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1PTI Science Service March 16 - 31, 2017Material reproduced should be credited to the PTI Science Service

Registration No.39337/81

ISSN 0970-6488

Vol 36 No. 06 (24 pages including cover)

CONTENTS

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NATIONAL SCIENCE BRIEFS:

*OSTRICHES WERE FOUND IN INDIA 25,000 YEARS AGO: STUDY*COUNTRY'S LARGEST WASTE-TO-POWER PLANTSTARTS IN DELHI WASTE GENERATED PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY POSING ENVIORNMENTAL PROBLEMS:KUMAR*PUNE SCIENTISTS DISCOVER MICROBES THAT GREW ON MOBILE PHONES*REACH OUT TO PEOPLETO DEMYSTIFY MENTAL AILMENTS: JAIN TO DOCS*MAPPING AGENCY ADVOCATES GEOSPATIAL MAPS FORCIVILIAN USE*HEART CARE TRIAL SEES 20 PC REDUCTION IN DEATHS*INDIA TEST-FIRES INDIGENOUSSUPERSONIC INTERCEPTOR MISSILE*KIDS INHERIT OBESITY FROM PARENTS: RESEARCH *SPURT INCAESAREAN DELIVERIES IN PVT HOSPITALS: RTI REPLY*KASTURIRANGAN FOR COLLABORATIVE APPROACHTO HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT*EXCAVATION LEADS TO DISCOVERY OF 350 ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS*INDIATEST-FIRES BRAHMOS MISSILE*DEADLY WHEAT BLAST DISEASE SPREADS TO BENGAL DISTRICTS*45 % OFCOUNTRY'S BIRD SPICES IN HP: GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT *TEST TO PREDICT 'SILENT HEART ATTACKS'DEVELOPED BY TN STUDENT*

INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE BRIEFS:

*'PINK NOISE' MAY IMPROVE MEMORY, SLEEP IN ELDERLY*'DINOSAUR TRACKS DISCOVERED IN CHINA' *HUGESTATUE OF EGYPTIAN PHARAOH DISCOVERED NEW BIO-INSPIRED SUPER STRONG GLUE WORKS UNDERWATER *'LOST' CHANDRAYAAN-1 FOUND ORBITING MOON: NASA *CHINESE SCIENTISTS CREATE 4 SYNTHETICYEAST CHROMOSOMES *NASA'S EUROPA CLIPPER TO SEARCH FOR ALIEN LIFE ON JUPITER MOON *LIGHT,REPARABLE BULLET-PROOF ARMOUR DEVELOPED *GREAT BARRIER REEF WITNESSING SECOND YEAR OFMASS BLEACHING*'WORLD GOVERNMENT' MAY SAVE HUMANITY FROM DESTRUCTION: HAWKING*NEWMOLECULE CONVERTS CARBON DIOXIDE INTO FUEL SOURCE*NEW MIND-READING SYSTEM CAN CORRECTROBOT'S ERRORS*NASA PROBE PROVIDES MORE INFORMATION ABOUT TRAPPIST-1*NASA PLANS TO CREATE'COOLEST SPOT IN UNIVERSE'*MIND-READING SYSTEM CAN CORRECT ROBOT'S ERRORS IN REALTIME*PREHISTORIC ANCESTOR OF LEUKAEMIA VIRUS FOUND IN BATS*18 NEW GENES LINKED TO AUTISMRISK IDENTIFIED*NEW FROG SPECIES NAMED AFTER DAVID ATTENBOROUGH*

GLOBE SCAN:

*PREHISTORIC ANCESTOR OF LEUKAEMIA VIRUS FOUND IN BATS* 18 NEW GENES LINKED TO AUTISM RISKIDENTIFIED*NEW FROG SPECIES NAMED AFTER DAVID ATTENBOROUGH*HOW LULLABIES EVOLVEDDECODED*WASTE TOMATOES CAN BE USED TO MAKE CAR TIRES'*MARS MAY HAVE BEEN WETTER THANTHOUGHT: STUDY*TINY DNA MACHINES MAY DRIVE DISEASE DETECTION, DRUG DELIVERY*GIANTMAGNETIC SHIELD COULD MAKE MARS HABITABLE: NASA

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OSTRICHES WERE FOUND IN INDIA 25,000YEARS AGO: STUDY

Ostrich, the flightless bird native to Africa,inhabited India about 25,000 years ago, a study conductedby the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB)here has found.

Though it is native to Africa, several geologistsand archaeologists have over the time found ostrich eggshell pieces in India, mostly in Rajasthan and MadhyaPradesh.

A DNA study of some partly fossilised ostrichegg shells was recently conducted at the

"We have successfully analysed the ostrich eggshells in our 'ancient DNA' facility and established thatthe egg shells (found in India) are genetically similar to theAfrican ostrich," CCMB's senior principal scientistKumarasamy Thangaraj had said recently.

"The carbon dating (of the ostrich egg shells) todetermine the age shows that they are at least 25,000 yearsold," Thangaraj had said.

The study was conducted jointly by the scientistsof CCMB, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee andothers.

The findings of the research have been publishedin the March 9, 2017 issue of science journal PLOS ONE.

The origin and evolution of ostrich is widelyattributed to the continental drifting of Gondwanalandor Gondwana. Around 150 million years ago, Gondwanawas a super-continent comprising South America, Arabia,Africa, Australia, Antarctica, India and Madagascar of thepresent times, an official release had said.

An initial break-up of this super-continent (duringthe Early Cretaceous period - 130 to 100 million yearsago) separated Africa and Indo-Madagascar.

This bio-geographical dispersion eventually ledto hopping of ostriches in Africa through Eurasia (thecombined continental landmass of Europe and Asia), vialand route around 20 million years ago.

However, the continental drift theory for theexistence of ostriches in India was not proven scientifically,the release had said.

Over the time, several geologists andarchaeologists discovered ostrich egg shell pieces, mainlyin Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

However, only morphological pattern of thefragile egg shell pieces is not sufficient to prove theexistence of ostrich in India.

The researchers thus analysed the mitochondrialDNA to come to the conclusion about the existence ofostriches in India, the release had said.

Phylogenetic (relating to the evolutionarydevelopment and diversification of a species or groupof organisms, or of a particular feature of an organism)analysis of the DNA sequence revealed a 92 per centidentity of the fossil egg shells to the African ostrich species- Struthio camelus, it had further said.

COUNTRY'S LARGEST WASTE-TO-POWERPLANT STARTS IN DELHI

Union minister Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated thecountry's largest waste-to-power plant and said withouta scientific solid waste management system objectives ofSwachh Bharat Mission cannot be achieved.

Inaugurating the 24 MW plant at Narela-BawanaUrban Development Minister Naidu said, solid wastemanagement was one of the challenges in the country.

"An effective scientific solid waste managementsystem will help to us face one of the biggest challengesthe country is facing," said Naidu.

The plant would not only dispose of 1,300 MTwaste on a daily basis but also produce compost andenergy, he said.

"This plant can be taken as an example by othercorporations to emulate the model," Naidu said.

The project, built at a cost of Rs 650 crore andspread across around 100 acres at Narela-Bawana, willuse 2,000 metric tonnes of solid waste every day to generate24 MW of energy.

Union Science and Technology minister HarshVardhan, who was also present on the occasion, saidtonnes of sewer and solid waste everyday is generated inthe country and its disposal was a challenge.

"Narela-Bawana Plant is a right step in facing thechallenge," said Harsh Vardhan.

The power generated would be sold todistribution companies for a price fixed by electricityregulator.


WASTE GENERATED PHARMACEUTICALINDUSTRY POSING ENVIORNMENTAL

PROBLEMS: KUMAR

Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister AnanthKumar today said hazardous waste generated bypharmaceutical and medical devices industry and plasticwaste posed major environmental problems.

Speaking at the 4th "3R International ScientificConference on Material Cycles and Waste Management",he also suggested that "Reduce, Recycle and Reuse (3Rs)should be a part of school curriculum at the primary andsecondary levels.

"The biggest concern today is of theenvironmental problems posed by plastic waste and foodpackaging. Most of hazardous waste is generated bypharmaceutical and medical devices industries," he wasquoted as saying in a statement.

Kumar said 12 million tonnes of plastic can bereused and recycled. He also suggested "Reduce, Recycleand Reuse (3Rs) should be a part of the curriculum in thesyllabus of schools at primary and secondary levels".

Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhansaid India has been a key player in promoting efficientwaste management system in the world.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has played a keyrole at the international platform to develop the sense ofwaste management and material cycles. Now we need adirectional change and positive approach for making abigger impact," he said.

The conference focuses on promoting techniquesof the waste management and spread the concept ofReduce, Reuse and Recycle (3R) principles. Delegates fromJapan, Korea and Germany are participating in the three-day conference, organised by the CSIR-Indian Instituteof Petroleum (IIP). Kumar also pointed out that about 4,500 urban areasin the country generate 55 million tonnes of waste everyyear out of which only one million tonnes is convertedinto compost which ideally should be 5.5 million tonnesannually.

For the first time, he said, the Modi governmentwas giving subsidy for making compost from waste anda 50 kg bag of compost would cost only Rs 75 forfarmers.

He announced that his Ministry was ready to inka MoU with the CSIR for setting up a task force forpromoting 3Rs. He appealed to use "2R (Reuse, Recycle)"material instead of "waste material".

Kumar said that a Guwahati-based unit wastreating two tonnes of plastic waste daily and the planwas to set up 100 such units across the country to give apush to 3R projects. "As plastics are everywhere from automobiles tohospitals and it is not biodegradable, it is a big challengeto contain this menace," he said. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu spoke about thechallenges to deal with the waste to use as next value chain.He emphasised upon the control and reuse of toxic andindustrial waste. "Agriculture waste should not be burnt. If they aredisposed into the soil, it becomes natural manure. CSIR isfocusing on such crucial issues which are a welcome step.This is the time to link culture with science. We shouldterm the agri-waste as a key resource for wastemanagement," he said.

PUNE SCIENTISTS DISCOVER MICROBESTHAT GREW ON MOBILE PHONES

Scientists here have identified three new speciesof microbes that flourished on mobile handsets.

How grimy are the ubiquitous mobile phones?Reports from Western nations have suggested that

mobile phones are more often dirtier than toilet seats,with some smart phones even known to harbour deadlydrug resistant bacteria.

The startling finding is by scientists of thegovernment-owned National Centre for Cell Science(NCCS) here who have been able to identify three newspecies of microbes from screens of mobile phones.

Two bacteria and fungus, never before reportedin scientific literature, were identified by this laboratoryfunded by the Department of Biotechnology.

Earlier a study done in 2015 by William DePaolo,an assistant professor in the Molecular Microbiology andImmunology Department at the University of SouthernCalifornia, found that toilet seats usually contained threedifferent types of bacteria but mobile phones on anaverage housed some 10-12 different types of fungi andbacteria.


Mobile phones since they are carried in almost allhuman environments from the kitchen to the publictransport harbour a larger diversity of micro-organisms.These microbes grow well on the sweat and grime lefton the phones as humans carry them around.

In Pune, Yogesh S Shouche and his team fromthe Microbial Culture Collection group of the NCCScollected samples from 27 mobile phone screens and theywere able to isolate 515 different bacterial types and 28different fungi.

These microbes are friendly to humans and usuallythrive on our bodies, says Praveen Rahi, a co-investigatorfor the work. The team used sterilised cotton swabs andsterile saline solution to wipe from the surface thesemicrobes which were then grown using standardisedculture media at 30 degrees centigrade.

But what surprised this six-member team wasthat they encountered three new species of organisms --two bacteria they have named Lysinbacillus telephonicusand Microbacterium telephonicum and a new species offungi that they named Pyrenochaeta telephoni.

REACH OUT TO PEOPLE TO DEMYSTIFYMENTAL AILMENTS: JAIN TO DOCS

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain todayexhorted doctors to reach out to mental patients with amissionary zeal and help demystify psychological ailments.

"There are a lot of misconceptions attached tomental ailments. But these are like other diseases. Manypeople ignore and hide mental ailments," he said at theinauguration of a long-stay home at Institute of HumanBehaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) in east Delhi.

"But society should open up and listen to othersmore than speaking. That will help in addressing the issueof mental ailments," the minister said.

Jain also urged doctors and psychiatrists to reachout to people as social taboos keep patients inpsychological closets.

"We see 'babas' (godmen) holding sermons andengaging people. I say, you (doctors) should also startsomething like that and engage people in talking aboutmental health issues.

"As well-qualified professionals, who spent yearsunderstanding obscure diseases, you should share withpeople, in simple language, what these diseases mean and

help demystify it so that they (patients) do not feel hesitant,"he said. As a society "if we start listening to each othermore", then that would be a "revolutionary step" incombating the taboo associated with mental ailments.

The health minister also said that excessive playingof video games is not a healthy sign, and "people shouldgo out in the open and play games to stay fit", Jain said,

Reiterating that AAP government is committedto creating governance models worth emulating, Jain said,"Our Mohalla Clinics have been lauded in various partsof the world. We were earlier looking for successfulmodels from America (the west), but now America (thewest) will copy ours."

"We have tied up with NABH-accredited hospitals.If patients coming to Delhi hospitals have to wait formore than a month to get their surgeries done, they canget it done at these partnering hospitals," he said.

The scheme will be launched soon."Thirty of our hospitals and 21 polyclinics are

part of this scheme," the minister said.On December last, the Delhi government had

tied up with eight private laboratories to facilitate freeMRIs and CT scans for needy patients.

"Many people have complained about thisscheme, saying where will the money come from or whyonly for Delhiites. I say, as our Chief Minister says, thereis no dearth of funds but only willpower," Jain said.

"As Delhi has a population of two crore, we areaddressing the issues that residents here are facing. Ourtarget is to provide treatment for all people of Delhi, butwe will have to work towards it steadily," he said.

MAPPING AGENCY ADVOCATESGEOSPATIAL MAPS FOR CIVILIAN USE

The Survey of India, the country's nationalmapping agency, advocated dilution of policies to enableuse of geospatial maps for civilian purposes.

Surveyor General of India (SGI) Swarna SubbaRao said geospatial maps by the Survey of India (SoI)are largely used for defence purposes.

"Historically, maps were mostly used for defencepurposes. Greater use of geospatial maps for civilianpurposes will help in reducing burden on governmentexchequer by 5-10 per cent as the data helps in betterplanning of any project.


"The policy currently is imbalanced. There wererestrictions on usage of geospatial maps by the civiliansector," Rao said, adding the SoI prepares maps for severalareas.

The SGI said several countries like the UK havean "open policy" on the use of geospatial data.

"In 2005, we came up with a policy of havingseparate maps for defence and civilian sides. However,some data which can be still used by the defence side canalso be shared with the civilians. There should be furtherdilution of policy to enable this," he said.

Established in 1767, the Survey of India operatesunder the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Rao said, with multiple agencies like ISRO'sNational Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) doing similarwork there is often a "turf war" between the ministriesand the SoI is treated as a "subordinate office".

He also emphasised on greater participation ofprivate players for growth of this sector in the country.

HEART CARE TRIAL SEES 20 PCREDUCTION IN DEATHS

A trial programme on heart attack care run inthree districts of Tamil Nadu was able to reduce deathsby nearly 20 per cent over its year-long duration, accordingto a research paper.

Spurred by the "success" of this programme,Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) during ameeting recommended that this model be adopted acrossthe country.

Officials of Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare and representatives from 18 states participated inthe meeting of medical experts and other stakeholders inJanuary.

The pilot was conducted by not-for-profitSTEMI India and supported by ICMR and Tamil Nadugovernment. It's findings have also been published in thelatest issue of Journal of the American Medical Association(JAMA).

The trial was conducted in three districts of TamilNadu with a total population of 2.5 million people overa period of 47 weeks. 2,420 heart patients were enrolledbetween August, 2012 to June, 2013.

The study claims that it was able to "reduce patientdeath rates by 19 per cent."

The STEMI model has a hub hospital with a cathlab, which is linked to peripheral hospitals from wherepatients can be transferred.

The model relies on three critical elements. Theunique STEMI Kit enables transmission of ECGs froma peripheral hospital to the hub hospital with an on-callcardiologist. This helps in early diagnosis of a heart attack.

The second important requirement for this modelis an ambulance service for picking up a patient from hisor her residence and for transferring from one hospitalto another.

The third crucial element is BPL insurance toensure that every patient can access this programme.

Through this pilot greater number of patientswere administered superior therapies (primary PCI andpharmaco-invasive therapy) as compared to stand-alonethrombolysis. "The total percentage of these therapies wentup from 35 per cent to 61 per cent," as per the study.

The peripheral hospitals saw this rate improvefrom an abysmal "3.5 per cent to 61 per cent."

"The drop in mortality rate was primarily becauseof access to superior treatment strategies made availablet patients at peripheral hospitals," said Dr ThomasAlexander.

Therefore, "according to our cost-benefit analysis,for every rupee spent on this programme, the governmentwill be able to save Rs 3.58," says Dr Alexander.

"In the three districts where we executed the pilotwe were able to save 1,542 life-years and Rs 6.2 crore peryear," he added.

For each network of hub and peripheral hospitals,the estimated expenditure is Rs 1 crore for implementingthe STEMI model.

According to the Management of AcuteCoronary Events Registry, instituted in 2014, the mediantime recorded for 5,300 patients from 12-13 statesbetween chest pain and transfer of patient to hospital is400 minutes. Experts say this should ideally be at 60minutes.

INDIA TEST-FIRES INDIGENOUSSUPERSONIC INTERCEPTOR MISSILE

India successfully test-fired an indigenouslydeveloped supersonic interceptor missile capable ofdestroying any incoming enemy missile at low altitude, a


feat which reflects the country's Ballistic Missile Defenceprowess.

The Defence Ministry said all the missionobjectives were successfully met during the test-firing ofthe endo- atmospheric missile from Abdul Kalam Islandin Odisha.

This the second time that the missile has beentest-fired in less than a month and is part of an effort toput in place a multi-layer missile defence system.

"The endo-atmospheric missile, capable ofintercepting incoming targets at an altitude of 15 to 25km successfully destroyed the incoming missile. All themission objectives were successfully met," the DefenceMinistry said.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar congratulatedDRDO on the successful launch.

"The launch has proved the Ballistic MissileDefence (BMD) prowess of the country," the Ministrysaid.

Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister andDirector General (Missiles and Strategic Systems), DRDODr G Satheesh Reddy monitored the launch operationalong with other top officials.

The Ministry said the complete event includingthe "engagement and destruction" was tracked by anumber of electro-optical tracking systems using infraredimagery. Radars and telemetry stations tracked the targetand the interceptor till the destruction of the target.

"Today's test launch was conducted in order tovalidate various parameters of the interceptor in flightmode," a defence official said, adding it was a low altitudetrial.

The interceptor was engaged against a targetwhich was a Prithvi missile launched from launch complex3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur nearBalasore, taking up the trajectory of a hostile ballisticmissile.

The target missile was launched at about 10.10hours from Chandipur.

After about four minutes the interceptor,Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile positioned at AbdulKalam Island in the Bay of Bengal, getting signals fromtracking radars, roared through its trajectory to destroythe incoming hostile missile in mid-air, in an endo-atmospheric altitude, the official said.

"The mission was excellent and it was a directhit," said a scientist of the Defence Research DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO).

The interceptor is a 7.5-m-long single stage solidrocket propelled guided missile equipped with a navigationsystem, a hi-tech computer and an electro-mechanicalactivator, the official said.

The interceptor missile had its own mobilelauncher, secure data link for interception, independenttracking and homing capabilities and sophisticated radars,the official added.

On February 11, an incoming hostile ballisticmissile target was successfully intercepted at high altitude,above 50 km of the earth's atmosphere by an exo-atmospheric interceptor missile off the Odisha coast.

Earlier, a low altitude (endo-atmospheric) test ofAAD missile was successfully test launched on May 15,2016 from the same base.

KIDS INHERIT OBESITY FROM PARENTS:RESEARCH

About 35 to 40 per cent children from all overthe world inherit obesity from parents, says a recentresearch undertaken by University of Sussex. This research is very much relevant to Indianpopulation as around 30 million people in the country areobese, medical experts say. The research had considered the BMI (Body MassIndex) of the Obese children and their patients across sixcountries including UK, USA, China, Indonesia, Spain andMexico, thereby covering all the key geographies of theworld. Professor Peter Dolton, the lead author of the studysays the pattern of results is remarkably consistent acrossall the countries after analysing the data of over 100,000sample spread across the two highest obese nations (USand UK) and the two least obese nations i.e. China andIndonesia. In his research, Dolton noted that the study gives animportant and rare insight into how obesity is transmittedacross generations in both developed and developingcountries and also indicated that the process ofintergenerational transmission is the same across all thedifferent countries.


Commenting on this research, leading obesitysurgeon Dr M G Bhat from Apollo Spectra and ManipalHospitals in Bangalore said, "in many of my patients, Ihave observed that they also have obese children pointingout to family factors and genetic inheritance."

"Researches have shown that Genes appear toplay an important role in the development of obesity inchildhood. Genes may influence behaviour throughappetite or by making it harder to resist food," Bhatt said.

Dr Supreet Grover, nutritionist & weight lossconsultant at AXIS Hospital says, "Various Factors leadto obesity and I do believe that to an extent obesity is aresult of our genetic inheritance and family factors,"

SPURT IN CAESAREAN DELIVERIES INPVT HOSPITALS: RTI REPLY

Caesarean deliveries in private hospitals have shotup substantially, a civic body has said in response to anRTI query, which contended that such a procedure hasbecome a business.

Number of Caesarean deliveries in privatehospitals increased substantially between 2010 and 2015,compared to government hospitals, the reply obtainedby OnlineRTI.com from the office of the Assistant HealthOfficer in Public Health Department of MunicipalCorporation of Greater Mumbai, revealed.

Flagging the data, researcher Subarna Ghosh, whohas initiated an online petition on Change.org on the issue,said "Caesarean deliveries have become a business. Thehospitals and doctors are making money off unsuspectingwomen and pushing them towards surgical deliveries."

OnlineRTI.com, an organisation supportingGhosh, had in July 2016 submitted a query under theRight to Information.

Year-wise data of deliveries in Mumbai wereprovided in September 2016 by the office of AssistantHealth Officer in Public Health Department of MunicipalCorporation of Greater Mumbai.

The organisation has shared the data with Ghosh.As per the data, in 2010 there were 87,509 normal

deliveries in municipal and state-run hospitals in Mumbai,whereas there were 9,593 caesarean deliveries. In privatehospitals, there were 59,540 normal deliveries and 21,299caesarean deliveries.

In 2015 there were 64,816 normal deliveries ingovernment and municipal hospitals and 21,744 caesareandeliveries. In the same year, there were 44,732 normaldeliveries in private hospitals and 34,465 caesareandeliveries.

Change.org India head Preethi Herman said over1.4 lakh people have so far supported Ghosh's petition.

KASTURIRANGAN FOR COLLABORATIVEAPPROACH TO HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT

Veteran space scientist K Kasturirangan hasfavoured India to pursue a collaborative model in itsproposed human spaceflight venture to undertake themission early in a cost-effective manner by leveragingproven capabilities in the field internationally.

The former Chairman of Indian Space ResearchOrganisation noted that there is a programme to look atwhats the model that would be applicable at this phaseof the programme, both globally and nationally in thecase of human spaceflight.

"So, they (ISRO) need to really work out multiplestrategies by which the goal can be achieved, and in thosestrategies how much of it should be ourselves, how muchwe should do with international collaboration component,and whats the optimum way in which we can reach thegoal as early as possible with minimal investment becausethese are all investment-intensive and also they take theirown time," he told PTI.

Not just funds, resources in terms of human andinfrastructure, quite a lot of investment is needed if Indiais to do the venture alone, pointed out the former Secretaryin the Department of Space and ex-Chairman of SpaceCommission.

"But the world has already moved there in thatdirection (human spaceflight) and therefore in the worldtoday we have got quite a lot of capabilities available acrossglobally. Our political relations are quite good with manyof these countries (having such space capabilities) and soI think we should be able to develop models where wecan optimally design a system by which we can move fastinto the human spaceflight," Kasturirangan said.

Asked if India should have an ambition toestablish a space station, he said the country can now haveany ambition because economically its getting stronger.


"Technologically and scientifically its capable; there is awill among the public to support this programme and soI see no reason why India will hesitate. I am sure thesethings are very much in the minds of planners and politicalsystem of the country," Kasturirangan added.

EXCAVATION LEADS TO DISCOVERY OF350 ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS

The excavation carried out in the Narmada valleyat Mehtakhedi village under Khargone district has led tothe discovery of 350 archaeological remains which theexperts claim to be 50,000 years old.

"The excavation conducted by Shridhar VakankarArchaeological Research Institute led to the discovery of350 archaeological remains which the experts claim to be50,000 years old," Anupam Rajan, commissioner,Archaeology Department of Madhya Pradesh underwhich the institute functions, said today.

"The work to explore micro relics was beingcarried out by dissolving and filtering the soil obtainedfrom the excavation," he added.

Rajan informed that an team led by the formerhead of the Department of archaeology at DeccanCollege in Pune Prof Sheela Mishra was formed afterobtaining permission from the Archaeological Survey ofIndia (ASI) in January this year.

The team included Institute's research officerJinendra Jain, research assistant Dhruvendra Singh Jodhaand research scholars of Deccan College Neetu Agarwal,Namrata Vishwas and Garima Khansali.

"The excavation work was started in the secondweek of February by Prof Mishra and the team. 350antiquities were found during excavation. Furtherconclusions will be drawn after analysing them," he added.

Rajan said that the development of humancivilisation was studied on the basis of undergrounddeposition, ancient geographical analysis and types ofapparatus.

In 2009, the team led by Prof Mishra had foundthe pieces of ostrich's eggs, which were related to modernhuman civilisation, during the excavation at the same site.

"The date of microblade was estimated 50,000years old by Physical Research Laboratory-Ahmedabad.The carbon date of ostrich's egg was verified as over42,000 years old," he added.

Rajan said that the conclusion of archaeologicaland biological research conducted recently has proved thathumans of today, despite several dissimilarities, are relatedto more than one lakh year old extended groups of Africa.

"Human civilisation of Mehtakhedi area is relatedto African human group spread in the world over 50,000years ago. The ancient relics found here certify that ancientand rare antiquities are available in abundance in the state,"he added.

INDIA TEST-FIRES BRAHMOS MISSILE

India successfully test-fired the BrahMossupersonic cruise missile, which is capable of carrying awarhead of 300 kg, from a test range along the Odishacoast.

The cruise missile was test fired from a mobilelauncher from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipurnear here at about 11.33 AM, Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation (DRDO) officials said.

"It was an excellent launch and a great success," asenior DRDO scientist associated with this project said.

The missile is capable of carrying a warhead of300 kg. The two-stage missile, one being solid and thesecond one ramjet liquid propellant, has already beeninducted into the Army and Navy, while the Air Forceversion is in final stage of trial, they said.

The Army is already equipped with three regimentsof Block III version of Brahmos missiles.

While induction of the first version of Brahmosmissile system in the Indian Navy began in 2005 with INSRajput, it is now fully operational with two regiments ofthe Army, they said.

After two successful test trials of Brahmos missilefrom INS Kolkata in June 2014 and February 2015, testfiring from INS Kochi on September 30, 2015 hadvalidated the newly commissioned ship's systems.

The air launch version and the submarine launchversion of the missile system are in progress. The Armyhas so far placed orders for the BrahMos missile to bedeployed by three regiments of the Army and two ofthem have already been inducted operationally.

BrahMos Aerospace, an Indo-Russian jointventure, is also in advance stage of test launching the airversion of the sophisticated missile system and work onthe project is in progress.


DEADLY WHEAT BLAST DISEASE SPREADSTO BENGAL DISTRICTS

The border with Bangladesh in West Bengal,infamous for smuggling of fake currency notes and cattleand infiltration of ISI agents, has gained notoriety onanother count - entry of a deadly fungus which has causeddevastation to the wheat crop.

The "wheat blast" disease, which first struck Brazilin 1985 and some other Latin American countriesdestroying three million hectares of cultivation, has nowinvaded India, affecting wheat crop in two borderingdistricts of West Bengal — Murshidabad and Nadia.

"Around 800 hectares in eight blocks of the twodistricts of Murshidabad and Nadia have been affectedby the Wheat Blast disease," state agriculture ministerPurnendu Basu confirmed.

Another official in the department said thataround 1,000 hectares had been affected by the disease,which was fi rst noticed at the Jalangi block ofMurshidabad district in the last week of February.

From Jalangi, it has spread to the blocks ofDomkal, Raninagar-I, Nawda and Hariharpara so far andaffected wheat production in more than 509 hectares ofland in Murshidabad district, the official said.

"In Nadia, the disease has affected wheatproduction in more than 500 hectares in blocks of Tehatta-II and II, Karimpur I and II and Chapra," he said.

Basu said that the state government was burningstanding crops to prevent the disease from spreading tothe rest of the country.

A team from the Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch (ICAR) scientists visited the two districts andwas conducting a survey jointly with state governmentrepresentatives.

Last year, the fungus entered Asia for the firsttime through Bangladesh where in six districts wheat cropin over 15,000 hectares had to be destroyed.

In fact, after the outbreak in the southern districtsof Bangladesh, the ICAR had cautioned the Centre,describing the matter as "quite serious" and suggestedadoption of a strategy to fight it, Dr Jeet Singh Sandhu,Deputy Director General (Crop Science) Division of CropScience, Krishi Bhavan, ICAR told PTI from Delhi.

45 % OF COUNTRY'S BIRD SPICES IN HP:GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT

About 45 per cent of country's total bird spiceswere reported in Himachal Pradesh during Great BackyardBird Count (GGBC) 2017 in the state.

As per eBird data, as many as 564 bird species,nearly 45 per cent of the 1,263 Indian bird species, werereported from Himachal during the 4-day bird count fromFebruary 17 to 20.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife)S K Sharma said till date, a total of 2,833 bird check listshave been uploaded to eBird from all districts ofHimachal, with highest number 453 bird species reportedfrom Kangra district.

During four days of GBBC-2017, 319 specieswere reported from across 8 districts of Himachal, 83bird check lists were uploaded to eBird and over 16000birds were counted, said Sharma.

The data was contributed by nearly 50 birdwatchers including staff of the Himachal Pradesh ForestDepartment and volunteers, he said.

A detailed report on various bird species spottedduring the event is being prepared and would be publishedshortly, said Sharma.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is the first onlinecitizen-science project aimed at collecting data on wildbirds and to display results in near real-time. It waslaunched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology andNational Audubon Society, a powerful source ofinformation on birds, he explained.

Sharma said the Department's Wildlife Wingintends to carry out such exercises in future and participatein global events, especially citizen-science projects, whichwill help in understanding bird populations and itsdistribution across the state.

Himachal Forest Department has beenparticipating in GGBC since 2013 with the GBBC-Indiacoordinating the bird count in India with several Indiangroups and organisation interested in birds. Participationin GBBC is open to all.

It is simple and involves birding for at least 15minutes, listing and counting all the species during theGBBC days and the birds listed are uploaded to eBird, awebsite for recording and maintaining the bird sighting


data, based at the Cornell University’s Laboratory ofOrnithology.

The annual snapshots of birds populationsobtained during GBBC help scientists in answering severalquestions like how bird population is distributed acrossthe country, how they are affected by habitat changes andwhether population and distribution are changing.

The event is termed as a Citizen-science initiativeas it engages and allows the general public to collectscientific data useful for nature conservation, Sharma said.

The Wildli fe Wing of Himachal ForestDepartment took a pioneering initiative to participate inthe GBBC in 2017 with Sharma spearheading the initiativewith zoo biologist Lakshminarasimha R and WildlifeGuard Santosh Thakur coordinating the entire exerciseby collating and analyzing the data.

TEST TO PREDICT 'SILENT HEARTATTACKS' DEVELOPED BY TN STUDENT

A class tenth student from Tamil Nadu hasdeveloped a new technique that can non-invasively detectthe risk of a 'silent heart attack', an advance that may savemany lives in rural areas.

Akash Manoj is staying in Rashtrapati Bhavan asa guest of President Pranab Mukherjee under "InnovationScholars In-Residence Programme".

He is being honoured with this opportunity forhis innovation called "Non-invasive self diagnosis of silentheart attack".

"Silent heart attacks are extremely deadly andalarmingly common these days. In these cases, almost nosymptoms are evident and thus people look so healthy tous," Manoj told PTI at the Festival of Innovation organisedin Rashtrapati Bhavan.

"My grandfather also looked healthy but one dayhe collapsed following a sudden heart attack," he said.

The incident served as an impetus for Manoj todevelop his prototype that was exhibited at RashtrapatiBhavan.

The technique involves frequently analysing thepresence of FABP3 - a blood biomarker of heart attack- without puncturing the skin.

"FABP3 is one of the smallest proteins that canbe present in blood, and is charged negatively (so it attractsto positive charges). I used these properties in thistechnique," Manoj explained.

Manoj's model consists of a silicone membranethat represents the skin capillaries, and a drop of a solutionof proteins albumin and FABP3 to simulate blood.

When a small potential of positive charge isapplied to the model, FABP3 accumulates on dermalcapillaries, which can then be detected by ultra-violet (UV)quantification, he said.

In this process, UV light is passed through thethin skin in which FABP3 is accumulated and a sensordetects the amount of protein there, based on the howmuch of the light was absorbed.

The innovation may be helpful for "at-risk" peoplein rural areas to test their heart's health on their own, andconsult a doctor in time.

Manoj, who wishes to become a cardiologist,wants this technique to be available in rural areas so thatpeople can keep track of their heart's health and seek timelymedical help.

The In-Residence Programme was first launchedby the President in 2013 to encourage the creative andinnovative potential of citizens. The festival, conducted incollaboration with the National Innovation Foundation,will conclude on Mar 10.


1'PINK NOISE' MAY IMPROVE MEMORY,

SLEEP IN ELDERLY

Gentle sound stimulation such as the rush of awaterfall synchronised to the rhythm of brain waves -also known as pink noise - may significantly enhance deepsleep in older adults and improve their ability to recallwords, a new study has found.

Deep sleep is critical for memory consolidation.However, beginning in middle age, deep sleep decreasessubstantially, which scientists believe contributes tomemory loss in ageing.

The sound stimulation significantly enhanced deepsleep in participants and their scores on a memory test.

"This is an innovative, simple and safe non-medication approach that may help improve brain health,"said Phyllis Zee, professor at Northwestern University inthe US.

"This is a potential tool for enhancing memoryin older populations and attenuating normal age-relatedmemory decline," said Zee.

In the study, 13 participants received one nightof acoustic stimulation and one night of sham stimulation.

The sham stimulation procedure was identical tothe acoustic one, but participants did not hear any noiseduring sleep. For both sessions, the individuals took amemory test at night and again the next morning.

Recall ability after the sham stimulation generallyimproved on the morning test by a few percent. However,the average improvement was three times larger after pink-noise stimulation.

The degree of slow wave sleep enhancement wasrelated to the degree of memory improvement, suggestingslow wave sleep remains important for memory, even inold age.

Although the scientists have not yet studied theeffect of repeated nights of stimulation, this method couldbe a viable intervention for longer-term use in the home,Zee said.

Previous research showed acoustic simulationplayed during deep sleep could improve memoryconsolidation in young people. But it has not been testedin older adults.

The new study targeted older individuals - whohave much more to gain memory-wise from enhanced

deep sleep - and used a novel sound system that increasedthe effectiveness of the sound stimulation in olderpopulations.

The study used a new approach, which reads anindividual's brain waves in real time and locks in the gentlesound stimulation during a precise moment of neuroncommunication during deep sleep, which varies for eachperson.

During deep sleep, each brain wave or oscillationslows to about one per second compared to 10 oscillationsper second during wakefulness.

Giovanni Santostasi, a study coauthor, developedan algorithm that delivers the sound during the risingportion of slow wave oscillations. This stimulationenhances synchronisation of the neurons' activity.

After the sound stimulation, the older participants'slow waves increased during sleep.

The study was published in Frontiers in HumanNeuroscience.

'DINOSAUR TRACKS DISCOVERED INCHINA'

Dinosaur tracks with various footprint sizesranging from 21 to 43 centimetres have been found innortheast China's Jilin Province, scientists have announced.

According to researchers from China, SouthKorea and the US, the tracks were found on a ruralmountain road in Longjing City in 2015.

"The tracks include footprints of hadrosaurs thatare 55 centimetres long. The trackmaker's body could havereached seven meters long," said Xing Lida, associateprofessor from China University of Geosciences.

Xing said that several tracks of carnivorousdinosaurs were also discovered with various footprint sizesranging from 21 to 43 centimetres, state-run Xinhua newsagency reported.

The discovery will help understand the region'slandscape during the Cretaceous period, Xing added.

HUGE STATUE OF EGYPTIAN PHARAOHDISCOVERED

An extremely large statue, possibly depictingEgyptian pharaoh Ramesses the Great, has been unearthedin a muddy pit in a Cairo suburb.


The fragments of the quartzite statue were foundby Egyptian and German archaeologists in the heavilypopulated Ain Shams and Matariya districts.

According to Egypt's antiquities ministry, thestatue was discovered in a courtyard near the ruins of thesun temple founded by Ramses II, better known asRamesses the Great.

"We found two big fragments so far, coveringthe head and the chest," said Dietrich Raue, head of theGerman archaeological team that discovered the statue.

"As of yet, we do not have the base and the legsas well as the kilt," said Raue, a curator at the EgyptianMuseum of the University of Leipzig in Germany.

Raue estimates that the statue is about eight meterstall, 'Live Science' reported.

Although the researchers did not find any artifactsor engravings that could identify the subject of the colossalsculpture, its location in front of Ramesses II's templesuggests that it could have belonged to the pharaoh.

Ramesses II was the third king of Egypt's 19thdynasty, who ruled for 66 years.

NEW BIO-INSPIRED SUPER STRONG GLUEWORKS UNDER WATER

Scientists, inspired by substances shellfish createto stick to surfaces, have developed a super strong adhesivethat works under water.

The bio-based glue performed better than 10commercial adhesives when used to bond polishedaluminium.

When compared with the five strongestcommercial glues included in the study, the new adhesiveperformed better when bonding wood, Teflon andpolished aluminium. It was the only adhesive of thosetested that worked with wood and far out-performedthe other adhesives when used to join Teflon.

"Our current adhesives are terrible at wetbonding, yet marine biology solved this problem eonsago," said Jonathan Wilker, a professor at PurdueUniversity in the US.

"Mussels, barnacles, and oysters attach to rockswith apparent ease. In order to develop new materialsable to bind within harsh environments, we made abiomimetic polymer that is modelled after the adhesiveproteins of mussels," said Wilker.

Mussels extend hair-like fibres that attach tosurfaces using plaques of adhesive. Proteins in the gluecontain the amino acid DOPA, which harbours thechemistry needed to provide strength and adhesion.

Researchers inserted this chemistry of musselproteins into a biomimetic polymer called poly(catechol-styrene), creating an adhesive by harnessing the chemistryof compounds called catechols, which are contained inDOPA.

"We are focusing on catechols given that theanimals use this type of chemistry so successfully," Wilkersaid.

"Poly(catechol-styrene) is looking to be, possibly,one of the strongest underwater adhesives found to date,"he said. While most adhesives interact with water insteadof sticking to surfaces, the catechol groups may have aspecial talent for "drilling down" through surface watersin order to bind onto surfaces, he said.

"These findings are helping to reveal whichaspects of mussel adhesion are most important whenmanaging attachment within their wet and saltyenvironment," Wilker said.

"All that is needed for high strength bondingunderwater appears to be a catechol-containing polymer,".The new adhesive also proved to be about 17 timesstronger than the natural adhesive produced by mussels,he added.

"In biomimetics, where you try to make syntheticversions of natural materials and compounds, you almostnever can achieve performance as good as the naturalsystem," Wilker said.

One explanation might be that the animals haveevolved to produce adhesives that are only as strong asthey need to be for their specific biological requirements.

The natural glues might be designed to give waywhen the animals are hunted by predators, breaking offwhen pulled from a surface instead of causing injury tointernal tissues.

'LOST' CHANDRAYAAN-1 FOUNDORBITING MOON: NASA

India's first lunar probe - the Chandrayaan-1spacecraft - which was considered lost, is still orbiting theMoon, NASA scientists have found by using a newground-based radar technique.


Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lostcommuNication with Chandrayaan-1 on August 29, 2009,almost a year after it was launched on October 22, 2008.

Now, scientists at NASA's Jet PropulsionLaboratory (JPL) in California have successfully locatedthe spacecraft still circling some 200 kilometres above thelunar surface.

"We have been able to detect NASA's LunarReconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft in lunarorbit with ground-based radar," said Marina Brozovic, aradar scientist at JPL and principal investigator for thetest project.

"Finding LRO was relatively easy, as we wereworking with the mission's navigators and had preciseorbit data where it was located. Finding India'sChandrayaan-1 required a bit more detective work becausethe last contact with the spacecraft was in August of 2009,"said Brozovic.

The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is very small, a cubeabout 1.5 meters on each side - about half the size of asmart car.

Although the interplanetary radar has been usedto observe small asteroids several million miles fromEarth, researchers were not certain that an object of thissmaller size as far away as the Moon could be detected,even with the world's most powerful radars.

Chandrayaan-1 proved the perfect target fordemonstrating the capability of this technique.

To find a spacecraft 380,000 kilometres away,JPL's team used NASA's 70-metre antenna at NASA'sGoldstone Deep Space Communications Complex inCalifornia to send out a powerful beam of microwavesdirected towards the Moon.

Then the radar echoes bounced back from lunarorbit were received by the 100-meter Green BankTelescope in West Virginia.

Finding a derelict spacecraft at lunar distance thathas not been tracked for years is tricky because the Moonis riddled with mascons (regions with higher-than-averagegravitational pull) that can dramatically affect a spacecraft'sorbit over time, and even cause it to have crashed into theMoon.

JPL's orbital calculations indicated thatChandrayaan-1 is still circling some 200 kilometres abovethe lunar surface, but it was generally considered "lost."

However, with Chandrayaan-1, the radar teamutilised the fact that this spacecraft is in polar orbit aroundthe Moon, so it would always cross above the lunar poleson each orbit.

On July 2 last year, the team pointed Goldstoneand Green Bank at a location about 160 kilometres abovethe Moon's north pole and waited to see if the lostspacecraft crossed the radar beam.

CHINESE SCIENTISTS CREATE 4SYNTHETIC YEAST CHROMOSOMES

Chinese scientists have assembled four syntheticyeast chromosomes, making it the second country afterthe US capable of designing and building eukaryoticgenomes.

The findings were published in today's editionof journal Science, marking a step closer to buildingsynthetic life, state media reported today.

In the study, researchers with Tianjin University,Tsinghua University and BGI-Shenzhen construct thesynthetic active chromosomes through exactly matchingthe synthetic genome with the designed sequence for thefirst time, Xinhua news agency reported.

In 2010, the US scientists succeeded in implantinga synthetic genome in a prokaryotic bacterium, markingthe first step in chemical synthesis of living organisms.

The new effort is part of a larger project toredesign and re-engineer yeast chromosomes, called theSynthetic Yeast Genome Project, which several researchinstitutes participated in, including those in China and theUnited States.

Baker's yeast has long served as an importantresearch model because their cells share many features withhuman cells, but are simpler and easier to study.

NASA'S EUROPA CLIPPER TO SEARCH FORALIEN LIFE ON JUPITER MOON

NASA's 'Europa Clipper' set to launch in the2020s will probe the habitability of Jupiter's icy moonEuropa.

When the mission was still in the conceptual phase,it was sometimes informally called Europa Clipper, butNASA has now adopted that name as the formal title forthe mission.


The moniker harkens back to the clipper shipsthat sailed across the oceans of Earth in the 19th century.

Clipper ships were streamlined, three-mastedsailing vessels renowned for their grace and swiftness.

These ships rapidly shuttled tea and other goodsback and forth across the Atlantic Ocean and around theglobe.

In the grand tradition of these classic ships, theEuropa Clipper spacecraft would sail past Europa at arapid cadence, as frequently as every two weeks, providingmany opportunities to investigate the moon up close.

The prime mission plan includes 40 to 45 flybys,during which the spacecraft would image the moon's icysurface at high resolution and investigate its compositionand the structure of its interior and icy shell.

Europa has long been a high priority forexploration because it holds a salty liquid water oceanbeneath its icy crust.

The ultimate aim of Europa Clipper is todetermine if Europa is habitable, possessing all three ofthe ingredients necessary for life: liquid water, chemicalingredients, and energy sources sufficient to enablebiology.

"During each orbit, the spacecraft spends only ashort time within the challenging radiation environmentnear Europa. It speeds past, gathers a huge amount ofscience data, then sails on out of there," said RobertPappalardo, Europa Clipper project scientist at NASA'sJet Propulsion Laboratory in the US.

The mission is being planned for launch in the2020s, arriving in the Jupiter system after a journey ofseveral years.

LIGHT, REPARABLE BULLET-PROOFARMOUR DEVELOPED

Scientists have developed a new transparentbullet-proof armour that is lighter in weight and can easilybe repaired on the field.

Thermoplastic elastomers are soft, rubberypolymers converted by physical means, rather than achemical process, to a solid.

The solidification is reversible and enablesdamaged armor surfaces to be repaired 'on-the-fly' inthe field.

"Heating the material above the softening point,around 100 degrees Celsius, melts the small crystallites,enabling the fracture surfaces to meld together and reformvia diffusion," said Mike Roland, senior scientist at the USNaval Research Laboratory (NRL).

"This can be accomplished with a hot plate, akinto an iron, that molds the newly forming surface into asmooth, flat sheet with negligible effect on integrity," saidRoland.

Up to now, scientists have tested the use ofpolymeric materials as a coating to achieve improvedimpact resistance of hard substrates.

Applying polyurea and polyisobutylene layersenhance the ballistic performance of armor and helmets,and achieve greater ballistic effectiveness and mitigationof blast waves.

By using a variation of employing thermoplasticelastomers, scientists were able to recreate superior ballisticproperties of polyurea and polyisobutylene coatings, withthe added benefit of the material being transparent, lighterthan conventional bullet-resistant glass and repairable.

"Because of the dissipative properties of theelastomer, the damage due to a projectile strike is limitedto the impact locus. This means that the affect on visibilityis almost inconsequential, and multi-hit protection isachieved," Roland said.

GREAT BARRIER REEF WITNESSINGSECOND YEAR OF MASS BLEACHING

Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef isexperiencing an unprecedented mass coral bleaching forthe second consecutive year, scientists said today, addingthat the corals do not have enough time to fully recoverfrom last year's extreme heat event.

The bleaching is part of a global event affectingthe world's coral reefs over the past two years.

Experts from the Great Barrier Reef MarinePark Authority spent six hours yesterday flying over theReef between Townsville and Cairns, alongside researchersfrom the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

The aerial survey of the Reef, the first for thisyear, found severe bleaching in offshore reefs from northof Ingham to the northern extent of the survey nearCairns.


This year more bleaching is being observed inthis central part of the Reef, which last year escapedwidespread severe bleaching.

The survey confirmed anecdotal reports fromvisitors and reef surveys of bleaching from marine parkrangers and commercial operators, said David Wachenfeld,director of reef recovery at Marine Park Authority.

"Mass bleaching is occurring on the Great BarrierReef for the second consecutive year. How this eventunfolds will depend very much on local weatherconditions over the next few weeks," Wachenfeld said.

"Importantly, not all bleached coral will die. Aswe saw last year bleaching and mortality can be highlyvariable across the 344,000 square kilometre Marine Park- an area bigger than Italy," he said.

The recurrence of widespread coral bleaching inback-to-back summers indicated there was not enoughtime betWeen last year's extreme heat event for the coralsto fully recover, said Neal Cantin from the AustralianInstitute of Marine Science (AIMS).

"We are seeing a decrease in the stress toleranceof these corals. This is the first time the Great BarrierReef has not had a few years between bleaching events torecover," Cantin said.

"Many coral species appear to be moresusceptible to bleaching after more than 12 months ofsustained above-average ocean temperatures," he added.

Marine Park Authority experts and scientists fromthe ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studieswill take to the sky again next week to resurvey 1150 reefsalong the entire Great Barrier Reef.

This bleaching highlighted the importance ofglobal action on climate change, Wachenfeld said.

"It's vital the world acts to implement the ParisAgreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," he said.

'WORLD GOVERNMENT' MAY SAVEHUMANITY FROM DESTRUCTION:

HAWKING

The aggressive instincts of humans, coupled withthe fast pace of growth in technology may destroy us allby nuclear or biological war, renowned British PhysicistStephen Hawking has warned, adding that only a 'worldgovernment' may prevent this impending doom.

Despite the problems of mass species extinction,global warming and the threat of artificial intelligence,Hawking remains optimistic about the future of humanity.

He said that he looked back on his life withgratitude and towards the years to come with cautioushope.

However, he is worried that humans may nothave the skills as a species to stay alive.

If humanity is to survive to see the future, thenwe might need to form a world government, Hawkingsaid.

"We need to be quicker to identify such threatsand act before they get out of control. This might meansome form of world government. But that might becomea tyranny," said Hawking.

"All this may sound a bit doom-laden but I aman optimist. I think the human race will rise to meet thesechallenges," he said.

"Since civilisation began, aggression has beenuseful in as much as it has definite survival advantages,"he said.

"It is hard-wired into our genes by Darwinianevolution. Now, however, technology has advanced atsuch a pace that this aggression may destroy us all bynuclear or biological war," he added.

"We need to control this inherited instinct by ourlogic and reason," Hawking was quoted as saying by 'TheTimes'.

He argued that there were new challenges too -among them environmental problems and his concernthat artificial intelligence could supplant humans.

Hawking had earlier warned that the creation ofpowerful artificial intelligence may turn out to be "the worstthing ever to happen to humanity" despite its potentialbenefits.

NEW MOLECULE CONVERTS CARBONDIOXIDE INTO FUEL SOURCE

Scientists have developed a molecule that uses lightor electricity to efficiently convert the greenhouse gascarbon dioxide into a carbon-neutral fuel source.

The molecule employs a nanographene complexto absorb light and drive the conversion of carbon dioxideto carbon monoxide, researchers said.


It is a "new milestone in the quest to recyclecarbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere into carbon-neutral fuels and other materials," said Liang-shi Li,associate professor at Indiana University in the US.

"If you can create an efficient enough moleculefor this reaction, it will produce energy that is free andstorable in the form of fuels. This study is a major leap inthat direction," said Li.

Burning fuel - such as carbon monoxide -produces carbon dioxide and releases energy. Turningcarbon dioxide back into fuel requires at least the sameamount of energy.

A major goal among scientists has been decreasingthe excess energy needed.

This is exactly what Li's molecule achieves:requiring the least amount of energy reported thus far todrive the formation of carbon monoxide.

The molecule - a nanographene-rhenium complexconnected via an organic compound known as bipyridine- triggers a highly efficient reaction that converts carbondioxide to carbon monoxide.

The ability to efficiently and exclusively createcarbon monoxide is significant due to the molecule'sversatility.

"Carbon monoxide is an important raw materialin a lot of industrial processes," Li said.

"It's also a way to store energy as a carbon-neutralfuel since you're not putting any more carbon back intothe atmosphere than you already removed. You're simplyre-releasing the solar power you used to make it," he said.

The secret to the molecule's efficiency isnanographene - a nanometre-scale piece of graphite, acommon form of carbon - because the material's darkcolour absorbs a large amount of sunlight.

Li said that bipyridine-metal complexes have longbeen studied to reduce carbon dioxide to carbonmonoxide with sunlight.

However, these molecules can use only a tiny sliverof the light in sunlight, primarily in the ultraviolet range,which is invisible to the naked eye.

In contrast, the new molecule takes advantage ofthe light-absorbing power of nanographene to create areaction that uses sunlight in the wavelength up to 600nanometres - a large portion of the visible light spectrum.

The research was published in the Journal of theAmerican Chemical Society.

NEW MIND-READING SYSTEM CANCORRECT ROBOT'S ERRORS

A new brain-computer interface developed byscientists can read a person's thoughts in real time toidentify when a robot makes a mistake, an advance thatmay lead to safer self driving cars.

Most existing brain-computer interface (BCI)require people to train with it and even learn to modulatetheir thoughts to help the machine understand, researcherssaid.

By relying on brain signals called "error-relatedpotentials" (ErrPs) that occur automatically when humansmake a mistake or spot someone else making one, thenew approach allows even complete novices to control arobot with their minds.

This technology developed by researchers at theBoston University and the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (MIT) may offer intuitive and instantaneousways of communicating with machines, for applicationsas diverse as supervising factory robots to controllingrobotic prostheses.

"When humans and robots work together, youbasically have to learn the language of the robot, learn anew way to communicate with it, adapt to its interface,"said Joseph DelPreto, a PhD candidate at MIT's ComputerScience and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).

"In this work, we were interested in seeing howyou can have the robot adapt to us rather than the otherway around," he told 'Live Science'.

Researchers collected electroencephalography(EEG) data from volunteers as those individuals watcheda humanoid robot decide which of two objects to pickup. This data was analysed using machine-learningalgorithms that can detect ErrPs in just 10 to 30milliseconds.

This means results could be fed back to the robotin real time, allowing it to correct its course midway,researchers said.

NASA PROBE PROVIDES MOREINFORMATION ABOUT TRAPPIST-1

NASA's Kepler mission has provided moreinformation about the recently discovered ultra-cool


dwarf star, TRAPPIST-1, that hosts seven potentiallyhabitable Earth-size planets 40 light-years away.

On February 22, astronomers announced thatTRAPPIST-1 hosts a total of seven planets that are likelyrocky, a discovery made by NASA's Spitzer SpaceTelescope in combination with ground-based telescopes.

During the period between December 15 andMarch 4, the Kepler spacecraft, operating as the K2mission, collected data on the star's minuscule changes inbrightness due to transiting planets.

These additional observations are expected toallow astronomers to refine the previous measurementsof six planets, pin down the orbital period and mass ofthe seventh and farthest planet, TRAPPIST-1h, and learnmore about themagnetic activity of the host star.

"Scientists and enthusiasts around the world areinvested in learning everything they can about these Earth-size worlds," said Geert Barentsen, K2 research scientistat NASA's Ames Research Centre in California.

"Providing the K2 raw data as quickly as possiblewas a priority to give investigators an early look so theycould best define their follow-up research plans. We'rethrilled that this will also allow the public to witness theprocess of discovery," said Barentsen.

The release of the raw, uncalibrated data collectedwill aid astronomers in preparing proposals due this monthto use telescopes on the Earth to further investigateTRAPPIST-1, NASA said.

By late May, the routine processing of the datawill be completed and the fully calibrated data will bemade available at the public archive, it said.

The observation period, known as K2 Campaign12, provides 74 days of monitoring.

This is the longest, nearly continuous set ofobservations of TRAPPIST-1 yet, and providesresearchers with an opportunity to further study thegravitational interaction between the seven planets, andsearch for planets that may remain undiscovered in thesystem.

During Campaign 12, a cosmic ray event resetthe spacecraft's onboard software causing a five-day breakin science data collection, NASA said.

The benign event is the fourth occurrence ofcosmic ray susceptibility since launch in March 2009. Thespacecraft remains healthy and is operating nominally.

"We were lucky that the K2 mission was able toobserve TRAPPIST-1," said Michael Haas, science officedirector for the Kepler and K2 missions at Ames.

"The observing field for Campaign 12 was setwhen the discovery of the first planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 was announced, and the science community had alreadysubmitted proposals for specific targets of interest in thatfield," said Haas.

NASA PLANS TO CREATE 'COOLEST SPOTIN UNIVERSE'

NASA is planning to send an ice chest-sized boxto the International Space Station (ISS), where it will freezegas atoms to create the coolest spot in the universe, anadvance that may provide new insights into gravity anddark matter.

Inside that box, lasers, a vacuum chamber and anelectromagnetic "knife" will be used to cancel out theenergy of gas particles, slowing them until they're almostmotionless.

The suite of instruments, developed by NASA'sJet Propulsion Laboratory in the US, is called the ColdAtom Laboratory (CAL). It is set to ride to space in Augustaboard the SpaceX CRS-12.

CAL's instruments are designed to freeze gasatoms to a mere billionth of a degree above absolutezero - more than 100 million times colder than the depthsof space.

"Studying these hyper-cold atoms could reshapeour understanding of matter and the fundamental natureof gravity," said CAL Project Scientist Robert Thompsonof JPL.

"The experiments we'll do with the Cold AtomLab will give us insight into gravity and dark energy -some of the most pervasive forces in the universe," saidThompson.

When atoms are cooled to extreme temperatures,as they will be inside of CAL, they can form a distinctstate of matter known as a Bose-Einstein condensate.

In this state, familiar rules of physics recede andquantum physics begins to take over. Matter can beobserved behaving less like particles and more like waves.

Rows of atoms move in concert with one anotheras if they were riding a moving fabric. These mysterious


waveforms have never been seen at temperatures as lowas what CAL will achieve.

NASA has never before created or observedBose-Einstein condensates in space. On Earth, the pullof gravity causes atoms to continually settle towards theground, meaning they are typically only observable forfractions of a second.

However, on the ISS, ultra-cold atoms can holdtheir wave-like forms longer while in freefall. That offersscientists a longer window to understand physics at itsmost basic level.

Thompson estimated that CAL will allow Bose-Einstein condensates to be observable for up to five to10 seconds; future development of the technologies usedon CAL could allow them to last for hundreds of seconds.

Bose-Einstein condensates are a "superfluid" - akind of fluid with zero viscosity, where atoms movewithout friction as if they were all one, solid substance.

"If you had superfluid water and spun it aroundin a glass, it would spin forever. There's no viscosity toslow it down and dissipate the kinetic energy," said AnitaSengupta of JPL, Cold Atom Lab project manager.

"If we can better understand the physics ofsuperfluids, we can possibly learn to use those for moreefficient transfer of energy," said Sengupta.

MIND-READING SYSTEM CAN CORRECTROBOT'S ERRORS IN REAL TIME

Scientists have developed a new brain-computerinterface that can read a person's thoughts in real time tocorrect a robot's errors, an advance that may lead to saferself driving cars.

Most existing brain-computer interface (BCI)require people to train with it and even learn to modulatetheir thoughts to help the machine understand, researcherssaid.

By relying on brain signals called "error-relatedpotentials" (ErrPs) that occur automatically when humansmake a mistake or spot someone else making one, thenew approach allows even complete novices to control arobot with their minds.

This technology developed by researchers at theBoston University and the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (MIT) may offer intuitive and instantaneousways of communicating with machines, for applicationsas diverse as supervising factory robots to controllingrobotic prostheses.

"When humans and robots work together, youbasically have to learn the language of the robot, learn anew way to communicate with it, adapt to its interface,"said Joseph DelPreto, a PhD candidate at MIT's ComputerScience and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).

"In this work, we were interested in seeing howyou can have the robot adapt to us rather than the otherway around," he told 'Live Science'.

Researchers collected electroencephalography(EEG) data from volunteers as those individuals watcheda humanoid robot decide which of two objects to pickup.

This data was analysed using machine-learningalgorithms that can detect ErrPs in just 10 to 30milliseconds.

This means results could be fed back to the robotin real time, allowing it to correct its course midway,researchers said.


PREHISTORIC ANCESTOR OF LEUKAEMIAVIRUS FOUND IN BATS

Ancient DNA traces from the family of virusesthat cause a rare type of leukaemia have been found inthe genomes of bats, filling the "last major gap" inretrovirus fossil record, a new study has said.

The research, which is published today inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)and was conducted by the University of Glasgow andThe Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, offers conclusiveevidence that these viruses are between 20 and 45 millionyears old.

The findings represent the first concrete piece ofevidence that the 'Deltaretrovirus' group has a truly ancientorigin in mammals. The results also offer key insights tothe characteristics of these viruses and will allow scientiststo better understand them in the future.

The Deltaretrovirus group which includes T-lymphotrophic viruses, currently estimated to infect 15 to20 million people worldwide, can cause a rare type ofNon-Hodgkin Lymphoma called Adult T-CellLeukaemia/Lymphoma (ATLL). Infection with this virusis very rare in the UK however, and most people whocarry the virus will not develop the disease. It haslong been thought that deltaretroviruses have infectedhumans since prehistoric times. However, because theseviruses had no fossil record, their deeper origins have untilnow remained a mystery.

"The discovery of this viral sequence fills the lastmajor gap in the fossil record of retroviruses. It providesa means of calibrating the timeline of interaction betweendeltaretroviruses and their hosts," Dr Robert Gifford,from the MRC - University of Glasgow Centre for VirusResearch, said.

A team working under researcher Dr DanielElleder at the Czech Academy of Sciences identified theremnants of a deltaretrovirus in the genome of bent-winged bats.

The sequence was found to be integrated in arange of distantly related Minopterid species,demonstrating that it originated 20-45 million years ago.

The retrovirus fossil record is comprised of DNAsequences that are derived from ancient retroviruses, andhave been 'preserved' in animal genomes. Over recent

years, studies of these sequences have revealed theunexpectedly ancient origins of various retrovirus groups,and in doing so, have helped scientists understand the long-term 'evolutionary arms-race' between retroviruses andmammals.

The paper, 'Discovery of an endogenousDeltaretrovirus, in the genome of long-fingered bats' ispublished in PNAS.

18 NEW GENES LINKED TO AUTISM RISKIDENTIFIED

Scientists using the world's largest autism genomedatabase have identified 18 new genes variations that mayincrease the risk of the disorder.

Researchers analysed about 5,205 whole genomesfrom families affected by autism.

"It's noteworthy that we're still finding new autismgenes, let alone 18 of them, after a decade of intensefocus," said Mathew Pletcher, vice president at AutismSpeaks, an advocacy organisation in the US.

"With each new gene discovery, we're able toexplain more cases of autism, each with its own set ofbehavioural effects and many with associated medicalconcerns," he added.

Researchers found at least two of the autism-associated gene changes were associated with increasedrisk for seizures. Another gene was linked to increasedrisk for cardiac defects, and yet another with adult diabetes.

The findings from the Autism Speaks MSSNGproject - the world's largest autism genome sequencingprogramme - illustrate how whole genome sequencingfor autism can provide additional medical guidance toindividuals, families and their physicians, researchers said.

They also determined that many of the 18 newlyidentified autism genes affect the operation of a smallsubset of biological pathways in the brain.

All of these pathways affect how brain cellsdevelop and communicate with each other.

"In all, 80 per cent of the 61 gene variationsdiscovered through MSSNG affect biochemical pathwaysthat have clear potential as targets for future medicines,"Pletcher said.

"The depth of the MSSNG database allowed usto identify resilient individuals who carry autism-associatedgene variations without developing autism.


"We believe that this, too, is an important part ofthe neurodiversity story," said Stephen Scherer.

The study was published the journal NatureNeuroscience.

NEW FROG SPECIES NAMED AFTERDAVID ATTENBOROUGH

A new frog species, which measures just abouttwo centimetres and was discovered in the Peruvian Andes,has been named after the famous British broadcaster andnaturalist Sir David Attenborough.

While there are already a number of speciesnamed after including mammals, reptiles, invertebrates andplants, both extinct and extant, not until now has the hostof the BBC Natural History's Life series been honouredwith an amphibian.

The frog is formally described as Pristimantisattenboroughi, while commonly it is to be referred to asthe Attenborough's Rubber Frog.

Scientists from Illinois Wesleyan University andUniversity of Michigan in the US, spent two years surveyingmontane forests in central Peru, in order to document thelocal amphibians and reptiles and evaluate theirconservation statuses.

Their efforts have been rewarded with severalnew species of frogs and a new spectacled lizard.

Each of these discoveries, including theAttenborough's Rubber Frog, prove how beneficial it isto take into account both morphological and the geneticdata, while looking for species new to science.

The Attenborough's rubber frog is known toinhabit several localities across the Pui Pui Protected Forest,a nature reserve located at elevations between 3,400 and3,936 metres above sea level in central Peru.

The adult males reach size of 14.6-19.2 millimetresin length, while the females are larger measuring between19.2 and 23.0 millimetres.

The ground colour ranges from pale to dark greyor reddish brown to brownish olive with dark greyscattered flecks.

Juveniles are paler (yellowish to reddish brown)with contrasting dark brown flecks and distinct stripes.

Due to the amphibian being known from fewerthan ten localities, spread across less than 20,000 squaremetres, the species should be deemed either Vulnerable

or Endangered, according to the IUCN Red ListCategories and Criteria.

However, researchers suggest that theAttenborough's Rubber frog should be listed as NearThreatened instead, since the Piu Piu forest is formallyprotected and still largely unknown, so it is likely that thereare more additional populations of the new species.

On the other hand, factors such as fungalinfections, climate change, pollution and man-made firescontinue to be threats for many Andean amphibians eveninside protected areas.

"We dedicate this species to Sir David FrederickAttenborough in honour for his educationaldocumentaries on wildlife, especially on amphibians (egLife in Cold Blood, Fabulous Frogs), and for raisingawareness about the importance of wildlife conservation,"researchers said.

Among the numerous namesakes of Sir DavidAttenborough to date, there are a rare genus of beautifulflowering plants, a rare butterfly species, commonlyknown as the Attenborough's black-eyed satyr, a flightlessweevil species, as well as a number of extinct species.

HOW LULLABIES EVOLVED DECODED

Lullabies may have evolved as a way to signal tochildren that their needs for attention are being met, whilefreeing the parents to perform other tasks, such as foragingfor food or caring for another offspring, Harvard scientistssuggest.

Infant-directed song might later have evolved intothe more complex forms of music we hear in our modernworld, researchers said.

Music is a tricky topic for evolutionary science: itturns up in many cultures around the world in manydifferent contexts, but no one knows why humans are theonly musical species.

"There has been a lot of attention paid to thequestion of where music came from, but none of thetheories have been very successful in predicting the featuresof music or musical behaviour," said Max Krasnow, fromHarvard.

"What we are trying to do with this paper isdevelop a theory of music that is grounded in evolutionary


biology, human life history and the basic features ofmammalian ecology," said Krasnow.

At the core of their theory, Krasnow said, is thenotion that parents and infants are engaged in an "armsrace" over an invaluable resource - attention.

"Particularly in an ancestral world, where thereare predators and other people that pose a risk, and infantsdon't know which foods are poisonous and what activitiesare hazardous, an infant can be kept safe by an attentiveparent," he said.

While there is some cooperation in the battle forthat resource - parents want to satisfy infants appetite forattention because their cries might attract predators, whilechildren need to ensure parents have time for other activitieslike foraging for food - that mutual interest only goes sofar.

Researchers predict that children should 'want' agreater share of their parents' attention than their parents'want' to give them.

But how does the child know it is has her parent'sattention? The solution is that parents were forced todevelop some method of signalling to their offspring thattheir desire for attention was being met, said Krasnow.

"I could simply look at my children, and theymight have some assurance that I'm attending to them,"Krasnow said.

"But I could be looking at them and thinking ofsomething else, or looking at them and focusing on mycell phone, and not really attending to them at all. Theyshould want a better signal than that," he said.

Signals in form of a song is more honest due tothe cost associated with them - meaning that by sending asignal to an infant, a parent cannot be sending it tosomeone else, sending it but lying about it, researcherssaid.

Mehr notes that infant-directed song provides lotsof opportunities for parents to signal their attention toinfants.

The research was published in the journalEvolution and Human Behaviour.

'WASTE TOMATOES CAN BE USED TOMAKE CAR TIRES'

Future automobile tires could come from thefarm as much as the factory, thanks to a new way

developed by scientists to convert waste tomato peels andeggshells into petroleum-based filler for sustainable rubber.

Researchers at The Ohio State University in theUS have discovered that food waste can partially replacethe petroleum-based fil ler that has been used inmanufacturing tires for more than a century.

In tests, rubber made with the new fillers exceedsindustrial standards for performance, which may ultimatelyopen up new applications, researchers said.

According to researcher Katrina Cornish, thetechnology can make the manufacture of rubber productsmore sustainable and keep waste out of landfills.

Cornish developed the new method for turningeggshells and tomato peels into viable replacements forcarbon black, a petroleum-based filler.

About 30 per cent of a typical automobile tire iscarbon black; it is the reason tires appear black. It makesthe rubber durable, and its cost varies with petroleumprices. Carbon black is getting harder to come by, Cornishsaid.

"The tire industry is growing very quickly, andwe do not just need more natural rubber, we need morefiller, too," she said.

"We are not suggesting that we collect theeggshells from your breakfast. We are going right to thebiggest source," Cornish said.

Commercial tomatoes have been bred to growthick, fibrous skins so that they can survive being packedand transported long distances.

When food companies want to make a productsuch as tomato sauce, they peel and discard the skin, whichis not easily digestible.

Cindy Barrera, a postdoctoral researcher inCornish's lab, found in tests that eggshells have porousmicrostructures that provide larger surface area for contactwith the rubber, and give rubber-based materials unusualproperties.

Tomato peels, on the other hand, are highly stableat high temperatures and can also be used to generatematerial with good performance.

"Fillers generally make rubber stronger, but theyalso make it less flexible," Barrera said.

"We found that replacing different portions ofcarbon black with ground eggshells and tomato peelscaused synergistic effects - for instance, enabling strongrubber to retain flexibility," said Barrera.


"We may find that we can pursue manyapplications that were not possible before with naturalrubber," Cornish added.

The new rubber does not look black, but ratherreddish brown, depending on the amount of eggshell ortomato in it.

MARS MAY HAVE BEEN WETTER THANTHOUGHT: STUDY

Mars may have been a wetter place thanpreviously thought, according to new research whichcould have implications for the possibility of life on thered planet. Researchers found evidence that a mineral foundin Martian meteorites - which had been considered asproof of an ancient dry environment on Mars - mayhave originally been a hydrogen-containing mineral thatcould indicate a more water-rich history for the red planet.

Scientists at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas(UNLV), who led an international research team in thestudy, created a synthetic version of a hydrogen-containingmineral known as whitlockite.

After shock-compression experiments onwhitlockite samples that simulated the conditions ofejecting meteorites from Mars, the researchers studied theirmicroscopic makeup with X-ray experiments.

The X-ray experiments showed that whitlockitecan become dehydrated from such shocks, formingmerrillite, a mineral that is commonly found in Martianmeteorites but does not occur naturally on Earth.

"This is important for deducing how much watercould have been on Mars, and whether the water wasfrom Mars itself rather than comets or meteorites," saidMartin Kunz, a staff scientist at Lawrence BerkeleyNational Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in the US.

"If even a part of merrillite had been whitlockitebefore, it changes the water budget of Mars dramatically,"said Oliver Tschauner, a professor at UNLV.

Since whitlockite can be dissolved in water andcontains phosphorous, an essential element for life onEarth - and merrillite appears to be common to manyMartian meteorites - the study could also have implicationsfor the possibility of life on Mars.

"The overarching question here is about wateron Mars and its early history on Mars: Had there everbeen an environment that enabled a generation of life onMars?" Tschauner said.

The pressures and temperatures generated in theshock experiments, while comparable to those of ameteorite impact, lasted for only about 100 billionths ofa second, or about one-tenth to one-hundredth as long asan actual meteorite impact.

The fact that experiments showed even partialconversion to merrillite in these lab-created conditions, alonger duration impact would likely have produced"almost full conversion" to merrillite, Tschauner said.

He added that this latest study appears to be oneof the first of its kind to detail the shock effects onsynthetic whitlockite, which is rare on Earth.

Researchers blasted the synthetic whitlockitesamples with metal plates fired from a gas-pressurisedgun at speeds of up to about half a mile per second, orabout 1,678 miles per hour, and at pressures of up toabout 363,000 times greater than the air pressure in abasketball.

The study was published in the journal NatureCommunications.

TINY DNA MACHINES MAY DRIVEDISEASE DETECTION, DRUG DELIVERY

Scientists have created nanomachines - tiny DNAmotors in living cells - that can help improve diseasedetection and drug delivery in patients.

The process - previously only successful in testtubes - demonstrates how DNA motors can be used toaccomplish specific and focused biological functions inlive cells.

"This is really big because of the diverse potentialapplications," said Chris Le, professor at University ofAlberta in Canada.

"One outcome of this will be to provide betterand earlier disease detection. Another is the controllablerelease of targeted drug molecules within patients, resultingin fewer side effects," said Le. The team created thenanomachine from compartments made up of DNAenzyme molecules and substrates.

"This nanomachine has the required fuels, DNAtracks, and a molecular switch," said Hongquan Zhang,from University of Alberta.

For the study, it was 'tuned' to detect a specificmicroRNA sequence found in breast cancer cells. When itcame into contact with the targeted molecules, the DNA


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motor was turned on and produced fluorescence as partof a reaction. The researchers were able to monitor thefluorescence, detecting which cells were cancerous. Lebelieves the findings show great promise for the earlydiagnosis of disease.

"We want to be able to detect cancer or diseasemarkers in very minute amounts before the disease getsout of hand. That way physicians can attack it very early,"said Le. "The trace amount of the target molecules thatmay be missed by other techniques can now be detectedwith this one," he said.

In addition to the potential for improved diseasediagnosis, the researchers say DNA motors could also beused for precision drug delivery in patients.

Conventional targeted drug therapy deliversmedicine to a selectively targeted site of action, yet it stillaffects a large number of molecules that are not diseased.

With the DNA motor, the team says a drugpayload can be delivered and then released only whentriggered by disease specific molecules.

"You still have some drug molecules going to thenormal cells - you can't avoid that," said Le.

"Using the DNA motor, we hope to deliver thedrug into the cells in an inactive form. Only when theDNA motor encounters the targeted molecules can thedrug then be released to be active," he said.

While the team used a breast cancer marker forthe study, the aim now is to expand the work to examinea wider range of other disease markers.

Further testing on the nanomachines is needed tobetter understand the full range of capabilities for drugdelivery.

The study was published in the journal NatureCommunications.

GIANT MAGNETIC SHIELD COULD MAKEMARS HABITABLE: NASA

NASA scientists have proposed deploying a giantmagnetic shield around Mars to protect its atmospherefrom solar wind, that could make the red planet habitablefor future generations of human colonists.

About 4.2 billion years ago, the magnetic field ofMars suddenly disappeared, which caused the red planet'satmosphere to slowly be lost to space, researchers said.

Over the course of the next 500 million years,Mars went from being a warmer, wetter environment tothe cold, uninhabitable place we know today, they said.

Without this atmosphere, Mars will continue tobe a cold, dry place where life cannot flourish.

In addition to that, future crewed mission - whichNASA hopes to mount by the 2030s – will also have todeal with some severe hazards.

Foremost among these will be exposure toradiation and the danger of asphyxiation, which will posean even greater danger to colonists.

At a recent workshop hosted by NASA'sPlanetary Science Division (PSD) in Washington, JimGreen, Director of NASA's Planetary Science Divisionsuggested positioning a magnetic dipole shield at the MarsL1 Lagrange Point.

An artificial magnetosphere could be formed thatwould encompass the entire planet, thus shielding it fromsolar wind and radiation, he said.

"In the future it is quite possible that an inflatablestructure(s) can generate a magnetic dipole field at a levelof perhaps 1 or 2 Tesla (or 10,000 to 20,000 Gauss) as anactive shield against the solar wind," Green said.

The positioning of this magnetic shield wouldensure that the two regions where most of Mars'atmosphere is lost would be shielded, 'Universe Today'reported.

To test this idea, the research team conducted aseries of simulations using their proposed artificialmagnetosphere.

These were run at the Coordinated CommunityModelling Centre (CCMC), which specialises in spaceweather research, to see what the net effect would be.

What the researchers found was that a dipole fieldpositioned at Mars L1 Lagrange Point would be able tocounteract solar wind, such that Mars' atmosphere wouldachieve a new balance.

As a result, atmosphere of Mars would naturallythicken over time, which can lead to many new possibilitiesfor human exploration and colonisation, they said.

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