Author: Isha Saha

Certain bonds remain forever, and similarly, certain chemical bonds also remain forever. These are called ‘Forever chemicals’ or PFAS (per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances). Unlike friendship or relationship bonds, these chemical bonds can get dangerous or even cancerous. They can reduce our responses to vaccines, deter our growth, increase our cholesterol levels, and put us at risk of heart diseases that eventually result in a shorter life span. Forever chemicals are a group of 4700 types of compounds created by joining carbon and fluorine. These chemical bonds are called ‘Forever chemicals’ because these chemical bonds hold the mixtures together, don’t break…

Heavy efforts are being made to trace back the origin of the Nipah Virus in Kozhikode of North Kerala, which claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy on Sunday. Several other samples of quarantined people have also been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for tests. On Monday, State health minister Veena George said that the following week would be vital for the state and expressed assurance that the latest outbreak would be localized and contained like that of 2018. The health minister also added that they have traced all contacts of the boy and quarantined.…

In the last few years, many new superfoods (called so as they are healthy) have become part of our daily dietary necessities. Green tea, Quinoa, oats, smoothies, kale, and several different varieties of seeds like chia, flax, sesame, hemp, and pumpkin have made it to our kitchen and dinner tables and cluttered it. These foods have slowly replaced our traditional home-cooked meals. “These foods were highly regarded as healthy.” Then came the Covid19 Pandemic in the year 2020, when “Healthy” alone could be marketable. Immunity became a new commodity for a sales pitch. All kinds of products, from ladoos to…

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in Calcutta on Friday seeking the court’s intervention to direct the Election Commission (EC) to announce the dates of by-poll in the seven vacant assembly constituencies of West Bengal. The PIL has been filed in Calcutta High Court by Advocate Rama Prasad Sarkar and has been scheduled for the next hearing on 8th September. Trinamool’s Press for Early Bypolls On 26th August, a team of delegates from Trinamool Congress met the officials of the EC in Delhi with a plea to hold the by-polls as soon as possible for the seven vacant…

18-year-old Praveen Kumar won the silver medal in the Men’s high jump T64 event of the Paralympics on Friday happening in Tokyo. This was Kumar’s debut in the Paralympics, and he set a new Asian record with a 2.07m jump. Praveen Kumar’s win took India’s medal tally to 11 in the ongoing Paralympics. Kumar finished behind Jonathan Broom-Edwards, from Britain, who swept up his best of the season’s of 2.10m for the gold. The bronze went to Maciej Lepiota, Rio Games champion from Poland, who produced a 2.04m.  High Jumper Praveen Kumar The win at Tokyo Paralympics was Kumar’s personal…

According to researchers, a new variant of Sars-CoV-2, the virus which causes coronavirus disease (Covid-19), has been detected in the country of South Africa. The new variant is called C.1.2 and is expected to be more transmissible by the researchers. The new variant can also avoid the protection offered by the Covid19 vaccines. The C.1.2 variant was first found in South Africa in May this year, according to scientists. Scientists belonging to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and their fellow scientists from the KwaZulu Natal Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) have called the new C.1.2 variant a “potential…

On August 28, 2021, the Indian space research organization (ISRO) successfully organized the first hot test of the System Demonstration Model (SDM). The test of SDM was conducted for the Gaganyaan Service Module Propulsion System for 450 seconds at the test facility ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu. In a statement, the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency said that the performance of the system met the test goals and objectives, and there was a very close match with the prior test predictions. The Indian space research organization also added that a series of hot tests are planned to simulate various mission…

Sleep is often seen as time wasted and lost forever. We think that there are better things to do rather than getting a good night’s sleep for hours. Proverbs warn us about being left behind while sleeping in practically every language and culture, claiming that one must not sleep if one wants to achieve their dream. Idioms like “Caught Napping” and “Burning the midnight oil” tell us that we must cut down on sleep if we want to do something great in life. Is Sleeplessness a recipe for success? An average adult sleeps for 6.8 hours a night. In Japan,…

On Wednesday, Scientists said that they have recently discovered a 43 million-year-old fossil of a previously unknown amphibious ancient four-legged whale in Egypt, which can help trace the transition of whales from land to sea. The new Whale fossil has raised questions about ancient ecosystems and pointed research towards the origin and coexistence. All about the Fossil The fossil of the Whale was discovered from the middle Eocene rocks in the Fayum Depression in Egypt’s Western Desert near the town of El Mansoura, north of Cairo. In a statement, the Egyptian-led researchers said that the 42 million-year-old fossil shows that…

Novak Djokovic is going to begin his bid to win the U.S. open for a men’s s-record 21st major tennis championship and complete a calendar-year Grand Slam by facing a qualifier. However, Djokovic’s path will get more challenging because he can potentially face Matteo Berrettini and Alexander Zverev. The actual draw play is scheduled to start on Monday, and spectators are allowed at total capacity who were previously not permitted due to the Covid19 pandemic. Djokovic’s bid for a Calendar year Grand Slam Novak Djokovic is the first man to head to Flushing Meadows after winning a season’s first three…