Digging Adaptations Facilitated Shell in Turtles: Study on Eunotosaurusafricanus

Pooja Kashyap

Turtle shell, conventionally, is considered an outer covering for protection and lodging for the animal. Till date, turtle is the only living vertebrate with such a sturdy broad ribbed proto shell. However, recent study of fossil turtles, which happen to be around 260- million-year-old, has revealed that the hard and rigid protective structure of the animal is not adapted for protection rather for digging underground. Dr. Lyson, the scientist behind this discovery said that during the early (evolutionary) phase, birds’ feathers too were not employed for flying. Nevertheless, birds starting…

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A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett

Pooja Kashyap

A Place Called Freedom is Ken Follett’s one of the most absorbing historical novel set around 1770 A.D. Protagonist Malachi (Mack) McAsh right at an early age stands against the tyrannical practice of employing children as miners in Scotland. His desire for freedom above everything else in life sets the underneath motif in the novel. It is the same willingness to be free that makes him a fugitive in the eyes of his master, Sir George Jamisson. After escaping from High Glen, Jamisson’s property, he moves to London. There again he…

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Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger

Pooja Kashyap

Arnold Schwarzenegger is an epitome of success and Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story has beautifully put forth his journey from Mr. Olympia to Terminator and finally to Governorship. One of the most striking features of his personality that surfaced from the book is that, he knew what he wanted to do in life right from his young age. At the time when most of the people were struggling for living in war torn Austria, he was visualizing himself as a success story and was busy working persistently towards…

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Xodus by K.J. McPike

Pooja Kashyap

Xodus is KJ McPike’s debut novel that falls into YA Sci-Fi Fantasy genre. The book is an engaging piece that revolves around a sixteen-year-old protagonist, Xitlali, who happens to discover her ability of astral projecting. Xitlali is already upset with her mother’s sudden disappearance and the discovery of outside body experience further adds fuel to her emotional disturbance. Even though she tries to convince her dad of her ‘special ability’, she becomes exasperated when he dismisses it to nothing but a state of restless mind. Xitlali is still struggling to…

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Head-up Display for Passenger Vehicles: In-car Technology

Pooja Kashyap

Researchers at Cambridge have unleashed an era of Head-up displays (HUD) using laser holographic techniques. The technology has introduced for the first time into Jaguar Land Rover vehicles. The human machine interface has developed to project data like speed, direction and navigation directly onto the windscreen. It’s an attempt to provide, relevant and real time information to the driver in a non-intrusive way.

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Micro fish to sense toxins & deliver drugs: 3D printed Nanobots

Neha Shukla

Nanoengineering experts at the University of California, San Diego, using advanced 3D printed technology have designed micro robots, named as micro fish. As the name suggests these tiny robots are fish shaped and can be used for various functions such as detoxification, sensing toxins and in surgeries assisted by micro robots.

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Advanced sense of odor helps ants identify individual ants: Nestmate versus Non-nestmate

Neha Shukla

Scientists studying ants have always wondered how ants living in huge colonies, identify other ants belong to same colony or is an intruder or enemy ant. Researchers from The University of California, Riverside have found an answer to this question. They have found that ants communicate via diverse hydrocarbon chemicals present on the their outer shells (or cuticles). 

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Bionic Eye allows blind man to see again: The Eyeborg

Neha Shukla

Experts at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital have successfully restored the vision of 80 years old Ray Flynn, through implanting ‘bionic eye’. For the last eight years, Mr Flynn suffered from dry age-related muscular degeneration (AMD). AMD is a condition in which photoreceptor cells in the central region of the retina are damaged leading to loss of central vision. The condition is very common, affecting nearly 5,00,000 people in the UK.

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Music Lessons facilitate Neurodevelopment: Enhancing the Teenage Brain

Neha Shukla

According to a study conducted by Northwestern University, music training may help in enhancing brain’s responses to sound, hone hearing and language skills in teenagers even if it is introduced as late as in high school. The study suggests music lessons helps improving skills that are considered important for academic success. 

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Green Future: PlasticRoads an Alternative to Tar and Asphalt road surfaces

Neha Shukla

Experts worldwide keep finding new ways to recycle plastic waste. Qualities like lightweight, moisture resistant, flexible and relatively cheap have increased production and consumption of plastic worldwide, but with so many benefits, comes disadvantages. Plastics do not decompose easily and are posing serious threat for the environment. From land to sea, everywhere plastic debris can be seen and is a major concern for the environmentalist.  

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