You have to smile even if you’re a curmudgeon. :-)
I am of course talking about India achieving a “groundbreaking feat” by successfully landing on the moon for the first time. The Chandrayaan-3 mission has safely delivered the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover to the moon's elusive south pole—a region suspected to be rich in water ice.
Why all the excitement about water ice? This icy stash could be a future source of drinking water for moon settlers and even transformed into rocket fuel. As you probably know by now, India joins the exclusive "Moon Club," featuring the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China. This is especially impressive given the setbacks others have faced recently. Russia's Luna-25 mission ended in a crash. Earlier this year, Japan’s Hakuto-R mission also met a similar fate.
Landing on the moon isn’t a cakewalk either. At a distance of nearly 400,000 kilometers, it’s not just the moon’s remoteness that makes this difficult. The real challenge lies in the moon's lack of atmosphere. A miscalculation in thrust or orientation can turn a promising mission into space debris in seconds.
And even if you're in perfect freefall, the moon's gravity—though only about one-sixth of Earth's—can still mess things up royally. Add to this the need for on-the-spot terrain evaluation for a safe landing because, surprise, even moon craters have their own bumps and boulders.
But now, the moon is quickly becoming the hottest travel destination. Next up, Japan is making another attempt with its SLIM mission.
Why should India care about the moon?
You've probably heard this argument before: "Why should India spend money on space when there are so many problems in the country like ageing infrastructure, poverty, and social development?"
I think the question misses the point completely.
Contrary to public perception, the cost of space research is not astronomical. India’s space agency, ISRO operates on an annual budget of only $1.5 billion, which is far less than NASA’s nearly $25 billion. ISRO’s budget is only a tiny, tiny fraction of India’s annual budget too.
I have to remind everyone that solving pressing issues is not a zero-sum game. Human potential is not limited to resolving one issue at a time. We can walk and chew gum at once. While it’s essential to address immediate concerns like poverty and social justice, these issues aren't exacerbated by space spending. We have the capacity to contribute to multiple fronts simultaneously.
Also, critics who say public funds should solve bigger problems, remember that space spending does impact the economy positively. Investments in space science fuel technological advancements, support highly-skilled jobs, and create business opportunities. These, in turn, enlarge the public fund pool, which can then be allocated to address other pressing issues.
Space isn't just about rockets and astronauts; it's a laboratory for innovations that help us right here on Earth. The research conducted in space has ripple effects—such as developing agricultural techniques for extreme Earth conditions or breakthroughs in medical research. These advancements are not merely academic; they have practical applications that directly improve human quality of life.
Let's not forget the intangible benefits, like inspiring the next generation. When kids dream of being astronauts, they are motivated to excel in subjects that are fundamentally solving Earth’s problems.
Mind creating music
For my science column this week, I wrote about scientists who created music in a different format. You can read the entire column here (paywalled), but here’s the gist—
The way we consume music has been a rollercoaster of innovation, taking us from the nostalgic hiss of vinyl records to the portability of cassettes, the clarity of CDs, and the boundless access of streaming.
But what if the next stop on this sonic journey was even more intimate, carving music directly from our brainwaves?
Picture this: our brains acting like a sophisticated radio, receiving and broadcasting tunes. Researchers at Albany Medical Center took this concept out of the realm of science fiction by recreating the iconic Pink Floyd song, "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)," straight from the brain activity of epilepsy patients. These aren't ordinary volunteers; they've got electrodes surgically implanted in their brains, providing an unprecedented look into how our neurons react to music.
You might wonder why Pink Floyd was the researchers' muse. Well, it turns out that "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)" is a cornucopia of complex musical elements. But let's be honest, the scientists and participants probably couldn't resist its magnetic appeal.
The end result? A recreation that, while somewhat less clear than the original, still had an uncanny resemblance. The press release has audio files so you be the judge yourself.
Interestingly, a parallel study by researchers at Osaka University and Google presented a less invasive method using fMRI scans. While less precise, the fMRI-based approach still painted a strikingly similar musical picture to what participants were listening to. This shows us that technology is inching closer to understanding not just what we listen to, but what we think and feel.
In fact, another groundbreaking study has already reported the creation of a decoder capable of reconstructing spoken language from fMRI scans. This study employed GPT-1 (a forerunner of GPT-4 used in ChatGPT) to map brain patterns to language. While not perfect, the technology did capture the gist of participants' thoughts about half of the time.
We have to wonder if we’re not entering an era in which innermost thoughts, feelings, and yes, even favorite songs, might be decoded from brain activity.
That’s it this week.
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Stay well!
Anirban