascents without proper acclimatisation are considered extremely dangerous due to the risk of altitude sickness and hypoxia. However, the British team, after inhaling Xenon gas in Germany and sleeping in high-altitude simulation tents at home, managed to reach the summit in less than five days after leaving London. They also used supplemental oxygen during their climb, as is standard practice.

 
Interesting !
 
Regards – S. Sampathkumar
26.5.2025