Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Fossil footprints track prehistoric hunt

News

• Scientists have uncovered evidence of ancient humans engaged in a deadly face-off with a giant sloth, showing for the first time how our ancestors might have tackled such a formidable prey.

Beyond News

• Standing over 2 metres tall, with forelegs tipped with claws, giant sloths lived until around 11,000 years ago.
• Most scientists believe over-hunting by humans eventually led to their extinction.
• Fossilised footprints in the salt flats of White Sands National Monument, in the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico, reveal humans walking in the exact footsteps of a giant sloth and then confronting it, possibly hurling spears.
• At the White Sands National Monument, researchers identified what are known as “flailing circles” that show the rise of the sloth on its hind legs and the swing of its fore legs, likely in a defensive motion.
• In addition to tracks of humans stalking the sloth, there are more human tracks further away. From this, scientists infer that the humans worked as a group, with a separate team distracting and misdirecting the sloth to outwit it.
• The flailing circles are always associated with the presence of human tracks.
• Where there are no human footprints, the sloth walks in straight lines, but where human tracks are present the sloth tracks show evasion, with sudden changes in direction.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

World Bank loan for Biopharma Mission

News

• The government has secured a loan of about ₹1,600 crore from the World Bank to develop new vaccines, medical devices and medicines.

Beyond News

• The money will be disbursed over five years and is part of the Department of Biotechnology-led National Biopharma Mission.
• The goal is to have 6 to 10 new products in the next five years and in the process create a slew of jobs.
• It was approved by the Cabinet in May 2017 and launched on June 30, 2017.

National Biopharma Mission

• The first ever Industry-Academia mission to accelerate biopharmaceutical development in India for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

New frog species takes historical name of Goa

News

• In the highland plateaus of the Western Ghats parts of Goa, scientists have identified a new species of frog called Fejervarya goemchi.

Beyond News

• The new species is named after the historical name of the state of Goa where the species is discovered.
• Come monsoons and many of these are large-sized terrestrial frogs sit next to water bodies making calls to attract females for mating and breeding.
• Although most of these frogs are terrestrial, they need water bodies to continue for survival.
• Most Fejervaryaspecies in South and South-East Asia are difficult to identify on the basis of morphology alone.
• The authors have used a combination of morphology, geographic distribution range and molecular methods to describe the new species.
• The new species is found in the high elevation areas of laterite plateaus, temporary water bodies and paddy fields of Goa.

Cheap and light: BARC offers first indigenous bulletproof vest

News

• The Bhabha Atomic Reseach Centre (BARC) has developed a next-generation bulletproof jacket for the Indian armed forces, which is not only cheaper but also much lighter.

Beyond News

• Bhabha Kavach, named after nuclear physicist Dr. Homi J. Bhabha, the jacket was developed at BARC’s Trombay centre in response to a request from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Scientific officer at BARC’s materials group, told that the jacket weighs just 6.6 kg in comparison to the 17-kg jackets in use, and has passed over 30 tests carried out by certified agencies. Bhabha Kavach is available in three variants as per the requirement of the armed forces.
• A five-member BARC team worked for a year in 2015-16 to develop the jacket, which is being tested by a joint team of the CRPF, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and the Central Industrial Security Force.
• The northern command of the Indian Army is also testing a variant of the jacket in Jammu and Kashmir.
• The jacket is made using extremely hard boron carbide ceramics that is hot-pressed with carbon nano-tubes and composite polymer.
• While the cost of a Bhabha Kavach is ₹70,000, jackets of similar strength are available in the range of ₹1.5 lakh and have to be imported.
• Presently, the forces use bulletproof jackets weighing over 10 kg and are made of jackal armour steel, alumina and silica. Jackets made using boron carbide are first in India.
• Bhabha Kavach has been designed to protect our soldiers against AK-47 (hard steel bullets), SLR and INSUS weaponry.

First image from Mars probe shows icy edge of vast crater

News

• The European Space Agency has released the first image taken by its Trace Gas Orbiter showing the ice-covered edge of a vast Martian crater.

Beyond News

• Scientists combined three pictures of the Korolev Crater taken from an altitude of 400 km on April 15.
• Lead researcher said that, the colours in the resulting image were also adjusted to best resemble those visible to the human eye.
• The camera used is one of four instruments on board the orbiter, which is designed to look for gases such as methane that could indicate biological or geological activity on Mars.
• The orbiter begins its mission to look for the trace gases this month.
• Researchers said the camera will allow scientists to inspect areas where gases are found, monitor Mars for signs of change and help scout the planet for future landing sites.
• Europe plans to land its own rover on Mars in 2021. A European test lander crashed on the surface of Mars in 2016.

Tiny implant controls brain

News

• Scientists have developed the world’s smallest implantable device no bigger than the width of a coin  that can be used to control brain patterns.

Beyond News

• The device converts infrared light into blue light to control neural activity and is both the smallest and lightest wireless optical biodevice to be reported.
• For centuries, it has been known that chemicals can change neural behaviour. The field of optogenetics has proved that neural behaviour can also be changed with light.
• An associate professor at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) in Japan, has been examining ways to miniaturise implantable optical devices.
• The new device made by research team uses a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor that controls photovoltaic power.
• The device can be applied only for pulse stimulations and requires a charge time for each stimulation. Most optogenetics use multiple pulses.

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