2012 is leap year, what is a leap second ?

1) LEAP SECOND When mankind came to know that  the sun rises at different  times in different countries,  efforts were taken to fix  the country  that watches  first the rising of the sun .   Japan was identified . It is the country of rising sun. If  in Japan the time is   6 am, in  India it  is 2:30 am  ( 3:30; hrs less  from Japan time  )  It is the earth's rotation that  causes the time difference.   The sun is in different points in the sky  because of the rotation  of the earth. The time changes from country to country. The Earth rotates once in 24 hours,  it is not exactly 24 hours,  slightly less  in fraction of seconds .  As a result, once in a few years,  the rotation of the earth becomes  one sec less than the clock time, which needs adjustment. How is  this adjustment is done ? I will explain with a simple example.  A and B are two clocks running accurately ,  showing the  same clock time. At one stage,  A is running one sec more  than B. To make the two clocks  to show the same  time , Clock 'A' which is running forward  by  1 sec ,  should be stopped for one sec. Then A and  B will show the same clock time.  So, for the adjustment,  the object running forward should be stopped. Clock time is one sec forward than rotation time of the earth.. So, the  clock time  should be stopped for one sec.  It is done on 31st Dec midnight,   just before the birth of New Year. Universal clock and all other clocks including  the Big Ben of UK are stopped for one sec. It is called ' inserting  a leap second '. By this process, the rotation time and  the clock time are synchronized It is not  done  every year, done only when required . The last inserting of the  leap second was done in the year 2008, Dec 31st midnight.  ( some times done at the end of June also )

My heart aches to hear the sad news of demise  of friend Pattabisankaran of Houston ,US

My  family members join with tears and prayers of the bereaved family.

மறைந்தனையோ  , மறந்தனையோ நண்பா.

மறைந்தனையோ நண்பா- எம்மை

மறந்தனையோ.

எழுத்து வள்ளலாய் வாழ்ந்தனையே,

எமக்கு வாரி வழங்கினையே.

வழங்கியதுப் போது மெனப் போயினையோ?

இப்படிக் கருகவா மலர்ந்தது நமது நட்பு ?

வேதனையில் வேதும்புகின்றும்

வெந்தழலில் வேகுகின்றோம்

காலம் களிம்பாகும்

கலங்கி இருப்போம் அதுவரை.

 

A TRIBUTE from M.S.Vincent.( Bangalore )

MY BELOVED PET,  PAT IS NO MORE

PAT= Pattabi Sankaran. Houston , US

To-day is the Saddest day in my life.

For me-

Liberty statue is fallen.

Eiffel Tower is fallen.

Pisa tower is fallen.

Empire state building is fallen.

My beloved friend Mr. Pattabi Sankaran has fallen asleep.

He was a great thinker.

He was able to bring out  his eminent thinking in effective writing.

It was his greatness.

He wrote marvellously on many topics and proved meritorious in writing.

He was a lexicon.

From ancient panoramic paintings to modern Higgs particle he knew.

From Indian Constitution to UNO Charter he had studied.

From Tagore to Bharathi he was thorough.

He was my  hero in writing.

His style of writing had made me his disciple.

I was the first person  to read and comment on his blog.

He was a wide rang writer.

For him,   writing was a pass time.

For many , reading them was a pleasure time.

For him an article ended with the last para,

For many, its reminiscence  never ended.

He was a poet , essayist ,  story writer and  translator.

Once, I asked him to translate Martin Luther King's " I have a dream"

Wonderfully he had done with the same original effect.

Many  times,  I have read it and continue to  read it.

His article "Stoke and after math " was an autobiographical note.

His story " MAJOR' revealed his knowledge in military affairs.

In his story WASTE CLEANER, he says ,

" Change will come in the society slowly, some times bloody."

Many a time,   I used to admire his knowledge in modern science.

He had read Einstein and Hawking thoughts in plenty.

When I wrote on God particle, immediately he responded with a question..

His curiocity to learn was boundless.

His translating ability was simply splendid.

English to Tamil or vice versa was hilarious to him.

His translation of Gitanjali in Tamil is his master piece.

His vocabulary in English and Tamil was highly commendable.

He had translated Bharathiar's  poems  with same social consciousness and spirit.

Following are the examples for his eminence in excellence in translating.. 

Would you fashion a melodious harp and ruin it by discarding it in the dust?

நல்லதோர் வீணை செய்தே அதை நலங் கெட புழுதியில் எறிவதுண்டோ? 

Warm bright ocular spark, my Kannamma, akin to Sun and Moon gods! 

சுட்டும் விழிச் சுடர்தான் கண்ணம்மா சூரிய சந்திரரோ? 

I had read many translations done by different writers 

No body could compete with our beloved Sankaran.

He was the king of kings in translations.

His wide vocabulary had  made him the emperor in it.

As his earnest reader,

I have become an orphan. 

But,  his blog remains to console me.

I will continue reading it for ever.

M S Vincent.

Bangalore.

msvincent_kgf@yahoo.com.

 

Leap years

Even though the year 2100 is exactly divisible by 4 is not a leap year. Why?

This year 2012  is exactly divisible by 4.
Therefore it a leap year having 29 days in February.

Year 2100 is exactly divisible by 4 .
2100 divided by 4 is 525 ( exactly divisible by 4 )
But it not a leap year , Why ?
2100 is a century year.

Any century year should be exactly divisible by 400 to be a leap year.
If 2100 divided by 400, the answer  is 5.25.
Therefore it is not exactly divisible by 400, hence,it is  not a leap year.

2400 is a century year, it is exactly divisible by 400.    2400/400 =6
Therefore it is a leap year.
Years 2100, 2200, 2300 are century years which are not  exactly divisible by 400.
They are not leap years. But 2400 is a leap year because it is exactly divisible by 400.

The Gregorian rule is , to be a leap year , ordinary years should be exactly divisible by 4.
Century years ( ending with two zeros ) should be exactly divisible by 400 not by 4.
2500, 2600 ,2700 are not exactly divisible by 400, therefore they are not leap years.
2800 is exactly divisible by 400, therefore it is a leap year.

ON HIGGS BOSON ( OR ) GOD PARTICLE

World has witnessed many great moments.

When Galileo proved the Heliocentric  system.

When Einstein theory on Spacetime Curvature was proved.

When an atom was exploded.

When Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation  was discovered, etc

To-day the entire Physicists community and elites of the world  are joyful.

It is because of the discovery of new particle consistent with the Higgs particle.

Many of my students had sent mails  asking me  to explain in simple terms .

.

Q: What is Higgs particle ?

A : Higgs Particle nicknamed as God particle is a subatomic particle.

 This particle is responsible for  making  any  particle to gain mass.

Light is made of photons ( energy pockets ) but they do not have mass.

It is because , they do not have Higgs particless in them.

Q : You mean Higgs particles help matters  to gain mass?

A: Yes. Without gaining the mass , there cannot be gravity. 

Without gravity,  the formation of the  Universe would have been impossible.

Q : What is the life time of  a Higgs  particle ?

A : Do not be astonished, it is one millionth of the billionth of a billionth of a second. Afterwards it will decay.

Q : Why  this particle is so important ?

A : When the Universe was formed about 13.5 billion of years ago, the scattered matter gained mass and formed universe. If  there were no Higgs particles, the Universe would not have formed. There would be no atoms, no matters, no stars, no galaxies and no Universe.

Q :When this Higgs particle was formed in the Universe ?

A : After the Big bang  explosion , within  a trillionth of a second ( 1 Trillion = 1000 billion ).

the Higgs particles are supposed to be formed. These particles helped other particles to gain weight.

Because they gained weight, the Universe came to a shape.

Q : How the scientists were able to locate this particle now ?

A. The Scientists are very careful in using the terminology, they say they had discovered a particle consistent with Higgs particle, they have miles to go

In CERN  using  powerful  collider they were able to achieve this.

In Physics, it is a great moment, a moment of joy.

Q :  Actually how this Himalayan  task was possible by the scientists?

A : Protons were accelerated by using colliders to the speed nearer to the speed of light .

The speed of light is 3,00, 000 Km /sec. 

According to the Special theory of relativity nothing can travel faster than this speed.

Scientists accelerated the collider to 99.99999991% of the speed of light.

Higgs particle or Higgs Boson was exploded.

Q : Why the term Boson is used.?

A : Named after the Indian scientist S.N Bose.(Satyendra Nath Bose ).

Bose worked with Albert Einstein to bring out Bose-Einstein condensate in 1920.

He was the pioneer to work on this subject  before Peter Higgs spoke of it.

To honour him , it is named  Boson. Since Peter Higgs of UK worked on it  in 1964 , it is named Higgs Boson.

Q : How this discovery is going to help.?

A : There are many mysteries in cosmology, which remain unsolved.

For example  "dark matter ", it is present in between galaxies and push the galaxies far away.

In fact this dark matter ( dark energy ) helps for the expansion of the Universe.

Scientists are without proper knowledge about this dark matter. This is called dark matter because  the knowledge on it is dark or blank. Infact it is not dark in colour. Knowledge on it  is dark.

Discovering of Higgs particle will find answers for these questions.

Q: Why it is called God particle ?

A: It is a misleading name, this particle as nothing to do with God.

In 1933 Physicist Lederman book was named " God Particle " by his publisher.

This name had somehow entered  in this subject to mislead us.

Q: What is use of this discovery ?
A: what is the use of just born infant ?

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