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What is Aerogel?

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  ‘ Aerogel’ is a broad term used to talk about an extraordinary group of materials that have been used since the 1960s in space travel, but are now finding uses across a whole range of industries. ‘Aerogel’ is not a specific mineral or material with a set chemical formula-rather, the term is used to encompass all materials with a specific geometrical structure. This structure is an extremely porous, solid foam, with high connectivity between branched structures of a few nanometres across.Though aerogel is technically a foam, it can take many different shapes and forms. The majority of aerogel is composed of silica, but carbon, iron oxide, organic polymers, semiconductor nanostructures, gold and copper can also form aerogel. However, within the aerogel structure, very little is solid material, with up to 99.8% of the structure consisting of nothing but air. This unique composition gives aerogel an almost ghostly appearance; hence it is often referred to as ‘frozen smoke’.One of the...

THE HISTORY OF NCC

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  The NCC in India was formed in 1948. It can be traced back to the ‘University Corps’, which was created under the Indian Defence Act 1917, with the objective to make up for a shortage of personnel in the Army. In 1920, when the Indian Territorial Act was passed, the ‘University Corps’ was replaced by the University Training Corps (UTC). The aim was to raise the status of the UTC and make it more attractive to the youth. UTC Officers and cadets wear Army uniform. It was a significant step towards the 'Indianisation' of the Indian armed forces. It was renamed the UOTC so the National Cadet Corps can be considered a successor to the  University Officers Training Corps  (UOTC) which was established by the  Government of India  in 1942. During  World War II , the UOTC never came up to the expectations set by the British. This led to the idea that some better schemes should be formed, which could train more young men in a better way, even during peace. A commit...