Scientists Decided To Launch Field Trials of Oil-Degrading Bacteria in Kochi

                The Malabar Botanical Garden and Institute of Plant Sciences, Kozhikode, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) in July 2016 joined hands to launch field trials of oil-degrading bacteria in Kochi. The scientists will undertake the trail to establish the oil-degrading properties of three new strains of bacteria. The oil-degrading properties of these bacteria will pave the way for the development of bioremediation agents to clean up petroleum pollutants from the environment. The three new strains including two species of Pseudomonas have been sequenced and submitted to the Genbank database on organisms. Scientists at the Malabar Botanical Garden and Institute of Plant Sciences have completed the sequencing of a new species of oil-degrading soil fungi belonging to the Paecilomyces genus.

SpaceX Launched Unmanned Dragon Cargo Capsule to International Space Station

                On 18 July 2016, SpaceX launched its unmanned Dragon cargo Capsule to the International Space Station, carrying a key piece of equipment that was lost in 2015 due to rocket explosion. The launch to the ISS is a resupply mission for NASA. Dragon spaceship was packed with nearly 23000 kilograms of gear, including science experiments and equipment for the astronauts living in space. After blasting off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the rocket separated after sending the cargo to orbit. Then the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket landed back on the solid ground in Cape Canaveral at the NASA facility. As per the plan, the Dragon arrived at the space station early 20 July 2016. With this, SpaceX now has five successful rocket landings to its name. The first occurred in December 2015, When a Falcon 9 first stage came back to Cape Canaveral during a commercial satellite launch. The other three successful launches happened in April (one) and May (two), these launches were featured with sea landings, on a robotic ship named Of Course I Still Love You.

Signal From Earth Mistaken For Alien Contact

                A new signal has been found deep in space that could come from aliens. The community of astronomers and scientists who scan the skies with telescopes in an attempt to find extra-terrestrial life is abuzz with excitement over a “strong signal” detected deep in space that could have come from an alien civilization. But some scientists have cautioned people not to get quite so excited – at least yet. The evidence remains preliminary and more work will need to be done to establish whether it is not just a mistake, let alone whether it’s actually a message from aliens.

                The message appeared to have come from a nearby star, HD164595, in the constellation Hercules. That star is 95 light years away – relatively close at the scale of the universe – and almost exactly the same size as our star. What’s more, that same star has at least one planet, HD164595b, which is roughly the size of Neptune and has 40 day year. It’s that planet that has people excited, since it appears it could have the right conditions for supporting life. The signal was actually detected in May last year, and was only brought to light after a presentation by the scientists who found it.

Gene That Can Cure Your Coffee Addiction

                Researchers have identified a gene that appears to curb caffeine consumption, a finding which may explain why some people tend to drink fewer cups of coffee. The study by researchers found that people with a DNA variation in a gene called PDSS2 tend to drink fewer cups of coffee. The findings suggest that the gene reduces the ability of cells to breakdown caffeine, causing it to stay in the body for longer. This means that a person would not need to consume as much coffee to get the same caffeine hit. The findings add to previous studies that have identified genes linked to coffee habits and shed new light on the biological mechanisms of caffeine metabolism. Researchers looked at genetic information from 370 people living in a village in south Italy and 843 people from six villages in north-east Italy. Each of the participants was asked to complete a survey that included a question about how many cups of coffee they drank each day. Researchers found that people with the DNA variation in coffee than people without the variation. Researchers replicated the study in a group of 1,721 people from the Netherlands. The results were similar but the effect of the gene on the number of cups of coffee consumed was slightly lower.