1) World’s oldest fossils unveil life 3.7 billion years ago.
- Scientists have discovered the world’s oldest fossils about 3.7 billion years old which pushes back the previous record by 220 million years and captures the earliest history of our planet.
- The University of Wollongong’s (UOW) Professor Allen Nutman, the team discovered 3.7-billion-year-old stromatolite fossils in the world’s oldest sedimentary rocks, in the Isua Greenstone Belt along the edge of Greenland’s icecap.
- The discovery of the Isua stromatolite fossils provides a greater understanding of early diversity of life on Earth.
2) Xiaomi launches its own mobile payment service.
- Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has finally launched its own mobile payment service. Just like Samsung, Google and Apple, Xiaomi can also boast of its own payment service, `Mi Pay`.
- The Mi Pay is as per now only available in China and not as widespread as the other mobile payment services.
- The Mi Pay service will be able to support both debit and credit cards from over 20 banks including the Bank of China.
- It looks Xiaomi is betting that Mi Pay can help increase revenue, and potentially lock existing Xiaomi users into its ecosystem more tightly so that, when times comes to replace their current phone, they are more inclined to purchase another Xiaomi device.
3) SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, satellite destroyed in explosion.
- A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on its Cape Canaveral, Florida launch pad during a test.
- Destroying a commercial satellite that Facebook had planned to use to extend Internet access in Africa.
- Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit.
4) Scientists Name A Newly Discovered Fish After President Obama.
- Scientists have named a small maroon and gold fish species after the U.S. President Barack Obama which was discovered 300 feet deep in the waters off Kure Atoll in the Pacific ocean.
- The fish, of the genus Tosanoides, was named in honour of Obama for his commitment to protecting nature through the expansion of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.
- Researchers confirmed that the fish represented a new species, the first member of the genus Tosanoides found outside of the waters off Japan.
5) Indian scientists unlock preterm birth mystery.
- Indian researchers have made a major discovery by understanding the mechanisms by which preterm births (between 28 and 32 weeks of gestation) occur.
- At 35 per cent, India accounts for the highest burden of preterm births in the world.
- The researchers found for the first time that gram-positive Group B Streptococcus (GBS) bacteria produce small balloons called membrane vesicles, which contain toxins that kill both foetal and maternal cells and destroy the collagen that binds the cells together.
- The team was led by Professor Anirban Banerjee from the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay, and Dr. Deepak Modi from Mumbai’s National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health.
6) Carbon nanotubes outperform silicon for the first time.
- In a first, American engineers have created carbon nanotube transistors claimed to perform five times faster than the most advanced silicon transistors.
- The breakthrough was achieved at the University of Wisconsin-Madison by a team led by professors of materials science and engineering Michael Arnold and Padma Gopalan.
- The research team used polymers to selectively sort out the semiconducting nanotubes, achieving a solution of ultra-high-purity semiconducting carbon nanotubes.
- The carbon nanotube transistors can achieve an electrical current 1.9 times higher than silicon transistors.
- Carbon nanotubes have long been recognised as a promising material for next-generation transistors owing to their electrical conductivity.
7) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited successfully tests Light Utility Helicopter.
- The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has successfully conducted a technical flight of the new indigenous Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) in Bengaluru.
- HAL has already developed four highly popular models of helicopters under its belt.
- Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) is eight-seater chopper under development for the armed forces.
- It has been designed to carry out various utility roles such as reconnaissance, transport, cargo load, quick response and special operation.
8) 170 million-year-old marine reptile fossil uncovered.
- A fossilised skeleton of a dolphin-like predator which inhabited the oceans around 170 million years ago, has been uncovered in a Scotland museum where it laid buried for 50 years.
- A type of ichthyosaur, the marine reptile is estimated to be four metres long with hundreds of cone-shaped teeth. Scientists believe these `sea dragons` became extinct shortly before the dinosaurs.
9) GRSE hands over fast attack craft Tihayu to Indian Navy.
- The Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) of Kolkata handed over TIHAYU, the Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC) to the Indian Navy.
- It is follow-on WJFAC ship named after Tihayu island in the Andaman. It is improved version of Fast Attack Crafts earlier built by GRSE for Indian Navy.
- It has been fitted with CRN-91 indigenous 30mm Gun which provides Artillery fire support to ship during attack missions.
- It has an efficient hull developed by the in-house Design Centre of GRS.