In the TEDx Kanke Webinar Series titled ‘The Rise of a New World’ the speaker for the 16th session on July 25 was Archana Sharma, Nuclear Scientist, CERN Laboratory, Geneva who spoke on Blue Sky Research on the mist of Covid-19.
The series which began on May 2 is slated to have speakers from the fields of technology, innovation, leadership, creativity and art and culture of national and international acclaim. The sessions are being streamed live on the facebook page fb.me/tedxkanke20.
“Blue Sky Research is research which asks questions about nature and universe and is driven by unanswered curiosity. There are doors opening to new knowledge and Blue Sky sits on the front lines of these doors, looking for answers and further questions. One of the first questions was Newton asking why the apple fell on the earth which led to the discovery of gravity and how matters interact. Asking questions has led us to understand how the solar system works and galaxies move.
Asking questions, has led to life changing discoveries and this is where Blue Sky research comes into picture,” said Sharma.
“All research suggests that we only see a small fraction of the universe. About 95% of the universe exists as dark matter or dark energy. Gravitational waves and black holes have also been established. For recreating the Big Bang Theory in laboratory conditions, protons are smashed at high energy while the collision was meant to understand what is produced in such an experiment. A huge microscope called the Large Hedron Collider which has ultra-high energy accelerator is used. There are two beam pipes that go 27 km in circumference and the protons are circulated in these pipes. The protons move in bunches at high speed so that when they collide, masses of other particles can come out,” added Sharma.
“The magnets and the acceleration mechanism that are used (in the largest accelerator on the planet) can help to produce beams of particles that be used for treatment such as cancer therapy. The target illumination of cancer cells without damaging the healthy cells by creating a digital scalpel through the beams has been a huge progress in the treatment of cancer patients. In addition, in COVID times, creativity and productivity of ideas has increased. In CERN, a new high energy ventilator has been proposed to help Covid patients recover faster,” said the speaker.
Rajeev Gupta curator of the event said, “Whenever there is a crisis, there is hope. The idea behind TED is ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’ and with that in mind TEDx Kanke Webinar series has been started to connect great speakers from various spheres with local communities to seek a deeper understanding of ourselves and our changing world and to inspire ideas and action for a better future for us all. The lockdown and social distancing has inspired us to take the event online and reach out to more and more people, keep them inspired, positive and be ready for the new world post Covid-19.”
The series is being co-organised by Kanishka Poddar, Kanika Malhotra, Priti Gupta, Santosh Sharma, Rashmi Saha with an audience from corporate, government, and different institutions pan India.