Spectrum of light is still a puzzle: Nobel laureate Serge Haroche

Classical physics could not solve the puzzle of the spectrum of light being emitted from heated bodies and the concept of the photoelectric effect, said Nobel laureate Serge Haroche.

He was delivering a technical talk on "Controlling and Manipulating Single Photon in a Box- The Scientific Adventure of Lifetime" at Sahyadri Conclave.

Haroche discussed stories of his scientific life. He said being a scientist was not his profession but a passion. Between the age of 9 and 12 years, he was fascinated by various astronomers and was keen to learn more about the laws of Astronomy. He also spoke about the mutual relationship between atoms and light.

Vice Admiral N N Kumar, executive director (Production) at BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd spoke on "BRAHMOS – A Journey of Excellence." He said weapons are made not to win war, but to avoid war.

In a discussion on water, panellists Prof T G Sitharam, chairperson of AICTE, South West Regional Office, Prof M N Vidyashankar, IAS, former additional chief secretary and Dr K Chidananda Gowda, former vice chancellor, Kuvempu University, stressed on the sustainability of the planet, water is essential. They said getting access to clean water is a major challenge. According to the World Bank, every individual requires 135 litres of water per day to meet basic requirements. The probable solution for water scarcity lies with inland reservoirs, interlinking of rivers, recharging groundwater, desalination of sea water, utilising flood water before it joins water and rainwater harvesting.

Prof Sathish K Tripathi, president, University at Buffalo, the US, spoke on "The New World of Thinking Machines". He discussed the evolution of artificial intelligence, techniques and various responsibilities and goals of thinking machines. He also brought out various uses of artificial intelligence in daily life. He emphasised that Machine Learning and Deep Learning have proven to give excellent recognition rates for classifications.

While addressing the Electronics and Communication participants, Dr. Anish Arora, professor, Ohio University, the US, spoke on "Social Sensing Services for Smart Communities". He said that the requirement to protect the endangered species is to detect the movement and to analyse whether it is animal or human.

Dr Kavi Mahesh, director, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Dharwad, spoke on "Understanding Rainfall in India through Data Analytics".