Homeopathy is bogus, harmful: Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishna
- Bhartesh Singh Thakur, Hindustan Times, Chandigarh |
- Updated: Jan 06, 2016 10:22 IST
India-born Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan has refused to attend the Indian Science Congress ever in future (royalsociety.org)
Pointing out that India is the only country where a constitution asks for promoting scientific temper, the chemistry scientist said India needs a more rational outlook on such practices.
Explaining that astrology evolved from the human tendency to look for “patterns, generalise and believe”, Ramakrishnan said, “There is no scientific basis for how movement of planets and stars can influence our fate. There is no reason for time of birth to influence events years later. The predictions made are either obvious or shown to be random.”
“Once beliefs take root, they are hard to eradicate,” he commented, adding, “A culture based on superstitions will do worse than one based on scientific knowledge and rational thoughts.”
Contrary to the general notion that homeopathy originated in India, the scientist also clarified that it was a practice started by a German.
“They (homoeopaths) take arsenic compounds and dilute it to such an extent that just a molecule is left. It will not make any effect on you. Your tap water has more arsenic. No one in chemistry believes in homoeopathy. It works because of placebo effect.”
Ramakrishna was however appreciative of modern day astrology considering the more specific scientific advancements made.
“Alchemy is based on beliefs but accumulated huge amount of data about properties of substances and led to modern chemistry. Astrology was struck in past but modern astronomy has made huge exciting discoveries like the black hole, pulsars etc.”
The onus ultimately lies on humans, for science to be accurate. “Scientists are humans. We have egos, superstitions etc. What is required is to test our ideas by experiments which protect us from false beliefs.”
To elaborate, he cited the cold fusion theory. Initially claimed by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, the much-hyped theory was later proved to be unfounded. “In 2011, it was claimed from CERN experiments that neutrinos travel faster than light. Later, it came out that it was a measurement error,” Ramakrishnan said and added that sometimes scientists propose ideas well outside their area of expertise and make mistakes.
So did planes really exist in ancient India, as claimed at the Indian Science Congress in Mumbai last year?
“It was surprising for me that Indian science academies did not condemn it. Science has to be based on data. You have to show that you did it and others should be able to verify it. It is impossible that India had plane technology 2000 years ago.”
Science in India has nevertheless become more exact over time. “In the last century alone, life expectancy has doubled. It is because medicine has become scientific and evidence based. There is better understanding of physiology and biochemistry and many diseases have been eradicated.”
Ramakrishnan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2009, was speaking at the Panjab University at Chandigarh to deliver the Har Gobind Khorana lecture on ‘On Nobody’s Word: Evidence and Modern Science’.
Graphene, act as a "super sieve",subatomic filter. help detoxify nuclear waste
Graphene could be used to detoxify N-waste
The
findings could revolutionise the production of the heavy water composed
of a rare form of hydrogen called deuterium, which is expensive to
manufacture and purify with existing technology. (Photo courtesy: Roger
Ressmeyer/CORBIS)
RELATED
Graphene,
the thinnest and strongest substance known to science, could be used to
help detoxify nuclear waste thanks to the latest discovery involving
the wonder material. Experiments show that it can act as a "super
sieve", able to separate different atomic isotopes of hydrogen, and
create the expensive "heavy water" needed by the nuclear industry,
researchers said.
This is the first time that graphene — which consists of a crystal lattice of carbon arranged in layers just one atom thick — has been shown to act as a subatomic filter.
The findings could revolutionise the production of the heavy water composed of a rare form of hydrogen called deuterium, which is expensive to manufacture and purify with existing technology.
Graphene could also be used to clean up nuclear waste contaminated with radioactive tritium, another hydrogen isotope that can be separated by the graphene filter, scientists said.
"Essentially, graphene is the finest known sieve. It can sieve particles smaller than an atom..." said Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo of Manchester University, the first author of the study published in the journal Science.
Graphene, discovered by Nobel laureates and professors Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov, at Manchester University in 2004, has already astonished the world of materials science with its range of unusual characteristics, such as its atomic-scale thinness, extreme strength and high electrical conductivity.
The latest study, by a research team led by professor Geim, discovered another novel property of graphene — its ability to filter the different atomic isotopes of hydrogen, namely tritium and deuterium, from ordinary hydrogen. The rare form of hydrogen, deuterium, is only present in nature in very small amounts.
The Manchester researchers showed, however, that graphene can act as a simple filter by slowing down the movement of deuterium through a membrane made of graphene and its sister material, boron nitride.
While ordinary hydrogen atoms passed straight through the sieve, deuterium was effectively blocked.
Tests showed it was possible to separate tritium and deuterium at room temperatures with high efficiency using just a fraction of the energy normally used to make heavy water. This demonstrated that the graphene filter could be used for industrial purposes, such as nuclear-waste management or the production of heavy, deuterium-rich water used as a nuclear coolant, the researchers said.
This is the first time that graphene — which consists of a crystal lattice of carbon arranged in layers just one atom thick — has been shown to act as a subatomic filter.
The findings could revolutionise the production of the heavy water composed of a rare form of hydrogen called deuterium, which is expensive to manufacture and purify with existing technology.
Graphene could also be used to clean up nuclear waste contaminated with radioactive tritium, another hydrogen isotope that can be separated by the graphene filter, scientists said.
"Essentially, graphene is the finest known sieve. It can sieve particles smaller than an atom..." said Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo of Manchester University, the first author of the study published in the journal Science.
Graphene, discovered by Nobel laureates and professors Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov, at Manchester University in 2004, has already astonished the world of materials science with its range of unusual characteristics, such as its atomic-scale thinness, extreme strength and high electrical conductivity.
The latest study, by a research team led by professor Geim, discovered another novel property of graphene — its ability to filter the different atomic isotopes of hydrogen, namely tritium and deuterium, from ordinary hydrogen. The rare form of hydrogen, deuterium, is only present in nature in very small amounts.
The Manchester researchers showed, however, that graphene can act as a simple filter by slowing down the movement of deuterium through a membrane made of graphene and its sister material, boron nitride.
While ordinary hydrogen atoms passed straight through the sieve, deuterium was effectively blocked.
Tests showed it was possible to separate tritium and deuterium at room temperatures with high efficiency using just a fraction of the energy normally used to make heavy water. This demonstrated that the graphene filter could be used for industrial purposes, such as nuclear-waste management or the production of heavy, deuterium-rich water used as a nuclear coolant, the researchers said.
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