News on Science, Technology and Research in India
Two new species of a rare ant genus have been discovered in India. The species of the ant genus Ooceraea found in Kerala, and Tamil Nadu add to the diversity of this rare genus. They differ from others of the same genus on the basis of the number of antennal segments.
While the country has already attained the third position in terms of publications, it now features among the top 50 innovative economies globally as per the Global Innovation Index (GII), placing it ahead of many developed and developing countries.
Astronomers exploring the massive intriguing globular cluster in our Galaxy called NGC 2808 that is said to have at least five generations of stars have spotted rare hot UV-bright stars in it. These stars whose inner core is almost exposed, making them very hot, exist in the late stages of evolution of a Sun-like star. It is not clear how these stars end their lives as not many of them are detected in these fast-evolving phases, making their study crucial.
Number theory concerns the study of integer solutions to polynomial equations with integer coefficients. Solving such equations, in general, is challenging. They are studied by attaching various invariants– function, quantity, or property, which remains unchanged when a specific transformation is applied.
Scientists have developed a gold microstructure substrate with the ability to repel water as well as bubbles with tunable wettability, which can be used in designing microfluidic devices, biosensors and useful in water transportation and self-cleaning.
The transgenic zebrafish model has been selected for the intussusceptive angiogenesis study because of its rapid development, optically transparent, high yield in offspring, and easy techniques for forward and reverse gene manipulation. The CRISPR/Cas9 edited zebrafish platform will also be used for studying the efficacy of a drug as anti or pro-angiogenesis in the next phase of the project.
Dr. Vijay who is faculty at the Biotechnology division at the Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, will identify the role of DNA methylation (a biological process by which methyl groups are added to the DNA molecule) patterns of heat stress-tolerant and heat stress-sensitive wheat genotypes during different grain filling stages.
This understanding can be useful in nanotechnology applications like building small-scale energy-efficient bio-devices as well as biomedical applications like characterizing infection spread in organs, antibiotic resistance and so on.
The Chilika Development Authority (CDA) here on Friday said scientists and government officials sighted 156 endangered Irrawaddy dolphins in Chilika, Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon.
The team developed ‘Chakr Shield’, a Retrofit Emission Control Device for DG sets and patented it. They have collaborated with Select CITYWALK mall in Delhi and installed the equipment there.
