Quantum Leap: Edition 9
Welcome to the June edition of Quantum Leap, the Infosys Science Society’s premium newsletter. In this edition, read about how India is tackling plastic pollution through targeted government schemes promoting sustainability and waste reduction. Read also about AI, souls and consciousness while keeping this question in mind: If we replicate the mind, do we inherit its mystery too? Bonus content: read a brief report of a recently conducted public lecture by Infosys Prize laureate (2021), Chandrasekhar Nair. And don’t forget to attempt the brain teaser at the end!
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- Shreshta Manikandan, Editor
From Plastic to Fantastic: India’s Green Game Plan
Written and Edited by Shreshta Manikandan
World Environment Day is observed annually on 5th June to raise awareness and promote action for environmental protection. And the theme for this year is #BeatPlasticPollution. The focus of the campaign is to find real solutions to plastic pollution and encourage individuals to take action to reduce, reuse, recycle, and rethink plastic usage. The Republic of Korea hosted the global celebrations this year.
India faces an ever-growing battle against plastic pollution. Every year, the country generates close to 9 million tonnes of plastic waste, which accounts for a fifth of the global share. Of this, single-use plastic used for packaging accounts for approximately 43% of the total waste. Side-effects of plastic pollution include environmental degradation, numerous health issues, accumulation of package waste, harm to wildlife and so on.
Ever wondered what our country has done to prevent plastic pollution? Let us look at a few schemes and measures introduced by the government to combat the same.
1. Extended Producer Responsibility (2011)
This policy holds producers responsible (financially and operationally) for managing their products until their post-consumer stage. It aims to encourage producers to design their products such that there is reduced waste, recyclability, and reusable materials. They may also be required to pay a fee or taxes in support of waste-management programs. This policy is mainly implemented for plastic, packaging, and electronic waste.
2. Swachh Bharat Mission (2014)
This mission stands as one of the country’s most ambitious and transformative public health campaigns. After its launch on October 2, 2014, there have been significant impacts across various fields such as improvements in public health, waste management and innovation, behavioural changes, and sanitation revolution.
3. Plastic Waste Management Rules (2016)
These rules form the backbone of India’s strategy to tackle plastic pollution. It prohibits the use of specific single-use plastic (SUP) items and mandates proper segregation, collection, and disposal of such waste. This policy was amended in 2021, 2022 and 2024 to expand definitions and provide a detailed framework for plastic packaging waste.
4. Ban on Single-Use Plastics (2022)
India observed its major environmental milestone on the 1st of July 2022 when a ban on single-use plastics came into effect. National and state-level control rooms are set up to monitor the illegal manufacture, sale, and use of certain SUPs. As of 2025, Kerala stands out with the most comprehensive and judicially backed ban on SUPs.
5. One Nation One Mission- End Plastic Pollution (2025)
This is a new addition launched in May 2025, to highlight the importance of ending plastic pollution with reference to World Environment Day 2025 celebrations. This campaign encourages people, businesses, industries, and governments to make environmentally conscious choices and move away from using plastic.
Neurons vs Networks: Can Machines Think Like Us?
Written by Shreya Narayanan | Edited by Shreshta Manikandan
With Artificial Intelligence (AI) progressing, many aspects of humanity have become grounds for debate. So, what differentiates us humans and AI? Is it our mind, our empathy, our morality? All these aspects can be engineered into software. AI therapists can provide a level of empathy that some humans cannot, and AI scanners can even identify theft without the subconscious biases most of us carry. As machines begin mimicking what we once believed to be uniquely ours, we are forced to ask: What lies beyond the programmable?
There have been numerous debates on the soul, its existence, and its function throughout time immemorial. Philosophers like Plato deemed the soul “the immortal seat of reason,” separate from our physical bodies. On the other hand, Buddhism rejects the idea of the soul and believes in the continuity of consciousness.
In recent years, consciousness has been defined as a product of complex neural activity. It refers to the subjective experience of being aware- what it is like to have sensations, thoughts, emotions, and perceptions. However, an issue labelled “the hard problem” in neuroscience is that this subjective experience remains unexplained. Why should the same machinery within each of us allow us to create subjective and unique emotions?
Theories such as Panpsychism blur the line between the soul and consciousness while also suggesting that consciousness might be a fundamental part of the universe. Science confronts traditional soul beliefs by emphasising physical explanations, yet modern theories continue to show an openness to non-reductionist views.
Lately, a surge of interdisciplinary research has taken over the mystery of consciousness. Neuroscientists use brain imaging tools like Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Electroencephalogram (EEG) to study the brain patterns that accompany awareness. Theories such as Integrated Information Theory (IIT) and Global Workspace Theory (GWT) explain how complex brain networks give rise to conscious experience. They propose that consciousness is a property of systems with high levels of integration and information, or it arises from a global broadcast network where information is made available to various cognitive processes.
Theories are now tested in large-scale studies using brain imaging, and the findings point to the brain’s posterior regions are central to conscious awareness. Experiments under anaesthesia have revealed how consciousness can be switched on and off through measurable neural patterns. Across neuroscience and cognitive science, other experiments have also begun to test the theories of consciousness. A notable example is the work of Benjamin Libet. It shows that brain activity occurs before conscious decisions. This suggests that our unconscious brain processes determine our conscious choices. Research also explores quantum-level processes or global consciousness effects, illustrating the wide range of scientific inquiry into what has traditionally been a philosophical mystery.
Some argue that these systems imitate awareness without truly feeling anything. Others suggest that if consciousness is purely the result of complex information processing, then sufficiently advanced machines might eventually cross that gateway, walking into the world of conscious machines. These possibilities raise urgent questions: If a machine appears conscious, should it have rights? Can a simulated mind suffer? And if consciousness can be artificially generated, what does that mean for how we understand our own?
In a world where machines may soon mirror our minds, perhaps the real mystery is not whether they have a soul, but whether we do.
An Insightful Afternoon: Public Lecture conducted by Chandrasekhar Nair
Written by Shreshta Manikandan
On the 22nd of June, 2025, a public lecture titled “Translating Science to Impact through PoC Diagnostics” was conducted by healthcare innovator Chandrasekhar Nair. This lecture was held at Science Gallery Bengaluru in collaboration with the Infosys Science Foundation. In this session, he walked the audience through the innovations in the field of molecular biology and how they impact real-life outcomes.
The lecture commenced with a brief history of Tuberculosis (TB), the infectious disease that Nair and his team began working on. The oldest archaeological finding of TB dates to 7000 BCE in Israel. In India, by 1250 BCE, ancient texts like the Vedas began referring to Yakshma, which is like TB. It was only in 1882 when Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT) was officially discovered by scientist Robert Koch.
Initially, smear microscopy was used for detecting tuberculosis. Here, a stained sputum sample is observed under the microscope to identify acid-fast bacilli (AFB), a characteristic of MBT. The shortcomings of this method include low sensitivity, no resistance detection, inability to distinguish between live and dead bacteria, etc. Nucleic Acid Amplification Test, NAAT for short, was used for detection as it provided faster results, higher sensitivity, and drug resistance. While NAAT also has its own set of challenges, effective solutions were devised to improve performance.
Truenat is a point-of-contact (PoC) molecular test which was originally designed for COVID-19 by Molbio Diagnostics. Since then, it has been used as a PoC diagnostic solution for 40% of infectious diseases, including Tuberculosis. Their motto is to provide independent, continuous, cost-effective, and connected care. Apart from this, Nair also spoke about the global and national level impact of the services offered by their healthcare firm.
In a nutshell, this lecture was informative and engaging; Chandrasekhar Nair brought the perfect balance between both!
About Chandrasekhar Nair- He is the Director and CTO of Molbio Diagnostics and Co-Founder of Bigtec Labs. He holds an M.E. in Chemical Engineering from BITS Pilani and PhD in Bio-MEMS from VIT Vellore. With over 34 years in MedTech and BioTech R&D, he has significantly contributed to India’s healthcare innovation, pioneering scalable diagnostics technologies. His work impacts public health globally, particularly through the Truenat platform for early diagnosis of infectious diseases like Tuberculosis. He is also the recipient of the 2021 Infosys Prize in Engineering and Computer Sciences for his contributions to healthcare.
Brain Teaser- Anagrams
Re-arrange these words/phrases to find the answer to the given clues.
Optical spills tun: The theme for World Environment Day 2025
Peak Waste Cage: Type of waste which is accumulated in the largest amount
Consinus cones: The characteristic which differentiates humans and robots
Vital Uncertainty: The complex action of this gives rise to consciousness
Club Toe Urosis: The infectious disease’s pathogen, which is characterised by acid-fast bacilli
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The Science Society
By Infosys Science Foundation