The peepal tree is one of the most worshipped trees of India. In our holy books like Vedas , the peepal tree is considered a holy tree, along with tulsi and Ashoka. It is also holy for Buddhism as Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment under this tree. It is said to root represent Hindu god Brahma, the trunk represents Lord Vishnu and the leaves of the tree represent Lord shiva. In the Bhagavad Gita , Krishna says, "I am the Peepal tree among the trees, Narada among the sages, Chitraaratha among the Gandharvas, And sage Kapila among the Siddhas." Peepal Tree Family: Moraceae Another name: Bodhi Tree, Sacred fig, Pippala tree, Binomial name : Ficus religiosa Source: Flickr Peepal is used in l medicine for about fifty types of disorders including asthma, diabetes, diarrhea, epilepsy, gastric problems, inflammatory disorders, infectious and sexual disorders. Why sleeping under peepal tree is best than sleeping under other trees? Generally, Pla...
MIT Based engineers developed filters from tree branches that purify contaminated water into drinking water.
Krithika Ramchander (MIT graduate) developed a filter made up of wood. She started working on this project in 2014 when she joined MIT. Prof. Rohit Karnik (mechanical engineer) suggested this idea.
The filter is made up of tree branches which perform very effectively as it is sensitive to dust and bacteria. Initially, they used local wood but they found a filter from a pine tree works very well.
They used a gravity-based system to solve the problem of flow rate through the filter. The filter process 10 to 15 liters of tap water per day. The cost of the filter is about 15 to 20 INR (<0.3 $).
They have fabricated new xylem filters which efficiently filter out pathogens such as E. coli and rotavirus, and bacteria from the contaminated tap, and groundwater.
Because the raw materials are widely available and the fabrication processes are simple, one could imagine involving communities in procuring, fabricating, and distributing xylem filters.
The team has launched a website, with guidelines for designing and fabricating xylem filters for entrepreneurs, students and researchers.
Journal Reference:
Krithika Ramchander, Megha Hegde, Anish Paul Antony, Luda Wang, Kendra Leith, Amy Smith, Rohit Karnik. Engineering and characterization of gymnosperm sapwood toward enabling the design of water filtration devices. Nature Communications, 2021; 12 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22055-w
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