‘Star-making machine’ found by astronomers...

‘Baby Boom’ Galaxy Produces 4,000 Stars A Year

Washington: Scientists have discovered rare “star-making machine” in distant universe, producing stars at big bursts at a rate of up to 4,000 per year, a development that is in contrast to our Milky Way galaxy that pumps out an average of just 10 stars per year.

“This galaxy is undergoing a major baby boom, galaxy that producing most of its stars all at once,” said Peter Capak of Nasa’s Spitzer Science Centre at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.

The discovery, detailed in the July issue of Institute of Astrophysical Journal Letters, means that if the human of population was produced in a similar boom, “then almost all of the people alive today would be the same age”.

Nasa’s Hubble Space Telescope and Japan’s Subaru atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii, first spotted the “Baby Boom” galaxy in visiblelight images, where it appeared as an inconspicuous smudge due to is great distance.

The discovery goes against the most common theory of galaxy formation that believes that galaxies slowly bulk up their stars over time by absorbing tiny pieces of galaxies and not in one big burst as observed in the newfound “Baby Boom” galaxy, the Science Daily said in a report on Friday.

“The incredible star-formation activity suggests that we may be witnessing, for the first time, the formation of one of the most massive elliptical galaxies in the universe,” said co-author Nick Scoville of Caltech, the principal investigator of the Cosmic Evolution Survey, also known as Cosmos.

The Baby Boom galaxy, which belongs to a class of evolution galaxies called starbursts, is the new record holder for the brightest starburst galaxy in the very distant universe, with brightness being a measure of its extreme starformation rate. PTI

BURST OF ACTIVITY: The green and red splotch is the most active star-making galaxy in the universe, nicknamed ‘Baby Boom’

Science in clean, green surroundings...

With a campus spread over 10 acres, the Doongarsee Gangjee Ruparel College, located opposite Matunga Road Station, is the largest campus in the island city. The college was started in 1952, while the junior college was started in 1976 with the arts and science streams. Commerce was introduced in 1984. Located a short distance from Shivaji Park, the college boasts a clean and green environment and was given the BMC’s cleanest college tag this year.

Ruparel college is noted for its science education, with the junior college stream considered the best in the city by many. Last year, Ruparel’s junior college science cut-off was over 90%, the only college in the city to have such a high cutoff in any stream.

“Our college is run by the Modern Education Society and is managed by teachers. Our faculty is very approachable and friendly. We believe in overall personality development and lay a huge emphasis on extra-curricular, sports and cultural activities. We also believe in spreading education to the poorest,’’ said Dr Pradeep Kulkarni, principal of the college.

For the last 25 years, the college has been successfully running the Brihanmumbai Centre for Talent Search (BCTS). “The BCTS aims at finding young talent from schools and colleges to prepare them for competitive examinations,’’ said Kulkarni. The college tries to balance student aspirations with the needs and expectations of society. Ruparel is the only college in the state to hold inter-collegiate competitions for Marathi oneact plays. TNN

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY: Ruparel’s campus was called the cleanest one in Mumbai by the BMC this year.

State to ICSE schools: Go beyond Class X...

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: While the state government is going all out to sanction more seats, and even colleges, to bridge the yawning chasm between the number of students who have cleared Class X and the number of first-year junior college (FYJC) seats, the state education department plans to ask ICSE and CBSE schools to pitch in and help out.

“Several ICSE and CBSE schools have received No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the Maharashtra government for starting classes X, XI and XII. However, many of these schools, despite having permission to start junior colleges, do not do so,’’ said Sanjay Kumar, state education secretary. The state feels that the Class X students from ICSE and CBSE schools then have nowhere to go but junior colleges offering the HSC. “We will direct them to start classes XI and XII in order to ease the burden on the HSC board,’’ said Kumar.

The state will also request ICSE and CBSE schools that have an NOC to run up to Class X to also run classes XI and XII if they have the infrastructure.

Currently, the government is facing a crisis as 13.15 lakh students cleared Class X this year and there are only 9.75 lakh FYJC seats. The state requires an additional 1,600 divisions. The state is already sanctioning 305 additional colleges across Maharashtra in addition to over 500 additional divisions in existing colleges.

“The state is trying to create additional capacity in junior colleges. ICSE and CBSE students should help ease the load and create more junior college seats,’’ said Kumar

NON-HSC OPTIONS TO THE FORE

With Junior College Admissions Stalled, ICSE & CBSE Students Are Applying To National And International Boards

Hemali Chhapia | TNN

Mumbai: In the past 10 days, Malini Goyal, principal of Lokhandwala Foundation School, has received at least 30 to 40 applications from CBSE and ICSE students wanting to join Class XI in her institution, which offers the ISC certificate. Interestingly, admissions for the ISC began in June and classes have already begun.

The Kendriya Vidyalaya at the IIT-Powai campus Powai, has seen a huge influx of students wanting admissions to Class XI this year, so much so that it started an additional division for science.

With admissions to junior colleges offering the HSC thrown out of gear due to the ongoing court stay, ISC and CBSE institutions are being approached by a higher than usual number of students wanting to join their Class XI.

Most of these students hail from the ICSE and CBSE boards themselves. Several
feel they have been served a raw deal by the state government, which this year brought in marks normalisation to bring the scores of the students of all boards on par for the purpose of junior college admissions. ICSE and CBSE students felt their SSC counterparts benefited from the exercise.

Ranjeet Singh, in-charge principal at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Powai, said that last year his school ran three divisions—two for science and one for commerce—each comprising about 45 students each. But this year the number of students wanting to study at his institution has seen a steep rise. “We have admitted about 53 students in each division and started one more division for science,’’ said Singh. The requisite permission was sought from the KV Sangathan. In fact, several students from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bhandup, which does not offer commerce in Class XI, were also admitted to the Powai institution.

A similar scenario is unfolding at other places. The Lokhandwala Foundation School, which offers the ISC, has conducted several “late admissions’’ in the past week after ICSE and CBSE students approached Goyal. The ISC college offers humanities, science and commerce. “If the state wanted to announce a new policy, it should have done so in advance. What the government has done has destroyed the mental peace of students and parents,’’ Goyal said.

There has been a surge in applications at international schools too. Vandana Lulla, principal of Podar International High School, said applications for the IB diploma have gone up by about 30% to 40% this year. Most applicants, said Lulla, hail from the CBSE and ICSE boards.

Rustom Kerawala, head of Vibgyor High, said he has received about 100 applications for the 48 seats he has in the IB programme. This is “better than expected’’, he said. About 70% of the applications, he added, are from ICSE students.

In the past few days, the Utpal Sanghvi School has received eight applications from ICSE students. “Students are facing a harrowing time with the junior college admissions this year. I have received some applications, but I don’t have seats,’’ said Abha Dharam Pal, principal of the school which offers the IB diploma.

SCHOOL REGISTER
Non-HSC boards in 2007-08 in the Mumbai region ICSE: 52 schools till Class X | Only 7 of them offer the ISC (classes XI & XII) CBSE: 32-odd schools up to Class X | Only 22-odd go upto Class XII Note: At least one more school, Christchurch, plans to open Class XI for 2008-09

SUSPENDED IN SUSPENSE: Students enquire at an admissions counter at Ruia College on Friday, while the nearby Podar College in Matunga displays a board announcing admissions are stayed.

Cyber schools: Technology reshaping US classrooms

Boston (Massachusetts): From online courses to kid-friendly laptops and virtual teachers, technology is spreading in America’s classrooms, reducing the need for textbooks, notepads, paper and in some cases even the schools themselves.

Just ask 11-year-old Jemella Chambers. She is one of 650 students who receive an Apple Inc laptop each day at a state-funded school in Boston. From the second row of her classroom, she taps out math assignments on animated education software that she likens to a videogame.

“It’s comfortable,” she said of Scholastic Corp’s FASTT Math software in which she and other students compete for high scores by completing mathematical equations. “This makes me learn better. It’s like playing a game,” she said.

Education experts say her school, the Lilla G Frederick Pilot Middle School in Boston, offers a glimpse into the future.

It has no textbooks. Students receive laptops at the start of each day, returning them at the end. Teachers and students maintain blogs. Staff and parents chat on instant messaging software. Assignments are submitted through electronic “drop boxes” on the school’s website. “The dog ate my homework” is no excuse here.

The experiment at Frederick began two years ago at cost of about $2 million, but last year was the first in which all 7th and 8th grade students received laptops. Classwork is done in Google Inc’s free applications like Google Docs, or Apple’s iMovie and specialized educational software like FASTT Math.

“Why would we ever buy a book when we can buy a computer? Textbooks are often obsolete before they are even printed,” said Debra Socia, principal of the school in Dorchester, a tough Boston district prone to crime and poor schools. There is, however, one concession to the past: a library stocked with novels.

“It’s a powerful, powerful experience,” added Socia. Average attendance climbed to 94% from 92%; discipline referrals fell 30%. And parents are more engaged, she said. “Any family can chat online with teacher and say ‘hey, we’re having this problem’.” Unlike traditional schools, Frederick’s students work at vastly different levels in the same classroom. Children with special needs rub shoulders with high performers. Computers track a range of aptitude levels, allowing teachers to tailor their teaching to their students’ weakest areas, Socia said. REUTERS

A CLASS APART: Students at the Lilla G Frederick Pilot Middle School work on their laptops during a class in Dorchester, Massachusetts

Oil-guzzling China has a positive spin-off: Green tech

Richard Woods

At the Lotus engineering works in Norfolk, eastern England researchers are working on an idea that seems almost too good to be true: a car that runs on CO2

The very gas that comes out of exhausts and poses the threat of climate change could, they believe, be extracted from the atmosphere and used as a source of synthetic fuel. Hey presto: a carbon-neutral car, planet saved.

From theory to practice is a bumpy road, of course, and Mike Kimberley, chief executive of Group Lotus, readily admits that some alternative fuels “could be more easily implemented than others”. He is optimistic, however, and determined to make Lotus a “world leader in green transport engineering”. All sorts of initiatives for clean, green and renewable energy are being supercharged by oil prices that hit a new record last week of $146 a barrel — and may well go higher.

What is bad news for businesses and consumers, however, is good for investors in green energy. Vast sums of money are pouring into technologies that until relatively recently were the preserve of niche businesses and environmental campaigners. This year should see a record £73billion or more invested in “clean technology” despite the credit crunch, according to a report published last week by the consultants New Energy Finance for the United Nations.

“The green energy gold rush is attracting legions of modern-day prospectors in all parts of the globe,” said Achim Steiner, head of the UN environment programme. Dotcom entrepreneurs, Wall Street financiers and venture capitalists of every hue are piling in.

While the demand for oil in most western countries has flatlined or even declined over the past 12 months as economic conditions have worsened, in China it is powering away. This demand, and for other commodities, is driving up prices — but also spurring investment in technologies that might unlock a new era of clean, affordable energy.

It prompts several questions: are consumers finally beginning to change their habits? Will alternative energy sources become economically competitive? And could China’s thirst for oil in fact save the planet?

That high oil prices are changing consumers’ habits is clear. In the US the latest figures show that American motorists drove 1.4billion fewer miles in April than in the same month last year. It was the sixth consecutive monthly drop. Bus and train use has jumped 10-15%. In Britain similar concern is evident. Petrol sales are down and an AA survey shows that 48% of drivers are considering cutting out short journeys by car and 62% would consider buying a more fuelefficient model. SUNDAY TIMES

IGCSE SCHOOLS IN INDIA

‘We don’t evaluate students on the basis of knowledge alone’

Anahita Mukherji I TNN

Mumbai: International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), the Std X board exam offered by the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), is rapidly gaining ground in elite schools across Mumbai.

While there are around 52 ICSE schools in the city, it has 43 IGCSE institutes—twice the number of CBSE schools and more than three times that of IB institutes. TOI interviews Ian Chambers, CIE’s regional manager for south Asia, on what the board has to offer.

What is the growth rate of IGCSE schools across India?
Every year, we are growing at 40%. Currently, there are more than 200 IGCSE schools in India.

What’s the USP of these schools?
We focus on a child-friendly method of teaching that hones a wide variety of skills. We are an application-based board and do not evaluate a student on the basis of knowledge alone. For instance, an IGCSE question could be, “How important is fiscal policy in controlling inflation in India?’’ For this, a student needs to know what fiscal policy is, what the current scenario is as far as inflation is concerned.

Then, he has to apply his knowledge of fiscal policy to the Indian scenario. Students can also include their own ideas on the issue as well as a comparison of the current and past scenarios in India. Only then will he get a high score in the IGCSE.

Are students given grades or marks?
Both. Earlier, we used only grades, but we introduced marks this year as colleges and universities often ask for marks.

Are teachers for IGCSE schools selected on the basis of any exam?
There are no exams but teachers must familiarise themselves with our system. They are chosen by individual schools. For teachers who are already in IGCSE schools, there are regular training programmes in India.

Most schools in India that offer IGCSE are perceived as elitist. Do you feel IGCSE reaches only a limited audience?
No. Our curriculum is being offered by a diverse range of schools. Our focus is on making students independent learners through an enquiry-based method of teaching. This can be implemented in any classroom.

What are the different Std X examinations offered by the CIE?
In the UK, we offer the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). In the rest of the world, there’s the IGCSE. We also offer O-levels, which are the equivalent of the IGCSE and GCSE. In countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, most CIE-approved schools offer O-levels, whereas the IGCSE is more popular in India.

What is the difference between O-levels and IGCSE?
IGCSE tests a wider range of skills and is more application-oriented. There is a lot of practical assessment involved in IGCSE. anahita.mukherji@timesgroup.com

Ian Chambers