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SCIENCE & TECH

Worlds First Double Leg Transplant
Doctors in Spain performed on 15 July 2011 the worlds first double-leg transplant, giving two new legs to a man whose legs were severed in an accident.The man lost both of his legs above the knee in an accident and the attempts to fit him with artificial limbs were not successful.Pedro Cavadas of La Fe hospital in Valencia performed the operation. He is the first doctor in the world to successfully transplant a jaw and a new tongue while doing a face transplant. Reactors (PHWR) which uses natural UO2 fuels and SEU/MOX fuels, the second stage there are Fsat Breeder Reactors(FBRs) which use MOX/MC/ metallic fuel and the third stage uses thorium with THU233 closed cycle.

GSAT-12 Reached Its Orbit

India's communication satellite GSAT-12, which was put in orbit on 15 July 2011, reached its home in a circular geo-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 36,000 km on 18 July 2011. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C17) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which lifted off from the space station at Sriharikota on 15 July 2011, put the 1,410 kg GSAT-12 in a sub geo-synchronous transfer orbit (sub-GTO) with an apogee of 21,020 km and a perigee of 284 km.GSAT-12 was launched to be useful in tele-education, tele-medicine, disaster management support, telephone services along with 12 extended C-band transponders.

BARC Established Largest Nuclear Desalination Plant

The Human Development Index (HDI) is directly dependent on two main parameters: Per Capita Electricity Consumption and Female Literacy. Delivering his keynote address on Energy Technologies, Energy Securities and Climate Change, Dr R Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India and DAE-Homi Bhabha Professor, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, said, For India to become a developed country, the per capita electricity consumption has to increase manifold. Nuclear has to play an important role in this increase as India looks for a low-carbon path for its electricity production growth. India is aiming for an electricity capacity of over a million MW by 2050. Expanded use of nuclear technologies offers immense potential to meet important development needs. In fact, to satisfy energy demands and to mitigate the threat of climate change two of the 21st centurys greatest challenges there are major opportunities for expansion of nuclear energy in those countries that choose to have it. Dr Chidambaram said that there should not be any fear related to nuclear energy. Lessons will be learnt from the recent Fukushima accident and more stringent security measures are being taken in the country and all over the world. Explaining three Stage Indian Nuclear Programme, Dr Chidambaram said, In the first stage, we have Pressurised Heavy Water

Challenges of The GSAT-12 operation

After GSAT-12 was put in a sub-GTO (sub geo-synchronous transfer orbit), the liquid apogee motor (LAM) on board was fired once each day from July 16 to July 19 2011 to circularise the orbit at an altitude of 36,000 km. On July 16 and July 17, commands were given from the Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka to the LAM to take the satellite's apogee from 21,020 km to 36,000 km when the satellite was at its perigee. Similarly, the commands to the LAM to fire to take the perigee from 284 km to 36,000 km were given on July 18 and July 19 when the satellite was at its apogee. What is Apogee and Perigee? Apogee and perigee refer to the distance from the Earth to the moon.

Apogee is the furthest point from the earth.

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Perigee is the closest point to the earth and it is in

this stage that the moon appears larger.

growing demand for air-conditioning in India in highly efficient and cost effective way through use of direct solar energy.

Source of the Water in Saturn's Upper Atmosphere

A team of Scientists led by Paul Hartogh of Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research recently solved a 14-year mystery by discovering the source of the water in Saturns upper atmosphere. The scientists discovered that giant jets of vapour from the planets moon Enceladus is responsible for Saturns water. Enceladus is Saturns sixth largest moon and it is covered with ice and is providing water to Saturn. The water vapours appear as tiger-like stripes of gas and ice that escape at the southern pole of the moon and act as a main water-source vapour for Saturn's upper atmosphere. Enceladus consists of icy geysers that release water into space, forming a donut-shaped region. Due to the incremental amount of water entering Saturn's lower levels, clouds cannot be observed after it condenses.

Solar Energy as a Solution

Therefore, while looking for making life more comfortable for ourselves we must not ignore these impacts and must also look for solutions to overcome the same. India being in the sunny regions of the world with most parts of the country receiving 4-7wh (kilowatt-hour) of solar radiation per square meter per day 250-300 sunny days in a year, Solar Energy indeed can be a solution! But is it possible to turn the hot sun into an air-conditioning system?

EndoBarrier to Cure Diabetes

British scientists developed an implanted sleeve which can cure diabetes. The implanted sleeve looks like a giant sausage skin. Its two feet long device which can reverse diabetes. The sleeve is made from a thin plastic.The new device is called the EndoBarrier. It is designed to have the same effects as the surgery but far safer. It is a plastic sleeve that lines the duodenum, meaning food can only be absorbed lower down the intestine. The sleeve is inserted through the mouth and passed into the digestive tract using a thin tube. The implant also decreases cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

Worlds Highest Efficiency STCS

Recently worlds highest efficiency solar thermal cooling system was inaugurated at the Solar Energy Centre in Gurgaon in Haryana. The new 100 kW Solar Air-Conditioning System works at 30 % higher efficiency than the current available systems and has several unique features. It is based on the new triple effect absorption cooling technology. The system has indigenously built medium temperature high efficiency parabolic troughs for collection of solar energy and effective solar thermal energy storage in the form of Phase Change Materials.The present system will cater to air-conditioning needs of 13 rooms of Solar Energy Centre. To achieve this, 288 sq meter of Solar Collector area has been installed which generates nearly 60 kW of 210 o C Pressurized hot water. This heat is used in Vapour Absorption Machine to generate 7 o C Chilled water which in turn circulates through the Fan coil unit installed in the thirteen rooms. The major attraction of this system is that the hottest days have the greatest need for cooling and simultaneously, offer the maximum possible solar energy gain.The system has been developed in joint collaboration by Solar energy Centre with M/s Thermax Limited, Pune and is expected to meet the

A Software to Prevent Stampedes

Scientists have developed a new software which can accurately detect when crowds are starting to build up to dangerous levels a feat they say could help prevent stampede deaths that often occur during festivals and mass celebrations.German researchers who developed the new software said that it will give security staff the chance to disperse crowds to safety by pre-empting the problem.Lead researcher Barbara Krausz, from the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems in Sankt Augustin, Germany, said when people become trapped in a highly congested area, they sway slowly from side to side in an effort to keep their balance.

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Evidence of Water on The Planet Mars

NASA scientists announced on 5 August 2011 that they had found the first evidence of flowing water on Mars. NASA confirmed that the evidence gathered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter would be the first discovery of active liquid water in the ground on the red planet.The US space agency said the orbiter circling Mars since 2006 had monitored numerous instances of what appeared to be water flows occurring in several locations during the Martian spring and summer.Time-sequence imagery of the Newton crater in the southern mid-latitude region showed finger-like markings spreading along several steep slopes and then fading again once colder temperatures move in.

dicted but never discovered until now. A Trojan asteroid shares an orbit with a larger planet or moon, but does not collide with the planet because it orbits around one of two Lagrangian points.The asteroid is 300 meters in diameter. It has an unusual orbit that traces a complex motion near the L4 point. The object is about 80 million kilometers from Earth. The asteroids orbit is well-defined and for at least the next 100 years, it will not come closer to Earth than 24 million kilometers.

Egg Sized Robots

Egg sized Robots developed by the scientists, can directly monitor nuclear reactors and pinpoint corrosion. These robots are underwater patrollers with cameras which can withstand a reactors extreme radioactive environment, transmitting images in real time from within. At present, ultrasound is used by the plant inspectors to screen lengths of pipe for cracks.Egg sized Robots were developed by Harry Asada and his team. Harry Asada is a professor of mechanical engineering at Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Oxygen Molecules in Orion Constellation of Stars

For the first time, molecular variety of Oxygen has been discovered in space in Orion constellation of stars which forms clouds.While atomic oxygen has been long known in warm regions of space, previous missions looking for the molecular variety two atoms of oxygen bonding together came up largely empty-handed.NASAs Submillimetre Wave Astronomy Satellite and Swedens Odin mission have both searched for molecular oxygen and established that its presence is much lower than expected.

Science Cities Being Established

National Council of Science Museums, an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture is responsible for establishment of Science Centres (including Science Cities) based on proposals received from the concerned State Governments, subject to fulfillment of norms.In the approved norms an estimated expenditure of Rs.50 crores is incurred for establishment of a Science City. Other salient features of the approved norms are as under:i) The location of the Science City should be either a State Capital or an important city of the State having a sizeable population of not less than 50 lakh inclusive its vicinity; ii) While deciding location for a Science City, the primary concern shall be to ensure that it can draw at least 10 lakh visitors per year; iii) The new Science Cities are set up preferably only in those places where no major Science Centre exists.

Chemical UDCA
Sceintists found a chemical named UDCA that could prevent abnormal heart rhythm or arrhythmia, both in people who've had a heart attack , and in foetuses. It changes the electrical properties of myofibroblast cells, which are existing in the foetal heart and in patients who suffered heart attack.UDCA could help the heart muscle conduct electrical signals more normally.

Asteriod 2010TK7 Discovered

Astronomers using WISE telescope found the asteroid, named 2010TK7 which is the first known Trojan asteroid in Earths orbit. Trojan asteroids were pre-

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Genetic Change that Causes Male Infertility

Scientists found a genetic change which makes men less fertile. The genetic change was found in a gene called DEFB126. This gene codes for a protein that clings to sperm, helping them swim through a womans body to fertilize the egg. Sperm lacking in the substance find it harder to swim to the egg.However, according to the scientists a man with the altered gene can also get his partner pregnant but taking a longer time.

Prahar which was first unveilled in 2010 in scalemodel form at the Larsen & Toubro stall during DEFEXPO 2010, would fill the gap for a battlefield weapon system in the country's missile arsenal and would replace the unguided Pinaka and Smerch rockets (90 km range).

Lophiomys Imhausi Makes Its Own Poison

A species of rat makes its own poison by gnawing on a toxic tree and then slathering poisonous spit onto special absorbent hairs on its flanks, a team of Oxford University and East African scientists have discovered.The Crested Rat, Lophiomys imhausi, is the first mammal ever found to acquire lethal toxin from a plant. It acquires the poison, ouabain, from the bark of Poison-arrow trees, Acokanthera, socalled because human hunters extract ouabain from them to coat arrows that can kill an elephant.A report of the research appears this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Prahar Successfully Test-Fired

Short-range surface-to-surface missile developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation, Prahar was successfully test-fired on 21 July 2011 from the Integrated Test Range in Balasore. Prahar which is a single stage missile with a range of 150 km and fuelled by solid propellants took off from a road mobile launcher in Launch Complex 3 of ITR in Chandipur.Several Prahar missile like multiplerocket system Pinaka missile can be fired in one salvo. Prahar with greater accuracy will fill the gap between Pinaka, the multi-barrel rocket system, which has a range of 45 km and the Prithvi missile that can attack targets 250 km to 350 km away.Prahar can image, take out multiple targets and can be moved to any place. It can also carry conventional warheads. Prahar will be used as a road-mobile weapon similar to the BrahMos supersonic multi-role cruise missile with each motorised transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) carrying six cannisterised, vertically-launched missiles armed with conventional warheads. A separate wheeled vehicle is being developed to act as a missile resupply station, carrying six cannistered missile rounds.Unlike Prithvi, Prahaar boasts of a three-element flight-control system, with the third and final stage comprising only the manoeuvring warhead section. Prahaar is expected to replace all existing Prithvi SS-150 missiles that are now deployed by the three Missile Groups attached to the Indian Armys two Field Artillery Divisions.Prahar will be extremely useful in emergency situations as it is multidirectional and auto loading in nature. Its launch time is estimated to be two to three minutes and no preparation is required.

Atlantis Reached Kennedy Space Centre

With the Atlantis touching down at the Kennedy Space Centre on Thursday, NASAs 30-year-old space shuttle programme drew to a close. The shuttle fleet has been retired on account of the American governments budget cuts, though it has announced a programme of manned missions farther off in outer space, including to Marss orbit. For destinations in closer proximity to the Earth for instance, the International Space Mission they foresee the availability of commercial craft to ferry astronauts. And till such services are on offer, Americans will rely on berths in Russias Soviet-era craft.

Antarctica Lake
Deep beneath the Antarctica ice sheets are at least 145 lakes that are teeming with micro scopicorganisms. The ice sheets are up to 4km thick. They are considered one of the greatest unexplored frontiers on Earth. Scientists are engaged in a long term programme to understand what type of life may survive in the lake water, sediments below and ice above. Current efforts are focused on the ice above, which includes lake water frozen to the ice sheet bot-

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tom, known as accreted ice.Antarctic continent along with its surrounding ocean influences the climate not just in thehigh latitudes but across the entire planet. The Polar regions are the first to be affected by changes in climate, both in terms of rapidity and intensity. Among the various proxies that archive the information on palaeoclimate, the Antarctic lake sediments play a pivotal role in palaeoclimate investigations.

To help Test Drugs Human Like Liver to Be Transplanted in Mice

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA developed an artificial liver that could be transplanted into mice and allow them to metabolize drugs as if they are humans beings. It could result into more accurate and efficient drug testing.To create this artificial liver, researchers cultured human liver cells, called hepatocytes, in a controlled environment with other factors, such as mouse skin cells.Afterwards scientists implanted the liver under the skin or inside the body cavity of mice and recreated many of the functions of a human liver.

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Blood Test to Diagnose TB Can Be Dangerous

A 12-month analysis reveals that currently available commercial blood tests for diagnosing active TB often lead to misdiagnosis, mistreatment and potential harm to public health. WHO is urging countries to ban these tests and instead rely on accurate microbiological or molecular tests.The use of currently available commercial blood (serological) tests to diagnose active tuberculosis (TB) often leads to misdiagnosis, mistreatment and potential harm to public health, says WHO in a policy recommendation issued today. WHO is urging countries to ban the inaccurate and unapproved blood tests and instead rely on accurate microbiological or molecular tests, as recommended by WHO.

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