Science Acumen

Researchers have made an important discovery about the causes of schizophrenia, a disease related to dementia or fragmented mentality.   Researchers have identified two genes associated with the disease as well as a third gene that carries the risk of schizophrenia and autism. Scientists involved in this research believes, this discovery can go a long way in finding a cure for these kind of diseases. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine found that these harmful genes are almost the same in every ethnic or racial group. The findings of this research were published in Nature Genetics . According to an estimate, about one percent of people worldwide suffering from schizophrenia. The scientists identified two risky genes, SRRM2 and AKAP11, based on a comparative analysis of gene sequencing from individuals with schizophrenia and healthy individuals. It compared a dataset of 35,828 patients with schizophrenia to 107,877 healthy or control groups and included a v...

A new thing has come to light about the case of insulin deficient diabetes type-1 patients. Researchers found that the pancreas of such patients is smaller than the pancreas of a healthy person.   Beta cells responsible for producing insulin make up a very small portion of the pancreas. Therefore, it was not expected to reduce the size of pancreas due to their degradation in type-1 diabetes. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center studied to a family living in Alabama and found that insulin deficiency, not autoimmune diabetes, is the primary cause of pancreatic shortening in type 1 diabetes. Four out of eight members of this family were suffering from monogenetic diabetes. It is caused by a rare mutation in the insulin gene.   This leads to insulin deficiency without autoimmunity. MRI of pancreas found that it was smaller in size and abnormal in shape in diabetic patients. This was similar to what was observed in individuals with type 1 diabe...

Sufficient and deep sleep is essential for our health and wellness. Insufficient sleep creates many kind of physical and mental problems for our healthy life. Recently, a new research has revealed that sleeping with blindfolds increases brain function . Blindfold prevents dim lights coming from the window to falling on eyes. This does not disturb our sleep and we are able to sleep deeply. Getting enough and deep sleep at night increases our brain's ability to receive informations and communication skills. In a study published in Sleep Journal , Eye masks increases our memory and alertness. Research author Vivana Greco, from Cardiff University's School of Psychology , said the team of researchers used two types of experiments to understand how eye masks help us. The team of researchers monitored both the groups for a week. The research concluded that the cognitive level of the group using the eye mask was higher than that of the group that did not use the eye mask. T...

How did prehistoric humans protect himself from adverse weather impacts?  We have very little information about it. Recently, archaeologists from Germany have claimed that contemporary humans probably used bear skins to cover their bodies.  Bear claws and other body parts remains found in a cave suggest that bears and other fur-bearing animals were hunted for their fur about three million years ago. Author Ivo Verheijen from the University of Tumbingen in Germany says that some prehistoric sites show evidence of bear skinning. Germany's Schöningen is important in such places. According to the study, fur, leather, and other organic materials cannot be preserved for more than a million years, so there is very little direct evidence of clothing. Bears' hair was windproof According to the researchers, the size of the prehistoric bears was very large, their size was as big as the polar bears which became extinct about 25000 years ago.   Those bears had lon...

It is not enough to get rid of cancer. Cancer, and chemotherapy used for its treatment have long-term side effects. Even after getting cured of this disease, patients have to face many types of health related problems. Scientists are trying to find solutions to minimize the side effects of chemotherapy or systems used to treat cancer. One such problem is the loss of memory in patients after recovery from breast cancer. Scientists are trying to find out the reasons for this. Researchers from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have succeeded in this matter. According to research published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology , the relation between memory loss or decline in inflammation during treatment has been found. According to the findings of this research, cancer patients who have recovered from breast cancer, whose memory is impaired, have higher levels of inflammatory Marker-C Reactive Protein (CRP). Judith Carroll, lead author of the research and associat...

Curiosity should always be there in life, it is very helpful for increase our ability to learn. Continuity of curiosity drives away stress and enhances our memory and creativity. Not only this, the mind is also engaged in job and performance. How important is curiosity in life and what are its benefits? A lot of research has been done to find the answer of this question. The purpose of these studies is to spread greater awareness about the benefits of being curious. Curiosity offers a better psychological solution to stress. A research conducted at the University of California revealed that curiosity increases our memory unexpectedly. This increases the ability to remember different types of facts by up to 30% and more. Curiosity boosts our memory when we try to learn something new and complex. We find our work more attractive and we are able to perform better. We will remember the facts for a long time, the facts about which we will work eagerly. Another research reveale...

Even after a heart attack, our heart can be as healthy as before. This has been revealed in a research conducted by the University of California. Scientists found in this study that heart cells that die as a result of a heart attack can be regenerated with the help of special hormones. The most important thing is that these cells will also be as natural as before, which will prove to be very beneficial in the case of gene therapy procedures. Right now this test has been done only on rats, it is yet to be tested on humans. If this test proves to be effective on humans as well, then it will be very important for the normal life of people who have had a heart attack and their heart has become much weaker than before. In this test done on rats, a synthetic messenger ribonucleic acid was used. In this technique, mRNA creates a blueprint of DNA sequences, which our body uses where proteins and cells are made and controlled. The purpose of doing this by scientists is to change the...

There are countless stars and planets in the universe. Scientists from all over the world are trying to know about them. Astronomers have got another success in this episode. Astronomers have discovered a Super-Jupiter orbiting a white dwarf. It has been discovered using the European Space Agency's direct observations of Gaia. The discovery is a part of data available in Gaia's Data Release-3, which provides the most comprehensive survey of our galactic neighborhood to date. The Gaia Observatory has conducted a test under which a point in space is orbited about 932056.788 miles (15 lakh kilometers) away from us. With the help of Gaia, astronomers will be able to create a very accurate and multidimensional map of our galaxy. Apart from this, with the help of this map, our actual location in the universe will be better understood. Martin Warstow, Professor of Astrophysics and Space Sciences at the University of Leicester and Director of Strategic Partnerships for S...

Scientists in China and America put their reputation at stake with extraordinary claims.  These scientists claimed that the newly identified narrowband signal could be a sign of an intelligent extraterrestrial civilization. The signal captured by the world's largest radio telescope, the Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope. It's located in Southwest China, appears to have captured the first sign of life beyond Earth. According to a report published in the South China Morning Post, this signal came from Kepler-438b. Kepler-438b is a potentially Earth-like exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf located 473 light-years away from Earth. Kepler - 438 b has been considered a close relative of Earth. Researchers have described its habitability as potentially similar to Earth. However, this claim of scientists about the discovery of alien life is really surprising.  These signals were detected during the telescope's first targeted alien hunting mission t...

A few days ago, the European Space Agency (ESA) released important data obtained from the Gaia spacecraft, which can enhance the most accurate map of our galaxy. In these data from Gaia, important information about 2 billion stars of our galaxy is hidden. Gaia is located at the second Lagrange point, about 15,00,000 kilometers from Earth. This spacecraft is studying the vast corners of the Milky Way. The new data mainly includes information about stellar positions, distances, motion in the sky, colors of celestial bodies, etc. In addition, the new data may provide insight into strange starquakes, stellar DNA and asymmetric motions. The mission of the spacecraft is to produce an accurate and multidimensional map of our galaxy. Accurate maps of the Milky Way allow astronomers to better understand the structure and evolution of our galaxy over billions of years, the life cycle of stars and our place in the universe. The data sent by Gaia contains better details about about 2...

Astronomers have detected another radio signal coming from distant space, the second of its kind, raising further questions about their origins.  This signal is coming from a galaxy located about 3 billion light years away from us. The detection of a new fast radio burst (FRB), named FRB-20190520B, raises some important questions about the origin and source of these signals. The researchers have published their findings in a new paper in the science website 'Nature'.  The paper notes that the source of FRB 20190520B is "co-located with a compact, persistent radio source and associated with a highly conspicuous-star-formation dwarf host galaxy". This signal is believed to be close to another unknown object, which is emitting a weak radio signal. This type of combination has been observed only in one other FRB. FRBs are rapid but brief flashes of radio frequency emission and typically last milliseconds.  They are known to send repeat radio waves at times. ...

The brain is the most important part of our body, as it guides our whole body. In other words - from here the whole body operates. Do you know how our brain works? Recently, researchers from Technion Israel Institute of Technology have done a study, in this study it has been told that how our brain works and how it stores information. According to researchers, there are many cells found in our brain which are called neurons. The main function of neurons is to exchange information in our body. According to research, at the single neuron level in the brain, it has been found that computation takes place not only between neurons but also between individual neurons. This is not a simple process but a very complex process. How was this research done? This research not only changes our understanding about the brain but also shows how the brain works. Researchers hope to know about new things through this research. Recommended ⬇️  New Functioning of Cells That Play Key Ro...

The Ingenuity helicopter, which has become the first craft to conduct a powered flight to another planet (Mars), is shivering in the harsh Martian winter. With changing conditions, the spacecraft, which was only designed for a handful of flights during the spring, is facing a new challenge. As the temperature drops, the quadcopter is being turned off at night to rest. However, it has faced new disadvantages. As the team was working to recommend the spacecraft, they recognized that one of the helicopter's navigation sensors, called the inclinometer, had suddenly stopped working. While that sounds like a big deal, engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which has flown it on Mars, have assured it isn't. "This does not necessarily mean the end of our flight to Mars," the team said in a blog update.  According to NASA, the weather is changing in the Jezero crater, where the Perseverance rover is working. This has changed in winter and the increased amount...

Our universe holds countless mysteries. The scientific community is constantly trying to unravel these mysteries.  In this episode, scientists have uncovered a big mystery which is related to our solar system. There are two planets present in our solar system, Uranus and Neptune, which have many similarities with each other.  Despite this, the appearance is slightly different. Neptune looks bright blue while Uranus looks light blue.  Researchers have found out the main reason for this difference between the two.  According to scientists, the light blue color of Uranus is due to the haze present in its atmosphere. According to research by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), the researchers developed a single atmospheric model that matches the observations of the two planets. The Gemini North Telescope, the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility and the Hubble Space Telescope were used to study both planets. This model has shown that...

The James Webb Telescope is at its maximum cooling temperature point. Its mirrors have been calibrated and its target is fixed. This telescope will search for evidence of black holes formed after the emergence of the universe and in its childhood.  The web is in the final stages of fully operating its tools before starting scientific research. Blackholes are the mysterious objects in the universe. They are considered to be the demons of the universe.  The thing that makes them different from other cosmic objects is that they are invisible and finding them is a difficult task.  Apart from this, their gravitational force is very powerful. According to scientists, a black hole is found in the center of every galaxy, which includes our galaxy.  A puzzle in front of modern astronomy remains - how did a giant black hole come to the center of every galaxy? James Webb Telescope, whose purpose is to study the universe immediately after the Big Bang, this observato...

Pregnant women are advised to take special precautions during pregnancy. The effects of diseases during pregnancy not only harm the mother but can also cause long-term harm to the baby. A study conducted by researchers at the Medical University of Vienna found that viral infections during pregnancy negatively affect a pregnant woman's brain and lead to changes in postpartum behavior. This study was published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry . Researchers say there is substantial evidence that viral infection during pregnancy negatively affects brain development in the fetus, lasting lifelong effects on the child's mental health and behavior. Now a new preclinical study has revealed for the first time that virus-induced immune activation during pregnancy also affects the mother's brain.  This has a negative impact on the maternal care and behavior of the mother after the birth of the child. The findings were published by a team of behavioral biologists from th...

Blackhole is one of the most mysterious things in the universe. Its gravitational force is so strong that it does not allow anything near it to pass through, even attracts light inside itself. Astronomers are constantly trying to unravel the mysteries of black holes. In this episode, astronomers have succeeded in detecting eight new blackhole binaries. These resonate around our galaxy. According to this study, combining their images together can reveal how a black hole moves in an explosion. So far only two such black holes were known. Blackhole binaries are systems that orbit a star. Students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) carried out this research with the help of the California Institute of Technology and other institutions. The findings of this research were published in The Astrophysical Journal . There are millions of black holes in our galaxy that have tremendous gravitational force. They are usually densely black and, except in a few rare cases...

In March this year, the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter took various pictures of the star after reaching its closest approach to the Sun.   Analysis of the data collection reveals powerful flares, breathtaking views over the solar poles, and a curious hedgehog in video that makes its way back to Earth. The spacecraft was inside the orbit of Mercury during its closest approach to the Sun. It is the closest planet to the Sun.  It sits about 1/3 of the distance between the Sun and the Earth. The hitshield had achieved a temperature of over 500°C. However, it was kept cool with the help of various technical devices. The important thing that this orbiter was successful in finding out is this - how does our star work? The European Space Agency has said that the closer the spacecraft gets to the Sun, the more closely the remote sensing equipment is able to analyze it. During close approach, the spacecraft observed solar flares and even Earth-directed coronal ma...

The UK has come up with a unique idea to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by the year 2050. He is working on solar power plan in space. 50 British institutions including Airbus, Cambridge University have joined hands to cooperate with the government's scheme. The UK started an alternative search initiative in this direction in last year. The main objective of the scheme is to achieve the goal of zero greenhouse emissions at a lower cost than the technologies. According to Martin Salto, the head of this initiative, all the technology needed to develop a solar power station in space is already in place and the special thing is that all the work of building this station will be done by robots. The UK aims to have electricity on Earth by 2035. The length of this power plant can be up to several miles. To put it into space orbit, about 300 rockets the size of SpaceX's starship would be needed. Once established, it will orbit the Sun as well as the Earth. It will b...

The debate about vegetarianism and non-vegetarianism has been going on for a long time. Different things keep coming to the fore about which of these is more nutritious. A recent study has revealed that the growth and nutrition of vegetarian children is similar to that of children who eat meat. Researchers from St. Michael's Hospital did this study on about nine thousand children. The findings of this study were published in the journal Pediatrics . The study's findings support changes in dietary habits among Canadians. The Food Guide of Canada was updated in the year 2019. In which people were urged to consume vegetable based proteins, beans and tofu etc., instead of meat in their diet. According to the study's lead author and pediatrician Dr. Jonathan Maguire at St. Michael's Hospital of Unity Health Toronto, plant-based diets have increased in popularity during the past 20 years. Eating habits are changing with the increase in plant-based diet choices. Ho...