Research to make Mars habitable is gathering pace

Taking a cue from movies such as Interstellar and The Martian, countries across the world are researching ways to make Mars habitable, said A Sivathanu Pillai, former scientist at Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

He was speaking at the launch of a new spyglass cholangioscopy at city-based VGM Hospitals. Sivathanu Pillai also referred to the recent Mars mission by Europe and Russia to probe signs of life on the planet.

Pillai, now an honorary professor at the Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO), said science has always helped humanity grow. "Science cannot be without humanity. Its ultimate aim should always to be help the human race," he said.

Many countries, Sivathanu Pillai pointed out, were desperate to find an alternate place where humans can survive and have been investing their resources on Mars. "Mars is a lot like earth, though it has an abundance of methane and carbon dioxide. But we believe it used to be like earth," he said.

"The reason why we are constantly trying to find signs of life in Mars is to figure out how to save the human race if Earth suddenly goes dry," Sivathanu Pillai added.

The scientist was at VGM Hospitals to launch SpyGlass DS system for cholangiopancreatoscopy.

The equipment reportedly offers a high quality view of bile ducts of liver and ducts of pancreas. "It is equipped with a digital sensor that yields four times higher resolution, 60% wider field of view and inbuilt LED illumination," said Dr V G Mohan Prasad.

"If the LED illumination is inbuilt, the chances of it breaking after a few uses are lower. In the earlier version, after about three endoscopies, black spots used to appear forcing us to change it at a cost Rs 2.5 lakh," he said.

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