Mathematics wizard Shakuntala Devi dead

TNN | Apr 22, 2013, 12.51 AM IST

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READ MORE Shakuntala Devi|Human computer|Bangalore hospital|orthodox|Madhavan

Credited with solving some frightfully complicated arithmetic problems with apparent ease and astonishing speed, Devi’s calculating skills stunned the world throughout the 1970s and 80s.

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BANGALORE: Shakuntala Devi, known for her mathematical prowess and the ability to compute complex equations mentally, died at Bangalore Hospital at 8:15am on Sunday, age 73. She was admitted to the hospital with respiratory difficulty, following which she acquired heart problems and endured a heart attack on Saturday evening. She was then on ventilator support but suffered another cardiac arrest early on Sunday, which proved fatal.

Credited with solving some frightfully complicated arithmetic problems with apparent ease and astonishing speed, Devi's calculating skills stunned the world throughout the 1970s and 80s. Her sharpness often made sophisticated digital devices seem inadequate.

The computing prodigy was born on November 4, 1939, in Bangalore, to an orthodox priestly Brahmin family. She may have had rebellious genes, for, her father, refusing to conform and become a priest, chose to play a circus performer, excellent in trapeze, tightrope and cannonball shows. When she was only three, Devi began showing great affinity with numbers. By the time she was five, she became an expert in solving complex mental arithmetic.

Fame became hers when she beat one of the world's fastest computers by 10 seconds in a complicated mathematics calculation. Multiplying two 13-digit numbers in 28 seconds earned her a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

Devi had no access to proper schooling and food in her early years. In an interview with TOI, Bangalore, some years ago, she said, "I have not gone to a school. At 10, I was admitted to Class 1 of St Theresa's Convent in Chamarajpet. But my parents could not afford the monthly fee of Rs 2, so in three months, I was thrown out. I grew up in a semi-slum area in Gavipuram, Guttahalli.

"It's my dream to open a mathematics university and R&D centre, which will educate a cross-section of people, using modern techniques, short-cuts and smart methods. I cannot transfer my abilities to anyone, but I can think of quicker ways with which to help people develop numerical aptitude. There are a large number of people whose logic is unexplored."

It 2010, she had filed a police complaint accusing her domestic help of cheating. She was threatened by a gang for lodging the complaint and had confessed to being scared of stepping out of her house.

"She was a vibrant lady who was sharp-minded and energetic. A witty person, she was fiercely independent as well," said DC Shivdev Deshmudre, trustee, Shakuntala Devi Educational Foundation Public Trust.

"Devi used very distinctive but offbeat techniques, which were not always based on theorem, but her methods were correct and gave results. Her capability to perform sophisticated computation, which could beat computers, gave her a stature of a computational wizard. Her death is a great loss to us all," said Professor Y Narahari, chairman, computer science, Indian Institute of Science

"Shakuntala Devi used a high degree of mnemonic devices in their brain and had tremendous retention power, unlike most normal human beings. She was able to hold on to large number of digits (both input and output) in her memory. She, however, can't be termed as a mathematical genius but a computational genius," said Prof CE Veni Madhavan, computer science and automation department, IISc.

Devi is survived by a daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters.

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Patients beware: Stem cells won't cure it all

By: Priyanka Vora   Date:  2011-02-28   Place: Mumbai

Indian Council of Medical Research warns patients of trials marketed as therapies, says research is still in experimental stage and urges volunteers to exhibit caution The 'magical remedy' promised in the name of unproven stem cell therapies has now drawn the attention of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR).  The Boston-based body is irked by the profusion of commercialised stem cell treatments advertised on the world wide web, and the way these trials are being marketed as 'therapies' to patients desperate for a cure. The ISSCR has published a report 'Patients Beware: Commercialised Stem Cell Treatments on the Web' warning patients to be cautious before undergoing any such treatment. And, following its cue, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has come down heavily on the marketing of such unsubstantiated therapies in vogue these days. The ICMR's Assistant Director General (stem cell research), Dr Geeta Jotwani, said, "Our guidelines clearly state that other than bone marrow transplantation, all other stem cell-induced treatments are in their clinical trial phase and cannot be considered as proven treatment. Patients should understand that the treatment itself is in the experimental phase. If any clinician is offering an unproven treatment, he is indulging in an unethical practice." But, ICMR, a nodal body under the Union Health Ministry, is not a regulatory body and thus cannot take any action. Cost free Nevertheless, the civic-run Sion Hospital the only public hospital in the country offering stem cell therapy for neurological problems like multiple dystrophy recently stopped the research after ICMR stated that it does not have an approval for the clinical trials.  The ICMR had also objected to the fees the hospital charges from patients for treatments that are still in an experimental stage (see box). 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She added that the research has potential but offering it to the masses as treatment at this nascent stage could be disastrous. Cord blood bank One of the ramifications of the growing popularity of stem cell-induced clinical therapies has been a boost to cord blood blanking. Such banks store umbilical cord blood for future use, so that families may retrieve stem cells from them later to treat diseases of the blood and immune systems.  Industry experts say that the country's cord blood banking industry has seen a phenomenal growth by nearly 50 per cent in the last one year. But Dr Jotwani cautions against private banking of cord blood, "It is not compulsory that stem cells retrieved from cord blood will be useful for the treatment being promised. Instead, we would endorse public cord blood banking. The female should donate cord blood and the stem cells can be retrieved for any patient who needs it, that is if it matches with the patient." Much like how blood banks work However, Rajesh Sharma, managing director of Bangalore-based Cryo-Save India, a multinational stem cell bank, said that increasing awareness and affordability are driving couples to opt for cod blood banking. "We always inform the couple that stem cell therapies are relatively new. Still, around 3,000 clinical trials are in progress which indicates that there is hope." Cryo-Save has about 1,50,000 stem cell samples from across the globe. Two to three per cent of these have been contributed by India. In the city Meanwhile, Mumbai-based Reelabs, involved in both cord blood banking and stem cell therapy, receives at least 100-150 samples of cord blood a month.  Its director, Dr Abhijit Bopardikar, said, "We started banking only after establishing the efficacy of stem cell therapy. We know that the treatments are in the experimental stage and we inform the same to the patients. All treatments we provide have received a nod from the ethics committee." 30,000 No of Indians that opt for cord blood banking every year. 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Life did exist before Earth, claim scientists

Last Updated: Sunday, April 21, 2013, 15:08   A- A A+

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Tags: Moore`s Law, Life on Earth, Solar system

Washington: Life existed long before Earth came into being, and may have originated outside our solar system, scientists claim.

Researchers say life first appeared about 10 billion years ago - long before Earth, which is believed to be 4.5 billion years old.

Geneticists have applied Moore's Law - observation that computers increase exponentially in complexity, at a rate of about double the transistors per integrated circuit every two years - to the rate at which life on Earth grows in complexity.

Alexei Sharov of the National Institute on Ageing in Baltimore, and Richard Gordon of the Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory in Florida, replaced the transistors with nucleotides - the building blocks of DNA and RNA - and the circuits with genetic material.

Their findings suggest life first appeared about 10 billion years ago, far older than the Earth's projected age of 4.5 billion years.

Like in the 2012 sci-fi movie Prometheus, as our solar system was forming, pre-existing bacteria-like organisms, or even simple nucleotides from an older part of the galaxy, could have reached Earth by hitching an interstellar ride on comets, asteroids or other inorganic space debris.

However, the calculations are not a scientific proof that life predates Earth - there's no way of knowing for sure that organic complexity increased at a steady rate at any point in the universe's history.

"There are lots of hypothetical elements to (our argument) ... But to make a wider view, you need some hypothetical elements," Sharov said.

Sharov said that if he had to bet on it, he'd say "it's 99 per cent true that life started before Earth - but we should leave one per cent for some wild chance that we haven't accounted for."

The theory of "life before Earth," if found true, debunks the long-held science-fiction trope of the scientifically advanced alien species.

Moreover, if genetic complexity progresses at a steady rate, then the social and scientific development of any other alien life form in the Milky Way galaxy would be roughly equivalent to those of humans, the report said.

"Contamination with bacterial spores from space appears the most plausible hypothesis that explains the early appearance of life on Earth," researchers said.