It’s safe to say that Starry Night is one of the most recognized pieces of art in the modern era. It is an oil canvas painting by Dutch-Post Impressionist painter, Vincent Willem Van Gogh. He painted it while on his stay at the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence after mutilating his own ear! Though quite famous for the techniques (impasto) he used and the depiction of light from the moon and the stars in this painting, a quintessential trait lies beneath the ethereal beauty of the Starry Night; Turbulence.
Though science has the answer to seemingly everything, it fails to find a complete explanation on turbulence. A popular example of turbulence can be experienced on an airplane, when there’s a sudden jolt of vibration which seems to stem out of nowhere! Any one that has studied fluid mechanics is well acquainted with the unpredictability and beauty of turbulence. The primary factor governing any turbulent flow is the formation of eddies or vortices which are simply swirls of fluid formed when the fluid is in turbulent flow (as shown below).
Such swirls can also be observed in tornadoes and tycoons, most prominently on the big red spot in Jupiter.
“I am an old man now, and when I die and go to heaven, there are two matters on which I hope for enlightenment. One is quantum electrodynamics and the other is turbulent motion of fluids. About the former, I am really rather optimistic.”
Sir Horace Lamb
By using short and light brush strokes along with the use of contrasting colors and painting swirls or eddies to express the motion of light from the moon and stars, he was able to make the light flicker and radiate like most Impressionists of his time. In simple words, he was able to make the painting come alive. This is termed as luminance. In 2004, the Hubble’s Space Telescope discovered these very eddies of a distant cloud of dust and gas around a star which prompted scientists to refer to Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Thus began the wide research to study the luminance in Van Gogh’s paintings in detail.
The researchers digitized the paintings, and measured how brightness varies between any two pixels. From the curves measured for pixel separations, they concluded that paintings from Van Gogh’s period of psychotic agitation behave remarkably similar to fluid turbulence. However, other impressionist paintings of the time on inspection didn’t seem to correspond with the idea above (refer to “The Scream”, by Munch, Monet’s “Water Lilies” etc.) further adding to the genius of Vincent Van Gogh.
What’s more interesting is the fact that these turbulent patterns were not observed in paintings stemming from calmer periods of his life. To state that Vincent’s life was bumpy would be a major understatement. Plagued by psychiatric illness throughout his life, Van Gogh committed suicide in 1890. Evidence suggests that he had manic depression, a chronic mental illness thought affects many creative people.
Though it is quite difficult to express the deepest ideas of turbulence with math and science, Van Gogh, despite his mental trauma and intense suffering, and maybe unknowingly, was successful to perceive and represent one of the most supremely difficult concepts nature has ever brought before mankind.
Collaborating with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies, SOMES (Society of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Students) conducted a program on “Industry 4.0” on Pulchowk Campus on Friday. With the Deputy HoD of Thapathali Campus, Sushant Raj Giri as the main speaker, the program focused on educating students on the Fourth industrial revolution; its effects, and opportunities in Nepal. JB Consultancy provided the required expertise and funding for the event.
After three prior industrial revolutions each in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries respectively, the arrival of the 21st gave rise to a fourth one. Industry 4.0 focuses on evolving automated machines into autonomous ones, the difference being that autonomous machines are self-learning and utterly independent of humans. In contrast, automated ones need humans to set them up. The major components of Industry 4.0 are AI, machine learning, smart sensors, cloud computing, and IoT(Internet of Things). With remote surveillance through cloud computing, assessing the market needs through deep learning algorithms, and fault prognosis of machine components through health monitoring sensors, Industry 4.0 promises a higher production rate, better efficiency, and product optimization.
Most of Nepal’s educated and skilled manpower in the industry sector either stagnate through long unemployment periods, settle for a job unrelated to their core competency or flee abroad in search of a better opportunity. Industry 4.0 can help to fill the gap between the availability and demand of such skilled manpower.
The Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies aims to implement Industry 4.0 in Nepal’s agricultural sector first. To boost production rates and cut off the middlemen who cause price hikes, by directly connecting farmers and consumers, Industry 4.0 can help build an optimized Nepali agriculture market.
The rise of autonomy has started to sprout in Nepal and its industries, among which Hongshi Cement seems to have a better understanding and application of the concept in comparison to its fellow Nepali counterparts. To compete with the global market production and product optimization trend and to have its citizens working in state-of-the-art technology industries, Nepal needs to comprehend, incorporate and implement “Industry 4.0” within its industries.
नविन उपकरण र प्रविधिको विकासले जब विश्वको अर्थतन्त्रलाई छुट्टै मार्गमा परिचालन गर्दै त्यसको बृहत् अभिवृद्धि गराउछ, त्यो फड्कोलाई औधोगिक क्रान्तिको संज्ञा दिईन्छ। जेम्स वाटको वाष्प ईन्जीनको आविस्कार र विश्वव्यापी प्रयोगले १८औ शताब्दीमा मानवश्रमलाई यन्त्रीकरण गरेसंगै पहिलो औद्योगिक क्रान्तिको आरम्भ भयो । विधुतीय उर्जा र त्यसबाट संचालित ठुलो-उत्पादनका यन्त्रहरुले १९औ शताब्दीमा दोस्रो औद्योगिक क्रान्ति ल्याए । कम्प्युटर र इलेक्ट्रोनिक्सको विकासले जन्माएको स्वचालित यन्त्रका मद्दतले तेस्रो औद्योगिक क्रान्ति विस्तारित भयो । यी तीन क्रान्ति पश्चात, यन्त्रहरुको स्वायत्त सिकाई (मसिन लर्निङ्ग), कृत्रिम विवेक (आर्टीफिसिअल इन्टेलिजेन्स) र क्लाउड कोम्पुटिंगले २१औ शताब्दीमा सुरुवात गरेको चौथो औद्योगिक क्रान्ति हो – “ इन्डस्ट्री ४.० “
जर्मन सरकारले सन् २०११ तयको आद्योगिक क्षेत्रलाई डिजिटल प्रविधिले आधुनिकरण गरेर उत्पादकत्व को अभिवृद्धि गर्ने प्रयासलाई दिएको नाम हो “ इन्डस्ट्री ४.० ” । इन्डस्ट्री ४.० अन्तर्गत बिग डाटा, डाटा म्यानेजमेन्ट, स्मार्ट सेन्सर, क्लाउड कोम्पुटिंग, I.o.T(इन्टरनेट अफ थिन्ग्स), आर्टीफिसिअल इन्टेलिजेन्स र मसिन लर्निङ्ग पर्दछन ।
कारखानाका जटिल कामहरुलाई इन्डस्ट्री ४.० ले सहजीकरण मात्र गर्दैन, उत्पादन प्रक्रियालाई अप्टिमाइज गरेर उत्पादकत्वको वृद्धि पनि गराउछ। उदाहरणका लागि मेसिन लर्निङ्गको प्रयोगवाट बजारको मागको पूर्वानुमान गरेर सोही अनुसारको उत्पादन गर्न सकिन्छ । डाटा सेन्सरहरुका मद्दतले कारखानाका उपकरणमा आउन सक्ने खराबी र कमजोरीहरुको पूर्वानुमान गरि ठुलो हानीहरुबाट बचाउन सकिन्छ । सम्पूर्ण उत्पादन प्रक्रियालाई इन्टरनेट र क्लाउड कोम्पुटिंगद्वारा घरमै बसेर निरिक्षण गर्न मिल्छ । उत्पादन देखि लिएर वितरण, सप्लाई चेन तथा ग्राहकको प्रतिक्रिया र माग बुझ्न समेत इन्डस्ट्री ४.० ले मद्दत पुर्याउछ ।
नेपालको सन्दर्भमा इन्डस्ट्री ४.० एक नया पदावली भएर आउदा र धेरै नेपालीहरु एस बिसयमा अविज्ञ भएपनि, यसले नेपालीहरुलाई असर परेको छैन भने भन्न मिल्दैन। इन्डस्ट्री ४.० का एयाप्लिकेसन हामीले हरेक दिन अनुभव गर्दछौ । हामीले गूगलमा केहि कुरा सर्च गर्यौ भने एक घण्टापछि हामीलाई युटूब र इन्स्ताग्रामले तेसैको एड देखाउछ । यो प्रविधि पनि इन्डस्ट्री ४.० अन्तर्गत पर्दछ । हामीले चालाउने स्मार्टफोन र स्मार्टवाच सबै इन्डस्ट्री ४.० का उपकरणहरु हुन् ।
नेपालका उद्योगलाई इन्डस्ट्री ४.० संग जोड्नका लागि नेपाल सरकार,उद्योग, वाणिज्य तथा आपूर्ति मन्त्रालयले एस बिसयका बिज्ञ र उद्योगका व्येक्तित्वहरु संग छलफलहरु थालेको छ । उद्योग, वाणिज्य तथा आपूर्ति मन्त्रालयको पहल र JB कन्सल्टेन्सी को परामर्शमा इन्डस्ट्री ४.० अन्तरगत अहिलेसम्म तिन कार्यक्रमहरु आयोजना गरिएको छ । नेपालका शिक्षित जनशक्ति विदेश पलायन हुने होड चर्किदै गर्दा, उद्योगमा इन्डस्ट्री ४.०को संलग्नताले उनीहरुलाई नेपालमै विदेसीस्तरको रोजगारी प्रदान गर्न सक्छ। हालको समयमा मन्त्रालयको रुचि रहेको कृषि क्षेत्रमा इन्डस्ट्री ४.० ले उत्पादन वृद्धि त गर्छ नै, साथै कृषक र बिक्रेता बिचको सम्पर्कदाता बनिदिएर बिचौलियाहरुलाई हटाउन पनि मद्दत गर्छ ।
अटोमेसनबाट अटोनोमीतिर लम्किरहेको विश्वमा नेपालले आफु र आफ्ना जनतालाई अग्रसर पार्नका लागि उद्योग, कृषि, शिक्षा तथा नीतिगत क्षेत्रमा इन्डस्ट्री ४.० लाई बुझेर आत्मसात् गर्न अत्यन्त जरुरी छ।
For a country that presents itself as the vanguard of liberty, America with its retrogressive bylaws serves an irony. Even with its herculean economy and militant omnipresence or maybe due to it, America finds it hard to stay afloat in a pool of progressive nations. In the past few months, the following have presented themselves as some of the major problems dragging America:
Legality of Abortion
On June 24, 2022, SCOTUS overturned the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade act that guaranteed women’s right to abortion, by a ruling of 5-4. Upheld by a 6-3 conservative majority, with Chief Justice John Roberts expressing that he would not have removed the Roe precedent altogether, abortion laws and their implementation have now been passed down to individual states.
Immediately after the decision, 13 states activated the trigger laws, banning or scheduling to ban abortions. While some states haven’t finalized the decision, a total of 26 states seem likely to ban it. After the announcement, Americans got polarized into groups of “pro-choice”, people protesting SCOTUS’ decision, and “pro-life”, people celebrating it.
P.C. Gayatri Malhotra
Fetal viability, a fetus’ ability to survive outside the womb, is seen as the point where the rights of an unborn fetus are separated from its mother. Roe considered this time to be around 28 weeks. While new studies decrease the time frame to 22 weeks, some states such as Texas plan on limiting abortion’s legal time frame to just 6 weeks. Other conservative Republican states such as Louisiana and Kentucky have already considered abortion to be illegal throughout the term of pregnancy.
The consequence of overturning Roe v Wade became visible just three days after the decision as a 10-year-old rape victim had to travel to Indiana from Ohio for abortion procedures. She was six-and-a-half weeks pregnant at the time. Although there are exceptions for rape and incest victims to seek abortion legally even after the six-week time limit, the added procedures of police reports and lack of proper knowledge add complexity to the situation.
P.C. Gayatri Malhotra
Mass Shootings
The scale of mass shootings is much larger than what the media portrays it to be in the United States. In the first half of 2022 alone there have been more than 250 mass shootings in the US. It’s only when the shootings get unavoidably macabre, the most recent being the Texas school mass shooting, that news agencies, and the general public raise their voices against them. Unregulated gun protocols and the ensuing ease of access let enraged and unstable people eject their rampage on innocent lives.
P.C . Natalie Chaney
Immigration
Despite stringent regulations imposed, immigration still deems itself as one of the most demanding problems in America. A tractor-trailer carrying immigrants illegally from Mexico met a devastating mishap as 53 people parched into a sweltering death on 27th June 2022. Four people with charges of alleged smuggling have been arrested. Neither Trump’s wall nor Biden’s open border policies have been able to encompass the demanding problem of immigration. Rather than stopping immigrants, the Trump wall has become a source of accidents as more than 200 immigrants have gotten injured from jumping off the wall in 2021-2022. Although Biden immediately stopped the construction of Trump’s wall altogether, he still hasn’t found a viable solution. The number of immigrants trying to cross illegally to America is more than 100,000 a month. Presenting and imposing radically opposite decisions by Democrats and Republicans, immigration is one of the most polarizing topics in America.
P.C. Mitchel Lensink
Conclusion
While the majority of Americans seem to prefer stricter gun laws and legal abortion, the discrepancy seems to stem from a conservative group of people in policy-making positions (Congress, SCOTUS) adamant at their decisions. Background checks on guns and medically relevant time frames for legal abortion should be set. The solution to immigration isn’t a simple one in that it shall require efforts from its neighboring countries, mostly Mexico and Central American countries. Although a sudden bipartisan agreement on immigration seems unlikely, each side must budge a little towards an optimal regulation.
