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Showing posts from November, 2019

BY 2024, ARCTIC OCEAN MAY BE IC-FREE FOR PART OF THE YEAR.

Human caused climate change is on track to make the Arctic Ocean functionally ice-free for part of each year starting sometime between 2044 and 2067, according to a study. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles in the US noted that as long as humans have been on Earth, the planet has had a large cap of seaq ice at the Arctic Circle that expands each winter and contracts each summer. Satellite observations show that since 1979, the amount of sea ice in the Arctic in September - the month when there is the least sea ice, before water starts freezing again - has declined by 13% oer decade, the researchers said. Scientists have been attempting to predict the future of Arctic sea ice for several decades, relying on an array of global climate models that simulate how the climate system will react to all of the carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere. However, the models' predictions have disagreed widely, according to the study published in the journal Nature Climate C...

NEPTUNE'S MOONS 'DANCE' TO AVOID HITTING EACH OTHER.

More than 2.7 million miles away, Neptune is the furthest planet from Earth in our Solar System, meaning it's one of the least explored worlds. Now, NASA has revealed new findings about two of Neptune's moons, and how they must 'dance' to avoid smashing into each other. The moons called Nalad and Thalass, orbit just 1,150 miles apart, but have perfectly coordinated orbits. When they pass each other, they are about 2,200 miles apart. In this cosmic dance, Nalad swirls around Neptune every seven hours, while Thallas takes the outside track, and takes 7.5 hours to orbit. Nalad's orbit follows a bizarre zigzag pattern which NASA has never seen before. "We suspect that Nalad was kicked into its tilted orbit by an earlier interaction with one of Neptune's other inner moons. Only later, after its orbital tilt was established, could Nalad settle into this unusual resonance with Thallas", said Marina Brozovic, who led the study. [ Courtesy: The Times of Ind...

WHY SOME PEOPLE ARE 'FAT BUT FIT' EXPLAINED.

It's a paradox that has baffled scientists for years, but a new study may shed light on why some people are 'fat but fit'. Researchers from the University of Leeds suggest that people who are over-weight but have a seemingly healthy metabolism may have an especially good blood supply to their fat cells. Natalie Haywood, who led the study, said: "It's a myth that you can be overweight and completely healthy - but there may be some truth to the 'fat but fit' paradox. People with better blood supply to their fat may be more metabolically healthy and could be protected against heart and circulatory diseases". In the study, the researchers studied a receptor called IGFI-R, which is known to play a role in the growth of new blood vessels. The team removed this receptor in the cells lining the blood vessels of mice fed a high-fat diet, and found that new blood vessels grew into the fat. Amazingly, this actually led to protection against heart and circulator...

LIPSTICKS WERE FIRST USED BY ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIANS.

People of ancient Mesopotamia have been credited with inventing lipstick. According to researchers, they were said to be the first ones to have invented and used lipstick as a cosmetic product. Approximately 5,000 years ago, men and women in Western Asia had reportedly started smearing their lips with the dust of crushed semi-precious gems and rocks. As bizarre as it may sound, they apparently darkened their lips with red-tinted rouges made from everything they found around them, from seaweed and clay to even boiled, dried insects! Interestingly, women in the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation had also used pieces of ochre as a tool to colour their lips. [ Courtesy: The Times of India dated 19th November, 2019 (Tuesday) ].  Challapalli Srinivas Chakravarthy, 26th November, 2019 (Tuesday) . ---------------------------------------------------------