Book Title: Jain Studies and Science
Author(s): Mahaveer Raj Gelada
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

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Page 133
________________ the Vidyacharan. Their alternate fasting involves abstaining from food for three continuous days and then meals intake for a day. This cycle is repeated for sufficiently long durations till the desired results are achieved by the bio. In a single run, a Janghacharan can reach the fourteenth Ruchak Pradesh and has to rest at Manushotar Mountain only during the return. He possesses additional startling capabilities - can sport even the edge of a sword without being pierced by it, can travel along the light beams of sun, can run four feet above the ground etc. These are all examples of micro particles being deployed to achieve something which is otherwise impossible. These difficult experiments are worth comparing with the modern age space travel, as this comparative study can open new vistas for the scientists. AGAM & SCIENCE / 125 1.3. Spacecraft and Space Voyage Humans and other living beings cannot survive beyond the earth's atmosphere. The space travels undertaken are with the help of specially designed spacecrafts where suitable pressure, temperature and oxygen levels are maintained. From the view point of biological survival, the space can be divided as - The troposphere starts at the Earth's surface and extends 8 to 14.5 kilometers high (5 to 9 miles). This part of the atmosphere is the densest. Higher in this layer, the temperature drops from about 47 to -52 degrees Celsius. Almost all weather changes take place in this region only. The tropopause separates the troposphere from the next layer. The tropopause and the troposphere are known as the lower atmosphere. Humans can barely survive up to 8-9 Km above sea level, beyond which the low temperature, low pressure and low oxygen make it impossible to sustain. The stratosphere starts just above the troposphere and extends to 50 kilometers (31 miles) high. Compared to the troposphere, this part of the atmosphere is dry and less dense. The temperature in this region increases gradually to -3 degrees Celsius, due to the absorption of ultraviolet radiation. The ozone layer, which absorbs and scatters the solar ultraviolet radiation, is in this layer. Ninety-nine percent of "air" is located in the troposphere and stratosphere. The stratopause separates the stratosphere from the next layer. The mesosphere starts just above the stratosphere and extends to 85 kilometers (53 miles) high. In this region, the temperatures again fall as low as -93 degrees Celsius as altitude increases. The chemicals are in an excited state, as they absorb energy from the Sun. The mesopause separates the mesophere from the thermosphere. Jain Education International For Personal & Private Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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