(Current Affairs For SSC Exams) Science & Technology | June : 2014

June 2014

People who have a variant of a longevity gene have improved brain skills such as thinking, learning and memory. Researchers found that increasing levels of the gene, called KLOTHO, in mice made them smarter, possibly by increasing the strength of connections between nerve cells in the brain.
The study was published in Cell Reports. Those who have one copy of a variant of the KLOTHO gene, called KL-VS, tend to live longer and have lower chances of suffering a stroke whereas those who have two copies may live shorter lives and have a higher risk of stroke.
The study also found that those with one copy performed better on cognitive tests regardless of age, sex or the presence of the apolipoprotein 4 gene, the main genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.

The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) on May 6 will launch what is touted to be the country’s first cyber lab in a legal academic institution.
The lab, co-funded by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY), Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, will be inaugurated by ShyamalGhosh, the former Telecom Secretary, Government of India; GulshanRai, Director-General, Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and R. VenkataRao, Vice-Chancellor, NLSIU.
A release from NLSIU’s Advanced Centre for Cyber Law and Cyber Forensics, said the centre also offers training programmes for bank officials and other professionals who want to gain knowledge of cyber technology and forensics crucial for detection and investigation of cyber crimes.
The centre launched its Postgraduate Diploma in Cyber Law and Cyber Forensics in June 2013, which senior police officers, IT security officers and lawyers have enrolled for.

Despite a recent surge of ‘Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus’(MERS-CoV) cases, a meeting of an expert committee called by the World Health Organisation has concluded that conditions for declaring a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ had not been met.
The fifth meeting of WHO’s Emergency Committee for MERS-CoV, which was first convened last year took into account the fact that there had been sharp increase in cases since this March, particularly in Saudi Arabia but also in the United Arabian Emirates.
Since the virus was first detected in humans two years back, a total of 152 people have now died and 495 have been confirmed to have contracted the virus in Saudi Arabia, according to an Associated Press report. Most cases of the disease have been in the desert kingdom.

Scientists have discovered the world’s oldest and best-preserved sperm from tiny shrimps, measuring a massive 1.3 millimetres and dating back to 17 million years in Australia.
Preserved giant sperm from shrimps were found at the Riversleigh World Heritage Fossil Site in Queensland and are the oldest fossilised sperm ever found in the geological record, researchers said.

•Scientists have recently discovered in Argentina the bones of the world’s biggest dinosaur, as heavy as 14 African elephants and as tall as a seven-storey building.
The 65-foot-tall new species of titanosaur, 130 feet in length and weighing 77 tonnes, is much heavier than the previous record holder Argentinosaurus.
The remains of the enormous herbivore dating from the Late Cretaceous period were first discovered by a local farm worker in the desert near La Flecha, about 250km west of Patagonia.
The giant herbivore lived in the forests of Patagonia between 95 and 100 million years ago, based on the age of the rocks in which its bones were found.
However it does not yet have a name.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it had suspended a radioactive water treatment system at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant recently.
The operator halted the Advanced Liquid Processing System after it found higher calcium levels than normal in water in one of the system’s three lines.
The system is a key component in the effort to deal with the massive amounts of toxic water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, as the operator keep injecting water into three of its six reactors to keep them cool.
The plant suffered meltdowns at the three units after it was hit by an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

Researchers have built the smallest, fastest and longest-running tiny synthetic motor to date.
The team's nanomotor is an important step toward developing miniature machines that could one day move through the body to administer insulin for diabetics when needed, or target and treat cancer cells without harming good cells.

The Indian Air Force has test-fired three surface-to-air Akash missiles — two of them in ripple mode — from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Balasore district, Odisha.
All the three missiles tore apart their targets — a contraption called tow-body flown by the pilotless target aircraft (PTA) Lakshya. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed both Akash and Lakshya.
The IAF launched the next two missiles in ripple mode, that is, the second missile lifted off from its launcher five seconds after the first one did so.
The missile can engage targets such as fighter aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters and cruise missiles, flying 25 km awa