The "Face" on Mars

In 1976 when the spacecraft Viking1 was orbiting the planet Mars taking photographs of its surface, one photograph caught the attention of many. It showed a formation on the surface of the planet looking strikingly like a human face.

                              (Image from:Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Astronomers at NASA immediately wrote it off saying it was an illusion created by lighting, however upon further examination it was found that the actual 3 dimensional structure itself resembles a human face; i.e its not merely an illusion.

This "face" created a lot of excitement during that time and theories that include extra terrestrial intelligence or lost alien civilizations were put forward to explain it.

Although a slight air of mystery still surrounds this face of mars, It is now widely accepted that the "face" is a natural formation. It seems very rare and highly improbable but, such natural formations have occurred on earth too.  The old man of the mountain, the Badlands Guardian are two such examples.

In my opinion the face of Mars has something to do with our perception too. We see a face because we expect to see a face, and because our brains are very good at identifying faces. Many ancient cultures have seen a face, a rabbit, or something else on the moon. Our ancestors saw so many images and patterns among the stars. Our minds always look for patterns in things and succeed in finding them. It has been proven mathematically that any large collection of objects has patterns concealed in it, therefore it follows that we can identify patterns in practically anything. It is because of this that we associate a face or something else with natural formations and heavenly objects.

"It is likely that our very existence as a species owes much to this ability to delineate patterns. Evolution may have made us a little too adept at spotting them. Our propensity to see patterns where none exists at all is witnessed by ancient Man's enthusiastic identification of ploughs and hunters, crabs and scales tracing out patterns of stars we call the constellations, or by modern Man's enthusiasm for Martian Canals." 
- The World Within the World-John D. Barrow (Oxford,1990)   

Sri Lanka's loss at the CWC Final

Thousands of hopes were shattered when Sri Lanka lost the final match of the ICC Cricket world Cup for the second consecutive time. However more than the loss, it was the poor quality of cricket played, and the lack of enthusiasm shown by some of the players in the team that disturbed many viewers.

To begin with, the changes and replacements made in the playing squad just for the final match were surprising..Why make drastic changes to a team that has already performed very well? also, leaving out the bowler with the best record for the team in the tournament, and bringing in cricketers who haven't played a single match in tournament to play the final was puzzling.

Changes and replacements kept aside, the performance in the field was also of very poor standards. Dropping important catches and misfieldings were increasingly common. There was a sharp contrast between the Indian and the Sri Lankan teams in terms of fielding.. While the Indians were diving across the ground to save runs, Some of our fielders just lazily bent over while the ball went passing them.

However only some of the players lacked the enthusiasm. Some others showed great commitment and sportsmanship specially when batting. This was a match we could have won. This is why the ardent fans of Sri Lanka Cricket are upset... Anyway what's done is done and hopefully our cricketers will learn from the mistakes made this time and gear up for winning the next world cup.

Sky Observation at the Arthur C. Clarke Institute

After the first semester examination in our University, We were supposed to study 3 non technical modules-two of  which were compulsory and one of our own choice. The module I chose was Astronomy. The reasons for my choice were the interest I had in Astronomy, The interesting course contents and most importantly, The observation sessions.

We had two observation sessions at the Arthur C. Clarke Institute. One in the night for the observation of the Moon and the Planets and one session in the morning for observation of the Sun.
The telescope at the Arthur C. Clarke Institute, is the largest telescope in Sri Lanka. It is a Cassegrain Reflector type telescope and has a primary mirror of diameter 45cm. It uses an Equatorial Mount and is moved using computer controlled servo motors. It uses CCD cameras as the main imaging device.

It was unfortunate that the on the night we had our moon observation, the sky was very cloudy and not a single star could be seen. Also it was lightning. Because of this we couldn't use the Cassegrain reflector that night. Instead we used a much smaller reflector to look at the moon. The image of the moon was not clear due to the obstructing clouds.

The following day was better. We viewed the sun through the filtered Cassegrain telescope and saw two Sunspots. We also saw the Chromosphere of the Sun through an H-alpha filter.

The two sessions at the institute were very interesting and educational. It was a truly memorable experience.

Engineering with Responsibility

The crisis the Earth faces today is not a secret, almost everyone knows about it but very few take it seriously. Chances are that someone reading this post might also disregard this by saying "just another global warming message....".

However, the problems we face today are not limited to global warming... Pollution is at an all time high, Several species have become extinct or are in the brink of extinction, Natural disasters are becoming increasingly common, the list goes on... Clearly there is something wrong, and we humans are responsible.

Our actions, especially engineering ones have disturbed the "balance" in nature causing ecosystems to fall apart and create catastrophe in the process. All disasters we face today are either caused by us, or its destructive effects are magnified by our actions. For example, Sea erosions and tsunamis hit us harder because we excavate and remove all the natural coral reefs in the coastal area which would otherwise serve as a very effective natural wave breaker. Also filling of marsh land increases the likelihood and severity of floods.

But some people justify these actions by saying that it is necessary for development and improvement of our lifestyle... or these are minor side effects of engineering a better world. All these claims are false. How can we say we are developed when we face natural disasters almost everyday? Engineering that does not go hand in hand with nature is not engineering but "Reckless building".

Engineering encompasses the ideas of creating with care and concern for the surroundings, managing resources efficiently, and ensuring sustainability. Engineering which neglects the above aspects cannot simply be called Engineering. Fortunately, as of recently more attention has been given to this area resulting in looking for ways to protect nature and the environment. Emergence of new fields of Engineering such as Environmental Engineering and Earth Resources Engineering is a promising trend.

It is very important that we take the task of protecting our earth very seriously. Engineers need to work with responsibility. The only way of improving ourselves is by protecting nature and using its resources carefully and efficiently.

What we should understand is that all the resources on earth are limited. Therefore we must use them with extreme care. After all, Earth is all we have got, We don't have another planet to go to...

see what I mean: http://www.oneearth.org/