Unfair Advantage

Today’s stealth technology is close to making every warrior’s ultimate goal of being invisible to the enemy a reality. Using plasma clouds, radioactive paints, light-bending cloth and deadly-silent power plants, the prospect of war could turn into a decidedly one-sided proposition.
By Mark Davis

(Stealth technology also known as LO technology (low observable technology) is a sub-discipline of military electronic countermeasures which covers a range of techniques used with aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, in order to make them less visible (ideally invisible) to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection methods.)

Barricaded behind the rubble of a shattered village, heavily armed fighters watch as enemy troops pick their way down a distant hillside. It is daytime and the glaring sun can easily play tricks on even the most experienced eyes, but the defenders watch in bewilderment as one by one, the approaching soldiers reach up to their helmets, flip a switch and seem to vanish from sight. Without the slightest warning of any sound, there are suddenly a half dozen helicopters, bristling with weapons, hovering above the encampment like a swarm of deadly insects, soundless and fading in and out of sight behind shimmering waves of heat.

Off balance, unsure where to shoot first, one of the better-hidden fighters takes aim at a still-visible foot soldier. The instant his bullet leaves its barrel, a cluster of geo- metrically arrayed microphones on an approaching vehicle triangulates the shock wave and delivers 3D co- ordinates to a soldier's aiming aid. One shot, threat eliminated.

Sounds far-fetched, but the world's major military powers aren't just dreaming about such systems.

"Take Michael Callahan of the Pen- tagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He is tasked with making the futuristic scenario hap- pen today for the US military. "It is my goal to provide our men and women with an unfair advantage over the enemy," he says.

Up in the Air

While military technology co-opted the term "stealth" 40 years ago, the first large-scale attempt to hide armies and weapons goes back to World War II, with the introduction of patterned camouflage uniforms.

"Stealth," as weapons expert Da- vid Hambling puts it, "comes down to not being spotted by whatever is most dangerous to you.

"This is as easy as sticking grass in your helmet for infantry soldiers, but WWII aircraft engineers grap- pled with ways to minimise airframe silhouettes against the daytime sky.

At first they tried painting the underbelly of the airplanes white, or pale blue, to match the sky. They soon realised, however, it was the shadow - not the colour - that made the dark dot in the sky. To get rid of the incriminating shadow, engineers attached fluorescent lights under the fuselage and wings that pilots could dim or brighten to match the time of day. It wasn't perfect, but gave pilots some virtual invisibility.

The quest to make planes invis- ible received an unexpected boost when US space programme scien- tists from NASA noticed that early spacecraft went dead to radar and radio waves upon re-entering the atmosphere. This occurs because the friction heating on re-entry creates a plasma "bubble" around the craft, making it vanish from radar screens. Called plasma aerodynamics, the concept seems right out of an episode of "Star Trek," but several inventors say they have a way to cre- ate "cloaking devices" for real.

One suggestion involves an on- board particle accelerator that zaps the atmosphere immediately in front of the aircraft, laying down "a carpet of invisibility" to fly into.

Another method advocates us- ing an on-board super-conductor magnetic coil to engulf the craft in a radar-absorbing plasma cloud. A third suggestion involves painting warplanes with radioisotopes that would ionise the surrounding atmo- sphere, creating a plasma sheath.

The beauty of flying your airplane in a plasma sheath is that it also sig- nificantly reduces drag, by as much as 3 percent. The one drawback of painting a fighter, bomber or recon- naissance plane with radioactive isotopes is that they will glow in the dark. There is speculation that some of the glowing in the night skies over the notorious "area 51" in the US state of Nevada, widely speculated as being caused by UFOs, might instead have been the result of the US Air Force's top-secret experi- ments using radioactive paint on U-2 spy planes.

Other stealth approaches involve using high-tech materials that could either scatter incoming radar waves, or even switch their wavelengths, thus confusing the trackers by turn- ing the aircraft's radar signature into random noise.

Lost at Sea

The Swedish Navy leads the way to invisibility on the high seas with its corvette-class Visby warship. Made from the same ultra-hard, carbon- fibre material used in Formula One racing cars, the Visby is light and quick and uses less fuel than more conventional ships in its class.

NAIR-SAN

Pic:orginal Nair-san with his family

AN INDIAN FREEDOM FIGHTER IN JAPAN
A.M.Nair known as NAIRSAN

Youth leader, patriot, colonial Britain’s Bete Noir, technocrat, linguist, advisor to the Indian diplomatic mission in Tokyo and eventually a business entrepreneur, Ayyappanpillai Madhavan Nair.

Following his schooling in his home state of kerala, he graduated as a civil engineer from Kyoto University in Japan. After a short stint as an engineer he was drawn inexorably into Japanese politics in which he functioned sometime as a Ronin, that character of rightwing activists who sought no personal rewards but wielded the highest influence in the country.

Nairsan, as he is commonly known, has lived in Japan for over half a century and also spent several years in Manchuria. Here he was an unofficial advisor to the Manchukuo government and the Kwangtung army and also conducted anti-colonial movements against British imperialism in India and other parts of Asia.

His advisory function was invariably marked by complete objectivity, integrity and independence, quality which earned him deep respect all round. For various purposes of his dealings with them the Japanese government recognized him as a personally equivalent in status initially to a major general and later to a lieutenant general.

Waging a most hazardous one-man crusade against the wool trade from Mongolia and Tibet to England, he successfully stopped the shipment of the goods to Manchester and Lancashire. During his Mongolian adventures which took him to regions some of which no other Indian has ever visited, he assumed many secret identities - a living Buddha, a camel caravan expert and a Muslim priest among them.

With Japan’s entry into the second world, Nairsan joined the Indian independence league in Japan and the south East Asian countries under the leadership of Rash Behari Bose – the legendary revolutionary in exile. Here he served as co-founder of the league and the chief link between the Indian freedom movement and the Japanese government.

In their forthright approach these memoirs constitute a valuable contribution to the history of India’s freedom struggle abroad.

In recognition of his dedicated and sustained contribution to the strengthening of friendly and cordial relations between India and Japan, Mr. Nair was awarded the exalted decoration of the order of merit of the sacred treasure (Kun zuihosho) by emperor Hiorohito in November 1984.

NAIR SAN: The legendary indian patriot in world cinema

1964 Japan Olympics. It was a thrilling moment for India when Indian Hockey Team won the Gold. But when the National anthem was being played at the medal distribution ceremony one among the crowd began shouting at the Japanese Government only because of the fact that instead of India ’s National Anthem the authorities played Pakistani National Anthem. Even though there were many officials and great personalities from India who were witnessing the incident none raised their voice other than this great Indian. That was the Indian legendary hero Ayyapan Pllai Madhavan Nair famous as Nair San in Japan. This is only one of the incidents which show the patriotism of this great man who became the reason for ending the Asian exploitation by the British during the freedom struggle.

For those who know Nair san personally he is special in different ways. Nair San had to leave his native land Kerala at the age of 18 as he campaigned among the students and led protests and marches against the social injustices of the British. He rebelled against the Education tax polled by English rulers. Being settled in Japan he struggled hard to root out the imperialism in Asian Countries. At the same time freedom fighters in India assembled men against English rulers. His efficiency in Japanese, Chinese and Spanish languages lifted him above all other Indian freedom fighters in Japan such as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Rash Behari Bose, Pratap Singh, Barkathullah etc. Thus Nair San became an ever lively presence in the strong and well arming agitation organized by Indian National Army and Indian Independence League.

Many thrilling moments in the life of Nair San are unknown.. His strange experiences and dangerous encounters taking the roles of a trader, a Holy lama and a Soofi during his one man expedition and exploration through the deserts and Plateau of Manchukia , Ala Shaan , Mongolia , Tibet , and China in 1933 paved the way for ending the illicit wool trade of the British which contributed the major source of their income.

When a renowned film Director from Kerala like Albert honored with awards for his debut film decided to take up the story of Nair San for his next film it is a prestigious moment for the whole of India as the film is being designed in such a way so as to attract the aesthetics of the International audience. Albert’s passion and vision on Nair San is complemented by his tremendous urge to discover new eras on the subject and to create a truly international class Asian film spanning different cultures, languages and religions. The adventurous life of Nair San lighted the flame in Albert’s mind to create such a film where the Director’s creative concept is used more than the mere historical approach. The story is based on ‘Memories of Nair San’ the biography of A.M.Nair and the creative concept is developed by Albert himself.

Padmasree Mohanlal acts the lead role in the first Japanese film directed by an Indian. The other two famous actors in the film are selected from Bollywood. The leading Japanese actress is preferred to be the heroine of Mohanlal. As Nair San married a Japanese lady it is the perfect recreation by the director himself to select a Japanese actress as the heroine.

The world action hero Jackie Chan also in this film to play the role of a Cameo”,

Music maestro A.R.Rahman will be doing music for the film. The traditional Mongolian & Japanese songs included in the film will be a different experience for the music lovers. The $7.5 million budget film is said to be a different experience for the film lovers worldwide as it is the result of the hard work and enthusiasm of a handful of talented artists. As Japan is the second largest film market in the world the revenue calculated from the movie will be much more than the budget of the film. The major location of the film is Japan, Mongolia and India . The schedule of the film is planned within 145 days and it is expected to release by the end of 2008. Albert had been in hazardous attempt to secure all the detailed knowledge for the perfection of the film.

Data faked on Hitachi-built atomic plants

Hitachi Ltd. said Monday it has discovered that data were falsified in connection with equipment at two nuclear plants in Shizuoka and Shimane prefectures, but shrugged off any safety concerns

The falsified data relate to the heat-treatment process used by another company responsible for the pipe welds on the moisture-separator heaters, Hitachi and its group company said. The heaters increase thermal efficiency by removing moisture from steam sent to turn the turbines and heating it.

Hitachi admitted that the equipment used at Chubu Electric Power Co.'s No. 5 reactor at the Hamaoka plant in Shizuoka Prefecture and at Chugoku Electric Power Co.'s No. 3 reactor under construction at the Shimane plant in Shimane Prefecture, were not operating as specified. But Hitachi claimed that "there is no problem with its material or safety."

Hitachi is checking for any similar data falsification incidents at its 17 other nuclear reactors.
Hitachi outsourced the heat treatment work, which was intended to make the pipes more resistant to cracking, to Japan Industrial Testing Co.
Although Hitachi was reprimanded by the government over a similar incident involving a subcontractor in 1997, it does not appear that the company is facing harsher punishment.
Instead, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told Hitachi and Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Ltd., to investigate whether other incidents of falsification had occurred and to submit plans to prevent a recurrence. Hitachi-GE Nuclear was formed by the merger of the nuclear businesses of the Hitachi and U.S. giant General Electric Co.

During the work, the pipes' temperatures fell faster than specified because of inappropriate temperature management, but that data was erased from the records using a bleaching agent, according to Hitachi, its group company and other sources.

The incident at the Shimane reactor occurred last December when a person in charge of the work wrongly operated the heat treatment equipment and failed to spot the irregularity quickly enough, they said.
The person in charge was quoted as saying: "If (the mistake had been) found, I would have had to do the heat treatment process again at the yearend when I was supposed to be off. I didn't want to do that."

An official at Japan Industrial Testing apologized and vowed that the company will train its employees appropriately. Hitachi has also apologized and said it will work to prevent a recurrence.

Hitachi started to investigate after Chugoku Electric Power in March found possible data falsification related to the heat treatment work of the Shimane plant's No. 3 reactor.

AR Rahman teams up with Japanese music composer Joe Hisaishi

AR Rahman has added another feather to his cap. The composer has now tied up with Japanese music composer Joe Hisaishi for the music of their forthcoming Indo-Japanese venture. Our source said, “Rahman, Bharat Bala (director) and some people from Disney (who are producing the film) met Joe Hisaishi in Tokyo on April 6 to discuss the film. Apart from Kamal Haasan and Asin, the film also stars Japanese actor Tadanobo Asano (Mongol,Wind Up Type,Last Life In The Universe).The movie will trace the origin of martial art in India.” According to our source, the film deals with Kalaripayattu, the martial art form of Kerala. The source added, “Kamal was very keen to work with a Japanese actor after he met Jackie Chan during the music release of Dasavataram. This is a $ 50 million (250 crores approx) project by Bharat Bala who will also be directing the film. Research work on the martial art form is currently on. The film will show that martial arts originated in India and not in Japan.” Bharat Bala and Rahman remained unavailable for comment.

Original Schindler’s List discovered

Sydney: A list of Jews saved by Oskar Schindler that inspired the novel and Oscar-winning film Schindler’s List has been found in a Sydney library, its co-curator said. Workers at the New South Wales State Library found the list, containing the names of 801 Jews saved from the Holocaust by the businessman, as they sifted through boxes of Australian author Thomas Keneally’s manuscript material. The 13-page document, a yellowed and fragile carbon typescript copy of the original, was found between research notes and German newspaper clippings in one of the boxes, library co-curator Olwen Pryke said.

Pryke described the 13-page list as “one of the most powerful documents of the 20th Century” and was stunned to find it in the library’s collection. “This list was hurriedly typed on April 18, 1945, in the closing days of WWII, and it saved 801 men from the gas chambers,” she said. “It’s an incredibly moving piece of history.”

She said the library had no idea the list was among six boxes of material acquired in 1996 relating to Keneally’s Booker Prize-winning novel, originally published as Schindler’s Ark.

The 1982 novel told the story of how the roguish Schindler discovered his conscience and risked his life to save more than 1,000 Jews from the Nazis. Hollywood director Steven Spielberg turned it into a film in 1993 starring Liam Neeson as Schindler and Ralph Fiennes as the head of an SS-run camp.

Pryke said that, although the novel and film implied there was a single, definitive list, Schindler actually compiled a number of them as he persuaded Nazi bureaucrats not to send his workers to the death camps. She said the document found by the library was given to Keneally in 1980 by Leopold Pfefferberg—named on the list as Jewish worker number 173—when he was persuading the novelist to write Schindler’s story. As such, it was the list that inspired Keneally to tell the world about Schindler’s heroics, she said. AFP

100 youngsters give up hot jobs TO TEACH FOR INDIA

100 youngsters give up hot jobs TO TEACH FOR INDIA
Namita Devidayal


When 23-year-old Saurabh Taneja announced to his parents that he wanted to take two years off and teach underprivileged children, they were aghast. Their son had graduated from IIT (Delhi) and had a well-paying job as a consultant with a Bangalore-based company.

They had some very big questions for him: Why would you want to throw it all away? Why would you take such an enormous salary cut? Who had heard of Teach For India? What about the future? Saurabh realized that these were not issues he could discuss over the phone. He flew home to Jaipur, sat them down, and explained why he wanted to leave his comfort zone and enter a world where he may not even have fans above his head, or why he was willing to go from earning Rs 50,000 to Rs 15,000 per month. “I had to explain to them that this may be the most challenging thing I would do in my entire life,” he says.

Over the last couple of months, many 20-somethings have been similarly convincing their parents about their decision to mentor children. Says Gaurav Singh, 24, a software programmer with Accenture, "My mother was also understandably apprehensive about my decision to quit the corporate world and become a teacher. But when I told her in detail about the idea and the people behind Teach For India and also why I wanted to be a part of it she not only supported me but was also very proud of my decision.” It may have taken a little heartburn, but Saurabh and Gaurav are now on board.

Starting June this year, 100 such youngsters from different walks of life will be spread across in a unique national programme that seeks to narrow the educational gap in India by placing accomplished graduates and young professionals in low-income schools to teach for two years. The Teach For India fellows will undergo rigorous training in May and enter the classrooms after the summer vacation. This year, the programme is confined to 45 low-income private schools and municipal schools in Mumbai and Pune,.

Over a period of time, it will spread across the country. Teach For India founder Shaheen Mistri says, “Our Fellows represent the driving force of Teach For India’s movement. The energy, quality, commitment and passion of our candidates has been the most inspiring. It drives us to work relentlessly to ensure that Teach For India’s first class of 2009 is a success.” When asked what motivated them to apply for this fellowship, the youngsters are driven by a range of reasons—from an altruistic desire to give back to a very practical sense that they were, in fact, going to enhance their future. For, they realize that such an experience will broaden their leadership and management skills and add value to whatever they end up doing. This is perhaps why a number of companies – including the Aditya Birla group, Thermax, ICICI – are supporting the programme, agreeing to pay the stipends for, as well as reinstate, any employee who qualifies and takes the two years off to teach. For some, the two-year stint also promises to be an extraordinary, if challenging, adventure. “It is a crash course in how to manage challenges,” says Dhiren Achtani, 26, who currently works as a project manager for Citibank, “I am driven by that idea of slowly and steadily reaching that last mile where your students show signs of progress --progress that tells you that you added value and you made the child move from bookish knowledge to real knowledge and that you earned that bit of the day…”

Love Hormone Boosts Strangers' Sex Appeal

Love Hormone Boosts Strangers' Sex Appeal
Oxytocin Could Play a Key Role in Choosing Mates
By EWEN CALLAWAY

A chemical best known for cementing the bond between a mother and her newborn child could also play a part in picking mister (or miss) right.

A new study shows that men and women who inhale a whiff of the hormone oxytocin rate strangers as more attractive.

When oxytocin courses through our blood, "we are more likely to see people we don't know in a more positive light," says Angeliki Theodoridou, a psychologist at the University of Bristol, UK, who led the new study.

This effect adds to the hormone's known role in human relationships. One study found that oxytocin levels spike after new mothers look at or touch their newborns and may help bonding.

Other work has hinted at the importance of oxytocin in social situations between adults too.
People administered the hormone make overly generous offers in an economic game that measures trust, while men who got a dose of oxytocin proved better at remembering the faces of strangers a day later, compared to subjects who got a placebo.

Dampened Fear?

In the latest trial, Theodoridou's team tested 96 men and women in a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. After participants got either a spritz of oxytocin or a placebo, they rated pictures of 48 men and women for attractiveness and 30 for trustworthiness. Her team also tested for mood.

No matter their sex or mood, volunteers who received oxytocin rated male and female strangers as both more attractive and trusting.
Theodoridou's study did not examine how oxytocin could affect social judgements, but she speculates that the hormone dampens brain activity in a region involved in processing fearful emotions, called the amygdala.

A previous study found that oxytocin tempered amygdala activation in volunteers who saw a face that had previously been paired with a slight shock.

Love Spray

Although Theodoridou's study shows that oxytocin acts similarly on men and women when rating strangers, sex differences could emerge in real-world situations, says Jennifer Bartz, a psychologist at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York.

More research is needed to see if this is the case, she says.Unsurprisingly, entrepreneurs are already trying to make a buck off of oxytocin's social effects. One company offers a spray that claims to engender trust in others, though it offers little more than testimonials as evidence that it works. Could a similar spray spark romances between total strangers? Theodoridou doesn't think so. "I would not endorse any of these products," she says.