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Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 7, 2014 0:35:04 GMT 5.5
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S&T
Oct 7, 2014 0:43:44 GMT 5.5
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Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 7, 2014 0:43:44 GMT 5.5
S&T: A faster, cheaper Mars orbiter - India’s Mars orbiter mission tells the world that the more technology was denied the more determined the country became to master space technologies. The first Asian nation to reach the Mars orbit in a space mission. The success is sweeter because this has been done in its maiden attempt. - India’s Mangalyaan has cost the country Rs.450 crore or about $70 million; it is without doubt the cheapest inter-planetary mission ever to be undertaken since Martian exploration began. On September 22, a mission by NASA called the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN), made at a cost of over $670 million, reached Mars. China and India recently signed an agreement on “peaceful uses of outer space.” So, many are now wanting to partner in ISRO’s success.
If the 20th century witnessed a “space race” between the U.S. and the USSR, the 21st century is seeing an Asian space race. In most aspects of space technology, China is way ahead of India. It has larger rockets, bigger satellites and several rocket ports. It even launched its first astronaut in space way back in 2003 and has a space laboratory in the making. In 2008, when India undertook its first mission to moon Chandrayaan-1, China raced ahead and orbited its Chang’e-1 satellite ahead of India. But in this Martian marathon, India has reached the finish line ahead of China. In 2012, the first Chinese probe to Mars Yinghuo-1 failed. It was riding atop a Russian satellite called Phobos-Grunt. But the Chinese probe failed to even leave earth. Earlier in 1998, a Japanese probe to Mars ran out of fuel.
ISRO has several other goals and challenges to meet. Coming up in the next few weeks is the test firing of India’s monster rocket, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III, a rocket capable of carrying heavy payloads into space. This flight will carry a dummy crew module, which is part of a programme for the development of critical technologies that ISRO seeks to develop as part of its human space flight programme.
As ISRO says, the first astronaut could well be a woman. In a few weeks, an Indian navigation satellite will be also launched into space. By 2017, ISRO wants to undertake India’s second mission to moon Chandrayaan-2 which will have an Indian lander and a rover. Subsequently, it also wants to launch dedicated missions to study the Sun and the planetary bodies in the solar system. The Indian probe joins four spacecraft already circling Mars, including America’s MAVEN (acronym for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) that went into orbit just two days earlier, as well as two U.S. rovers exploring the planet’s surface. The Indian and U.S. space agencies are holding discussions on possible scientific collaboration. Success with the Mars Orbiter will give ISRO the confidence and capability to undertake more challenging missions. The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) equipped with an indigenous cryogenic stage made its first successful flight only in January this year, and a few more flights will be necessary to establish its reliability.
(Source - Self notes from The Hindu)
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S&T
Oct 7, 2014 0:47:14 GMT 5.5
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Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 7, 2014 0:47:14 GMT 5.5
Science: How do a deep sea diver's eardrums withstand the steady increase in water pressure while descending? - The ear drum separates the external ear from the middle ear. The side of the ear drum facing the external ear experiences atmospheric pressure. The middle ear is a closed cavity the only communication to the outside being the Eustachian tube, that connects it to the nasopharynx (the part behind the nasal cavity).
When the Eustachian tube remains closed the middle ear pressure is fixed. If the atmospheric pressure is more than this fixed pressure, then the ear drum is pushed into the middle ear. In deep sea divers with increasing depth the water pressure acts on the ear drum and pushes it into the middle ear. Experienced divers will perform certain manoeuvres that will open up the Eustachian tube like holding ones nose and blowing (Valsalva) or swallowing. When done correctly and frequently enough these actions will allow air to gush into the middle ear and exert enough air pressure to counter the water pressure and therefore normalize the ear drum.
If these manoeuvres are not done correctly or if the Eustachian tube is blocked due to some other reason like common cold, then the diver’s drums are pushed in and the body’s regulatory mechanisms cause cells in the middle ear to secrete fluid or even bleeding occurs which then increases the middle ear pressure and prevents total collapse. If the diver descends too fast these mechanisms will all fail and the ear drum bursts due to sudden increase in external pressure.
(Source - Self notes from The Hindu)
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S&T
Oct 7, 2014 0:49:41 GMT 5.5
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Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 7, 2014 0:49:41 GMT 5.5
S&T: India’s first moored observatory deployed in Arctic - Country’s first multi-sensor moored observatory IndARC was successfully deployed in Kongsfjorden Fjord of the Arctic roughly halfway between North Pole and Norway on July 23. A team of scientists from the Earth System Science Organisation-National Institute of Ocean Technology (ESSO-NIOT) Chennai and ESSO-National Centre for Antartic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) termed the same as a milestone in India’s scientific endeavours in the Arctic region. This observatory, designed and developed by ESSO-NIOT and ESSONCAOR with ESSO-Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad.
(Source - Self notes from The Hindu)
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Oct 7, 2014 0:51:16 GMT 5.5
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Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 7, 2014 0:51:16 GMT 5.5
Science: The ‘microneedle’ developed by IISc. - For diabetics who need frequent insulin injections, children who go through a battery of inoculations, or those on drips — here is a novel innovation that takes the sting off injections.
A team of scientists and engineers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) have created a ‘micro-needle’ that is around third the thickness of conventionally used ones. With a diameter of just 130 microns, thes injections can deliver drugs almost painlessly. Unlike the conventional stainless steel needles, these micro-needles are made of silicon and arranged in a set of several needles to deliver drugs of a required quantity.
But the team had a challenge to resolve: silicon is not always “biocompatible”. Silicon reacts with blood plasma and can corrode with time. “So we coated the needle with very thin layers of titanium and gold through electroplating,” The needles are strong enough to withstand the “resistive force” of skin without breaking. Another added advantage of microneedles is the relative efficiency with which they can be mass-fabricated.
(Source - Self notes from The Hindu)
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Post by CHANGEZ on Oct 7, 2014 11:48:30 GMT 5.5
Dr. Yatri Thor, Aaila, ye needles toh bada mehnga hota hoynga.. Titanium and gold ki plating!
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S&T
Oct 7, 2014 11:49:43 GMT 5.5
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Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 7, 2014 11:49:43 GMT 5.5
Dr. Yatri Thor, Aaila, ye needles toh bada mehnga hota hoynga.. Titanium and gold ki plating! In the research stage its expensive....but once mass produced, the price will go down......remember its micro-needle
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S&T
Oct 7, 2014 23:20:10 GMT 5.5
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Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 7, 2014 23:20:10 GMT 5.5
Science: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig’s, or motor neurone disease. ALS is a disorder of motor neurones — nerves that control movement — leading to loss of ability to control muscles and their eventual atrophy. While it frequently has no effect on cognitive function, it progresses to affect most of the muscles in the body, including those used to eat and breathe.
British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has been almost completely paralysed by the condition. the Japanese team used human ‘iPS’ — induced pluripotent stem cells, building-block cells akin to those found in embryos, which have the potential to turn into any cell in the body. From the iPS cells they created special progenitor cells and transplanted them nto the lumbar spinal cord of ALS mice.
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Oct 7, 2014 23:22:47 GMT 5.5
Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 7, 2014 23:22:47 GMT 5.5
Science: Mangalore varsity develops key technology for the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai. - developing a technology, and fabricating a prototype system, for the removal of two radioactive gases (radon and thoron) present in work places of industries that handle uranium and thorium. The technology, called thoron mitigation system, will also minimise the release of these two gases into the environment.
The development of a simple and inexpensive activated charcoal-based mitigation system will find immense application in uranium and thorium processing facilities. It has the potential to offer numerous advantages over conventional systems for the continuous removal of radon and thoron from the air in industrial workplaces.
Spin-off applications of the system include remediation of radon and thoron problem in mining and processing industries, site remediation, and reduction of personal radiation exposure due to radon and thoron. Other potential application is recovery and isolation of radioactive Xe & Kr fission gases in workplaces.
experiments on radon and thoron absorption efficiencies of charcoal, holding capacity, degassing characteristics, and fabrication of the prototype mitigation system.
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Post by W@RRiOR on Oct 8, 2014 9:01:02 GMT 5.5
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Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 9, 2014 21:19:19 GMT 5.5
N-energy and diplomacy
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Oct 9, 2014 21:29:09 GMT 5.5
Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 9, 2014 21:29:09 GMT 5.5
A single doctor at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi in 1985, combined with unprecedented team work by people from 13 institutions, both in India and abroad, would soon start annually saving the lives of thousands of children aged less than five years from a mass killer - rotavirus diarrhoea. In India, the disease annually kills over 100,000 children below the age of one, making the country account for a quarter of all global deaths caused by rotavirus diarrhoea.
A Phase III trial of an indigenously developed rotavirus vaccine 116E carried out in three centres was found to be safe; it had 56.4 per cent efficacy in preventing severe rotavirus gastroenteritis in infants during their first year of life. Though the efficacy of the vaccine is only modest, it is superior to currently available ones. In the case of high-burden countries like India, even the modest efficacy of the vaccine would go a long way in reducing the number of deaths. The vaccine, which would be made available to the government at not more than $1 a dose, is expected to be licensed shortly.
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Oct 9, 2014 21:31:10 GMT 5.5
Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 9, 2014 21:31:10 GMT 5.5
April 4, India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) marked its 25th consecutive successful mission by lofting the second spacecraft required for the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). The IRNSS will function much like America’s widely-used Global Positioning System (GPS), albeit on a regional scale.
The GPS is based on a constellation of 24 satellites that transmit signals, which suitably equipped receivers pick up and utilise to establish their position with a great level of accuracy. Originally intended for the U.S. armed forces, the use of unencrypted GPS signals have spawned a wide range of civilian applications. Russia has a similar satellite system in place, called GLONASS. Europe is in the process of establishing a navigation satellite system of its own, named Galileo. China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System began offering regional services in December 2012 and is expected to achieve global coverage by around 2020. Japan wants to create a satellite system to improve GPS coverage over that country.
The Indian Space Research Organisation has opted for a constellation of just seven satellites to provide accurate navigation signals over India and up to 1,500 km from its borders. The first of those satellites, IRNSS-1A, was launched in July last year. The performance of that satellite has been extensively analysed and found to be very satisfactory. The second satellite, IRNSS-1B, has now been put into orbit, and two more will follow later this year. Once the four IRNSS satellites are up and functioning, it will be possible to ascertain whether the system’s signals provide the required positional accuracy. The remaining three satellites are to be launched by the middle of next year. The option exists to extend the coverage area by adding four more satellites. ISRO is working with industry so that receivers that utilise the IRNSS signals become available. Some of these receivers will be capable of taking signals from other navigation satellite systems as well, like the GPS.
[HASH]ISRO [HASH]ISRORocks !!!
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Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 10, 2014 22:45:17 GMT 5.5
India to suggest renaming of Internet as ‘Equinet’ - In a major diplomatic initiative, India is all set to challenge the U.S.’ hegemony of the World Wide Web at a global meet on Internet governance in Sao Paulo (Brazil) next week. India has decided to propose renaming of Internet as ‘Equinet’ so that all nations can have equal say in its operations, besides calling for “internationalisation” of core Internet resources.
Starting April 23, the two day, ‘Global Multi-stake holder Meeting on the Future of Governance’, also referred to as ‘NETmundial’, will see representatives from nearly 180 nations debating the future of Internet governance and cyber security. India is likely to side with Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and Iran to make its point. In fact, it was Brazil which took the lead in organising this conference. India has been persistently seeking the U.S.’ cooperation in cases related to cyber security, particularly when it comes to taking action against Internet giants whose servers are installed in that country.
(from The Hindu, April-2014)
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S&T
Oct 12, 2014 2:43:45 GMT 5.5
Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 12, 2014 2:43:45 GMT 5.5
No major birth defects found in high level natural radiation areas of Kerala.
The natural deposit of monazite sand which contains high levels of thorium (8 to 10%), uranium (0.3%) and their decay products.
Gray-Gy- is a unit of radiation dose ; it is the dose when the radiation energy absorbed per kg of material is one joule. Since Gy is a large unit researchers normally use one thousandth of a Gy or milligray in practice.
Areas with a radiation exposure above 1.5 mGy/year were considered as the high level natural radiation areas (HLNRA) and those below 1.5 mGy/year, as normal level natural radiation area (NLNRA).
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Oct 12, 2014 5:43:57 GMT 5.5
Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 12, 2014 5:43:57 GMT 5.5
Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) boils down to the amount of time the fuel is present in the reactor before it becomes spent fuel and has to be reprocessed. Unlike the PHWR that use natural uranium, the reactors at Kudankulam use enriched uranium. - the amount of energy that can be extracted from a unit mass of fuel is called burn-up. - the amount of electrical energy that can be extracted from a unit mass of enriched uranium is nearly seven times more than that from natural uranium. – the need for refuelling a part (of the fuel) would arise only about one and half years after the power plant starts generating power. Compare this with PHWRs, where refuelling is needed once or twice a day.
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S&T
Oct 12, 2014 5:44:21 GMT 5.5
Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 12, 2014 5:44:21 GMT 5.5
Hybrid desalination plant at Kalpakkam - Seawater is made to flash evaporate in 39 stages through a small and controlled temperature drop of just 2 degrees per stage - Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) evaporation - the world’s largest hybrid seawater desalination plant coupled to an existing nuclear power plant the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS).- deploys both multi-stage flash (MSF) evaporation and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane separation technologies.- flash evaporation – heating at high temperature high pressure and then pressure drop.
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S&T
Oct 12, 2014 5:44:46 GMT 5.5
Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 12, 2014 5:44:46 GMT 5.5
The Simple Limbal Epithelial Transplantation (SLET), where the limbal stem cells harvested from the healthy eye are allowed to grow in the damaged eye thereby restoring corneal transparency. The technique was developed jointly by Dr. Sangwan and his team at Hyderabad and Dr. Sheila MacNeil and others at the University of Sheffield, U.K. - The biggest difference between SLET and the cultivated limbal epithelial transplantation (CLET) is the cost difference and a significant reduction in contamination risk.
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Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 12, 2014 5:45:15 GMT 5.5
LiquiGlide, which Time magazine has named one of the “Best Inventions of the Year 2012.” - Prof. Kripa Varanasi’s group at the Massa**etts Institute of Technology has developed a super-slippery, non-toxic coating for the insides of food containers, so these surfaces will concede the stored condiment down to the last drop.
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S&T
Oct 12, 2014 8:50:36 GMT 5.5
Post by W@RRiOR on Oct 12, 2014 8:50:36 GMT 5.5
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Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 13, 2014 0:36:35 GMT 5.5
Too many people are not getting enough sleep. Modern light-emitting diodes (LEDs) used in energy-efficient lighting as well as television and computer screens, laptops, tablets and various handheld devices, are adding to the problem - Lack of sleep may cause hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack and stroke. The electric light has had a powerful impact on the body’s clock, known as the circadian rhythm - more powerfully than any drug – Nature.
Apart from rods and cones needed for vision, the eye’s retina also contains ‘intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells’ (ipRGCs). These light-sensitive cells help synchronise the body’s circadian rhythm to the natural day and night cycle. When artificial light strikes those cells, the body gets misled and responds by promoting wakefulness and inhibiting sleep. White light emitted by LEDs was typically rich in blue light. This mattered because ipRGCs were most sensitive to blue and bluegreen light. So night-time exposure to LEDs was typically more disruptive to circadian rhythms and sleep than the old incandescent light bulbs. – reduced by replacing blue-enriched light with red- or orange-enriched white light after sunset.
LED @ Nobel prize of Physics this year
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Oct 15, 2014 19:10:36 GMT 5.5
Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 15, 2014 19:10:36 GMT 5.5
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. Current processes to form silicon nanomaterials were usually complex, costly and energy-intensive. In rice husk, silica existed naturally in the form of nanoparticles and accounted for as much as 20 per cent of its dry weight.
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Oct 15, 2014 19:11:13 GMT 5.5
Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 15, 2014 19:11:13 GMT 5.5
Quest for alternative, renewable and eco-friendly fuels, scientists have developed a novel method to produce bio-energy and value-added products through wastewater treatment. Senior scientist, Dr. S. Venkata Mohan and his group at IICT, Hyderabad have adopted a bio-refinery approach and produced futuristic green fuels, bio-hydrogen and bioelectricity. In the process a value added product that came out — bio-plastics. The volatile fatty acids produced along with hydrogen were used as a substrate for bio-plastics synthesis. Bio-electricity was being produced from anaerobic bacterial metabolism using microbial fuel cell.
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Post by Lisbeth Salander on Oct 15, 2014 20:11:36 GMT 5.5
Family farming - It is linked to ensuring national and global food security and is the pre-dominant form of agriculture in both developed and developing countries.
- Despite less access to productive resources efficiently manage their agriculture and record high productivity.
- Not only preserved traditional food products but have also contributed to produce a balanced diet and safeguard the world’s agro-biodiversity and sustainable use of natural resources.
- 200 million hectares of gross cropped area is cultivated by small farm holders to achieve macro food security.
- GoI has put in place an extensive research system involving national and state level institutions beside agriculture universities.
- Extension workers and cooperative societies help in educating farmers and providing inputs such as credit, seed, fertiliser etc. to family farmers.
- 16th October is observed as World Food Day to mark the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
- The intention is to raise public awareness about the plight of the hungry and malnourished people all over the world and initiate comprehensive action to tackle and mitigate the menace of malnutrition and hunger.
- This year's theme - Family Farming: “Feeding the World, Caring for the Earth”.
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Post by Dr. Yatri Thor on Oct 17, 2014 2:12:21 GMT 5.5
Biology
Even when both the parents are Rh positive, children born to them can be Rh negative. How does this happen?
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.
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-). Rh positive heterozygous parent (Rh+Rh-) produces two different types of gametes i.e. Rh+ and Rh-.
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