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For the first time ever, astronomers are witnessing a galaxy’s ‘death’ as its happening - ThePrint

Research team accidentally discovers galaxy that is dying nine billion light years away using the ALMA, or Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array telescope.

Bengaluru: Astronomers have observed many ‘dead’ galaxies but the process of the death itself hasnt been observed before until now. Using the telescope Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers observed a galaxy, nine billion light years away from the Earth, ejecting nearly half of its star-forming gas and losing fuel. Galaxies begin to ‘die’ when star formation stops inside them or they start losing material that forms stars. The ID2299 galaxy is currently ejecting material worth about 10,000 suns every year in the form of cold gas ejection. It is estimated that the galaxy is currently removing 46 per cent of the total cold gas it contains. The galaxy is still forming new stars very rapidly, but since it is also quickly running out of fuel, the remaining gas will be consumed and the galaxy is likely to be dead within a few million years. This is the first time we have observed a typical massive star-forming galaxy in the distant Universe about to die because of a massive cold gas ejection, said Annagrazia Puglisi, lead researcher of the new study from UK’s Durham University and the Saclay Nuclear Research Centre (CEA-Saclay), France, in a statement. The findings were published in the journal Nature Astronomy Monday. Also read:Mars, Moon & a fresh pair of eyes in the sky the big space missions planned for 2021 Why ID2299 is ejecting gas The research team behind the findings believes that the ID2299 galaxy is ejecting monumental amounts of cold gas because of a collision between two galaxies, which eventually merged to form ID2299. Colliding galaxies are identifiable by their ‘tidal tail’ elongated streams of gas and stars traced out in interstellar space behind the galaxies. These tails are harder to spot in distant galaxies but since the researchers caught the bright feature just as it was launching into space, they were able to identify that the gas ejection was a part of the trail. It was previously believed that black hole activity as well as winds caused by star formation ejected the gases out of galaxies. Our study suggests that gas ejections can be produced by mergers and that winds and tidal tails can appear very similar, said study co-author Emanuele Daddi of CEA-Saclay in the statement. Daddi believes that retrospective analysis of gas ejections captured could confirm if some of them are in fact tidal tails. This might lead us to revise our understanding of how galaxies die, he added. The discovery was a serendipitous accident and occurred when the team was inspecting data from a galaxy survey conducted by ALMA to study the properties of cold gas in far away galaxies. Also read:Theres a 2nd kind of fusion happening in the Sun, scientists confirm through neutrinos Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises. But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle. ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here. Support Our Journalism

Covid immunity in recovered patients could last up to 8 months, says study - ThePrint

Scientists at an institute in the US found that nearly all 188 Covid cases studied had immune memory at five to eight months after symptom onset.

New Delhi: Recovered Covid-19 patients have immunity from the novel coronavirus for up to eight months, a new study has found. The study,published in journal Science Wednesday, was conducted using samples from 188 Covid cases across the US, at the La Jolla Institute of Immunology. If we had seen only marginal immune responses, we would have been concerned, Alessandro Sette, professor, Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, said in astatement. …but what we see is a very robust T cell response against the spike protein, which is the target of most ongoing COVID-19 efforts, as well as other viral proteins. These findings are really good news for vaccine development, Sette added.   While the duration of immune response to the virus has been studied throughout the pandemic, a study by Kings College London had worryingly found that antibody levels that can destroy the virus peaked about three weeks after the onset of symptoms. However, cases of reinfection remain rare across the world. Also read: India will be able to vaccinate entire population soon, says Harsh Vardhan Methodology The latest study was conducted on 254 samples from 188 Covid cases. The subjects included 80 males and 108 females, aged between 19 and 81 years, and represented a range of asymptomatic, mild, moderate, and severe Covid cases. However, most subjects had mild Covid cases with 93 per cent never requiring hospitalisation. The rest included those who required ICU care. Ninety seven per cent of the subjects, however, were symptomatic. Samples were collected from the subjects between 6 days and 240 days post symptom onset (PSO), with 43 samples which were at over six months after infection. Immunity memory The study focused on the following five immune memory responses: RBD IgG, RBD memory B cells, Spike IgA, total SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+T cells, and total SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cells. These are types of white blood cells which help in immune responses. Over every three out of five Covid cases were positive for all five of these immune memory compartments at one to two months PSO. At five to eight months PSO, the proportion of individuals positive for all five of these immune memory compartments had dropped to 43 per cent; but 95 per cent of individuals were still positive for at least three out of five immune memory responses. Immune memory at five to eight months PSO represented contributions from different immune memory compartments in different individuals. Our data show immune memory in at least three immunological compartments was measurable in 95% of subjects 5 to 8 months PSO, indicating that durable immunity against secondary COVID-19 disease is a possibility in most individuals, the study said. Also read: IMA welcomes Covid-19 vaccines, encourages doctors across India to get vaccinated Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises. But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle. ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here. Support Our Journalism

China crackdown on Jack Ma’s Alibaba drives $200 billion tech selloff - ThePrint

Investigation by regulators marks formal start of the Communist Party’s crackdown on not just Alibaba but also, potentially, the wider and increasingly influential tech sphere.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. led a second day of frenetic selling among Chinas largest tech firms, driven by fears that antitrust scrutiny will spread beyond Jack Mas internet empire and engulf the countrys most powerful corporations. Alibaba and its three largest rivals — Tencent Holdings Ltd., food delivery giant Meituan and JD.com Inc. — have shed nearly $200 billion in Hong Kong over the two sessions since Thursday when regulators revealed an investigation into alleged monopolistic practices at Mas signature company. That marked the formal start of the Communist Partys crackdown on not just Alibaba but also, potentially, the wider and increasingly influential tech sphere. It is very hard to predict the outcome of the Chinese governments ongoing investigation into Alibaba and other large consumer internet platforms, Baird analyst Colin Sebastian wrote in a note. He cut his price target on Alibabas U.S.-listed shares to $285 from $325, citing uncertainty around government oversight and potential for direct regulatory action in the coming year. The companys American depositary receipts fluctuated Monday — after a historic 13% slide the previous session — as volume passed the 12-month daily average in first half-hour, reflecting doubt over whats going to happen next. JD.com fell 3.4% and Tencent declined 2.9%. The days Hong Kong trading was also fierce: Alibaba fell 8% Monday, shedding $270 billion of value since its October peak. Tencent and Meituan both tumbled more than 6%. KeyBanc Capital Markets wrote that this significant pullback had created an attractive buying opportunity, adding that it doesnt anticipate a meaningfully different competitive landscape for the company. On Sunday, Chinas central bank ordered Mas other online titan — Ant Group Co. — to return to its roots as a payments service and overhaul adjacent businesses from insurance to money management, spurring talk of an eventual breakup. Once hailed as the standard-bearers of Chinas economic and technological ascendancy, Alibaba and its compatriots now face increasing pressure from regulators worried about the speed with which theyre amassing clout in sensitive arenas such as media and education and gaining influence over the daily lives of hundreds of millions. That concern crystallized in November, when regulators torpedoed Ants $35 billion initial public offering before unveiling draft rules enshrining sweeping powers to clamp down on anti-competitive practices in sectors from e-commerce to social media. The Chinese government is putting more pressure or wants to have more control on the tech firms, Jackson Wong, asset management director at Amber Hill Capital Ltd., said by phone. There is still very big selling pressure on firms like Alibaba, Tencent or Meituan. These companies have been growing at a pace deemed by Beijing as too fast and have scales that are too big. The State Administration for Market Regulation dispatched officials to Alibabas Hangzhou headquarters last Thursday and the on-site investigation was completed on the day, according to local news reports. The Peoples Daily — the Communist Party mouthpiece — ran a commentary over the weekend warning Alibabas peers to take the antitrust investigation into Alibaba as a chance to lift their own awareness of fair competition. Ma, the flamboyant co-founder of Alibaba and Ant, has all but vanished from public view since Ants IPO got derailed last month. As of early December, the man most closely identified with the meteoric rise of China Inc. was advised by the government to stay in the country, a person familiar with the matter has said. Ma isnt on the verge of a personal downfall, those familiar with the situation have said. His very public rebuke is instead a warning Beijing has lost patience with the outsize power of its technology moguls, increasingly perceived as a threat to the political and financial stability President Xi Jinping prizes most. Investors remain divided over the extent to which Beijing will go after Alibaba and its compatriots as Beijing prepares to roll out the new anti-monopoly regulations. The countrys leaders have said little about how harshly they plan to clamp down or why they decided to act now. Some analysts predict theres a crackdown coming, but a targeted one. They point to language in the regulations that suggests a heavy focus on online commerce, from forced exclusive arrangements with merchants known as Pick One of Two to algorithm-based prices favoring new users. The regulations specifically warn against predatory pricing — selling below cost — to weed out rivals. As this latest investigation occurs at a time when China is ready to take action against monopolistic practices, we think SAMR might want to use BABAs case as a precedent to send a message to the rest of the industry that the authority is determined this time to address the pricing issue, Nomura analysts wrote in a note Monday. –Bloomberg Also read:China tells Jack Mas Ant Group to return to its roots as provider of payments services Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises. But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle. ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here. Support Our Journalism Show Full Article

Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft returns samples of asteroid Ryugu to Earth - ThePrint

Samples of both surface dust and material from below the surface of asteroid Ryugu were collected. These are likely to give insights into the evolution of our solar system.

Bengaluru: Samples collected from the asteroid Ryugu, about 300 million kilometres away, by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft arrived safely near Woomera in Australia, in the early hours of Sunday. Samples of both surface dust and material from below the surface, that was stirred up when the spacecraft had fired two impactors into the asteroid, were collected. We found the capsule! Together with the parachute! Wow!(Collection Team M)#Hayabusa2##AsteroidExplorerHayabusa2#HAYA2Report — [email protected] (@haya2e_jaxa) December 5, 2020 The probe had collected the samples in the first half of 2019. The Hayabusa2 stored them in a separate sealed container that was detached from the craft about 220,000 km from Earth and subsequently landed in the Australian outback using parachutes. The Royal Australian Air Force tracked the 16 kg-container’s beacon in the wee hours of Sunday morning. The container was taken to a nearby facility for a quick analysis before being flown to Japan. Samples are on their way for analysis at the Woomera Test Range. @[email protected]@DeptDefence#Hayabusa2https://t.co/eBIukNPTgupic.twitter.com/AK0C7TCArk — Australian Space Agency (@AusSpaceAgency) December 6, 2020 Hayabusa2 had left the one kilometre-wide Ryugu to return to Earth in November 2019. The mission follows in the footsteps of the first Hayabusa mission, which had returned samples from the asteroid Itokawa in 2010. Ryugu’s samples will be split between JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), the US space agency NASA, and other international research institutes. Also read: Scientists find out how plants pass on defects to offspring Asteroids give information on solar system Hayabusa-2, which was launched in 2014, still retains about 30 kg of its xenon propellant from its original 66 kg. The spacecraft is now on an extended mission with two new asteroid targets, a fly-by of (98943) 2001 CC21 in July 2026 and a rendezvous with 1998 KY26 in July 2031. 2001 CC21, a rare L-type asteroid, will be photographed in detail during a high-speed fly-by. 1998 KY26, however, will be the first target that is a fast rotating micro-asteroid. Materials from asteroids are considered very precious for research as these small bodies were leftovers from the early formation of our solar system. These have since remained pristine and unchanged, because asteroids and other smaller bodies did not undergo the same metamorphic changes that planets did. Analysis of the composition of these asteroids and other smaller bodies gives insights into the formation, evolution, and the likely future of our solar system. Asteroid samples are important candidates for studying both the origin of water as well as origin of life on Earth. It was long believed that comets deposited the first water droplets on Earth, but recent findings have shown that asteroids carried water to early Earth. Also read: Change-5 landing latest feat in Chinas big Moon plans that aim for lunar base, human mission Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises. But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle. ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here. Support Our Journalism Show Full Article

‘Chinese sugar’ found in Indian honey, Dabur, Patanjali call CSE report ‘bid to malign’ brands - ThePrint

Brands have denied the allegations of selling adulterated honey but CSE research team says sugar syrups are designed to pass India's food regulatory standards.

New Delhi: Major Indian brands including Dabur, Patanjali and Zandu are selling honey adulterated with a modified sugar from China, which can bypass some of the basic tests used to detect adulterated honey, researchers from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) have alleged. Responding to these allegations, spokespersons from Dabur, Patanjali and Zandu denied that their honey products were adulterated and pointed out that they meet regulatory requirements laid down by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). According to CSE director general Sunita Narain, the organisation launched an investigation when beekeepers in North India reported reduced profits despite a spike in honey sales during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is a food fraud more nefarious and more sophisticated than what we found in our 2003 and 2006 investigations into soft drinks; more damaging to our health than perhaps anything that we have found till now keeping in mind the fact that we are still fighting against a killer COVID-19 pandemic with our backs to the wall, Narain said in a statement Wednesday. The CSE study found that almost all brands of honey being sold in the Indian market are adulterated with sugar syrup. This is immensely worrying, as it will further compromise health in the troubled times of Covid-19. We know that households today are consuming more honey because of its intrinsic goodness antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, Narain said. Our research has found that most of the honey sold in the market is adulterated with sugar syrup. Therefore, instead of honey, people are eating more sugar, which will add to the risk of Covid-19. Sugar ingestion is directly linked to obesity, and obese people are more vulnerable to life-threatening infections, added Narain. According to the CSE, the honey adulteration business has evolved to bypass existing tests. Initially, sugars from corn, sugarcane, rice and beetroot used to be added to honey to increase sweetness. Such adulteration is detected by what are known as C3 and C4 tests. The new modified Chinese sugar, however, can only be detected by a test called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). NMR tests have very recently been made mandatory in India for honey that is meant for export. Researchers at the CSE selected 13 top and smaller brands of processed and raw honey being sold in India. Samples from these were tested at the Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (CALF) at the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Gujarat. Almost all, except Apis Himalaya, passed the basic tests of purity, the CSE said. However, when the same brands were tested using NMR, which was conducted by a specialised laboratory in Germany, most brands failed. Of the 13 tested, only three brands passed the NMR test. It shows how the business of adulteration has evolved so that it can pass the stipulated tests in India, said Amit Khurana, programme director of CSEs Food Safety and Toxins team. Our concern is not just that the honey we eat is adulterated, but that this adulteration is difficult to catch. In fact, we have found that the sugar syrups are designed so that they can go undetected, Khurana added. Saffola, MarkfedSohna and Natures Nectar were the brands that passed all tests. Also read:Greater quality checks soon on milk, edible oil, honey, meat & poultry, says FSSAI new CEO Brands deny allegations In an email statement to ThePrint, Dabur shared an independent test report of Dabur Honey from a lab in Germany, which shows that their product passes the NMR test. The recent reports seem motivated and aimed at maligning our brand. We assure our consumers that Dabur Honey is 100% Pure. It is 100% indigenous, collected naturally from Indian sources and packed with no added sugar or other adulterants, the spokesperson said. Further, Dabur is the only company in India to have NMR testing equipment in our own laboratory, and the same is used to regularly test our Honey being sold in the Indian market. This is to ensure that Dabur Honey is 100% Pure without any adulteration, the statement added. Acharya Balkrishna, managing director of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, called the report “an attempt to lower the market share of Indian honey in international trade”. In a statement emailed to ThePrint, he said: “It seems to be a plot to defame Indian natural honey industry and manufacturers in a bid to promote processed honey. It further seems to be an international marketing designed to promote German technology and machines which cost crores of rupees.” Emami, which produces Zandu Pure Honey, also claimed its product adheres to all protocols and standards. “Emami, as a responsible organization, ensures that it’s Zandu Pure Honey conforms and adheres to all the protocols and quality norms/standards laid down by the Government of India and its authorised entities such as FSSAI, the company said in its statement sent to ThePrint. According to data from the National Bee Board, which functions under the Department of Agriculture, the countrys total honey production reported in 2017-2018 was 1.05 lakh metric tonnes. Also read: From McDonalds to Patanjali, an IAS officer explains how FSSAI is making food safer Code word, ‘disguise’ help adulterants clear FSSAI, customs In the past year, the FSSAI notified importers and state food commissioners that sugar syrups like golden syrup, invert sugar syrup and rice syrup imported into the country were being used for adulteration of honey. However, Chinese companies mostly export the syrup as fructose to India through trade portals such as Alibaba, CSE researchers said. The team had procured a sample of the syrup from a Chinese company during its investigations. According to Narain, the product was disguised as paint pigment to clear customs. The CSE team also found that a factory to manufacture this ‘Chinese syrup’ was set up in Jaspur, Uttarakhand. According to Narain, CSE researchers used code word “all pass” (for the syrup) to procure a sample from Jaspur. What was shocking to find is that adulterated samples with 25 per cent and 50 per cent sugar syrup passed the test of purity. In this way, we confirmed that sugar syrups exist that can bypass the 2020 FSSAI standard for honey, said Khurana, CSE’s programme director of Food Safety and Toxins. Also read:These are the things Indians have been spending their money on during the pandemic Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises. But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle. ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here. 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Severe Covid infections pass to brain through nose, German scientists say - ThePrint

German scientists obtain first evidence of virus crossing into the brain through nasal mucus by performing autopsies on severely infected patients.

Bengaluru: Scientists in Germany have stated that patients infected with very severe Covid-19 can pass the coronavirus to their brains from noses.  The process occurs through infection in nasal mucus followed by subsequent hijacking of the olfactory nerve, and the authors deduced that the virus can enter the nervous system by crossing the neural-mucosal interface during an infection.  This is the first documented evidence of Covid transmission to the brain through the mucosal pathway. The findings, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience on 30 November, were determined through autopsies conducted on 33 older patients who had died of the coronavirus. Through the pandemic, it has been apparent that the SARS-CoV-2 virus causes not just respiratory troubles, but also neurological problems. These include headache, fatigue, brain fog, loss of focus, and confusion, but also nausea as well as anosmia or loss of smell. To understand the trigger for these neurological symptoms, which are caused by the brain or nervous system getting affected, German scientists from Charité Universitätsmediz in Berlin, conducted autopsies to study the mucus at the back of patients noses, in the area where the nasal cavity and the throat meet. This is the region where nasopharyngeal swabs are taken from for RT-PCR tests. The scientists also studied samples of brain tissues taken from deceased individuals. The team found that viral RNA material was present in the highest concentrations in the mucus present in the nasal cavity. This was determined by the first-ever electron microscopy image of intact coronavirus particles within the mucus as well. But antigens like the viruss spike protein were detected in the brain.  Also read: Your brain and testicles are home to viruses. Is the coronavirus any different? Evidence of virus also found in walls of brain blood vessels  The authors also found SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in specific kinds of cells within the olfactory mucous layer, where it has the potential to pass through the endothelial and nervous tissue, subsequently into the brain. Further, in some patients, the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein was found in neuron marker cells, implying that olfactory sensory neurons may be infected.  The spike protein was also found in parts of the brain that receive smell and taste signals. Evidence of the virus was also found in the walls of blood vessels in the brain.  Additionally, the researchers found the SARS-CoV-2 particles in other areas of the nervous system, including the medulla oblongata, which is the primary respiratory and cardiovascular control centre of the brain. Not possible to apply results to mild cases Infectious viruses crossing the blood-brain barrier and other kinds of nervous system defences to enter the brain is not new, albeit not common. Viruses like the rabies virus or even the flu virus have established pathways to affect the brain, leading to conditions like encephalitis or inflammation of the brain.  The authors of the study, however, emphasised that all the patients they performed autopsies on had a very severe case of the disease and died from it on an average of 30 days from the infection.  The average age of the deceased in the study was 71 years. Thus, they stressed that it is not possible to apply their results to mild or moderate Covid cases. Also read: Yale study shows coronavirus attacks the brain too, scientists say its a silent infection Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises. But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle. ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here. Support Our Journalism Show Full Article

Bacteria could help extract minerals from rocks on Mars and Moon, study says - ThePrint

ScientiFix, our weekly feature, offers you a summary of the top global science stories of the week.

Mineral mining in space could be possible due to bacteria Experiments performed by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) suggest that bacteria can extract useful materials from rocks on Mars and the Moon. According to the ISS team, bacteria could one day be used to break rocks down into soil for growing crops, or to provide minerals for life support systems that produce air and water. For the study, matchbox-sized mining devices called biomining reactors were developed by scientists at the University of Edinburgh over a 10-year period. These were sent to the ISS last year. The devices contained small pieces of basalt a common rock on Moon and Mars submerged in bacterial solution. After three weeks, the researchers found that bacteria could enhance the removal of rare earth elements from basalt in lunar and Martian landscapes by up to around 400 per cent. Microbes are also routinely used on Earth in biomining to extract useful elements such as copper and gold from rocks. The new experiments have also provided new data on how gravity influences the growth of communities of microbes here on Earth, researchers say. More on the New York Times. Also read: Jupiters icy moon Europa can glow in the dark even with no sun, NASA scientists find Oldest proof of twin birth found in 31,000-year-old grave Scientists have found that a 31,000-year-old grave of infants is the first genetically-verified and earliest proof of twin birth. The Upper Paleolithic burials, including a double burial of two infants and the burial of a three-month-old child, were excavated in 2005 in Austria. Archaeologists have now deciphered the relationship between the three infants, and determined the sex and age at death more precisely. The different ages of death of the infants from the double grave, who could be identified as identical twins, confirms that reopening of a grave for reburial was a cultural-historical phenomenon at the time. The molecular genetic analysis was able to show that the double burial involved male, identical twins. The researchers said the fact that sufficient and high-quality old DNA could be extracted from the fragile skeletal remains for a genome analysis can be compared to a lottery ticket. The skeletal remains of the third infant recovered from the second grave revealed that the infant was possibly a cousin of the twins. More on Livescience. Also read: SpaceX, NASA ready first commercial taxi to space station Atmospheric rivers driving a holes into Antarctica Scientists have found that warm, moist rivers of air in Antarctica are creating massive holes in sea ice in a phenomenon that may influence ocean conditions around the vast continent as well as climate change. These long, intense plumes of warm air known as atmospheric rivers cause sea ice holes to infrequently develop during the winter. A large hole in this area was first observed in 1973 and a hole developed again in the late winter and early spring of 2017. Scientists have now found that repeated strong atmospheric rivers during late August through mid-September 2017 played a crucial role in forming the sea ice hole. These rivers brought warm, moist air from the coast of South America to the polar environment, warming the sea ice surface and making it vulnerable to melting. Under future climate change, atmospheric rivers are predicted to become more frequent, longer and wider. They are also predicted to become more effective in moving high levels of water vapour towards the Antarctic Ocean. More on New Scientist. Ancient lake bed discovered under Greenland’s thick later of ice   Researchers have discovered the remains of a huge ancient lake bed under Greenland’s thick layer of ice. This is the first-ever discovery of such a sub-glacial feature anywhere in the world. The lake covering roughly 2,700 square miles likely formed at a time when the area was ice-free millions of years ago. It contains unique fossil and chemical traces of past climates and life. Such data is vital to understanding what may happen to the Greenland ice sheet in the coming years as climate warms. The researchers mapped out the lake bed by analysing data from airborne geophysical instruments that can read signals that penetrate the ice and provide images of the geologic structures below. Most of the data came from aircraft flying at low altitude over the ice sheet as part of NASAs Operation IceBridge. More on BGR. Also read: Netherlands study says SARS-CoV-2 virus can jump between mink and humans Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises. But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle. ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here. Support Our Journalism Show Full Article

Astronomers detect first fast radio burst in our Milky Way galaxy - ThePrint

Fast radio bursts are bright bursts of radio waves from astronomical objects across galaxies. In a first, FRB 200428 was accompanied with X-rays and could be traced to a magnetar.

Bengaluru: Astronomers have detected a bright fast radio burst, which lasted for a millisecond, from our galaxy for the first time ever. Fast radio bursts (FRB) are bright bursts of radio waves from astronomical objects across galaxies, and their sources have been a mystery for over a decade. This signal, called FRB 200428, was found in April inside the Milky Way galaxy for the first time and was also the first to be traced to a magnetar, which are dead stars that have the most powerful magnetic fields in the universe. The findings confirm that magnetars could be sources for FRBs. The radio burst was also accompanied by X-rays, another first. The FRB and subsequent X-ray radiation was observed by at least four telescopes. The findings were published in three papers (here , here , and here) in the journal Nature Wednesday. Also read:ISRO to launch radar weather satellite Saturday, but no media, guests allowed due to Covid FRB detected in April On 28 April 2020, astronomers used the Astronomers Telegram service an internet-based short-notice publication service for astronomical observations  to announce an FRB originating inside our galaxy, in a first-of-its-kind observation. A day earlier, two space observatories, the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, had detected multiple bursts of X-ray and gamma-ray emissions coming from the magnetar SGR 1935+2154 situated within our galaxy The next day, the same region of sky was visible to two telescopes on land, the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) and the Survey for Transient Astronomical Radio Emission 2 (STARE2) array of three radio antennas, in the US, both of which detected an FRB in the region. The CHIME team was the one to announce the detection and it was described in their study as an “unusually intense X-ray burst activity. According to standard convention, the FRB was numbered 200428. Other space telescopes like the European Space Agencys INTEGRAL space telescope, Russias Konus detector on NASAs Wind spacecraft, and Chinas Insight space observatory, also detected an X-ray burst coming from the same location at the same time. Chinas Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) detected an FRB from the location, two days later. Also read:ISRO-NASA satellite NISAR expected to be launched by 2022 Theories related to FRBs FRBs were first discovered in 2007, when scientists combed through archival pulsar data. Pulsars refer to spherical, compact objects in the universe, which are about the size of a large city but contain more mass than the sun. They often look like flickering stars but are not actually stars. Several FRBs have subsequently been observed and recorded, but little is known about them because the phenomenon is so short and unpredictable. They have been observed all over the sky, in several galaxies. In the past decade, scientists have come up with new theories about the origin of these FRBs, including possible origins from neutron stars, which are formed from the powerful deathly explosion of high mass stars in a supernova. Magnetars are a type of neutron star and have long been considered potential sources of these FRBs. Magnetars are known to produce jets of gamma rays and X-rays, which also last for mere milliseconds and carry a huge burst of energy. Researchers generally accepted that this meant they could produce FRBs as well. Implications of discovery FRB 200428 is the first fast radio burst with emissions other than radio waves. It is also the first to be associated with a magnetar, and the first to be observed within the Milky Way, making it the closest FRB to be ever observed. It was spotted towards the galaxys centre in the constellation called Vulpecula, about 30,000 light years from the Earth. In about 1 millisecond, the magnetar emitted as much energy as the sun does in 30 seconds. This observation answers a big question in the field of FRB study. Before the discovery of this FRB, the lack of accompanying radiation was slowly lending credence to the theory that magnetars may not be the sources of FRBs after all. However, the latest findings confirm the accompaniment of X-rays with FRBs, strengthening magnetar origin theory. And yet, several questions remain. It is still a mystery how these bursts form and what phenomena drive these bright, rare, unpredictable radio bursts with X-rays and gamma-rays. To understand this, scientists will need to perform detailed observations of galaxies that are engaged in rapid star formation nearby, to find events similar to FRB 200428. The delay in FAST detecting the FRB, even though the Fermi Gamma-ray telescope detected multiple X-rays at the time, also raised questions about the creation and properties of these FRBs originating in magnetars. Scientists now wonder if FRBs could also be directional and perhaps pointed away from the Earth at the time, evading detection. The question of what creates FRBs and drives their sporadic detection is still a mystery requiring further study. Also read: There is water on the Moon trapped in glass, much more accessible than thought, says NASA Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises. But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle. ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here. Support Our Journalism Show Full Article

India may have crossed Covid peak, stage set for economic recovery, says finance ministry - ThePrint

In its economic outlook for September, finance ministry claims economic recovery may have gained momentum on account of govt’s economic package as well as Unlock.

New Delhi: India may have crossed the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, setting the stage for economic recovery, the finance ministry said in its monthly economic outlook report for September. The report, citing different parameters, further said that economic recovery may have gained momentum over the last few months on account of the government’s economic package as well as the unlocking of the economy.  Data for the 14-day period from September 17 to 30 suggests that India may have crossed the peak of Covid-19 case-load. During this period, the seven-day moving average of daily positive cases has steadily declined from about 93,000 to 83,000 while the seven-day moving average of daily tests has risen from about 1,15,000 to 1,24,000, the report, made public Sunday, said. The report cautioned that the pandemic is far from over but added that the declining positivity rate at all-India level sets the stage to further push up the frontiers of economic recovery”. It also stressed the need for self-protection with due precautions as restrictions on access and mobility are further eased.  According to data with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of Covid-19 cases in India crossed 65 lakh Sunday, with over 55 lakh recoveries. Also read:Modi govt removes spending cap on defence for Q3 amid tensions with China Report points to record agriculture production The finance ministry cited a record production of kharif foodgrains to support its case of an economic recovery being underway.  It also referred to an increase in demand in the rural sector, as reflected by an increase in registration of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and passenger vehicles, and tractor sales, in August, as compared to the year-ago period. The report also pointed out how high-frequency indicators have improved in sync with global activity. For instance, Indias exports rose more than 5 per cent in September.  Many mobility and logistic indicators have also risen. Rail freight, rail passenger earnings, cargo traffic volumes and domestic aviation traffic have improved, it said.  The report concluded by cautioning that a sustained spread of the virus poses a downside risk to short-term and medium-term growth rate. It, however, pointed out that the structural reforms across various sectors will “strengthen the fundamentals of the economy towards a strong and sustainable long-term growth. The Indian economy contracted by a record 23.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2020-21 as the two-month complete nationwide lockdown beginning 25 March brought all economic activity to a halt.  The economy is expected to contract in the second quarter as well with the pandemic showing no signs of abating. For the full fiscal year, the economy is forecast to contract by more than 10 per cent by most economists. Also read:Govt to borrow Rs 4.34 lakh cr in second half of 2020-21 to meet expenses amid Covid crisis Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises. But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle. ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here. Support Our Journalism Show Full Article

Jurassic Park & scientists have it wrong, giant dino Spinosaurus was probably a river monster - ThePrint

ScientiFix, our weekly feature, offers you a summary of the top global science stories of the week.

New Delhi: Spinosaurus, the giant dinosaur that featured in the movie Jurassic Park 3, may have actually been an enormous river-monster, latest research indicates. Scientists analysing more than a thousand dinosaur teeth, that were recently discovered by researchers at the University of Portsmouth, say that they have proved beyond reasonable doubt that the 15 metre-long, six-tonne dinosaur was in fact an aquatic animal. Until recently, it was believed that these dinosaurs lived exclusively on land. The research team said the giant predator lived in the Kem Kem river system, which flowed through the Sahara Desert 100 million years ago. The scientists say their hypothesis is based on a trove of hundreds of fossilised teeth found in an ancient river bed in Morocco. The team says that an animal that lived most of its life in water is more likely to contribute teeth to the river deposit, rather than those dinosaurs that visited the river just for drinking or feeding along its banks. More on National Geographic. Also read:Scientists have taken the worlds biggest photo ever, and its of a cauliflower Sparrows in San Francisco sing different tunes during lockdown Scientists have found that sparrows in San Francisco Bay area made changes to their songs during the Covid-19 lockdown. By analysing the calls of sparrows recorded over decades, scientists found that the birds in the Bay area changed their singing behaviour when the city became quieter. The birds improved the quality of their songs when enticing a mate or defending their territory, going for softer, sweeter tones that carried a lot further in the lack of background noises. The team from University of Tennessee has been studying bird songs for decades to understand how noise pollution affects avian tunes. The research reveals new insights into how noisy cityscapes affect birds and their communication. Read more on BBC. Temperature checks of butterflies reveal how they adapt to climate change Scientists caught thousands of butterflies and took their temperature to discover how climate change affects the insects. The team discovered a significant variation in the ability of different butterfly species to maintain a suitable body temperature. In light of changing climates across the globe, butterfly species appear to be under threat. This is especially true for those species that rely most on finding a shady location to keep cool. The team showed that larger and paler butterflies are best able to protect themselves against environmental temperature swings. These butterflies are able to use their reflective wings to direct the sun’s heat either away from, or onto their bodies. The team observed that such butterflies have either stable or growing populations. More colourful, larger species have greater difficulty controlling their body temperature. But the smaller colourful species appear to be most at risk. Scientists suggest that even small changes in our landscapes can help protect species that look for shade to keep cool. For example, keeping patches of longer grasses in gardens at home or in nature reserves can help these butterflies. More on The Guardian. Also read:Can bacteria migrate to other planets & survive? What a Japanese space experiment found Rocket booster from 1960 could become Earths mini moon Scientists suspect that the Earth may be adopting a mini moon later this year, which will orbit around our planet for about six months. More interestingly, it appears that this object is actually a part of a rocket that was launched back in the 1960s. The object, called 2020 SO, was first spotted on 19 August this year using a telescope that spots new asteroids. As scientists continued to study the object, they realised it had a strange orbit and that it was moving much slower than a typical asteroid. Further study revealed that the object’s trajectory matched the track of a rocket booster from NASA’s Surveyor 2 mission that was launched on 20 September in 1966, but had crashed into the moon three days later. The identity of 2020 SO will become clearer with more observations next month as scientists watch how the sun affects the object. More on Space. Astronomers discover rocky Earth-sized pi planet Scientists have discovered an Earth-sized ‘pi-planet’ which completes an orbit around its star once every 3.14 days. Scientists nicknamed the cosmic object ‘pi planet’ since 3.14 is the value of the mathematical constant pi (denoted ). While its mass is yet to be determined, scientists suspect that the planet, officially designated K2-315b, is rocky like Earth. Signs of the planet were first spotted in 2017 in the data collected by NASA Kepler Space Telescope, which has detected over 2,600 planets so far. The pi planet orbits a cool, low-mass star that is about one-fifth the size of our sun. The planet circles its star at the speed of 81 kilometres per second. The pi planet is not likely to be habitable as its tight orbit brings it close enough to its star to heat its surface up to around 350 degrees Fahrenheit. More on LiveScience. Also read:Worlds oldest sperm is around 100 million years old, and is trapped in amber Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it You are reading this because you value good, intelligent and objective journalism. We thank you for your time and your trust. You also know that the news media is facing an unprecedented crisis. It is likely that you are also hearing of the brutal layoffs and pay-cuts hitting the industry. There are many reasons why the medias economics is broken. But a big one is that good people are not yet paying enough for good journalism. We have a newsroom filled with talented young reporters. We also have the countrys most robust editing and fact-checking team, finest news photographers and video professionals. We are building Indias most ambitious and energetic news platform. And have just turned three. At ThePrint, we invest in quality journalists. We pay them fairly. As you may have noticed, we do not flinch from spending whatever it takes to make sure our reporters reach where the story is. This comes with a sizable cost. For us to continue bringing quality journalism, we need readers like you to pay for it. If you think we deserve your support, do join us in this endeavour to strengthen fair, free, courageous and questioning journalism. Please click on the link below. Your support will define ThePrints future. Support Our Journalism Show Full Article

Sufficient Vitamin D levels can prevent severity of Covid infection — Boston University study - ThePrint

The study says sufficient levels of Vitamin D can even reduce the need for oxygen in Covid-19 patients.

New Delhi: Sufficient levels of Vitamin D can prevent Covid-19 patients’ condition from deteriorating and it can even reduce the need for oxygen, a study by the Boston University has shown. Only 9.7% of patients older than 40 years who were vitamin D sufficient succumbed to the infection compared to 20% who had a circulating level of 25(OH)D< 30 ng/ml,” the researchers at the Boston University said in an article in PLOS One. “The significant reduction in serum CRP, an inflammatory marker, along with increased Ðpercentage suggest that vitamin D sufficiency also may help modulate the immune response possibly by reducing risk for cytokine storm in response to this viral infection. 25(OH)D or 25-hydroxyvitamin D is a measure of Vitamin D in the body. CRP or C reactive protein is commonly assayed to check the inflammation levels caused by an infection. The higher the inflammation, the greater is the infection usually. “This study provides direct evidence that vitamin D sufficiency can reduce the complications, including the cytokine storm (release of too many proteins into the blood too quickly) and ultimately death from COVID-19,” said author Michael F. Holick, PhD, MD, professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics and molecular medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine. During the study, the Vitamin D levels of 235 hospitalised Covid patients were measured. The patients were monitored regularly to see how severe the infection became, if they had difficulty breathing and whether they were finally able to overcome the disease. Their C reactive protein and lymphocyte levels were also measured. Also read:Vitamin D supplement calcifediol could reduce death risk in Covid patients, Spanish study says Vitamin D has a role in the immune response of the body Vitamin D is believed to have a role in the immune response of the body. There have been views about it playing a preventive role in Covid. Vitamin D interacting with its receptor (VDR) in immune cells, modulates the innate and acquired immune systems in response to invasion of bacterial and viral pathogens. It also acts as a modulator of renin-angiotensin pathway and down-regulates ACE-2.. Therefore, vitamin D might help in treatment of COVID-19 by preventing the cytokine storm and subsequent ARDS which is commonly the cause of mortality, the researchers noted. The report also suggested to explain the impact of Vitamin D in influenza cases in winter when sunny days are fewer in number. ACE2 mediates infection by the SARS-CoV2 virus. Its down regulation can, therefore, reduce the severity of the infection. Only 32.8% participants in the study had sufficient Vitamin D. The severity of clinical outcomes from COVID-19 and mortality were reduced in patients who were vitamin D sufficient. Clinical features were also significantly different in patients who were Vitamin D sufficient. They had a lower risk of becoming unconscious and becoming hypoxic. “Patients who were Vitamin D sufficient had significantly lower blood levels of the inflammatory marker CRP and had a higher total blood lymphocyte count suggesting that Vitamin D sufficiency had improved the immune function in these patients and raising the inflammatory markers. This beneficial effect on the immune system may also reduce the risk of acquiring this insidious potentially life-threatening viral infection, the researchers concluded. Also read:Vitamin D deficiency, speech delay, dry eyes the impact of Covid lifestyle on children Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it You are reading this because you value good, intelligent and objective journalism. We thank you for your time and your trust. You also know that the news media is facing an unprecedented crisis. It is likely that you are also hearing of the brutal layoffs and pay-cuts hitting the industry. There are many reasons why the medias economics is broken. But a big one is that good people are not yet paying enough for good journalism. We have a newsroom filled with talented young reporters. We also have the countrys most robust editing and fact-checking team, finest news photographers and video professionals. We are building Indias most ambitious and energetic news platform. And have just turned three. At ThePrint, we invest in quality journalists. We pay them fairly. As you may have noticed, we do not flinch from spending whatever it takes to make sure our reporters reach where the story is. This comes with a sizable cost. For us to continue bringing quality journalism, we need readers like you to pay for it. If you think we deserve your support, do join us in this endeavour to strengthen fair, free, courageous and questioning journalism. Please click on the link below. Your support will define ThePrints future. Support Our Journalism Show Full Article

Stanford study estimates fewer than 10% US adults had Covid antibodies in July - ThePrint

The study that assayed patients undergoing dialysis also found higher incidence of the disease among ethnic minorities.

New Delhi: A study by researchers at Stanford University has found that fewer than 10 per cent of adults in the US had Covid-19 antibodies as of July, and fewer than 10 per cent of these were diagnosed as sero-positive. The study highlighted the need for targeted public health interventions among racial and ethnic minorities, and densely populated communities. In a paper published in The Lancet Saturday, the researchers concluded: During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer than 10% of the US adult population formed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, and fewer than 10% of those with antibodies were diagnosed. Public health efforts to limit SARS-CoV-2 spread need to especially target racial and ethnic minority and densely populated communities. The US has the highest Covid burden in the world with 71,85,516 cases and 2,07,538 deaths having been reported so far. The study details The cross-sectional study looked at 28,503 randomly selected adult patients receiving dialysis in 1,300 facilities across the US in July. A test with 100 per cent sensitivity and 99.8 per cent specificity was used for the assay. Not only is this patient population representative ethnically and socio-economically, but they are one of the few groups of people who can be repeatedly tested. Because renal disease is a Medicare-qualifying condition, they dont face many of the access-to-care barriers that limit testing among the general population, said Shuchi Anand, MD, Director, Center for Tubulointerstitial Kidney Disease at Stanford University, and lead author of the study. We were able to determine with a high level of precision differences in seroprevalence among patient groups within and across regions of the United States, providing a very rich picture of the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak that can hopefully help inform strategies to curb the epidemic moving forward by targeting vulnerable populations, Anand said. Also read: Insufficient interferon the reason why coronavirus could be deadly for some patients Possibility of overestimating sero prevalence Admitting that dialysis patients may not be representative of the entire population as they are less likely to be employed and more likely to restrict their mobility and social activity due to advanced age and frailty, the researchers said the study may overestimate seroprevalence in the general population because of higher incidence of kidney diseases in some ethnic groups. For example, Black Americans have a nearly four-times higher risk of end-stage kidney disease than white Americans. Moreover, the process of undergoing incentre haemodialysis might include the use of public or non-public shared transportation to and from the facility, and 1012 h of care delivered in indoor facilities, the researchers wrote. The findings showed that compared to the majority non-Hispanic white population, people living in predominantly Black and Hispanic neighbourhoods were two-four times likelier to contract Covid-19 infection rates of Covid infection were 11.3-16.3 per cent in Black and Hispanic neighbourhoods, compared to 4.8 per cent in the majority non-Hispanic white population. Poorer areas experienced a two-times higher likelihood, and the most densely populated areas showed a 10-times higher likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity. The researchers recommended sustained surveillance for better management of the pandemic. These data can help to inform surveillance and management strategies during the next phase of the pandemic. Serial sampling of dialysis remainder plasma should be used to determine trends in disease prevalence and the effect of various strategies being implemented around the USA to reduce the burden of COVID-19 on the general population, they wrote. Also read: How Italy is coping better as Spain, France & UK deal with nightmares of second Covid wave Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it You are reading this because you value good, intelligent and objective journalism. We thank you for your time and your trust. You also know that the news media is facing an unprecedented crisis. It is likely that you are also hearing of the brutal layoffs and pay-cuts hitting the industry. There are many reasons why the medias economics is broken. But a big one is that good people are not yet paying enough for good journalism. We have a newsroom filled with talented young reporters. We also have the countrys most robust editing and fact-checking team, finest news photographers and video professionals. We are building Indias most ambitious and energetic news platform. And have just turned three. At ThePrint, we invest in quality journalists. We pay them fairly. As you may have noticed, we do not flinch from spending whatever it takes to make sure our reporters reach where the story is. This comes with a sizable cost. For us to continue bringing quality journalism, we need readers like you to pay for it. If you think we deserve your support, do join us in this endeavour to strengthen fair, free, courageous and questioning journalism. Please click on the link below. Your support will define ThePrints future. Support Our Journalism Show Full Article