DO YOU KNOW - 3

DO YOU KNOW – 3
(source: Newspaper Times of India.)

    1.  A recent United Nations inter governmental panel on climate change found that global warming must be limited to 1.5 degrees C in the next 12 years, after which even a rise as small as 0.5 degree C could have devastating effects. Rising of 2 degrees C is likely to melt sea ice in summer resulting in the considerable rise in the sea levels and millions may lose their homes and livelihood. 37% of global population is likely to be affected by extreme heat. It may affect plant and animal life. Crop yields are likely to be dropped considerably.

                                                                                                                                                         2. Usually planets revolve around a star. But a possible “rogue” planetary-mass over 12 times massive than Jupiter has been found drifting alone through space around 20 light years away from earth. It is first of its kind to be discovered using radio telescope from earth.

                                                         

     3. Big Global study says even small amount of alcohol (one drink a day, 10 G) can increase risk of disease. 1 drink = 10g of alcohol. This means 1.) A can or bottle of beer) 375 ml or 12 fluid ounces) at 3.5% alcohol by volume. 2.) A small glass of red wine (100 ml or 3.4 fluid ounces) at 13% alcohol by volume. 3.) A shot of whisky or other spirits (30 ml or 1.0 fluid ounce) at 40% alcohol by volume.

                                                           

4. Study revealed that people suffering from pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) can delay the onset of severe health complications if they walk for 6 minutes a day for 6 months.

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5. Baldness may soon be a thing of past. The researchers used two kinds of cells placed In silicon containers to cultivate ‘hair follicle germs’ – the sources of the tiny organs that grow and sustain hair. The team managed to cultivate 5000 within just a few days, enough to replenish hair. New treatment using this technique may be available in 10 years.

                                                             

6. U S scientists get closer to creating artificial life. They have developed a living organism that incorporates both natural and artificial DNA and can create entirely new, synthetic proteins. Scientists said that they have expanded the genetic code of life and used man-made DNA to create a strain of bacteria.                                                                                                                            

7. Soon thoughts can be uploaded. A new firm is working on merging brains and computers. The technique could be used to improve memory or give humans added artificial intelligence.                       
8.  Raw milk raises risk of illness by 840 times. Raw and frothing milk fresh out of a diary is harmful as it contains several germs ranging from E-coli that cause severe gastroenteritis to Campylobacter species that infect the stomach and intestines. Pasteurized milk is healthier than raw milk.                                                                                                                                  
9. Artificial sweeteners may do harm than good. There seemed to be no statistically or clinically relevant difference between those exposed to non-sugar sweeteners and those not exposed. Probably we have to control sugar by taking less quantity of sugar items and by other medicines only.                                                                    

10. Nearly 24 hours after executing the record-breaking flyby on New Year’s Day of the most distant object in the solar system, Ultima Thule --- about 4 billion miles away from the Earth --- Nasa’s New Horizon spacecraft has attained a breakthrough with some stunning scientific discoveries which has taken scientists by surprise. This will throw light on various processes that played a role in building planets including Earth some four and a half billion years ago. Ultima Thule consists of two connected spheres that resemble a snow man. The larger one measured about 31 k m in length and was christened Ultima. The smaller sphere measured 14.5 k m across and and called Thule.

11. You will never have to wash these clothes. Scientists have developed liquid repellent surfaces, that could be used in clothes which not only keep you dry on rainy days, but also stay free of dirt and oil putting an end to our laundry woes. On liquid resistant surfaces, liquid droplets bounce away instead of being stuck.
12. We may be alive after death for a bit. Scientists say people are aware they are dead because their consciousness continues to work after the body has stopped the signs of life. This means that, theoretically someone may even here their own death being announced by medics. The claim was made by Dr. Samparnia, director of critical care and resuscitation research at NYU Langone School of Medicine in New york City. He and his team are looking at people who suffered cardiac arrest, technically died, and were later revived. Sum of those studied say they had full awareness of conversations and were seeing things that were going on around them, even after they were pronounced dead.

13. Scientists have invented a breakthrough technology that they said would help heal wounds, blood vessels, nerves and damaged organs. The technology, called Tissue Nanotransfection (TNT) uses nanotechnology to turn skin cells into other types of cells that can be used to repair damaged tissues. The cells are converted by a small micro chip, size of a penny, which injects genetic code into skin cells, transforming them into other types of cells. The chip is simply placed on to the skin following which it begins to create new cells in less than a second after a light electrical current is applied. Thus this chip reprograms cells to heal wounds, nerves etc.

14. We produced more than 9.1 billion tones of plastic waste since 1950. Experts say we are heading towards plastic planet. Plastics won’t breakdown like other man made materials, so three-quarters of the stuff ends up as waste in landfills, littered on land and floating in oceans, lakes and rivers according to the research reported in journal ‘Science Advances’.

15. We may stop using sex to procreate. Humans would opt for ‘Designer Babies’ in 30 tears. Hank Greely, the director of Stanford Law School’s Centre for Law and Biosciences believes the reproductive process will begin with parents choosing from a range of embryos created in a lab with their DNA.

16. Scientists have developed a novel 3D printed device that may reduce the side effects of chemotherapy such as hair loss, nausea and heart failure. The device described in the journal ’ACS Central Science’ absorbs excess chemotherapy drugs before they spread throughout the body. The device could open a new route to help patients fight cancer, enabling reduced side effects or an increased chemotherapy dose.

17. Couple has baby from longest-frozen embryo preserved in 1992, embryo is just a year younger than the mother who birthed her. Embryo had left in storage so that could be used by someone unable or unwilling to conceive a child naturally.

18. Antibiotic over dose is a silent killer. Several think incorrectly, that cold and flu can be treated with antibiotics.

19. Smart toys can bring hawkers to your home. They have ability to connect to web. This should be deactivated to prevent hawking.

20. Marriage helps heart patients live longer. A recent united states study suggests,  compared to divorced widows and never married peers who were up to 71%, unmarried patients are 1.52 times likely to have heart attack than married patients.

21. Astronauts on legendary space missions of more than 25 months suffer from space fever of 1 degree C more due to zero gravity and weightlessness. Such changes in body temperature don’t appear suddenly but gradually develop over two and half months.

22. Think and let the car drive. Not about driverless cars. New tech predicts your decisions to make driving more fun. Drive to wear a skull cap that measures brain wave activity and transmits its readings to steering acceleration and breaking system that can start responding before 0.2 to 0.5 second before the driver initiates the action.

23. Prolonged use of antacid pills can damage kidneys: Doctors.(Recent global studies).

DO YOU KNOW – 3 EXTENDED

24. Risk factors with sleeplessness:

Short term effects: Lack of focus, irritability, Mood swings, lower productivity.

Long term effects: Memory distortions, weight gain, increased risk of bowel, prostrate and breast cancers, increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, brain strokes, heart failures, increased risk of Alzheimer’s.

Normal timings for sleep are eight hours per day. This can be reduced to six hours if proper meditation is done with getting relaxation due to meditation. Some say that even 4 hour of sleep is sufficient to them. But this is not advisable say some experts.

     “Our circardian rhythm tells our brain  when to produce melatonin, our sleep hormone, so if you try to wake if your brain is still producing melatonin, you could feel day time sleepiness, low energy, decline in mood and cognitive impact,” said Lisa Medalie, a behavioural sleep medicine specialist.

     Preferable periods of sleep depending on age may be as follows: up to 2 years – 16 hours per day; 3 years to 12 years – 10 hours; 13 to 18 years – 10 hours; 19 to 55 years - 8 hours; beyond 55 years – 6 hours per day. Continuous sleeplessness for 10 days may be dangerous.

25. Way to end your bad dreams found: Scientists have identified a pair of genes that regulate how much we dream, an advance that may allow them to ‘switch off’ nightmares in the future.

26. 4% of the internet is all you get to see: Google and Amazon may the internet giants, but lurking in the depths of internet are sensitive databases and illegal market places. The indexed internet makes up a miniscule portion of the internet with non-indexed parts, the deep and dark web, making up 96%. In the dark web you can find illegal market places selling drugs, stolen data and even hit man services.

27. Now, a fabric for all seasons: Scientists have created a fabric that can automatically regulate the amount of heat that passes through it, helping a person stay cool or warm depending on the weather condition. When the conditions are warm and moist, the fabric allows heat to pass through. When it is cool and dry, the fabric reduces the heat that escapes researchers from Maryland University said.

28. Drone deliveries may be just months away:

Amazon said that it expects to begin large scale deliveries by drone in the coming months as it unveiled its newest design for its ‘Prime Air’ fleet. Jeff Wilke, head of Amazon’s consumer operations, said “we have been building fully electric drones that can fly up to 25 k m and deliver packages under 2.3 k g to consumers in less than 30 minutes. And with the help of our world class fulfillment and delivery network, we expect to scale Prime Air both quickly and efficiently, delivering packages via drone to customers within months.”

29. SPACE JUNK and its problems:

Currently a thick brand of levitating space junk – composed primarily of satellite pieces and discarded rocket boosters – skirts the Earth. Two or three times a day a satellite circling our planet narrowly misses a torrent of orbital debris. This phenomenon not only jeopardized active space missions but also the future of space travel. 73% of tracked debris resides in low Earth’ orbit (LEO), 2000 k m above the surface of our planet.

30. We eat 52000 plastic particles every year.

Add to it, the pollution we inhale, figure rises to 121000 particles, according to a new analysis that raised fresh questions over how plastic waste coild directly impact our health. Canadian scientists analysed hundreds of data sets on microplastic contamination and compared them to the typical diet and consumption habits of Americans. They found that an adult male could expect to ingest up to 52000 microplastic particles each year. Taking into account the pollution we breathe in that figure rose to 121000 particles – equivalent to over 320 particles every day.

31. Obesity tops smoking as main cause of cancers. Scientists in U K have identified 13 types of tumours that are triggered by excess weight. Fat cells make extra hormones and growth factors that tell cells in the body to divide more often. This increases the chance of cancerous cells being made.

32. Junk food linked to infertility in young men. Males who eat unhealthy food produce fewer sperm than who eat a balanced diet. Young, fit men whose diets are made up pizza, burgers, chips and other processed staples have drastically lower sperm counts than those who eat fresh foods, a study suggested by a team of U S and Danish researchers led by Harvard University.

ADDITIONS:

33. Clothes lined with grapheme could stop mosquito bites and help prevent the diseases like malaria, new research study.

    
34.  Pluto is a planet once again according to NASA.

   
35.  Elon Musk who invested $100 million in the company Neuralink, plans to use robot to implant ultrathin threads deep into the brain to connect the internet. Tech may one day help amputees regain mobility, and disabled hear, speak and see.

    
36.  Scientists have developed first functional biological pace maker cells from human stem cells which can regulate heart beats with electrical impulses, paving the way for an alternate biological pacemaker therapy. It corrects drawbacks of electronic ones like lack of hormonal response.

    
37.  Sun bathing and vitamin D supplements may be feasible and affordable approaches to improve or even prevent metabolic syndromes which pose a risk of diabetes and heart disease, a new study has claimed.

    
 38. Facebook is working on a “brain – computer interface” apparently to let people talk to each other by reading their minds. Job adverts posted in California suggest that the social network is planning telepathic technology that can read brain waves and send them between people, a way of sharing that will go far beyond linking status updates or sharing holiday photos. That will involve using computers and artificial intelligence to work with “neuroimaging and electro physiological data”.

    
39.  New F B tech may let you type with your brain. Social Media Co is working on system that will use signals from brain to type 100 words per minute.

    
40.  FAST RADIO BLASTS (F R Bs): High intensity electromagnetic waves that are about 10000 times more powerful than that coming from the Sun expected to be coming from black holes or from superior intelligent life from far away exoplanets. Recently about such 13 waves are observed in two weeks time. Time of observation of such high intensity wave is less than a fraction of a second.

    
41.  Even one energy drink can up your blood pressure, and make significant change to the heart’s electrical activity, the study published in the journal of the American Heart Association, concluded.

     
42. About 380 metric tonnes of plastic is produced worldwide each year. Production increased exponentially from 23 metric tonnes in 1950 to 448 metric tonnes in 2015. Every day about 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans.

     
43. Tiny robots in our blood stream that can be entered in about 10  years time are likely to protect us from diseases including cancer. This is only a prediction for the present but is likely to come true as many such predictions on robots came true already. Hence please take care of your health at least for 10 years. Robots will take care of your health latter.

     
44. Antibiotics will stop working in due course. In fact a 2016 report found that the new era of antimicrobian resistance could kill up to 10 million people each year by 2050, unless other alternatives to counter diseases are developed.

    
 45. Air Quality Index (AQI) is an average of past 24 hours. Prominent pollutants are PM 2.5 or PM 10. Normal value of PM 2.5 is 59; and the normal value for PM 10 is 104. Particulate matter 2.5 refers to atmospheric particulate matter refers to matter that has diameter of less than 2.5 microns (2.5 micro grams per cubic metre). This is about 3% the diameter of human hair, and can only be detected with electron microscope. These light particles move into upper layers of air and move with greater velocity even up to 3000 k m before they settle down. They can penetrate into lungs causing harm to respiratory system.

46. For PM 2.5 (micro grams per cubic metre):

 Good – 0 to 50; Satisfactory – 51 to 100; Moderate – 101 to 200; Poor – 201 to 300; Very Poor – 301 to 400; Severe - >400;

    
47. Blood pressure classifications:

Systolic mm/hg: Normal – 120 – 130; High normal – 130 – 140; Mild Hyper tension (Gr. 1) – 140 – 160; Moderate Hyper tension (Gr.2) – 160 – 180; severe Hyper tension (Gr.3) > 180.

Diastolic  mm/hg: Normal – 80 – 85; High normal – 85 – 90;  Mild Hypertension  (Gr1) – 90 – 100; Moderate Hyper tension – (Gr.2) – 100 – 110; Severe Hyper tension (Gr. 3) > 110;

48. Blood sugar levels:

Normal for fasting minimum: 70 mg/dl, or 3.9 mmo/l; Normal for fasting maximum – 100 mg/dl or 5.6 mmo/l; Normal after 2 hours of eating – less than 140 mg/dl or 7.8 mmo/l.

49. Spontaneous Human combustion is a well established phenomenon in which a human body burns and destroyed without any known source of external fire, although the clothes they wear remain undamaged. During a period of about 400 years 200 such incidents are reported. The mystery remains unsolved yet.

50. In a course of one year in the United States of America about 10 million persons were reported missing.95% of them returned later, but the remaining 5% disappeared for ever. Some of them disappeared when others were looking at them. There are also the documented cases of people who have appeared from nowhere and whose identities remain forever a mystery.  

51. Studies have found that prolonged mobile  phone usage has a lowering effect on heart rate variability (HRV) levels and blood oxygen levels. 'Nettox' device is worn on the wrist and contains a sensor that measures hemoglobin oxygen levels and heart rate variability. The device emits a sound when HRV and oxygen levels fall within this range.

     52. Water as much as in all our oceans combined is located at 400 k m beneath Earth’s surface according to experts. This water and the additional trove brucite may also hold, are vitally important to the movement of materials through the Earth. As water containing minerals travel down through the Earth layer, the materials decompose, releasing water that makes its way back to the surface, often through volcanic activity.

     53. There is lots of evidence that fasting for short periods (no longer than 24 hours) is good for you. If you fast regularly, you have less chance of a heart attack, stroke or cancer. Fasting gives your body a rest.  A rest so that it can do one of its most important jobs: DNA repair and keeping cells young and resistant to diseases. The latest evidence says that fasting can do even more favors than that.

     54. Wireless transplant could cure paralysis in future. Experiment on monkeys shows promise.

    55.  International effort aims to decipher the types and properties of every cell a person contains, whether healthy or diseased. Human atlas will improve   researchers’ understanding of disease.

    56.  Scientists have devised a way to send passwords through the human body rather than airborne radio waves like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth which are vulnerable to hacking.

     57. People with more than 8 dental fillings may have 150% more mercury in their blood, increasing the risk of brain, heart and kidney damage, a new study has found.

     58. Women who enter menopause before the age of 45 are more likely to have cardiovascular problems and to die younger than women who enter menopause later in life according to a new analysis.

     59. Scientists including one of Indian origin, developed a new technology that can read pages of a closed book, an advance that may help archaeologists look into antique books without touching them. 

    60. Blood alcohol content should be less than or equal to 30 mg / 100 ml. It is objectionable to drive in India if it is more.

     

     61. A 2016 report found  that a new era of antimicrobial resistance could kill up to 10 million people each year by 2050.

      

     62. We will be communicating with thoughts. Picking up thoughts and relaying then to another brain will not be much harder than storing them on the net, claims futurologist, Ian Pearson.

    

     63. Eating chocolates improves memory, brain function according to researchers from University of South Australia, University of Maine in U S and Luxembourg Institute of Health.

    

     64.  Overeating is the likely main cause of obesity, not lack of exercise according to the research by Beylor University in the U S.

    

     65. The largest ever study of psilocybin – the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms – has found the compound safe for treating depression, in clinical trials at King’s College , London.

     

     66. Sleeping more than 9 hours a night or grabbing a lengthy afternoon nap raises the risk of suffering a stroke by up to a quarter, warns a new study. The study also showed that people over 60 who took a regular midday nap lasting more than 90 minutes were 25% more likely to later suffer a stroke.

    

     67. Ray Kurzweil a futurist and director of Engineering at Google thinks we are heading towards age when we will be able to create virtual realist avatars of our diseased loved ones realistic enough that we can interact with them. In short we can communicate with our dead relatives via virtual reality. In ancient days in India some saints were able to leave their body and enter into a recent dead body of other person or of an animal and used to activate it, and after sufficient time reenter into their own body. This was done after practice of some mental powers. But what Ray Kurzweil says is something different. Whether it is practicable or not we have to wait and see.

    68.  Food can be made from air. A company is developing a protein source from a microbe that feeds on carbon dioxide (co2) extracted from air. It is an indication of saying goodbye to farming. This is according to Journalist and environmentalist George Monbiot.

     69. Newly discovered immune cells could cure all cancers. Researchers at Cardiff University suggest the new T- cell offers hope of a “one-size fits-all” cancer therapy. T-cell therapies for cancer – where immune cells are removed modified and returned to the patient’s blood to seek and destroy cancer cells – are the latest paradigm in cancer treatments.

    70.  Allow sperm donation after death to meet growing demand from couples seeking fertility treatment. Medical experts in Britain say.

     71. More than 2 million adults of the 30 million adults with cardiovascular disease in the U S reported that they have used, or currently using marijuana according to a review of studies, which says the effect of the drug on heart health are understudied. “More patients are curbing their cigarette smoking, and we are seeing big improvement in cardiovascular health for those who quit” said co-author Muthaiah Vaduganathan of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in U S.

     72. Smart phone use is not tied to rise in anxiety and sleep deprivation according to researchers. Hence there is no need of panic about kids and teenagers who stuck to smart phones.

    73.  NASA is exploring technologies that could grow structures out of fungi and the unseen und3rground threads to become our future homes on Moon, Mars and beyond out of life.

    74.  Lot of offices have already replaced secretaries with virtual assistants. But in future employees may have to report to a virtual boss too. A report by Infosys and Gartner predicts that automation and AI (Artificial Intelligence) may lead to elimination of middle management roles over the next decade. “We will need fewer people managers as many of the management tasks such as collecting data, supervising actions and ensuring compliances will be completed by algorithm and robosses,” said a thought leadership report by Gartner. This echoes a recent McKinsey report which said that nearly half of the activities undertaken by the workers could be automated – including managing expertise.

    75.  NASA said recently that its planet hunter satellite TESS had discovered an earth sized world within habitable range of its star, which could allow the presence of liquid water. The planet named “TOI 700 d”, is relatively close to Earth  - only 100 light years away, NASA’s jet propulsion Laboratory announced during the annual American Astronomical Society meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. The discovery was later confirmed by Spitzer Space Telescope.

     76. Working long hours behind a desk might raise the risk of undiagnosed high blood pressure, or hypertension, even when readings in a doctor’s office are normal, a study suggests. It is linked with an increased risk of developing heart disease.

     77. Two thirds of women worldwide unhappy with breast size, after study of 18000 women in 40 countries. Only 29% are happy while 48% wish they were bigger and 23% want them to be smaller.

     78. Viagra can make men see blue colour, says study. Those who take too high a dose could risk developing persistent visual side effects. Research found patients abnormally dilated pupils, blyrred vision, light sensitivity, and colour vision disturbances, which included intensely blue coloured vision with red-green colour blindness.

     79. Quit smoking 4 weeks before surgery. :W H O.

     80. Soon data may be sent 1000 times faster than the current internet cables. The new research uses terahertz quantum cascade lasers that could send data around the world with speeds of 100 gigabits a second. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. The current internet connections work at 100 megabits a second, a thousand times less quick.

     81. Sitting for too long is associated with an increased risk of depressive symtoms in adolescents, according to a study published in Lancet Psychiatry.

     82. Molecule in sweet oranges and tangerines called Nobiletin may help reduce obesity and help reverse its negative effects.

     83. A new study for scientists  at Yale University has found that compounds from tobacco smoke can infiltrate well ventilated rooms by hitching a peoples clothes, skin, hair and then evaporating slowly over time in a process called “off-gassing”. This is an indication that every smoker’s clothes pose health risk.

     84. Rise in indoor CO2 levels in homes, schools and offices could make us stupid. It could cut peopl’s ability to do complex tasks in half by the end of century (by the year 2100) according to scientists from the University of Cilorado Boulder and the University of Pennsylvania.