Hannan Binth Hashim – A 14-year-old with astrophysicists
- Monday, September 14, 2009, 10:38
- General Knowledge
- 1 comment
Hannan Binth Hashim the 14 year old class X girl from Kozhikode will deliver her lecture on astrophysics at Universities of Boston, Chicago, Texas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and 17 others across the world. Hannan Binth Hashim is an aspiring astrophysicist and mathematical researcher. She is a regular visitor to the observatories at Kozhikode and Bangalore, where she does her research.In her research titled ‘Absolute Theory of Zero’ she questioned the accuracy of many existing theories like Albert Einstein’s ‘Theory of relativity’ and the Big Bang Theory.
Hannan Binth Hashim has Dr Soumya Vasudevan, a Hind Rattan award winner as her mentor and her works are being considered for publishing in ‘American Journal of Theoretical Physics’.
According to Hannan Binth Hashim “Absolute Theory of Zero is a new mathematical system which explains the established theories in a different light. Through the theory she has explained that the speed of light is not constant always.
Hannan Binth Hashim’s works have been appreciated by former President A P J Abdul Kalam, scientists at IISc, IIMSc and many leading research institutes around the world including NASA.
Hanaan participated in the NASA space camp held in August and a model rocket designed by her was launched. She will be participating in the Siemens Westinghouse Science and Technology competition for high school students in October this year in the US where she is likely to meet US President Barack Obama.
ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair is also a huge support and inspiration,” she said and added that Indian students have huge potential and wants the scientific community in India to set up more institutions to hone the skills of the young talent pool…..
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About Miss Hannan Binth Hashim and her credulous reporters I’ve this to say:
1. The “Space School Graduate” is not a degree. Houston Space centre is an organization to instill interest in space study among youngsters. The degree they give is only informal. It could be obtained by any one participating in their activities for a few days. They have rocket modeler software with which one can design a model and launch it provided one is willing to pay money. 2. Report mentions several “mentors” of Miss Hannan. One of them is Prof. Jayanth Murthy of Indian Institute of Science. Prof. Murthy admits that Miss Hannan has visited IIA library but clarifies that he hasn’t had any scientific discussion with her. Relevant part of his message is quoted from the Blogger Aniver Aravind (Blog “Chithrakaran”):“Thanks for forwarding this link to me. I will also post my comment in that site itself. This girl came to see me some months ago and told me that she had this theory that Einstein was wrong and that Kalam was impressed by her theory… Read more. She also had a writeup in the Indian Express (if I remember right). I told her that the press and Presidents were easily impressed but that ground breaking theories do not come from school kids – they just don’t have the mathematics and physics tools necessary. I advised her to continue her interest in science but that she should work hard to learn everything necessary and that I would be glad to help her where possible. That is the limit of my contact with her (other than one more brief visit and email exchange). This is what I do for any student who contacts me and have done for dozens of students.
I am not her mentor and have no knowledge of her work. If anyone were to ask me, I would say that I do not believe in her “theory” but am happy to see her so interested in science. After this latest episode, I am much less forgiving and would believe that her story is a tissue of lies from beginning to end.
Again, thanks … Read more for this link. Someone had forward the Malayalam paper where it first appeared and I had written to them as well as this girl but this site gives me the chance to make it public.”This reply is self explanatory. 3. Another mentor mentioned is one Dr. Sowmya Vasudevan who is a Hind Rattan award winner. But there is no such name on the list of Hind Rattan Award winners. When this inconsistency was pointed out some one replied that there was one who got the award in 2005. This is not true. In 2005 one Dr. Sowmya Viswanathan (medicine) got the award but not Dr. Sowmya Vasudevan. This slight alteration might have been made deliberately to prevent verification.3. Miss Hannan claims that she has formulated a novel theory called “Absolute Theory of Zero” and that her paper on the theory is going to be published in the journal “American Journal of Theoretical Physics.” There is an “International Journal of Theoretical Physics” and an “American Journal of Physics” but no such thing as “American Journal of Theoretical Physics.” When this inconsistency was pointed out Her first reporter Ms. Anula Aboobacker replied that there is one which started publication in 1940. If there is one it doesn’t have its own web site. Ms. Lincy Josph doesn’t give any URL either. Remember that “American Journal of Physics” started publication in 1933.Apparently, the Expressbuzz reporter Ms Anula Aboobacker and Mathrubhumi reporter Ms Cissy Jacob do not seem to have verified the letter of acceptance Miss Hannan “got” from the so called “American Journal of Theoretical Physics.” Instead, they simply believed the words of a school kid, and her mother.4. Miss Hannan claims that she got special permission to participate in the project-based “Siemens Westinghouse Science and Technology Competition” in which only US students are allowed to take part. In this matter also the reporters have not seen any document supporting Miss Hannan’s claim. However, I’ve contacted the Seimens people for verification of the matter and am waiting for their reply.To sum up, Miss Hannan is either a very clever fraud or a highly imaginative kid who has mistaken fantasy for reality. Don’t spoil the kid by dancing to her tunes. Save her from her fantasies and guide her to the right path towards the study of science. She may grow out of her fantasy to become a great scientist, of course not right now, but later, much later, after years! I wish the poor girl a bright future.