Preston Curve
Article in ‘The Hindu’ on Preston Curve
- 1st proposed by – American sociologist Samuel H. Preston
- Highlights that an increase in per capita income of a country does not cause much of a rise in the life expectancy of its population beyond a point.
- When a poor country begins to grow, its per capita income rises and causes increase in life expectancy initially due to nutrition, sanitation and access better healthcare.
- However, it begins to flatten out after a certain point
Lunar Sample
China’s Chang’e-6 spacecraft takes off from the moon to bring back samples from the far side of the Moon.
- Benefits of lunar sample –
- Useful information about the early history of the Moon and the Earth.
- Help in understanding continued development of planetary bodies.
- Help in understanding interaction of planetary surfaces with radiations and particles.
- Challenges –
- Collection of samples from challenging locations on the moon.
- Problems related to sample preservation and contamination.
Hawking Radiation
A research group found that Hawking radiation should be observable by existing telescopes.
- Named after the physicist Stephen Hawking, who hypothesized HR in 1974.
- Never been directly observed.
- In the Universe, pairs of particles come into existence only to rapidly recombine and disappear.
- However, if one particle (of the pair of particles) crosses the event horizon (the outer edge of black holes) then it is forever separated from its companion.
- The particles that are left outside the event horizon are called ‘Hawking radiation’.
Hydroxyurea
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) seeks to provide oral formulation of Hydroxyurea to treat sickle cell disease (SCD) in children.
- Treats sickle cell anaemia by helping to prevent formation of sickle-shaped Red blood cells(RBCs).
- SCD – Group of inherited disorders that changes the shapes of RBCs from round to a C-shaped farm tool called sickle.
- India has the highest prevalence of SCD in South Asia
Reverse Transcriptase
Researchers found that when infected by viruses, bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae) use Ribonucleic acid (RNA) to bind Reverse transcriptase.
- Reverse transcription – Synthesis of DNA from an RNA template
- Reverse transcriptase – RNA-dependent Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) polymerases, a group of enzymes that play a unique role in the flow of genetic information.