Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Our IITs should learn from Chinese' that was published in Newsband

Our IITs should learn from Chinese

China has come up with a perigee moon also known as a supermoon. Chengdu is developing “illumination satellites” that will shine in tandem with the real moon, but are eight times brighter. China is planning to launch its own ‘artificial moon’ by 2020 to replace streetlamps and lower electricity costs in urban areas.

Chengdu is a city in southwestern Sichuan province. The first man-made moon will launch from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan, with three more to follow in 2022 if the first test goes well. Though the first launch will be experimental, the 2022 satellites will be the real deal with great civic and commercial potential.

By reflecting light from the sun, the satellites could replace streetlamps in urban areas, saving electricity costs for Chengdu. The man-made moons illuminate an area of 50 square kilometers.

China’s space programme is also racing to catch up with that of the United States and Russia.

China is not the first country to try beaming sunlight back to Earth. In the 1990s, Russian scientists reportedly used giant mirrors to reflect light from space in an experimental project called Znamya or Banner.

In addition to Tian Fu New Area Science Society, other universities and institutes, including the Harbin Institute of Technology and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, are involved in developing Chengdu’s illumination satellites. But will it hamper natural and animal sleep cycles? Is it a good move considering that we need light, but we also need darkness? Technology is developing - it's a good news. But can these types of artificial things become the cause of various natural disaster? Humans are still very much helpless in front of nature’s certain incidents – this is clear from some recent occurrences in the world.

At last we (human) are waiting to see Artificial Sun. But can there be negative effects of these bright artificial (sun reflected) lights on flora & fauna whose lives & existence are in tune with the sun & phases of the moon?

Anything which is energy saving should be given priority. Our IIT's should also come out with similar innovations and the governments should give utmost priority to new innovations.

China-built world’s largest amphibious plane completes maiden flight test – another achievement of China in technological field. Designed to be the world’s largest amphibious aircraft, AG600 is powered by four domestically-built turboprop engines and has a range of 12 hours. China’s indigenously designed and built amphibious aircraft AG600, touted as the world’s largest, successfully carried out its first take-off and landing tests. The aircraft, developed and built by the state-owned aircraft firm Aviation Industry Corporation of China, took off and later landed on the water in Hubei province’s Jingmen. The seaplane took off from the Zhanghe Reservoir at 8:51 am (local time) and stayed airborne for about 15 minutes. The aircraft code-named Kunlong was piloted by four crew members. It completed its first water taxiing trials at a high speed of 145 kilometres.

Designed to be the world’s largest amphibious aircraft, AG600 is powered by four domestically-built turboprop engines and has a range of 12 hours. It will be mainly used for maritime rescue, fighting forest fires and marine monitoring, The aircraft has passed a series of tests since its maiden flight last December. It successfully finished eight taxiing tests on water at a speed of 80-kilometre per hour and 120-kilometre per hour.