Neuron Growth cuts Memory Space

Canadian scientists discovered that the reason we struggle to recall memories from our early childhood is due to high levels of neuron production during the first years of life. The formation of new brain cells increases the capacity for learning but also clears the mind of old memories. The findings were presented to the Canadian Association of Neuroscience. Neurogenesis or the formation of new neurons in the hippocampus, a region of the brain known to be important for learning and remembering, reaches its peak before and after birth. It then declines steadily during childhood and adulthood. Scientists wanted to find out how the process of new neuron generation impacted on memory storage. They carried out their research on younger and older mice in the lab.

For better Health, Walk or Cycle

For the sake of their health, Indians would do well to leave their cars, scooters and motorbikes behind and walk or bicycle instead, according to research just published in the journal PLOS Medicine . That also means that more investments ought to go into making such physical activity safe and convenient. In India, economic prosperity has led to a boom in motor vehicles, which has gone hand in hand with less physical activity and greater consumption of energy-dense food. The number of people who are overweight and obese is projected to increase rapidly in the next two decades. This country already has more individuals with diabetes than any other nation and their number is set to expand. Deaths from heart disease are also expected to shoot up. ‘Active travel’ — walking, cycling or use of public transport — is one of the measures that the World Health Organisation recommends to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases. To examine the health benefits from such active travel in the Indian context, researchers from Imperial College, London in the U.K. and the Public Health Foundation of India scrutinised close to 4,000 participants in the Indian Migration Study. About 2,500 of those surveyed were urban dwellers while the others lived in rural areas.
More than 60 per cent of the villagers travelled to work on bicycles while private vehicles were the commonest mode of transport among their urban counterparts. The study found that those who walked or bicycled to work were less likely to be overweight than those who relied on private vehicles. Those using bicycles also had a lower likelihood of diabetes or high blood pressure. “People need to take physical activity seriously,” remarked Sutapa Agrawal of the Public Health Foundation of India. The study had also shown that migrants from villages quickly adopted an urban lifestyle and had associated health problems.

New Prospective Biomaterial for Bone Formation

Scientists at Jadavpur University in the month of June 2013 discovered that zinc-doped hydroxyapatite (HAP) which is a calcium phosphate-based bioceramic material has a stimulatory effect on bone formation. Hydroxyapatite (HAP) is actually one of calcium phosphate-based bioceramic materials which form most of the inorganic components of human bones and teeth. It was also found that the bonding with bone was better for zinc-doped bicalcium phosphate than conventional ceramics. The benefit of Zinc is that it act to improve biological properties of synthetic HAP thus decreasing the inflammatory response and has an antibacterial effect. The scientists while synthesizing zinc doped Hap powder at Jadavpur Universityhave also observed that it exhibits high compressive strength and hardness than the conventional HAP. The scientists have witnessed the pronounced new bone formation in doped HAP with the implantation on the tibia of an adult New Zealand rabbit for two months. The formation of osteons around zinc-doped HAP was also confirmed by the Histopathology. The scientists at Jadavpur University are also developing materials (composition of HAP and beta Tricalcium phosphate) doped with zinc which can be used for bone grafting.

How can children of Rh positive parents be Rh negative?

Rh typing is one among the 30 different blood grouping system currently in use. In this grouping human beings are differentiated as Rh positive and Rh negative based on the presence or absence of an antigen (a type of protein). Here Rh refers to the fact that it was first found in Rhesus monkeys. This type of blood grouping was discovered by Karl Landsteiner and Alexander Wiener after 40 years of discovery of ABO blood grouping. Rh typing is genetically most complex blood typing system than others. Like other traits, Rh factors are under the control of genes and it follows a common pattern of genetic inheritance. Offspring receive a copy of gene from their parents, so that they are having a pair of genes for Rh factors. Since Rh positive (Rh+) gene is dominant over Rh negative (Rh-), a single Rh positive gene (i.e. Rh+Rh-) is enough to express its trait. In the case of Rh negative which is recessive, to express the character both genes must be negative (Rh-Rh-). The genotype of Rh positive person may be have Rh+Rh+ (homozygous) or Rh+Rh- (heterozygous) genotype and it is Rh-Rh- (Homozygous) in negative persons. Homozygous Rh positive (Rh+Rh+) parents produce only one type of gametes with Rh+ gene. Likewise Rh negative parents (Rh-Rh-) produce games with only Rh- genotype. Union of these gametes Rh+ and Rh- produces an offspring with Rh+Rh- genotype which is positive. But Rh positive heterozygous parent (Rh+Rh-) produces two different types of gametes i.e. Rh+ and Rh-. Fusion of these gametes (Rh+ or Rh-) with Rh- negative parent genotype gives two possible combinations: Rh+Rh- (Rh positive) and Rh-Rh- (Rh negative). While both parents are heterozygous (Rh+Rh-) they produce Rh+ and Rh- gametes. The union of Rh- gamete from father and Rh- gamete from mother results in Rh negative child. The other possible combination are homozygous and heterozygous Rh positive children.

Cambodian Tailorbird

Scientist in month of June 2013 discovered a complete new species of bird hiding in plain sight in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh. The bird has been named the Cambodian tailorbird (Orthotomus chaktomuk) and was first spotted in 2009 during routine checks for avian flu. The detailed outline of the discovery has been mentioned in the Oriental Bird Club journal, Forktail. Tailorbirds are in the family of warbler and got their name of their careful preparation of their nests, weaving leaves together. It is extremely unusual for undiscovered bird species to be found in urban contexts. The modern discovery of an un-described bird species within the limits of a large populous city is veru much uncommon. The discovery indicates that new species of birds may still be found in familiar and unexpected locations.

NASA’s Observatory discovered Exotic Neutron Stars

Scientists from the NASA Obsevatory in the month of May 2013 have found that magnetars — the dense remains of dead stars that erupt periodically with bursts of high-energy radiation may be more diverse and common than earlier considered. It is found that when a massive star runs out of fuel, its core collapses to form a neutron star, which is an ultra-dense object about 16 to 24 kilometres wide. The gravitational energy released in this process blows the outer layers away in a supernova explosion and leaves the neutron star behind. Most magnetars have extremely high magnetic fields on their surface that are ten to a thousand times stronger than for the average neutron star. As per the observations it was show that the magnetar known as SGR 0418+5729 (SGR 0418 for short) does not fit that pattern. It has a surface magnetic field similar to that of mainstream neutron stars. The researchers monitored SGR 0418 for over three years using Chandra, ESA’s XMM-Newton as well as NASA’s Swift and RXTE satellites. They were able to make an accurate estimate of the strength of the external magnetic field by measuring how its rotation speed changes during an X-ray outburst. These outbursts are likely caused by fractures in the crust of the neutron star precipitated by the buildup of stress in a relatively strong, wound-up magnetic field lurking just beneath the surface.

What are Neutron Stars?

A neutron star is a very small and dense star made up of almost completely of neutrons. It is a very large nucleus held together by gravity. It has a radius of about 10 kilometres (6 mi) and a mass from about 1.4 to 5 times the mass of the Sun. They are usually what is left of very big stars that have exploded (these are called supernovas). Some are what happen to white dwarfs (small stars) that have got a lot of extra mass.Neutron stars usually turn very fast, taking from 0.001 second up to 30 seconds to turn. Most neutron stars are spinning rapidly — a few times a second — but a small fraction have a relatively low spin rate of once every few seconds, while generating occasional large blasts of X-rays.

World’s first ultra-high resolution 3D model of a HUMAN BRAIN

Scientists in the Month of June 2013 have created the world’s first high-definition 3D model of a complete human brain which is named by Big Brain. The 3D model of a HUMAN BRAIN was prepared by mounting thin sliced sections of the whole-brain on slides. The stained sections were then scanned and reconstituted by supercomputers into a 3D model of an entire brain. The Scientist used a tool called a microtome by which they have sliced the postmoterm brain of a 65 year old woman preserved in paraffin wax into about 7400 sections each 20 microns thick and used it to create the most detailed map yet of a human brain. It has taken several years for supercomputers in Germany and Canada to reconstruct images of the slide-mounted thin sections into a 3D volume image of the brain, taking into account tears and wrinkles in individual slices of thin and thus fragile tissue. During the formation of Brain around 80 billions neurons were captured. It is conceived that Scientists from Canada and Germany spent 1000 years collecting the data and the total brain reconstruction has taken 10 years to complete.

Some Facts About Big Brain

• The BigBrain is 250000 times more detailed than a regular brain scan.

• The Big Brain was created using 7400 individual slices from the brain of a deceased 65-year-old woman.

• Each individual slice is half the width of a human hair.

• The brain can be seen in microscopic detail at a spatial resolution of 20 microns.

• The Brain shows the anatomy of a brain in microscopic detail for the first time ever - at a spatial resolution of 20 microns which is smaller than the size of one fine strand of hair and 250000 times more detailed than current MRI brain scans.

• The Big Brain presents the analytic details of organization of cerebral neurons at an unprecedented resolution of 20 micrometers, about 50 times higher than the resolution of previous atlases of the brain constructed from whole brain scans.

Bunostegos Discovered

The cow-sized specimen named Bunostegos, which means knobby roof roamed isolated desert about 260 million years ago. New fossils from northern Niger in Africa were described in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Bunostegos means knobby roof. The distinctive creature belongs to a new genus of pareiasaur - plant-eating creatures that existed during the Permian period. During Permian times, a single supercontinent called Pangaea dominated the Earth. Animal and plant life was distributed across the land. There was an isolated desert in the middle of Pangaea with distinctive animals according to a new research. Most pareiasaurs had bony knobs on their skulls, but Bunostegos had the largest.

Platelets help Kill bacteria, too

The clotting of blood, crucial to wound healing, is carried out by cell fragments called platelets. This is the most established function of platelets, but studies in recent years have begun to hint that platelets may have other important roles in our immune system — like fighting infection. Now, scientists from the University of Calgary, Canada, seem to have observed proof of this in a study published this week in Nature Immunology . Paul Kubes and his team have identified a new surveillance mechanism in the liver of mice involving platelets. They noticed that platelets, while sailing across the blood stream in the liver of mice, were making frequent short-lived “touch-and-go” interactions with specialized immune cells called Kupffer cells. Kupffer cells are located in the liver and protect us from infection by capturing and eventually killing bacteria that pass by. It seemed that this touch-and-go mechanism was how platelets were scanning for captured bacteria. “It is like a security guard going from door to door making sure there are no thieves. If there are none the security guard leaves,” explained Kubes via email to this correspondent.

But when platelets encountered a Kupffer cell bound to bacteria, the platelet-Kupffer cell interaction lasted much longer. The scientists found out that two receptor proteins on the surface of platelets — GpIb, and the GpIIb-GpIIIa complex have an affinity towards a protein (von Willebrand factor (vWF)) found on the surface of Kupffer cells.

The GpIb receptor binds to the vWF long enough to scan for any captured bacteria. If they find nothing, the platelet detaches and continues along the bloodstream in a touch-and-go interaction. However, when platelets encountered a Kupffer cell with captured bacteria ( Bacillus cereus , or MRSA) the second receptor binds to the Kupffer cell resulting in a more sustained interaction eventually leading up to the killing of the bacteria. How exactly this binding is helping fight infection is still being examined. But it is clear that this platelet-mediated surveillance mechanism is crucial to the mice because most (80-100 per cent) mutant mice lacking platelets or GpIb receptors died within four hours of infection, whereas more than 90 per cent of wild-type mice survived.

In humans

Though this study was performed in mice, Kube says “there is good evidence that human platelets can kill malaria infected red blood cells and in sepsis platelets appear to also be involved so they likely do play a role in immunity.” These findings raise several important questions regarding the efficiency of drugs like aspirin, which are known platelet inhibitors. “It is unlikely that aspirin will necessarily make you more susceptible to bacteria but if it allows bacteria to survive longer in blood it could help bacteria become more resistant,” said Kubes. “There may be a need to reconsider aspirin use in immune suppressed patients.”

The Fastest Computer of the World

A survey conducted by Top 500, revealed on 17 June 2013 that the Chinese supercomputer is the fastest computer of the world. This Chinese supercomputer is called Tianhe-2 and it replaced US machine called Titan, which was earlier said to be the fastest computer of the world.

About the fastest computer of the world, Tianhe-2

• Tianhe-2 means Milky Way-2.

• Tianhe-2 is a supercomputer developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology.

• It achieved the processing speeds of 33.86 petaflops (1000 trillion calculations) per second on a benchmarking test conducted by Top 500 survey of supercomputers. It surpassed the rival, Titan (the US computer) which achieved the processing speed of 17.59 petaflops per second.

• In November 2010, Tianhe-2’s predecessor- Tianhe-1 was said to be the fastest computer of the world.

• Almost all the parts of Tianhe-2 are developed in China, apart from the main processors which are designed by Intel, the US firm.

• The primary features of Tianhe-2 are also developed in China and these include the Operating System, interconnect, software as well as the front-end processors.

• The cost of this supercomputer is 100 million US dollar.

• The peak performance speed of this computer, according to National University of Defence Technology, is 54.9 quadrillion operations per second.

• It encompasses 16000 nodes, each with three Xeon Phi processors and two Intel Xeon Ivy Bridge processors, which gives it a combined total of 3120000 computing cores.

However, it is important to note that US is still leading in overall supercomputer rankings. 252 systems of US make it to the list of top 500 supercomputers of the world. The overall number of European machines is 112, while that of Asian machines is 119. The Top 500 list is produced two times in a year. The supercomputers in this list are rated on the basis of their speed of performance in a benchmark test which is conducted by experts from US as well as Germany.

UNESCO declared Nicobar Islands as World Biosphere Reserve

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in the Month of May 2013 had declared India’s Nicobar Islands as a world biosphere reserve under its Man and the Biosphere Programme. Such reserves are established by Member countries. The UNESCO basically recognizes them under the programme to promote sustainable development based on local community efforts and sound science. The World Biosphere Reserves are considered as sites of excellence, where new and optimal practices to manage nature and human activities are tested and demonstrated.

About Nicobar Island

• The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain located in the eastern Indian Ocean.

• The island chain is home to 1800 animal species and some of the world’s most endangered tribes.

• It is among 12 new sites added to the global network of biosphere reserves in Paris.

• The Nicobar Islands are recognized as a distinct terrestrial ecoregion, the Nicobar Islands rain forests, with many endemic species.

• The Nicobar Islands are part of a great island arc created by the collision of the Indo-Australian Plate with Eurasia.

About World Biosphere Reserve

Biosphere reserves are sites established by countries and recognized under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme to promote sustainable development based on local community efforts and sound science. It is a tool tools to help countries implement the results of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and, in particular, the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Ecosystem Approach.

• Such reserves are located in 117 countries and nine of them are now located in India.

• Other sites added to the list include Pakistan’s Ziarat Juniper forest and China’s Snake Island.

• There are currently 621 biosphere reserves including 12 transboundary sites.

Mimicking Microbes to Deliver Drugs

Scientists from Chennai have provided the scheme for building tiny objects that can propel themselves in fluids, like the bloodstream, to deliver drugs. The scheme is supported by simulations of how such engines would work. Their work was recently published in Nature Scientific Reports. Professors P.B. Sunil Kumar of Physics Department, IIT Madras and Ronojoy Adhikari of Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, senior authors of the paper, wanted to design a micro-oar which would “beat” on its own and so propel anything that it was attached to. They wanted their oar to mimic the motion of cilia and flagella, the beating parts which propel bacteria in a fluid. While sperms and some bacteria moving in fluids with the help of flagella use cork-screw-like beats to propel themselves through the system, some other protozoans like paramecium use a flexible oar-like movement. The researchers came up with a simple design to mimic these systems, which uses active beads, strung together in a chain.

These beads convert chemical energy to mechanical motion. Such beads have been synthesised a decade ago. Simulating the motion of the filament of active beads on a supercomputer, the research group found a remarkably life-like beating. Depending on how much flow the active beads could generate, the filament spontaneously beat like a cilium or the tail of a sperm cell, or, rotated like the flagellum of bacteria such as E. coli. Thus, the same filament could either be used as an oar or a propeller by tuning the degree to which the beads of the chain consume chemical energy. ”This new design for propulsion engines which can both beat and rotate is simpler than anything that has been suggested before” says Prof. Adhikari. Remarking on the significance of the study, Prof. Kumar, says, “You cannot take the rules for swimming used by a large animal and apply it to a small object. “That is why a bacterium uses a corkscrew like motion to propel itself, instead of strokes that a swimmer would use. So when people try to build nanomotors they have to think about all this.”

The group intends to collaborate with experimental groups to see if these systems can be realised in practice and then maybe even move on to designing drug delivery systems.

Centuries-Old Frozen Plants Called Bryophytes from Teardrop Glacier Revived

Researchers at the University of Alberta announced that the plants which were frozen centuries ago were sprouting with new growth. Samples of the bryophytes, 400-year-old plants bloomed under certain laboratory conditions. Researchers declared that this reflected the recovery of ecosystems from the cyclic long periods of ice coverage of the Earth.

The group of researchers was making exploration in area around the Teardrop Glacier which is situated in Canadian Arctic. This region’s glaciers are receding at a rapid pace (around 3-4 m annually) since 2004. This is also the place where it is said that the light of daytime has not reached since Little Ice Age, the widespread cooling which took place from 1550 AD to 1850 AD. The lead author of the study, Catherine La Farge explained that huge populations of bryophytes were observed from beneath the glacier which reflected a greenish tinge.

Bryophytes are very different from land plants. These plants do not have any vascular tissue. This means that these plants can survive without drying up even in the long Arctic winters. Eventually, these plants grow in warmer times. The researchers observed new growth of the green lateral branches on the stems of the plant. A lot of other species were observed in the Teardrop Glacier and almost all these are completely unknown to science.

ISRO set to establish Navigation Satellite System

Indian Space Research Organisation’s scientists will establish a navigation satellite system for India like that of America’s Global Positioning System (GPS). Very much similar to the GPS, the Indian satellite is supposed to transmit data continuously that will allow correctly equipped receivers to establish their location with considerable precision.

The project is set to establish the IRNSS at a cost about 1420 crores rupees and was approved by the Union Government in June 2006. The first of the IRNSS satellites is scheduled go into space aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on 1 July 2013. The GPS requires a constellation of 24 orbiting satellites, which will be supported by a global network of ground stations, so that every part of the world is covered. ISRO will create a system wholly in India’s control for providing navigation signals over this country and surrounding areas.

After seeing many configurations, the finally chosen configuration was the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) which required just seven satellites. All seven IRNSS satellites will be at a height of about 36000 km, which will take a whole day to circle the Earth. Three of the satellites will be placed over the equator, in what is known as the geostationary orbit, where they match the Earth’s rotation and therefore appear from the ground to remain at a fixed position in the sky. The remaining four satellites will be in pairs in two inclined geosynchronous orbits. From the ground, these satellites will appear to travel in figures of ‘8’ during the course of a day.

Manned Submersible in 5 Years

The Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), which has earlier cut its teeth on a remotely-operated ROSUB-6000, is pushing the technology envelope further to develop a deep-sea manned submersible that can dive to depths of up to 6,000 metres. Shailesh Nayak, secretary at the Ministry of Earth Sciences, told this correspondent that scientists have already begun to develop the technologies required for building the diving capsule. The design of the submersible’s pressure hull, to be made of titanium alloys to withstand pressures in the range of 600 bars at such depths, is particularly critical, he said. Encapsulated in the pressure hull would be the sub’s crew compartment and life support systems.The project is estimated to cost about Rs.300 crores to the exchequer. While NIOT is awaiting the final go-ahead from the ministry, the submersible is billed to be ready for its maiden dive five years from now. The project is being executed in collaboration with a consortium of scientific institutions in the U.S. and Russia. According to Dr. Nayak, NIOT has been exchanging notes with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is preparing for its manned lunar mission, on designing human habitation in an alien environment. “It is just the opposite of space, though, with pressure increasing steadily as you descend,” he said. A senior scientist closely associated with the manned sub project said the submersible is being designed for a diving endurance of 12 hours, with emergency support for 72 hours. It will have an integrated navigation system for redundancy. The manned sub will catapult India into the elite league of nations operating research manned submersibles like the U.S. (Alvin); France (Nautile); Russia (MIR 1 and 2); Japan (Shinkai) and China (Jiaolong).

Devap Air-Cooling System to be Used First Time in India

Architects building Nalanda International University at Bihar decided to make use of the Desiccant Enhanced Evaporative or the Devap air-cooling system. It is the first time that this kind of system will be used in India. The Devap system functions by making use of dessicant material which gets rid of the moisture from using by making use of heat. The system also makes use of the evaporative technologies which bring cooling by making use of up to 90 percent less energy in comparison to the older methods. Rajeev Kathpalia, principal architect of the Ahmedabad-based company Vastu Shilpa Consultants explained that using the Devap system in Nalanda International University is very useful because this system easily gels up with the method of the ancient seat of learning. Using Devap in Nalanda will be an experiment because this system has never been used in India. Nalanda University will be constructed at Rajgir, which is situated around 100 km away from Patna. The construction of the University will take place on 446-acre plot, which is situated 12 km away from the ruins of ancient seat of learning. Construction would start in December 2013. The academic session of this university will begin in 2014. The buildings of Nalanda University would be designed on net zero energy consumption concept. Nalanda University would produce its energy by making use of the photo voltaics. The University, additionally would collect biomass of neighbouring villages in order to generate electricity as well as harvest rainwater. The initiative of Nalanda University was taken up by former President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in the year 2006.

What is Devap air-cooling system?

• The Devap air-cooling system provides solution to AC necessity. This system provides dehumidified, cold and clean air, but with an added advantage of less electricity and less energy-usage.

• It makes use of the chemical capabilities of desiccants. A desiccant is basically the hygroscopic substance which sustains or induces the dryness state in local vicinity in well-sealed container.

• The Devap air-cooling system was designed in order to replace the standard units of AC so that there was less difficulty regarding installation.

• It has been estimated that by making use of the Devap air-cooling system, the total energy savings are simulated to be somewhere between 40-80 percent. But the energy savings depend upon humidity level as well as geographical location.

• Devap air-cooling system is a good solution for curbing the greenhouse effect because of its energy efficiency as well as environmentally respectful chemicals.

• Though, this system has higher costs for commercial and residential units, but if operational costs are included, it becomes financially advantageous in the time span of just 30 years.

‘Groundwork’ needed

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) requires more than just a cluster of satellites. In order to maintain the navigation system’s accuracy, an elaborate ground network is needed to constantly watch over those satellites and the signals they send out, making any corrections that may be needed. The hub of the whole system is the ISRO Navigation Centre at Byalalu, near Bangalore. Ranging and integrity monitoring stations spread across the country will receive navigation signals transmitted by the satellites and promptly relay them to this Centre. The Centre will also be linked to two-way radio ranging stations as well as laser ranging stations that will help establish the satellites’ orbit parameters with great accuracy. At the Centre, all the data will be collated and analysed using indigenously developed navigation software. This complex software will then generate the updates that must be beamed to the satellites periodically. The Centre uses a cluster of hydrogen maser and caesium atomic clocks, which keep time even more accurately than the atomic clocks on the satellites, to maintain a standard reference time, the IRNSS Network Time. The time kept on the satellites must be closely synchronised with this network time.

Next-generation batteries from rice husk

Nano-size silicon particles for the next-generation Lithium-ion batteries could be produced from rice husk, an abundant agricultural waste, according to research recently published in Scientific Reports.

Nano silicon had attracted considerable attention as a promising anode material for such high-performance batteries, which would power future electric vehicles and portable devices, observed Yi Cui, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford University in the U.S., and his colleagues in their paper. Although nano silicon anodes were superior to graphite ones in terms of performance, methods to produce the silicon anodes at a cost and with scalability comparable to graphite were needed. Current processes to form silicon nanomaterials were usually complex, costly and energy-intensive, they pointed out. In rice husk, silica existed naturally in the form of nanoparticles and accounted for as much as 20 per cent of its dry weight. Using a simple, energy-efficient and easily scalable method , nano silicon could be produced. The silicon that was recovered maintained the unique nanostructure of silica as it existed in the husk, which made for excellent battery performance. Apart from its use in Lithium-ion batteries, there were many potential large-scale applications for such nanostructured silicon, they added.

A Sensor Chip That Can Detect Disease from Blood Drop

Scientists at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) engineered a cutting-edge sensor chip which is capable of detecting the diseases just from the drop of blood. The study describes how the researchers- Reginald Farrow and Alokik Kanwal along with their team created a carbon nanotube-based device in order to rapidly and noninvasively detect the mobile single cells with potential of maintaining high degree of spatial resolution.

Reginald Farrow, the research explained that with the help of sensors, the device was created which will enable the medical personnel to measure the electrical properties of the cells by simply putting s tiny drop of liquid on active area of the device. The researcher, in the meanwhile also explained that this was not the first time that such kind of work was brought out, but the unique property of this device is the technique with which the electrical properties or patterns of cells are measured. Also, the device can explain how electrical properties differentiate between the cell types.

New World Record of Top Speed by Drayson Racing Electric Car

Drayson Racing Technologies established the new world record on Federation Internationale de l’Automobile’s (FIA) world electric land speed record when the lightweight electric powered car reached the top speed of 328.6 km per hour. The British team broke all the world land speed records for the lightweight electric car after the car named Lola B12 69/EV crossed the previous top speed record of 281.6kph at a Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire. The Chief Executive of Drayson Racing Technologies, Lord Drayson, who drove the car, explained that the car was designed to highlight about the technology potential of electronic vehicle. The previous record of top speed was 281.6kph, which was set up by Battery Box General electric in 1974. In order to be eligible for an attempt on Federation Internationale de l’Automobile’s (FIA) world electric land speed record, Drayson Racing Technologies team needed to make the vehicle less than 1000 kg of weight without the driver. In order to achieve this eligibility, the team adapted Le Mans Series car which was designed by it earlier and had bio-ethanol fuel engine originally fitted into it. This engine was replaced by lightweight 20 kilowatt hour battery which offered 850 horsepower. Apart from this, the chassis of the vehicle was also adapted. The chassis was made from recycled carbon fibre, which enabled the car to minimise air friction.

New Three-Horned Dinosaur Discovered

Scientists while analysing fossil records in the Month of May 2013 have discovered a new three-horned dinosaur, which is dated back 66 to 80 million years. The distinctive feature of the Three Horned Dinosaur is that it sported a hoodie-like growth on the back of its head. It differs from all other horned dinosaurs in the shape and arrangement of the scallops on the edge of the frill, which are large and triangular toward the front, and low and blunt toward the back. As per the researchers it may be the oldest known link of Triceratops and Torosaurus — the best-known horned dinosaurs. As of today, fossil remains of at least 18 closely related dinosaurs from the region have been identified as distinct species. These species show up for just a couple million years, or even a far shorter time, before another species replaces it. The Fossil is linked to be with Judiceratops which is the earliest known member of the chasmosaurines, a group of horned dinosaurs characterised by an enlarged frill on the back of the skull. It does not appear to be a direct ancestor of Triceratops and Torosaurus. Judiceratops was basically a large plant-eating dinosaur which fed on low-growing vegetation, such as ferns, like other members of its family. It had two large horns over the brow and a smaller horn on its nose.

An Eco-friendly Battery using Wood, Tin and Sodium

Researchers from University of Maryland in third week of June 2013 developed an eco-friendly battery using wood, tin and sodium as raw materials. This battery is thousand times thinner than a paper and can store large amount of energy to last longer than a commercial battery. Use of sodium instead of lithium makes these batteries eco-friendly. Limitation of this battery is that it can’t store energy as efficiently as the lithium battery and thus can be used at a power plant or to store solar energy, but not in the cell phones. Present day batteries are developed on the stiff surfaces to withstand the changing shape of the battery. Actually, the swell or shrink of the battery depends on the movement of the electrons but the wood fiber has the capability of supporting the changes due to the electron movement in context of the sodium ion battery. As per the study of the researchers, the wood-based batteries can last over 400 charging cycles. Researchers drew the inspiration of using the wood fiber from the trees, as wood fibers that make up a tree once held mineral-rich water, and so are ideal for storing liquid electrolytes, making them not only the base but an active part of the battery. As per the studies, the charging and discharging of these batteries several times brought wrinkles on the wood but it remained intact. The wrinkles on the wood supported the battery to survive for several cycles as it allowed the battery to relax the stress exerted during regular charging and discharging activity. Tin’s connection with its base also weakens, while pushing the Sodium ion tin anodes, but softness of the wood fiber serves as a mechanical buffer and accommodates following the changes of the tin. This phenomenon, acts a key of behind the longevity of the sodium-ion batteries. Liangbing Hu and Teng Li were the head of the team that worked on the project. This research was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the University of Maryland. The study details were published in the American Chemical Society Publications.

Satellites Launched to Bring Rural Areas Online

O3b Networks, whose name represents the other 3 billion in month of June 2013, launched a series of satellites which is supposed to provide fast, cheap Internet and phone service to remote areas in 180 countries. The idea behind launching such satellite is to bring people from remote area online by the end of the year 2013. Google have already committed to invest about 1.2 billion dollars in support. O3b Networks is planning to supply the bandwidth for voice and data traffic to mobile phone operators instead of being sold directly to customers and internet service providers who will be able to track the satellites with ground stations.

A group of four satellites was launched on 25 June 2013 in a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana and it is going to be followed with similar satellite launch of four more in September 2013 and another four next year. The Outstanding property of the satellite is that is every satellite will be able to transfer data at a rate of 12 gigabits per second. Other satellites may eventually be launched to increase the data capacity of the cohort.

Advantage of the Satellite launched

• The launch of satellite will provide cheap, fast data transfer to remote areas without Internet access or phone service.

• The satellite service accessible and affordable, even in poorer regions.

New Solar Water Heater Designed

A new type of Solar Heater was designed by three young techies from the North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology. These new heaters contain a parabolic reflector that works in conjunction with the drum that contains water.

Mechanism of the Solar Heater: Sun radiant energy is reflected by the aluminum dish of the solar heater into the drum with a lid at top. The radiant energy of the sun continuously falls on the earth and on a normal sunny day, about 1000 watt of energy per second is received by every square meter by the earth.

The radiant energy from sun works on the principle on which the microwave and the electric oven functions, i.e. the energy doesn’t rapidly heat the things but spreads, thus can be used for cooking, grilling, roasting and other purposes. The parabolic reflector has the capacity to raise the temperature of the water up to 139 degree C the temperature that is sufficient enough to cook cereals and vegetables. The three techies are the students of mechanical engineering from the institute namely Vikas Gautam, Suman Pao and Juwel Tripura. The newly designed solar heater can be used both for industrial and domestic purposes.

First Classroom Lecture from Space for Students

China, on 20 June 2013 conducted the first classroom lecture from space which was given by female Chinese astronaut Wang Yaping. Wang Yaping, 33, addressed around 330 primary as well as middle school students at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University in Beijing through live video feed from space module Tiangong-1. Wang Yaping lectured the students while orbiting at 340 km above Earth at zero gravity in space. The lectured students included those from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, migrant workers’ families as well as of ethnic minorities.

The CCTV network live broadcast was showcased to over 60 million students as well as the teachers at 80000 middle schools in China. Wang Yaping demonstrated the calculation of weight by the astronauts in space. In the meanwhile, she also answered the questions related to recycling of water in the orbiter, view from the orbiter as well as the space debris. Wang Yaping along with her crew commander Nie Haisheng and Zhang Xiaoguang left for the space on 11 June 2013 aboard Shenzhou-10 spacecraft.

Plants exposed by retreating glaciers regrow

Scientists have found that plants that are 400-600 years old and entombed during the Little Ice Age that happened between 1550 and 1850 were not only intact, but also suggested regrowth.

Finally, how plants grow towards light proved

Plants have developed a number of strategies to capture the maximum amount of sunlight through their leaves. Swiss scientists have now proved for the first time that the hormone auxin is the substance that drives phototropism.

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