Science & Technology, Defense, Environment

• Gold in the Eucalyptus Trees Discovered
  (Free Available)

• World’s First Bionic Man (Free
  Available)

• Farthest-yet galaxy & others (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• Seven Planet System Discovered (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• New Blood Test to Detect Gastrointestinal Disorders
  (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• Chemists show life on Earth was not a fluke (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• Brain Makes Use of Sleep to Drain Waste Toxins (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• Management of canker infestation in citrus (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• Chinese Scientists Developed Vaccine for H7N9 Bird Flu Virus
  (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• Jelly-making protein could help make cheap fuel cells
  (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• RV Samudra Ratnakar dedicated to the Nation (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• First Unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant Synchronised
  with Southern Power Grid (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• Internet through Lightbulbs (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• Aircraft Noise Led to Increased Risk of Heart Problems
  (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• Polonium-poisoned politician & others (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• Huge Floating Ice Shelf in Antarctica Discovered (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• Most Distant Galaxy as of Now, Discovered (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• New Technique to Detect Faults in Coaches, Wagons & Locos
  (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

• E-Management of INSPIRE Award Scheme (Only
  for Online Coaching Members and
  Premium
  Members)

Gold in the Eucalyptus Trees Discovered

Researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organisation (CSIRO), Perth, in the month of October 2013 revealed that
they found tiny particles of gold in the eucalyptus trees. The researchers
explained that the discovery of hidden gold in trees can help the future
prospectors to find out more about the precious metal. The Australian
researchers explained that the trees were on the top of gold deposits which were
rooted deep in the ground. In order to search for the moisture, these trees suck
more of gold. The Geochemist at CSIRO, Melvyn Lintern explained that seeing the
gold particles in leaves was surprising. Certain trees on which the research was
done, brought the gold from a depth of 30 metres, which is equal to the
10-storey building. This gold was found in resource-rich Kalgoorlie region of
Western Australia, which, in late 1800s was a primary site of the major gold
rush. In order to analyse the extremely small particles at the high resolution,
the scientists made use of CSIRO’s Maia detector at Australian Synchrotron in
Melbourne for X-ray imaging.

The scientists found out that gold particles with the
diameter onefifth of a human hair were present in the trees. Melvyn Lintern also
explained that the eucalyptus acts as a hydraulic pump. The roots of these trees
extend to tens of metres into the ground. Because the gold is toxic for the
plants, therefore, it eventually moved into the leaves as well as the branches
where it can be shed to ground. The researchers made use of the technique called
biogeochemical sampling in order to give indication of gold’s presence beneath
the surface. The same method can also used for finding out other metals like
copper and zinc. The researchers also explored the gold in leaves of other trees
like Acacia Mulga. The latest discoveries of gold fell by 45 percent in past 10
years. In the year 2011, the US Geological Survey revealed that there was around
51000 tonnes of gold
remaining in reserve of the world.

World’s First Bionic Man

Scientists developed the world’s first robot human (Bionic
man) made entirely of prosthetic parts. The bionic man can walk, talk and has a
beating heart. Bionic man was assembled from prosthetic body parts and
artificial organs donated by laboratories around the world. The bionic man also
has a nearly complete set of artificial organs including an artificial heart,
blood, lungs (and windpipe), pancreas, spleen, kidney and functional circulatory
system. He also sports a cochlear implant, speech recognition and speech
production systems. The engineers equipped the bionic man with a sophisticated
chatbot programme that can carry on a conversation. It also has a pair of
robotic ankles and feet from BiOM in Bedford, Massachusetts, designed and worn
by bioengineer Hugh Herr of MIT’s Media Lab, who lost his own legs after getting
trapped in a blizzard as a teenager.

To support his prosthetic legs, the bionic man wears a
robotic exoskeleton dubbed Rex .It was made by REX Bionics in New Zealand. He
lacks a few major organs including liver, stomach and intestines, which are too
complex to replicate in a lab. His brain can mimic certain functions of the
human brain and he has a retinal prosthesis. Roboticists Rich Walker and Matthew
Godden of Shadow Robot Co in England developed the bionic man. The robot was
modeled in some physical aspects after Bertolt Meyer, a social psychologist at
the University of Zurich in Switzerland, who wears one of the world’s most
advanced bionic hands. The total cost for development of the robot is around 1
million US Dollars.

<<

Go Back To Science & Technology, Defence, Environment Main Page