Dharwad boy's model among best 3 exhibits in children's congress

Among the projects displayed by budding talents in science, three were adjudged as best exhibits, at the exhibition organised as a part of 23d Rashriya Kishore Vaigyanik Sammelan (Children’s Science Congress) in Mysuru.

The conference with the theme ‘Understanding Climate with Nature,’ was held during the ongoing 103rd Indian Science Congress at University of Mysore. The best three exhibits were announced during the valedictory of children’s congress on Wednesday. The prizes will be distributed during the valedictory of science congress on Thursday.

Omkar U Halagatti from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Dharwad, exhibited a model of  ‘Use of Silver Nanoparticles to Combat Global Warming’. He worked under the guidance of his teacher Pulin Nath.

According to the abstract ‘The silver nanoparticles have very large surface area and also have comparatively high residual force on the surface, which makes the greenhouse gases such as CO2, NO2, SO2 and CH4 etc., get absorbed on the surface easily. Keeping this in mind we have synthesised silver nanoparticles by using green methods from silver nitrate method with glucose, citric acid and soap nut extract. The synthesised silver nanoparticles were characterised by using UV-visible spectroscropy and tunneling electron microscopy (TEM). The UV-visible spectra gives a single absorption peak in the range of 420-450 mm which indicates the formation of silver nanoparticles and TEM image shows that average size of the particles are 50-100 nm. A solution of calcium hydroxide and silver nanoparticles were prepared and the above greenhouse gases were tested by passing through it. The results show that the concentration of greenhouse gases gets reduced considerably. Hence, we have designed and tested a prototype taking the above nano-solution and mixed with cellulose fibre which can be connected at the outlet of industrial chimney, automobile and aereoplane exhaust system which will absorb the greenhouse gases and reduce global warming and the climate change.

A project on ‘Sateloscope’ by Mohamed Rifath Shaarook Raaj M D from Crescent Matric Higher Secondary School, Karur in Tamil Nadu was another best exhibit. He worked under the guidance of his teacher Pachamuth A.

According to the abstract available, ‘Sateloscope is a nano satellite which is a combination of satellite and telescope. It is very light in weight when compared to standard satellite and very small in size, so, we can easily launch this into orbit with smaller rocket with lesser fuel. The satellite is equipped with solenoid coil to create artificial magnetosphere around it to protect itself from coronal mass ejection and solar flare. It will be useful in communication technology. It is a working model, this project also consists of another two working models. One is ‘Nano Mars Lander and the other is ‘Nano Mars Rover’ both are capable of exploring Mars for resources like water, methane etc.,

Yet another exhibit was ‘The Naural Coastal Fencing-Aquatic Mangrove Ecosystem’ by P Laya, P Partha Koundinya, B Sresta Raj, V Manasa and T Madhumitha. They are the students of St John’s English Medium High School, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. The guide teacher was P Srinivas. The project is aimed at strengthening of natural coastal fencing (NCF) through sustainable practical methods in the aquatic mangrove ecosystem at Gilakaladindi, Andhra Pradesh.