Discovery Of Sugar In Space

One of the most important discoveries of this decade include the discovery of sugar in space. Scientists have recently spotted floating molecules of simple sugar in space. Presence of sugar is sometimes and somewhat related to the presence of organic compounds like carbohydrates. These molecules were identified floating in a gas around a star about 400 light years away. Scientists have been searching for any indication of the presence of life on other planets which like earth are revolving around their stars, very similar to our solar system.
 

           A fine artistic display of simple sugar molecules. Photo courtesy by National geographic.

 Nature of the identified sugar

 “In the disc of gas and dust surrounding this newly formed star, we found glycolaldehyde, which is a simple form of sugar, not much different to the sugar we put in coffee,” said Dr Jes Jørgensen of Niels Bohr Institute, Denmark, lead author of a paper to be published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters (arXiv.org version).

Scientist use term sugar for carbohydrates which are composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Carbohydrates are the essential components of living organisms. The molecules of sugar that scientists discovered are the simplest form of sugar called glycoaldehyde. Glycoaldehyde is found on earth in the form of odourless white powder. Scientists think that glycoaldehyde is involed in the reaction which forms the essential biological component-the RNA. According to the lead astronomer Jes Jørgensen of Denmark's Copenhagen University It's still unclear exactly how glycoaldehyde is produced in space, but observations suggest it forms on ice-covered dust grains in the dense, cold parts of interstellar molecular clouds.

The star

The star involved in the discovery is a young star named as IRAS 16293-2422. The star has a smaller mass as compared to the sun and found in the constellation of Ophiuchus some 400 light years away from our planet. Being comparatively the nearest star, IRAS offers scientists a great opportunity to conduct a deep and detailed study of a newly formed star.

More about the discovery 

• According to some scientists the discovery of sugar in space may open new paths for the race of finding life on other planets in space.
• This is for the first time that sugar molecules are discovered in space.
• “What it is really exciting about our findings is that the ALMA observations reveal that the sugar molecules are falling in towards one of the stars of the system,” said co-author Dr Cécile Favre of the Aarhus University, Denmark.

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Glowing Plants-Hope Of A Future Wonderland

What about glowing plants instead of the streetlights in your city streets? Think about having a cute green glowing plant on your study table instead of a lamp! Imagine a whole garden with glowing plants, flowers and grass. It's seems absolutely mythical! but not anymore_a plant from a wonderland is going to be designed by our marvellous scientists.

                                              A glowing plant model published by project team.

About the project

A team of Standford-trained PhDs have so far promised their backers for the delivery of seeds by next may. The scientist are raising funds for the completion of the mythical project. Backers and customers have already crowded the mythical market of their dream glowing plants. With a month still to go, the project has successfully raised $243,000, it's initial goal was $6500. Team leader and project manager Antony Evans said that DNA sequence for the project has been developed, the money will be used to print the sequence and insert it into a prototype and then grow it in the laboratory.

Inspiration and methodology

Nature has been the ultimate provider of amazing ideas to minds. The idea of glowing plants has been taken from the firefly. "Inspired by fireflies... our team of Stanford-trained PhDs are using off-the-shelf methods to create real glowing plants in a do-it-yourself bio lab in California," said project leader Antony Evans. The methodology includes the insertion of a florescent gene into a small plant called arabidopsis. The transfer process will be carried out by a type of bacteria called agrobacteria which are already widely used in biotechnology. Agrobacteria is able to transfer genes between itself and a plant.

The  idea is not new

The idea of glowing plants is not brand new rather it was discussed and even experimented so far. A team of scientist at the university of California had created a glowing tobacco in 2008. Followed by a team of scientist at Cambridge university who enabled a bacteria in 2009. But ideas make the difference and the new project is a step a head of the previous ones.

Known team members

• Antony Evans-Project Leader and manager.
• Omri Amirav-Drory-Synthetic biologist.
• Kyle Taylor-Plant scientist.
• George Church-Professor of genetics at Harvard University, backing the project.

What is irritating?
The irritating face of the project, specially for the backers is the lack of discussion on the project. Theo Sanderson, member of the 2010 project at Cambridge says,"Nobody can deny that the idea of walking down a path lit by glowing trees is pretty enticing... what has disappointed me has been the lack of discussion as to what the team actually plan to do with the funds raised, and whether the science stacks up".

More on the topic

• The glowing effect according to a researcher, will also be inserted into roses.
• An important component is Luciferase, an enzyme common in fireflies, glowing fungi and bacteria.
• The method used in DNA transplant is under the branch of science called 'Synthetic biology.

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Ancient Bone-headed Dinosaur Discovered

Canadian researches have discovered a new species of dinosaurs called bone-headed dinosaurs. These dinosaurs according to the researches had a dome shaped bony head, about 10 centimetres thick. Dubbed Acrotholus audeti, the dog sized creature was discovered and unveilded on the basis of both previously discovered and recently found fossils. Acrotholus literally means high domed, which refers to the high dome like bonny skull of the new species.The part audeti's link goes back to 2008 and refers to Roy audet,the Alberta rancher,on who's land the best specimen of the creature was discovered. 

What the newly discovered specimen reveals?

The recently discovered Acrotholus is the oldest bone-headed dinosaur ever found in the world. According to a report published by BBC, the history of bone headed-dinosaurs revealed from the study of the discovered specimen goes back to 85 million years. The specimen also reveals fruitful information about the anatomy, physiology and living behaviour of the creatures. The creature waled on two legs, was a vegetarian and weighs up to 40 kilo grams. It is believed that the dome like bony skull was possibly used in the combat grounds. Dr. David Evans of the University of Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum said “Acrotholus provides a wealth of new information on the evolution of bone-headed dinosaurs. Although it is one of the earliest known member of this group, its thickened skull dome is surprisingly well-developed for its geological age. More importantly, the unique fossil record of these animals suggests that we are only beginning to understand the diversity of small-bodied plant-eating dinosaurs".

More info about the topic

• Researchers say that there have been about 16 different types of bone-headed dinosaurs.
• The dinosaur was about the size of a large dog, among the smallest dinosaurs ever found.
• The specimen may further reveal information about the rise and fall of dinosaurs.
• The specimen further reveals that the society of mighty dinosaurs also had smaller organisms living with them.

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Eye Safety During Solar Eclipse

 Solar eclipse is fascinating

Solar eclipse is considered as one of the most fascinating things in nature. People love to enjoy such strange events in which occur in our mighty universe. This astronomical event is even valuable for scientists, students and professional photographers. You might know the important contribution of solar eclipse in formulating the Einstein's theory of relativity. He has been waiting anxiously for a solar eclipse for many months to study the slight bending of light from stars due to solar gravity. 

                       A fascinating view of a solar eclipse- Photo from flickr

Direct viewing of sun during solar eclipse

Why it is un advisable to look at solar eclipse with naked eyes? As we all know that it is harmful to look at the bright sun. It is because sun light contains some high intensity wavelengths like ultra Violet(UV) and infra red which can affect the retina. Continuous exposure of the light sensitive retina to intense light damages the light sensitive rod and con cells. This light triggers certain chemical reactions which disable the cells to respond to visual stimulus. Over exposure of high intensity light can also permanently damage the photo sensitive cells and can cause a permanent blindness. This is caused by a solar injury, the high intensity light literally cooks the cells and creates a permanent damage. Also our eye is not designed in a way to bear the overall light intensity of bright sun.

 When it comes to solar eclipse, there are some serious warnings from astronomers and physicists. Clear questions can be raised in this case, because during the solar eclipse the intensity of sunlight is highly reduced and as a result the damaging effect must be minimum. Instead it is advised to be more careful during solar eclipse. The reason behind is firstly some amount of infra red and ultra Violet rays may still be coming from the small glaring portions of the sun. The radiations when fall directly on the retina can have damaging effects. Secondly, when we look at a dark area the aperture of our pupil automatically expands to let enough light to enter. In the same way when we look at the solar eclipse, the aperture expands to allow maximum light to pass through it, as the eclipse don't take any longer time, a beam of bright sunlight may suddenly fall. In such a case enough light will have been already fallen on the retina before aperture limits the amount of light. In other words, the sun may surprise us by suddenly throwing it's first beam of light during the eclipse. 

Safety measures

According to a NASA report, which says "The only time that the Sun can be viewed safely with the naked eye is during a total eclipse, when the Moon completely covers the disk of the Sun. It is never safe to look at a partial or annular eclipse, or the partial phases of a total solar eclipse, without the proper equipment and techniques."

To view the sun directly during a solar eclipse is safe only when solar filters are used. These filters always have a thin layer of chromium alloy or aluminium deposited on their surfaces which attenuates both visible and infra red radiations. One of the most widely available filters is a welder's glass which can easily be obtained from a welder supply store. 

                             A type of Welder's goggles- Photo taken from http://us-forge.com

Another cheap alternative is aluminized Mylar used mostly for solar observations.

                           Your eye is your everything, protect this priceless gift of God.

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