Frozen water may not seem like too much of a danger to you, but apparently it can be quite a disaster in the making if not taken care of. Slipping on a sheet of ice on the road is a tiny problem as compared to what ice can do to an air plane. Why then is removal of ice a major issue for optimal functioning of an air plane?

In cold weather ice can build up along the edges of the wings of the air plane. When this ice gets attached to the wings the shape of the wings is temporarily changed. As a successful flight depends largely on the aerodynamic shape of the air plane wings which causes adequate lift, a change in shape can mean a change in their ability to generate lift.

Without the right lift force acting on the air plane there is a good chance that it’s flight pattern will be adversely affected. Indeed this is what happened to the Boeing 737 which took off from Washington DC in 1982 and crashed into the frozen Potomac river killing 74 people.

The solution is simple. De-icing of the plane before take off. Commercially high pressure blasts of antifreeze are used to de-ice planes. However new science projects are being undertaken to find and even faster and more effective way to de-ice planes.

Playing sports is an important part of any healthy person’s life. The will to excel, to push your physical body beyond what it can comfortably achieve is a great one. In ancient times sports was the way warriors prepared themselves for active battle. Even today sports competitions can very often resemble actual battles, both on and off the field!

For football fans Adidas has come up with a great new plaything. This toy called MiCoach is actually a smart ball. And it really does have some smart features when it comes to a soccer ball. You have had to fill air in your balls before, but this one actually comes with it’s own charging stand!

After being charged for a duration of one hour the MiCoach will be able to track up to 2000 kicks. Yes you can actually play with it! It will give statistics on speed, power, spin, trajectory, and more for your practice session. An app helps you streamline videos of your play as well as figuring out patterns in your practice session.

if you want to take your game to the next level, Micoach is happy to help by pointing out exactly what you are doing. Of course you still have to figure out how to do the right stuff more often, but as long as this science project points the way, a bit more practice is all that you will need to go pro!

Music is known as the universal language. A good tune can cut across borders with the ease of a knife slicing through melted butter. However each human being has a distinctive set of likes and dislikes for their music. While previous music players could play whatever you chose to listen to, a new music player called Prizm is now able to learn your listening habits and personalise your playlist.

The music system can be paired with speakers using optical cables, Bluetooth or aux and then be synced with your preferred music streaming account. What makes the Prizm an even better choice for a music player is the fact that it can identify variables such as if it is night or day, the number of people who are in the room, the taste of music that it usually is expected to play and other interesting details.

Needless to say there can be some rather amusing bloopers when the automation picks a song that it feels you may like. However on the whole the options that Prizm offers are interesting and make good use of the latest algorithms for automatic choices that gadgets are using. This is one science project that you will have a lot of fun exploring.

If I fall ill I am tucked into bed with medication and chicken soup till my temperature turns normal again. Very often I can have my pet dog in the room with me because he is loyal to a fault and will not leave me alone when he knows that I am feeling unwell. I am worried that he will catch my germs and fall ill as well. Is is possible for dogs to  get sick if the owner is ill?

The short answer to this is – no. You can not make your favourite pet unwell even if you have a particularly contagious flu. This is because the viruses that cause human being to catch the flu are adapted to affect the human body. They are species specific and are not likely to decide to mutate and take up residence in your puppy dog. Does this mean that the pet is never going to fall ill with the flu?

Again the answer to that is no. Just as we have viruses that are specific to human beings, there are viruses specific to other species. Dogs can get sick if the canine version of the flu virus hits them. Also there are other bacterial diseases which science studies have proved are not quite as immune to the species divide.

If you find it tough to get rid of stubborn stains on your clothes the new technology from the Facilitation Centre for Industrial Plasma Technologies or FCIPT in Gandhinagar interest you. The division of the Institute for Plasma Research has manufactured a technology which can render cloth stain proof.

The particle powder developed by FCIPT has titanium metal vaporised with plasma to form titanium oxide. When these are mixed with alcohol and sprayed onto the cloth, the nano particles settle in the cloth and form a protective coat. Now if you drop anything on your clothes the only thing you need to do to get rid of the stain is to place it in the sun.

When the ultra violet rays of sunlight react with the titanium oxide in the presence of oxygen from the atmosphere, the molecules forming the stain are broken down. This in turn makes the stain disappear. Senior scientist C Balasubramanian said that one just has to leave the cloth in the sun for two to three hours and the stain disappears. This process is called a self cleaning cloth.

The FCIPT will be entering into an MoU with Man Made Textile Research Association in Surat to implement in-line plasma treatment technology in textile manufacturing. Now this is a science project that everyone who is a sloppy eater will be cheering for.