From NASA with love: new bacteria named after Kalam

In great news for India, scientists at NASA have named a new organism discovered by them after the much-loved A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.Till date, the new organism — a form of bacteria — has been found only on the International Space Station (ISS) and has not been found on earth!Researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the foremost lab of NASA for work on interplanetary travel, discovered the new bacteria on the filters of the International...

Read More

Mango tree extract could prevent heart injury

A group of doctors from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, has shown the protective effects of mangiferin (a compound present in the bark of all mango trees) on reperfusion injury in diabetic rats. Reperfusion injury happens in heart tissues when blood supply returns after a heart attack. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.Mangiferin, found in the bark, leaves and fruit of mango trees, is known to...

Read More

Moon orbiting solar system’s third largest dwarf planet found

Scientists have discovered a new moon orbiting the third largest dwarf planet, that resides in the frigid outskirts in our solar system. With this discovery, it appears that most of the known dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt larger than 965 kilometers across have companions. These bodies can provide some insight into how moons formed in the young solar system.The combined power of three space observatories, including NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope,...

Read More

Indian researchers use a novel route to kill TB bacteria

A team of Indian researchers has been able to achieve 100-fold reduction in TB bacterial load in lungs of mice after 60 days of treatment using bergenin — a phytochemical isolated from tender leaves of sakhua or shala tree (Shorea robusta). Unlike the regularly used antibiotic drugs that target the TB bacteria, the bergenin compound modulates the immune system to kill the bacteria found inside the macrophages (a type of white blood cells). The results...

Read More

What is Ransomware?

Ransomware is a form of malicious software that locks up the files on your computer, encrypts them, and demands that you pay to get your files back. Wanna Decryptor, or WannaCry, is a form of ransomware that affects Microsoft’s Windows operating system. When a system is infected, a pop up window appears, prompting you to pay to recover all your files within three days, with a countdown timer on the left of the window. It adds that if you fail to pay within that time, the fee will be doubled, and if you don’t pay within seven days, you will lose...

Read More

About Ransomware virus

What is ransomware? Malicious software that locks a device, such as a computer, tablet or smartphone and then demands a ransom to unlock itWhere did ransomware originate?  The first documented case appeared in 2005 in the United States, but quickly spread around the worldHow does it affect a computer?  The software is normally contained within an attachment to an email that masquerades as something innocent. Once opened it encrypts the hard drive, making it impossible to access or retrieve anything stored on there – such as photographs,...

Read More

IT expert who saved the world from ransomware virus is working with GCHQ to prevent repeat

The young cyber expert who saved the NHS from hackers is working with GCHQ to head off another attack, it has been claimed.Marcus Hutchins has been credited with stopping the WannaCry ransomware attack from spreading across the globe by accidentally triggering a "kill switch". The self-taught 22-year-old took just a few hours to stop the breach, which had already spread to more than 200,000 victims - including the NHS - across 150 countries. He is now working with the government's National Cyber Security Centre to prevent a new strain of the...

Read More

Defying warnings, North Korea fires yet another missile

North Korea, defying calls to rein in its weapons programme, fired a ballistic missile that landed in the sea near Russia on Sunday, days after a new leader in South Korea came to power pledging to engage Pyongyang in dialogue.The U.S. military’s Pacific Command said it was assessing the type of missile that was fired but it was “not consistent with an intercontinental ballistic missile”. The U.S. threat assessment has not changed from a national...

Read More

NASA missions on solar system

 A new mission to Saturn’s moons Titan or Enceladus to find signs of life beyond Earth cannot be ruled out as NASA says it is reviewing 12 proposals for future unmanned solar system mission to be launched in the mid-2020s. The proposed missions of discovery — submitted under NASA’s New Frontiers programme —will undergo scientific and technical review over the next seven months, the US space agency said in a statement on Friday. Selection...

Read More