2 September 2016: Scientists trying to predict the future path of Zika say that 2.6 billion people living in parts of Asia and Africa could be at risk of infection, based on a new analysis of travel, climate and mosquito patterns in those regions. Some of the most vulnerable countries include India, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Nigeria, Vietnam, Pakistan and Bangladesh, according to the research. Experts caution that the study could overestimate the number of people at risk because they don't know whether Zika had already landed in some of these countries in the past and whether allowed people to develop immunity. Although Zika was first identified in 1947, the virus wasn't considered a major health threat until a major outbreak in Brazil last year revealed that Zika can lead to severe birth defects when pregnant women are infected. The study is published in the journal, Lancet. Link: http://www.thelancet.com
3 September 2016: Coffee could become extinct if global warming continues on its current trajectory, according to a report by the Climate Institute. By 2050, researchers said, the amount of suitable coffee farmland is expected to have halved due to rising temperatures, pests and fungi. Wild coffee is expected to be wiped from the face of the planet by the year 2080. The disappearance of the coffee plant would have a profound impact on the 120 million people worldwide whose livelihoods depend its beans. Coffee-drinkers are also expected to see flavour and aroma seriously impacted -alongside soaring prices for the ever-scarcer beans. The Climate Institute is not the first to warn about the bleak future of the coffee bean. According to a recent report by 80 scientists at Kew Gardens, coffee is at risk of running out by the end of the century, due to climate change and intensive farming. Link: http://www.wwfenvis.nic.in
4 September 2016: NASA scientists have for the first time imaged the edge of the Sun, enabling them to describe the mysterious origins of solar wind. Ever since the 1950s discovery of the solar wind, the constant flow of charged particles from the Sun, there has been a disconnect between this outpouring and the Sun itself. As it approaches Earth, the solar wind is gusty and turbulent. But near the Sun where it originates, this wind is structured in distinct rays, much like a child's simple drawing of the Sun. The details of the transition from defined rays in the corona, the Sun's upper atmosphere, to the solar wind have been a mystery. Now, using NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), scientists have for the first time imaged the edge of the Sun where the solar wind starts. Defining the details could helps us learn more about our solar neighbourhood. The finding is published in the Astrophysical Journal. Link: http://www.nasa.gov
5 September 2016: Scientists at the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research awarded yesterday for developing BGR-34, an Ayurvedic anti-diabetic drug. The drug has been found to be successful in controlling blood sugar. Developed after about four years of research at CSIR labs in Lucknow, the drug was found to reduce the HbA1c (a type of haemoglobin, its level reflects how well the body is controlling diabetes) levels from 7.8% to 7.3% in diabetic patients who were given a daily dose of BGR-34 for three months. Scientific studies have shown that complications related to diabetes can be delayed or prevented by keeping HbA1c level below 7%. Post-prandial blood sugar levels reduced from 204 to 194 mg/dl. In healthy adults it should be less than 180 mg/dl of blood. The human trial was conducted on 48 adults with diabetes. The study is published in the Lancet. Link: http://www.aimilpharmaceuticals.com
6 September 2016: A new collection in the psychiatric hospital of Duffel in the north of Belgium makes for a ghoulish sight: around 3,000 preserved brains that were originally saved by a British doctor. The collection of frontal lobes, hippocampi and other key parts of the brain floating in formaldehyde or fixed in paraffin will be used for research into psychiatric illnesses such as depression or schizophrenia. British neuropathologist John Corsellis collected and conserved the brains over a period of more than 40 years between 1951 and the middle of the nineties but authorities in London ran out of space. Now they have come to Duffel, where Manuel Morrens, the director of research at the hospital, and his colleagues will share the collection with the faculty of medicine at the University of Antwerp. Until recently the collection was kept in a psychiatric hospital in southeastern England, taken from mentally ill or epileptic people . Link: https://www.uantwerpen.be
7 September 2016: China’s first space station is expected to come crashing down to Earth next year, fueling concerns that Chinese space authorities have lost control of the 8.5-tonne module. The Tiangong-1 or 'Heavenly Palace' lab was described as a 'potent political symbol' of China’s growing power when it was launched in 2011 as part of an ambitious scientific push to turn China into a space superpower. However, speaking at a satellite launch centre in the Gobi Desert last week Chinese officials said the unmanned module had now comprehensively fulfilled its historical mission and was set to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere at some point in the second half of 2017. While most of the eight tonnes of space station would melt as it passes through the atmosphere, according to the officials, some parts, such as the rocket engines, were so dense that they wouldn’t burn up completely. So, still there is a chance to worry. Link: http://nasawatch.com
8 September 2016: ISRO launched the GSLV-F05 carrying advanced weather satellite INSAT-3DR from from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The previous launch by ISRO on Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) was launch of GSLV-D6 carrying communication satellite GSAT-6 on August 27, 2015. GSLV-F05 in its 10th flight launched the 2,211 kg advanced weather satellite INSAT-3DR into Geostationary Transfer Orbit. INSAT-3DR will provide a variety of meteorological services. GSLV-F05 flight is the first operational flight carrying the indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage and the first operational flight carrying it. ISRO's Master Control Facility at Hassan, Karnataka will take control of the satellite and perform the initial orbit raising manoeuvres and place it in circular Geostationary Orbit. ISRO had launched INSAT-3D on July 26, 2013 from French Guiana. Link: http://www.isro.gov.in
9 September 2016: Comet lander Philae has been located lying upside down in a ditch on comet 67/P 682 million km from Earth. It was caught by a camera on board Rosetta, the European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft orbiting the comet as it hurtles away from the sun. This was the first sighting of Philae since its rough landing in November 2014. The images also provide proof of Philae's orientation, making it clear why establishing communications was so difficult following its landing on 12 November 2014. The 100-kilogramme probe touched down on comet 67P in November 2014, after a 10-year, 6.5 billion kilometre journey piggybacking on Rosetta. Rosetta's mission is slated to end in less than a month with a planned crash landing on the comet's surface. On 30 September, the orbiter will be sent on a final one-way mission to investigate the comet from close up, including the open pits in the Ma'at region. Link: http://rosetta.esa.int
10 September 2016: A machine that can read closed books has been designed by a group of scientists led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers, an MIT release has announced. It is at a prototype stage and as of now can read through the first nine pages of a closed book through an imaging system linked to a processor. The researchers described a prototype of the system, which they tested on a stack of papers, each with one letter printed on it. The system was able to correctly identify the letters on the top nine sheets. Heshmat is joined on the paper by Ramesh Raskar, associate professor of Media Arts and Sciences, Albert Redo Sanchez and two other members in the Camera Culture group at the Media Lab and Justin Romberg and Alireza Aghasi of Georgia Tech. The MIT and the Georgia Tech researchers developed the algorithms. The study is published in Nature Communications. Link: http://news.mit.edu
11 September 2016: US scientists have discovered a new species of a parasitic flatworm that infects turtles in Malaysia, and named it after Barack Obama as a way of honoring the US president. The flatworm, coined Baracktrema obamai, is so unusual that it merits not only a new species designation, but its own genus, too. The new species was discovered by Thomas Platt, an expert on turtle parasites, who recently retired from Saint Mary's College in the state of Indiana. Baracktrema obamai will endure as long as there are systematists studying these remarkable organisms. Scientists hope the discovery will improve public health by adding to research on a related flatworm that causes schistosomiasis, a disease that infects tens of millions of people per year around the world and can be deadly. The research reveals the plight of freshwater turtles, which are vulnerable to habitat loss around the world. Link: http://www.journalofparasitology.org
12 September 2016: NASA has sent a spacecraft chasing after an unexplored asteroid, in the hope that it might one day keep us from being destroyed. The OSIRIS-REx robotic hunter has blasted off to the asteroid Bennu. When it gets there it will scoop up bits of ancient space rock which could eventually tell us not just about where we came from but whether there is life elsewhere as well. But before it helps us find aliens, the craft might help us save ourselves. Bennu comes past Earth every six years - and could come so close in 150 years that it hits us. The odds are tiny - less than one-tenth of 1 per cent - but that is still significant. And while the rock itself wouldn't destroy Earth, though could cause huge destruction, there are asteroids flying around. OSIRIS-REx's freed sample container will parachute down with the pristine asteroid treasure in Utah. The mother spacecraft, meanwhile, will continue its orbit of the sun. Link: https://www.nasa.gov
13 September 2016: NASA's Cassini probe has found a strange ice cloud over Titan that appears to be made up of compounds that barely exist in the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon. Located in Titan's stratosphere, the cloud is made of a compound of carbon and nitrogen known as dicyanoacetylene, an ingredient in the chemical cocktail that colours the giant moon's hazy, brownish-orange atmosphere. And it is not the first time NASA scientists spotted the mysterious cloud. Decades ago, the infrared instrument on Nasa's Voyager 1 spacecraft spotted an ice cloud just like this one on Titan. What has puzzled scientists ever since is that they detected less than one percent of the dicyanoacetylene gas needed for the cloud to condense. Cassini mission also yielded a similar result. Using Cassini's composite infrared spectrometer, researchers found a high-altitude cloud. The study is published in Geophysical Research Letters. Link: https://www.nasa.gov
14 September 2016: The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted what may be water vapour plumes erupting off Jupiter's moon Europa - believed to be one of the most promising places that could harbour alien life in the solar system. The observation increases the possibility that missions to Europa may be able to sample Europa's ocean without having to drill through miles of ice. Europa's ocean is considered to be one of the most promising places that could potentially harbour life in the solar system. The plumes are estimated to rise about 200 kilometres before raining material back down onto Europa's surface. Europa has a huge global ocean containing twice as much water as Earth's oceans, but it is protected by a layer of extremely cold and hard ice of unknown thickness. The plumes provide a tantalising opportunity to gather samples originating from under the surface without having to land or drill through the ice. Link: http://hubblesite.org
15 September 2016: NASA's Cassini spacecraft has entered the final year of its epic voyage during which it will make the the closest-ever observations of Saturn and its rings. The conclusion of the historic scientific odyssey is planned for September 2017, but not before the spacecraft completes a daring two-part endgame. Beginning on November 30, Cassini's orbit will send the spacecraft just past the outer edge of the main rings. These orbits, a series of 20, are called the F-ring orbits. Cassini's final phase, called the Grand Finale, begins in earnest in April 2017. A close flyby of Saturn's giant moon Titan will reshape the spacecraft's orbit so that it passes through the gap between Saturn and the rings - an unexplored space only about 2,400 kms wide. Cassini is a joint endeavor of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian space agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI). Link: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
16 September 2016: Today, 100 years ago, on 16 September 1916 the British Army made it first use of tanks in the attack on Flers Courcellet, part of the Battle of the Somme. Although the attack proved a failure, the tanks proved highly effective, and proved a great propaganda asset. In the early days of last week occurred the triumph of the French troops; the past three days have seen the turn of the British. The Paris newspapers are enthusiastic over our brilliant advance, which is described as the most important and decisive we have made since the battle of the Marne.The unexpected appearance of the new British armoured cars seems to have been not only effective from the military point of view, but also to have created a panic among the enemy. At the precise moment when the bombardment stopped the Germans had the surprise of seeing advanced in front of the waves of assaulting troops enormous steel monsters. Link: https://www.gov.uk
17 September 2016: A new study of genetically modified (GM) soybean and maize farming in US has found that even when the insecticide use has dipped, herbicide use has increased considerably, raising environmental concerns. Herbicides are used to kill weeds and the researchers say that its increased use is because of growing resistance among weeds leading to proliferation of 'super-weeds'. This is the largest study of genetically modified crops and pesticide use till date. Maize seeds are modified with two genes: one kills insects that eat the seed and the other allows the seed to tolerate glyphosate, a herbicide commonly used in weed killers like Roundup. Soybeans are modified with just one glyphosate-resistant gene. Soybeans, on the other hand, saw a significant increase in herbicide use, with adopters of genetically modified crops using 28 % more herbicides than non-adopters. Link: http://dx.doi.org
18 September 2016: Allaying concerns of environmentalists who alleged that the central biotech regulator's sub-committee that studied the bio-safety of genetically modified mustard did not have any 'health expert' on board, the Union environment ministry said the panel had experts in subjects relevant to safety. The sub-committee also consists of a health expert who is an MD in pathology and former Director, National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research and is currently chairman, Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation (RCGM). The ministry's response comes in the backdrop of comments of the Coalition for GM-free India - an umbrella organisation of the anti-GM groups in India - which had alleged that the GEAC sub-committee constituted for review of the Biosafety Dossier submitted by Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP), has no 'health expert' in it. Link: http://indiaenvironmentportal.org.in
19 September 2016: Rocks formed by the grinding together of other rocks during earthquakes are rich in trapped hydrogen, and similar seismic activity on Mars may produce enough hydrogen to support life, a new study has claimed. Researchers from Yale University in the US, studied rock formations around active fault lines in the Outer Hebrides, off the coast of Scotland. While humans and other animals get their energy mainly from the reaction between oxygen and sugar, bacteria use a wide array of alternative reactions to obtain energy. The oxidation of hydrogen gas, for example, generates enough energy for bacteria deep in the Earth's subsurface. The best way to find evidence of life on Mars may be to examine rocks and minerals that formed deep underground around faults and fractures, which were later brought to the surface by erosion. The research papers are published in the journal Astrobiology. Link: http://news.yale.edu
20 September 2016: Indian Space Research Organisation would launch SCATSAT-1 for ocean and weather related studies and seven co-passenger satellites into polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) on September 26. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its 37th flight, (PSLV-C35) will launch the satellites on September 26, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The 377 kg SCATSAT-1 will have satellites from Algeria, Canada and USA, as well as two satellites from Indian Universities as its co-passenger. SCATSAT-1 would be placed into a 720 km Polar SSO, whereas the two Universities satellites and the five foreign satellites will be placed into a 670 km polar orbit. This is the first mission of PSLV in which it will be launching its payloads into two different orbits. PSLV-C35 will be launched from the First Launch Pad (FLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre and it will be the 15th flight of PSLV in 'XL' configuration. Link: http://www.isro.gov.in
21 September 2016: The Adani Group’s 648 MW solar power plant, claimed to be the world’s largest solar plant at a single location, was inaugurated at Sengapadai in Kamudhi taluk in Ramanathapuram today. Adani Green Energy (Tamil Nadu) Ltd, an Adani Group company, has established the plant at a total outlay of Rs. 4,536 crore in 2,500 acres by installing 2.5 million modules. The group has set up three units each with 72 MW and two units each with 216 MW capacities. After purchasing more than 2,500 acres, the group launched preliminary work in August 2015. While there was no official communication from the State government, sources said that Chief Minister Jayalalithaa inaugurated the plant through video conferencing. The entire 648 MW is now connected with the Kamuthi 400 KV substation, making it the world’s largest solar power plant at a single location. Link: http://solarpv.tv
22 September 2016: The autumn equinox arrives at 10:21 a.m. ET (2:20 p.m. UTC) today, officially marking the beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere and the start of spring in the Southern Hemisphere. The word 'equinox' comes from Latin and means 'equal night', referring to the roughly 12-hour day and night that occurs only on the two equinox days of the year. This tidy split in our 24-hour day is linked to the reason Earth has seasons in the first place. The planet spins on an axis that is tilted 23.5 degrees with respect to its orbital plane. That means as Earth travels along its 365-day orbit, different hemispheres tilt closer to or farther from our sun’s warming rays. An ancient Maya step pyramid known as El Castillo at Chichén Itzá in Mexico. Exactly at sunset on the spring and autumn equinoxes, sunlight hits the building’s steep staircase at just the right angle to create an eerie snake-like shape. Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com
23 September 2016: Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, and a trick of nature, have confirmed the existence of a planet orbiting two stars in the system OGLE-2007-BLG-349, located 8,000 light-years away towards the centre of our galaxy. The planet orbits roughly 483 million kilometres from the stellar duo, about the distance from the asteroid belt to our sun. The two red dwarf stars are a mere 11 million miles apart, or 14 times the diametre of the moon's orbit around Earth. The Hubble observations represent the first time such a three-body system has been confirmed using the gravitational microlensing technique. The objects were discovered in 2007 by an international collaboration. These ground-based observations uncovered a star and a planet, but also a third body that couldn't be identified. The results are published in the Astronomical Journal. Link: https://arxiv.org
24 September 2016: The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) completed two years around the Martian Orbit, outliving its estimated life span of six months by a year-and-a-half. The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) biggest project yet, MOM, has not only put India on the global map, but has also provided a treasure of data. Among the major studies the mission is conducting is the joint morphological studies using the Mars Colour Camera (MCC) and the high resolution mineralogical data with the Nasa's Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) data. Data from the camera has helped in understating the sublimation process on the Martian north pole, where carbon-di-oxide and ice cover changes significantly as Mars enters into northern hemisphere summer. Further, ISRO has made public the data sets obtained from Mars insertion on September 24, 2014 to September 23, 2015. Link: http://www.isro.gov.in
25 September 2016: British physicist Stephen Hawking has warned against announcing our presence to any alien civilizations, especially to those more technologically advanced than humans. Our first contact from an advanced civilization could be equivalent to when Native Americans first encountered Christopher Columbus. The film, 'Stephen Hawking's Favourite Places', takes viewers to five significant locations across the cosmos, on his spacecraft - the SS Hawking. In the film, Hawking performs a hypothetical flyby of Gliese 832c, a potentially habitable exoplanet located 16 light years away. It is not the first time Hawking has warned about the prospect of hostile aliens. Earth is not a monopoly of human beings. The behaviour of human beings make one feel they are aliens to the earth. Last year Hawking had suggested that any civilization reading our messages could be billions of years ahead of us. Link: https://app.curiositystream.com
26 September 2016: The SCATSAT-1 satellite launched by India for detection of cyclone and weather forecasting was a global mission and its services would be utilised by American space agency NASA and European Space Agency EUMETSAT. ISRO had successfully launched SCATSAT-1 along with seven other satellites belonging to various countries onboard PSLV-C35 in multiple orbits. According to ISRO, SCATSAT is the continuity mission for Scatterometer payload carried by OCEANSAT-2 satellite launched in 2009. The payload would be a vital tool to study wind patterns above ocean, air-sea interactions, ocean circulations and on weather patterns. The 'wind vectors' help meteorologists to accurately predict cyclone formation. It may be recalled that the data of ocean wind vectors helped in predicting the cyclone Phailin in Odisha coast in 2013 which helped in mitigation and saving of mankind and livestock'. Link: http://www.isro.gov.in
27 September 2016: The world’s first baby to be born from a new procedure that combines the DNA of three people appears to be healthy, according to doctors in the US who oversaw the treatment. The baby was born on 6 April after his Jordanian parents travelled to Mexico where they were cared for by US fertility specialists. Doctors led by John Zhang, from the New Hope Fertility Center in New York, decided to attempt the controversial procedure of mitochondrial transfer. While many experts welcomed news of the birth, some raised concerns that the doctors had left the US to perform the procedure beyond the reach of any regulatory framework and without publishing details of the treatment. Mitochondrial transfer was legalized in the UK in 2015 but so far no other country has introduced laws to permit the technique. The treatment is aimed at parents who have a high risk of passing fatal genetic diseases to their children. Link: https://www.newscientist.com
28 September 2016: The Union cabinet approved the country's move to formally join the Paris Agreement on climate change by giving its green signal for its ratification. The country will submit its instrument of ratification to the United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The Cabinet approved the India's ratification to the Paris Agreement in its meeting. Since the European Union (28 nations), which accounts for over 10 per cent of the total global emission of greenhouse gases, has decided to submit its instrument of ratification before October 7, it is now certain that the Paris Agreement will come into force with India on board at the time of the next UN climate conference (Conference of Parties - COP22), scheduled to take place in Marrakech, Morocco from Novemver 7 to 18. France had ratified Paris Agreement on June 15 and was the first G20 countries to do so. Link: http://unfccc.int
29 September 2016: After hundreds of votes and careful deliberation by judges from the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, Rosco, whose guardian is Spandana Raj, beat out nine other finalists to win PETA's 5th annual 'Cutest Indian Dog Alive' contest. The contest was created to show that the kindest thing a prospective guardian can do is to adopt an Indian dog from the streets or an animal shelter, PETA said in a statement. The second-place winner of the contest is Nekti, whose guardian is Ananya Karmakar of Kolkata, while Petu, whose guardian is Minima Peres from Goa secured the third place. Rosco proves that adopting a dog from the streets or an animal shelter can fill your life with a joy and love that words can't express. PETA urged prospective guardians to adopt an Indian community dog from the streets or an animal shelter, rather than buying puppies from pet shops. Link:http://www.petaindia.com
30 September 2016: Rosetta, the first spacecraft to orbit a comet, is dead, setting down in a final embrace with its companion of the past two years. Radio signals from Rosetta flatlined at 7:19 a.m. after it did a soft belly-flop onto Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at a speed of two miles per hour. Today's landing marks the end of an ambitious 1.3-billion-euro ($1.46 billion) mission that spanned more than a decade. The Rosetta launched in March 2004, and after a 10-year cruise through the inner solar system covering a distance of 6.5 billion km, it rendezvoused with Comet 67P in August 2014. Three months later, Rosetta deployed its surface probe Philae. But instead of anchoring to the comet's surface, Philae bounced twice before coming to a stop against a cliff face in the Abydos region. First observed in 1969, Comet 67P circles the sun every 6.5 years between the orbits of Earth and Jupiter. Link:http://rosetta.esa.int
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