SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JANUARY 2016
- Indo-German team finds dinosaur bones in Kutch
A team of Indo-German geologists and palaeontologists may have found fossils of a 135-million-year old herbivorous dinosaur in Kutch, Gujarat, possibly the oldest such fossil found this century. The pieces of bone — possibly from the limb or hip and about two feet long —suggests that it may have been a 10-15 metre-long animal and, were the researchers’ claims to hold up, only among a handful of Jurassic-era dinosaur fossils from India. That was the time when India and Madagascar were one landmass and the Himalayas yet to form.
The so-called Jurassic era spanned 250-145 million years during which herbivorous dinosaurs flourished and laid the ground for beasts, such as the Tyrannosaurus Rex. These flourished during the Cretaceous period —145 to 65 million years ago — after which the double blows of a meteor strike and overflowing volcanoes are said to have destroyed these animals. - Aditya - L1 first Indian mission to study the Sun
India's first mission to study the Sun, Aditya - L1, will help address some of the outstanding problems in solar physics. Informing this, Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO also said on 26th January, Aditya-L1 is expected to be launched during 2019-20.
Under the mission, a satellite with 7 payloads will be launched on board launch vehicle PSLV-XL from the spaceport at Sriharikota. The satellite will be placed in the hallowed orbit around Lagrangian point 1 or L1, which is 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth. L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation or eclipses. - Zika virus likely to spread throughout Americas: WHO
Zika virus, linked to births of babies with smaller than usual brains in Brazil is likely to spread to all countries in the Americas except for Canada and Chile.
World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan, told the organisation's executive board that she had asked Carissa Etienne, head of the WHO in the Americas, to brief the board
Brazil's Health Ministry in November confirmed the mosquito-borne Zika virus was linked to a foetal deformation known as microcephaly, in which infants are born with smaller than usual brains. Brazil has reported 3,893 suspected cases of microcephaly, the WHO said last Friday, over 30 times more than had been reported in any year since 2010.
All about Zika virus
The Zika virus disease has “explosive” pandemic potential, with outbreaks in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the Americas, says an article published by The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
According to a BBC report, the World Health Organization says the virus is likely to spread across nearly all of the Americas.
The current outbreak of the virus, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), came to light when the Pan American Health Organisation issued an alert regarding the first confirmed Zika virus infection in Brazil.
According to the CDC, areas with active transmission of the virus are confined to countries in Southern and Central America. However, the virus’ spread over time is difficult to determine, warns the agency.
The situation has forced public health officials in El Salvador to advise women to put off pregnancies for the next two years to avoid passing on complications from the mosquito-borne Zika virus.
This move was prompted by reports which said that some countries with Zika, such as Brazil, have seen spikes in the number of cases of microcephaly, a rare brain defect in babies. Infants suffering from the condition tend to have smaller than normal heads and their brains do not fully develop.
Method of transmission:
The Zika virus is primarily transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito.
According to the CDC, a mother infected with the virus near the time of delivery can pass on the virus to a newborn baby at the time of birth. However, the CDC adds that such cases are rare. Additionally, the agency says that it is possible that the virus can be passed from mother to foetus during pregnancy and such a method of transmission is under investigation.
Symptoms:
According to the CDC, about one in five people infected with the Zika virus will actually become ill. The most common symptoms are fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis. Additionally, infected people who develop the disease may also suffer from muscle pain and headaches. The time between exposure to the virus and emergence of symptoms of the Zika virus disease is not known. The symptoms are similar to those of dengue and chikungunya — diseases spread through the same mosquitoes that transmit the Zika virus.
The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week. Severe cases requiring hospitalisation are uncommon and the agency adds that deaths reported due to the disease are rare.
Treatment:
Currently no vaccines or specific medications are available to prevent or treat Zika infections according to the CDC. According to the JAMA article, an effective and safe Zika virus vaccine is probably 3-10 years away even with accelerated research.
The CDC has cautioned people to not take aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen and naproxen. The agency has advised that Aspirin and NSAIDs should be avoided until dengue can be ruled out to reduce the risk of hemorrhage
Zika and microcephaly:
The Zika virus has been associated with cases of microcephaly — a congenital condition which leads to a shrunken head circumference and developmental problems in children.
According to the JAMA article, Brazil has reported nearly 4000 cases of suspected microcephaly in 2015, representing a 20-fold increase from 2010 through 2014. The article adds that evidence of the Zika virus has been found in the placenta and amniotic fluid of mothers and in the brains of foetuses or newborns. However, causation between Zika virus and microcephaly is not yet established.
What happens if infected?
The Zika virus can be found in the blood and passed from an infected person to another mosquito through mosquito bites during the first week of infection, warns the CDC. An infected mosquito can then spread the virus to other people. In order to prevent further spread of the virus, infected individuals should avoid mosquito bites during the first week of illness. - Climate Change Cited as Reason for Record Heat in 2015
2015 was the hottest year on record since temperature recordings began in 1880, according to global land and ocean surface temperature measurements from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA reports that climate change "is apparent now across our nation."
Global temperatures in 2015 were 1.62°F above the 20th century average, beating out the previous record hot year of 2014. Fifteen of the 16 hottest years ever recorded have occurred since the year 2000 according to NOAA and NASA measurements.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says the record-setting heat of 2015 was the result of a combination of the "exceptionally strong El Niño and global warming caused by greenhouse gases." WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas stated that though the "power of El Niño will fade in the coming months," the "impacts of human-induced climate change will be with us for many decades." - Scientists discover largest known solar system
Astronomers have discovered the largest known solar system, consisting of a large planet that takes nearly a million years to orbit its star. The gas giant is one trillion kilometres away, making its orbit 140 times wider than Pluto's path around our Sun.
Only a handful of extremely wide pairs of this kind have been found in recent years. Details appear in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The planet, known as 2MASS J2126-8140, is between 12 and 15 times the mass of Jupiter. - Emission down by 30-40% during odd-even
The fortnight-long odd-even campaign aimed at battling air pollution in Delhi which ended on the night of Jan 15 brought down direct emissions of pollutants from cars by 30 to 40 percent, says leading environmental NGO CSE. However, mixed results were observed in ambient pollution levels.
Under the odd-even scheme, four-wheelers with odd and even registration numbers plied in Delhi - a city where cars account for nearly a third of its nine million registered vehicles - on alternate dates. Several categories were exempt from the scheme, including VIPs, women drivers, emergency services and CNG-operated transport. - NASA starts new programme to protect Earth from asteroids
NASA has started a new programme called the Planetary Defence Coordination Office (PDCO) which will coordinate the space agency’s efforts to detect and track near-Earth objects (NEOs). Most asteroids and comets in our solar system are small and stay safely in orbit within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Others, however, are large enough to do damage and are in orbits that bring them close enough to our planet, Techcrunch.com reported.
In order to protect the Earth from these potential hazards, the PDCO has two main roles. First, it is responsible for finding and characterising these NEOs. Second, the PDCO is in charge of coordinating emergency efforts with other agencies and governments if a large NEO was predicted to impact the Earth.
In preparation of an impact of considerable size, NASA has long-term planetary defence goals that include the development of asteroid deflection technologies. So far, effective asteroid deflection strategies have not been decided upon, let alone developed. - LCA Tejas makes history at Bahrain
History has been created when Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, indigenously designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), touched the foreign soil at Sakhir Airbase, Bahrain. For the first time LCA Tejas flown in foreign airspace to participate in the Bahrain International Airshow-2016 during 21 to 23 January 2016.
In addition to Tejas, DRDO is also showcasing other indigenously developed defence systems to display the nation’s prowess in the area of advanced defence technologies with the aim of exploring the potential for export of defence systems and equipment. - ISRO successfully launches fifth navigation satellite IRNSS-1E
The Indian Space Research Organization ISRO has successfully launched the fifth satellite of its regional navigation system, the IRNSS 1E, on 20th January. The highly versatile launch vehicle PSLV-C31 lifted off from the second launch pad of the nation’s spaceport at Sriharikotta, at 9-hours, 31 minutes. It inserted the 1425 kg satellite in its intended sub-geosynchronous orbit in 19 minutes, 30 seconds, precisely as planned. This is the 32nd successively successful flight for the PSLV, which took off in its extended version. Its passenger is the fifth in the series of seven satellites aimed at providing seamless flow of accurate information about the position of objects on land, air and sea.
The navigation system IRNSS is expected to help multimodal transport and disaster mitigation efforts in addition to providing accurate mapping services for common users. - Tree frogs thought extinct rediscovered in India
A new genus of tree frogs that was thought to have died out more than a century ago has been rediscovered in India. The Old World tree frog family currently contains over 380 species and includes some frogs with ambiguous classifications based on shared characteristics.
During fieldwork in four northeastern Indian states, the authors of this University of Delhi study discovered several populations of tree frogs with unusual characteristics, including tadpoles, that feed on the mother's eggs.
To investigate the phylogenetic relationship of these new frogs, the authors compared molecular data with known tree frog genera. Through their analysis, they identified a previously overlooked, yet distinct evolutionary lineage of frogs that the authors recognize as a new genus, Frankixalus.
This genus probably remained unnoticed because of its secretive life in high canopy tree holes, says Prof S.D. Biju. Frankixalus differs from other tree frog genera in breeding, egg laying, and development. This includes having gel-encapsulated eggs, breeding in water accumulated in tree holes, egg laying on walls of tree holes, and tadpoles that devour their mother's eggs.
Since the new genus shows remarkable parental care behaviour with specific microhabitat requirements for their survival, populations discovered from highly disturbed forests are already facing extinction threats, added Biju. - Newly discovered Himalayan bird named after Dr Salim Ali
A bird species, locally common in eastern Himalaya and overlooked till now, has been identified as a new species. A team of scientists from India, Sweden, China, US and Russia have described this species from northeastern India and adjacent parts of China as Himalayan Forest Thrush.
This is the first Indian bird (Zoothera salimalii), which has been named after Late Dr Salim Ali, who was closely associated with BNHS-India, as a researcher, honorary secretary and finally as its president. The bird has been named after him in recognition of his huge contributions to the development of modern Indian ornithology and wildlife conservation.
New bird species are rarely discovered to science nowadays, when most natural habitats are shrinking. Since 2000, an average of five new species have been discovered globally every year, mostly from South America. Himalayan Forest Thrush is only the fourth new bird species described from India by modern ornithologist since independence. - Hisar institute becomes second centre to clone buffalo
Scientists at the Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes (CIRB) here claimed to have successfully produced a cloned buffalo offspring ‘Cirb Gaurav’. CIRB Director Inderjeet Singh said the scientists achieved the success on December 11 last year.
This cloned buffalo calf is distinct from the earlier clones produced in India. As this is produced from cells of ventral side of tail of superior bull buffalo, this part is least exposed to sunlight and may have less mutation rate, and can be a good choice for isolation of donor cells to produce healthy clones
Dr. Singh said the newborn cloned calf weighed 40.4 kg at the time of birth and was maintaining good health and showing normal activities. With this achievement, CIRB becomes the world’s third and India’s second institute to produce cloned buffalo, he said. - NASA's Kepler discovers over 100 planets
NASA's revamped planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft has discovered more than 100 confirmed planets orbiting other stars. Kepler, which recently got crippled by a mechanical malfunction, discovered the alien planets during its second-chance K2 mission.
The spacecraft finds planets by the "transit method," noting the tiny brightness dips caused when a planet crosses its host star's face from Kepler's perspective.
Kepler was launched in March 2009 tasked with determining how commonly Earth-like planets occur throughout the Milky Way galaxy. The mission has been incredibly successful, finding more than 1,000 alien worlds to date. - NASA’s solar-powered Jupiter probe sets new distance record
NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter broke the record to become humanity's most distant solar-powered emissary, when the spacecraft reached about 793 million kilometres from the Sun. The previous record-holder was the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, whose orbit peaked at 792 million kilometres in 2012, during its approach to comet 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko. Juno will arrive at Jupiter on July 4. Over the next year, it will orbit the Jovian world 33 times, skimming to within 5,000 kilometres above the planet's cloud tops every 14 days.
During the flybys, Juno will probe beneath the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and study the planet's aurorae to learn about its origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere. Launched in 2011, Juno is the first solarpowered spacecraft designed to operate at such a great distance from the Sun.
That is why the surface area of solar panels required to generate adequate power is quite large. The four-tonne Juno spacecraft carries three 9-metre-long solar arrays festooned with 18,698 individual solar cells. At Earth distance from the Sun, the cells have the potential to generate approximately 14 kilowatts of electricity. - Climate change and involuntary migration top threats to global economy in 2016: WEF
The World Economic Forum, WEF, says climate change and involuntary migration are the two top concerns for global economies in 2016. The WEF's Risks Report comes ahead of world leaders meeting in Switzerland in January 3rd week for the annual forum in Davos. Almost 750 economic experts have worked on this year's Global Risks report. It analyses 29 separate global risks for both impact and likelihood over a ten year period. - PM Modi calls upon scientific community to tackle issues of climate change
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon Scientific fraternity around the world to integrate innovation, technology, engineering capabilities towards realizing the goal of clean energy, resilient agriculture and overcome the challenges of urbanization and climate change.
He inaugurated the 103rd National Science Congress in Mysore on 3rd January, he said Central Government will provide greater impetus for sustained efforts in the field of marine biology and solar energy. He said production of energy from ocean waves and geo thermal sources will be the focus.
The challenges of rapid urbanization, urban transport, solid waste management, impact of green house emissions, natural disaster forecast were the areas touched upon by the Prime minister to elicit global support for achieving clean and safe environment. He lauded the efforts of scientists who have placed India at the forefront of science and technology in many areas in the country.
About Indian Science Congress
The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) owes its origin to the foresight and initiative of two British Chemists, namely, Professor J. L. Simonsen and Professor P.S. MacMahon. It occurred to them that scientific research in India might be stimulated if an annual meeting of research workers somewhat on the lines of the British Association for the Advancement of Science could be arranged. The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) owes its origin to the foresight and initiative of two British Chemists, namely, Professor J. L. Simonsen and Professor P.S. MacMahon. It occurred to them that scientific research in India might be stimulated if an annual meeting of research workers somewhat on the lines of the British Association for the Advancement of Science could be arranged.
The first meeting of the Congress was held from January 15-17, 1914 at the premises of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, with the Honourable Justice Sir Asutosh Mukherjee, the then Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University, as President. One hundred and five scientists from different parts of India and abroad attended and the papers numbering 35 were divided into six sections-Botany, Chemistry, Ethnography, Geology, Physics, Zoology under six Sectional Presidents. - New method detects single molecule of explosives, contaminants
Scientists have developed a new technique using Raman spectroscopy that can detect single molecule of contaminants, explosives or disease-related compounds from gaseous, liquid or solid samples.
Researchers said, the technique called SLIPSERS will open new applications in analytical chemistry, molecular diagnostics, environmental monitoring and national security. Tak-Sing Wong, from Pennsylvania State University in US, said the problem of detection of few molecules in liquid medium is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. - DRDO conducts tank-to-tank test firing in Odisha
The Defence Research and Development Organisation, DRDO on 6th January conducted a live-testing of ammunition from one tank to another at the Integrated Test Range of Proof and Experimental Establishment at Chandipur-on-sea in Odisha.
The test firing was performed from Arjun Tank to T55 tank, developed by the Russian Defence Centre. With an aim to check the capacity of the Arjun tank, the test was conducted against the decommissioned Russian made tank T55 which had been brought from Pune.
The test was a war like scenario to gauge the performance of the Arjun Tank. Some new ammunition developed by DRDO was also put to test for the first time. - INS Kadmatt commissioned at Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam
INS Kadmatt, the second ship of Project 28 (P28) class anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvettes, was commissioned on 7th January at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam.
INS Kadmatt will augment the mobility, reach and flexibility of Indian Navy. INS Kadmatt has been indigenously designed by Indian Navy's in-house organisation, Directorate of Naval Design and constructed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited, Kolkata.
It has a multitude of networks such as Total Atmospheric Control System (TACS), Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS), Integrated Bridge System (IBS), Battle Damage Control System (BDCS) and Personnel Locator System (PLS) to provide a contemporary and process oriented System of Systems for optimal functioning of the warship.
The ship has been named after one of the large islands amongst the Lakshadweep group of islands off the west coast of India. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral RK Dhowan after commissioning INS Kadmatt said it marks yet another milestone in our journey towards self-reliance and Make-in-India. - Govt unveils National Biotechnology Development Strategy 2015-2020
Science and Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on 30th December unveiled the National Biotechnology Development Strategy, 2015-2020, which aims to turn India into a world class manufacturing hub.
According to Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said the Ministry has set the target to make the biotechnology sector into 100 billion US dollar industry by 2020-25. He said the current turnover in 7 billion dollars.
The Strategy intends to launch a major mission, backed with significant investments, for the creation of new biotech products, create a strong infrastructure for Research and Development and commercialization. The key elements of the Strategy are building a skilled workforce and enhance research opportunities in basic, disciplinary and inter-disciplinary sciences.
No comments:
Post a Comment