Saturday, July 25, 2020

Physics and Technological Revolutions

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Oem Trivedi

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Physics and Technological Revolutions

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Global Views 360

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July 25, 2020

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IBM Quantum Computer, an innovation based on Quantum Physics

IBM Quantum Computer, an innovation based on Quantum Physics | Source: IBM Research via Flickr

As he witnessed the first detonation of a nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945, a piece of ancient Scripture “Bhagwad Geeta” ran through the mind of Robert Oppenheimer: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”. Oppenheimer, alongside the likes of Richard Feynman, Enrico Fermi, George Gamow, was part of the star-studded Physicist squad behind the Manhattan Project.

The biggest implications drawn from the end of WW2 for many might have just been the incoming power Struggle between the US and Soviet Union, but for your average American it went to a great length to show that Physicists form a breed of people who can build dangerously effective technology.

That fact, however, would have been evident to anyone with a brisk walk through Human History itself. Physicists have arguably provided the most significant contributions to the Technological Development of our race. From Archimedes building light reflectors to save the Greek Army from Roman Infiltration to the large-scale Ballistic Missile systems made during WW-II, weaponry technology has been highly influenced by physicists in every generation.

But mere list of armaments cannot do justice to the role played by Physics Research in Technological Developments of our society. To get a feel for that, let’s go back to the fathers of Modern Physics as we know it; Sir Isaac Newton and Galileo Galilei. Galileo had his long list of achievements in creating cutting edge technology of the day, ranging from Telescopes to Thermometers & the Magnetic Compass. Sir Isaac for his part was the reason behind the advent of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain!

The simple Atwood Machines which have today become mainstay material taught to College Freshman and High School Seniors worldwide, were actually the kind of mechanical models on which the large-scale Factory Machines were built. Newton’s laws kickstarted the modern Technological Revolution and ever since then, Physics has been a constant source of inspiration behind all Technology.

The great pioneers in the field “Natural Philosophy” (the physics of today) after Newton continued the trend which their illustrious predecessor had started. The seminal works on Thermodynamics by the likes of Lord Kelvin, Ludwig Boltzmann, James Clerk Maxwell etc. played the decisive part in creating automobile engines and really any technology which dealt with heat (Spoiler Alert- There were a lot of them!). Maxwell’s work on the famous equations on Electromagnetism now named after him played the most significant part in the mission of making Electricity available to everyone (a conquest now just famously remembered for the fight between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison).

While one can point out that Theoretical works cannot lead to new Technology on their own, that assertion is only the half-truth. Sure, building technology on the basis of theoretical physics is mostly down to the Engineers, but one cannot underestimate the effect new theoretical developments and their possible uses have on the construction of new technologies. After all, if one was not able to understand the principles of the conversion of mass to energy or Electric & Magnetic Fields are coupled to each other, then expecting the construction of Nuclear Reactors and virtually all Electric Tech today would have been off the table.

So one might ask, what are the new theoretical ideas which can guide the next leap forward technologically? Well, no one can be quite sure of the form which technology will take in even a couple of decades (who would have thought that Server systems designed for efficiently using giant Data in CERN would one day be heavily used for making memes!).

I would go as far as to say that we have not yet completely exhausted the technological possibilities of the Special Theory of Relativity itself, the most prominent example of game changing technology based on that has been GPS Communication systems. One can hence fail to even imagine the kind of technological (and Industrial) progress technologies built on the revealing concepts from General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics can bestow upon us (I’m even refraining to comment on the Quantum Field Theoretic parts!).

Whatever that physics will lead us to is a mystery time will be most suited to answer, but one can see the effects of Quantum Mechanics in the next Computational Revolution itself; Quantum Computing. To put into perspective the extent of development Quantum Computing can bestow upon us, consider the following.

Computational devices today, which are stronger than the computers which put humans to the moon, are fundamentally built upon binary bit systems. From generating Big Bang like Energies in CERN and reaching past Saturn, to making all the knowledge available to everyone has been done in two bits. While Quantum Computers, which are being vividly researched on, can work with virtually infinite bits ! So, hold on tight as exciting new physics promises some large-scale changes on our Civilization as a whole.

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February 4, 2021 4:51 PM

How Dharavi, Asia’s biggest slum, fought against COVID-19

Imagine a place where 8-10 people live in 100 square feet structures. A place which squeezes close to 6,50,000 people, 5,000 small factories, and about 15,000 single-room workshops in just 2.5 square kilometer area. Welcome to  Dharavi, the biggest slum of Asia situated in the heart of fashion, entertainment, and commercial capital of India, Mumbai.

When the first COVID-19 case was discovered in Dharavi, it caused massive panic among the citizens as well as officials. Social distancing is virtually impossible to achieve in Dharavi, which is a maze of narrow congested lanes with tenements on either side of it and where 80% of the population use community toilets.

With their fingers crossed, people were speculating about Dharavi turning into a graveyard. These fears turned out to be misplaced and three months later Dharavi won praise from the WHO for effectively restricting the spread of coronavirus. According to the official data, the COVID-19 case doubling rate improved greatly, from 18 days in April, to 43 days in May, to 108 days in June, and 480 days in July.

Mr. Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant Commissioner of the top civic body of Mumbai, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that their undertaking of an aggressive strategy of 4T’s - Tracing, Tracking, Testing & Treating, is the key to Dharavi’s successful fightback against the pandemic. The fightback plan was aptly coined "Mission Dharavi".

Extensive screening and testing of residents was done to detect the symptoms for coronavirus in "fever camp" which were set up by medical workers in different parts of the slum everyday. Many buildings such as schools, wedding halls, and sports complexes were overtaken by the civic authorities and were repurposed as quarantine facilities. A 200-bed hospital was also set up in record 14 days.

The BMC commissioner, I S Chahal said “Proactive screening helped in early detection, timely treatment and recovery.” Close to six hundred thousand people were screened, 14,000 people tested and 13,000 quarantined in nearby institutions, schools, marriage halls, and sports complexes. Furthermore, continuous monitoring of people’s movement using drones helped reinforce containment measures and scaled progress swiftly.

To further strengthen the measure, locals of the community emerged as “COVID Yodhas” (warriors) to address the concerns, a senior official said.  Many well endowed citizens and NGO’s provided Free meals, ration, PPE gear, oxygen cylinders, gloves, masks, medicines, and ventilators to residents and doctors.th July

On 8th July 2020 Dharavi recorded a total of 2,335 COVID-19 out of which 1,735 patients have recovered and there are only 352 active cases at present. Only 82 deaths were recorded in Dharavi till 8th July as against more than 4500 in the whole of Mumbai.

This phenomenal success has given the world a yet simple and effective technique in curbing the spread of the deadly virus. World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a virtual press conference in Geneva, acknowledging the efforts of various nations and Dharavi to contain the virus, said that “There are many examples from around the world that have shown that even if the outbreak is very intense, it can still be brought back under control”. Further, he added, “And some of these examples are Italy, Spain, and South Korea, and even in Dharavi -- a densely packed area in the megacity of Mumbai -- a strong focus on community engagement and the basics of testing, tracing, isolating and treating all those that are sick is key to breaking the chains of transmission and suppressing the virus.”

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