Goa science meet to discuss ancient alloys

Scientists across India will converge in Goa later this week to discuss, among other things, ancient alloys of the pre-Mahabharat period which could render flying machines from that era invisible to the naked eye, a top organiser of the Bharatiya Vigyan Sammelan and Expo said Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference in Panaji, Jayant Sahasrabuddhe, national organiser of the conference, said the event would also demonstrate how tribals from Madhya Pradesh manufactured steel using herbal juices as a catalyst in a wooden furnace using ancient and traditional wisdom.

"Bharadwaj rishi (sage) has mentioned that planes made with certain alloys can be made invisible. C.S.R. Prabhu has prepared that particular alloy in a modern laboratory. He will demonstrate that alloy which absorbs 80 percent of the incident light," Sahasrabuddhe told reporters.

The reference to ancient planes at the forthcoming Sammelan comes a month after the Indian Science Congress in Mumbai discussed aviation technology in ancient India and how planes were invented by a sage.

Prabhu, a noted scientist according to the organiser, is expected to deliver a speech on Sage Bharadwaj's book 'Brihad Viman Shastra' in which there are several references to aviation technology, including manufacturing alloys to make planes invisible to the naked eye as well as to the radar, according to Sahasrabuddhe.

Sahasrabuddhe, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay alumnus, also called for more funding for such projects.

The organiser also said that tribal artisans from Madhya Pradesh would also be present at the Goa conference and would demonstrate the process of making steel from iron and herbal juices.

"(With) juices from different herbs ... they can make good steel," he said.

The three-day conference, which will also exhibit models of Akash and Brahmos missiles, the Arjuna battle tank, 3-D radars, bomb disposal robots, Mangalyaan and Chandrayaan models, has four union cabinet ministers including Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, and Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar as chief patrons.