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DECEMBER 2011
Hot Rocks could help Trigger Earthquakes
The heat generated when rocks grind against each other during
earthquakes could be a major contributor to the weakening of
faults and setting the stage for a bigger tremor, scientists have
found.
When rocks scrap against each other, they produce extreme heat
at scattered microscopic bumps, called asperities, where they
make contact. This process is similar to producing heat by rubbing
your hands together, but on an extreme scale.
At major faults, such as the San Andreas in California, flashes of
heat from rocks shearing past each other melts the rock. This
makes the rocks slippery at those microscopic contact points,
lowering the friction between them enough to trigger a significant
amount of stress and setting the stage for an earthquake, the
researchers said.
To learn more about this flash heating, the scientists rubbed
together different types of rocks commonly found in faults, such
as quartzite and granite.
They simulated earthquake speeds of close to 1.6 feet per second
(0.5 meters per second). The bumps, or asperities, each had a
surface area of less than 10 microns wide, or about a tenth of the
diameter of a human hair.
The researchers, who detailed their study in the journal Science,
found that intense flash heating can heat asperities dramatically,
perhaps up to 3,270 degrees Fahrenheit (1,800 degrees Celsius),
enough to melt most rock types associated with earthquake faults.
Brain Tumour Culprit `Identified`
Scientists identified a new biochemical mechanism, which allows
brain tumours to survive and grow. This finding will pave the way
for new and effective treatments for some of the most aggressive
tumours. An international team, led by the University Hospital of
Heidelberg made the discovery. Scientists identified the major
role played by kynurenine, in favouring the brain tumour growth
and at the same time suppressing anti-tumour immune response.
Kynurenine is a by-product of metabolism of essential amino
acid tryptophan.
Google Earth Maps Typhoid
Outbreaks in Nepal
Scientists have for the first time accurately mapped typhoid
outbreaks in Nepal using Google Earth and new gene sequencing
technology
Scientists working in Nepal have tried out a combo of cutting
edge gene sequencing technology and global positioning system
(GPS) to map typhoid’s spread and trace its source. More than
150 years ago, John Snow mapped cholera cases in Soho,
London, tracing the source of the outbreak to a contaminated
water pump. Typhoid fever is caused by two bugs, Salmonella
typhi and Salmonella paratyphi. They are found in Kathmandu
and usually spread through water or food contaminated with
faeces. Symptoms include fever, abdominal pain and vomiting.
Recent advances in DNA sequencing help precisely track disease
spread by measuring mutations in the pathogen’s DNA, the
journal Open Biology reports. However, tracing the spread of
typhoid has proved challenging as these mutations are small in
number and not detectable by current techniques, according to
an Oxford University release.
Tracing outbreaks of typhoid in Kathmandu also carries its
own problem: street names are not used in Nepal, so capturing
the addresses of typhoid cases and accurately mapping the
outbreaks have proved challenging to health workers.
Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programme in
Vietnam and the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Nepal
have found a way to accurately map typhoid outbreaks in the
city. Their research combines DNA sequencing technology and
GPS signalling, and maps the data onto Google Earth. To capture
the information, health workers would visit a patient’s home and
use GPS to capture the exact location. They would also take a
blood sample from the hospitalised patient to isolate the organism
and to allow analysis of the typhoid strain’s genotype — its
genetic make-up. This genotyping used sequencing technology
able to identify single changes in the ‘letters’ of DNA — the A,
C, T and Gs that make up the code.
The study showed that people living near to water spouts, for
which these provide their main source of water, and people living
at a lower elevation, are at substantially greatest risk of
contracting the disease.
Humans are Just Modified Fish
Humans are just modified fish, say scientists who claim to have
discovered how the muscles controlling the pelvic fins of the
marine species have paved the way for the evolution of back
legs in higher animals. The scientists studied primitive
cartilaginous fish. Australia’s bamboo shark and its cousin, the
elephant shark; and three bony fish: The Australian lungfish,
the zebrafish and the American paddlefish. In fact, the scientists
used the fish species living today to trace the evolution of pelvic
fin muscles to find out how the load bearing hind limbs of the
tetrapods evolved. To find differences in pelvic fin muscle
formation, they compared embryos of the descendants of species
representing key turning points in vertebrate evolution.The
scientists genetically engineered fish to trace the migration of
precursor muscle cells in early developmental stages as the
animal’s body took shape. These cells in the engineered fish
emitted red or green light. The team found that the bony fish had
a different mechanism of pelvic fin muscle formation from that of
the cartilaginous fish, a mechanism that was a stepping stone to
the evolution of tetrapod physiology.
Dengue Genes 'Discovered'
Scientists identified two genes, which increase a person’s risk of
getting dengue. Dengue is the most common mosquito-borne
infection after malaria. It causes 100 million infections worldwide
annually.
For their research, the scientists conducted the first ever genomewide
association study to compare genomes of children with
severe dengue against population controls. Scientists found
changes in the DNA code located in two genes; MICB on
chromosome 6 and PLCE1 on chromosome10. This increases a
person’s susceptibility to dengue shock syndrome. MICB plays
a role in the human body’s immune system and any variation in
this gene can affect the activation of natural killer cells or CD8T
cells. These cells play a key role in combating viral infection.
PLCE1 contribute to the normal functioning of the vascular
endothelium, the thin layer of cells that lines interior surface of
blood vessels with some variants of PLCE1 predisposing an
individual to leakage from the blood vessels, the hallmark clinical
feature of dengue shock syndrome.
Initially, they compared 2008 patients against 2018 controls. They
then replicated the findings in an independent follow-up sample
of 1737 cases and 2934 controls, the latest edition of the Nature
Genetics journal reported.
World's First Drug that Could stop
Cataract Blindness
Australian Scientists created the world’s first drug which can
prevent blindness from cataracts. At present, the only treatment
available to prevent the blindness from cataracts is to remove
surgically the affected eye lens and replace it with a synthetic
lens. Cataracts are formed when a protein, known as calpain,
clouds the eye lens and impairs vision. This is for the first time
that a non-surgical cure for the debilitating condition was
discovered.
Black Death Bacteria Identified
Scientists claimed to have reconstructed the genome of the bug
that caused the bubonic plague (often referred as black death) in
Europe. The bug was discovered to be an ancient strain of a
bacterium called Yersinia pestis and not so much different from
today’s.
The discovery was made by scientists at McMaster University
in Canada, the University of Tubingen in Germany. The study
was published in the journal Nature on 12 October 2011.
The Scientists collected the ancient Y.pestis DNA from 46 teeth
and 53 bones excavated from the East Smithfield burial grounds
in London. Researchers reconstructed the bacterium’s genome
and made comparisons to the genomes of existing strains of
Y.pestis. They determined that the bug hadn’t changed much in
the more than 600 years since the plague swept Europe.
The study will help researchers track bug’s evolution. It could
improve scientists’ understanding of modern diseases as well.
Bubonic plague still strikes somewhere between 1000 and 3000
people each year, according to the World Health Organization. It
wiped out 30 million people in Europe (30 to 50 Percent of the
population in Europe) between 1347 and 1351.
Bubonic plague is a zoonotic disease, circulating mainly among
small rodents and their fleas, and is one of three types of infections
caused by Yersinia pestis (formerly known as Pasteurella pestis),
which belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae.
World’s Biggest Virus Found
A virus found in the sea off Chile is the biggest in the world,
harbouring more than 1,000 genes, surprised scientists reported
on October 10, 2011.
The genome of Megavirus chilensis is 6.5 per cent bigger than
the DNA code of the previous virus record-holder, Mimivirus,
isolated in 2003. Viruses differ from bacteria in that they are
usually far smaller and cannot reproduce on their own, needing
to penetrate a host cell in which to replicate. But M. chilensis is
such a giant that it surpasses many bacteria in size and is
genetically the most complex DNA virus ever described. It was
taken from sea water sample closed to the shore of Las Cruces,
Chile. Its host organism is unknown.
DNA viruses include pox viruses and herpes viruses, but
M. chilensis “doesn’t seem to be harmful for humans,” said Jean-
Michel Claverie, of France’s National Centre for Scientific
Research (CNRS). The study appeared in a U.S. journal,
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
An App to Fight Crimes
A phone tracks your appointments, email and even your mood.
That is the usual stuff. Now, make your phone a crime-fighter
too, installing the International Justice Mission’s free iPhone
and smartphone application to fight human trafficking.
Created with leading application development firm Brushfire
Mobile, IJM Mobile is available on all smart phones and is
optimised for iPhone, Android and Windows phones. This
application works in 13 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin
America to rescue victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and
other forms of violent oppression.
This human rights agency believes that effective human
trafficking prevention is possible only when society, as a
whole, is aware of it and is empowered enough to take action
against this. IJM Mobile was created to enable everyone to
have the power to join the fight against human trafficking. A
free application, it enables users to contribute to the global
fight against slavery and violent oppression even if they are
thousands of miles away, directly from your mobile device.
H E M B O O K C E N T E R
Near Library Building, JNU Campus, Mob.: 9810985436
Tiny Planet has Water Ice’
Astronomers have discovered a mysterious dwarf planet, which
they believe is covered in ice and may sport the wispy remnants
of an atmosphere.
The planet, named “Snow White,” lies outside Neptune and is
orbiting the sun as part of the Kuiper belt — the ring of icy
bodies that orbit the sun beyond Neptune.
Officially known as 2007 OR10, it is actually red. Half of its surface
is covered by water ice that probably spewed from ancient
cryovolcanoes, researchers said.
It is believed that the planet’s reddish hue likely comes from a
thin layer of methane, last gasps of an atmosphere that has been
bleeding off into space for eons.
“You get to see this nice picture of what once was an active little
world with water volcanoes and an atmosphere, and it’s now just
frozen, dead, with an atmosphere slowly slipping away,” lead
scientist Mike Brown of California Institute of Technology said.
Defunct Satellite Hits Earth
A bus-sized defunct German satellite plunged to earth after
languishing in dead orbit for more than a decade, but space
officials are not sure if any of its debris has hit the planet.
The 2.7-tonne Roentgen Satellite, or ROSAT, slammed into the
earth’s atmosphere sometime between 01:45 GMT (6:15 IST) and
02:15 GMT (6:45 IST), but there is no information if its debris fell
on the planet, the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) said in a
statement.
“There is currently no confirmation if pieces of debris had reached
the earth’s surface,” the statement said.
However, DLR spokesman Andreas Schuetz said they would have
to “wait for data in the next days” to know when and where the
debris fell or could fall. Scientists were no longer able to
communicate with the dead satellite and it must have travelled
some 20,000 km in the final 30 minutes before entering the
atmosphere, he added.
Microsoft Launches Windows
Phone 7.5 in India
Microsoft India launched its latest version of windows phone
operating system in the country — the Windows Phone 7.5.
“With Windows Phone, we have looked at the consumer
experience in an absolutely fresh way. This operating system is
stylish, innovative and one that seamlessly integrates the most
sought after user experiences such as search, gaming, email and
social networks across Bing, Office, Xbox, LIVE, Facebook,
Twitter and more,” Microsoft India’s Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik
said.
“The conventional application icons have been replaced by Live
Tiles on the start screen which comes to life with real-time updates
from the web such as news, appointments or the status of friends,”
he added.
The firm also announced the launch of a smartphone in
partnership with handset manufacturer HTC, named HTC Radar,
which is based on the new operating system. Pramanik added
that companies like Acer and Nokia would launch their handsets
based on Windows Phone 7.5 in the Indian market. Samsung had
launched its Omnia W smartphone in the country, which comes
equipped with Windows Phone 7.5.
The key features of the operating system are threads which
enable users to switch between texts, Facebook chat and
Windows Live messenger linked inbox wherein consumers can
see multiple email accounts in one linked inbox. Built-in voiceto-text
and text-to-voice support system also enables handsfree
texting and chatting.
Neuronal Connections with Stress
Scientists for the first time discovered that neuronal connections
grow excessively under stressful conditions as the brain ages.
The finding could help scientists better understand
neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The scientists studied responses to stress in synapses in fruit
flies. Synapses is a structure that allows a neuron to pass signal
to another cell in the brain. The scientists discovered that under
stressful conditions, like neuro-degeneration, which results in
high-energy forms of damaging oxygen. This causes synapses
to grow excessively and potentially contributing to dysfunction.
The scientists made notes using a model of lysosomal storage
disease, an inherited incurable childhood neurodegeneration
where enlarged synapses were observed. However, the role that
growth has in disease progression and brain function is not yet
clear.
Linking Genetic Changes to Human
Diseases Becomes Easy
The parts of the human genome that control when and where
genes are turned on have been successfully identified. The map
created with this information will be a shot in the arm for
researchers trying to understand and interpret genetic changes
linked to human diseases. This has become possible by
comparing the sequences of 29 mammalian genomes. The
genomes of mammals studied include those of chimpanzees,
rhesus monkeys, mice, dogs, rabbits, rats, cats, squirrels, fruit
bats, horses, cows, and even elephants.
The results are published in Nature on October 13, 2011.
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