SCIENCE OF THE MONTH: FEBRUARY 2013

1 February 2013: Astronaut Kalpana Chawla was remembered today on her 10th death anniversary.Chawla was the first woman of Indian-origin to go into space aboard Columbia space shuttle.Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, during the space shuttle's re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in the death of all the seven crew members.A hill on Mars is named Chawla Hill after Kalpana.The Haryana state government is setting up a Medical College and hospital in Karnal named after Kalpana Chawla.Link:http://www.kalpana-chawla.net

2 February 2013: Google launched Global Science Fair-2013 and invites students around the world to present their ideas that could change the world. This is the third time Google is launching this and partners in the third annual Google Science Fair include European research organization CERN and toy maker LEGO Group. Students aged between 13 to 18 can participate in the science contest.Science fair prizes include a $ 50,000 scholarship and a trip to the Galapagos with National Geographic Expeditions.The deadline for submissions is April 30.More details were available online.Link:www.googlesciencefair.com

3 February 2013: Peter Higgs, the scientist who gave his name to the Higgs boson gets a prize named in his honour.The annual prize, named The Higgs Prize, is open to Scottish school students who excel in physics. Prof Higgs hit upon the concept of 'Higgs Boson' in 1964,the existence of a particle that gives matter its mass. He published it in the journal Physical Review Letters, sparking a 40-year hunt for Higgs boson.In 2012 July, CERN scientists announced the discovery of particle that closely resembled Higgs Boson.Link:http://www.exploratorium.edu

4 February 2013:An asteroid by name "99942 Apophis" will safely fly by the Earth in 2029 and 2036, but may strike the planet in the year 2068, NASA scientists have warned.But,the chances of 99942 Apophis striking the Earth are slim with impact odds being about 2.3 in a million. This near-Earth asteroid has been the focus of considerable attention after it was discovered in December 2004 to have a significant probability of Earth impact in April 2029.However chances of  2029 potential impact was ruled out through the measurement of archival telescope images.Link:http://apophisasteroid.net

5 February 2013:Genetic relations of the Kerala Mud Snake, Enhydris dussumierii to the Chinese water snake, Enhydris chinensis was revealed in a joint research programme by the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries of University of Kerala, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Australia based University of Adelaide, and US based Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH) in Chicago.Endemic to the coastal lowlands of Kerala, Enhydris dussumierii is listed as endangered, locally known as Cheli kutta or Kanda pampu. 
Link:http://www.tandfonline.com

6 February 2013:The large, unmanned Helium balloon, impressively dubbed Super-Tiger (Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder) broke two records pertaining to Antarctic research. Super-Tiger took off on Dec. 8, 2012 from a U.S. research center located on the southern tip of Antarctica’s Ross Island. Super-Tiger clinched its first record, “longest flight by a balloon of its size” on Jan. 24 after flying for 46 days. It grabbed its second, “longest flight of any heavy-lift scientific balloon” upon its landing. Link:http://science.gsfc.nasa.gov

7 February 2013:Scientists, using a new climate model, have predicted heavy snowfall over the polar regions and the highest altitudes, but an overall drop in global snowfall, as carbon dioxide levels rise over the next century.The projections are the result of a new climate model developed at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The observations show that atmospheric carbon dioxide has already increased by 40 per cent from values in the mid 19th century, and, given projected trends, could exceed twice those values later this century.Link:http://www.noaa.gov

8 February 2013:Just over a century after Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Antarctic expedition came to a tragic close, Britain’s latest and greatest Antarctic Research Station Halley VI will become fully operational over the coming weeks. Halley VI is located on the Brunt Ice Shelf and it replaces the 20-year old Halley V installation. Halley VI is the sixth such facility to occupy the floating Brunt Ice Shelf.It was the data from the Halley research station that led to the discovery of the Ozone Hole by British Antarctic Survey in 1985.
Link:http://www.antarctica.ac.uk

9 February 2013:The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, Government of India, today approved the proposal for the merger of National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) and National Wetlands Conservation Programme (NWCP) into a new scheme called the 'National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems' (NPCA).The merged scheme shall be operational during the XII Plan Period.NPCA is proposed to avoid overlap with the objective of conserving aquatic ecosystems (lakes and wetlands).
 Link:http://moef.nic.in

10 February 2013:Climate change is threatening the survival of a number of Asian bird species, including those in India, a new study research conducted by Durham University and BirdLife International warns. The study was conducted for 370 Asian bird species across the biodiversity hotspots of eastern Himalayas and lower Mekong River basin regions in Bhutan, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and parts of India and Nepal.India has a total of 466 Important Bird Areas hosting a wide variety of endangered avian species.Link:http://www.dur.ac.uk

11 February 2012:The peaks of the Himalayas are a modern remnant of massive tectonic forces that fused India with Asia, 50 million years ago, as per previous estimates.Now researchers at MIT have found that the collision between India and Asia occurred only 40 million years ago.The scientists analyzed the composition of rocks from two regions in the Himalayas and measured the ratios of Strontium to Neodymium, and Lutetium to Hafnium, to determine the presence of a collision.The research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.Link:http://web.mit.edu

12 February 2013:A dangerous virus, belonging to the same family as the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is inching towards India.The World Health Organization says the new case does indicate that the virus is persistent.United Kingdom's Health Protection Agency (HPA) has now confirmed a fresh case of the novel corona-virus infection in a British resident who had recently traveled to Pakistan.HPA has the full genome sequence of SARS virus and it is believed that they can find a treatment to the new variety of SARS.Link:http://www.cdc.gov

13 February 2012:Today sees the launch of the Global Ocean Commission - a body set up to advise the United Nations on how to conserve the world's declining fisheries and ocean resources.The commission was set up by the University of Oxford, UK, and three non-governmental organizations.The Forum Chairman will be the former Costa Rican president Jose Figueres.Mr Ratan Tata also has joined the Commission.The Commission's recommendations will come in 2014.Link:http://www.globaloceancommission.org

14 February 2013:Water reserves, as much as all the water in the Dead Sea, has disappeared from the already arid Middle East, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, from Turkey to Syria, Iran and Iraq. Nasa's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites have found that between 2003 and 2010, the four nations lost 144 cubic kilometers of water,nearly equivalent to all the water in the Dead Sea.Tigris-Euphrates watershed is drying up at a pace second only to that in India.This rate is among the largest freshwater losses on the continents.Link:http://www.csr.utexas.edu

15 February 2013:An asteroid called 2012 DA14 passed very close to Earth today, coming within a range of 27,599 kilometers and making the closest known flyby for an asteroid of its size.The asteroid about 40 meters across in size was too small to see with the naked eye even at its closest approach around 2.25 p.m. EST over the Indian Ocean near Sumatra.In a chilling coincidence, a meteor exploded above Russia's Ural Mountains just hours before the asteroid zoomed past Earth.Link:http://www.nasa.gov

16 February 2012:NASA scientists have drawn up plans for a mission that could look for life on Europa, a moon of Jupiter that is covered in vast oceans of water under a thick layer of ice.The Europa Ice Clipper would be the first dedicated mission to Europa.For several years scientists have been considering plans for a spacecraft that could orbit Europa, but this turned out to be too expensive.Europa Ice Clipper, launched in 2021 and would take 3 to 6 years to arrive Europa.Link:http://www.astrobiology.com

17 February 2013:A community-based study in Kerala has found that the state leads in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) and its associated risk factors. The state health department and the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology continuously monitored 7,449 people from Thiruvananthapuram district of which 51 per cent were women.The prevalence of smoking in men (42%) was double of that of in the US. The study appeared in the journal Lancet.Link:http://www.lancet.com

18 February 2013:A student team from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Calicut created an online repository of class notes for engineering courses.The initiative is promoted by the Technology Business Incubator with the support of the central Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).The website has notes on Electrical and Electronics, Biotech and Mechanical Engineering and partially Civil and Chemical Engineering.Link:http://jugaadlabs.org.in

19 February 2013: The first nuclear weapon test carried out by India May 18, 1974 was a "near failure",claimed a secret US assessment dated January 24, 1996.The National Security Archive (NSA) noted that such an assertion by the US intelligence community may be a reference to the very low explosive yield of the 1974 nuclear tests.The nuclear tests codenamed 'Operation Smiling Buddha', tested a thermonuclear device in the Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan. The yield of the device is debated since then.Link:http://www.princeton.edu 

20 February 2013:Inspiration Mars Foundation, a non-profit organisation, led by millionaire Dennis Tito, the world's first space tourist, announces that their the mission to Mars will start its journey from January 2018, using a modified SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched on a Falcon Heavy rocket.The 501-day crewed free-return mission would fly by Mars, but not go into orbit around the planet or land on it. Dennis Tito made history in 2001, by an eight-day trip to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.Link:http://inspirationmars.org

21 February 2013:NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is developing an experiment which will make the International Space Station (ISS) the coldest spot in the universe, quite literally.The hitherto unknown project is called 'Cold Atom Laboratory' (CAL).The 17-nation ISS operates in the low earth orbit at an altitude of about 370km.NASA started the development of CAL Experiment in October 2012 and will launch roughly in April 2016. The project is led by an Indian woman, Anita Sengupta, who hails from West Bengal.Link:http://coldatomlab.jpl.nasa.gov/

22 February 2013:Researchers from Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India discovered the blue fluorescent emissions from insectivorous plants belonging to genus such as Nepenthes, Sarracenia and Dionaea muscipula (Venus flytraps). Blue fluorescence also appeared on the lids, interior pitcher tubes and peristomes (upper rims) of pitcher plants.The researchers found the "blue glow" (fluorescence) while scanning them at UV (366nm).The study is published Plant Biology.Link:http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com

23 February 2013:India and Russia are pursueing joint programmes on realisation of Chandrayaan-2 which will be a joint mission to the moon. However, there is no transfer of space technology envisaged under this agreement. Indian Space Research organisation (ISRO) and Federal Space Agency of Russia (ROSCOSMOS) entered into a co-operative agreement in November 2007, for carrying out joint moon exploration. The programme included a moon orbiter, lander and rover module.Chandrayaan-2 will be launched using ISRO’s Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.Link:http://www.isro.org

24 February 2013: China’s most renowned agricultural scientist,Yuan Longping, known here as “the father of hybrid rice” refutes the claim made by farmers in Bihar last year where they made a world-record harvest of 22.4 tonnes of rice per hectare of land without using herbicides or genetically modified (GM) seeds. The previous record was by China, which was 19 hectares per hectare. The Indian claim came from Sumant Kumar, the farmer from Nalanda district, who also broke the world record in Potato production by Netherlands (45 tonnes per hectare) by making a harvest of 72.9 tonnes per hectare.Link:http://www.icar.org.in

25 February 2013:In a multiple launch mission, a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C20) put India-French satellite SARAL and six others from the Sriharikota spaceport.SARAL stands for Satellite for Argos-3 and Altika.Hopes that SARAL will be an Indian answer to ESA’s EnviSat which stopped functioning last year. This was the 22nd consecutive successful PSLV mission.The other satellites launched along with SARAL were SAPPHIRE,NEOSSAT, AAUSAT,BRITE,UniBRITE and STR ,all from abroad.Link:http://www.isro.org

26 February 2013:Scientists at Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkatta have developed a new technique to detect Arsenic in water,a toxic substance widespread in the groundwater of India and Bangladesh that is capable of causing skin cancer.The new method employs gold clusters that signal its presence in water by emitting light (fluorescence). According to the WHO, natural arsenic contamination is a cause for concern in Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, China, India, Mexico, Thailand and the US.Link:http://www.sciencedirect.com

27 February 2013: Scientists found evidence of a drowned "microcontinent" has been found in sand grains from the beaches of a small Indian Ocean island. It had been hidden under huge masses of lava and it detached itself some 60 million years ago. The discovery was based on analysis of the sand grains which contained semi-precious Zircons aged between 660 million and 1.9 billion years, which were carried by the lava.The new study is published in Nature GeoScience.Link:http://www.nature.com

28 February 2013:One of the Pluto's smallest moons may be named 'Vulcan' after it gathered maximum votes in an online public contest.The poll for suggesting names for the planet's two unnamed moons currently called P4 and P5 was swept by 'Vulcan' and 'Cerberus' as polling closed.The International Astronomical Union will take the results into consideration.Pluto has five moons that astronomers currently know of. Scientists first caught sight of Pluto's largest moon Charon in 1978.In 2005, astronomers discovered two other moons, Nix and Hydra.The moon P5 was discovered in 2012 and P4 in 2011.Link:http://www.iau.org

MOVIE OF THE MONTH : FEBRUARY 2013

                                                     
Directors   :Lana Wachowski, 
                Tom Tykwer, 
                Andy Wachowski
Based on:Cloud Atlas 
                by David Mitchell

Camera :Frank Griebe

Running:171 minutes

Release :February 22, 2013

In an industry often criticised for its lack of risk-taking and ambition, Cloud Atlas stands out as a true anomaly. The work of no fewer than three directors: Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis, it’s an adaptation of David Mitchell’s prize-winning, mind-boggling book of the same name.

Against the odds, the filmmakers gathered together a huge budget from an eclectic range of sources, and brought together a similarly eclectic cast, including Halle Berry, Tom Hanks, Jim Broadbent and Hugo Weaving. As has been widely publicised by now, many of them play different characters across the movie’s multiple storylines, some of them set far in the past, others in the distant future.

Many, including us, wondered if it was possible to make a coherent movie out of the novel, but Cloud Atlas’s pre-release reception has been extremely warm thus far. Although some critics disliked it, others have fallen in love with it, and even described it as potentially Oscar-worthy.

At its debut at the Toronto Film Festival, the movie even received a 10-minute standing ovation. If even a room full of jaded critics are willing to give themselves sore hands from applauding a three-hour sci-fi drama, then that’s surely a sign that Cloud Atlas is worth looking forward to.

Unlike the original novel, the film is structured, according to novelist David Mitchell, "as a sort of pointillist mosaic: We stay in each of the six worlds just long enough for the hook to be sunk in, and from then on the film darts from world to world at the speed of a plate-spinner, revisiting each narrative for long enough to propel it forward".

Website of the Movie: http://cloudatlas.warnerbros.com

Courtesy:http://www.denofgeek.com

BOOK OF THE MONTH : FEBRUARY 2013

                                                   
Tittle       : The Edge of Time: 
                 The Authoritative Biography of 
                 Kalpana Chawla
Author    : Jean Pierre Harrison.
Pages      : 236
ISBN       : 978-0-9768279-0-0
Price       : $ 9.99
Publisher: Harrison Publishing
Website  : www.harrisonpublishing.net

All those who had hoped to know all about Kalpana Chawla, an Indian-American astronaut who was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, can go through her biography, "The Edge of Time". It is written by her husband, Jean Pierre Harrison. On 1 February 2003, NASA’s space shuttle Columbia was destroyed during re-entry, killing all the seven crew members on board, including the Indian-born astronaut Kalpana Chawla.

Born on 17 March 1962 in Karnal, Haryana, Kalpana was originally called “Montu” by the family. At the age of three she chose the name “Kalpana”, meaning “imagination”, as her formal name. She attended Tagore Bal Niketan School, and later Dayal Singh College and DAV College for Women, all in Karnal. Kalpana had decided on a career in aeronautical engineering at an early age, and joined Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarhin 1978.

Kalpana’s journey to the edge of time began with a small step – a flight over the plains of Haryana in a Pushpak aircraft as a young girl in the early 1970s.After receiving her BSc degree in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College, Kalpana was offered a position with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in Bangalore. Meanwhile, she had applied for graduate aeronautical engineering programmes at Georgia Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and the University of Texas at Arlington and had received acceptance from all the three.

The determination of Kalpana was evident from the fact that even after the tragic Challenger disaster in January 1986, she decided to apply for the NASA Astronaut Corps once she acquired US citizenship.As Kalpana was training for STS-87, she received a message from US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to tape a video message to the Indian Parliament. But Kalpana was unwilling to accede to such a request because she wished to avoid any hint of involvement in politics.

Kalpana had the privilege of speaking with the then Indian Prime Minister I.K. Gujral from orbit. Gujral is said to have commented later that talking to Kalpana in orbit was for him the high point of 1997.Tragically, although the entire crew of STS-87 wanted to visit India soon after the flight, they could not, as relations between the United States and India became strained after India’s underground nuclear tests on 11 and 13 May 1998. Kalpana could not visit her native country in any official capacity because, as an astronaut, she was a representative of the US government.

On 1 February, the day Columbia was to return home, Harrington was at the Shuttle Landing Facility viewing area at Kennedy Space Centre, eagerly awaiting Kalpana’s return. But joy soon turned into apprehension, as repeated radio calls from the Mission Control to the shuttle crew went unanswered. But no one knew what it was.Soon, footage of Columbia breakingup in the sky was on every TV channel.Kalpana’s family members were at Harrington’s home in Houston, where they saw the accident on TV. 

The Edge of Time is a unique biography, lovingly done, by someone who has been witness to the finest moments in Kalpana’s life. Written in a lucid style, without much hype, it presents great insights into the life of one of India’s bravest women – her grit and determination. Her story is an example of the success that can be earned from hard work and persistence, and her life will certainly serve as an inspiration to Indian school children and youth, motivating them to take up new challenges in life.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: India

Chapter 2: Arlington

Chapter 3: Boulder

Chapter 4: Sunnyvale

Chapter 5: Houston

Chapter 6: STS-87

Chapter 7: Interlude

Chapter 8: STS-107

Chapter 9: Aftermath

Epilogue

Reviewed by Mr Biman Basu, former Editor of Science Reporter and science communicator.
Email: bimanbasu@gmail.com

Courtesy: SCIENCE REPORTER, MAY 2012, Page 40-41.

EVENT OF THE MONTH : FEBRUARY 2013

National colloquium on 100 years of Crystallography

DATE : February (7-9), 2013
VENUE : Mascot Hotel, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

The first report of crystallography was in 1912 when two physicists, W.H. Bragg and W.L. Bragg, developed the famous Bragg’s equation.India has also contributed significantly in the area of biological, chemical, physical and materials crystallography. Prof. G.N. Ramachandran’s contribution to crystallography is world-acclaimed. 2013 is also the 50th year of the famous Ramanchandran Plot.

To celebrate this important discovery and the information that Braggs have provided us about the core structure of molecules,Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment is organizing a National colloquium on 100 years of Crystallography, covering biological, chemical and physical crystallography. 

Reputed chemists, biologists and physicists all over India are invited to participate. The inaugural opening G.N. Ramachandran commemoration lecture will be delivered by Prof. Ada Yonath, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel on 7-February 2013. Prof. Ada Yonath received the Nobel prize in 2009 for her pioneering work in the structure and function of ribosome.
 
For Details: Dr C Arunan, 
                    PSO, Scientist E2, 
                    KSCSTE, 
                    Email: ccarunan@gmail.com
                    +91.(0)854.751.7048























 

SPECIES OF THE MONTH: FEBRUARY 2013

HERONS OF KERALA GET A HOME

Photo Courtesy: www.flicker.com

Class         : Aves

Subclass    : Neornithes

Infraclass  : Neognathae

Superorder: Neoaves

Order        : Pelecaniformes

Family      : Ardeidae

The Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) is preparing to take up a state-wide programme for conservation of herons, a species facing threat from habitat loss and game hunting.The participatory project, to be launched at Panamaram in Wayanad, will involve panchayat-level Biodiversity Management Committees and landowners. The KSBB has plans to set up heronries in areas frequented by the birds.

Once a common sight across Kerala, the elegant birds have undergone a sharp decline in numbers following the destruction of their nesting grounds. Pesticide poisoning and the popularity of game hunting have also worsened their plight.In 2011, the KSBB had joined hands with the Kottayam Nature Society to implement a pilot project in 21 heronries in Kuttanad. The Board is preparing to take up the new programme based on the lessons imbibed from the pilot projects.

Panamaram has been identified for the launch of the programme because of the presence of a large heronry located on a small islet spread over 1.5 acres. Local people have alerted us to the need to replant the decaying bamboos on the islet where the herons nest.

The heronry at Panamaram is home to several species of water birds including the Cattle egret and the Black-headed ibis.The sound produced by nesting herons and their droppings are considered a menace, often forcing people to scare them away.

Website: www.keralabiodiversity.org

SCIENCE OF THE MONTH: JANUARY 2013

1 January 2013: The United Nations has designated 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation in a bid to raise awareness on the need for more cooperation on the challenges facing water management as demand surpass supply. With this designated focus on water cooperation, World Water Day on March 22 will also revolve around the topic. UNESCO is declaring  2013 the year of Piri Reis on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of a World Map he drew up.2013 is also the International Year of Quinoa and International Year of Statistics.Link:http://www.unwater.org

2 January 2013: The Earth was at its nearest point from the Sun at 10:10 am today at a distance of 147 million km.Every January, the Earth is at perihelion, the closest from the Sun for the year.The word perihelion comes from the Greek words "peri" (meaning "near") and "helios" (meaning "sun").All planets and asteroids in our solar system have elliptical orbits. Thus, they all have a closest and a farthest point from the Sun, a perihelion and an aphelion. On 5 July 2013, the Earth will be at its aphelion, the farthest to the Sun for the year.Link:http://planetarysocietyindia.blogspot.in

3 January 2013:Prime Minister of India today unveiled a new Science Policy at the 100th Indian Science Congress which is going on in Culcutta. The Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy, 2013 also speaks of modifying the Intellectual Property Rights which enables co-sharing of patents generated in the public private partnership mode.The document is a revision of the 2003 Science Policy.India first unveiled its Scientific Policy Resolution in 1958.The Technology Policy of 1983 focused on technological self reliance.Link:http://www.dst.gov.in

4 January 2013:India's Mars mission will begin in 2013 October to explore the Red Planet's atmosphere and search for life-sustaining elements. The mission is yet to get an official name.The 470-crore mission will demonstrate India's capability to launch a spacecraft on a 55 million km journey from earth to an orbit 500 km over the Martian surface.The Indian space agency plans to use the PSLV-XL to launch the mission from Sriharikota.The Mars mission will enable India to join the elite club of US, Russia, Europe, China and Japan which have Mars missions.Link:http://www.isro.gov.in

5 January 2013: Indian scientists will soon set up new telescope in the Himalayas.The National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) will study the sun, the facility can also be used at night to look for planets outside the solar system.Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bangalore, is making the telescope.When completed, NLST will be one the world’s largest Solar Telescopes.The Indian telescope is most likely to be located near Pangong Tso Lake in Lad­akh, close to the Indo-China border.The fabrication is expected in 2013 and the first light is expected by 2017.Link:http://www.ncra.tifr.res.in

6 January 2013:The commissioning of the first 1,000 MW unit of the Kudankulam project is set to be commissioned within the next two weeks as nuclear scientists have entered the final lap of a series of tests on its safety and efficacy.India is building two 1,000 MW nuclear power plants at Kudankulam with Russian collaboration.Last month, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) had granted permission for the ‘second heat up’, under which all systems of the plant will be put to test to demonstrate its operatability and safety.Link:http://dae.nic.in

7 January 2013:Scientists are losing optimism in the recovery of the French CoRoT mission's space telescope that suddenly stopped producing science data in November 2.CoRoT stands for the Convection, Rotation and Planetary Transits mission. The project is led by CNES, the French space agency.CoRoT, which marked the sixth anniversary of its launch last week, was the first space mission dedicated to searching for planets circling other stars.CoRoT discovered the first rocky planet CoRoT-7b, beyond the solar system in 2009.Link:http://smsc.cnes.fr

8 January 2013:Today, a private Dutch organization called Mars One initiated plans to establish a human settlement on the Red Planet in 2023.It has also announced the Mars Astronaut Selection Programme which will kick off in the first half of this year.Mars One will maintain 40 trained astronauts during the first duration of the mission.The plan envisages launching a supply mission in 2016 landing on Mars in October 2016. In September 2022, the first four astronauts will be launched to Mars landing in 2023 after an eight month flight.There is no return trip.Link:http://mars-one.com
 
9 January 2013:The University of Agriculture Sciences, Bangalore (UAS) has come up with a unique portal to learn about all plants and animals found in India.It compiles information on more than 40,000 species native to India. This will help students, scientists, industrialists and enthusiasts of flora and fauna.In addition to biological data, the portal also provides details on chemical and sociological on all the species.The portal is a venture of the Department of Biotechnology under University of Agriculture Sciences.Link:http://www.ibin.gov.in

10 January 2013:2013 marks the 125th anniversary of the National Geographic magazine. Each copy of the January 2013 issue of the National Geographic magazine will feature five covers highlighting the Society’s 125th anniversary theme, A New Age of Exploration.Multiple covers will be included in the worldwide English-language edition and in 12 local-language editions.These editions are read by more than 50 million people around the globe.National Geographic Channels will premiere National Geographic at 125 on January11. 
Link:www.nationalgeographic.com

11 January 2013:NASA will conduct the first flights of the Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment (ATTREX), the multi-year airborne science campaign with a heavily instrumented Global Hawk aircraft. It will take off from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California.Global Hawk is a remotely piloted research aircraft which will fly 65,000 feet over the tropical Pacific Ocean to probe unexplored regions of the upper atmosphere and detect how a warming climate is changing Earth.Six science flights are planned between January 16 and March 15.Link:http://www.nasa.gov

12 January 2013:After a successful three-year run that saw the discovery of a Higgs-boson-like particle in early 2012, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN,will shut down for 18 months for maintenance and upgrades.This is the first of three long shutdowns, scheduled for 2013, 2017, and 2022.Presently, the LHC smashes two proton beams at 3.5-4 tera-electron-volts (TeV) per beam.By 2015, the beam energy will be pushed up to 6.5-7 TeV per beam.The instantaneous luminosity will be increased ten-times greater than before.Link:http://public.web.cern.ch

13 January 2013:Astronomers have discovered the largest known structure in the universe - a group of quasars so large it would take 4 billion years to cross it while traveling at speed of light.According to researchers, the immense scale also challenges Albert Einstein's Cosmological Principle, the assumption that the universe looks the same from every point of view.The findings by academics from Britain's University of Central Lancashire were published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and reported on the society's website.Link:http://www.ras.org.uk

14 January 2013:A centre of excellence specializing in reading space weather conditions to help air traffic on polar routes would come up in Kolkatta, West Bengal, by the middle of this year, the first of its kind in the country.The centre, approved by the Union Human Resources Development ministry, would come up at the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) campus.The centre would also offer research in Gravitational Physics in addition to PhD programs in space sciences.Link:http://www.iiserkol.ac.in

15 January 2013:Iran will try again to send a live monkey into space after a previous attempt failed in 2011.The final tests for launching the capsule, carrying a monkey, have been completed. According to Hamid Fazeli, chief of Iran's Space Organization, the launch would take place during a 10-day period starting January 31, which marks the 34th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution. The monkey project would help Iran in sending a man into space which is scheduled for 2020.Link:http://www.en.iran.ir

16 January 2013:Fourteen leaders of world's top Space Agencies will arrive in Israel this month to mark the 10th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and the death of the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon.The officials confirmed their participation in the Seventh annual international Ilan Ramon Space Conference, which will be held in Herzliya on January 29-30. It is initiated by the Israel Space Agency and the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies.Link:http://www.asi.it

17January 2013:According to an ongoing temperature analysis conducted by scientists at NASA, the average global temperature on Earth has increased by about 0.8C (1.4F) since 1880, (left 1880-1889) compared to today. 2012 was among the 10 warmest years on record, rising above the long-term average for the 36th year in a row.This makes 2012 the ninth hottest year on record globally. NOAA's data set put it at the 10th hottest year. The agencies use different methods to analyse data.Link:http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov

18 January 2013:Australia experienced a wave of migration from India about 4,000 years ago, a genetic study suggests.It was thought the continent had been largely isolated after the first humans arrived about 40,000 years ago until the Europeans moved in in the 1800s.But DNA from Aboriginal Australians revealed there had been some movement from India during this period.To study, the team compared DNA from Aboriginal Australians with people in New Guinea, South East Asia and India.Link:http://www.pnas.org

19 January 2013:The Mars rover Curiosity will soon begin to drill into the Mars for the first time.Curiosity is travelling toward a flat rock with pale veins that scientists hope will provide clues about any water that might have existed on Mars.Curiosity will collect samples from inside the 'John Klein rock', named in honour of a former Mars Science Laboratory deputy project manager who died in 2012.The mission, set to last at least two years, aims to prepare for future manned missions.Link:http://www.nasa.gov

20 January 2013:NASA scientists beamed an image of the Mona Lisa from Earth to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) which is orbiting Moon.It was sent to the spacecraft's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) instrument.Doing so required the scientists to break up the Mona Lisa image into a 152 pixel-by-200 pixel array, with each pixel and transmitted individually by laser pulse.The Mona Lisa, an oil on a poplar wood panel is arguably the most famous work of art in existence.Link:http://lro.gsfc.nasa.gov

21 January 2013:Distinguished space scientist and former ISRO chairman UR Rao (Udupi Ramachandra Rao) will be inducted into the 'Satellite Hall of Fame' in Washington on 19 March 2013, in recognition of his contribution to space technology.Since 1987, the Satellite Hall of Fame has been recognising the immense contribution of visionaries in space science including Arthur C. Clarke, James Van Allen, etc.Rao is currently chairman of Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad.Link:http://www.prl.res.in

22 January 2013:The world's first surviving cloned buffalo, Garima-II, has given birth to a female calf at National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) in Karnal today.The female calf is named Mahima which was born through artificial insemination.In 2009, researchers at NDRI reportedly produced Garima-I, the world's first cloned buffalo through 'hand-guided cloning technique' but unfortunately it could not survive for more than six days.The third attempt proved lucky for the scientists and Garima-II was born on August 22, 2010.Link:http://www.ndri.res.in

23 January 2013:Sixty years after scientists revealed the two- stranded, double helical model of DNA, researchers have found evidence for the existance of four-stranded DNA.The odd structures are called G-quadruplex because they form in regions of DNA that are full of Guanine, one of the DNA molecule's four building blocks.The structure comprises four Guanines held together by a type of Hydrogen bonding to form a sort of square like shape.The new visualization of the G-quadruplex is detailed in the journal Nature Chemistry.Link:http://www.nature.com

24 January 2013:Three scientists from India, Germany and Russia have been selected for this year's Chinese Academy of  Sciences Award for International Scientific Cooperation. The Indian scientist is Professor C.N.R. Rao from Jawaharlal Nehru University.The award was launched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 2007 to honor foreign scientists for their contributions in Sino-foreign research cooperation.Founded in Beijing in November 1949, Chinese Academy of  Sciences is the country's top research institution.Link:http://www.currentscience.ac.in

25 January 2013:The older, smaller cousin of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is quietly celebrating a big milestone today, nine years on the surface of the Red Planet.NASA's Opportunity rover landed on Mars just after midnight on Jan. 25, 2004, three weeks after its twin, Spirit, touched down. Spirit stopped operating in 2010, but Opportunity is still going strong.Opportunity is currently inspecting clay deposits along the rim of Mars' huge Endeavour Crater, to know whether they are capable of supporting primitive microbial life.Link:http://www.nasa.gov

26 January 2013:Noted science educator Yash Pal and aerospace scientist Roddam Narsimha were selected for Padma Vibhushan this year.The Padma Bhushan awardees under the Science and Engineering category are Dr Apathukatha Sivathanu Pillai, Dr Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Dr Ashoke Sen, Prof. Satya N. Atluri, Prof. Jogesh Chandra Pati,Maharaj Kishan Bhan and Dr B.N. Suresh.Avinash Chander,Mutansir Barma,Ajay K Sood,Sanjay Dhande,Sankar Kumar Pal were among the Padma Shri awardees. 
Link:http://www.pib.nic.in

27 January 2013:The Prof. Satish Dhawan Young Engineer Award was conferred on K. Balakrishna, associate professor of geology, Department of Civil Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), Manipal, in Bangalore.Dr. Balakrishna was chosen for the award for his contribution and achievements in the area of Earth Sciences for 2011. He is the first one from MIT, Manipal University, to bag the award, established in 1996.Dr. Balakrishna has worked on the geochemistry of various Indian rivers to understand its link to the climate change.Link:http://kscst.org.in

28 January 2013:Stefan Kudelski, who invented the first portable professional recorder, has died. He was 84.Kudelski's first portable professional recorder was named "Nagra", meaning “will record” in Polish, Kudelski’s native language.Kudelski was widely acknowledged as being among the prominent pioneers in sound recording, being credited with the development of a range of recorders used in the radio, motion picture, television and security industries.Kudelski earned Oscars from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.Link:http://www.nagra.com

29 January 2013:Kerala state government is all set to release the new Kerala Science Technology and Innovation (KSTI) Policy at the Silver Jubilee edition of Kerala Science Congress (KSC), which will begin here today.It will be on the lines of the National Science, Technology and Innovation (NSTI) Policy 2013.Though this year's NSTI policy seeks to double the gross expenditure for research and development from the current less-than 1% of GDP to 2%, key focus of the policy will be on private sector investment in research and development.Link:http://www.ksc.kerala.gov.in

30 January 2013:A hundred years after Alfred Russel Wallace's death, the Natural History Museum, London is hoping to address this and to make 2013 the "Year of Wallace".Wallace and Darwin arrived at the idea of Natural selection at the same time,it remained a controversial topic even after Wallace's death in 1913, and so his name devolved into relative obscurity.The Natural History Museum has this week launched Wallace Letters Online, a website that showcases for the first time the correspondence Wallace had during his life and research.Link:http://wallaceletters.info

31 January 2013:India plans to chip in Rs 760 crore towards building a mega telescope known as Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), which will be the world's most advanced ground-based observatory, to be located below the summit of Mauna Kea peak in Hawaii. Its construction will begin in 2014 and the telescope may see the first light by 2021.Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore, is the nodal Indian institute for the TMT project.Pondicherry-based firm General Optics Asia has been roped in to design mirror segments for the telescope.Link:http://www.tmt.org

MOVIE OF THE MONTH : JANUARY 2013

Director: Kim Ji-woon
Writer: Andrew Knauer
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Cinematography: Kim Ji-yong
Studio: di Bonaventura Pictures
Release date: January 18, 2013
Running time: 107 minutes
Country: United States

Now, finally, Schwarzenegger is ready to take on Hollywood again. His fully fledged comeback vehicle, The Last Stand, is released next month.The Last Stand is an upcoming action drama film written by Andrew Knauer and directed by Kim Ji-woon. The film will be Arnold Schwarzenegger's first leading role since Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines in 2003. This will be the first American production for Kim Ji-woon and cinematographer Kim Ji-yong.

After leaving his LAPD narcotics post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with remorse and regret, Sheriff Ray Owens (Schwarzenegger) moved out of Los Angeles and settled into a life fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction. But that peaceful existence is shattered when Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega), the most notorious and wanted drug kingpin in the western hemisphere, makes a deadly yet spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy.

With the help of a fierce band of lawless mercenaries led by the icy Burrell (Peter Stormare), Cortez begins racing towards the US-Mexico border with a hostage in tow. Cortez’ path takes him straight through Summerton Junction, where the whole of the US law enforcement, including Agent John Bannister (Forest Whitaker), will have their final opportunity to intercept him before the violent fugitive slips across the border forever.

Until now, Arnold Schwarzenegger's journey back towards movie stardom has been tentative to say the least. His appearance in The Expendables 2 basically amounted to him listing all of his catchphrases in chronological order like a sad circus bear. Then he spent the rest of the summer fruitlessly trying to develop a kind of monstrous Laurel and Hardy-style double act with Boris Johnson. If anything, that was worse.

Review Courtesy: http://www.thelaststandfilm.com
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