2 June 2016: Chennai-born physicist Tom Kibble, whose work was crucial in the theory of the Higgs Boson, died today. He was 83. Prof. Kibble had been working with Blackett Laboratory at Imperial College, London. After Peter Higgs formulated his ground-breaking mechanism for the Abelian gauge theories, in 1964, Tom Kibble came up with a more general version for non-Abelian gauge theories, in 1967. This immediately led Weinberg to make the connection and postulate the Higgs Mechanism. Kibble’s contribution was crucial in making Weinberg see the connection. Several awards and honours did come Prof. Kibble’s way, including the Order of the British Empire, and Albert Einstein Medal. However, the fact that he was not included in the Nobel in 2013, for the discovery of the Higgs Boson, which went to Peter Higgs and Francois Englebert, reportedly worried even Higgs himself. Prof. Kibble was born in Madras, as Chennai was known then, in 1932, and his father was a math and statistics professor at Madras Christian College. Link: http://www.imperial.ac.uk
3 June 2016: Nepali soldiers have kicked off efforts to partially drain a giant glacial lake near Mount Everest, fearing possible flooding that could threaten the lives of thousands. Scientists say climate change is causing Himalayan glaciers to melt at an alarming rate, creating huge glacial lakes which could burst their banks and devastate mountain communities. Imja Tsho, located at an altitude of 5,010 metres, just 10 kilometres south of the world's highest peak, is the fastest-growing glacial lake in Nepal. The surface area covered by the lake expanded from 0.4 to 1.01 sq.km. between 1984 and 2009, triggering concerns that it may breach its banks and flood villages downstream. The work began in April and the army expects to complete the project by the end of the year. Nepal is home to some 3,000 glacial lakes, of which seven are regarded as high-risk. The move to partially drain the lake comes one year after a major international study warned that glaciers in the Everest region could shrink by 70 % or disappear entirely by the end of the century. Link: http://www.nepalupclose.com
4 June 2016: The machines at Bletchley Park's Block H, the world's first purpose-built computer centre, helped gather crucial intelligence for the British military during the war. The machine Hitler used to send coded messages to his generals met the supercomputer that revealed its secrets today, watched on by veteran operatives whose painstaking work helped bring World War II to an end. Scientists at Bletchley Park in southern England, the WWII code breaking headquarters, fired up the valves, whirring wheels and spinning tors of the two machines to recreate how German military chiefs sent secret messages and how they were deciphered. Hitler's Lorenz machine boasted 1.6 million billion possible coding combinations thanks to a series of twelve rotors, a million times more complex than the more feted Enigma machine. operatives who fed encrypted German messages into the machine, including Irene Dixon, now in her nineties. Only decades after the war that Dixon discovered she had been processing the most sensitive of information. Link: https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk
5 June 2016: Sweden has been voted as the best country in the world when it comes to serving the interests of its people and contributing to the common good of humanity while India figured low at 70th position on a list of 163 nations. According to the 'Good Country' 2015 index which seeks to measure how countries contribute to the global good, Sweden, relative to the size of its economy, does more "good" and less harm than any other country. The report ranked a total of 163 countries taking 35 different UN and World Bank indices into account, including global contributions to science, culture, peace and security, climate change and health and equality. The top 10 best countries included Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Finland, Canada, France, Austria and New Zealand, whereas Libya was ranked as the least "good" country in the world. India figured at 70th position overall, three places below China, with the best ranking (27th) in 'international peace and security' and the worst (124th) in 'prosperity and equality'. Link: https://sweden.se
6 June 2016: A team of physicists led by Attila Krasznahorkay of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences published a rather provocative paper late last year in Physical Review Letters claiming that a strange radioactive decay anomaly is indicative of an unknown fundamental force. Despite the incredible claim, their paper wallowed in obscurity until physicist Jonathan Feng and his colleagues at the University of California decided to give it a closer look-and they found nothing wrong with the Hungarians' experiment or conclusion. The physics world is now abuzz with the possibility of a undiscovered fundamental force. Speculation about this elusive fifth force has existed for years, partly driven by the inability of the standard model of particle physics to explain dark matter -a hypothetical form of matter that comprises a huge portion of the mass and energy in the observable universe. Researchers at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and other groups in the United States and Europe are now working on how to address the problem. Link: http://journals.aps.org
7 June 2016: The Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) has announced the launch of the world's largest concentrated solar power (CSP) project. Located on a single site within the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the plant will consist of five facilities. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed either in late 2020 or 2021, at which time it's expected to generate 1,000 MW of power. By 2030, this plant could be churning out five times that amount-enough to raise the emirate's total power output by 25 percent. Concentrated solar power plants, unlike solar energy drawn from photovoltaic cells, use a large array of mirrors (called heliostats) to concentrate a large area of sunlight onto a small area like a tower-top. Electricity is generated when the concentrated light gets converted to heat, which drives a steam turbine connected to an electrical power generator. Thermal heat can be stored easily, making it possible to produce electricity after sunset and night. Link: http://helioscsp.com
8 June 2016: Four new names will soon be added to the periodic table as scientists have put forth their recommendations for the names of elements 113, 115, 117 and 118. The names proposed for the new elements are in honour of Japan, Moscow, Tennessee, and a Russian scientist. Element 113, discovered by a RIKEN group in Japan led by Kosuke Morita, is the first element on the periodic table found in an Asian country. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia (JINR) late last year were recognized for discovering elements 115 and 118, while LLNL, JINR, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Vanderbilt University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas were recognized for the discovery of element 117. Elements heavier than uranium (with 92 protons), are not produced in nature but are made by scientists in labs. These elements are created using particle accelerators which smash two atoms which can sometimes form new elements fit for the periodic table. Link: http://www.nature.com
9 June 2016: A scientific breakthrough on the DNA sequencing of the groundnut (also known as peanut) promises the development of improved groundnut varieties with enhanced traits such as increased pod and oil yield, drought and heat tolerance and greater disease resistance. A team of 51 scientists from 9 institutes in China, India, the United States and Australia, including the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), have decoded the complete DNA sequencing of the ancestor of the groundnut, the diploid A-genome (Arachis duranensis). Other significant traits this could help develop include aflatoxin-free, nutrition-rich and allergen-free varieties. Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), is an important crop both commercially as well as nutritionally. It is grown in more than 100 countries and is consumed in all countries in one or other form. Globally, this crop is cultivated in 25.7 million hectares with an annual production of about 42.3 million metric tons, achieving average productivity of 1.6 tons/hectare. Link: http://www.icrisat.org
10 June 2016: China plans to launch an independent optical facility, which will function like the Hubble Space Telescope, along with the construction of a space station in the coming years. The field of view of the optical cabin will be 300 times as large as that of the Hubble, and the cabin will be connected with the space station, said Gu Yidong , technology consultant of China's manned space flight project and academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), built by the NASA and the European Space Agency, orbits just outside the Earth's atmosphere, taking extremely high-resolution images of deep space. It was launched in 1990. The calibre of the telescope is about two metres, and its resolution is near that of the Hubble. The optical cabin will conduct heterochromatic photometry and slitless spectroscopy sky surveys. The cabin will stay in orbit with the space station, and will connect to the station when it needs maintenance or upgrades. China's space station is expected to be completed in 2020. Link: http://en.people.cn
11 June 2016: The solar-powered airplane, the Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2 on a globe-circling voyage that began more than a year ago in the United Arab Emirates reached a milestone, completing a trip across the United States with a Statue of Liberty fly-by before landing in New York. Pilots Andre Borschberg, who flew the plane to New York, and Bertrand Piccard, who will start the next leg of the journey, expect to leave 'soon' to cross the Atlantic Ocean for Europe or South Africa on their way to completing an aviation engineering feat to advance environmentally compatible technology. The Solar Impulse 2’s wings, which stretch wider than those of a Boeing 747, are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries. The plane runs on stored energy at night. The trip began in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan. The plane had a five day trip from Japan to Hawaii, where the crew was forced to stay in Oahu due to battery damage. Link: http://www.solarimpulse.com
12 June 2016: With its scheduled arrival at the largest planetary inhabitant in our solar system on July 4, NASA’s Juno mission is now less than a month away from Jupiter. The mission is now 26 days and 17.8 million kilometres away from Jupiter, the US space agency. On the evening of July 4, Juno will fire its main engine for 35 minutes, placing it into a polar orbit around the gas giant, it added. Giant Jupiter lies in the harshest radiation environment known, and Juno has been specially designed to safely navigate the brand new territory. The Juno mission was launched on August 5, 2011 with the primary aim of improving our understanding of the solar system’s beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter. With its suite of science instruments, Juno will investigate the existence of a solid planetary core, map Jupiter’s intense magnetic field, measure the amount of water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere of Jupiter, and observe the planet’s auroras, according to a statement made in NASA’s Juno mission profile. Link: https://www.nasa.gov
13 June 2016: New fossils unearthed in 2014 may be that of the ancestors of the 'hobbit-like' Homo floresiensis whose fossils were found in 2003. Half-sized humans who lived 700,000 years ago were almost certainly the ancestors of enigmatic 'hobbits' whose fossils were found on the same Indonesian isle in 2003. A modest haul of teeth and bones from an adult and two children has bolstered the theory that the hobbits, known to scientists as Homo floresiensis, arrived on Flores island as a different, larger species of hominin, or early man, probably about a million years ago. The process, called 'Island dwarfism', was well known in animals, with some species shrinking as much as six fold in adapting to an environment with fewer resources. The new fossils were unearthed in central Flores in 2014, about 100 kilometres from the 2003 discovery of the hobbit remains. Homo erectus, up to six feet tall and weighing up to 70 kg, is thought to have been the first human species to venture out of Africa. The article is published in the jounal Nature. Link: http://www.nature.com
14 June 2016: In an effort to end ongoing disputes surrounding forest land boundaries, the state forest department is set to finish survey and boundary demarcation of forest land within a year, as per the two-day workshop on modern survey methods, jointly organised by the Forest and Survey Departments. Forest survey activities will be strengthened and training to forest officials on survey methods will be completed in six months. The department aims to complete survey of forest land within a year. As the boundaries of forest and revenue land have not been earmarked, it is estimated that as many as 29 per cent of state’s area should be maintained as forest. Demarcating of forest boundaries will be done through scientific methods. It will also help address the issue of forest encroachment. Laying of 2,000 boundary stones within a year is a huge task which could be possible with the help of those who completed training in survey from the State Modern Survey Institute.Link: http://www.forest.kerala.gov.in
15 June 2016: Researchers have found an organic molecule essential to biology in interstellar space for the first time, a discovery that could help solve a long-time mystery. The origin of chirality in molecules remains a mystery, but scientists are hopeful that the interstellar discovery could finally solve the puzzle by clearing up what ingredients formed the base of our solar system. Researchers have found more than 180 molecules in space that give off a distinct vibration scientists can detect with radio telescopes. Larger, more complex molecules have more complicated vibration patterns, making them more difficult to identify. Scientists hope that if they can understand the chirality of the propylene oxide molecule found in space, they can gain a better understanding of chiral molecules on Earth. The study, known as the Prebiotic Interstellar Molecular Survey, is part of nearly a decade of research by the West Virginia-based NRAO, the organization that operates the ultra-sensitive Green Bank Telescope. The study is published in Science. Link: http://science.sciencemag.org
16 June 2016: To better understand and predict South Asia's seasonal monsoon, scientists are getting ready to release robots in the Bay of Bengal in a study of how ocean conditions might affect rainfall patterns. The monsoon, which hits between June and September, delivers more than 70% of India's annual rainfall. Its arrival is eagerly awaited by hundreds of millions of subsistence farmers, and delays can ruin crops or exacerbate drought. Yet, the rains are hard to predict and depend on the complex interplay between global atmospheric and oceanic movements in ways not yet fully understood. They can be affected by weather phenomena such as El Nino, and could become even more erratic with climate change and even air pollution. Working from an Indian research ship departing the southern port city of Chennai later this month, the British scientists will spend a month at sea releasing seven underwater robots across a 400-kilometer (250-mile) stretch of water. The torpedo-shaped robots are programed to navigate up and down through the water to a depth of 1,000 meters (3,280 feet), measuring the water salinity, temperature and current and transmitting the data to a satellite. At the same time, scientists from the University of Reading and the Indian government in a related study will take atmospheric measurements.
Link: https://www.uea.ac.uk
17 June 2016: The ground-breaking detection of gravitational waves, ripples in space and time postulated by Albert Einstein 100 years ago, that was announced in February was no fluke. Now, the scientists have spotted them for a second time. The researchers detected gravitational waves that washed over Earth after two distant black holes spiraled toward each other and merged into a single, larger abyss 1.4 billion years ago. That long-ago violent collision set off reverberations through spacetime, a fusion of the concepts of time and three-dimensional space. These gravitational waves were observed by twin observatories in the United States late on December 25, 2015. The detectors are located in Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington. The first detection of gravitational waves was made in September and announced on February 11. It created a scientific sensation and was a benchmark in physics and astronomy, transforming a quirky implication of Einstein's 1916 theory of gravity into the realm of observational astronomy. The waves detected in September and December both were triggered by the merger of black holes, which are regions so dense with matter that not even photons of light can escape the gravitational sinkholes they produce in space.
Link: http://www.nature.com
18 June 2016: Men are migrating to cities, leaving behind women in villages. That's impacting agriculture as women find it difficult to use heavy equipment used for farming. But that is going to change as the government plans to develop women-friendly equipment to sustain agriculture. The capacity of women has to be enhanced to sustain agriculture in the country in view of demographic and socio-economic changes in rural areas due to climate change. Changes in temperature and precipitation, increased frequency of extreme events such as drought and floods, as well as the accelerated melting of the Himalayan glaciers have raised concerns about the future of agriculture and food production, and its ability to keep up with the growing demands. Experts have repeatedly said that men are migrating from the rural areas due to climate change. According to ICIMOD, majority of people in the Himalayan region live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Climate change, population growth, rural-urban migration and other socio-economic changes have impacted agriculture. Keeping that in mind, the government has now stepped in to ensure that even if men migrate, women in the rural areas take up agriculture. The focus is on these women whose hard work will drive this sector in the future. It's a step to secure our food plate.
Link: http://www.icimod.org
19 June 2016: In 2016, for the first time in human history, atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide will be above 400 parts per million all year round as recorded at the iconic Mauna Loa, Hawaii measuring station. This is because El Nino has given an extra boost to the already rising CO2 levels. Since human emissions are now 25 per cent greater than in the last big El Nino in 1997/98, all of this adds up to a record CO2 rise this year. Mauna Loa is famous because it is here that the rising trend in CO2 was first recorded by Charles David Keeling in 1958. At that time, CO2 levels were about 315 parts per million. This has been increasing at an average rate of 2.1 parts per million for the last 60 years. The scientists already successfully predicted this year's maximum concentration of 407 parts per million last month. Carbon dioxide levels show modest ups-and-downs with the seasons. Plants draw down CO2 in the summer and release it again in the autumn and winter. Since natural processes only remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere gradually, levels will remain high even if human emissions began to decline. Scientists expect the concentrations to now remain above 400 parts per million for at least a human lifetime. The finding is published in the journal Nature Climate Change. Link: http://www.nature.com
20 June 2016: Researchers at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University have identified antimicrobial peptides as promising molecules to be developed as drugs against multidrug-resistant bacteria. Across the world there is a lot of work happening on developing solutions for drug-resistant bacteria. The emergence of multidrug-resistant microbes (MDRs) and chemotherapy-resistant cancer cells are causing serious havoc in health care sector and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) hold the promise to tackle this problem. They can be used as a component in targeted medicines, she said. Traditional antibiotics generally target a particular physiological process of bacteria, such as cell wall synthesis, DNA replication etc. whereas, antimicrobial peptides mostly act without specific receptors and are ideal molecules to overcome the development of resistance. AMPs are a group of evolutionary conserved and relatively short molecules (12-100 amino acids) of the immune system, which are found in all forms of life ranging from microbes to humans, to combat microbial challenge. The project 'Molecular studies on myeloid antimicrobial peptides in buffalo' identified genes of three such peptides from the buffalo bone marrow. All the peptides were tested for its antimicrobial activity such as, antibacterial (including MDR bacteria), antifungal, antiviral, anti-parasitic, and anti-cancerous property.
Link: http://www.kvasu.ac.in
21 June 2016: A new research paper published today claims that a method for converting plastics to usable fuel has been developed in the laboratory. According to the latest available figures, the world produced 299 million tons of plastic in 2013. According to the United Nations Environmental Program, between 22 percent and 43 percent of the plastic used worldwide is disposed of in landfills. This trash is non-biodegradable and will continue to survive for centuries. Another study conservatively put the total plastic trash dumped in oceans at nearly 300,000 tons causing immense loss and damage to marine life. Till date no chemical or biological process has been developed to degrade the plastics accumulating across the world's ecosystems. So, a solution of the kind reported in this research paper could potentially be a game changer. Although the research team claims that the process is inexpensive and can be carried out under mild conditions, the question whether it is scalable - taken from the lab and commercialized for large scale use - is still not clear. The ratio of plastic to catalyst is currently approximately 30 to 1, which is not nearly good enough for commercial purposes, phys.org reported. The researchers want this to reach a goal of 10,000 to 1.The research was done by a combined team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of California and the results are published in the journal Science Advances. Link: http://advances.sciencemag.org
22 June 2016: India took a big leap in space technology today when Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) used its workhorse PSLV-C34 to inject 20 satellites including 17 foreign satellites into orbit in a single mission and set a new record today. The 320-tonne Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C34) took off on its 36th flight at 9.26am from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre with 20 satellites including its primary payload Cartosat-2 series, which provides remote sensing services, and earth observation and imaging satellites from US, Canada, Germany and Indonesia. It was also 14th flight of PSLV in 'XL'configuration with the use of solid strap-on motors. Cartosat-2 was placed in orbit at 9.44am. With Cartosat-2 weighing 727.5kg, PSLV lifted off a total of 1,288kg in to space and began placing the satellites into orbit about 17minutes later. ISRO set a world record for the highest number of satellites launched in a single mission when it placed 10 satellites in a PSLV on April 28, 2008. NASA in 2013 placed 29 satellites in a single mission and Russia in 2014 launched 33 satellites in one launch. Apart from Cartosat-2, the satellites launched on Wednesday include Lapan-A3 from Indonesia, Biros from Germany, M3MSat from Canada, SkySat Gen2-1, a Google-made satellite from USA, GHGSat-D from Canada, 12 Dove satellites from USA, Sathyabamasat from Sathyabhama University, Chennai and Swayam from College of Engineering, Pune.
Link: http://www.isro.gov.in
23 June 2016: Rice farming originated in China over 9000 years ago, according to new evidence unearthed by archaeologists. This pushes back the period of origin from the present estimate of about 8200 years ago, made in 2011. This discovery, made by a team of archaeologists from the University of Toronto Mississauga in Canada and the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in China. The study sheds new light on the origins of rice domestication and on the history of human agricultural practices. Working with three researchers from the Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in Zhejiang Province, China, Crawford found the ancient domesticated rice fragments in a probable ditch in the lower Yangtze valley. They observed that about 30 per cent of the rice plant material - primarily bases, husks and leaf epidermis - were not wild, but showed signs of being purposely cultivated to produce rice plants that were durable and suitable for human consumption. Crawford says this finding indicates that the domestication of rice has been going on for much longer than originally thought. The rice plant remains also had characteristics of japonica rice, the short grain rice used in sushi that today is cultivated in Japan and Korea. Crawford says this finding clarifies the lineage of this specific rice crop, and confirms for the first time that it grew in this region of China. The study is published in Scientific Reports, an online open-access journal from the publishers of Nature. Link: http://www.nature.com
24 June 2016: Pluto's largest moon Charon is home to an unusual canyon system that's far longer and deeper than the Grand Canyon on the Earth, a new image taken by NASA's New Horizon probe has revealed. The deep canyon named Argo Chasma is approximately 700 km long while Arizona's Grand Canyon is 450 km long. New Horizons scientists estimate Argo Chasma to be as deep as 9 km, which is more than five times the depth of the Grand Canyon. There appear to be locations along the canyon's length where sheer cliffs reaching several miles high occur and which could potentially rival Verona Rupes on Uranus' moon Miranda (which is at least 5 km high) for the title of tallest known cliff face in the solar system. Pluto's largest moon, Charon, once had a sub-surface ocean that has long since frozen and expanded - pushing outward and causing the moon's surface to stretch and fracture on a massive scale, recent images from NASA's New Horizons mission had revealed. Charon is characterised by a system of pull apart tectonic faults, which are expressed as ridges, scarps and valleys, the latter sometimes reaching more than 6 km deep. Scientists said Charon could have been warm enough to cause the water ice to melt deep down, creating a subsurface ocean. But as Charon cooled over time, this ocean would have frozen and expanded - lifting the outermost layers of the moon and producing the massive chasms we see today.Link: https://www.nasa.gov
25 June 2016: The central regulator on transgenic organisms has proposed to utilize farms of select agricultural universities for field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops as a nationally-coordinated project under strict expert supervision. The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) of the environment ministry has identified 40 agricultural universities, with big isolated farms, for the purpose. They have been chosen keeping in mind the agro-climatic zones where transgenic seeds can be put on trial with precautions. The idea is to convince states about field trials of such crops in a protected environment, arguing that the risks and benefits of GM crops cannot be known unless scientifically tested. Besides central universities in Bihar (Pusa, Samastipur), UP (Jhansi) and Manipur (Imphal), state varsities in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Jharkhand have been identified. The idea was first suggested by eminent scientist M S Swaminathan who had, in an interview to TOI in January, recalled his proposal and spoke about the importance of the project to provide a uniform method of assessment. Link: http://envfor.nic.in
26 June 2016: TeamIndus, a space-technology startup, today announced the launch of Lab2Moon, a competition for young people globally to create an experimental payload to fly on board the TeamIndus spacecraft set to be launched to the Moon in late 2017. This will be the first opportunity for a non-government experiment to fly to the moon since 1976. Teams of up to three members will be required to write a 300 word overview of their project, share drawings and upload a 2-minute video explaining why it should go to the Moon. The payload should be under 250 grams and should be able to communicate with the mothership. A jury of internationally-renowned scientists and technologists including Dr. K. Kasturirangan, former Chairman of ISRO, will shortlist 20 teams by the 25th of August, 2016. The winner will be declared on 26th January, 2017. TeamIndus is the only Indian team competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE. The startup has already won a $1 million milestone prize. There are over 85 engineers and 15 former ISRO scientists who are helping TeamIndus design and develop its proprietary technology from its headquarters in Jakkur, north Bangalore. To win the Google Lunar XPRIZE, a privately funded team must successfully place a robot on the moon's surface that explores at least 500 meters and transmits high-definition video and images back to Earth.Link: http://lab2moon.teamindus.in
27 June 2016: Australia's Great Barrier Reef has been named the best place in the world to visit by a key US travel site. The US News and World Report's World's Best Places to Visit for 2016-17 gave the Great Barrier Reef the top position, ahead of Paris and Bora Bora, Xinhua news reported citing News Corp. The site described the Reef as holding 'a spot on every traveller's bucket list'. Tourism and Events Queensland chief executive Leanne Coddington said the reef's status as number one was a vote of confidence in its worldwide tourism appeal. The Great Barrier Reef is a living treasure and a major tourism draw-card for visitors to Queensland. It is an unrivalled experience that tens of thousands of people are enjoying every day. She noted that tourism to the reef contributed almost 5.2 billion Australian dollars ($3 billion) to the nation's economy. The Great Barrier Reef welcomes more than 1.9 million visitors each year. Link: http://travel.usnews.com
28 June 2016: While the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has launched a long-term monitoring studies in five Himalayan states including Himachal Pradesh to document the impact of climate change on animal biodiversity, a study conducted by State Centre on Climate Change, Himachal Pradesh, has already found that in Himachal Pradesh a number of diseases occurred in the past ten years. Some diseases among these are worsened by climate change including influenza, cholera, babesiosis, verminous pneumonia, tuberculosis, rabies and bronchopneumonia etc. Study report titled "Animal Diseases Influenced by Climate Variation in Himachal Pradesh" states that predicted negative impact of climate change on Indian agriculture would also adversely affect livestock production by aggravating the feed and fodder shortage. It said that alterations of temperature and precipitation regimes may result in a spread of disease and parasites into new regions or produce an increase in the incidence of disease, which, in turn, would reduce animal productivity and possibly increase animal mortality.
Link: http://www.hpccc.gov.in
29 June 2016: Europe's trailblazing Rosetta spacecraft will end its mission on September 30, reuniting with robot lab Philae on the surface of a comet hurtling through the Solar System. Rosetta, perhaps best known as the mothership of comet lander Philae, whose exploits in an alien world were followed by people around the world, was hoisted into space in March 2004. With Philae riding piggyback, it arrived at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in August 2014 after a ten-year, 6.5-billion kilometre journey. In November that year, it sent down Philae, a 100-kilogramme lab equipped with 10 instruments for comet sniffing and prodding. After bouncing several times, the robot lab ended in a ditch shadowed from the Sun's battery-replenishing rays. But it managed to run about 60 hours of experiments and send home reams of valuable data before running out of energy and entering standby mode. As 67P neared the Sun on its elongated orbit, Philae emerged from hibernation in June 2015 and sent a two-minute message to Earth via Rosetta. The lander went permanently silent in July 2015 after eight intermittent communications with Earth. The mission was conceived to unravel the secrets of comets, believed to be time capsules from the birth of the Solar System. Link: http://www.esa.int
30 June 2016: Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand was conferred the Honoris Causa Doctor of Science by Indian Institute Of Technology (IIT) during its 49th convocation ceremony in Kanpur today. The 46-year-old Anand was bestowed with the degree by NITI aayog chairman Arvind Panagariya in Kanpur. While receiving the degree, Anand remembered the day when he was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1985 and shared that this dress code in Kanpur brought back memories of that day at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Viswanathan Anand was born on 11 December, 1969 at Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to Madras (now Chennai), where he grew up. His father Krishnamurthy Viswanathan was a retired General Manager of Southern Railways.He was also the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991–92, India's highest sporting honour. In 2007, he was awarded India's second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, making him the first sports person to receive the award. Link: http://www.chessgames.com
It was simply super and innovative, DISC 2016 Annual Conference
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