Indian Super FastComputer !!

India plans fastest supercomputer by 2017!!! The government has drawn a blueprint for developing the next generation of supercomputers that could be 61 times faster than existing machines. Telecom and IT Minister KapilSibal is understood to have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sharing the roadmap to develop "petaflop and exaflop range of supercomputers" at an estimated cost of Rs 4,700 crore over 5 years. "In his (Sibal) letter, he has said that C-DAC has developed a proposal with a roadmap to develop a petaflop and exaflop range of supercomputers in the country with an outlay of Rs 4,700 crore," a government official said. A petaflop is a measure of a computer’s processing speed and can be expressed as a thousand trillion floating point operations per second. Exaflop is one quintillion computer operations per second. Simply put, one exaflop is thousand times faster than one petaflop. The fastest supercomputer in the world, Sequoia, has registered a top computing speed of 16.32 petaflops which is equivalent of computing of power from over 7.8 lakhs high-end laptops put together.

- Mr. Anurag Chatap (3U1)

If the Indian government approves building exaflop supercomputers, these will be at least 61 times faster than Sequoia, officials said. India's top supercomputer at present ranks 58thglobally in terms of computing speed. Sibal has cited the past record of Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) which was set up in 1987 by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi after technologically advanced nations denied supply of supercomputer to India in mid-1980s. "The Minister has written that C-DAC developed first supercomputers in the country, the PARAM series. Presently ParamYuva with 54 teraflop computing power is serving many researchers through Garuda Computing Grid," the official said. Sibal has proposed that Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) should be given tasks to coordinate overall supercomputing activities in the country as it has been done in the past. The proposal made in the letter says that DEITY should be given tasks to set up a National Apex Committee to oversee the implementation of the proposed Supercomputing Mission and C- DAC should establish peta and exascale supercomputing facilities and development activities.

Hydrogen – A promising step towards greenery..!!!

Mr. Ankit A. Raut(3M)

As we know machines are essential part of our

life, and all these machines consumes energy. There is no such a

machine which works without consuming energy! Hence the energy

requirement of the world is increasing at an alarming rate.

According to recent World Outlook, we derive

around 80% of our energy from fossil fuels like crude oil (36%) natural

gas (21%) and coal (23%). It is well known that these fossil fuels are

exhaustible and are likely to last for five decades, whereas coal reserves

may be adequate for only a couple of centuries. Also the growing

population has increased the pollution level in the atmosphere.

Clearly, to survive in such a scenario, hydrogen is

poised to be one of the potential energy source of the future.

It has three basic benefits:

The use of hydrogen is largely reduces pollution.

Hydrogen can be produced from numerous sources such as

methane, gasoline, biomass, coal or water.

If energy is produced from water, it becomes a sustainable

production system.

Thus, the issue related to energy, pollution,

environment and sustainability can be tackled effectively using

hydrogen energy. If matured technology developed, hydrogen can

become the cleanest, most efficient and cost effective fuel.

The main advantage of hydrogen energy is that it is produced from

water!

Properties of Hydrogen –

Hydrogen is a light, odorless and colourless gas with a density that

is 14 times lesser than air at STP and it liquefies temperature below

-253°.

Its energy per unit mass content is around 141.9 MJ/kg which is

around thrice of that of gasoline.

Hydrogen does not occur naturally as a gas on earth. It is always

present in combined form.

Production of Hydrogen –

Hydrogen is produced using various technologies, i.e.

i. Steam Reforming:

Hydrocarbons, mixed with steam at a temperature of about

1100°C under pressure, using a catalyst such as nickel, react

to release hydrogen.

ii. Electrolysis of water:

Water brakes apart into hydrogen and oxygen when an

electric current is passed through the electrolyte. The

positively charged ions are attracted by the cathode where

H2molecule are released. Oxygen released at anode.

iii. Gasification:

It is the oldest method in which biomass or coal when mixed

with a limited amount of oxygen at around 900°C, produces a

synthesis gas which contains hydrogen.

iv. Partial Oxidation:

The thermal degeneration of hydrocarbons produces

hydrogen. Raw materials such as natural gas, oil, gasoline are

used for conversion.

Storage of Hydrogen –

Hydrogen storage is one of the critical issues for successful

implementation, commercialization and sustainability of

hydrogen fuelled automobiles.

Various technologies used for storage of hydrogen storage are:

Compressed hydrogen is essentially the gaseous state of hydrogen

gas which is kept under pressure. Pressure in the order of 5000 psi

– 10000 psi is used for hydrogen vehicles. However, the size of

tank is large which makes the storage heavy.

Liquid hydrogen or slush requires cryogenic storage (20K).

Liquefaction imposes a large energy loss since energy is require to

cool it down to that temperature. The tank must be well insulated

and is the kind that can be used in space shuttles.

Carbon nanotubes can be a promising mechanism for hydrogen

storage. One of the critical factors in the usefulness of carbon

nanotubes, as a storage medium is the ratio of stored hydrogen to

carbon. According to the US D department of Energy, a carbon

material needs to store 6.5% of its own weight in hydrogen to be

considered as a fuel for automobiles.

Safety:

As hydrogen is odourless, colourless and tasteless making it

undetectable by human senses. Hence, a leakage will be very

difficult to detect. Hydrogen burns very quickly and has a tendency

to combine with other elements.

Hence, before it is made as a popular transport fuel, it is essential

to make sure that fuel is safe for mass storage.

Issues related to control of combustion, explosion and detonation

of hydrogen air mixtures are yet to be addressed.

Applications:

Hydrogen is high in energy, yet an engine that burns

pure hydrogen produces no pollution. Hydrogen fuel cells have

been used to power the electrical system of space shuttles.

It is a promising technology for use as a source of

heat and electricity for buildings and as an electrical power source

for electric vehicles.

Hydrogen has the potential to be an important energy carrier that

can be delivered in a usable form to consumers.

Hence, renewable hydrogen as a transport fuel is an attractive

option, which can help the world in environment protection.

Funny Math proof -Dhiraj V. Tijare (3M)

Three is equal to four

Theorem: 3=4

Proof:

Suppose:

a + b = c

This can also be written as:

4a - 3a + 4b - 3b = 4c - 3c

After reorganizing:

4a + 4b - 4c = 3a + 3b - 3c

Take the constants out of the brackets:

4 * (a+b-c) = 3 * (a+b-c)

Remove the same term left and right:

4 = 3…

Hence Proved.

All numbers are equal

Theorem:

All numbers are equal.

Proof:

Choose arbitrary a and b, and let t = a + b. Then,

a + b = t

(a + b)(a - b) = t(a - b)

a² - b² = ta - tb

a² - ta = b² - tb

a² - ta + (t²)/4 = b² - tb + (t²)/4

(a - t/2)² = (b - t/2)²

a - t/2 = b - t/2

a = b

….So all numbers are the same and math is pointless.