Tag: Latest inventions on Science & Technology

Latest Inventions on Science & Technology Cryptobiosis  Scientists have revived a worm that was frozen 46,000 years ago.  The roundworm survived 40 metres (131.2 feet) below the surface in the Siberian permafrost in a dormant state known as cryptobiosis.  About Cryptobiosis  Cryptobiosis is the state of an organism when it shows no visible signs of life and when its metabolic activity becomes hardly measurable or comes reversibly to a standstill.  Organisms in a cryptobiotic state can endure the complete absence of water or oxygen and withstand high temperatures, as well as freezing or extremely salty conditions.  Since metabolism is a defining characteristic of life, cryptobiosis can be termed as a temporary death of an organism. Cell-free DNA  In the human body, most of the DNA in a genome is neatly packed inside cells with the help of specific proteins, protecting it from being degraded.  However, some fragments of DNA are ‘released’ from their containers and are present outside the cell, in body fluids.  These small fragments of nucleic acids are widely known as cell-free DNA (cfDNA).  cfDNA refers to small fragments of nucleic acids that are released from cells and found outside the cell in body fluids as plasma, urine and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).  cfDNA quantity in the blood increases under pathological conditions such as auto-immune diseases, cancer etc.  Application of cfDNA  Detect genetic abnormalities in foetuses.  Early detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancers.  Monitor immune response after organ transplantation and can be used as a biomarker.

Latest inventions on science & Technology   'Artsens' IIT Madras develops device to assess blood vessels Researchers of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras have developed a novel, noninvasive device to assess the health and age of blood vessels, and thereby provide early screening for cardiovascular diseases. The device, known as Artsens, is designed in such a way that it can be used in the routine medical examination even by non-expert, to assess and predict vascular health. It is developed by the Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre at IIT Madras. The device can assess the effect of molecular and protein level changes in the blood vessel wall caused due to disease and ageing, by measuring the material property in a completely non-invasive and accurate manner.

Latest Inventions on Science & Technology The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), has just launched two fresh modern deep sea ‘Slocum’ gliders in the Bay of Bengal, one programmed towards the north and other towards the south to study the physical and biogeochemical parameters of the sea and get an insight into the climate change. The gliders are equipped with sensors to track temperature, salinity, chlorophyll, dissolved oxygen, PAR – photosynthetic active radiation in the sea water among others. The gliders have been deployed from the Ocean Research Vehicle ‘Sagar Manjusha’ of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) these gliders can go underwater up to a depth of about 1,000 metres and will surface four to five times a day, continuously giving data for the satellite to pick up and relay the same to the newly established ‘National Glider Operations Facility'  . The best part of these gliders which run on lithium ion battery and they can travel up to 15 km a day. About INCOIS: INCOIS is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). It is located in Hyderabad & was established in 1999. It is a unit of the Earth System Science Organization (ESSO), New Delhi. It is mandated to provide the best possible ocean information and advisory services to society, industry, government agencies and the scientific community through sustained ocean observations and constant improvement through systematic and focused research.

Latest inventions on Science & Technology Matsya 6000 A three-member crew will be sent around 6,000 metres below sea level as part of a Samudrayaan Mission expected to be completed by 2026. What is Matsya? Matsya, an Indian-made deep-submergence vehicle developed under the Deep Ocean Mission plan for the exploration of rare minerals.  It has an endurance of 12 hours under normal operation and 96 hours in case of emergency for human safety. Samudrayaan Mission: Announced by the government in October 2021, Samudrayaan is a manned submersible mission that will allow scientists to observe and understand unexplored deep-sea areas by direct intervention. It is a self-propelled manned submersible to carry three human beings to a water depth of 6,000 meters in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors and tools for deep ocean exploration.