News on Science, Technology and Research in India
The dearth of studies on archaea from the Sambhar lake prompted scientists at the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, to take on the challenge of exploring this lake for archaea, which led them to discover a novel archael species, Natrialba swarupiae.
In May 2012, the apex court had stalled the plan to initiate the foreign cheetahs into the Palpur Kino sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh fearing they may come into conflict with a parallel and a much-delayed project to reintroduce lions into the same sanctuary. The court was also worried whether the African cheetahs would find the sanctuary a favourable clime as far as abundance of prey is concerned.
The IIT-H team chose polylactic acid microcapsules to encapsulate the essential oil ingredients. Polylactic acid polymers are biocompatible and biodegradable and are already widely used in the medical field. The researchers found that using the microcapsules alone as the carrier could cause uncontrolled, burst release of the ingredients.
In the search for anti-TB drugs, the strategy has been to identify molecular targets that play an important role in the regulation of the metabolism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the pathogen causing TB.
The small size of the TWR is what is expected to facilitate mass production at a low cost. This gains significance as radars like the TWR developed at IISc can have a wide gamut of applications in sectors ranging from defence, to healthcare, transportation, and agriculture.
Biorock is the name given to the substance formed by electro accumulation of minerals dissolved in seawater on steel structures that are lowered onto the sea bed and are connected to a power source, in this case solar panels that float on the surface.
Two Indian entrepreneurs in Okinawa Prefecture are developing an organic polymer made from fruit scraps that can retain water 50 times its weight, in a potential breakthrough for farming in water-scarce regions.
Supercapacitors, also known as ultra-capacitors are electrochemical devices used for the storage of electrical energy, whose popularity is growing rapidly. The activated carbon is an expensive material commonly used to produce such ultra-capacitors. Newly developed graphene oxide found to be a cost alternative material for producing ultra-capacitors, which has reduced its weight as well as its cost by ten times, say researchers.
The flight surgeons, who will be Indian Air Force doctors specialising in aviation medicine and responsible for the health of astronauts before, will be shortlisted soon, an official from ISRO said.
Even before orbiting astronauts on India’s first manned mission to space in December 2021, the Indian Space Research Organisation will send ‘ Vyomamitra ,’ a lady robot, in unmanned Gaganyaan spacecraft.
