Dementia ‘can take away meaning of flavors’

May 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 16 (ANI): Dementia sufferers can lose their capacity to understand sights, sounds and words. And in some cases, researchers say, they have a harder time identifying flavors and determining whether a certain flavor combination would generally be considered unusual.

According to the boffins, those with a specific type of dementia, called semantic dementia, face such a problem, reports Live Science.

The new study suggests that this type of semantic dementia causes a semantic deficit across the board (semantics is the study of meaning).

“It”s quite interesting and unexpected that one would find these sensory signals behaving in the same way words or music might behave,” said study researcher Jason Warren, of the University College London. “Flavor information is one example of a complex environmental signal that people can lose understanding about, it”s part of a more general problem,” he said.

The results are published in the June issue of the journal Cortex. (ANI)

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Security beefed up in Assam following ULFA threat

April 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Guwahati, Apr 30 (ANI): Police have beefed up preventive security measures in Guwahati following an intelligence alert over a possible strike by the rebel United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

“There are intelligence inputs that ULFA may try to do some subversive activities in Guwahati, so our police is taking care of,” said Himanta Biswa Sarma, Health Minister of Assam.

However, he dispelled panic over the warning as he said that the might of the rebel group has waned after the arrest of some top ULFA leaders, including its Chairman, Arabinda Rajkhowa.

“I think now police has developed its network very well and we are confident that ULFA is no longer such a force to be scared of any more,” Sharma added.

The ULFA is one among the two dozens of armed ultra factions operating in the northeastern region, either fighting for independent homeland, or more political autonomy.

They accuse New Delhi of plundering the region”s mineral and forest resources, neglecting local economy and giving them back nothing in return.

State Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has reiterated that the government is ready to hold dialogue with the ULFA leaders on all issues within the ambit of Indian Constitution.

He is reported to have said that he would not ”wait indefinitely” for the elusive ULFA commander-in-chief, Paresh Baruah, to come forth for the dialogue. (ANI)

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Science used in attempted jail break

April 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A Queensland prisoner has apparently used a science trick in an attempt to escape from his cell at the Lotus Glen prison, west of Cairns.

The 29-year-old inmate, serving a life sentence for murder, successfully breached the bars of his cell window about 1.30 am (AEST) yesterday.

But the man, who has been in jail for seven years, was caught attempting to escape a second meshed cage.

It is understood he corroded his cell bars over several months by putting salt water on them and conducting an electric current to them by inserting a one-metre length of wire into a power point and attaching it to the bars with electrical tape.

He was caught after a guard saw a light coming from the cell and went to check on him.

A Corrective Services spokesman said an investigation has been launched into how the man breached the bars.

The prisoner has been charged with attempting to escape custody and will appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on May 10.

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Whaling compromise ‘incredibly worrying’

April 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Conservation groups are calling on the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to abandon a proposal that would overturn a global moratorium on commercial whaling.

A group of IWC nations is meeting in Washington to negotiate a way forward for the deadlocked regulatory whaling body, ahead of the annual whaling conference in June.

IWC members including Australia, New Zealand and the US are considering a deal that could overturn a 24-year ban on commercial whaling in return for Japan cutting its quota of whales killed in the name of science.

But Mick McIntyre from the group Whales Alive says the negotiations have gone too far and countries such as Australia must stop the deal from going ahead.

“This compromise proposal certainly has momentum, and that’s incredibly worrying,” he said.

“Now that they’re getting to the point of talking about how many whales to kill, we ask the question, how did it get this far?

“We need to stand tough, work very hard to convince our other allies that we need to stop this compromise in its tracks.”

Mr McIntyre says the deal undermines whale protection.

“This isn’t about working to create a deal that allows whaling. This is about working to stop whaling,” he said.

“Any compromise that is talked about at this meeting is just unacceptable.”

The proposal needs a three-quarters majority vote to go ahead. A number of IWC nations are yet to declare their position.

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Irrigators’ group fears rushed decisions

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The National Irrigators Council says it is concerned the Murray-Darling Basin Authority is basing decisions on incomplete and inaccurate information.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has announced 18 environmental assets, including the Chowilla Floodplains and the lower lakes, which will help shape the plan and determine the sustainable diversion limits.

The council’s chief executive, Danny O’Brien, says with the draft plan due out in just a few months, vital decisions may be rushed.

“The decisions will be rushed and made on the basis of inadequate information,” he said.

“Unfortunately the Water Act tells the authority that they have to make decisions based on the best available science and if the best available science is still pretty ordinary unfortunately they’re going to have to make a decision on that basis, and that is not good for irrigators, not good for regions like the Riverland and certainly not in the interests of rural Australia.”

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Wave energy plant unveiled

March 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The energy technology company, Oceanlinx, has unveiled its latest wave energy conversion plant off Port Kembla.

The third generation plant is sleeker and more efficient than the previous two, enabling it to generate more electricity at a cheaper cost.

The company is involved in the development of similar plants around the world but only Port Kembla is seeing electricity going into the grid.

Oceanlinx founder and chief technology officer, Tom Denniss, says the prospects for wave power are improving as science enables more accurate swell predictions.

“You actually can predict waves quite accurately … and it’s getting better … so that ability enables utilities to in some ways consider what our technology can do as a sort of quasi-baseload,” he said.

Dr Denniss says it is one of just a couple of plants worldwide producing electricity from waves, which can power 1,000 homes.

“There’s been the earlier one that went out a few years ago and has been in operation until quite recently,” he said.

“This one that’s out there now is the first truly, fully grid-connected major scale plant in Australia and I think the second or third in the world.”

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Roxon ‘uncomfortable’ over parents picking children’s sex

March 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon says she would be very uncomfortable about allowing parents to choose their children’s sex.

The Health and Medical Research Council is reviewing whether to allow any parents who use IVF to select their baby’s gender.

The practice is currently only allowed when there is a risk that parents will pass on genetic diseases.

The Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon says the Government has no plans to overturn the ban.

“I must say on a personal level I am very apprehensive about such a change,” she said.

“I’m happy to see any review of the science and the arguments that people might want to make for and against the case.

“But I need to flag that the governments had not set down the path because we want to make any changes, and at a personal level I’m very uncomfortable about the suggestions that a change might be made.”

Leading IVF specialist Professor Gab Kovacs says that is ridiculous and not allowing parents to choose the sex of their child could have negative results.

“If a couple are determined enough to go through IVF rather than natural pregnancy to have a child of one particular sex, then it’s possible that if they have a child of the opposite sex, that child may not be as appreciated and well looked after,” he said.

Professor Kovacs says parents can already travel to countries like the US and Thailand to choose their child’s gender.

He says if parents are willing to pay up to $15,000 for the technique, then they should be allowed.

“There are a small number of couples who are so determined they want a child of a particular sex, they’re prepared to go for the cost and the difficulty of IVF to get pregnant, rather than just do it naturally,” he said.

“I can’t see any reason why it should be forbidden. I’ve seen a number of couples who have maybe three or four children of one particular sex and they’re very keen on family balancing. That’s the type of couple that most often ask about sex selection.”

Dr Sandra Hacker, chair of the council’s Australian Health Ethics Committee, says the review will consider all sides of the controversial and emotive issue.

She says previous consultations have found the majority of Australians are opposed to the practice being widely available.

“There is considerable interest from the general public about this,” she said.

“But on the other hand, the idea that gender selection should be available for reasons other than genetic abnormalities seems to be one that has a general disaffection within the general population.”

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HIV uses several routes to escape immune system pressure

September 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, September 19 (ANI): Researchers at the Emory Vaccine Center have shown that HIV relies upon a number of strategies rather than use any preferred escape route to escape immune system pressure.

The human immune system has the ability to temporarily overpower HIV in early infection.

Studies conducted in the recent past have shown that most newly infected patients develop neutralizing antibodies. These are blood proteins that glob onto the virus and would allow patients to defend themselves – if they were facing only one target.

However, the problem occurs when HIV mutates, and disguises itself enough to get away from the antibodies. The virus eventually wears down the immune system into exhaustion.

The Emory team’s findings attain significance as they suggest that even if any scientist succeeds in identifying a vaccine component that can stimulate neutralizing antibodies, HIV’s capacity for rapid mutation could still be a confounding factor.

Dr. Cynthia Derdeyn, associate professor of pathology at Emory University School of Medicine, Emory Vaccine Center and Yerkes National Primate Research Center, says that a single type of neutralizing antibody may not be enough to contain HIV.

“These neutralizing antibodies work really well – they hit the virus fast and hard. But so far, every time we look, the virus escapes,” she says.

During the study, the researchers took blood samples from the participants a few weeks after infection occurred, and then later as two participants’ immune responses continued.

They isolated individual viruses over the first two years of HIV infection, and tested how well the patients’ own antibodies could neutralize them.

“In one patient where we had very early samples, there was evidence that neutralizing antibody came up within weeks, and that’s earlier than what was previously thought,” Derdeyn says.

In both patients, some viruses mutated part of their outer proteins so that after the mutation, an enzyme would be likely to attach a sugar molecule to it.

Though the sugar molecule interferes with antibody attack, this tactic, known as the “glycan shield”, was not observed in all cases.

Other viruses mutated the part of the outer protein that the neutralizing antibodies stick to directly. In both patients, many changes in the virus’ genetic code were necessary for escape.

“We need to understand early events in the immune response if we are going to figure out what a potential vaccine should have in it. What we can show is that even in one patient, several escape strategies are going on,” Derdeyn says.

According to her, that means that in order to be immune to HIV infection, someone may need to have several types of neutralizing antibodies ready to go.

Seeing how the virus mutates will allow researchers to choose the best parts to put in a vaccine, she says.

The results are online and scheduled for publication in the September issue of the journal Public Library of Science Pathogens.(ANI)

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Negative public opinion about foreign countries an early warning signal for terrorism

September 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, September 18 (ANI): People’s negative views toward the leadership and policies of other countries may be an indication that a terrorist act may be carried out, say researchers.

Alan Krueger, a Princeton University economist, and Jitka Maleckova, of Charles University in the Czech Republic, came to this conclusion after analysing public opinion polls and terrorist activity in 143 pairs of countries.

Writing about their findings in the journal Science, the researchers say that there is a strong relationship between attitudes expressed toward a foreign country — indicated in surveys on foreign leaders’ performance-and the occurrence of terrorism against that country.

“Public opinion appears to be a useful predictor of terrorist activity,” said Krueger, the Bendheim Professor in Economics and Public Policy.

“This is the first study to relate public opinion across countries to concrete actions such as terrorism,” he added.

He pointed out that the notion that public attitudes can contribute to terrorism has been inadequately explored to date.

According to him, the study’s findings attain significance as they suggest that public opinion may provide a valuable early warning signal of terrorism, and help researchers better understand the causes of terrorism.

The researchers carried out their study by mining public opinion polls of residents in 19 countries in the Middle East and northern Africa conducted by Gallup.

They asked the respondents whether they approved of the job performance of the leaders of nine large countries.

According to the researchers, the countries selected for the study are world powers in terms of size, population or military strength, are the United States, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom.

The opinions, both positive and negative, were linked to the number of terrorist attacks conducted against the nine world powers by people from the 19 countries between 2004 and 2008. The terror attacks were compiled by the National Counterterrorism Center.

Based on the findings, Krueger says that there is not a direct connection between poverty and terrorism, contrary to a popular view.

He adds that economic status has more to do with target countries than it does with the states where the attacks originate.

He says that countries with advanced economies as well as a high degree of civil liberties are most likely to be the targets of terrorism.

The researchers admits that the study does not explain whether terrorists act in response to public opinion or whether they are simply reacting just like the larger public to external events.

However, he insists that, in either case, public opinion surveys can provide a powerful indication of the likelihood of terrorist activity.

Krueger believes that greater disapproval of another country’s leaders or policies may result in more terrorist acts because it increases the number of people who provide material support and encouragement for terrorism, and increases the number of people interested in joining cells and carrying out terrorist acts themselves. (ANI)

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Catalyst simulations for fuel cells may make clean cars a reality

September 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 18 (ANI): University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are working towards developing better catalyst for fuel cells in a bid to make clean cars a reality.

If successful, the researchers could make a car that runs on hydrogen from solar power, and produces water instead of carbon emissions.

Materials science and engineering assistant professor Dane Morgan and Ph.D. student Edward (Ted) Holby have developed a computational model that could optimise an important component of fuel cells, making it possible for the technology to have a more widespread use.

The researchers investigated how particle size is related to the overall stability of a material, and showed with their model that increasing the particle size of a fuel cell catalyst decreases degradation and therefore increases the useful lifetime of a fuel cell.

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that facilitate a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, producing electrical power and forming water.

In the type of fuel cells Morgan is researching, called proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), hydrogen is split into a proton and electron at one side of the fuel cell (the anode).

The proton moves through the device while the electron is forced to travel in an external circuit, where it can perform useful work, while at the other side of the fuel cell (the cathode), the protons, electrons and oxygen combine to form water, which is the only waste product.

One of the many hurdles to producing efficient fuel cells for widespread use is the catalyst added to aid the reaction between protons, electrons and oxygen at the cathode.

Current fuel cells use platinum and platinum alloys as a catalyst. While platinum can withstand the corrosive fuel cell environment, it is expensive and not very abundant.

Thus, to maximize platinum use, researchers use catalysts made with platinum particles as small as two nanometers, which are approximately 10 atoms across.

These tiny structures have a large surface area on which the fuel cell reaction occurs.

However, platinum catalysts this small degrade very quickly, which means that the fuel cell doesn’t last long.

The researchers have found a possible solution to the rapid degradation problem-when it comes to catalyst particle size, sometimes smaller isn’t better.

In their modelling work, they showed that if the particle size of a platinum catalyst is increased to four or five nanometers, which is approximately 20 atoms across, the level of degradation significantly decreases.

This means the catalyst and the fuel cell as a whole can continue to function for much longer than if the particle size was only two or three nanometers.

“Fuel cells are just one of many energy technologies – solar, battery, etc. – with enormous potential to reduce our dependence on oil and our carbon emissions. Computer simulation offers a powerful tool to understand and develop new materials at the heart of these energy technologies,” said Morgan. (ANI)

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Scientists find meteorite that came from innermost asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter

September 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, September 18 (ANI): In a very rare finding, scientists have discovered an unusual kind of meteorite in the Western Australian desert and have uncovered that it came from the innermost main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Meteorites are the only surviving physical record of the formation of our Solar System.

However, information about where individual meteorites originated, and how they were moving around the Solar System prior to falling to Earth, is available for only a dozen of around 1100 documented meteorite falls over the past two hundred years.

According to Dr Phil Bland from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, the lead author of the study, “We are incredibly excited about our new finding. Meteorites are the most analysed rocks on Earth, but it’s really rare for us to be able to tell where they came from.”

The new meteorite, which is about the size of cricket ball, is the first to be retrieved since researchers from Imperial College London, Ondrejov Observatory in the Czech Republic, and the Western Australian Museum, set up a trial network of cameras in the Nullarbor Desert in Western Australia in 2006.

The researchers aim to use these cameras to find new meteorites, and work out where in the Solar System they came from, by tracking the fireballs that they form in the sky.

The new meteorite was found on the first day of searching using the new network, by the first search expedition, within 100m of the predicted site of the fall.

The meteorite appears to have been following an unusual orbit, or path around the Sun, prior to falling to Earth in July 2007, according to the researchers’ calculations.

The team believes that it started out as part of an asteroid in the innermost main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

It then gradually evolved into an orbit around the Sun that was very similar to Earth’s.

The new meteorite is also unusual because it is composed of a rare type of basaltic igneous rock.

According to the researchers, its composition, together with the data about where the meteorite comes from, fits with a recent theory about how the building blocks for the terrestrial planets were formed.

This theory suggests that the igneous parent asteroids for meteorites like today’s formed deep in the inner Solar System, before being scattered out into the main asteroid belt.

Asteroids are widely believed to be the building blocks for planets like the Earth, so the new finding provides another clue about the origins of the Solar System. (ANI)

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Findings from India’s Chandrayaan to provide new understanding of lunar surface

September 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, September 18 (ANI): India’s Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS) has gathered data for a total of 30 solar flares, giving the most accurate measurements to date of magnesium, aluminum, silicon, calcium, and iron in the lunar surface.

Although contact was lost with Chandrayaan-1 last month, the enhanced performance of the C1XS instrument, which exceeded its design specification, means that the science team will be able to determine the geochemistry of new areas of the lunar surface, adding some vital pieces to the jigsaw of the mineralogy of the lunar surface.

The miniature C1XS instrument investigated the lunar surface using an effect whereby X-ray illumination from the Sun causes rocks to fluoresce, emitting light at a different wavelength.

This re-emitted light contains spectral peaks that are characteristic of elements contained in the rock, revealing its composition.

Solar flares act like a flash bulb, giving added illumination and allowing C1XS to ‘see’ more elements.

During normal conditions, C1XS could detect magnesium, aluminum, and silicon and collected data on the levels of these elements, enabling detailed mapping of areas of the lunar surface during its operational period.

During the 30 solar flares, C1XS detected calcium and iron (and sometimes titanium, sodium, and potassium) in key areas in the southern hemisphere and on the far side of the Moon.

The spectral resolution of 50 km was much better than previous missions.

According to Professor Grande, “The C1XS team will be analyzing the data collected during the Chandrayaan-1 mission over the next few months, and the results will help us further our knowledge of the Moon and planetary formation.”

In addition, the design of the instrument has been proved very successful in that it withstood passage through the Earth’s radiation belts and went on to produce these wonderful high-resolution spectra. We were able to separate clear peaks for each of the target elements, allowing us not only to identify where they are present but give an accurate estimate for how much is there,” he said.

“The technology developed for C1XS opens up some exciting opportunities for future missions,” he added. (ANI)

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Cracks on Mars a result of evaporating lakes in ancient times

September 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, September 16 (ANI): Networks of giant polygonal troughs etched across crater basins on Mars have been identified as desiccation cracks caused by evaporating lakes, providing further evidence of a warmer, wetter Martian past.

The findings were presented at the European Planetary Science Congress by PhD student M. Ramy El Maarry of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research.

The polygons are formed when long cracks in the surface of the Martian soil intersect.

El Maarry investigated networks of cracks inside 266 impact basins across the surface of Mars and observed polygons reaching up to 250 meters in diameter.

Polygonal troughs have been imaged by several recent missions but, until now, they have been attributed to thermal contractions in the Martian permafrost.

El Maarry created an analytical model to determine the depth and spacing of cracks caused by stresses building up through cooling in the Martian soil.

He found that polygons caused by thermal contraction could have a maximum diameter of only about 65 meters, much smaller than the troughs he was seeing in the craters.

“I got excited when I saw that the crater floor polygons seemed to be too large to be caused by thermal processes. I also saw that they resembled the desiccation cracks that we see on Earth in dried up lakes,” said El Maarry.

“The stresses that build up when liquids evaporate can cause deep cracks and polygons on the scale I was seeing in the craters,” he added.

El Maarry identified the crater floor polygons using images taken by the MOC camera on Mars Global Surveyor and the HiRISE and Context cameras on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The polygons in El Maarry’s survey had an average diameter of between 70 and 140 kilometers, with the width of the actual cracks ranging between 1 and 10 meters.

Evidence suggests that between 4.6 and 3.8 billion years ago, Mars was covered in significant amounts of water.

Rain and river water would have collected inside impact crater basins, creating lakes that may have existed for several thousand years before drying out.

However, according to El Maarry, in the northern hemisphere, some of the crater floor polygons could have been formed much more recently.

“When a meteorite impacts with the Martian surface, the heat can melt ice trapped beneath the Martian crust and create what we call a hydrothermal system. Liquid water can fill the crater to form a lake, covered in a thick layer of ice. Even under current climatic conditions, this may take many thousands of years to disappear, finally resulting in the desiccation patterns,” said El Maarry. (ANI)

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Some animals can reflect upon, monitor, regulate their states of mind

September 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, September 15 (ANI): Conducting extensive research into animal cognition, psychologists at the University at Buffalo have found that some animals may share humans’ ability to reflect upon, monitor or regulate their states of mind.

“Comparative psychologists have studied the question of whether or not non-human animals have knowledge of their own cognitive states by testing a dolphin, pigeons, rats, monkeys and apes using perception, memory and food-concealment paradigms,” said Dr. J. David Smith, a comparative psychologist at the university.

“The field offers growing evidence that some animals have functional parallels to humans’ consciousness and to humans’ cognitive self-awareness,” he added.

He counts dolphins and macaque monkeys among such species.

Recounting the original animal-metacognition experiment with Natua the dolphin, Smith said: “When uncertain, the dolphin clearly hesitated and wavered between his two possible responses, but when certain, he swam toward his chosen response so fast that his bow wave would soak the researchers’ electronic switches.”

He added: “In sharp contrast, pigeons in several studies have so far not expressed any capacity for metacognition. In addition, several converging studies now show that capuchin monkeys barely express a capacity for metacognition. This last result,” Smith says, “raises important questions about the emergence of reflective or extended mind in the primate order. This research area opens a new window on reflective mind in animals, illuminating its phylogenetic emergence and allowing researchers to trace the antecedents of human consciousness.”

Smith describes metacognition as a sophisticated human capacity linked to hierarchical structure in the mind because the metacognitive executive control processes oversee lower-level cognition, to self-awareness because uncertainty and doubt feel so personal and subjective, and to declarative consciousness because humans are conscious of their states of knowing and can declare them to others.

Therefore, Smith says: “It is a crucial goal of comparative psychology to establish firmly whether animals share humans’ metacognitive capacity. If they do, it could bear on their consciousness and self-awareness, too.”

He concludes, “Metacognition rivals language and tool use in its potential to establish important continuities or discontinuities between human and animal minds.”

A research article describing his study has been published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Science. (ANI)

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Adopt new, transparent selection process for police forces: Chidambaram

September 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep 14 (ANI): Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday asked the State Governments to adopt new, time bound and transparent selection process for the state police forces on the lines of the Central Police Force selection procedure.

Addressing the three-day long conference of the Directors Generals and Inspectors Generals of state police forces organized by Intelligence Bureau, Chidambaram said: “Revamp the recruitment procedures and make them quick, time bound and transparent. We have introduced a new recruitment procedure in the CPMFs that is based on technology, objective assessment and transparency. I would take this opportunity to urge State Governments to immediately adopt the new procedure.”

Chidambaram expressed concern over the way police officers are treated and asked states to constitute the police establishment boards as the earliest.

“Constitute a Police Establishment Board that would decide on transfers and postings. It is a matter of deep regret that many police officers have been reduced to a football, to be kicked here and there, from one post to another, without regard to the damage done to the job as well as the officer,” he said.

Expressing concern over the non providing of funds to the police forces by some of the states, Chidambaram said: “I am also concerned about the attitude of some State Governments to providing funds for the police. Let me remind you that Police and Public Order are State subjects. States are right in zealously guarding their turf. The Central Government has no desire to encroach upon the jurisdiction of the State Governments. Given the Constitutional responsibility, State Governments must provide adequate funds for the State Police. “

The Home Minister appealed to the state governments to change the practice of allotting the residue – after providing funds for other Plan and Non-Plan Schemes to the head of Police.

The Central Government increased over Rs.13, 000 crore in the budget of the current fiscal to strengthening the CPFs, and for Modernization of Police Force, CCTNS, Strengthening of Fire and Emergency Services, Scheme of ICP, etc.

Chidambaram called on the conference to mark the beginning of a process of reinventing the security system in the country.

“We must learn from our past mistakes. We must also learn from the experience of other countries. It is the neglect of tried and tested methods that has led us to a situation where we seemed unequal to the challenges that face the internal security of the country,” he said.It is not enough to walk with firm steps on the path that is known. We must also lay out a path forward that will draw heavily upon technology and innovation,” Chidambaram added.

He said once the ambitious projects of CCTN and NATGRID are fully rolled out and implemented, it would mark a quantum jump in our ability to counter the challenges that we face.

Chidambaram also stressed on the creation of a first rate National Counter Terrorism Centre.

“It is also my desire that once the Police Mission submits its report, we should implement the recommendations in a time-bound manner. There is the need to enact a “Model Police Act”. Mega-city policing is a new requirement, and there is much to learn from the experiences of other mega-cities,” Chidambaram said.

Chidambaram also asked the state police chiefs to sharply upgrade our Forensic Science Laboratories and make them among the best in the world. (ANI)

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President Patil condoles passing away of Dr. Norman Boralaug

September 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep.13 (ANI): President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Monday condoled the passing away of Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug.

“With the passing away of Dr. Norman Borlaug, an era has ended, in which he spearheaded a scientific revolution in agriculture. At a time in the sixties when the country was facing the spectre of severe food shortages, the introduction of Dr. Borlaug’s high yielding varieties of seeds set in motion a technological revolution in Indian agriculture that led eventually to the country achieving self-sufficiency in food grains_ The Green Revolution lifted the spirits of the Indian people and gave them new hope and confidence in their ability to tackle the country’s daunting economic challenges,” said President Patil in her condolence message on Monday.

“Dr. Borlaug’s impact on India ‘s science and economy went much beyond the Green Revolution. A science-based approach to the problems of agriculture was a fundamental tenet of his thinking and the success of the Green Revolution spawned other successful interventions in areas such as animal husbandry, dairying and agriculture. Dr. Norman Borlaug’s life and achievements are testimony to the far reaching contribution that one man’s towering intellect, persistence and scientific vision can make to human peace and progress,” the message stated.

“One of Dr. Borlaug’s favourite quotations was to ‘reach for the stars’. In doing so, Dr. Borlaug helped millions of people escape from a life of hunger and deprivation,” the message further added. (ANI)

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Second child within a year ‘increases breast cancer risk’

September 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Sept 14 (ANI): Having a second child within a year of the first birth can increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer, finds a new study.

The research, involving 30,000 women each of whom had produced five or more children, has shown that those with a gap of less than 12 month were 5.2 times more likely to develop the advanced ductal breast cancer than women who had a gap of three or more years.

Although it is unclear that why the risk increases, researchers believe hormones might be involved.

Alternatively, other risk factors may have influenced the results, including being overweight, and whether or not the mother chooses to breast-feed.

“Women who had their first two births close together should not be worried by these findings because the study’s results are not conclusive,” the Telegraph quoted Josephine Querido, senior science information officer at Cancer Research UK, as saying.

“The researchers looked at a very specific group of women – those who had a specific type of breast cancer, who had advanced tumours, who were under 50, and who had at least five children. In studies like this, dividing the group of people you’re looking at into lots of smaller groups makes it likely that you’ll find a positive result in one of the subgroups just by chance.

“For all women, it’s important to go to the GP if they spot any unusual changes in their breast, and to go for screening when invited,” Querido added.

The study appears in the British Journal of Cancer. (ANI)

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Soon, ‘robobees’ that mimic bees’ behaviour

September 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 13 (ANI): A Northeastern University neurobiologist is collaborating with Harvard University researchers to develop micro flying robots that will emulate the bees’ brain, body and collective behaviour.

Biology professor Joseph Ayers would create robots, called the robobees, which would mimic the communal feeding behaviour of bee colonies.

The project will draw on the knowledge of computer scientists, engineers, and biologists to construct an electronic nervous system, a supervisory architecture and a high-energy source to power the innovative robots.

“This project will integrate the efforts and expertise of a diverse team of investigators to create a system that far transcends the sum of its parts. We expect substantial advances in basic science at the intersection of these seemingly disparate disciplines to result from this effort,” said Ayers.

Inspired by the biology of the bee and the insect’s colonial behaviour, the project aims to advance miniature robotics and the design of compact high-energy power sources.

The project would also spur innovations in ultra-low-power computing and electronic “smart” sensors that mediate biomimetic control.

In addition, it would refine coordination algorithms to manage multiple, independent machines.

Ayers is widely known for his work in biomimetics- the science of adapting the control systems found in nature to inform design of engineered systems to solve real-world problems-including the development of RoboLobster and RoboLamprey.

The autonomous, biomimetic underwater robotic models emulate the operations of the animals’ nervous systems using an electronic controller based on nonlinear, moving models of neurons and synapses.

“Animals have evolved to occupy every environmental niche where we would hope to operate robots, save outer space. They provide proven solutions to problems that confound even the most sophisticated robots, and our challenge is to capture these performance advantages in engineered devices,” said Ayers. (ANI)

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Artist recreates Taj Mahal – with toothpicks!

September 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, September 12 (ANI): An artist has recreated the Taj Mahal and other famous landmarks around the world using toothpicks.

It took Stan Munro six years, six million toothpicks and more than 170 litres of glue as he built his latest exhibition, entitled ‘Toothpick City II – Temples and Towers’.

The 38-year-old’s models at the Museum of Science and Technology in Syracuse, New York, feature buildings such as Big Ben, Tower Bridge, The Vatican and Sydney’s Opera House.

“Toothpick City was so much fun to build, I decided to build another one. This one is bigger and much more detailed,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

“I want this exhibit to be a celebration of religious diversity, architectural achievement and historical accuracy – or just ‘wow, that’s a lot of toothpicks’.

“No one has built all these buildings to the same scale and put them side by side before – let alone out of toothpicks.

“I really wanted to see what it would look like. If you can’t travel the world, I want people to see this exhibit and think they just did,” he added. (ANI)

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Giant eagle filled the role of a predator on Kiwi island 750 years ago

September 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, September 12 (ANI): In a new study, scientists have determined that the role of a predator, before humans colonized New Zealand about 750 years ago, was filled by a giant, extinct raptor known as Haast’s eagle.

Although the bones of Haast’s eagle have been known for well over a century, the behavior of these giants has been a point of debate.

Owing to their large size – these eagles weighed up to 40 lbs., larger than any modern eagle – some scientists believe they were scavengers rather than predators.

The new study, by Paul Scofield of the Canterbury Museum in New Zealand and Ken Ashwell of the University of New South Wales, used computed axial tomography (CAT/CT) scans to reconstruct the size of the brain, eyes, ears and spinal cord of this ancient eagle.

These data were compared to values from modern predatory and scavenging birds to determine the habits of the extinct eagle.

The results indicated not only that Haast’s eagle was a fearsome predator that probably swooped on its prey from a high mountain perch, but also that it evolved over a relatively short period of time from a much smaller-bodied ancestor.

“This work is a great example of how rapidly evolving medical techniques and equipment can be used to solve ancient mysteries,” said Ashwell, co-author of the study.

It is also an example of how the oral traditions of ancient peoples and scientific research can sometimes reach the same conclusion.

“This science supports Maori (native New Zealander) mythology of the legendary pouakai or hokioi, a huge bird that could swoop down on people in the mountains and was capable of killing a small child,” said Paul Scofield, lead author of the study.

Haast’s eagle became extinct a mere 500 years ago, probably due to habitat destruction and the extinction of its prey species by early Polynesian settlers. (ANI)

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