The exhibition accompanying the symposium on `Ancient Sciences through Sanskrit' on Sunday created a stir, with representatives of one of the invited teams claiming that a helmet left behind on Mars was proof of aviation capabilities of ancient Indians, and that cows possessed a bacteria that turned anything it consumed into gold. On Saturday, the same venue had hosted talks by a Nobel Laureate and a molecular biology professor.Kiran Naik, along with three colleagues from the International Indian University in Khedbramha, Gujarat, was demonstrating the Institute's Veda-inspired anti-hail and anti-fog rockets that run on sugar. Surrounded by illustrations of Vedic verses on aviation, Naik claimed that a helmet found on Mars was proof of ancient India's aviation technologies.“In the Mahabharata, two kings were fight ing on Mars when the helmet of one of them fell off.Now, if we Google `Helmet on Mars', you will get a full description with photographic evidence, published by NASA,“ said Naik, who teaches Vedic sciences and aviation.He also claimed that a bacteria found in cows could turn anything it consumed into gold. “The cow carries a bacteria in its body. Whatever it consumes will turn it into 24-carat gold. This bacteria is known to NASA also,“ Naik said.One of the books exhibited by the Indian Institute of Scientific Heritage (Thiruvananthapuram) claimed the Vedas proved scientific demerits of non-vegetarian food.Not all visitors were impressed. “While one must always investigate and critically look at the foundations of science in ancient India, it's quite another thing to claim that all domains of scientific research ever achieved in modernity actually came from ancient India. In my opinion, some of these displays are antihistorical and counter the very spirit of scientific inquiry,“ said Arvindhan Nagarajan, a research scholar at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.