PLANTS REACT TO SOUND, MAKE  NOISES

When South African botanist Lyall Watson claimed in his 1973 best-seller “Supernature” that plants had emotions that could register on a lie detector, scientists scoffed and branded it as hippie nonsense. But a new Australian research at The University of Western Australia has claimed to have discovered that plants appear to react to sounds and may  even make clicking noises to communicate with each other. Monica Gagliano of UWA has teamed with colleagues Daniel Robert at the University of Bristol (UK) and Stefano Mancuso at the University of Florence (Italy) to show that the roots of young plants emit and react to particular sounds. Gagliano and fellow researchers established that young roots of corn made regular clicking sounds. In addition to other forms of sensory response,  “it is very likely that some formof sensitivity to sound and vibrations also plays an important role in the life of plants”. Gagliano said.

AN ANCIENT PLANETARY SYSTEM DISCOVERED

Astronomers discovered an ancient planetary system, which belonged to one of the earliest cosmic eras, 13 billion years ago. The planetary system consists of the star HIP 11952 and two planets namely HIP 11952b and HIP 11952c. The 2.2 m telescope at La Silla made the discovery. The newly discovered planetary system will shed light on planet formation in the early universe. During that period, the planet formation was quite different from later planetary information. HIP 11952c is the size of Jupiter while the other, HIP 11952b is  three times the size of Jupiter. The planets orbit their sun in 290 days and 7 days respectively.

TOXIC TRUTH OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINES

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) also carry potentially lethal plant ingredients, allergens and traces of endangered species, according to a new research, which warned the consumers to be aware of health safety issues before adopting these as a treatment option.The 15 TCM samples, seized by Australian border officials, in the form of powders, tablets, capsules, flakes, and herbal teas were audited using the DNA sequencing technology. DNAs are preserved in the samples. “TCMs have a long cultural history, but today consumers need to be aware of the legal and health safety issues  before adopting them as a treatment option,” said Michael Bunce, research leader and Murdoch University Australian Research Council Future Fellow, the journal Public Library of Science Genetics reports.

A WAY TO IMPROVE CLIMATE PREDICTIONS

A study into how the Pacific Ocean leaks into the Indian Ocean has revealed details which researchers say could improve climate predictions. This so-called Tasman leakage in the south of Australia is the second-largest link between the Pacific and Indian oceans after the Indonesian through-flow to the country’s north, according to an international team led by University of New South Wales.  Water travels through the world’s oceans along great loops driven by massive and often deep currents in a process known as the global thermohaline circulation, said the study’s lead author, Dr Erik Van Sebille. Acting over millennial time scales, the global thermohaline circulation can exert significant influence on global climate variability. Because the Tasman leakage acts as a bottleneck in the Pacific-to-Indian flow, changes in this pathway can have significant impact on the global thermohaline circulation, say the researchers.

STEM CELLS TO CURE BALDNESS?

Japanese researchers have successfully grown hair on hairless mice by implanting follicles created from stem cells, they announced Wednesday, sparking new hopes of a cure for baldness. Led by professor Takashi Tsuji from Tokyo University of Science, the team bioengineered hair follicles and transplanted them into the skin of  hairless mice. The creatures eventually grew hair, which continued regenerating in normal growth cycles after old hairs fell out. When stem cells are grown into tissues or organs, they usually need to be extracted from  embryos, but Tsuji and his researchers found hair follicles can be grown with adult stem cells, the study said.

EVIDENCE OF WATER ICE AT  MERCURY’S POLES FOUND

A NASA spacecraft called Messenger in the last week of March 2012 discovered further evidence for the existence of water  ice at Mercury’s poles. Although surface temperatures at Mercury can soar above 400 C,  some craters at Mercury’s poles are permanently in shadow, turning them into so-called cold traps.

SUPERCOMPUTER TO FIGHT ALZHEIMER’S AND OTHER BRAIN DISEASES

Scientists are building a human brain. For that they are using the world’s most powerful super-computer. It will stimulate the entire human mind to fight against Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases. The human brain thus designed will combine all the information and will replicate them down to the level of individual cells and molecules. The technology will help in understanding diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

HUMAN GENE IFTIM3 TURNED FLU INTO A KILLER

Scientists discovered the genetic flaw that explains the reason why flu makes some people seriously ill. They in fact found a human gene called IFTIM3 that influences how people respond to flu infections. It explains why some people experience mild flu symptoms while others are hospitalised. People who carried a particular variant of IFTIM3 and in large quantities had resisted the viruses in lungs while the others whose IFITM3 levels were lower, the flu virus could replicate and spread more easily, causing more severe symptoms.

A NEW HORMONE THAT CAN LOWER A PERSON’S BLOOD SUGAR LEVEL

Scientists identified a new hormone that can lower a person’s blood sugar level. It could pave the way for more effective diabetes treatment. It will be a useful alternative to insulin. It can send glucose out of the blood stream and into muscle in the same way insulin does. The team of scientists used fat stem cells of mice for their research. They found that mice showed remarkably low blood sugar levels. Because of the abundance of glucose transporters at their surfaces, the muscles of mice were taking up glucose at two to four times the usual rate. Scientists revealed that the mouse muscles continued to absorb extra sugar when they were isolated in the lab and exposed to blood serum.

INHERITED INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY CAN BE REVERSED

Studies undertaken in adult mice showed that the Fragile X syndrome (FXS) that causes the most common forms of inherited intellectual disability, including autism, can be reversed. Fragile X syndrome is caused by “mutations in the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene.” A paper published today (April 12) in the journal Neuron , showed that such reversals can be achieved through chronic pharmacological intervention (mGlu5 inhibition) to correct for altered glutamate signalling. The study was undertaken in mice. The good news is that such reversals can be achieved even  when the mice have become adults and where FXS has already become well established. Previous studies have shown the usefulness of pharmacological mGlu5 inhibition. The scientists started treatment in adult mice (4-5 weeks old) that have a fully developed brain that is still “highly plastic.” The chronic treatment lasted for four weeks. The treated mice showed reversal of “learning and memory deficits, hyperreactivity  to sensory stimuli. Chronic treatment for 17 weeks reversed elevated locomotor activity.

A COMBINATION OF PROTEINS  INVOLVED IN PROSTATE DISORDERS ISCOVERED

Scientists recently discovered a combination of proteins involved in prostate disorders. This could pave the way for effective and better treatments. In fact, scientists identified the G protein-coupled receptors, which enable cells to respond to neurotransmitters and hormones. G protein- coupled receptors are essential proteins on the outside of cells that enabled  signals from hormones and neurotransmitters to be transferred into the cell. Scientists found that that these receptors did not work in isolation, but in particular combinations, which they termed as heteromers. They suggested that a number of side effects from drugs may result from not fully understanding which combinations form and their side-effects.Prostate disorders such as benign prostatic hyperplasia affect most of the men at some stage in his life. Better drugs with fewer side effects were required to reduce the need for surgical operation.

FETOSCOPY TECHNIQUE

If non-identical twins are born from two totally different zygotes (fertilised eggs), identical twins form by the splitting of one zygote (fertilised egg) into two foetuses. Problems can arise when the splitting takes place between four and eight days after the egg is fertilised. What results due to such delayed splitting is that two amniotic sacs containing one foetus each are found inside one placenta. While 85 per cent of such foetuses go on to full term of development and are born as healthy infants, complications can arise in the remaining 15 per cent.

OLFM4 AND HOXB5

Scientists identified two genes called OLFM4 gene and HOXB5 that increase the risk of common childhood obesity. The early Growth Genetics (EGG) Consortium made this finding. This finding will pave the way for preventive interventions and treatments for children based on their individual genomes. The scientists identified two novel loci, one near the OLFM4 gene on chromosome 13 and the other within the HOXB5 gene on chromosome 17. So far, Scientists knew little about genes implicated in regular childhood obesity.

DIARRHOEA BUG CALLED DIENTAMOEBA FRAGILIS IN PIGS

Italian Scientists in the second week of April 2012 found an intestinal parasite in pigs called Dientamoeba Fragilis, which also causes diarrhoea in humans. This discovery will help scientists understand its transmission better and find effective treatment. Scientists concluded that pig faeces was responsible for spreading parasite to humans. Dientamoeba fragilis is a singlecelled parasite. It is found in the gastrointestinal tract of some humans, pigs and gorillas. It causes gastrointestinal upset in some people. It causes travellers diarrhoea, chronic diarrhoea and fatigue.

MECHANISED COTTON STRIPPER MAKES WORK MORE EASY

Many employed persons who consider their job monotonous or boring, would like a change. But how many are able to give up their jobs and a steady income and try something else? “A farmer, Mr. Mansukhbhai Patel’s personal experience may serve as an example and encouragement for many. A tenth standard school dropout, Mr. Patel, born in a poor farmer family, is credited for inventing an updated cotton stripper machine, that revolutionized cotton cultivation in Gujarat,” says Prof Anil Gupta, Vice Chairman, National Innovation Foundation, Ahmedabad.

GENETIC TRAIL LEFT BEHIND BY  MICE

If carrying insects and small animals on board is commonplace today, could it have been different in the past — ten to 12 centuries ago? Not so, going by the evidence provided in a paper published recently in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology. The paper provides an interesting find that rodents carried by the Vikings, the Scandinavian people who raided much of Northern and Western Europe from 8{+t}{+h} to 10{+t}{+h} century, left behind a genetic trail. Looking at the trail the study concludes that mice distribution in Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland parallels the human explorations of these areas. They were able to confirm this by comparing the DNA of modern mice population with the DNA obtained from archaeological material like bones from these places.

INDIA’S NATIONAL COMMUNICATION TO UNFCCC ON CLIMATE CHANGE

The Union Cabinet of India on 12 April 2012 approved India‘s Second National Communication to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change towards fulfilment of the reporting obligation under the Convention. This report shall benefit state and national level policy makers in enhancing the understanding of the issues related to climate change and its impact and create general awareness of the stakeholders relating to Government of India‘s proactive commitment towards addressing the challenges due to climate change. The range of studies included in this report has been conducted broadly at the national level, with some specific case studies highlighting the enormous diversity of India and their regional imperatives. India is a Party to the United Nations  Framework Convention on Climate (UNFCCC).

STRENGTH OF AEROGEL

A pound of aerogel, an amazing, ultra lightweight material, is enough to build a boat capable of carrying half tonne loads, says a study. Aerogel, a buoyant material, is among the lightest solid substances on earth. Composed of tiny nano-fibrils, it is derived from plant cellulose and mimics the water strider, an insect which can walk on water on long, thin feet. Olli Ikkala, from the Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland, said aerogels  are so light that some of them are denoted as “solid smoke.” They also have remarkable mechanical properties and are flexible.

NEW LIGHT ON EARLY BIPEDALISM

If the ability to walk and run on two legs (bipedalism) sets humans apart from apes, could this transition from tree-climbing  to terrestrial walking have been smooth? Scientists think not, and the evidence provided in a paper published today (March 29) in Nature , shows why. A partially preserved skeleton of a single foot from a site (Worsanso-Mille) in the central Afar region of Ethiopia provides important evidence of the human ancestor’s ability to walk on land while still retaining the ability to climb trees. The taxonomic affinity of the new specimen remains undetermined. The skeletal remains, dated to around 3.4 million years ago, do not match the Australopithecus afarensis early humans (hominins) found between 2.9 million years to 3.6 million years ago. In fact, the fossil shows close resemblance to the earlier Ardipithecus ramidus (about 4.4 million years ago) with a divergent and relatively short big toe, as in the case of apes. By comparing the “functional morphology and proportions of several early hominin foot elements,” the researchers have built a strong case to test the diversity in bipedalism in early humans. The new species “indicates the presence of more than one hominin locomotor adaptation at the beginning of Late Pliocene epoch.” The study also records the presence of more than one early human species in eastern Africa around 3.4 million years ago. Anatomically, the fossil foot falls between modern humans and gorillas, the authors note. While certain features resemble As. Afarensis, it differs from chimpanzees and from African apes.

STUDY FOUND HIMALAYAN GLACIERS DEFYING GLOBAL MELTING TREND

A new study found that contrary to the global trend of melting glaciers a few glaciers in the Himalayas mountain range have gained a small amount of mass between 1999 and 2008.The study was published in the Nature Geoscience journal. The study conducted by the France’s University of Grenoble maintained that the Karakoram mountain range in the Himalayas has contributed less to the rising sea level. The study, reversed to the common perception, estimated that the Karakoram glaciers have gained around 0.11 to 0.22 metres (0.36 feet to 0.72 feet) per year between 1999 and 2008. The Karakoram mountain range is spread across the borders between India, China and Pakistan and is covered by 19950 square kilometres (7702 square miles) of glaciers. The mountain range also houses the second highest mountain in the world, K2.

RE-WRITING SOLAR SYSTEM HISTORY?

The early days of our solar system might look quite different than previously thought, claim physicists. In its research, a team at the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory used more sensitive instruments to find a different half-life for samarium, one of the isotopes used to chart the evolution of the solar system.

STUDY FOUND HIMALAYAN GLACIERS DEFYING GLOBAL MELTING TREND

A new study found that contrary to the global trend of melting glaciers a few glaciers in  the Himalayas mountain range have gained a small amount of mass between 1999 and 2008.The  study was published in the Nature Geoscience journal. The study conducted by the France’s University of Grenoble maintained that the Karakoram  mountain range in the Himalayas has contributed less to the rising sea level. The study, reversed to the common perception, estimated that the Karakoram glaciers have gained around 0.11 to 0.22 metres (0.36 feet to 0.72 feet) per year between 1999 and  2008. The Karakoram mountain range is spread across the borders between India, China and Pakistan and is covered by 19950 square kilometres (7702 square miles) of glaciers. The mountain range also houses the second highest mountain in the world,

K2. LIGHT WEIGHT SOLAR CELLS

Austrian and Japanese researchers recently unveiled solar cells thinner than a thread of spider silk that are flexible enough to be wrapped around a single human hair. The thin-film device, comprising electrodes on a plastic foil, is about 1.9 micro-metres thick, a tenth the size of the thinnest solar cells currently available, the researchers said. One micro-metre is one millionth of a metre. “The total thickness of this device is less than a typical thread of spider silk,” the researchers said in a report carried by online science journalNature Communications . “Being ultra-thin means you don’t feel its weight  and it is elastic,” said one of the researchers, Tsuyoshi Sekitani from the University of Tokyo. “You could attach the device to your clothes like a badge to collect electricity (from the sun)... Elderly people who might want to wear sensors to monitor their health would not need to carry around batteries,” Sekitani told AFP. The research was done jointly by Martin Kaltenbrunner, Siegfried Bauer and other researchers from Johannes Kepler University of Austria as well as Sekitani and other contributors from University of Tokyo.

HOW BLACK HOLES GROW BIGGER

Supermassive black holes can grow still bigger by ripping apart double-star systems and swallowing one of the stars, says a new astrophysics study. “Black holes are very efficient eating  machines,” said Scott Kenyon of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics (CfA). “They can double their mass in less than a billion years. That may seem long by human standards, but over the history of the galaxy, it’s pretty fast.” “I believe this  has got to be the dominant method for growing supermassive black holes,” added Benjamin Bromley of the  University of Utah, who led the study, reports The Astrophysical  Journal Letters . Their work follows up on the 2005 discovery, by a team of CfA astronomers led by Warren Brown, of hypervelocity stars — stars that were flung out of the galactic centre by gravitational forces and are travelling fast enough to escape the Milky Way. Hypervelocity stars can travel tens of thousands of times as fast as a bullet. They originate from a binary (double) star system that wanders too close to the Milky Way’s central blackhole. Tidal forces capture one star and eject the other, according to an Utah and CfA statement.

NTCA:337 TIGERS LOST THEIR LIVES IN INDIA IN THE LAST DECADE

NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) said in a reply to the RTI Query that 337 Tigers lost their lives in India in the last decade. NTCA elaborated that 58 tigers were found dead in 2009 and 56 in 2011. While in 2008, the number was 36 and 28 each in 2007 and 2002. As per the DATA released By NTCA, as many as 68 tigers were killed due to poaching during the period. While others died of natural causes like old age, accidents, starvation. According to NTCA’s estimates, 14 tigers were the victim of poaching in 2010, 11 in 2011, 13 in 2009, six each in 2007 and 2008. NTCA is a statutory body under the ministry of environment and forests.

MOEF BANNED THE USE OF LIVE ANIMALS

The Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) on 16 April 2012 banned the use of live animals in dissection and other experiments in educational and research institutions. However, the ban won’t be applicable on scientists conducting new molecular research. The ban is based on the prevention of cruelty to Animals Act (1960). Ministry issued guidelines to ministry of health and family welfare, Pharmacy council of India and the Medical Council of India and the University Grants Commission. The guidelines asked colleges, hospitals, laboratories and research institutes to use alternatives like computer simulation instead of animal dissection. The guidelines were framed based on the duties of the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments and Animals (CPCSEA). It was constituted under the provisions of Section 15 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960).