Latest Inventions on Science & Technology
▪ A year-long study by (Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History ) SACON, Coimbatore, indicates an exponential rise in the peafowl population in Tamil Nadu.
The study estimated a mean population size of about 61 lakh peafowl and a minimum of about 38 lakh.
▪ A total of 1,025 peafowl were sighted in 32 of the 38 districts, but data revealed their presence in all 38 districts.
▪ The study addressed crop damage caused by peafowl, with 78.70% of farmers reporting damage and 82.88% saying it was a daily occurrence.
▪ From 2011 to 2023, 1,345 peafowl deaths were reported due to pesticide poisoning, electrocution, and vehicular accidents, with the highest mortality in March.
▪ The disappearance of mesocarnivores like jackals and foxes from Tamil Nadu’s plains is linked to the rise in peafowl population.
▪ The increasing peafowl population poses a significant concern for farmers, damaging crops like maize, tomato, chilli, millets, and paddy. Farmers use plastic tape and dogs to keep peafowl away due to the ineffectiveness of fencing.
▪ Indian peafowl : scientifically known as Pavo cristatus, is currently classified as a species of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), indicating that its population is stable. This species is primarily found across the Indian subcontinent, including India and Sri Lanka,
and has been introduced to various other regions worldwide
Aphantasia
▪ A study by Roberto S. Luciani and colleagues at the University of Glasgow examines the relationship between auditory and visual senses in people with aphantasia.
▪ Individuals without aphantasia show strong neural activity in the visual cortex in response to auditory stimuli, while those with aphantasia show significantly weaker neural activity.
▪ The study supports the idea that mental visualization exists on a spectrum, with aphantasia at one end.
▪ The research highlights unique variations in human cognitive processes, challenging previous assumptions about uniform brain functions.
▪ The study underscores the interconnectedness of different brain regions, even in individuals with limited visual imagination.
▪ Aphantasia is a condition where individuals cannot create mental images, first observed by Francis Galton in the 1880s and named by Adam Zeman in 2015.
▪ Aphantasia is relatively rare, affecting about 2% of the population.
People with aphantasia may not create mental images from sounds or dreams but can be creative in other ways like writing or problem-solving.
▪ Aphantasia occurs due to differences in the brain’s ability to imagine.
▪ Aphantasia is not considered a problem; people with the condition can live normal, happy lives and may not realize they have it until asked to imagine something
