Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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34 mummies found in hidden Egyptian tomb

News

• Archaeologists have discovered at least 34 mummies in the Egyptian city of Aswan that dates back to the late Pharaonic and Greco-Roman period, between the 6th century B.C. and the 4th century A.D.

Beyond News

• Alongside the mummies, the archaeologists found artefacts including pottery, painted funerary masks and wooden statuettes. Vases of bitumen, used in mummification, as well as a stretcher likely used to carry the bodies into the tomb were also discovered.
• An intact hieroglyphic text indicated that the tomb, hidden under sand.
• Steps led down from the surface to the tomb, which comprised two burial chambers and was sealed off by a wall.
• The archaeologists found approximately 30 mummified bodies in the primary chamber the bodies of men, women and children and an estimated further four in a side chamber. Two mummies, found overlapping, were believed to be the bodies of a mother and her child.
• Some of the vases still contained food, while two statuettes depicted Ba, the Egyptian bird god who represented an aspect of the soul.
• The tomb was discovered as part of a broader excavation mission, during which archaeologists mapped approximately 300 tombs in the region.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Indo-French naval exercise begins

News

• The first part of the Indo-French joint naval exercise,Varuna 19.1, began off the Goa coast and will continue till May 10.
• The Varuna exercise aims at developing interoperability between the two navies and fostering mutual cooperation by learning from each other’s best practices to conduct joint operations.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Ships, aircraft ready for relief, rescue operations

News

• In the wake of cyclone Fani, the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) has kept its ships and relief material on standby for immediate deployment in the most affected areas to undertake Humanitarian Aid Distress Relief (HADR) operations.

Beyond News

• Diving and medical teams have also been kept ready to augment the rescue and relief operations in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
• Naval aircraft are ready at naval air stations, while INS Dega and INS Rajali will undertake aerial survey of the affected areas, casualty evacuation and air drop of relief material as and when required.
• Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ships and aircraft have been kept in the highest state of readiness in Visakhapatnam and Chennai to ensure immediate assistance for disaster relief, search and rescue operations.
• The ships have been stocked up with relief material, lifesaving boats, life jackets, lifebuoys and essential provisions. The ICG officials are in constant touch with the State administration and disaster management authorities to harmonise the relief efforts.
• Meanwhile, the Coast Guard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Chennai has activated International Safety Net for weather warning to mariners.
• The coast guard officials are also conducting community interaction programme in coastal villages of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.

A new study suggests airborne plastic particles pollute the air and dry land as well

News

• Researchers said that they had found thousands and thousands of microplastic particles raining down on a secluded spot in the Pyrenees, 75 miles from the nearest city Toulouse.

Findings

• Their study, suggests that microplastics long known as a source of water pollution may also travel by air, spreading their ill effects far from dense population centres.
• The five-month study was “the first step toward looking at microplastics as an airborne pollutant”.
• Microplastics are pieces of plastic debris that measure less than five mm long, roughly the size of a sesame seed, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
• But they can also be much smaller than five mm. The fragments found by the Pyrenees study were generally 10 to 300 microns across, with most roughly 50 microns.
• These are invisible atmospheric pollutants.
• Microplastics can come from a variety of sources, including items such as plastic bottles or disposable contact lenses that break down into smaller pieces.
• Microbeads, which are found in some hygiene products such as toothpaste, are another source of microplastic pollution. Concern over their environmental impact has led some governments, including Britain’s, to ban the manufacture of products that contain them.
• In the ocean, microplastics contribute to phenomena such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a swirling gyre of more than 87,000 tonnes of trash that lies hundreds of miles from shore.
• Researchers, taking samples from two separate monitoring devices, found that 365 pieces of microplastic per sq.mt. rained down from the sky each day.
• Microplastics have been found to harm animals, including insects and marine species, in a number of ways.

Scientists find antidote for box jellyfish sting

News

• Australian researchers believe they have found an antidote to a sting from the world’s most venomous creature, the much-feared box jellyfish.

Beyond News

• Researchers had been investigating how the venom is so deadly that one box jellyfish can kill 60 people.
• The team noticed the venom needs cholesterol to kill human cells and decided to test whether existing drugs could stop it.
• Running tests using human cells and mice, the team found it could stop tissue scarring and pain associated with the sting as long as the medicine was injected within 15 minutes.
• Stings from box jellyfish which can be smaller than a fingernail or up to three metres long depending on the species can cause acute muscular pain, violent vomiting, feelings of “impending doom”, hair that stands on end, strokes, heart failure and death within minutes.

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