How to Watch a Solar Eclipse: Dos and Don’ts

With the longest Solar eclipse scheduled to happen on July 22nd its important for people to know some Dos and Donts before they head to see the natures beauty….

Never look at the sun directly – doing so can damage your eyes. You should also never attempt to look at the sun in the partial eclipse phase through unprotected eyes or homebrew filtering mechanisms. The best way to observe the sun is by projecting the image.

Some easy methods to guide you to a safe way to watch a solar eclipse.

The Pinhole Projection Method

1.       Here is one way to project the sun’s image:

2.       Get two pieces of cardboard (flaps from a box, backs of paper tablets).

3.       With a pin or pencil point, poke a small hole in the center of one piece (no bigger than the pin or pencil point).

4.       Take both pieces in your hand.

5.       Stand with your back to the sun.

6.       In one hand, hold the piece with the pinhole; place the other piece (the screen) behind it.

7.       The sunlight will pass through the pinhole and form an image on the screen.

8.       Adjust the distance between the two pieces to focus and change the size of the image.

Do not look through the pinhole at the sun.

Solar Filters

A second technique for viewing the sun safely is by looking at it directly through a specially designed solar filter. Such filters permit only a miniscule fraction of the sun’s light to pass through them.

One such type of filter is made of aluminized polyester. Another type of solar filter is made from a black polymer, which gives a yellow/orange tint to the sun which is more pleasing than the bluish colour seen with aluminized polyester filters.

Either filter type is completely safe provided that it has an optical density of 5.0 or more. This means that only 0.01% of the sun’s light can pass through the filter.

When using any kind of filter, however, do not stare for long periods at the sun. Look through the filter briefly, and then look away.

Welders’ Goggles

Welders’ goggles or the filters for welder’s goggles with a rating of 14 or higher are safe to use for looking directly at the sun. They are also relatively inexpensive.

Camera and Telescope Solar Filters

Telescope and camera companies provide metal-coated filters that are safe for viewing the sun. They are more expensive than common Mylar.

Fully Exposed and Developed Black-and-White Film

You can make your own filter out of black-and-white film, but only true black-and-white film (such as Kodak Tri-X or Pan-X). Such films have a layer of silver within them after they are developed. It is this layer of silver that protects your eyes.

To make your own solar filter, proceed as follows:

•        Open up a roll of black-and-white film and expose it to the sun for a minute.

•        Have it developed to provide you with negatives.

•        Use the negatives for your filter.

•        It is best to use two layers.

•        With this filter, you can look directly at the sun with safety.

Don’t use these as solar filters.

•        Sunglasses

•        Photographic neutral density filters

•        Smoked glass

•        Polarizing filters

•        Compact discs

•        Floppy disk media

•        Black colour film

•        Any black and white film negatives bearing images

Go Green, Let it start from me!!

 

Are you ready to step out of your sedentary lifestyle and make a difference? If so, then join hands and pledge to use one of the below ways to commute even though once in a while I am suree it wil mak a difference. It is simple, fun, healthy and “Green”. Let us go green by….

Walking: 

We could skip those early morning walks and walk to office instead if the office is walking distance.
Cycling: 

We burn calories at our gymnasiums to keep in shape. Why not use the same energy to reach office by cycling? Average commute time on the bicycle and motorbike should remain almost similar. Don’t have one? Borrow from a friend, rent from a shop or buy one.

Mass transport: 
Metro has become one of the most profitable transport organizations in the nation and we could make better use of the mass transport facilities provided by them. It’s both economical and eco-friendly. With governemnt starting AC buses i think its time we find out the bus routes in advance and start using them

Car pooling: 

Aren’t all the above options proposed to us time and again? Still we see SUVs, sedans and auto rickshaws clogging the roads. In most of the cases, the number of occupants is not more than one or two. Let us at least offer to pool with others who take the same route. It makes our pockets healthier too.

Seems cumbersome? A little bit of planning and thinking ahead could make it a lot easier. Try it for a day or two and realize how much fun and simple it is. Let’s begin the journey towards a greener, cleaner environment. Let’s also inspire our friends to follow the greener way and help to make the air cleaner.

Let’s do our bit for Mother Earth.

Biomedical Waste a challenge for our society

South Delhi’s Sainik Farms is home to the rich and mighty, suitably marked by marquee SUVs lining up its service lanes. The row of farmhouses extends a while to the nearby Neb Sarai, where a speeding rusty Tata 407 truck almost seems like an apparition in the April heat. But the road ahead leads to a different world — a wasteland full of plastic cans and discarded medicines, the stench of dry blood filling the air. The truck comes to a halt and discharges its cargo: jute sacks. Rag pickers crowd around and tear the bags apart for what they are eagerly waiting for: blue plastic bags labelled with a trefoil with sharp ends — the global symbol for biological hazards.

Syringes, intravenous sets and glucose bottles fall out as the bags get thrown around. The truck has just arrived from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), says a man standing in front of a nearby shanty. In a small yard down a nearby lane, half a dozen men are sitting among piles of waste. In one corner, a boy with a wart on his chin is patiently sorting out his loot into little piles. After it has been sorted, the waste will be sold to plastic manufacturers from illegal industrial areas such as Kirti Nagar or Peera Garhi who will melt it into buckets, mobile phone covers or plastic bags.

In the worst-case scenario, it will be repackaged and sold back to clinics where their illegal reuse may infect hundreds of patients with hepatitis or HIV. In Modasa in northern Gujarat, an outbreak of Hepatitis B last February claimed 62 lives after syringes were allegedly reused. Though the risk is remote, bio-medical wastelands can also spread airborne diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia and meningitis.

Neb Sarai, incidentally, is just one such hub. In fact, reselling plastic waste, without even ensuring it is sterilised and shredded, has become common practice at government and private hospitals alike across the country. Syringes, intravenous sets, glucose bottles and so on are made of so-called ‘virgin’ plastic (as opposed to recycled one), and can be sold at Rs 10-50 per kg, depending on quality. Ambiguity in the rules for bio-medical waste disposal, lax monitoring and lack of staff at state pollution control boards have allowed an illegal trade of infected waste (estimated at around Rs 100 crore) to flourish in the country, exposing millions to toxic waste.

I would love to have your thoughts on how we could tackle this problem. I will follow this post up with Dangers of Bio medical waste….

Zero waste Community: Just a Dream

Municipal solid waste is an ever-growing problem in India. Urban population generates tonnes of waste everyday. The problem will have no let up and will further worsen with the expansion of cities. Adding to this is that in many of the upcoming cities which are so called as satellite or metro cities in the country, there is no proper waste management system. The civil authorities with their age-old techniques and practices proved to be a failure in managing theses waste. The result is overflowing and clogged drainage systems in the cities causing havoc for the people around. The traditional techniques of incineration and landfills are no more a solution especially to these expanding cities. Incineration is being ruled out as it is not environmental friendly and it emits a lot of furans and dioxin causing health hazards to human beings. It is also not cost effective for the civic authorities. Landfills on the other hand are becoming nearly impossible in cities due to lack of wide uninhabited areas. Landfills have another major drawback of contamination of water and soil. The problem is persistent and widespread however government is doing little to find alternative methods for managing waste. It is here the decentralised waste management becomes important. Many NGOs and organizations have been advocating decentralised waste management. The 1999 Burman committee appointed by the Supreme Court to assess the issue of municipal waste also recommended composting mandatory in every municipality. But so far, no municipal authority has taken any step around this. Do let me know if you woud like to suggest ways and means which could be used by civic authorities to manage this waste and help make our lives cleaner and better.

Happy Earthday 22nd April 2009

Earth Day 2009, April 22, will mark the beginning of  the green generation campaign  which will also be the focus of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day in 2010. With negotiations for a new global climate agreement coming up in December, Earth Day 2009 must be a day of action and civic participation, to defend The Green GenerationTM’s core principles:

• A carbon-free future based on  renewable energy that will end our common dependency on fossil fuels, including coal.

• An individual’s commitment to responsible, sustainable consumption.

• Creation of a new green economy that lifts people out of poverty by creating millions of quality green jobs and transforms the global education system into a green one.