Seminar of Physics of the Living State

(The Applied Physics Scientific Section)

(*) Summary: Microgravity and hyper gravity stimuli have been shown to affect the growth of plants and bacteria. Here we report a new experimental method namely, a short interval, post imbibition hyper gravity exposure to study the effects of hyper gravity and reversibility of these effects along with the effects of exposure to microgravity on rice seeds and seedlings. Also the effect of various gravitational conditions similar to those exist on Moon, Mars and Jupiter on bacterial growth will be discussed.
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(**) Biodata: Professor Pandit Vidyasagar is currently a professor and head of the Physics  Department, Pune University, India.  He has been working in the area of biophysics for last thirty years and has several  publications in international journals to his credit.

    His current area of interest is the effects of micro- and hyper-gravity on plants and bacteria. He has developed a new significant method to study effects of hyper-gravity on seeds, with evident implications for the science of astrobiology. He has guided 16 students for a Ph. D. degree, including students from Bangladesh, Iran and Indonesia.

    Professor Vidyasagar has contributed in the science and society interface to take science to the layman, having written thirteen books in Marathi and English, which include a translation in Marathi of "One Hundred Reasons To Be A Scientist", published by the Abdus Salam ICTP. He has been awarded Regular and Senior Associateships by our Centre. He has many additional awards to his credit for his multiple contributions to science.