SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS MARCH 2014

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS MARCH 2014

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated in its new study that approximately seven million people died of air pollution around the world in 2012. The finding, more than doubling the previous estimates, means thatone out of every eight deaths occurred due to outdoor or indoor air pollution. With these updated figures, air pollution has become the single biggest environmental health risk across the world. The extreme jump in estimates (the last estimates were for 2008) are based partly upon better understanding of how air pollution causes cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and partly reflective of better monitoring mechanisms in place. The increase in pollution is not the key cause for increase in numbers. The number of outdoor air pollution linked deaths has jumped from previous estimate of 1.3 million (in 2008), partly due to the inclusion of rural population data. Outdoor air pollution caused 3.7 out of the seven million deaths, the study from WHO noted. The authors of the WHO report said, “About 88 per cent of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income (LMI) countries, which represent 82 per cent of the world population.” Approximately 80 per cent of the deaths caused by outdoor air pollution were caused by strokes and heart disease; about 11 per cent fatalities came from lung diseases and another six per cent due to cancer.
  
• Dubbed The Boneyard, but officially known as the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) facility, this sprawling US airbase is reputed to be the world's largest military aircraft cemetery. Spread across the huge 2,600 acre site, is a collection of over 4,000 retired aircraft including nearly every plane the US armed forces have flown since World War II. Now, for the first time, a series of high resolution satellite images of the four square mile-site have been released by Google Earth. Among the aircraft are B-52 Cold War-era bombers that were retired in the 1990s under the terms of the SALT disarmament treaties signed between the US and the Soviet Union. Located in Tucson, Arizona, on the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the facility was first set up shortly after World War II. It was chosen for its high altitude and arid conditions that mean the aircraft can be left outdoors without deteriorating too quickly. A major industrial centre, AMARG manages an inventory of more than 4,200 aircraft and 40 aerospace vehicles. In addition to being a massive plane park, AMARG also refurbishes aircraft, returning them to flying status or preparing them to be transported overland.
  
• US scientists said that the human nose can detect one trillion different odours, far more than we previously thought. Until now, the long-held belief was that we can sniff out about 10,000 smells. New estimates published in Science suggest the human nose outperforms the eye and the ear in terms of the number of stimuli it can distinguish between. Researchers at the Rockefeller University say we use only a tiny part of our olfactory powers. The human eye uses three light receptors that work together to see up to 10 million colours, while the ear can hear almost half a million tonnes.
  
• An Indian-American engineer Abraham Pannikottu on 7 March 2014 announced to develop Zero Pressure tyres for the US military. The Zero Pressure tyres will continue to run even after being shredded by roadside bombs or gunfire. The new AEG Zero Pressure tyres will withstand a minimum of 50 mph speeds for 300 miles once it's punctured. The Zero Pressure tyres worked better at carrying heavier loads and can quickly move soldiers out of dangerous way. Although the US military vehicle tyres are now equipped with run-flat inserts but the defence department wanted to upgrade to a zero pressure tyres. Abraham Pannikottu is working with his team at Akron, Ohio-based American Engineering Group (AEG). US department of defence has facilitated the team with a grant of USD 1 million to develop Zero Pressure tyres. Abraham has a mechanical engineering degree from Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (Surat, Gujarat). He later completed graduate studies in polymer science at the University of Akron. He has written several research articles on engineering applications of rubber.