General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - December 2018

Dec 2018

May 25, 2020

Millions of Periodical Cicadas to Emerge in Parts of US

After spending 17 years underground, millions of cicadas will be emerging in parts of the United States.
Periodical cicadas are expected to come out in early summer across southwest Virginia, parts of North Carolina, and in West Virginia.
The last time the cicadas emerged in many of those regions was in 2003 and 2004, though some areas saw an emergence in 2013.
As many as 1.5 million of the insects can emerge per acre of land.
While they are some of the longest-lived insects in the world, periodical cicadas spend almost their entire lives underground as what entomologists call "nymphs".

ANTIA Finds High Energy Particles From Ice

The NASA researchers have found high energy particles erupting from ice in the Antarctic region. The researchers believe that these particles are proof to parallel universe.
The ANTIA is high-energy cosmic neutrino that detect radio pulses that are being emitted by Antarctic ice sheet.
The ANTIA instrument detect cosmic-ray neutrinos through a scientific ballon that is flying in the region of Antarctica. It is the first NASA observatory of neutrinos.

May 23, 2020

Alternative Dwarfing Genes in Wheat

Scientists at Pune based Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), have mapped two alternative dwarfing genes Rht14 and Rht18 in wheat that can help in reducing rice crop residue burning i.e. stubble burning.
ARI is an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology.
Genetic/DNA marker is any alteration in a sequence of nucleic acids or other genetic traits that can be readily detected and used to identify individuals, populations, or species or to identify genes involved in inherited disease.

May 22, 2020

Fossils of 10m-Long Dinosaur Found in Argentina

Palaeontologists have found the fossils of a new megaraptor in Patagonia, in the south of Argentina.
Megaraptors were large carnivorous dinosaurs with long arms and claws measuring up to 35cm (14in) in length.
They also had powerful legs and long tails which made them more agile than the Tyrannosaurus rex and allowed them to catch smaller herbivorous dinosaurs.
The new megaraptor is one of the last of its group, before dinosaurs became extinct.

May 20, 2020

Zoological Survey of India

The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) updated the checklist of Indian amphibians, a list of 20 species as critically endangered and 35 species as endangered on its website compiled by research scientists, K P Dinesh from ZSI's western regional centre at Pune, C Radhakrishnan from Calicut, B H Chennakeshavamurthy from ZSI, Calicut, P Deepak from Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru and Nirmal Kulkarni from the Mhadei Research Centre, Goa.
The scientists of Zoological Survey of India in collaboration with other Indian institutes update the checklists of Indian amphibians periodically as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Sun Reportedly Entering 'Solar Minimum'

The sun is said to have gone into a state called the 'solar minimum' and is about to enter the deepest period of 'sunshine recession' as sunspots are virtually not visibly at all.
Some reports suggest that it has been almost 100 days this year when the sun has shown zero sunspots.
Solar Minimum is underway and it's a deep one. The sun's magnetic field has become weak, allowing extra cosmic rays into the solar system.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had predicted the sun entering 'solar minimum" back in 2017.

May 19, 2020

Rare Dinosaur Identified in Australia

A fossil unearthed in Australia by a volunteer digger has been identified as a rare, toothless dinosaur that roamed the country 110 million years ago.
The elaphrosaur, whose name means "light-footed lizard", was related to the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptor.
The five-centimetre (two-inch) vertebrae fossil was discovered during a dig near Cape Otway in Victoria in 2015.
It is the first elaphrosaur bone ever to be found in Australia.
The fossil was discovered by volunteer Jessica Parker, who was taking part in an annual dig led by Melbourne Museum.
At the time, it was thought to be from a flying reptile called a pterosaur. But when palaeontologists at Swinburne University in Melbourne studied the fossil further, they realised it was a delicately-built dinosaur.

Amphan Develops Into a Super Cyclonic Storm

Cyclone Amphan has intensified into a super cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal. West Bengal and Odisha are expected to witness intense winds.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a review meeting on the preparedness and evacuation plans that have been drawn up by disaster management authorities ahead of Amphan cyclone's landfall.
Coastal areas of Odisha and West Bengal are expected to witness wind speeds of up to 230-240 kmph gusting to 265 kmph.
Heavy rainfall is also expected in the region.

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