CURRENT AFFAIRS DESTINATION FOR UPSC & STATE CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATIONS
The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) on 14 February approved ‘Banyan Brain Trauma Indicator’ (BBTI), the first-ever blood test for concussions. The approval means marketing authorization for the test which can be now sold commercially. The test was developed by private biotech firm, Banyan Biomarkers. – This test can be used to test for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI, more commonly called a concussion). This test can slash the number Read More …
The breakthrough: First time scientists have managed to develop human kidney tissue in the lab within a living organism that is capable to produce urine. The researchers from the University of Manchester, used stem cells to create mini-kidneys that were implanted into mice, with tests revealing they were able to filter and excrete waste. How: During the experiment, Kidney glomeruli, constituent microscopic parts of the organ, were generated from human embryonic stem cells Read More …
Researchers from the University at Buffalo, New York, and Institute of Semiconductors (IoP) at the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), have developed a metallic tab that is capable of generating electricity from bending a finger and other simple movements when connected to human body. As per the study published in journal Nano Energy, the tab triboelectric nanogenerator can convert mechanical energy into electrical energy for electronic devices. Triboelectric charging occurs Read More …
A new study by Queen’s University Belfast, has revealed that Oumuamua, the first asteroid from outside our solar system, came tumbling towards us at 156,428km/h after smashing into another cosmic body billions of years ago. On this basis scientists are saying that it has a violent history. Oumuamua is a cigar-shaped asteroid that was spotted by a telescope in Hawaii on 19 October 2017 first time. After that it was observed Read More …
According to a research team based at the University of California in San Diego, the sun cycle is approaching towards solar grand minimum which effectively create another ice age on our planet earth. They say that the sun will be nearly seven percent cooler and dimmer by 2050, which could result in a mini ice age. Their calculation is based on 20 years of observations and collected data. As per the Read More …
Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) of NASA’ s New Horizons spacecraft on Dec. 5, 2017 snapped a picture of a group of stars known as the ‘Wishing Well’ when the spacecraft was about 3.79 billion miles 3.79 billion miles (6.12 billion kilometers, or 40.9 astronomical units) from Earth. It was the farthest image ever made from Earth. On December 5, 2017, it broke a record set by Voyager 1 in Read More …
According to the the study published in the ‘Molecular Human Reproduction’ journal, first time, scientists from the University of Edinburgh (UK) have managed to grow human eggs in laboratory. The researchers were able to grow the eggs from immature cells taken from human ovarian tissue – something that has only been achieved in mice before. During experiment, immature ovarian tissue was taken from biopsies on ten women aged between 25 and 39 Read More …
According to a new study published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, the seven Earth-size planets of TRAPPIST-1 discovered last year are all mostly made of rock, with some having the potential to hold more water than Earth. As per the study, the planets’ densities suggest that some planets could have up to 5 percent of their mass in water which is 250 times more than the oceans on Earth. The form Read More …
A team of scientists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany has found that bacterium C metallidurans manages to ingest toxic metallic compounds and still thrive, producing tiny gold nuggets as a side-effect. The study, published in the journal Metallomics, says that researchers have discovered the molecular processes that take place inside the bacteria. It is known fact that high concentrations of heavy metals, like Read More …
The study published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases, says that Methylene blue, used as medication and dye, could act as a safe anti-malarial that kills malaria parasites at an unprecedented rate. Malaria infects more than 200 million people and causes more than 430,000 deaths across the globe every year. What is Methylene blue It is a blue dye that is used in labs to distinguish dead cells from living cells. Read More …
USA’s private space organisation, SpaceX on 06 February 2018 (USA time), launched ‘the world’s most powerful rocket’, ‘Falcon Heavy’ from Kennedy Space Centre near Cape Canaveral, Florida (USA). The rocket was fired for Mars. Although its launch was not as impressive as thought, since one of the three cores didn’t fire. missed the target. It was launched from the same launchpad, from where Apollo 11 moon rocket was launched. It is Read More …
According to a study by the Queen Mary University in London and the Newcastle University, published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Indians are consuming dangerous Fixed Dose Combinations (FDCs) antibiotics that are not approved by the country’s drug regulator Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). What the study says? The study, titled, ‘Threats to global antimicrobial resistance control: centrally approved and unapproved antibiotic formulations sold in India‘, says Read More …
Union minister of earth sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan on 30 January, 2018, dedicated the nation a ‘High Performance Computer (HPC) system – named ‘Mihir’ (meaning Sun)’. This facility is installed at the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) at Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The facility will improve weather forecasting and help it to come out with weather forecast down to the block level (for about 6500 blocks) across the Read More …
Authority The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has the mandate of detecting tsunamigenic earthquakes occurring in the Indian Ocean as well as in the Global Oceans within 10 minutes of the occurrence of the earthquake and disseminating the tsunami related advisories to the concerned authorities through email, fax, SMS, GTS and website. ITEWC The India Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) established at INCOIS Hyderabad, has the latest Read More …
A rare ‘super blue blood moon’ celestial event will take place on 31st January, 2018. This rare event is taking place after 1982 in eastern Hemisphere nations including India. But this event is really very rare for western Hemisphere nations, since it is occurring after 31st January, 1866. According to NASA, it is a ‘lunar trifecta’ where three particular events are colliding. This rare ‘super blue blood moon’ event will Read More …
