2 December 2013: China
launched its first ever extraterrestrial landing craft into orbit en route for
the moon, in a major milestone for its space programme. The Chang'e-3 lunar
probe, which includes the Yutu or Jade Rabbit buggy, will be China's first
spacecraft to make a soft landing beyond Earth. In 2007, China launched its
first moon orbiter, the Chang'e-1 which took images of the surface and analysed
the distribution of elements. Jade Rabbit is the companion of the goddess Chang'e. China
has now became the third country, after the United States and the former Soviet
Union, to soft-land on the moon. Link:http://english.cntv.cn
3 December 2013:
Scientists at the the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have
discovered a wonder gene that could dramatically increase yields of rice.
Preliminary tests show that yields can rise by 13-36 percent when infused with
the so-called SPIKE gene. Although the gene was first discovered in the japonica variety of rice, tests are underway to introduce it in the modern
long-grain indica rice varieties, the world's most widely grown
types of rice.Tropical japonica rice accounts
for just 10 percent of global rice production. The rest is indica variety.
India, the world's second largest producer of rice after China mostly
cultivates the indica variety.Link:http://www.irri.org
4 December
2013: NASA has
reported that "faint signatures of water" have been found in the
atmospheres of five planets outside our solar system, marking a further
development in the search for planets supporting alien life. The
presence of atmospheric water on exoplanets has been reported before, but this is the first
that conclusively measured the water signatures on planets outside our solar system. The five
exoplanets in question are WASP-17b, HD209458b, WASP-12b, WASP-19b and XO-1b which are 'hot Jupiters', a class of exoplanets
that orbits close to their star and consequently have very high temperatures.
The finding is published in Astrophysical Journal. Link:http://iopscience.iop.org
5 December
2013: NASA
satellites have found the coldest place on earth. At a desolate and remote ice
plateau in East Antarctica, temperatures hit a "soul-crushing" -93.2
degrees Celsius. This beat the previous record of -89.2 degrees Celsius
measured at the Vostok Research Station in East Antarctica on July 21, 1983. The
measurements were by the MODIS sensor on board NASA's Aqua satellite and by
Landsat 8, a new NASA satellite belonging to US Geological Survey. The hottest
spot on Earth is the Dasht-e Lut salt
desert in southeast Iran, where it reached 70.7 degrees Celsius in 2005.
Temperatures of minus 238 degrees Celsius have been detected on the Moon. Link:http://www.nasa.gov
6 December
2013: The European
Space Agency has set a tentative date for the first landing of a spacecraft on
a comet. ESA says its comet-chasing probe Rosetta will wake up from deep-space
hibernation on January 20 before chasing down comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Once it has reached the huge mass of ice and rock, the team will try to deploy
a lander on the comet's surface. If all goes according to plan, Rosetta will
launch a lander onto the surface of the comet on November 11, 2014. The Rosetta
probe was launched in March 2004. It has orbited the Earth three times and then
performed a slingshot around Mars to travel towards comet
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.Link:http://sci.esa.int
7
December 2013: Scientists have sequenced
the entire genome of the world’s longest poisonous snake, King Cobra
(Ophiophagus hannah) and uncovered the secrets behind its deadly venom. King
cobras, capable of growing up to 18.5 feet in length, can be found in forests
of India and throughout southeast Asia. Researchers from the Liverpool School
of Tropical Medicine, along with a team of international biologists, also
analysed the genome of the Burmese Python (Python molurus bivittatus). The
study provides an insight into the biology of snake venoms and the evolution of venom genes. The study is
published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Link:http://www.pnas.org
8 December 2013: NASA’s Curiosity rover on
Mars had successfully performed its first rock-dating experiment outside Earth.
This is a major breakthrough since most rock analysis has usually used samples
that are found on Earth.The Martian rover took a rock sample from an outcrop in
Gale Crater near its landing location and subjected it into heating at high
enough temperatures. The gases released were studied by the mass spectrometer
that is on-board in the Curiosity.The researchers named the rock as
‘Cumberland’ which is aged between 3.86 billion to 4.56 billion years. It is
the second rock drilled in the planet.The study is published in Science Express.Link:http://www.sciencemag.org
9
December 2013: Life from earth may have
been carried to moons of Jupiter and Saturn on rocks that blasted off our
planet. The notion that life might
travel on rocks knocked off a world's surface is known as 'lithopanspermia'.Meteoroids could encase organisms and seed life on another planet.A
great many of meteoroids were either swallowed by the Sun or left the solar
system entirely.Scientists calculated about 83,000 meteoroids from Earth could
have struck Jupiter after travelling 10 million years or less.These findings
suggest the possibility of transfer of life from the inner solar system to
moons of Jupiter and Saturn.The study is published in Astrobiology Magazine.
Link:http://www.astrobio.net
10 December
2013: Mangalyaan (Mars
Orbiter Mission, MOM) today successfully executed a 'course correction'
manoeuvre, the first of a series of four planned to eliminate minor deviations
in its trajectory. The Mars Orbiter Mission commanded the thrusters on board to
fire in order to attain the necessary incremental velocity. During this
critical exercise MOM was about 2.9 million km away from earth.Three more such manoeuvres have been have been
planned, in April, August and the final one in September, prior to the nail
biting Mars orbit insertion (MOI). The
MOM navigation team triggered the corrective manoeuvre to eliminate minor
deviations in the trajectory. Link:http://www.isro.org
11
December 2013: Tropical Cyclone Madi
began its landfall in southeastern Tamil Nadu, India. NASA's Aqua satellite had captured an image
of the same. The MODIS or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer
instrument aboard Aqua captured a visible image of Madi showed the strongest
thunderstorms were wrapped around the center of circulation. This strongest
thunderstorms have weakened since Aqua passed overhead and Madi was devoid of
any strong convection. The southern extent of the tropical cyclone's clouds
were over extreme northern Sri Lanka. The final advisory on the tropical
cyclone was issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center on December 11. Link:http://www.nasa.gov
12 December
2013: Comet ISON,
once optimistically called the comet of the century, is dead, the victim of a
way-too-close brush with the Sun. The comet, which excited astronomers and the
media as it zipped within 730,000 miles of the Sun, was pronounced dead at a scientific
conference today. ISON was first detected in September 2012 by two Russian
astronomers, Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok. It was about half a mile wide and
probably smaller than originally estimated. ISON was on its first trip from the Oort cloud on the distant fringes of the solar system. Unlike comets that
are "hardened" by several trips, ISON just couldn't
survive its maiden voyage.Link: http://www.nasa.gov
13 December
2013: Scientists
have discovered a long-lived manmade greenhouse gas that appears to have the
highest global-warming impact of any compound to date. The chemical, perfluorotributylamine
(PFTBA), is the most radiatively efficient chemical found to date, breaking all
records for its impact on climate. According to researchers from
University of Toronto,‘Radiative efficiency’which describes how effectively a
molecule can affect climate, is determined by multiplying its atmospheric
concentration to determine its climate impact. Researchers uses ‘Radiative
efficiency’ of CO2 as a baseline, as it is the most important greenhouse gas.Link:http://media.utoronto.ca
14 December 2013: Scientists have revealed the first high-quality
genome sequence from a Neanderthal woman.The DNA from the toe bone was
sequenced reveals that inbreeding may have been common among the ancestors of
the Neanderthals. Although modern humans are the world's only surviving human
lineage, others also once lived on Earth.These included Neanderthals, the
closest extinct relatives of modern humans, and the newfound
Denisovans, whose genetic footprint extended from Siberia to Oceania. Both
Neanderthals and Denisovans descended from a group that diverged from the
ancestors of all modern humans. The findings are published in Nature. Link:http://www.nature.com
15
December 2013: China's Yutu or Jade
Rabbit rover sent back its first pictures from the moon. Jade is part of the
Chang'e, the recently launched orbiter of Moon.
China first sent an astronaut into space a decade ago and is the third
country to complete a lunar rover mission after the United States and the former
Soviet Union. The Yutu was deployed,
several hours after the Chang'e-3 probe landed on the moon. The Chang'e-3 mission is named after the
goddess of the moon in Chinese mythology and the rover vehicle is called Yutu,
or Jade Rabbit, after her pet. The Chang'e-3 mission follows Chang'e-1 in 2007
and Chang'e-2 in 2010, probes that were sent to orbit the moon. Link:http://english.cntv.cn
16
December 2013: To mark the centenary
celebrations of home science discipline in India, country's first faculty for
home science - will host a national conference. M S University's Faculty of
Family and Community Science (FFCS), Vadodhara, which was earlier known as
Faculty of Home Science, is hosting a three-day biennial national conference. The
conference, which is being hosted by the faculty for the fourth time, is a
joint collaboration of Home Science Association of India (HSAI) and FFCS. The
theme of the conference entitled '100 years of Home Science: Retrospect and
Prospects' is a mark of centenary celebration of home science in the
country.Link: http://homescienceassociationofindia.com
17
December 2013:Astronomers have detected
the first noble gas molecules in space in the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant.
Their measurements of regions of cold gas and dust led them to the discovery of
the chemical fingerprint of argon hydride ions. Before the discovery, molecules
of this kind have only been studied in laboratories on Earth. The discovery
came from Herschel's SPIRE instrument. The light coming from certain regions of
the Crab Nebula showed extremely strong and unexplained peaks in intensity
around 618 Gigahertz and 1235 GHz. The scientists found that the only possible
explanation was that the emission was coming from spinning molecular ions of
argon hydride. Moreover, the only isotope of Argon whose hydride could rotate
at that rate was argon-36. Link:http://herschel.cf.ac.uk
18 December
2013: Replying to
a question on India's space programme vis-a-vis China's, Minister of State in
the PMO V. Narayanaswamy told the Lok Sabha that India is hoping that its own
regional navigation satellite, on the lines of China's, in July this year. However
China's strength lies in the launch vehicle domain. An Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) initiative, the IRNSS is designed to provide better
accuracy from 10 miles over India and the region extending about 1,500 km
around India. According to the minister, India has strength in space
applications and India's constellation of remote sensing and communication
satellites are considered to be the largest in Asia-Pacific region. Link:http://www.isro.org
19
December 2013: In a major find,
researchers have discovered a second code was hiding within DNA.The discovery
may help change how scientists read the instructions contained in DNA and
interpret mutations. Since the discovery of genetic code in the 1960s,
researchers believed that genetic code was used exclusively to write
information about proteins. University of Washington scientists were surprised
to discover that genetic code is written in two separate languages. One
describes how proteins are made, and the other instructs the cell on how genes
are controlled. One language is written on top of the other, thats why it remained hidden for so long. Link: https://www.sciencemag.org
20
December 2013: Scientists have found a
link between high levels of Perfluorinated compounds, widely used in non-stick
cookware and diabetes. In a new study, a research team led by Uppsala
University said perfluorinated compounds are environmental toxins and there is
a link between their high levels in blood and diabetes. The research group at
Uppsala University has previously shown associations between high levels of
environmental toxins, such as PCB, pesticides, and phthalates and diabetes. Perfluorinated
compounds are used in a wide variety of industrial and consumer products,
including non-stick cookware, and water-repellent materials. Link:http://www.uu.se/en
21
December 2013: A type of rock that often
bears diamonds has been found in Antarctica for the first time, giving a hint
of mineral riches in the icy continent that is off limits to mining. An
Australian-led team reported East Antarctic deposits of Kimberlite, a rare type
of rock named after the South African town of Kimberley famed for a late 19th
century diamond rush. Kimberlite, a volcanic rock from deep below the Earth's
surface, has now been discovered on all continents. Antarctic Treaty of 1991 however
bans mining for at least 50 years preserving the continent for scientific
research and wildlife. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications. Link: http://www.nature.com
22
December 2013: A new frog species has
been discovered in the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats, by scientists of the
city-based MES Abasaheb Garware College and the Indian Institute of Science
Education and Research (IISER). The new species is named as Raorchestes ghatei,
after the herpetologist H V Ghate, in
recognition of his contributions to the herpetology of the Western Ghats of
Maharashtra. It will assume the common name, 'Ghate's Shrub Frog'. Raorchestes ghatei is genetically and morphologically different
from all known species of Raorchestes frogs. The main body difference is a
boney enlargement on the upper arm bone, which is present only in the male.
Link:http://threatenedtaxa.org
23 December
2013: For the
first time, an artificial heart that may give patients up to five years of
extra life has been successfully implanted in a 75-year-old French man. The
artificial heart, developed by Dutch-based European Aeronautic Defence and
Space Company (EADS), is powered by Lithium-ion batteries that can be worn
externally. This device is intended to replace a real heart for as many as five
years. The device mimics heart muscle contractions and contains sensors that
adapt the blood flow to the patient's moves. The heart surfaces are made partly from bovine tissue instead of
synthetic materials such as plastic, which can cause blood clots. Link: http://www.fda.gov
24 December
2013: Beatles
legend John Lennon is among the 10 famous people who are having craters on
Mercury , the planet closest to the Sun, named after them. Lennon rose to
worldwide fame as a founder member of the Beatles, the most commercially
successful and critically acclaimed band in the history of popular music. He
died in 1980 aged 40 in New York. The name ‘Lennon’ was suggested by Sean
Solomon of Columbia University. 'Lennon' is one of the 114 other craters named since NASA's Messenger spacecraft's
first Mercury flyby in January 2008. The
International Astronomical Union (IAU) has also named an additional 10 impact
craters on Mercury. Link:http://www.nasa.gov
25 December 2013:
Researchers, led by a scientist from Chandigarh, Alka Choudhary, at University
of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, claim to have
discovered a new form of cell division in human cells. Until now, Choudhary and
most cell biologists accepted a century-old hypothesis developed by German
biologist Theodor Boveri, who studied sea urchin eggs. Boveri surmised that
faulty cell division led to cells with abnormal chromosome sets, and then to the
unchecked cell growth that defines cancer. With accumulated evidence over the
years, most scientists have come to accept the hypothesis. The new finding is published in Proceedings
of National Academy of Sciences. Link: http://www.pnas.org
26 December
2013: Earth's
upper atmosphere is still so saturated with Ozone-eating chlorine that it will
take about another decade for evidence that a nearly 25-year-old ban on such
destructive chemicals is working, scientists say. Full recovery of the ozone
layer, which shields Earth from the Sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation, should
occur around 2070. In 2012 for example, the ozone hole was the second smallest
on record, an apparently positive sign that the 1989 Montreal Protocol
agreement which called for the phasing out of Freon and other damaging Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs.The year before, they point out, the ozone hole
was nearly as big as it was in 2006, the largest on record. Link: http://esciencenews.com
27 December
2013: Chinese
farmers may have been one of the first in the world to domesticate cats,
employing the felines more than 5,000 years ago to protect their grain stores
from rodents, a new study suggests. Cat bone fossils found at an ancient
village site in Central China show that they were domesticated 5,300 years ago,
much earlier than previously thought. Cats were thought to have first been
domesticated in ancient Egypt, where they were kept some 4,000 years ago, but
more recent research suggests close relations with humans may have occurred
much earlier, including the discovery of a wild cat buried with a human nearly
10,000 years ago in Cyprus. Link:http://www.pnas.org
28
December 2013: NASA has developed a new
gen-next spacesuit, which is much lighter and mobile, for its first ever
mission to allow astronauts to spacewalk on an asteroid. NASA engineers are now
testing the modified version of the pumpkin-orange Advanced Crew Escape System
(ACES) worn by space shuttle astronauts during launch and re-entry for use by
future crew in the Orion spacecraft. As the agency plans human deep space
missions, including a voyage to a relocated asteroid, care is being taken to
efficiently use the space inside Orion. The tests are helping with the evaluation
of options for spacewalking techniques like how best to traverse the spacecraft. Link: http://papers.sae.org
29 December
2013: The Shaheen
falcon, also known as the Indian Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) was found in
Nelliampathy, Palakkad, Kerala. It is
said to be the first sighting of this species from Kerala in a decade. It was
found during a bird survey conducted by Zubair Medammal, falcon researcher from Department of Zoology, University of Calicut. Falcons are
migratory birds and they have two major migratory routes to Arabian Peninsula.
The first route draws from Europe and Baltic states to the Mediterranean
through Syria, Lebanon and the Red Sea. The second draws from the Caucasus,
crossing Afghanistan, through the Gulf area to Africa. Link:http://www.birdlife.org
30 December
2013: The reference
genome of Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris) is published. It was generated by researchers from the
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the Max Planck Institute for Molecular
Genetics and the University of Bielefeld. Sugar beet accounts for nearly 30% of
the world's annual sugar production. The Sugar Beet genome provides insights
into how the genome has been shaped by artificial selection along time. Sugar
beet belongs to Caryophyllales, comprising 11,500 species. 27,421
protein-coding genes were discovered within the Sugar Beet genome, more than those
in human genome. The study is published in the journal Nature. Link: http://www.nature.com
31 December 2013: The countdown for the launch of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) the 414.75 ton rocket that would carry communication satellite GSAT-14 is set to begin on 2014 January 4. One of the GSLV rockets was fitted with the Indian cryogenic engine and the other with a Russian engine. The GSLV is a three-stage/engine rocket.The successful launch of this rocket is crucial for India as it will be the first step towards building rockets that can carry heavier payloads, up to four tonnes. When that happens, India will join a select club of spacefaring nations having the cryogenic engine technology necessary to carry heavy satellites up into space. Link: http://www.isro.org
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