The Looming Threat of Zika Virus

Brazil grappling with money laundering scams, drinking water crisis and political unrest is now racing towards a health epidemic of dangerous proportions, the Zika Virus. The South American country all set to unveil Rio Summer Olympics, biggest sporting fiesta on the planet in over six months is now grappling with health emergency, Zika virus. Brazil emerged as epicenter of Zika virus (ZIKV), a mosquito-borne disease transmitted by Aedes sp. Zika virus, a member of flavi viridae family and is related to yellow fever, west Nile and dengue fever virus. Zika is not contagious. The vital modes of transmission modes are blood transfusions and mother-to-child transmission. While the virus was believed to migrate through sexual contact, there is no conclusive research evidence as yet.

The virus was first identified and isolated from a caged Rhesus monkey in Zika forest of Uganda in 1947. In 1952 researchers isolated Zika Virus from the serum of an affected human being in Uganda and Tanzania. Only 20% of the people infected by Zika virus will develop symptoms. The symptoms are similar to those exhibited by other arbo virus like dengue and common symptoms include fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pains, malaise and headache. Symptoms are mild and last for 2-7 days and hence no specified treatment is recommended. Medicines used to treat common cold and fever are usually prescribed. In absence of causalities dedicated research to develop vaccines weren’t initiated on large scale. But now with recent outbreak of the epidemic in Brazil, pharmaceutical majors are now focusing attention towards vaccine development. Researchers believe that it would take at least 5 years to develop vaccine for Zika virus. Thus far, the only preventive measure against Zika virus is effective control of vector (mosquito) population.

WHO is predicting an outbreak and major countries have issued travel advisory asking pregnant women from traveling to affected countries. Zika is speculated to spread to both Americas except Canada and Chile. Since May 2015 the viral infection has spread to 21 countries. Lack of immunity among the population and prevalence of Aedes mosquito, the carrier of the disease led to surge in infection levels. Unfortunately controlling spread of disease in highly interconnected world has now become an arduous task. Mosquitoes are now considered the worst enemies of mankind for being vectors of several devastating diseases like Malaria, dengue fever killing hundreds and thousands of people.

Environmentalists said that urbanization and deforestation created ideal conditions for the multiplication of disease causing vectors. Following explosive spread of Zika virus, Brazilians are under intense international pressure to curtail the vector population. They have adopted a judicious mix of old and new mosquito controlling strategies to contain the viral transmission. Genetically engineered mosquitoes harboring a lethal gene are released in the outskirts of cities. GM mosquitoes breed with native population and the gene when passed onto the offspring dies before reaching adulthood. Consequently, the vector population is now precisely kept under check. Biotech companies have now devised genetic overdrive methods like spreading sterility trait in Aedes to rapidly control virus carrying vectors. Another approach is infecting mosquitoes with Wolbachia bacterium, which prevents mosquito from carrying the virus. Bacterium is passed onto the subsequent generations through infected eggs thus the lethal effects of mosquito bites are overcome.

First well documented case of Zika virus was described in 1968 when no potential fatalities were reported. Three potent lineages of Virus were identified- two from African and one from Asian. From 1951 to 1981 human infections were reported in African countries and in parts of India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam. The viral strains now found in Americas bear close similarities with the French Polynesian strains. The virus for several decades remained benign since its first. The first major outbreak of Zika occurred in Yap island of Federated States of Micronesia. By 2013 it spread to French Polynesia where the infected persons were diagnosed with severe neurological problems including the occurrence of rare disorder Guillain Barre Syndrome. It is an auto-immune disease that occurs when the immune system attacks the peripheral nerves causing muscle weakness, tingling, loss of sensation and eventually total paralysis. Within span of three months of viral infection, 40 such cases were reported in Yap island. Incidentally the virus caught the attention of researchers as it spread to Australia, France, Japan, Norway and Easter Island.

In 2014, the viral genome was decoded. The single stranded positive RNA virus with the help of host cell machinery replicates and churns out smaller proteins-which includes the capsid, membrane, envelope and seven non-structural proteins. The virus infects the host cell, invades the immune system and takes over dendritic cells. Researchers believed that the three lineages of the virus might have evolved from Uganda in 1920 and through series of recombination events, it has become more adaptive. In May 2015, the virus made its first appearance in South America in Brazil. Perhaps it was imported into the region during the FIFA cup of 2014 and was spread through the bite of Aedes sp mosquitoes. Health experts estimated that by around 2015 around million people might have been infected. Since the outbreak of disease in 2015 there has been whopping increase in the birth of babies with microcephaly in Brazil. While Zika virus was suspected to have caused the birth defect, definite links are not yet established.  But viral traces are found in the amniotic fluid, placental tissues, miscarried babies and in the brains of the babies died of microcephaly immediately after birth. While strong links suggests that Zika virus had caused the genetic-defects in the newborn babies, the immune responses of Zika virus are hard to detect. Zika virus is becoming hard to detect because of its similar immune responses as of dengue virus and most of the Brazilian population are exposed to dengue virus too. Researchers opine that the relatively mild Zika virus due to continued genetic changes is now predisposed to acquire disease-sparking capabilities.

With disproportionate increase in number of microcephalic infants in Brazil researchers are more worried about the resurgence of a viral outbreak. Microcephaly is characterized by four malformations-loss of large degree of brain tissue, unusually smooth and wrinkleless brains, numerous calcium deposits and smaller cerebellums. Unfortunately microcephalic condition of the fetus in most cases, cann’t be detected with ultrasound scans during the first 20 weeks in expectant mothers. It is towards the end of second trimester usually genetic defects can be detected with ultrasound. By 24 weeks aborting a foetus is risky and not legally approved.  Sometimes microcephalic condition remains undetected and appears when babies are born. The affected children display varied mental disabilities- intellectual abilities are stunted, communication is hindered. They may be profoundly disabled and might be confined to wheel chairs for the rest of their lives. In wake of the severity of the disease, Centre for Disease Control and WHO advised women to delay pregnancy and asked to avoid travelling to the affected regions. With Zika virus gradually transcending the boundaries of Latin American countries, US is now highly worried at the propensity of Zika becoming a pandemic in Americas. Health experts as of now, squashed such worries and believed that Zika by and large might cause localized infections in few clusters in US if any. The robust health and sanitation system is geared up to avert any major health threat to US. On the contrary, Indian health experts expressed severe concerns about a possible Zika outbreak as the country regularly encounters outbreak of dengue and chikungunya caused by the bite of Aedes aegypti mosquito, carrier of Zika virus. Traces of Zika were detected in India in 1952-53 but there was no reported outbreak. With 26 million children born every year India is at high risk.

 

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Extreme Weather Events in India

Indian Astronomy Satellite-ASTROSTAT

On September 28th Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has scripted yet another milestone by successfully launching Astrostat satellite dedicated exclusively for astronomical studies. Indian astronomers are immensely excited at the prospect of state-of art capabilities offered by this satellite. Designed for effective life span of five years, the satellite will endow Indian astronomers to study “radiation bands that carry information about the exotic neutron stars, newly born or exploding stars” and observe the dense effusion of hot gases around black holes.  Indian ground based telescopes- Giant Meter wave Radio Telescope at Pune and the Indian Astronomical Observatory at Ladakh enable scientists to detect radio waves and infrared radiations that penetrate earth’s atmosphere but don’t have scientific instruments to study astronomical phenomena occurring in the Ultraviolet rays, X-rays and gamma-rays. Till now they used to depend on the NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Array (NuSTAR) and ESA (European Space Agency) to study various radiation bands.

 Astrostat has five instruments on board to detect multi-wavelength radiations ranging from visible light to Ultraviolet and from low-energy through high energy X-ray radiations.  The instruments include- Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope, Soft X-ray imaging telescope, Large Area X-ray proportional Counters, Cadmium Zinc telluride Imagers, Scanning Sky Monitor, and charged particle monitor. The charged particle monitor (CPM) designed to detect charged particles and sensitive to protons above 1 MeV (Mega electron Volt). Astrostat is a collaborative effort of many institutes- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, Indian Institute of Astrophysics Bangalore, Raman Research Institute Bangalore, InterUniversity Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics Pune, Bhabha Atomic Research centre Mumbai, S.N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences Kolkata, Canadian Space Agency, University of Leichester. The unique range of observatory capabilities will entail it to have a wide coverage unattained by any of the international space observatories till now.

The first Indian space observatory having payload of 1513  kg was launched into the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) of 650km from the surface of the earth by ISRO’s work horse PSLV-C30 at an inclination of 6 degrees from the equator. Satellites in the low earth orbits have to pass through the dense radiation belts of South Atlantic Anamoly (SAA) region that has high fluxes of protons and electrons. Great care has to be exerted when satellite passes through these regions as the high density of the energetic particles can often cause glitches in the data and can permanently damage sensitive instruments onboard.

The idea of having a space observatory was first conceived by astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer in 1946 as the electromagnetic radiations entering earth’s atmosphere are filtered and thus obstruct the view of the celestial bodies. This objective was realized with the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope named after Edwin Hubble in 1990 by NASA. Till date it is the largest and the most versatile telescope providing extremely high-resolution space images. It was uniquely designed to be serviced by astronauts and eventually it was serviced in 1993 for the first time when its main mirror was grounded inaccurately. Last servicing was done in 2009 and it is expected to last till 2030-40. Its successor James Webb Space telescope (JWST) is scheduled for launch in 2018.

India’s tryst with space observatory began in 1996 when ISRO carried out satellite-bound Indian X-Ray Astronomy Experiment in 1996.  ISRO has approved Astrostat in 2004 but its launch was inadvertently delayed. Along with the Astrostat satellite, the enhanced rocket launcher PSLV in XL configuration on its successful thirtieth launch mission piggy backed six satellites- 76kg LAPAN-A2 of Indonesia, 14kg NLS of Canada and four identical LEMUR satellites of US each weighing 28kg. In all the 320 tonne, 45m tall PSLV-C30 carried seven satellites of payload 1613kg.

The primary objectives of Astrostat are to study binary star systems containing neutron stars and black holes, study and estimate the magnetic fields of neutron stars, study star birth-regions and high energy processes occurring beyond our galaxy. While it is no parallel to the Hubble Space telescope it can be lauded as the Indian Hubble Space Telescope for Astrostat is not as powerful, as precise, as the illustrious NASA observatory. It is culmination of humble efforts of the ISRO and one of its kind bestowed with multi—wavelength capabilities. With this launch India has joined the scientific elite countries- the US, Russia, European Space Agency and Japan that own a space observatory.

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ISRO Makes India Proud Again: Successfully Hoists GSAT-6 satellite

ISRO has done it once again. The astounding success of the GSLV D-6 reinforced that the indigenous launch vehicle is now fully ready for commercial satellite launching programme. Till now India’s reliable work horse PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) with its meticulous delivery has been the cynosure of ISRO. GSLV has now joined the club. The 161 feet tall, GSLV-D6 weighing 416 tonnes at liftoff is the fifth developmental flight in GSLV series, has   launched the 2117 kg GSAT-6 communication satellite with remarkable precision on August 27^th from the 2^nd launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre or SrihariKota Range (SHAR). All the parameters time, relative velocity, range, altitude and acceleration profiles of the GSLV-6 were text book perfect.

India’s tryst with Geosynchronous satellite Launch vehicles (GSLV) began with its first flight in 2001. But the success of these vehicles has been extremely erratic wherein ISRO could register only three successful launches out of seven attempts. ISRO’s GSLV mission received major fillip following the magnificent performance of indigenously developed GSLV-D5 that hoisted GSAT-14 satellite on January 5^th 2014.

Initially ISRO used Russian built cryogenic engines in GSLVs. GSLVs are highly preferred launch vehicles to deliver communication satellites of INSAT (Indian National Satellite System) and GSAT (Geosynchronous satellite) series weighing more than 2 tonnes. INSAT series comprises of multipurpose geo-stationary satellites that cater to telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology, search and rescue operations. GSATs aid in digital audio, data and video broadcasting. GSLV can hoist satellites weighing more than 2 tonnes into the GTO orbit (Geosychronous Transfer Orbit), which is 36,000km from the equator.

GSLV has three stages- first stage comprises of 138 tonne solid rotor motor and augmented by 4 liquid strap-ons. The second stage contains a single Vikas engine that burns for 150 sec and ignites the third stage also referred to as Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS). CUS, the heart of the GSLV launch vehicle is extremely complex as compared to the solid or the earth-storable liquid propellant rocket stages. The propellants used in cryogenic engine the liquefied oxygen that exists at -183C and the liquid Hydrogen at -253 C. These are pumped into the CUS using turbo pumps running at 40,000rpm 2 hours before the scheduled launch. The structural and thermal conditions required for operating at extremely low temperatures makes the launch extremely challenging. The liquefied propellants are very efficient, produce enormous thrust per unit mass compared to other fuels, environmentally safe and produce huge amounts of water during liftoff. The cryogenic engines require much less fuel than needed otherwise.

ISRO scientists toiled extremely hard to develop indigenous CUS as they replaced Russian Cryogenic engines which were used in rocket’s earlier experimental flights. India has so far built three indigenous CUS engines. GSLV Mk-II fitted with the first CUS engine blew up mid air in 2010 during its flight.  Mission scientists then returned to their drawing board toiled hard and nailed down all the technical glitches. The second CUS engine used in the GSLV-5 was a huge success. The meticulous delivery of GSLV-D6 now vouched credibility in developing the GSLV launch vehicles.

GSAT-6 is India’s 25^th geo stationary communication satellite and twelfth in GSAT series and caters to strategic purposes. It is an advanced communication satellite and provides S-band communication services in the country.  After reaching the GTO the satellite’s propulsion system will take over and positions it at the orbital destination of 83 degrees East Longitude. Of the 2117 kg, satellite’s dry mass is 985 kg. It is endowed with two advanced features-it has one of the largest S-band Unfurable antenna of 6 meter diameter. This antenna will utilise five spot beams over Indian main land and with frequency reuse scheme it will increase frequency spectrum utilisation efficiency. Another advanced feature is the 70 V bus. The satellite whose life expectancy is 9 years is the second military satellite developed at a cost of 265 crores.

India’s journey towards the cryogenic motor development has been jittery. India has initiated GSLV project in 1990 and signed a contract with Russia for supply of 7 cryogenic engines of 7.5 tons thrust along with the transfer of cryogenic technology. But in 1993, the US severely objected Russia selling cryogenic technology to India as this would be a violation under the Missile technology Control regime (MTCR). MTCR is an informal agreement and voluntary partnership between 34 members. The regime was formed by the G-7 industrial nations-US, UK, France, Canada, Italy, Germany and Japan with an objective of limiting the proliferation of the missiles and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology capable of carrying 500kg payload to an altitude of 300km. It has 34 members which includes Russia.  As per MTCR guidelines, members established a “no undercut” policy means if a member denies sale of technology to another country, then the policy has to be strictly adhered by all other members. Thus now 117 nations enforce restrictions on exports to control the proliferation of UAV’s.  

Hence ISRO has been single-handedly working for developing this technology jealously shielded by all nations. More over the technology was denied as business interests of Europe, Russia and the US would be severely threatened by the arrival of India in this heavy vehicle-launch business. With nations imposing severe clamp down on transfer of technology Indian scientists with their gritty resolve developed cryogenic technology. This will now reduce our reliability on foreign launchers like European Space Agency’s (ESA) Ariane (which charges $20,000 to deploy a kilogram of payload to GTO) for launching communication satellites.

Currently, the Indian work horse PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) has proven its launch capability by launching 76 (31 Indian and 45 foreign) satellites so far. PSLV are capable of carrying remote sensing satellites which are lighter and place them in polar orbits. These satellites weigh from few hundred kilograms to about a tonne. Polar orbits are the orbits in which satellites don’t move in tandem with the rotation of the earth and hence they are not suitable for communication. The cost efficiency and the reliability of PSLVs have been established in the segment of the smaller satellites. India already boasts of 30 to 35% cheaper launches than other countries. Whereas Communication satellites are heavier, weighing 2 to 5 tonnes need big boosters in the GSLV series of vehicles to hoist these satellites into the  geosynchronous orbits 36,000km above the equator, where the satellite moves in tandem to earth’s rotation and hence service of satellite is available to the user all the time.

The launch vehicle along with its satellite today carried the spirits of ISRO scientists, who want to break the jinx of launching the heavy vehicle. India now established its credentials in the launching the heavier communication satellites where the scope for real business of global satellite launching lies. India has now joined the elite club of nations that include United States, Russia, France, Japan and China to clinch its rightful share in the ever emerging market of $300 billion dollars satellite launch services.

In 1993 when developed countries of the world have declared technology apartheid against India, Indian scientists have silently vowed to develop the cryogenic technology. In this incredible journey of developing the cryogenic engines, India has used all six of the seven Russian cryogenic engines and one indigenously developed engine. ISRO began its tryst with GSLV (Geo Synchronous Launch Vehicle) containing the cryogenic engines in 2001. But unfortunately ISRO could register just three successful launches. Now after undergoing the gruelling exercise of developing the technology India can proudly flaunt its mastery in the cutting edge technology. Cryogenic technology has been denied to India as the western world thought India to be a potential threat to their business interests in the emerging market of the global satellite launching.

The heightened fears of the West costed Indian Space programme dearly due to the numerous obstacles and delays caused by vested interests. The sabotage in the form of the dubious spying case framed against two exceptionally brilliant scientists- in-charge Nambi Narayanan and D. Sasi Kumar of the cryogenic programme in ISRO has delayed our programme by 19 years. Apart from successfully ripping them off the distinguished scientific career, the case has led to their unceremonious exit from the organisation. Besides being labelled as spies the severe torment and humiliation suffered by them is inexplicable. Thus the west tactfully delayed India’s Cryotechnology mission development for the lack of talented personnel who could spear head the project.  

The sabotage theory holds ground as the book “Russia in Space- A failed frontier” written by the British space writer Brian Harvey mentions about the plans of the imperilled nations and role of CIA in blocking India from perfecting the cryo technology. Nations feared that India’s progress might be detrimental to their prospects in the business of the space technology and nuclear energy. Hence these scandals were witch crafted to derail and delay the Indian technological missions which could otherwise lead the nation into a sphere of self-reliance.

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Genome Sequencing of Octopus Unravels Intelligence Traits

Among invertebrates Octopus are acclaimed to be most intelligent animals and have largest nervous system. Octopus, a Mollusc falls under category of modern cephalopod. Other important soft shelled smart animals that belong to the class Cephalopods are Cuttle fish, Squid and Nautilus.

While it is known that vertebrates with their distinct nervous system are far more intelligent scientists are keen about investigating the system that renders these invertebrates with superior cognitive skills. Caroline Albertin and her colleagues of University of Chicago in an effort to understand the basis for intelligence in Cephalopods have mapped the genome of Octopus. The report published in the Nature journal is collaborative effort of the University of Chicago, University of California Berkeley, University of Heidelberg, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology. The scientists have carried out gene expression studies of 12 different tissues as well. They have identified two genetic families whose presence is more pronounced than the simpler Molluscs. These are the C2H2 Zinc-finger transcription proteins and the protocadherin proteins that regulate neuronal development.

Octopus has uniquely shelled eight tentacles that serve as prehensile arms, suckers, cameras and has effective colouring system to camouflage. It has unusually large genome almost as large as the human genome and has 33,000 protein coding genes compared to 25,000 of human beings.

Sophisticated Cephalopods have nearly half a billion neuronal cells as against 200 million in rat. These contribute to the extraordinary observational learning, complex problem solving, task-dependent conditional discrimination. Octopus has twice the number of Protocadherins genes than mammals. Protocadherin proteins are responsible for synaptic specificity, short-range interactions needed for circuit formation. These contribute to neuronal complexity of Octopus and accounts of its unusually large sized brain. Even the anatomy of various important organs is also peculiar. The tentacles have independent computing capacity and hence even if they are separated from main body they can execute cognitive tasks.

C2H2 transcripts are found in the nervous tissue and embryonic tissues and have crucial role in cell fate determination, transposon silencing and early development. Elevated transposon expression accounts for elevated memory and learning. Interestingly, nearly half of the octopus genome is made of transposons which are mobile. They translocate to new locations causing enhancement or decrease of gene expression. Octopus has 18,000 Zinc-finger transcription genes second to 20,000 genes of Elephants. These transcription factor genes adjust the expression of other genes and in Octopus these regulates the genes in suckers and in receptors of skin. Suckers have large number of genes that code for the neuronal transmitter acetyl choline. Octopus has proteins reflectins coded by six genes on skin. These proteins help in altering the brightness of the light in several ways and in effectively disguising itself. Unlike higher vertebrates where large number of gene duplications contributes to large genomes Octopus genes have evolved genuinely in response to natural selection.

Unlike vertebrates, neurons in Octopus are not concentrated in brain and spinal cord. But these travel to localised organs of the body like tentacles/arms. They appear as protuberances and take up specialised function depending upon their location. While brain can completely take over the control of entire body, Octopus has a decentralised nervous system that allows the arms to function autonomously. Hence they are less dependent on the long range signal transmissions even. Precisely, this mechanism allows octopus to act quickly and instinctively. Neurobiologists and Roboticists marvel this very unique kind of intelligence characteristic of Octopus. 

 

 

 

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New Horizons Explores The Frigid World of Pluto

NASA’s New Horizon spacecraft designed to flyby Pluto having travelled five billion kilometres  for the past nine and half years is going to have its closely approach with the dwarf planet by 7:50 am, Eastern Day Light Time on July 14^th 2015. Astronomers and science enthusiasts’ world over are passionately waiting for this epic moment that will last for few minutes. The probe will whiz past the planet’s surface at a velocity of 53,000 kmph during which it will capture thousands of images, collect scientific data of Pluto’s atmosphere, its surface and environment. Pluto has been the least explored planet in the solar system and no dedicated mission was ever commissioned for its study. New Horizons mission was instituted to study Pluto and explore the vast swarm of frosty bodies lying beyond Neptune and the bodies faintly moving in the frigid Kuiper belt region.

The probe has travelled so far that it will take 4.5 hrs for the radio signal sent from earth to reach the space craft. Hence it will remain radio silent for the entire period of its closet encounter with Pluto and Charon as the limited computing ability of the probe will be utilised in collecting the necessary data. Close-up image and scientific data will be sent to earth over a period of next 26 months and first high resolution pictures of Pluto are expected to be transmitted by July 15^th. The chances of this event becoming successfully are very high as the chances of collision of debris with probe is 1 in 10,000. This mission is of great relevance as it would shed light on less know details of the planet, its composition, moons and atmosphere but also it would help us in understanding the evolution of solar system including the Earth.

History of Pluto

The year 2015 marks the 85^th anniversary of discovery of the dwarf planet Pluto.

In 1930 a 24 year old farmer-turned-astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered the planet Pluto. The existence of a planet X in close proximity to Neptune was suspected by the founder of Lowell Observatory, Percival Lowell on the basis of perturbations experienced by the orbit of Neptune. The discovery of the planet was announced on March 13^th that coincided with the birthday of Percival Lowell and with the discovery of the planet Uranus a century and half earlier.  Soon suggestions were invited for naming of the new planet. The planet was christened as Pluto after the Roman God of underworld as per suggestions of 11 year old Venetia Burney of Oxford, UK.  As a mark of respect, the dust counter built by students aboard NASA’s New Horizons Space craft is named as Venetia.

In 1978 James Christy and Robert Harrington of the US Naval Observatory at Flagstaff discovered Charon, the largest moon of Pluto. Charon in Roman Mythology refers to the ferryman who brings souls of dead men to the lair of Pluto. The moon which was visible as a bulge regularly appeared and disappeared in the images as Pluto. Pluto and Charon seemed to orbit their mutual centre of gravity and also because of the bigger size of Charon, these two bodies were referred to as Binary Planets.

In 1988 astronomers aboard the Kuiper Airborne Observatory made crucial observations about the atmosphere of Pluto. They indicated that Pluto’s surface is covered by ice made of Methane, Nitrogen and Carbon monoxide. These ices sublimate to form the thin atmosphere of Pluto.

In 2005 Hal Weaver and his colleagues at John Hopkins Institute revealed the presence of two moons of Pluto, Nix and Hydra. Other moons Kereberos and Styx were discovered in 2010 and 2011. Styx is faintest of all moons.

On January 19^th 2006 the New Horizons space craft, the first probe to Pluto lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Florida

In August 2006, International Astronomical Union (IAU) demoted Pluto to the status of dwarf planet as it failed to qualify the new definition of a planet. It dictates that a planet must orbit around the sun, it should be large enough for its gravity to shape it into a sphere and its must have cleared its orbit of other similar-sized bodies. Pluto was relatively small compared to the objects in its surrounding. It was just another object in Kuiper belt and hence now the solar system is reduced from the earlier number of nine to eight planets.

Following the reclassification of Pluto a section of scientific community terribly opposed the new definition of the planet. Later in 2008, all the trans-Neptunian dwarf bodies were classified under the category of Plutoids. Also a new system of classification came into existence under the category of dwarf planets which includes five planets in solar system: Pluto, Ceres, Haumea, Makemake and Eris (Pluto destroyer).

Solar System is demarcated into three categories of planets- the inner rocky planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) the outer gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) and the ice dwarfs located on outer fringes of the Solar system or the Kuiper belt region. These include Pluto and Charon.

US Missions to Planets

The US has sent a space probe to each and every planet so far and with this New Horizon mission its aims to complete the initial reconnaissance of the solar system. In 1960 NASA has envisioned a plan of sending probes to all the five planets. Missions were designed to take the advantage of the celestial phenomenon of rare alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune (occurs once in every 175 years) and assisted flybys. However due to highly constrained budget of NASA, the grand mission has been reduced to missions Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. These missions have successfully completed the flybys of the four gas giants. By 1989, Pluto was the only bonafide planet left unexplored. However when Pluto was derecognised as a planet in 2006, it meant that all planets were explored.

New Horizons Mission

Several programs like the Pluto fast flyby, Pluto Kuiper Express were designed to study and understand the key characteristics of Pluto’s atmosphere. But these were abandoned due to budgetary constraints. By 2001 New Horizons Mission was selected by the NASA’s New Frontier Program. Over the next five years South West Research Institute (SRI) and John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory built the spacecraft. Unlike the spacecrafts designed for the inner solar system, this space craft had limited electronic activity. Since it is destined to travel to the outer boundaries of the space the interior paint and exterior blanket were designed to maximise heat retention in the outer space. As it moved into realms farther from the Sun, the probe wasn’t equipped with solar arrays. Instead it had built in Radio Isotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) to provide power that can last through the launch and Pluto-Charon encounter. Spacecraft carried the Plutonium-238 Oxide pellets as fuel enclosed in the Iridium and Graphite shell. Hence the US Department of Energy carried out several pre-launch tests to make sure that the launch wouldn’t cause accidental contamination of the Earth’s atmosphere. Altogether there are seven scientific instruments on board

Launch and Flybys

The New Horizons was scheduled for a launch on January 11^th 2006 to allow for the gravity of Jupiter to assist a flyby.  It soon missed the target and was the launch was postponed to January 17^th but was stalled due to high winds. Second attempt on the next day was halted due to low clouds. Finally the probe, hoisted by the Atlas V 551 variant lifted off majestically from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on January 19^th.  During its course of flight it had an incidental encounter with the asteroid 132524 APL in June 2006 from a distance of 63, 297 miles followed by a Jovian (Jupiter and its moons) encounter in 2007 and finally with Pluto in 2015.

Accomplishments

These encounters acted as trial runs for the scientists at ground station to use some instruments on board for making crucial observations and test space craft’s ability to perform automated manoeuvres during planetary flyby operations. Spacecraft was fitted with state-of-art instruments that delivered good quality of data about the atmospheric conditions, structures and composition of Jupiter clouds. It discovered debris from recent collisions within Jupiter rings and searched for new rings and moons of Jupiter as well.

The probe was so meticulously designed that the gravity assisted sling shot manoeuvre during the Jupiter flyby has accelerated probe velocity to 53,000kmph relative to Sun. This shortened the probe’s journey to Pluto by three years. Following close encounter with Jupiter the mission command has decided to send the probe into a phase of hibernation which lasted from February 2007 to December 2014. The probe was intermittently awakened by the flight control team to keep systems operational. It crossed the Orbital Boundary of Saturn in March 2008 and Uranus in March 2011.

In July 2014 during its non-hibernation phase the probe successfully imaged Pluto and Charon separated by a distance of 2.4 AU (average orbital distance of Earth from Sun) as two distinct bodies. In December 2014, the probe was finally awakened by the NASA team and official operations began in January 2015. By February 2015, it captured the first images of Hydra and Nix and by end of April the probe could capture images of Kerberos and Styx. In mid May the probe delivered high resolution images of entire Plutonian system and started making observations of Kuiper belt objects too. The probe encountered a minor technical glitch on July 4^th following which it entered into safe mode. Soon it was rectified and it officially entered flyby mode by July 8^th.  The close approach flyby mode is destined for July 14^th when the New Horizons will pass by Pluto from a distance of 12,500 kilometers  and 28,800 kilometers from Charon. Since probes close approach to Charon is more than twice the distance of Pluto the images of Charon will be twice as coarser than those of Pluto.

Post Pluto Flyby

After the completion of the Pluto’s flyby operation, the probe instead of entering into the orbit of dwarf planet will enter into the deeper recesses of space into the Kuiper belt objects. It was planned that the probe will identify the Kuiper Belt Objects (KBO). In this process if the probe travels beyond orbital boundary of 55AU, communication system will become weak, power supply too will run out and chances of assisted flybys would become bleak. Scientists have identified three KBO in range of 43 and 44 AU for plausible flybys but the final decision will be taken in August 2015.

Post flybys of KBO the probe is expected to join Voyager probes on the outer realms of Solar System. Based on the Plutonium decay, the probe is expected to be active till 2026. If it is healthy and robust like the Voyagers by the time it reached Heliosphere, it can meet Heliopause in 2047 and join Voyagers 1 and 2 floating in the interstellar space.

The mission is a glorious tribute to the scientific temper and inquisitiveness of the human mind. It reflects the deep seated urge of the humankind to explore, understand and study the intricacies of the celestial World and the invincible space.
 

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Changing Dietary Habits: Inclement Effects on Global Climate

Changing global climate has been posing severe challenges for healthy living. An international research report published in the Lancet journal recently warns about the looming “threat of the changing climate that can wipe out the health progress over the past 50 years”.
 

The report broaches on the direct and indirect effects of climate changes on the health. Direct effects refers to increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like heat waves, floods, drought and storms whose impact is enormous on health. The worst ever death toll recorded in India and Pakistan due to the severe heat wave this year fall under this category. Indirect impacts of climate changes include the changes in the infection patterns, effects of emissions, uncertainty regarding availability of food leading to malnutrition. Health effects also include those related to involuntary migration of people forcing them to leave the affected regions in search of better living conditions. This reduces social stability would indirectly affect the health.
 

The compendium, a collaborative effort of number of European and Chinese Climate Scientists, Environmental Scientists, Social Scientists, Medical and Health scholars, Energy policy experts, engineers and others have cautioned that major gains accrued in human health might be frittered away by the changes in climate. It elucidates the role of emissions in stunting positive health benefits and advised countries to cut down fossil fuel consumption to lower the incidence of respiratory diseases. This is congruent to the alarming levels of pollution in the capital city of Delhi where children are becoming more susceptible to life-threatening respiratory diseases. It also advised nations to reduce the consumption of red meat which is not environmentally friendly and strictly recommended a change in dietary habits. Another major threat to global health in recent years has been the increased incidence of conflict.
 

It also proposed to initiate a new independent global action plan “Countdown to 2030: Climate Change and Health Action.” The objectives of the plan will be carried out by an organisation that monitors the link between health status and affect of climate change and to UN every two years. Lancet Commission report further emphasises the need for strong international consensus to create a global economy wherein carbon emissions are reduced. This in turn would improve the health status. The report has a great bearing on the talks in climate change on global health with regard to UN Climate Change Conference, COP 21 to be held in Paris from 30^th November to 11^th December 2015.

Research indicates that change in the dietary habits has a great impact on the climate change. Though the statement is little intriguing, scientific study and resource utilisation pattern clearly suggested that plant based diet is more healthy and environmental friendly than meat diet. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reports also expounded that changing dietary habits in the past few decades have contributed to current environmental degradation and resource stress.

In recent times due to rise in income levels people are increasingly turning towards high energy food sources like animal sources especially meat. While it took a century for Europe to reach a stage where every meal has meat a similar change could be witnessed in majority of Asian countries within a generation. People are now switching to meat based meal. Obtaining proteins from meat is far more resource intensive than from plants as they use more cropland, water and energy. Their transportation to slaughter houses and processing of the meat are high energy intensive processes. Hence consumption of meat depletes more natural resources and consequently puts great pressure on food production systems, damages ecosystem and triggers climate change. Meat production is 10 times more water intensive than plant- calories. It is estimated that 15,415 litres of water is need to produce a kilogram of beef. In other words nearly 30 plant calories are needed to produce one calorie of meat.

Due to sharp increase in the global population there is a growing demand for food grains. Currently 36% of the calories produced by World crops are utilised as animal feed and only 12% of calories contribute to human diet. The population of the livestock is 14 billion as compared to human population of 7.2 billion and their environmental foot print is much higher. Livestock accounts for 14.5% of the Green House Gas (GHG) Emissions. Live stock production consumes three times more water resources than agriculture accounting for 71% of World water consumption. Livestock production occupies about 30% of Earth’s land surface. Moreover, extensive rearing of livestock over a period of time resulted in the biodiversity loss and extinction of other wild animals.

Incidence of various diseases like diabetes, heart attacks, strokes etc increased with regular consumption of meat. Obesity has become a chronic problem in all meat eating nations. On an average while the consumption of meat in India is 3.2 kilograms it is 125.4 kilograms in US, the second largest meat consuming nation after Luxembourg. Worryingly the demand for meat is projected to increase by 50 % by 2025 with Asian countries accounting for a large part of it.

Higher demand for meat will be catastrophic for environment. To meet the increasing demand meat suppliers would resort to feeding the livestock with food grains rather than grass. This in turn would put great pressure on the food grains, natural resources and environment. Livestock are injected with hormones to trigger growth and as a prophylactic measure fed with antibiotics to curtail spread of diseases. In fact most of the deadly diseases of recent origin infecting humans are mostly Zoonotic (originated from animals). The disposal of livestock wastes largely results in contamination of water and oil with antibiotic residues and other high metal elements.

While the burden of changing to animal based diet on environment and health is extensively studied and documented, the message has failed to reach the intended subjects. With the World glaring at the imminent natural resources crunch, increasing global temperatures, burgeoning population and increasing demand for food grains and ever increasing health complications- it is high time that people change their dietary habits.

It is advisable to rely more on plant based diets for their calorific needs to reduce pressure on natural resources and environment. To this end, government and civil society should take the responsibility of spreading this message of promoting healthier plant based diet.

Interestingly, a recent research indicated that if crops are not diverted towards animal feeds and for bio fuel production an extra four billion people can be fed. Meat consumption actually releases more GHG’s than the cars annually. According to FAO report, beef production on average needs 28 times more land, 11 times more water than all other livestock categories and produces five times more GHG and six times more reactive nitrogen. While it is difficult for people to become vegetarian completely, they can choose other meat alternatives like chicken or sea food which is less resource- intensive.

 

Thus adopting a healthy plant based diet with minimal meat consumption would not only help in conservation of resources and minimising global warming but also helps in stemming the incidence of various life style diseases. If emission of green house gases can be minimised extreme climate changes can be averted and global health too can be conserved. Switch to a balanced diet to save our planet.

 

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