Plastic waste responsible for nearly 92 pc life-threatening cases in marine life

Debris in the ocean, such as plastic and glass, has been having a life-threatening global impact on marine life.

Nearly 700 species of marine animal have been recorded as having encountered man-made debris according to the most comprehensive impact study in more than a decade.

Researchers at Plymouth University found evidence of 44,000 animals and organisms becoming entangled in, or swallowing debris, from reports recorded from across the globe.

Mangalyaan stirred lot of interest among youngsters, says former ISRO chairman

Former ISRO chairman Dr. K. Radhakrishnan has said the Mangalyaan mission had stirred a lot of interest among the youngsters as they appreciated the organization’s work through their messages on social media.

Dr. Radhakrishnan stressed that children should be taught science in such a way that they take it up as an activity and added that the lesson from the Mangalyaan mission had been to accept failure and analyze the reason behind it.

Shrimp shells pave way for cheap solar cells

Cheap solar cells made from shrimp shells could soon power your smartphone as researchers have now made solar cells with the use of widely and cheaply available chemicals found in crustacean shells.

With improved efficiency, these solar cells could be placed in everything from wearable chargers for tablets, phones, smartwatches to semi-transparent films over window, researchers said.

Scientists produce malaria vaccine from algaen

Researchers have developed a new candidate for malaria vaccine with the help of algae-produced malaria parasite protein.

Paired with an immune-boosting cocktail suitable for use in humans, the algae-produced protein generated antibodies in mice that nearly eliminated mosquito infection by the malaria parasite.

Besides its effectiveness as a protein producer, algae is an advantageous tool for developing vaccines because it is cheap, easy and environmentally friendly.

Microsoft to shut down Windows Phone’s ‘Rooms Group chat’ feature in March

Microsoft has reportedly announced its decision to end support for its Windows Phone’s Rooms group chat, beginning next month.

The company said in an email that the move was aimed at making way for new features in Windows 10 that will enable users to keep in touch with friends and family, reported The Verge.

Rooms group chats were extension to the People hub that allowed users to hold conversations, share images, notes and calendars in private groups.

Pinterest seeking 11 bln dollar valuation

Pinterest is reportedly in talks to raise funds worth 500 million dollars, which would push the photo bookmarking site’s value to 11 billion dollars, a report said.

The company, which boasts of more than 75 million users globally, is showing no signs of slowing down with offerings of promoted pins to all advertisers, reported Mashable.

The website allows visual bookmarking or ” pinning ” of ideas and sharing them with friends, like an online version of scrapbooking.

The company had secured 200 million dollar worth of funding in May, pushing its value to 5 billion dollars.

Facebook building versions of its apps in ‘virtual reality’

Facebook has reportedly declared that it is building versions of its apps in virtual reality.

Chris Cox, the company’s head of product said while speaking at Recode’s Code Media conference in Dana Point that Facebook VR was on its way. While he did not describe the app in details, he imagines world where people would be able to share their “current environment” with others using the app. It would become an everyday way of sharing, Cox added, reported The Verge.

Now, smartphones that monitor pollution around you

Researchers have developed a new sensing technology through which smartphone users will get to know about the pollution levels around them.

The scientists of American Chemical Society examined 50 school children equipped with smartphones measured the ambient levels of black carbon and analysed that children contribute 13 percent of their total potential in black carbon exposure.

Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen and colleagues concluded that smartphone technologies could contribute valuable new insights into air pollution exposure, and prevent many from respiratory and cardiovascular problems.

Moths evade enemy sonar with flick of tail

A new research has revealed that moths evade enemy sonar with a flick of the tail.

The research showed that luna moths spin their trailing hindtails as they fly, confusing the sonar cries bats use to detect prey and other objects.

The collaborative work between University of Florida and Boise State University researchers was a first step in determining why bats are lured into striking a false target.

New Snapchat feature lets users shoot video while playing music on phone

Snapchat has rolled out a new feature that lets users record video while playing music on their phones.

According to Tech Crunch, users can play jams from iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud, or any other app while recording.

The feature is available on iOS with the release of Snapchat version 9.2.0.

Android users will have to wait for a while before the feature will be made available to them. (ANI)

New human epigenomes map is ‘most comprehensive’ ever

A team of scientists has unveiled the first comprehensive maps and analyses of the epigenomes of a wide array of human cell and tissue types.

Epigenomes are patterns of chemical annotations to the genome that determine whether, how, and when genes are activated and because epigenomes orchestrate normal development of the body, and disruptions in epigenetic control are known to be involved in a wide range of disorders from cancer to autism to heart disease, the massive trove of data is expected to yield many new insights into human biology in both health and disease.

Hindi, Greek among other Indo-European languages first emerged 6500 yrs ago

A new study has revealed that Indo-European languages that comprises from English to Greek to Hindi, first emerged ca. 6500 years ago.

Linguists have long agreed that languages from English to Greek to Hindi, known as ‘Indo-European languages’, are the modern descendants of a language family which first emerged from a common ancestor spoken thousands of years ago.

India successfully testfires N-capable Prithvi-II missile

India on Thursday successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile from a military base in Odisha, a senior official said.

The indigenously-developed ballistic missile with a maximum range of 350 km was fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Balasore district, about 230 km from Bhubaneswar.

“It was a user trial by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Army. The test was successful. It met all mission objectives,” test range Director M.V.K.V. Prasad told IANS.

Needle-free vaccination: Now a medical reality

A team of scientists has introduced needle-free vaccination that can stimulate the immune response of the human skin.

Vaccination is an effective method of stimulating the human body’s immune system to fight against various pathogens (e.g. bacteria, viruses) and worldwide vaccination needs safe, easy-to-use and inexpensive tools for vaccine administration. The skin immune system is a promising target as the skin lies directly in front of us.

Soon, pill to prevent and cure HIV

A team of scientists has created a potential long-acting HIV therapeutic.

New molecule, which shows promise for controlling HIV without daily antiretroviral drugs, foils a wider range of HIV strains in the laboratory than any known broadly neutralizing HIV antibody and is more powerful than some of the most potent of these antibodies.

In addition, the molecule safely protected monkeys from infection with an HIV-like virus during a 40-week study period. Together, the data suggest that the molecule could, with further research, be used to subdue HIV in humans.

Neanderthal groups assigned tasks according to gender

A new study has recently revealed that Neanderthal groups assigned some of their tasks according to the gender.

Study performed by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), analyzed 99 incisors and canine teeth of 19 individuals from three different sites (El Sidron, in Asturias – Spain, L’Hortus in France, and Spy in Belgium), reveals that the dental grooves present in the female fossils follow the same pattern, which was different to that found in male individuals.

Analyses showed that all Neanderthal individuals, regardless of age, had dental grooves .

NASA observes supersonic blast wave of solar wind for first time ever

NASA’s spacecraft has captured a solar shockwave in action for the first time ever.

On Oct. 8, 2013, an explosion on the Sun’s surface sent a supersonic blast wave of solar wind out into space. This shockwave tore past Mercury and Venus, blitzing by the Moon before streaming toward Earth. The shockwave struck a massive blow to the Earth’s magnetic field, setting off a magnetized sound pulse around the planet.

Amount of galaxy’s mysterious dark matter determines size of black hole

A new study has provided a deeper insight into how the amount of galaxy’s mysterious dark matter determines the size of its central black hole.

The research of football-shaped collections of stars called elliptical galaxies provides new insights into the connection between a galaxy and its black hole. It finds that the invisible hand of dark matter somehow influences black hole growth.

Ants build ‘toilets’ in corners of their nests

Ants do not go outside to do their business when nature calls and may use the corners of their nests as ‘toilets’, a study shows.

“For ants, which like us live in very dense communities, sanitation is a big problem,” said lead researcher Tomer Czaczkes from the University of Regensburg, Germany.

Little research has been done on ant sanitary behaviour, so the authors of this study conducted an experiment to determine whether distinct brown patches they observed forming in ants’ nests were feces.

Mobile phone addicts more prone to mood swings

People who are addicted to their cell phones are more likely get mood swings, says a new study.

According to the researchers at Baylor University in Texas, “moody and temperamental” extroverts were more likely to be hooked to their phones, and spend 10 hours a day on it, the Daily Express reported.

Much like substance addictions, phone addiction may be an attempt at mood repair, they added.

The findings are published in the journal Personality And Individual Differences. (ANI)

Algae may harbor malaria cure

A team of scientists has produced malaria vaccine candidate from algae that prevents transmission of the malaria parasite from host to mosquito.

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine used algae as a mini-factory to produce a malaria parasite protein, which paired with an immune-boosting cocktail suitable for use in humans, generated antibodies in mice that nearly eliminated mosquito infection by the malaria parasite.

‘Young Indians prefer mobile for news and entertainment”

Young Indian consumers are preferring mobile devices over traditional media like television and radio for information, current affairs as well as source of entertainment and this trend is poised to surge in the coming years, a private telecom operator said here Wednesday.

According to mobile service provider Tata Docomo, which recently conducted a research on mobility trends, the Internet represented the preferred mode for both news and entertainment accounting for 40 percent and 45 percent of the space.

NASA probe spots small moons orbiting Pluto

Exactly 85 years after Pluto’s discovery, the NASA spacecraft set to encounter the icy dwarf planet this summer has spotted small moons orbiting Pluto.

The moons, Nix and Hydra, are visible in a series of images taken by the New Horizons spacecraft at distances ranging from about 201 million-186 million km.

The long-exposure images offer New Horizons’ best view yet of these two small moons circling Pluto which professor Clyde Tombaugh discovered at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona Feb 18, 1930.

Apple removes sensors from smartwatch after arm hair disrupts readings

Apple reportedly had some sensors removed from its new smartwatch after discovering that arm hair was obstructing its functioning.

According to Daily Star, a report from The Wall Street Journal has suggested that Apple wanted their watch to measure a host of bodily functions, such as blood pressure and stress levels.

However, the company figured that strap tightness, skin types and hair issues disrupted the smartwatch’s accurate readings and decided to have the sensors removed.

New app analysis your personality type by scanning Twitter account

A new app created by a computer programee claims to analyse a user’s personality by scanning the person’s Twitter account.

According to Daily Express, the app, developed by psychotherapist Sandra Scott, is based on an algorithm that looks for keywords and expressions of emotion to put people into one of four categories.

The tool was used to conduct a research following which it was revealed that 72 percent of twitter users in UK had a dark side.

The most common personality type registered by the tool included ‘passionate’, ‘materialistic’, ‘egoist’ and ‘michevious’.