Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Vanishing treasures of the Arctic

News

• A mad rush is needed to preserve or catalogue thousands of Arctic archaeological sites before they are washed away by warming hastening the thaw of permafrost and coastal erosion, scientists have warned.

Beyond News

• The Arctic cold has conserved ivory artefacts, driftwood houses and human remains in often near-perfect conditions for millennia, but the faster and more severe climate change in the poles compared to the rest of the world has led to a desperate situation with far more sites that will soon be lost than scientists have the time or resources to document.
• An increasing number of ancient sites and structures around the world are now at risk of being lost,once destroyed, these resources are gone forever, with irrevocable loss of human heritage and scientific data.
• There are at least 180,000 sites in an area that covers more than 12 million sq.km. in Canada, Russia, Alaska and Greenland.
• Other effects of global warming cited in the study include storms, the growth of vegetation covering the landscape, tundra fires, resource development, and the arrival of tourists navigating increasingly ice-free Arctic waters and illegally picking over coastal archaeological sites for souvenirs.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

World’s smallest heart pump makes debut in India

News

• A city hospital has claimed to perform the country’s first successful protected angioplasty and stenting procedure with the help of the Impella heart pump.

Beyond News

• The Impella device is the world’s smallest heart pump which can support a failing heart for seven days, even longer occasionally. It acts like a catheter and works on the principle of submersible water pump. It is as thick as a pencil and approximately 6-inch long.
• This new life-saving treatment is for patients suffer from high-risk blockages and a failing heart, who are at high risk for surgery and angioplasty, and often left with no options.
• Unlike other devices which are large and need surgery for implantation, the Impella heart pump can be inserted into the heart without surgery percutaneously through the groin artery in the catheterisation laboratory.
• The device provides blood flow of 2.5-3.5 litres per minute. It is used to help maintain stable heart functions and ensure blood flow is maintained to organs like the brain and kidneys in cases of cardiogenic shock or during risky angioplasties.
• Once in position, the device withdraws blood from the left ventricle and expels it in the ascending aorta, the same effect that happens with the pumping motion of the heart.

Pakistan placed on ‘grey list’ by FATF

News

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has placed Pakistan on the ‘grey list’ for failing to curb anti-terror financing despite Islamabad submitting a 26-point action plan.
• The decision was taken at the FATF’s plenary session in Paris.

Milky Way full of ‘space grease’

News

• The galaxy is rich in grease-like molecules, say scientists who have estimated the amount of ‘space grease’ found in the Milky Way.

Beyond News

• Organic matter of different kinds contains carbon, an element considered essential for life.
• There is though real uncertainty over its abundance, and only half the carbon expected is found between the stars in its pure form.
• The rest is chemically bound in two main forms, grease-like (aliphatic) and mothball-like (aromatic).
• The researchers used a laboratory to create material with the same properties as interstellar dust.
• They mimicked the process by which organic molecules are synthesised in the outflows of carbon stars, by expanding a carbon-containing plasma into a vacuum at low temperature.
• The material was collected and then analysed by a combination of techniques. Using magnetic resonance and spectroscopy (splitting light into its constituent wavelengths) they were able to determine how strongly the material absorbed light with a certain infrared wavelength, a marker for aliphatic carbon.
• The study, found that there are about 100 greasy carbon atoms for every million hydrogen atoms, accounting for between a quarter and a half of the available carbon.

Japanese mission reaches unexplored asteroid Ryugu

News

• A Japanese probe has reached an asteroid 300 million km away to collect information about the birth of the solar system and the origin of life after a more than three-year voyage through deep space.

Beyond News

• The Hayabusa2 probe successfully settled into an observation position 20 km above the Ryugu asteroid.
• Researchers broke out into cheers when the probe arrived in place, a feat JAXA described as “shooting from Japan at a six cm target in Brazil”.
• The successful mission came just days before the UN’s International Asteroid Day on June 30, a global event to raise awareness about the hazards of an asteroid impact and technological progress to counter such a threat.
• Scientists hope to glean clues about what gave rise to life on the earth from samples taken from Ryugu, which is thought to contain relatively large amounts of organic matter and water.
• The Hayabusa2 probe was in good shape and is now ready to start exploring the asteroid over the coming 18 months.
• The next stage is to identify suitable sites to take samples from once the probe touches down on the asteroid.

Special force for disaster management

News:

• The Tamil Nadu State government will create a special force for disaster management, which will be tasked with search and rescue operations during emergencies, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister informed the Assembly.

Beyond News:

• Funds amounting to Rs. 1.80 crore will be provided to set up the force.
• In the first phase, it will come up in coastal districts and those with mountainous regions.

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