CURRENTS

SCIENCE REPORTERPrelims- 2014

by RAVI P. AGRAHARI

(Faculty of Science & Tech. and Environmental Sc.)

INDIA AIMS FOR THE RED PLANET

It was a moment of pride for space scientists in particular and Indians in general, when on 5th

November 2013, at precisely 2.38 pm Indian Standard Time, PSLV-XL blasted off from Sriharikota

on a mangalyatra.

Its 300-day journey to Mars 400 million kilometres away. The 1,350 kg satellite will be

monitored by ISRO’s space tracking facility at Byalalu near Bangalore and also NASA’s Jet

Propulsion Lab’s Deep Space Network and its three international ground stations. The final

challenge would come after nine months when the spacecraft, would have to be inserted into

the Mars orbit on 21 September 2014 – most Mars missions have failed at this stage.

If the mission is successful, ISRO will become the fourth space agency in the world to reach

Mars, after Roscosmos, NASA, and ESA.

Energy Efficient Vehicles

SCIENTISTS from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KSAIT) have introduced

a new technology called Shaped Magnetic Field in Resonance (SMFIR) that enables Online Electric

Vehicles(OLEV) to transfer electricity wirelessly from the road surface while moving.

The OLEV receives power wirelessly through the electrical cables buried under the surface of the road,

creating magnetic fields. There is a receiving device installed on the underbody of the OLEV that

converts these fields into electricity. The length of power strips installed under the road is generally 5%

- 15% of the entire road, requiring only a few sections of the road to be rebuilt with the embedded

cables.

The vehicle complies with the international electromagnetic fields (EMF) standards of 62.5 mG, within

the margin of safety level necessary for human health. As of now, the SMFIR technology supplies 60

kHz and 180 kW of power remotely to transport vehicles at a stable, constant rate.

After the successful operation of the two OLEV buses by the end of this year, Gumi City plans to

provide ten more such buses by 2015.

GLUTEN INTOLERANCE AND CELIAC DISEASE

In some people, mostly in children, gluten, a type of protein present in it triggers an

autoimmune reaction in which the body produces antibodies that attacks its own tissues. A

mixture of gliadin and glutenin, it causes inflammation and damage to the lining of the small

intestine and results in Celiac disease or CD, which also goes by names like Gluten Enteropathy,

Gluten Sensitivity and Idiopathic Spruce. Besides wheat, the other major cereals containing this

protein are barley, rye and to a lesser extent oat.

The doctors have begun to call it an “impending epidemic”. It is believed that the new strains of

wheat that are cultivated nowadays have a highly antigenic gluten unlike the traditional ancient

varieties, which may have caused the rising incidence of the disease.

In milder forms of celiac disease, the microvilli of the absorbing epithelial cells on the villi of the

intestine are destroyed, thereby decreasing the absorptive surface area as much as two fold. In

more severe forms the villi themselves, become blunted or disappear altogether, further

reducing its absorptive area.

The more common in children, may include abdominal bloating and pain, chronic diarrhea,

vomiting, constipation, pale foul smelling or fatty stools and weight loss. Besides, improper

absorption of nutrients also causes malnutrition hampering normal growth and development

leading to other problems like delayed growth, short stature, delayed puberty and enamel

defects of the permanent teeth. Irritability is also a common feature in children.

On the other hand, digestive symptoms are less prominent in adults who develop unexplained

iron deficiency anaemia, fatigue, bone-joint pain, arthritis, bone loss, depression, anxiety,

seizure and infertility. Over time they also get complications like malnutrition, liver disease, and

cancer of the intestine.

The disease can be confirmed by duodenal biopsy. The only treatment for celiac disease

available at present is a strictly gluten-free diet, which requires avoiding wheat, barley, rye, oat

and their derivatives, while depending completely on rice or corns as the staple food.

FRANCOIS ENGLERT AND PETER HIGGS have been jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in

Physics this year for the theory of how most particles acquire mass. The CERN Laboratory in

2012 ultimately detected the elusive Higgs Boson. Here’s an insight into how they were led to

the theory and how the Higgs Boson was discovered.

At every epoch in time, we can say that there was a “Standard Model” to satisfy man’s quest to

build the entire known Universe with the smallest number of ingredients.

The standard model now had only three particles and four known forces (two nuclear forces are

now added with the discovery of the structure of the Atom, one was the strong nuclear force that

“packed” the protons and neutrons in the nucleus and the other was the weak nuclear force

responsible for the rays).

Many experiments seemed to suggest that particles like the electrons were truly elementary, in

the sense they are not made up of smaller entities, but the protons and neutrons were actually

composite in nature. Particles that were believed to be composite came to be known as Hadrons

(Hadrons are further divided into Baryons and Mesons) and particles like the electron that are not

made up of any other building blocks were called Leptons.

The British physicist P.A.M. Dirac derived a relativistic equation for the electron and concluded

that for every particle, an antiparticle exists as well. His prediction was confirmed when the

position, which was identical to the electron in every respect except charge was discovered.

The existence of antimatter is now firmly established and many astronomers believe that some

of the galaxies out there in the Universe could be made up to antimatter.

The strong nuclear force is responsible for holding the protons and neutrons together in the

nucleus, and the weak nuclear force is responsible for the decay.

On 4th July 2012, CERN officially announced the discovery of a new fundamental particle with

properties similar to those expected of a Higgs Boson. The discovery was made independently

by two teams, ATLAS and CMS at the LHC. It took another nine months and the dedicated work

of hundreds of experimenters before CERN confirmed that the particle was indeed the long-

sought Higgs Boson.

The Standard model that is now available to us unites the fundamental building blocks of nature

(quarks and leptons) and three of the four forces known to us (the fourth, gravitation, remains

outside the model and probably will never come into its framework) into an edifice that appears

to satisfy the ancient quest of man.

The Higgs Boson was the only missing link in the jig-saw puzzle of the standard model for a

long time. And it has landed Francois Englert and Peter Higgs with the Nobel Prize in Physics

this year.

Now that it has been discovered, the Standard Model appears to be complete. But will this be the

Ultimate Standard Model ? Many scientists, who are so used to surprises from Nature, doubt it.

Nobel Recognition for ‘Cellular Postal Service’

This year’s Nobel Prize was awarded to three U.S. based scientists who solved the mystery

behind the cellular postal service. James E. Rothman (62) of Yale University, Randy W.

Schekman (64) of the University of California, Berkeley, and Dr. Thomas C. Sudhof (57) of

Stanford University, who explained the inner workings of a ‘cellular postal service’ shared this

year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine announced on 7th October 2013 by the Karolinska

Institute in Stockholm.

No one knew how cells moved packets of material to their intended locations.

Chemistry to Cyberspace

The three scientists share this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their “pioneering work on

computer programs that simulate complex chemical processes and have revolutionized research

in areas from drugs to solar energy.”

Today, the modeling is carried out on computers with the help of powerful programs based on

foundations laid by this year’s Nobel laureates, which can be used to understand and predict

chemical processes.

In drug design, for example, scientists can now use computers to calculate how an experimental

medicine will react with a particular target protein in the body by working out the interplay of

atoms.

The work on computerizing chemistry began in the early 1970’s when Karplus led a research

group at Harvard University in USA that built some of the early quantum-mechanical computer

simulations.

Thanks to the work of this year’s Nobel laureates, today it is possible to examine every tiny little

step in complex chemical processes that are invisible to the naked eye. Today, all

pharmaceutical companies use computational chemistry to screen experimental compounds for

potential as medicines before further testing them on animals or people. The computer has

become just as important a tool for chemists as the test tube. Computer simulations are so

realistic that they can predict the outcome of traditional experiments. Predictions made by the

programs eliminate the need for some lab testing. For example they help reduce the necessity

of testing a new drug on animals.

Computational chemistry has today become an inseparable part of many industrial processes

such as design of new materials, the design of solar cells, or development of catalysts used in

cars. Computer programs can be used to mimic the process of photosynthesis by which green

plants absorb sunlight and produce oxygen. Ultimately, the ability to computerize such complex

chemical processes might make it possible to simulate a complete living organism at the

molecular level.

Healthy like a Horse

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are very common these days and the cause is when cholesterol

dumped into the bloodstream, it forms unusable globs (a thick, hard deposit) that choke the

blood vessels restricting supply of blood to the vital organs. Overtime, this build up causes

atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) which leads to heart diseases.

To get around the problem of high cholesterol (hypercholesterolaemia), our body packages

cholesterol into minuscule protein-covered particles called lipoproteins (lipid + protein) that mix

easily with blood and circulate to all cells that require it for vital function.

Cholesterol is fat and chemically a lipid that is used for synthesis of steroid hormones. It

performs four main functions in our body : (a) allows the body to make Vitamin D and

hormones; (b) makes up the bile acids that digest food in the intestine; (c) serve as reserve

source of energy and (d) makes outer coating of cells and being a constituent of membranes

helps strengthen the epidermis.

Two main types of lipoproteins that are involved in heart ailment are low-density lipoproteins

(HDL). The difference between the two is in the ratio of protein to lipid. Particles with more fat

and less protein (LDL) have a lower density than their high-protein, low-fat counterparts (HDL)

HDL on the other hand has more protein and fewer lipids. Instead of transporting cholesterol

around the body, it acts like a vacuum cleaner sucking up excess cholesterol from cells and taking

it back to the liver, which either uses it to make bile or recycles it. This action explains why high

levels of HDL., also referred as “good” cholesterol, are associated with low risk for heart disease.

The ideal limit of LDL is 100-129 mg/dl of blood for healthy human beings while less than 100

mg/dl is strongly desired for people who are at risk of heart disease.

Recently, scientists have identified a 40 year-old lady, a mother of two kids, having normal human

physiology and who is as healthy as a horse.

She has inherited two mutations, one from her father and the other from her mother, that has erased

the function of a gene called PCSK9. This mutation effectively eliminates all possible traces of

the PCSK9 protein in her blood that has a fundamental role in controlling levels of LDL

cholesterol.

When PCSK9 is present in the bloodstream, it competes with LDLs to bind to the same receptors

on the liver cells. Thus, when there is a lot of PCSK9 (in case of hypercholesterolaemia) all the

LDL receptors are either blocked by this protein and so fewer receptors remain to trap and

remove bad cholesterol (LDL) from the blood. On the contrary, when there is little or no

PCSK9, there are more free LDL receptors, which in turn remove more LDL cholesterol and

blood LDL remains very low. Thus, absence of PCSK9 achieved by the mutation is a desirable

phenomenon for better human health.

Patients with high LDL cholesterol levels injected with an anti-PCSK9 monoclonal antibody

along with a high-dose statin saw their LDL cholesterol levels fall by 73% in comparison to

patients taking high dose statins alone who showed a decrease of just 17%.

It is envisaged that discovery of PCSK9 will be the harbinger of a new medicine for cardio-

vascular disease in human beings in the near future.

(GSLV-D5)

(GSLV-D5) on 7th January 2014 successfully placed the GSAT-14 communications satellite into the

orbit.

GSLV-D5 catapulted India into the elite club of nations – United States, Russia, France, Japan and

China possessing the cryogenic engine technology.

ISRO is already gearing up for a series of GSLV launches, including those for GSAT-6, GSAT-7A,

GSAT-9 and Chandrayaan-2 – the second Moon Mission.

THE NEW EPIDEMIC

Junk Food-

A Food is Junk :

If it has more than 35% of calories from fat (except for low-fat milk)

If it has trans fats (partially hydrogenated fats)

If saturated fats are more than 10%

If more than 35% of calories come from sugar, unless it is made with 100% fruit and no

added sugar (many juice-cartons do not mention this)

If it has more than 200 calories per serving for snacks

If it has more than 200 mg per serving of sodium (salt) for snacks

If one of the first two ingredients is either oil or a form of sugar

Did you know :

Corn dextrin, a common thickener used in junk food, is also the glue on envelopes and

postage stamps

Alloxen, a by- product of bleaching white flour, which is often found in junk food, was found

to lead to diabetes in healthy experimental animals by destroying their pancreatic beta cells

Cellulose gum, the agent that gives certain packaged desserts their smooth feel, is also used

in rocket fuel to give a slightly gelatinous quality

Food manufacturers now spend nearly twice as much money on advertising their (breakfast)

cereals, as they do on the ingredients that go into them. Almost 80% of food commercials

aired on Saturday morning children shows are for junk food

Additives and preservatives such as common food dyes and sodium benzoate can cause

children to become more hyperactive and easily distracted than usual. High sugar foods

taken in childhood are implicated in violent behavior in adulthood.

Although breakfast cereals are not supposed to contain over 15% sugars, research has found

that most of them contain thrice as much

GUTKHA

Gutkha is a combination of lime, tobacco, betel nut, flavourings and catechu. Gradually, the use

of chewing tobacco is reaching dangerously endemic levels in the country with eight per cent of

adults in the country chewing gutkha. Gutkha has been proved to be carcinogenic. Its repeated

use can lead to heart attack and infertility.

Studies on various gutkhas and Pan Masalas available in the Indian market have shown very high

levels of heavy metals viz. Lead, Cadmium, Chromium, Arsenic, Copper and Nickel.

Traces of toxic metals (such as lead and cadmium) carry serious health risks when they

accumulate in the body and in the food chain. High amounts of magnesium carbonate in the

human body can cause respiratory and cardiac depression, while calcium carbonate or lime

damages the mucosa, causing chronic mucosal injuries and ulcers in the mouth. Gutkha, mawa

masala and pan masala are important causes of high prevalence of oral pre-cancer and cancer.

After long-term use, many users become addicted to the gutkha’s effects on normal brain

functions. Withdrawal symptoms include insomnia, dry mouth, amnesia, insomnia, cognitive

problems and fatigue.

What causes this addiction ? Arecoline, the principal alkaloid in areca nut, acts as a stimulant of

the central and autonomic nervous system (involuntary nervous system), and causes increase in

the levels of neurotransmitters such as nor-adrenaline, epinephrine (adrenaline), dopamine,

histamine, serotonin as well as acetylcholine at higher amounts. This leads to subjective effects

of increased well-being, alertness and stamina. It also improves concentration and relaxation.

The presence of lime in areca nut hydrolyzes arecoline and guvacoline into arecaidine and

guvacine, respectively. These are strong inhibitors of another neurotransmitter gamma-amino

butyric acid (GABA). Arecaidine have anxiolytic properties i.e. reduce anxiety through

inhibition of gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) reuptake.

Piper betle flower or leaf contains aromatic phenolic compounds (e.g. tannin) which stimulate

the release of neurotransmitters catecholamines, such as epinephrine (adrenaline), nor

epinephrine (noradrenaline) and dopamine. This leads to an increase in heart rate, blood

pressure, body temperature and sweating. They also bind to GABA receptors in the brain,

affecting the mental activity.

Other side effects of gutkha are cardiovascular effects, gastrointestinal effects, abnormal thyroid

function and kidney abnormalities, as well as metabolic syndrome, liver toxicity and immuno-

suppression. It can also alter blood sugar levels and raise risk of developing noninsulin-

dependent diabetes (type 2-diabetes), which is a chronic condition that affects the way the body

metabolizes glucose.

Toxic metals can also directly or indirectly damage the DNA, which increases the risk of cancer.

It is estimated that tobacco results in the death of over 10 lakh Indians every year. The

consumption of gutkha is making more than 15 million Indians impoverished every year due to

high treatment costs. Currently, India has the highest number of oral cancer cases in the world.

CHOOSE YOUR COOKING OIL

 Oils are prepared from seeds and are of plant origin. In our country a wide range of oilseed

crops are grown. Groundnut, mustard, sesame, safflower, linseed and castor are the traditionally

cultivated oilseeds in India. Soyabean and sunflower have also assumed importance lately.

Coconut is important amongst plantation crops.

One must remember that on heating oil, its characteristics are changed. Oils that are healthy at

room temperature become unhealthy when heated above certain temperatures.

Type of Oil or Fat

SaturatedMono

Unsaturated % (MUFA)

Poly Unsaturated % (PUFA)

Smoke Point, C

Use

Canola Oil 6 62 32 242

Excellent cooking medium because of low saturated fat and high MUFA. Possesses mild flavor and is quite stable at high temperatures. An ideal cooking medium with heart protecting properties.

Coconut Oil 92 6 2 177

High saturated fats which are different from those found in animal fats. Rich in fatty acid which has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Useful for selected preparations.

Type of Oil or Fat SaturatedMono

Unsaturated % (MUFA)

Poly Unsaturated % (PUFA)

Smoke Point, C Use

Rice Bran Oil 20 47 33 254

Relatively new cooking oil. Has cholesterol lowering properties. Rich in MUFA and useful for high temperature cooking.

Cotton Seed Oil 24 26 50 216Low in saturated fats. Useful for commercial fried products

Palm Oil 52 38 10 230High saturated fats. Useful for deep frying.

Peanut Oil 18 49 33 231Popular cooking oil. Contains balance of MUFA and PUFA. Stable at high temperature.

Safflower Oil 10 13 77 265 Oil rich in PUFA

Soyabean Oil 15 24 61 241Oil is rich in PUFA. Unsuitable for deep frying.

Sunflower Oil 11 20 69 246

High smoking point, can be used for deep frying and regular cooking. Also in combination with other MUFA rich oils like canola, rice bran oil.

Olive Oil 14 73 11 225

Comparatively expensive. Has been shown to have many health benefits. Useful in prevention of heart diseases and cancer.

There are different types of fats – monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, saturated fat, and

trans fat. Monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat are the “good” fats. For adults, it is

generally accepted that consumption of saturated fat should be kept low. Trans fat (which means

trans fatty acids) is the worst kind of fat, far worse than saturated fat.

In order to manufacture a good oil, manufacturers use an industrial process called partial

hydrogenation. The process is used to make oil more solid, provide longer shelf life for bakery

products, provide long fry-life for cooking oils, and provide a certain kind of texture or “mouth

feel”. However, partial hydrogenation of oil creates another dangerous problem of generating

trans fats. It is this trans fat created by the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils that we are

concerned about and it should be eliminated completely from the diet.

Partially hydrogenated oils are commonly found in processed foods such as commercial baked

products like cookies, cakes and crackers, and even in bread. They are also used as cooking oils

(called “liquid shortening”) for frying in restaurants.

Trans fats cause significant and serious lowering of HDL (good) cholesterol and increase in LDL

(bad) cholesterol, make our arteries more rigid and sometimes clog them. It may also lead to

development of insulin resistance and contribute to type-2 diabetes. They can also increase the

risk of infertility in women. In general, the presence of trans fat in food leads to serious health

problems.

A study conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) revealed that dangerous

levels of trans fat (from 15-20%) exist in most brands of cooking oils available in the Indian

Market. Several countries have already regulated the use of trans fats in oils. Denmark does not

allow trans fat levels to exceed 2%. Canola, rice bran, peanut, safflower, soyabean, sunflower

and olive oil have low saturated fats in the range of 6-20%. However, coconut and palm oil have

high percentage of saturated fats (52-92%). Peanut oil is more popular and contains a balance

of PUFA and MUFA and is stable at high temperatures. Olive oil is expensive. However, it has a

number of health benefits and is used in preventing heart diseases.

Cooking oils are also a source of essential fatty acids in the body. These are fatty acids that our

body cannot synthesize and need to be supplied through our diet. They help in raising the good

cholesterol (HDL) level in the body. Essential fatty acids are long chain unsaturated fatty acids

derived from linolenic (which is PUFA and also known as Omega-3), linoleic (which is PUFA and

also called Omega-6), and oleic acids (which is MUFA and also known as Omega-9). These fatty

acids support the cardiovascular, reproductive, and nervous systems. They regulate body

functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, blood clotting, and play an important role in

immune function by regulating inflammation and encouraging the body to fight infection.

Healthy oils can be judged from(1) the ratio of saturated/polyunsaturated fatty acids, (2) ratio of

essential fatty acids (Omega 6/ Omega3), and (3) presence of natural antioxidants. The World

Health Organization (WHO) has recommended polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) / saturated

fatty acid (SFA) ratio of 0.8 to 1.0 and linoleic acid (Omega 6) / alpha linolenic acid (Omega 3)

ratio of 5 to 10 in the diet.

Donuts, bread, cheese, frozen pizzas, and other baked foods must be avoided for the trans fat

they contain.

HUMAN ID CARDS

Humans have an inbuilt genetic ID card. The Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA) constitutes a

biological signature for the body – a group of molecules that makes it possible to distinguish one

individual from another at the cellular level.

They are the direct products of a group of genes found on the sixth chromosome in every

human cell. They reside on the cell surface and function as an important part of the body’s

identification system, a set of highly visible ID cards that are carried virtually by every cell in the

body. Cells with these ID are recognized as self and without it as non-self.

MERCURY CONTAMINATION

Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at normal room temperature. It is also referred as

quicksilver because of its silver-white appearance. Although, Mercury occurs naturally in the

Earth’s biogeochemical system, due to major anthropogenic activities such as mining and fossil

fuel burning, its amount and mobilization has increased in the atmosphere, oceans and

terrestrial systems. Once emitted into the atmosphere in its elemental form, mercury travels

worldwide before oxidizing to a form that enters the ecosystems.

In aquatic systems, microorganisms metabolize elemental mercury into methyl mercury (CH3

Hg). Sulfate reducing bacteria convert mercury into methyl mercury. Methyl mercury is a potent

neurotoxin that affects human and wildlife development.

Elemental and methyl mercury are toxic to the central and peripheral nervous systems,

inhalation of mercury vapors affects the nervous system, digestive and immune systems.

Mercury is a naturally occurring element used in numerous products and industrial processes,

such as in chlor-alkali industry (mercury cell technology), cement, chemical units, coal based

thermal power plants, compact fluorescentlamps (CFLs), healthcare sectors (thermometer,

sphygmomanometers, dental amalgams, laboratory reagents etc).

In the global mercury cycle, primary emissions come from geological sources, which consist of

volcanoes and related geological activities as well as land emissions from areas naturally

enriched in mercury.

The major anthropogenic source is combustion of fossil fuels, especially coal. Other industrial

processes that can release mercury to the atmosphere are cement production, nonferrous metal

production, pig iron and steel production, caustic soda production, gold production, and waste

disposal, as well as direct mercury production.

Once mercury lands in soils and waterways, microorganisms metabolize it into methyl mercury.

Minamata, a south-western part of Kumamoto Prefecture, is approximately 1000 km from

Tokyo, Japan. During the 1950’s, in Minamata, an outbreak of an unknown neurological illness

was first reported among the area’s fishing families. They were diagnosed with a mysterious

ailment, which was attributed to contaminated seafood. People experienced neurological

damages such as visual, auditory, and sensory disturbances, numbness, and difficulty walking.

In 1957, scientists gave the ailment a name : Minamata disease. The responsible contaminant

was eventually identified as methyl mercury that had been discharged in wastewater from a

local chemical factory owned by the Chisso Corporation LTd. Since 1932, the factory was

producing acetaldehyde from acetylene gas, using mercury as a catalyst and was discharging its

effluent in the river that was concluding in the Minamata Bay.

The methyl mercury that enters the body mainly attacks the central nervous system, including

the brain and spinal cord, and causes symptoms including numbness and unsteadiness in the

legs and hands, tiredness, ringing in the ears, narrowing of the field of vision, loss of hearing,

slurred speech, and awkward movements. Some early severe victims of Minamata disease went

insane, became unconscious, and died within a month of the onset of the disease.

The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm during 1972,

initiated action on high priority pollutants in the marine environment, including mercury.

In October 2013, a new international convention to control mercury emissions was opened for

signing in Japan. Named the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the agreement is a response to

the realization that mercury pollution is a global problem that no single country can solve alone

The Convention aims to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic

emissions and release of mercury and mercury compounds.

BIODIVERSITY

India is a land of high species richness and endemism as well as of agro biodiversity, with only

2.4% of the world’s landmass, it supports an astounding 8.1% of the world’s biodiversity.

The tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, held from 18 to 29 October 2010, in

Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, adopted a revised and updated Strategic Plan for Biodiversity,

including the Aichi Biodiversity Targets for the 2011-2020 period.

Further, at the COP-CBD-11 held in India in October 2012, world leaders who attended the grand

event also agreed to achieve, by 2020, a significant reduction in the rate of loss of biodiversity.

Aichi Biodiversity Targets

Strategic Goal A : Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming

biodiversity across government and society.

Strategic Goal B : Reduce the direct pressure on Biodiversity and promote sustainable use.

Strategic Goal C : Improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and

genetic diversity.

Strategic Goal D : Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Strategic Goal E : Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge

management and capacity building.

The Conference of Parties on Convention on Biodiversity COP-CBD-11, in India, showcased

explicitly that the national and international community is committed to conserving biodiversity

and combating loss of species. The global response to these challenges needs to move much

more rapidly, and with more determination at all levels – global, national and local.

INDIA’S FIRM STRIDES IN SPACE

On 5th January 2014, with the successful launch of the GSLVD-5, India’s space program notched

up yet another spectacular success. With this India joined the select club of six nations that

have this technology. The other countries are USA, Russia, Japan, China and France.

During the past four years this is the first taste of success for GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite

Launch Vehicle). This was the eighth flight of the GSLV, out of which five have been partially

successful while three failed totally.

GSLV-D5 took off from the Satish Dhawan Centre at Sriharikota at 4:18 pm on 5 January 2014.

After the brief 17 minute flight GSLV-D5 placed, by far the most sophisticated communication

satellite, GSAT-14 in its geostationary orbit.

Today, if we wish to send to space a communication satellite having mass greater than 2.5 ton,

we have to depend upon the Guyana Space Centre located at Kourou in French Guyana, which is

a joint facility of the ESA (European Space Agency) and French Space Agency and has the

commercial name Arianespace. We have to shell out almost as much as Rs. 500 crores for this.

But with our own GSLV this will cost us only about RS. 200 crores per launch.

The GSLV-D5 was slated to be launched on 19th August 2013 but a fuel leak detected at the right

time forced it to abort.

The satellite that GSLV-D5 successfully launched into space, GSAT-14, is the 23rd geosynchronous

communication satellite that India has put up. GSAT -14 has 12 communication transponders

that will further augment our communication capabilities.

The US was the first to demonstrate this technology in 1961, then came Japan in 1977 and then Russia in

1987.

In 1991. Russia agreed to give us two cryogenic engines as well as the technology at a low price. America

played the spoilsport. They put pressure on Russia that this would escalate the nuclear arms race in Asia.

Advantages of Cryogenic Technique

High efficiency per unit of fuel

Oxygen and hydrogen in liquid form give very high amounts of energy per unit mass due to which the

amount of fuel to be carried aboard the rockets decreases.

Clean Energy

Hydrogen and oxygen are extremely clean fuels for only steam (water) evolves when their combustion

takes place. This steam ejects from a nozzle and gives the rocket the forward thrust. In a manner of

speaking a cryogenic engine is a high burning steam engine.

Very Economical (& indispensable for third stage)

Liquid oxygen costs less than petrol that we use in our cars. Thus hydrogen and oxygen combination is

quite cost effective.

VEGGIES THAT REPAIR RADIATION DAMAGE

 

Radiation kills cancer cells. But any nearby healthy cells hit by the radiation also will die or

suffer lasting harm. Unless, that is, the body quickly repairs them. Now, scientists of the

Geogretowon University in Washington, D.C. have identified a chemical that might help with

these repairs. It’s called DIM, and it develops in the body after eating a diet rich in broccoli and

related vegetables, such as cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and kale.

These vegetables contain a healthful compound. In the stomach, that compound is converted into

DIM (also known as 3,3’-diindolylmethane). It has now been shown that DIM helps cells

recover from high doses of radiation, at least in rats. And only healthy cells benefit.

DIM treatment might one day be used to treat healthy people exposed to potentially lethal

amounts of radiation. For instance, if a nuclear bomb went off or a nuclear reactor broke down,

DIM might help people naturally repair damage to any cells not killed outright by the radiation.

EMERGING ALTERNATIVE TO SATELLITE-BASED GPS

A British company has come out with a new technology which it claims could soon replace the existing GPS

system. The technology is called NAVSOP (Navigation via Signals of Opportunity).

The manufacturers claim that it will work even when GPS is unavailable. It uses the collection of radio

frequency signals from TV, radio and cell phone masts, even Wi-Fi routers, to deduce a position. In any given

area, these signals tend to be at constant frequencies and power levels as they are heavily regulated.

The technology can also work inside urban concrete buildings where GPS signals cannot currently, and reach

remote parts of the world such as the Arctic, by picking up signals that include Low-Earth-Orbit satellites and

other civilian signals.

NAVOP is able to calculate its position by making use of the hundreds of different signals that are all around

us. By exploiting such a wide range of signals, NAVSOP is resistant to hostile interference such as jamming

(a particular weakness of GPS) and spoofing, where a bogus signal tricks a device into misidentifying its

location.

It has several advantages including no cost for initial infrastructure development. This technology can be

utilized in defence, agriculture, traffic control, resource inventory etc.

A STEP CLOSER TO AN INDIAN GPS

With the launch of the IRNSS-1B on 4th April 2014, India inched a step closer to realizing its very

own global positioning system (GPS). The dream of an indigenous GPS is likely to be realized in

2016 when the seventh satellite of the IRNSS series is safely ensconced in orbit.

Although GPS currently covers the Indian subcontinent, as it does the rest of the world, IRNSS

will provide exclusive control to Indian space authorities over 1500 kilometres of the Indian

mainland. Once in place, the Indian GPS will free the country from any dependence on foreign

government controlled global navigation satellite systems, access to which is not guaranteed in

hostile situation. India has already had to bear with such an experience in the recent past.

In 1999, when Pakistan troops intruded into Indian territory in Kargil, the Indian military sought

GPS data for the region from the space based navigation system maintained by the US

government. However, the US denied it to India. The Kargil experience made the nation realize

the inevitability of having its very own GPS.

Many of us have been using the American GPS on smart phones for navigation. But much beyond that, a GPS is

necessary also in times of war since most modern precision bombs and missiles depend on accurate

positioning.

In less than two years India will be free from this fear of arm twisting when the Indian Regional Navigation

Satellite System (IRNSS) is in place helping the country keep a close watch of not just its boundaries, but up to

1500 km beyond that. The IRNSS comprises a network of seven satellites – three in geosynchronous orbits and

the other four in inclined geosynchronous orbits.

While IRNSS-1A, the first in the series, was launched last July, the most recent to go up was the second satellite,

IRNSS-1B. In 2014, two more navigational satellites – IRNSS-1C and IRNSS-1D would be launched. Three more

navigational satellites will be launched early 2015 and by middle of 2015, India will have the full navigational

satellite system in place. According to ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan, the Indian GPS will be functional by

the beginning of 2016.

The IRNSS would provide two services. The Standard Positioning Service would be open for civilian use with an

accuracy of 20 m, while the Restricted Service would be encrypted for military use, and which would be able to

detect movement of objects less than 10 m. Apart from navigation, the system will help in precise time

keeping, disaster management, fleet management and mapping.

Once the Indian GPS is up and running, India will become the sixth country in the world, after America, Russia,

Europe, China and Japan to have this system.

LEISHMANIASIS

LEISHMANIASIS is one of the most diverse and complex of all vector-borne diseases causing

significant morbidity and mortality in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is caused by an

intracellular protozoan parasite of genus Leishmania.

The parasite is transmitted by the bite of infected female sandflies, which breed in organic wastes

such as faeces, manure, rodent burrows, leaf litter and in dark corners in the crevices of walls

having high humidity and temperature.

Leishmaniasis is found in three clinical forms : Cutaneous leishmaniasis often involves only the

skin, and may be characterized by one to dozens of lesions. Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis

involves extensive disfiguring of the nasal spetum, lips, and palate, and Visceral leishmaniasis,

also known as kala azar, is characterized by the malfunction of liver, spleen and bone marrow.

In India, Cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic in Himachal Pradesh including Rampur Bushahr in

Shimla district, some parts of Kinnaur district and Nirmand and in some places in the Thar

Desert of Rajasthan, bordering Pakistan.

ASTRONAUTS’ HEARTS TURN SPHERICAL IN SPACE

A study of 12 astronauts, presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 63 rd Annual Scientific

Session, shows the heart becomes more spherical when exposed to long periods of microgravity in

space, a change that could lead to cardiac problems.

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

A Russian spacecraft with two Russians and a NASA astronaut aboard docked successfully at the

International Space Station on 27th March 2014.

The International Space Station (ISS, for short) is a man-made miracle floating in space at a

distance of around 400 km above us and racing at an enormous velocity of about 28,000 km/hour

covering a distance equivalent to the Moon and back daily. About the size of a football field, it is

the remotest man-made object that is visible to the naked eye.

The International Space Station made news in recent times when experiments on board showed

that vegetables could be cultivated in micro-gravity conditions.

With the loss of the Moon race in 1969, the Russian government adopted the space station concept as

the major direction for the Soviet manned program. The dream of a space station was finally

achieved when in 1971 the Russians launched their series of Salyut (meaning fireworks) spacecrafts

culminating in the Salyut-7 which was launched in 1982. Though it was crippled by severe electrical

faults in 1985, it paved the way for the more advanced MIR space station.

The US joined the rat-race when NASA launched Skylab in 1973. It was the period when the Apollo

project had been stopped due to scarcity of funds. This move left NASA with a spare Saturn-V rocket

(which was originally intended to launch Apollo-18). Skylab was launched by this powerful rocket.

The space station was finally abandoned and when the news spread that it was going to crash on

earth, panic gripped every country in 1979. Luckily, the Skylab crashed in a desert in Australia.

The ISS celebrated its 15th anniversary in November 2013 and is funded until 2024, but may operate

until 2028. The station is divided into two sections, the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) and the

United States Orbital Segment (USOS). It can be compared in size to a football field (with a

dimension of about 100 m X 70 m X 20 m). It is the third brightest object in the sky seen from earth

with naked eye.

As on 2014, more than 100 missions had been launched by US, Russia, Europe and Japan from

Florida, Kazakhstan, French Guyana and Japan to assemble and maintain the space station. The

ISS orbits the Earth approximately once every 90 minutes, at a speed of about 27,700 kilometers

per hour.

In 1984, the ESA was invited to participate in Space Station Freedom. In 1993, after the USSR

ended, the United States and Russia merged Mir-2 and Freedom together.

In the absence of gravity, body fluids rose to astronauts heads and gave them stuffy nose, nausea

and headache. Less fluid in the lower parts of their bodies resulted in atrophied legs (dubbed as

“bird legs”). Their heart shrunk because it did not have to work so hard in space. The ISS,

therefore, is equipped with a gym with exercise machines, such as treadmills and ergometers. The

astronauts exercise approximately two hours daily in order to keep their body working. Another

problem that had to be tackled was the energy lost by the space station due to the tidal effects of the

earth on it.

Inside the Space Station, the air pressure is kept at 1 atmosphere. The temperature and humidity are

controlled and the astronauts can live comfortably. When the astronauts venture outside the space

shuttle to work in space, they wear spacesuits.

Since water does not flow in a zero gravity environment, the astronauts cannot take a bath or wash

their hands.

A typical “day” (a “day” cannot be specified in terms of the rising and setting of the Sun, since on

the ISS the Sun rises and sets every 90 minutes and the crew members aboard the International

Space Station experience 15 or 16 sunrises and sunsets every day.

The ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory suited for the testing of

spacecraft systems and equipment required for missions to the Moon and Mars. The experiments

span several areas.

(a) Technology Development – studies and tests of new technologies for use in future exploration

missions, such as spacecraft materials and systems, and characterization and control of the

microgravity environment on ISS.

(b) Physical Sciences – studies of physics and chemistry in microgravity such as materials sciences

experiments, including physical properties and phase transitions in polymers and colloids, fluid

physics, and crystal growth experiments.

(c) Biological Sciences – studies of biology using microgravity conditions to gain insight into the

effect of the space environment on living organisms including cellular biology and biotechnology,

and plant biology.

(d) Human Research for Exploration – human medical research to develop the knowledge that

is needed to send humans on exploration missions beyond Earth Orbit. These studies focus on

the effect of living in space on human health risks that will be incurred by living in space in

future. Areas of emphasis include physiological studies related to the effects of microgravity on

bone and muscle, other physiological effects of space flight, psychosocial studies, and radiation

studies.

(e) Observing the Earth and Education – these activities and investigations allow students and

the public to connect with the ISS mission, inspiring them to excel in science, technology and

engineering. They share the astronauts unique view of the Earth system with scientists and the

public.

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) – which is searching for elusive dark matter – is one of

the key science experiments featuring in the ISS extension to 2024. The AMS is the largest

research instrument on the ISS.

The International Space Station is the tenth space station in history to be launched into orbit,

but is without parallel in size, scope and success.

Robots on Board :

Humans are not the only residents on the station. The ISS has robots aboard CSA’s Canadarm2,

also known as Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) was critical to assembling the

space station and continues to support the orbital complex by latching onto and attaching or

detaching unmanned resupply spacecraft as needed.

JAXA’s Kibo laboratory has its own robotic arm, the JEM-RMS (Japanese Experiment Module

Remote Manipulator System) has two arms – the Main Arm (MA) and the Small Fine Arms (SFA)

used to tend to experiments mounted outside on the module’s exposed platform (or porch).

Canada’s Dextre, also known as Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), is a detachable

two armed robot performing maintenance work and repairs outside the ISS, thus reducing the

spacewalks.

The Product of partnership between NASA and General Motors, Robonaut 2 (R2) was the first

humanoid robot to fly into space and first to be able to work side by side with astronauts.

Capable of being controlled by the space station crew or by ground controllers, Robonaut 2 can

use the same tools as used by humans.

LIFE ELSEWHERE IN THE UNIVERSE

Humans have always been fascinated by the concept of life on planets and stars other than the earth. In

1960s’ however, everyone knew for sure that there was no life of any kind on the moon. That was the year

Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin walked on the moon. The astronauts found nothing alive. They found no

sign that plants or animals had ever lived there. The moon is dead world and it always has been so.

But still people believed that the moon landing did not mean there was no life on other planets. Many

believed that Mars was habitable and hosted standing bodies of water several billion years ago. Mars is like

Earth in many ways. Pictures of Mars show places where water once flowed. Where there is water, there may

also be plants and animals. The temperature on Mars varies from -140⁰C to 20⁰C. Recent measurements by

Curiosity Rover have shown evidence of small amount of water in the soil and fine dust of Mars.

The Kepler mission was launched in March 2009. This is a part of Exoplanet Exploration Program of NASA to

find planets (one half to twice the size of the Earth). The main aim is to search for planets in the habitable

zone of a star in our galaxy. The habitable zone of a star is the area around the star where the composition

and atmosphere pressure can maintain liquid water on its surface. There life can be supported as we know.

CREATING AN ARTIFICIAL STAR

Astronomers have long been trying to avoid atmosphere intrusion. In order to receive images of

much greater brightness, clarity and detail than ground based telescopes, they sent into space

the $2 billion Hubble Space Telescope. The sophisticated optical observatory was placed into

orbit about 600 km above the Earth on 25th April 1990 by the crew of the space shuttle

Discovery.

But, not many agencies can afford to launch such billion dollar outer space telescopes.

Astronomers worldwide then turned their attention to focus mountaintops in Hawaii, Chile and

the southwestern United States for mounting a new generation of powerful telescopes.

The new sophisticated eyes include the Keck-I Telescope with a main mirror 10 metre in

diameter, the 8.3 metre Subaru Telescope, the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large

Telescope with four 8.2 metre primary mirrors and several others. These sophisticated

structures promise fresh insights into how the universe took on its structure, and how galaxies,

stars and solar systems develop.

Astronomers employ a powerful laser to create the artificial star. They shine the powerful laser

beam from the observatory in the general direction of the distant target star under study. The

laser beam which is trained through the telescope shines at a well defined wavelength.

Wavelength, being a basic characteristic of any wave, determines the behavior of the laser. The

laser beam stimulates the layer of sodium atoms present in the upper atmosphere. The atoms

absorb energy from the incident laser and glow producing a bright spot of light, which is known

as artificial star or laser guide star (LGS).

This comes under Sodium Guide Star (SGS), which is one of the two flavors of LGS, the other

being Rayleigh Guide Star (RGS). SGS uses laser light to excite sodium atoms in the upper layers

– mesosphere and thermosphere – of our atmosphere. SGS works by propagating a laser of 589

nano-metre wavelength. On the other hand, RGS, simpler and less costly, works by propagating

a laser usually at near ultraviolet wavelength, and detecting the backscatter from air at altitudes

between 15 to 25 km.

Cosmic Information through Artificial Star

The observatory keeps information about the laser guided artificial star. A part of the laser light

reflects back through the atmosphere to the observatory. Special detectors at the observatory

analyze these reflected rays. The reflected lines are compared with original incident lines. This is

how degree of atmospheric distortion of the beam can be determined.

The light coming back to the telescope from the gleaming artificial pustule undergoes nearly the

same distortions as the light coming down from the distant celestial target located in the same

direction. The true shape of the laser guide star is already known from laboratory tests of the laser.

It helps to know nearly the true shape of the signal coming from the target star.

The first artificial star was created in the southern hemisphere on 28th January 2006. Scientists at

the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Cerro Paranal (Chile) succeeded

in creating the first artificial glittery pustule with the help of a powerful laser beam.

The recent marvels in observational astronomy like the Hubble Space Telescope and ground based

Keck Telescope have made the nature of our expanding universe comprehensible.