In early March, news stories appeared about a teenager, Sataparna Mukherjee. She is a Class XII higher secondary student from the arts stream and a resident of Kamduni in Madhyamgram, West Bengal. She claimed to have been selected for an internship at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), a research institution run by America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa).
The GISS hands out five highly sought-after internships annually. Naturally, this achievement was lauded. But the details were all from the realms of the fantastic and Nasa-GISS categorically repudiated the claims in every detail. GISS internships are awarded only to American citizens, who must reside near the GISS centre in New York.
Mukherjee said she had written a "theory about black holes and how black holes could be used to create a time machine" and put it on a social media forum. That "theory" had been much appreciated by a scientist, who put her in touch with Nasa.
Nasa would pick up the tab for her further education. She would graduate from Oxford University (United Kingdom) and then pursue a PhD in aerospace engineering from Nasa's Centre for Astrobiology in London. What is more, she would study for a degree in English from Oxford alongside her degree in physics/aerospace engineering.
Mukherjee is not studying physics or mathematics at the higher secondary level. It is possible that a prodigy might teach herself these subjects without going through a conventional course or laboratory work. But it is unlikely.
The so-called "theory about black holes and how this could be used to create a time machine" is an old science fiction (SF) trope. It would induce belly laughs in serious discussion (though many scientists are avid SF readers). Black holes are studied by theoretical physicists. An aerospace engineering course teaches the design of airplanes, rockets and spacecraft. It would contain little or nothing about black holes. There is no astrobiology centre in London. The only one in the UK is in Edinburgh.
As proof, Mukherjee produced an "offer letter", which had several misspelt words and odd grammatical usages, and purported to come from the "NASA Observatory Center", which does not exist. She also claimed the offer was made in confidence and she could not reveal any details.
Sadly, such fraudulent claims are made with some frequency. In 2012, Arun P Vijayakumar, a 25-year-old student of physics from Manimala in Kerala, said Nasa had offered him a research position and he would be pursuing a PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His area of research would be extraterrestrial life. It took over two years before Arun's claims were refuted, detail by detail.
Way back in 1996, Ramar Pillai, a high-school dropout, claimed to have invented an organic fuel, distilled from herbs. His secret formula would magically turn water into a petrol substitute. Pillai was given 20 acres by the Tamil Nadu government to grow the herbs. He was exposed as a fraud when his video "demonstrations" showed him using clumsy sleight of hand tricks to replace water with kerosene. The Central Bureau of Investigation registered a cheating case against him.
Pillai returned in 2010 with claims of yet another fuel, which he made as follows: "The mixture is 15 gm ammonium chloride, 15 gm sawdust and 15 gm yeast. It is fermented and distilled. Then I mix it with a litre of water and shake it a bit. See how the water settles at the bottom. I call it Velar Bio Hydrocarbon Fuel". This "experiment" can be replicated in any school lab and it cannot be used to run an internal combustion engine.
Why do such transparently fraudulent claims gain widespread credence? Presumably because India lacks the "scientific temper", which the Constitution exhorts citizens to develop. The credulous nature of our society leaves us open to all weird and wonderful claims, including those made by god-persons. The costs are considerable. Official resources are often doled out to such charlatans instead of being allocated where these would be well-utilised.
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