Eswaramoorthi Sellappa Gounder

I am a geochemist working on weathering, and the geochemical cycling of biologically active elements.

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New OCB Research :: Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry

Studying marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles in the face of environmental change

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Life may have begun in a tiny water droplet | Research | Chemistry World

Life may have begun in a tiny water droplet

Droplet surfaces are superb chemical reactors that could have built up complex molecules that led to the first simple cells

Here the interfacial properties of water is very much important. The properties of the interface is totally different from bulk chemistry that affects molecular interactions.

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Though Sonneratia alba is a State mangrove of Maharastra in India, the Sonneratia caseolaris rules over the South East Asia where perennial rivers are prevalent that favours optimum salinity for the proliferation of this species.

It is a unique species that has shown high carbon fixation potential. Under the rising sea level, and decreasing monsoon rainfall, this species is under threat.

If freshwater input to the coastal areas during intense rain is locked up in artificial ponds along the coast, it can be used for mangrove rehabilitation and as a hatching ground for aquaculture. Moreover, saline water intrusion can be stopped.

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Open access

The Internet lets us share perfect copies of our work with a worldwide audience at virtually no cost. We take advantage of this revolutionary opportunity when we make our work “open access”: digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. Open access is made possible by the Internet and copyright-holder consent, and many authors, musicians, filmmakers, and other creators who depend on royalties are understandably unwilling to give their consent. But for 350 years, scholars have written peer-reviewed journal articles for impact, not for money, and are free to consent to open access without losing revenue.

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Open development

Open development requires new theoretical tools that focus on real world problems, consider a variety of solutions, and recognize the complexity of local contexts. After exploring the new theoretical terrain, the book describes a range of cases in which open models address such specific development issues as biotechnology research, improving education, and access to scholarly publications. Contributors then examine tensions between open models and existing structures, including struggles over privacy, intellectual property, and implementation. Finally, contributors offer broader conceptual perspectives, considering processes of social construction, knowledge management, and the role of individual intent in the development and outcomes of social models.

Note: It’s high time that knowledge should be made available free to everyone. The problems that the human race faces now and have to face can be achieved only by shared and open knowledge. The concept of intellectual property or copyright has to go. All governments should promote knowledge sharing.

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The death of public knowledge

A collection of short, sharp essays exploring the value of shared and accessible public knowledge in the face of its erosion.

The Death of Public Knowledge argues for the value and importance of shared, publicly accessible knowledge, and suggests that the erosion of its most visible forms, including public service broadcasting, education, and the network of public libraries, has worrying outcomes for democracy.With contributions from both activists and academics, this collection of short, sharp essays focuses on different aspects of public knowledge, from libraries and education to news media and public policy. Together, the contributors record the stresses and strains placed upon public knowledge by funding cuts and austerity, the new digital economy, quantification and target-setting, neoliberal politics, and inequality. These pressures, the authors contend, not only hinder democracies, but also undermine markets, economies, and social institutions and spaces everywhere.

More information about this book can be found here.

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The mobile workshop

The tsetse fly is a pan-African insect that bites an infective forest animal and ingests blood filled with invisible parasites, which it carries and transmits into cattle and people as it bites them, leading to n'gana (animal trypanosomiasis) and sleeping sickness. In The Mobile Workshop, Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga examines how the presence of the tsetse fly turned the forests of Zimbabwe and southern Africa into an open laboratory where African knowledge formed the basis of colonial tsetse control policies. He traces the pestiferous work that an indefatigable, mobile insect does through its movements, and the work done by humans to control it.

More information about this book can be found here.

Geologist usually undertake fieldwork in forests. This book is a starting point for them to understand the possible health risks in getting into the jungle.

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Resonant games

Principles for designing educational games that integrate content and play and create learning experiences connecting to many areas of learners' lives.

Too often educational videogames are narrowly focused on specific learning outcomes dictated by school curricula and fail to engage young learners. This book suggests another approach, offering a guide to designing games that integrates content and play and creates learning experiences that connect to many areas of learners' lives. These games are not gamified workbooks but are embedded in a long-form experience of exploration, discovery, and collaboration that takes into consideration the learning environment. Resonant Games describes twenty essential principles for designing games that offer this kind of deeper learning experience, presenting them in connection with five games or collections of games developed at MIT's educational game research lab, the Education Arcade.

More details about this book can be found here.

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Moving planets around

An introduction to the laws of celestial mechanics and a step-by-step guide to developing software for direct use in astrophysics research.

More details about this book can be found here.

#solar system #earth #astrophysics

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The prime number conspiracy

If you're a science and data nerd like me, you may be interested in "Alice and Bob Meet the Wall of Fire" and "The Prime Number Conspiracy" from Quanta Magazine and Thomas Lin. - Bill Gates.

More details about this book can be found here.

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The geology of Moracco

Moracco occupies geologically important terrain. I hope that this book shall bring more information in this regard.

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Equations that changed the world

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The origin of clay minerals in soils and weathered rocks

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Participated in a geology awareness program conducted for school children in Rasipuram by Prof.Ramkumar of Periyar University, Salem. The talk has mainly focused on fossils. Prof.Nagarajan from Curtin University, Malaysia has attended this function and facilitated the transfer of knowledge to the students.

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The latex of Euphorbia cyathophora is used to treat scorpion poisoning. I have noticed this plant around ten years ago in Attur and brought it to my home to grow. The latex of this plant applied over the skin on the scorpion bite site completely relieves the pain and neutralizes the poison within 10 minutes. For this treatment to be effective, the scorpion bite site should be left untouched without any other treatment.