My Science School

Paleontologists have discovered a new species - a microsaur - from a 308-million-year-old fossil unearthed in the United States. In deference to its tiny size, researchers called it Joermungandr bolti after a giant sea serpent from Norse mythology.

Microsaurs were small, lizard-like animals that roamed the Earth well before dinosaurs made their appearance. They lived during the Carboniferous period, when the forebears of modern mammals and reptiles, called amniotes, first appeared.

Joermungandr had a two-inch long snake-like body with scales, and four short, plump legs. Scientists were astonished to discover that the fossil contained the animal's skin. They also discovered a pattern of ridges similar to those found on the scales of modern reptiles that dig into the ground. The scale shape led them to hypothesise that Joermungandr burrowed as well.

"It would probably have been a head-first burrower, using its head to smack itself into the soil," said lead study author Arjan Mann from Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.

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An engineering professor at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has shown that a person's poop can generate income that can buy books, fruits or coffee!

Cho Jae-weon, an urban and environmental engineering professor at UNIST, devised a virtual currency called Ggool, which means 'honey' in Korean. Each person using his eco friendly toilet earns 10 Ggool a day.

Cho's eco-friendly toilet is connected to a laboratory that uses excrement to produce biogas and manure. The BeeVi toilet uses a vacuum pump to send faeces into an underground tank, reducing water use. There, microorganisms break down the waste into methane, which becomes a source of energy for the building, powering a gas stove, hot-water boiler and solid oxide fuel cell.

An average person defecates about 500 grams a day, which can be converted to 50 litres of methane gas, Cho says. This gas can generate 0.5kWh of electricity. When a person uses the toilet, the human waste helps power a building and the user earns money. UNIST students can pick up the products they want at a shop and scan a QR code to pay with Ggool.

"I had only ever thought that faeces are dirty, but now it is a treasure of great value to me," said student Heo Hui-jin at the Ggool market.

A new species of skittering frog has been identified from the surroundings of the Thattekad Bird Sanctuary in Kerala. Researchers from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Mount Carmel College (MCC), Bengaluru, and National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, made the discovery.

The new species is named Euphlyctis Kerala in honour of the remarkable biodiversity of the state. Kerala is known to have 180 species of frogs and there could be many more new species awaiting formal descriptions.

Initial studies suggest that Euphlyctis Kerala is found in the fresh water bodies of the foothills of the Western Ghats, south of the Palakkad Gap. Since these frogs live in fresh water bodies, conservation of these freshwater systems plays a crucial role in conservation of the species.

Members of the genus Euphlyctis (skittering frogs) have their distribution range from Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan, India, pal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand. Earlier, skittering frog species known from India were thought to be widespread across other countries, but this research shows some of the frogs as native to India.

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A job application filled by Steve Jobs in 1973 when he was 18 years old has fetched US$3,43,000 (Rs 2,54,78,897) in an online auction. It's said to be the only job application that he ever filled out as he, along with Steve Wozniak, started Apple in 1976. On it, Jobs listed "electronics tech" and "design engineer" as his special abilities and interests, and other skills such as "computer" and "calculator". "The Steve Jobs Job Application from 1973 is a unique piece of history from the exact moment that a dreamer changed the world. It's a snapshot into the mind of a future genius at a moment where any small deviation from the path ahead would have meant a very different world today," the auction website said.

This auction, however, was the first of its kind in several aspects. For starters, it did not just have a physical copy of the job application. It even sold it off in an NFT or Non-fungible token format.

In fact, this was one of the main reasons the auction was conducted. A group of friends under the alias Winthorpe Ventures held the auction to understand if the digital asset had a similar value to its physical form. So while people bid for the physical job application in US dollars, the NFT was being auctioned off using Ethereum.

The group got the answer it sought by the end of the auction. The auction concluded with the print copy of the job application by Steve Jobs going for over four times what the NFT version received.

So, we now know that people are more interested in the actual letter written by Jobs himself, and not a mere digital copy of it. Can this principle apply to the rest of the art forms too? The answer will likely shape the future of NFTs in the world.

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Tech start-up, Ampere, wants to help you protect your eyes with Dusk, the "world's first smart sunglasses". Unlike classic transitional glasses made with photochromic lenses that automatically switch tint in response to brighter light, Dusk's are made with electrochromic lenses that change tint in response to electrical signals. The lenses block 100% of UVA/UVB rays, and the frames weigh just 26 grams. A button on the underside of one arm cycles through three preset tint levels; for more detailed control the Ampere app has a sliding bar that lets users pick from zero to 100 per cent tint; the tint switch happens in 0.1 seconds. Favourite settings can be saved to find later. Dusk also has speakers and a mic for hands-free phone calls, summoning Siri and Google Assistant or listening to music, audiobooks and podcasts. The speakers are "open ear", but only the wearer will be able to hear them. Use the Ampere app to sound an alarm to help you find them; there's also space for Apple's Air Tag in Dusk's charging case, so that you never misplace it. Dusk's IP65 rating means they can withstand dust, rain and other elements. The Dusk comes with 7 days of use when running just the tint-control features.

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As sentient beings, human beings constantly strive to be happy and avoid suffering. While an ideal world where everyone is happy and free from suffering might be a utopian dream, we have definitely come a long way at alleviating pain. German chemist Felix Hoffman’s aspirin had a telling role as a painkiller and continues to be relevant till this day as it has been clinically proven to work for many conditions.

Aspirin’s ancestor, if we can use such a terminology, dates back thousands of years. For as far back as the Sumerian Third Dynasty of Ur around 2000 BC, people were using the bark of the willow tree and extracts from the plant spiraea for relief from headaches, fevers, and inflammations.

Salicin identified

Around 2500 years ago, Greek philosopher Hippocrates had observed the usefulness of powdered willow bark as a painkiller and documented his findings. It was, however, only early in the 19th Century that salicin was identified as the substance in willow plants capable of relieving pain.

Once salicin was successfully extracted, it was converted into salicylic acid and purified for human consumption. While it was effective, having it was an unpleasant experience as it was rather harsh on people’s stomach.

By the middle of the 19th Century, French chemist Charles Gerhardt found a way to neutralise it by combining acetyl chloride with the sodium salt of salicylic acid. His research, however, stopped there and no product resulted from it. It was left to Hoffmann to do that by the end of the century.

Drawn towards medicines

Born in 1868 in Ludwigsburg in Germany, Hoffman was the son of a manufacturer in the town. After finishing school, Hoffman aimed to become a pharmacist. He was so fascinated when working in a number of pharmacies in various cities around Germany that he decided to broaden his knowledge in the field of chemistry.

He studied the subject in the University of Munich, graduating in 1893. Based on the recommendation of one of his professors, Adolf von Baeyer, who eventually went on to win the Nobel Prize, Hoffman joined the newly created pharmaceutical research department at the Bayer Company.

Legend has it that Hoffman was seeking a medicine to ease his father’s rheumatic pains. It was with this aim that he added the acetyl group to different molecules in the summer of 1897. Bayer’s first medicines had been produced by acetylating molecules and it worked for Hoffman as well when he finally succeeded on August 10, 1897.

Following Hoffman’s success in acetylating salicylic acid to produce acetylsalicylic acid in a pure and stable form, its efficacy as a pain-relieving, fever-reducing, and anti-inflammatory substance was established beyond doubt. Knowing they had a winner in their hands, Bayer fast-tracked testing and production before launching it under the trade name Aspirin – A for acetyl and spirin from spiraea – in 1899.

Aspirin’s success

While Germany denied a patent for this development, the U.S. awarded a patent for Hoffmann and the Bayer Company on February 27, 1900. This led to a Bayer monopoly on aspirin in the U.S. from 1900-1917, when the rights were finally given up as part of Germany’s concessions in the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty, in fact, also brought about the freedom to use the word ‘aspirin’ for the drug, which had until then been a trade name that could be used by Bayer only.

With prescriptions made unnecessary and over-the-counter buying made possible, aspirin became the go-to drug as a painkiller for nearly 50 years. Hoffman, however, never made huge gains from his discovery and led a largely quiet life until his death in Switzerland in 1946.

It was only in the 1970s that aspirin was replaced first by paracetamol, which was later joined by ibuprofen, in the war against pain. Aspirin, however, wasn’t going anywhere. As aspirin came to be better understood in the 1970s, it was clear that it could do more than just relieve pain.

It is now used to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, apart from treating migraines, muscle pain, and even some cancers. Thousands of tonnes of aspirin in the form of millions of tablets are consumed by people throughout the world each year.

This is despite the fact that there is some amount of controversy surrounding its usage, especially when taken as a preventive drug. There are even a number of bans in certain countries that range from not allowing it to be treated as an over-the-counter drug without prescription to an outright ban on administering it to children in certain other places.

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Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist, known for his pioneering work in pasteurisation and microbial fermentation. He also discovered that microorganisms cause diseases.

Pasteur was born in 1822, in Dole, France. He was an average student in his early years, but was gifted in drawing and painting. He earned his bachelor of arts degree and bachelor of science degree at the Royal College of Besancon in France.

In 1854 Pasteur was appointed the dean of the science faculty at the University of Lille, where he began a series of studies on alcoholic fermentation. In 1857 Pasteur showed the role played by microorganisms in fermentation process. His work provided support to the germ theory of disease. These researches helped him come up with a simple process called pasteurisation, which involves heating liquid (such as milk) at a controlled temperature for a fixed period of time in order to kill bacteria and moulds present in it, without major chemical alteration. Pasteurisation makes the liquid safe for consumption.

Pasteur's later work on diseases such as chicken cholera contributed to the foundation of immunology. He also developed the first vaccines for anthrax and rabies. His scientific accomplishments earned him France's highest recognition, the Legion of Honour.

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The cable cars in the city of San Francisco are the latest manually operated cable car systems in the world. As they were named a National Historic Landmark in 1964, that means the city is one of the few places in the world where you can actually climb up to a national monument. Moreover, these rides operate more or less the same as in August 1873, when they were first demonstrated successfully by inventor Andrew Smith Hallidie.

Born in London in 1836, Andrew Smith adopted the surname Hallidie in honor of his godfather and uncle, Sir Andrew Hallidie, who had been a physician to King William IV and Queen Victoria. With early training in science and mechanics, Hallidie was able to build an electrical machine from the age of 10.

Moving to San Francisco

At 13, Hallidie began working in a store run by her brother, gaining practical experience to accompany her evening studies. Seeing that the manual work of the day followed by the studies of the evening endangered the health of his son, the father of Hallidie decided to take him to California. And so in 1852, Hallidie reached San Francisco, a city with which he fell totally in love.

While his father was disappointed with his business and returned to England in 1853, Hallidie decided to stay. He traveled for several years to try his hand at mining – an unsuccessful exercise that was far from uneventful. From being transported on a piece of wood over the rapids of a river to being caught in the middle of a forest fire, Hallidie has had several near-escapes, experiences he enjoyed feasting on. people later in life.

Hallidie Cable Car

After returning to San Francisco in 1857 after giving up mining, Hallidie built a good reputation for designing wire suspension bridges. As building bridges not only put him in nature for long periods of time, but also often took him away from his beloved San Francisco, Hallidie decided to devote himself to work relating to wire ropes.

With a rich and diverse work experience that goes hand in hand with his mechanical genius, Hallidie went on to create a number of things and filed numerous patents for his inventions. Among these, the ‘Hallidie Cable Car’ – a method of transporting ore and other materials in iron buckets, even through mountainous regions using an elevated, endless moving line – which he invented was the most popular.

Steep slopes

By 1871, Hallidie had developed the concept and patented ideas for the cable car system.

He says in a report that the idea came to him when he witnessed the “difficulty and pain that horses feel” when they were used to hoist cars on the streets of San Francisco. A number of horses were used in some streets because the slopes in these places were so difficult for a single horse to overcome.

Even though he had a good idea, Hallidie struggled to secure the necessary capital. He was greeted with great derision, and the only ones who supported him in the project did so for their friendship. A company was formed in 1872 and shares were subscribed by the public to raise capital. Most of the money required still came from Hallidie himself, three of his friends, and a 10-year loan with a property as collateral.

Hallidie began engineering work in 1872, with a deadline of August 1, 1873 to have a cable car running, unless his rights expire. Despite facing several new daily challenges that could have crushed a less determined man, Hallidie persevered, designing machines and countless parts, including those needed for the difficult task of making the hole for the cables. underground.

Book on deadline day

Finally, at five in the morning on August 1, a small group including Hallidie and a few of his associates stood atop the hill in Clay Street at the junction of Jones Street. Hallidie assured his friends that there was no cause for alarm and the car recovered to bottom without incident, although several aspects of its operation were tested along the way. The dummy was run over and the car then made its way up the steep hill to Clay Street.

There was no fanfare surrounding the successful demonstration. He was accepted soberly, with only a series of silent handshakes. Hallidie, however, has been able to see the fruits of his tireless labor over the years as the cable railways quickly spread to various parts of the country. Many of his inventions were used and he was able to collect royalties, although he had overlooked the importance of patenting some important aspects of the system.

Hallidie became a respected citizen of San Francisco, and he devoted a great deal of time and effort to the well-being of the community. By the time he died in his San Francisco residence in 1900, his cable cars were already an icon of the city.

Like many other things, the COVID-19 pandemic has dragged down cable cars and their service has been interrupted in San Francisco. The good news, however, is that they are already back in action for testing and will resume full service in September.

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When it comes to exploratory missions to space, Mars comes second only to our own moon. So during the period that is dubbed the Space Race (competition in the second half of the 20th Century between Cold War adversaries – the U.S. and the Soviet Union), Mars missions gained prominence when the race to land humans on the moon had been won by the U.S.

The Soviet Union, in fact, launched four missions to Mars in a period of 20 days in July-August 1973. Named Mars 4, 5, 6 and 7, the first two were intended to orbit Mars and map its surface, while the last two were to land capsules on the Martian surface.

Orbit and relay

The sister of Mars 4, Mars 5 was launched on July 25, 1973. Tasked to orbit Mars, the mission’s objective included relaying information about the composition, structure and properties of the Martian surface and atmosphere, apart from serving as a communications link to Mars 6 and 7.

With two deployable fixed solar arrays and batteries to power the spacecraft, the launch mass of the orbiter was 3,440 kg. After being launched into Earth orbit, Mars 5 was then pushed onto a trajectory that would take it to the red planet.

Vega and Zufar

Equipped with a television imaging system that consisted of two cameras, Mars 5 had the capability to produce pictures with resolutions of 100 m to 1 km. The two cameras, called Vega and Zufar, could snap images through blue, red, and green filters, in addition to a special orange filter. These could then be facsimile scanned and sent to Earth. Apart from this two-camera system, Mars 5 also had another single-line scanning device to provide panoramic images in the visible and near-infrared.

Following course corrections on August 3 and February 2, 1974, the spacecraft reached Mars on February 12. It then successfully fired its engine to enter orbit around the planet.

Slow depressurisation

It was then that a problem was detected. Ground controllers noticed that the main instrument compartment on the orbiter was undergoing slow depressurisation following the successful orbital insertion. While they couldn’t say it for certain, the reason was suggested to be probably the result of an impact with a particle, either during or after orbital insertion.

As a result of this issue, it was deduced that Mars 5 effectively had very less time left for active science. To be more precise, calculations showed that approximately three weeks of operational duty was possible at the rate at which it was losing air.

Accelerated programme

An accelerated science programme was drawn by the scientists to make the most of the available time left. As a result, five imaging sessions, including those that imaged the surface at 100 m resolution, were achieved in a 10-day period from February 17-26. A total of 180 frames were produced, 43 of which proved to be useful images. In addition to these, Mars 5 also captured five panoramas of the Martian surface.

The last communication with Mars 5 took place on February 28, when the final panorama was transmitted back to Earth. After this, the pressure in the spacecraft decreased to such a level that it wasn’t possible for it to continue working any longer.

Apart from these images, which clearly showed surface features and even indicated possible erosion, data returned from Mars 5 also showed maximum surface temperatures of the planet. It even detected an ozone layer around Mars, albeit one that was about one-thousandth the concentration of the ozone layer around Earth.

An early end to the Mars 5 mission meant that it couldn’t achieve a lot more than it possibly could have. The abrupt end also obviously meant that it couldn’t serve as a data relay for the Mars 6 and Mars 7 lander missions that were launched days after it.

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India's leading forestry worker, Jadav Molai Payeng, who single handedly raised a forest sprawling over 550 hectares, is set to undertake a new mission in Mexico. Known as the Forest Man of India', 62-year-old Payeng has signed an agreement with Fundacion Azteca, an NGO which aims to plant 7 million trees in Mexico.

Payeng will also play a leading role at environment summits to be organised by the NGO and share his experiences with the youth of Mexico. He will share his rich knowledge for three months every year from September, the months ideal for planting trees. To start his forest-building in Mexico, the Padma Shri awardee intends to plant areca and coconut trees.

Payeng is credited with converting a barren landscape in Majuli in Assam's Jorhat district into a beautiful forest. He spent 30 years of his life planting around 40 million trees to create this man-made forest which locals named Molai Forest. The forest, on the river Brahmaputra, is known for its varied species of birds and wild animals. It houses Bengal tigers, Indian rhinoceros, and over 100 deer and rabbits, and is home to monkeys and several varieties of birds, including a large number of vultures.

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Scientists have long speculated that falcons' eye markings improve their ability to target fast-moving prey, like pigeons and doves, in bright sunlight. Dark 'eyeliner' feathers of peregrine falcons act as sun shields to improve the birds' hunting ability, says a new study. It suggests that these markings have evolved according to the climate; the sunnier the bird's habitat, the larger and darker are the tell-tale dark 'sun-shade' feathers.

The distinctive dark stripes directly beneath the peregrine falcon's eyes, called the malar stripe or 'moustache', likely reduce sunlight glare and confer a competitive advantage during high-speed chases. It's an evolutionary trait mimicked by some top athletes who smear dark make-up below their eyes to help them spot fast-moving balls in competitive sports.

Scientists used photos of peregrine falcons by bird watchers from around the world and scored the size of the malar stripe for each bird. They explored how these stripes varied in relation to aspects of the local climate, such as temperature, rainfall, and strength of sunlight. Results showed that malar stripes were larger and darker in regions where sunlight is stronger.

Associate Professor Arjun Amar from the UCT FitzPatrick Institute, who supervised the research, said: "The peregrine falcon represents the ideal species to explore this long-standing hypothesis, because it has one of the most widespread distributions of all bird species, being present on every continent except Antarctica - it is therefore exposed to some of the brightest and some of the dullest areas around the globe."

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NASA plans to send its first mobile robot, Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), to the Moon in 2023. It will be tasked with exploring the lunar surface's most extreme areas. The goal is to map resources found around the Moon's South Pole, ones that astronauts may be able to harvest one day.

VIPER will be the first rover to feature headlights; they'll be a key tool for exploring the dark regions of the Moon. The lunar surface's permanently shadowed regions have been hidden from sunlight for billions of years, shielding mysteries and resources that humanity is only beginning to explore.

The small rover will search the Moon's craters using four instruments, an ice drill, hammer, mass spectrometer, and near-infrared spectrometer. It has a specially-designed suspension system and wheels that will enable it to handle different types of soil and various inclines in these craters.

VIPER plays a key role in NASA's Artemis programme, with mission programme scientist Sarah Noble explaining: "The rover will teach us about the origin and distribution of water on the Moon and prepare us to harvest resources 240,000 miles from Earth that could be used to safely send astronauts even farther into space, including Mars."

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