The oldest parasite DNA
Category: Sc/tech
- The oldest parasite DNA ever recorded has been found in the ancient, desiccated faeces of a puma.
- Radiocarbon dating revealed that the coprolite and thus the parasitic roundworm eggs preserved inside dated back to between 16,570 and 17,000 years ago, towards the end of the last Ice Age.
Bright plumes on Jupiter
Category: Sc/tech
- Coordinated observations of Jupiter in early 2017 by six ground-based telescopes and Hubble allowed astronomers to study the evolution of bright plumes and connect them with cloud movements deep in the planet.
- The plumes create disturbances in the belts and even change their colour.
India faces higher mortality from cardiovascular diseases
Category: sc/tech
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be the leading cause of death across the world, but there are significant variations between rich and poor nations.
- While in high-income countries, deaths from cancer are twice that of CVD, in low-income countries, including India, deaths from cardiac disease were three times that of cancer.
- Additionally, indoor or household air pollution has been identified as a key cause of CVD,.
Aadhaar system for NRIs
Category: Governance
- The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has said its systems will be ready within three months to issue Aadhaar cards to NRIs with Indian passports without the mandatory 180- day waiting period, as announced in the Budget.
- The UIDAI has made operational two more Aadhaar Seva Kendras (ASKs) in Bhopal and Chennai after the fourth centre in Hisar was launched recently.
Category 5 hurricane
Category: Geography
- Powerful winds are what define a hurricane, so they are named and classified based on how hard their winds are blowing.
- To qualify as a hurricane, a storm must have sustained winds of 74 mph or more.
- Category 1, 74 to 95 mph.
- Category 2, 96 to 110 mph.
- Category 3, 111 to 129 mph.
- Category 4, 130 to 156 mph.
- Category 5. Above 156 mph.
