Hi,
A while back I heard that the unleaded
fuel which was introduced in India was no good because of high levels of benzene. I just
want to inquire if these allegations were true or not. If yes, then I would appreciate if
you could explain me better.
Anuj Jain
Via Email
 Unfortunately,
that is true. Unleaded petrol does lead to higher benzene emissions. After a lot of
protests, the government brought down the benzene content in petrol, but the total
aromatic content of unleaded petrol still remains as high as 48 per cent as against 25 per
cent in the United States.
During combustion most of the aromatic compounds get
converted to benzene. If the vehicle has a catalytic converter, it can take care of
benzene, but most of the vehicles on Indian roads have no converters which means more and
more benzene is being spewed out. Benzene is a known carcinogenic and can cause leukamia.
Hi,
There is a lot of material about solar radiation and its effects, but what are radiation
units and are they the same as solar irradiance? Could you please help me out?
Andrzej Gulinski
Via Email
Radiation is nothing but energy in the form of
electromagnetic waves. Solar radiation is a often referred as short wave whereas the Earth
emits long wave radiation. Radiation quantities are generally expressed in terms of either
irradiance or radiant exposure. "Irradiance" is the amount of electromagnetic
energy incident on a surface per unit time per unit area. In the past this quantity has
often been referred to as "flux". Solar irradiance is a measure of the rate of
sun's energy received per unit area with units of Watts per square metre (W/m2), where 1
Watt (W) is equal to 1 Joule (J) per second. It is measured by an instrument called
pyrheliometers. The long wave radiation is also measured by its irradiance with the same
units. The instrument used to measure it is pyrgeometer.
Dear Shri Gobar Ganeshji,
I seek information on the therapeutic use of cow's urine. Sources close to me say that
half-a-spoon of it should be taken on an empty stomach every day after boiling it a few
times and filtering it.
S M Mishra
Via Email
 It has been
found that cow's urine contains nitrogen sulphur, phosphates, sodium, potassium,
manganese, carbolic acid, iron, calcium, salt, Vitamins A, B, C, D and E, minerals,
lactose, enzymes, silicon, chlorine, magnesium, various acids and hormones. There is
mention of its therapeutic and medicinal properties in our religious books and there are
stories that it can cure many ailments. In India scientific studies have shown that
"cow urine distillate", a purified liquid got by boiling it and condensing its
vapours as the distillate is said to have properties that enhance the antibiotic and
antimicrobial effects of medicines and we have got a US patent for it. But a word of
caution: despite all this much more research is required to gather scientific evidence to
prove the efficacy of cow urine before we can use it as a medicine. So, beware of dealing
with quack medicines claiming legitimacy from the traditional or modern systems of
medicine.
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