Science Archives - Page 2 of 9

25 May

Scientists discover new species of African Violet plant in Mizoram

The News Horizon0 CommentsScienceAfrican Violets family, biodiversity, Didymocarpus vickifunkiae, Endangered species, Epiphyte, Gesneriaceae, IISER Bhopal, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, New species, Northeastern region, Plant species, Western Himalayas

New Delhi: Researchers at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal have discovered a new species of plant belonging to the African Violets family in Mizoram and adjacent areas in Myanmar. This study shows that the biodiversity of the northeastern parts of India is understudied and there are many species of plants that remain undiscovered, say researchers. Didymocarpus is a genus belonging to the plant family Gesneriaceae (commonly known as ‘African Violets’) and its members are distributed from Western Himalayas to Sumatra. Most of these species are narrow endemics and require specialized habitats to survive, thus acting as…

25 May

IIT Delhi to create new centre to boost research in optics and photonics

The News Horizon0 CommentsNational, ScienceCSIR, DAE, DRDO, Fiber optics, ICMR, IIT Delhi, Illumination, Indian Institute of Technology, innovation, Joint Advance Technology Centre (JATC), Lasers, light, Ooptics, Optical communication, Optical imaging, Optical metrology, Optical sensors, Optics and Photonics Centre, Photonics, R&D, Remote sensing

New Delhi: In order to take teaching, research, development, and innovation in different areas of optics and photonics to a higher level, while keeping a balance between classical and modern areas, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi will create a new centre named ‘Optics and Photonics Centre’. The Institute’s Board of Governors has given its approval to the creation of the new centre. Optics and photonics is the study of the fundamental properties of light and harnessing them in practical applications. To list a few, the areas covered under optics and photonics include Optical imaging, Optical metrology, Sources and detectors…

16 Apr

Mars and Moon to play hide and seek on April 17, 2021

The News Horizon0 CommentsScience

New Delhi : Mars is about to perform a vanishing act on April 17, Saturday, in the evening sky, at about Sunset time. It will appear to shine on the shoulder of the Moon. In a jiffy Mars will abruptly disappear into the dark disc of the Moon. It will be hidden by the Moon for about an hour and will emerge once again on the other side of the Moon. "Moon will hide Mars behind it, just like it hides the Sun during a solar eclipse," says Arvind Paranjpye, Director, Planetarium, Nehru Centre, Mumbai, and a member of the…

10 Apr

Union Education Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launches NanoSniffer, a Microsensor based Explosive Trace Detector

The News Horizon0 CommentsGadgets, Science, Tech

Union Education Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched NanoSniffer, the world’s first Microsensor based Explosive Trace Detector (ETD) developed by NanoSniff Technologies, an IIT Bombay incubated startup. Director, IIT Delhi, Shri V. Ramgopal Rao, and senior officials of the Ministry were present on the occasion. NanoSniffer has been marketed by Vehant Technologies, a spin-off from a former IIT Delhi incubated startup Kritikal Solutions. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Pokhriyal said that NanoSniffer, developed by NanoSniff Technologies, is a step towards Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of a self-reliant India. NanoSniffer is a 100% Made in India product in terms of research, development…

08 Apr

IIIT-Delhi to develop method to predict collision from space debris

The News Horizon0 CommentsNational, Science, TechDepartment of Science and Technology, DST, HPC Applications, IIIT-Delhi, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, MeitY, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, National Super Computing Mission, NSM, Supercomputing

New Delhi: Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT)-Delhi receives research funding from National Super Computing Mission (NSM) under HPC Applications to work on the project titled ‘Orbit computation of Resident Space Objects for Space Situational Awareness’ for two years. The NSM project has been implemented by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITy) to ensure the country’s leadership in supercomputing. Various R&D projects have been initiated under this mission across the country to harness the vast supercomputing resources provided under NSM, to build capabilities to tackle…

05 Apr

Self-propelled vehicle can replace manual railway track scavenging

The News Horizon0 CommentsNational, Science, TechDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, DST, human waste, manual scavenging, National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research, NITTTR, railway track, railway tracks, scavenging vehicle, self-propelled

New Delhi: A self-propelled railway track scavenging vehicle may soon replace manual scavenging and cleaning that is still practiced to remove human waste lying on railway tracks. Despite the ban on manual scavenging since 1993 in the country, men and women are seen removing excreta on the tracks with brooms and metal plates. Once the garbage is picked up from the tracks, night soil, excessive dirt, oil, and other foreign materials are ineffectively cleaned with high-pressure water jets. Dr Sharad K. Pradhan, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research (NITTTR), Bhopal, has developed…

31 Mar

Salt substitution is effective to reduce blood pressure in rural India

The News Horizon0 CommentsHealth & Fitness, Lifestyle, Science

New Delhi: Replacing regular common salt consumed by hypertensive patients in rural areas with a salt substitute can have a significant impact in terms of lowering their blood pressure, a new study by The George Institute for Global Health (GIGH) has revealed. Researchers found that substituting a small part of the sodium in salt with potassium without altering the taste led to a substantial reduction in systolic blood pressure in these patients, supporting salt substitution as an effective, low-cost intervention for lowering blood pressure in rural India, says GIGH statement. The study entitled “Effects of reduced-sodium added-potassium salt substitute on…

31 Mar

New hope for mitochondrial disorders

The News Horizon0 CommentsHealth & Fitness, Scienceautosomal, brain, DBT, DBT-NII, Department of Biotechnology, DNA, ear, energy, eye, genome editing, heart, kidney, liver, maternal inheritance, mismatch, muscles, mutation, National Institute of Immunology, nerve, organ, replication, symptom, tissue, treatment

New Delhi: Efforts to find a treatment for mitochondrial disorders is set to get a major boost with a team of researchers at the Department of Biotechnology’s National Institute of Immunology (DBT-NII) figuring out a way to tackle autosomal dominant progressive external ophthalmoplegia (adPEO), which is a widely prevalent mitochondrial disorder. Mitochondrial genetic disorders refer to a group of conditions that affect the mitochondria, the structures in the body cells that are responsible for making energy. People with these conditions can be of any age with almost any affected body system. However, the brain, muscles, heart, liver, nerves, eyes, ears…

26 Mar

Study finds need for producing region-wise antivenom for snakebite

The News Horizon0 CommentsScience‘big four’, antivenom, clinical studies, common krait, composition, death, disability, hotspots, IISc, Indian Institute of Science, recombinant, Russell’s viper, saw-scaled viper, snakebites, spectacled cobra, toxicity, venom

New Delhi: Around 58,000 die of snakebite every year in the country. A majority of snakebites that lead to death or disability are attributed to the ‘big four’ of Indian snakes – Russell’s viper, which is one of the deadliest snake species in the world; spectacled cobra; common krait; and saw-scaled viper. Commercial antivenom treatment for snakebite does not always prove effective. However, only a few efforts have been made to understand the reason for this. In a new study geared in this direction, researchers at Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science (IISc)’s Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES) and collaborators have…

25 Mar

New tool to fight antimicrobial resistance

The News Horizon0 CommentsHealth & Fitness, Scienceantibiotic, antimicrobial, broad-spectrum, buffalo, cost, cow, dairy., DBT, Department of Biotechnology, detection, farmers, FSSAI, goat, health, hepatotoxicity, Hyderabad, import, metabolism, milk, NIAB, research, scientists, sensitivity, technique, teratogenicity, test, veterinary

New Delhi: A team of researchers at the Department of Biotechnology’s Hyderabad-based National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (DBT-NIAB) has developed a new technique to detect the presence of an antibiotic called Oxytetracycline (OTC) in milk samples. Oxytetracycline is known for its broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and is one of the extensively used antibiotics in veterinary practices. Its excessive consumption can cause antimicrobial resistance. The new tool can help in several other ways also since consumption of milk having residual antibiotics can cause serious health complications like development of hepatotoxicity, teratogenicity, reduced growth and metabolism too. At present, the kits used for…