Monday, 6 August 2012

Mission Mars - Curious with Curiosity


05.32 GMT, few athletes at the Olympic Village were up, stretching, gearing up mentally and physically focusing on the podium, visualizing their victory and kissing their well deserved medal. 

Across, the pacific, a Team, possibly the best scientists and astronomers had their eyes glued to the flawless landing of the "Curiosity rover" which was lowered by 25 foot long cables from a hovering rocket stage on the Red planet we call - Mars. The media reports that the Curiosity caries the most sophisticated movable laboratory. 

An admirer of Astronomy, through this blog, I Congratulate the entire TEAM behind successful landing of the Curiosity.

 

Sunday, 15 July 2012

radioactive decay

Radioactive decay
Radioactive decay is the process by which an atomic nucleus of an unstable atom . It loses energy by emitting ionizing particles. There are different types of radioactive decay. A decay, or loss of energy, results when an atom with one type of nucleus , called the parent "radionuclides" transforms to an atom  with a nucleus in a different state, into a different nucleus containing different number of protons and neutrons.
Either of these products is named daughter nuclide. In some decays the parent and daughters are different chemical elements, and thus, the decay process results in nuclear transmutation.

Universal law for radioactive decay.
Radioactivity is one very frequent example for exponential decay. Thee law describes the statistical behavior of a large number of nuclides , rather than individual ones. In the following formalism, the number of nuclides or nuclide population N, is of course a discrete variable- but for any physical sample N is so large ( amts of
         23
L=10   , Avogadro's constant) that it can be treated as a continuous variable.

Star facts

Star facts
Curium
The element Curium is named after Pierre and Marie Curie. Curium is primarily used for basic scientific research. It is a silvery white radioactive metal. In fact, Curium is so radioactive that it glows purple in the dark.

Nobel prize family
Pierrie and Marie curie won the Nobel prize in 1903. Their eldest daughter Irene Joliot Curie and son in law Fredric Joliot followed their footsteps in radio- chemistry and also received the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1935

Marie curie

Major awards won

  • Elliot Cresson medal
  • Nobel Prize in Physics
  • Nobel Prize in Chemistry
  • Davy Medal
  • John Scott award


Marie curie


Marie Curie
·      Marie Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland on November 7, 1867.
·       After her brilliant performance, Marie worked as a governess for eight years to support her family.
·      In 1893, she graduated from Sorbonne, Paris.
·      At Sorbonne, Marie met Pierre Curie an eminent physicist, and they got married in 1895.
·      They together announced the discovery of two new radioactive elements, polonium and radium.
·      In 1903 , Marie shared the Nobel prize for physics with Pierre Curie and Henri  Becquerel.
·      After Pierre’s accidential death in 1906, she succeeded him as professor of physics at Sorbonne.
·      In 1911, she was awarded the Nobel prize for chemistry, being the first scientist to get two Nobel prizes.
·      Marie Curie died on July 4 1934, due to illness caused by overexposure to radioactivity.

Tuesday, 5 June 2012

World Environment Day

World Environment Day: Won the First Prize for Essay Competition organized by CWRDM (Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, Kunnamangalam, Kozhikode), held in connection with the World Environment Day 2012