AUTHOR ROJA M ECE Department Many of the ocean’s most charismatic animals spend their lives swimming, flying, or gliding thousands of miles, from the coasts to the high seas. Arctic terns, humpback whales, and sea turtles are examples. Scientists have spent many years documenting and studying these magnificent journeys. Chronicling where these species go is just the beginning. The next steps are understanding when and how far each animal travels and what triggers it to roam. This information is vital for managing the turtles’ recovery but our research shows that two identical-looking olive ridleys may follow very different paths. PROTECTING ANIMALS THAT MOVE Mapping the spatial distribution and movement patterns of marine animals that are endangered or threatened is essential for defining critical habitat; areas that these species need in order to recover, such as key breeding or feeding grounds. Once scientists identify critical habitats, governments can integrate them into marine protected areas. These types are defined zones with fixed borders. They benefit marine animals that stay in one place, like sea anemones; have small ranges; and require specific habitats, such as coral reefs or seagrass beds. But highly migratory marine animals have large ranges and can travel many miles per day. They may prefer a certain location one year and a different one the next year. And their movements are driven by shifting ocean circulation patterns. Marine protected areas are not effective for protecting highly mobile species and olive ridley sea turtles are incredibly mobile. OCEAN NOMADS Olive ridleys are among the smallest of the world’s sea turtles and are found in the tropical Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. They are best known for their signature synchronized mass nestlings on beaches in early summer, which are called arribadas, Spanish for “arrival.” Fishing in the eastern Pacific Ocean decimated nesting colonies of olive ridleys before commercial exploitation ended in the 1980s. The species has begun to recover but remains listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The U.S. classifies olive ridleys as threatened, except for a group that nests on Mexico’s Pacific coast that is classified as endangered. Threats include fishing, hunting of eggs and turtles on nesting beaches, coastal development, boat collisions, and water pollution. Adult female sea turtles typically have a predetermined endpoint where they go to feed after they finish nesting on beaches. It was easy to imagine throngs of turtles migrating in “turtle schools” between the beach and their feeding ground. They swim hundreds to thousands of miles from their nesting beach, moving continuously among multiple areas, following unpredictable and widely dispersed pathways that vary year to year. A CONSERVATION CHALLENGE Current conservation strategies for sea turtles typically emphasize protecting static migratory corridors. But this approach won’t benefit nomadic olive ridleys. Instead, these turtles’ wide-ranging migrations and shifting use of space require a dynamic ocean management strategy. This approach uses real-time data to track target animals where they are and creates movable protected zones in a changing environment. Dynamic management has been used successfully in developed countries to reduce threats to whales, fish, and sea turtles from capture in fisheries and vessel strike. It integrates many kinds of data, including satellite tracking, voluntary catch reports from fishermen, and modeling of target species’ habitat preferences. Information is quickly shared via mobile apps so that, for example, ship captains are alerted to reduce vessel speed when whales are likely to be nearby. Expanding this approach to developing countries poses a challenge, but is within reach. A dynamic management system for olive ridleys would need to predict where the turtles are likely to be present in a perpetually changing environment, and address threats in these critical spaces. It also would require nations to work together to regulate fisheries that capture and threaten turtles in their territorial waters.
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AUTHOR Dhakshni S S Biotech Department “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.” -Hippocrates Over the past few years, 3D printing has become mainstream. However, printing food this way is still in its early stages. This might seem like a very new process, but it actually dates back to the early 1980s. It was around 1983 that scientists formed their first 3D printed object which was funnily an eye wash cup. NASA, on the other hand, came up with the idea of printing food for astronauts which brought about the conjunction of 3D printing into the food industry. The rapidly changing world and environment cause people to take on major lifestyle changes which don’t always seem to add up to their health. Diseases including diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and many others are caused mainly due to detrimental changes in lifestyle choices attributing to one’s dietary intake. Currently, 25.2 million adults are estimated to have IGT, which is estimated to increase to 35.7 million in the year 2045. The average age of diagnosis has been reducing rapidly from 45 to the early 30s, which again contributes to the high level of ignorance consumers seem to exhibit in terms of the quality of the food we consume every day. When we take a peek into the technicalities of how a 3D printer works, it makes use of connected devices and software used to design and print customized food suiting the dietary needs of the individual. A biometric device helps communicate and share data within a network of machines, and the CAD software helps in creating a 3D model of the food to be printed in various shapes and sizes. This allows the restaurants to make intricate designs of food that also enhance the aesthetic characteristics of the food. A combined effect of these devices connected to the 3D printer finally prints food via nozzles and food grade syringes, which the paves way to a sustainable way of food production and consumption. Scientists have also been working on innovations that could possibly enhance the quality of the food and substitute healthy alternatives to daily food staples. For instance, lasers have been inculcated in the 3D food printers, which allows the food to be printed and cooked simultaneously in the same machine. This opens up a new space for a richer experience and a burst of flavors in the taste buds. Moreover, the primary focus i.e., nutrition is also taken care of by several initiatives that have been brought about including the vegan meat with less fat and high fibre content, and the replacement of potato with sweet potato as it ranks low in the glycaemic index and hence regulates the blood sugar levels.
3D food printing unwraps a new whole new possibility of personalized nutrition, custom cooking and even low wastage of food. This newly evolving technology promises a large number of benefits inclusive of less time, high efficiency and many more adding up to the list of goodness. Slowly food manufacturing companies are progressing towards processes that helps them use food ingredients in the right manner for making nutritious as well as appetizing meals. "Food is simply sunlight in cold storage" - John Harvey Kellogg The ever-increasing population of the world poses an increased demand for food, and a lot of this food unfortunately goes to the trash. Hence, it is only fair for us to reduce food wastage along with the increased production. This situation needs to be handled with novel technologies, such as 3D printing, which can efficiently use food resources with no or very less amount of wastage. AuthorBY- Mukesh S
There is certain kind of discoveries in all periods which baffles the mind of curious sapiens and push them beyond their limits. The industrial revolution boosted the development of technology all over the world, and since then the species started to explore all things outside the reach of human vision. Quantum computing is one such exploration of mankind. QUANTUM COMPUTING : The minimization of processors is reaching its extent which become a challenge to the AI era which needs ultimate processing speed, So the AI revolution needs a new solution which is given by quantum computing. Quantum physics which studies the nature and properties of quantum particles has paved way for the quantum computing which works on the principle of quantum tunnelling. Quantum tunnelling is a process in which (an electron) propagates through a potential barrier. As the barrier is very small around 1-3nm in size, the tunnelling process is almost instantaneous which is the key advantage used in quantum computing. APPLICATION OF QUANTUM COMPUTING: As the search time of quantum computers is less, the training and test time of AI is reduced which enhances the development of AI technologies. It also leads us to a higher level of privacy and security. SIMULATION HYPOTHESIS: What if our emotions are a simulation, What if our universe is a simulation, what if our reality is just a simulation running in the quantum computer of ultra-sophisticated species, quite an astonishing and interesting hypothesis. We cannot say whether it is true or false right. Quantum computing has such a potential that it even replicates a whole universe simulation which is such a perfection which breaks the limitations of humankind. AuthorBY- Jyotsna R Pollution of natural resources has become a common problem wherein the fact that it was restricted only to land and air has now extended to the marine ecosystem as well. The increased use of the water resource to satisfy human needs has led to the introduction of several undesirable materials into the marine ecosystem especially the plastics and more dangerously the microplastics. Impact of microplastics on the environment Microplastics have high durability and hence can persist in the environment for several hundred years. The first organisms that get affected are the aquatic flora and fauna. But they become more dangerous when they reach the higher orders of the food chain. The accumulation of microplastics with sizes less than 10 μm can penetrate the body organs and can affect the physical functions or interfere with lipid metabolism in the human body. Due to the increased microplastic pollution, especially in the oceans, there is an increased need for its degradation biologically which does not have any negative impact on the environment. There are several bio-degradation strategies for microplastics, which include: In-vivo degradation It involves the degradation of plastics within the organisms. The lesser waxworm called Achroia grisella shows enhanced degradation on high-density polyethylene (HDPE). These insects degraded the HDPE which got converted to hydroxy that was released through their excreta. The intestinal microorganisms Enterobacteriaceae, Triponomeaceae, and Enterococcus helped in degrading the plastic. Thus reducing the concentration of HDPE in the water body while themselves showing proper growth and lifecycle. Microbiological degradation The degradation of plastics (polymer chains) in the microbial body is called microbiological degradation. The microbes were found to be more efficient at hyperthermophilic composting conditions where the temperature range was around 70 o C in 56 days. The microbes converted the insoluble microplastics to water-soluble degradation products like Butylated Hydroxytoluene (C15H24O), 2-Isopropyl-5-methyl-1-heptanol (C11H26O), 1,3-Propanediol, ethyl tetradecyl ether (C19H40O2), etc. The microbes Bacillus, Thermus, and Geobacillus are found to be of high concentration in these conditions. Enzymatic degradation
Enzymes are called biological catalysts which are highly specific and are greatly influenced by environmental conditions like pH, temperature, etc. as adverse values of these conditions will harm the enzymes and lead to their degradation. Currently, the use of enzymes in microplastic degradation is still at the research level wherein the enzyme LCC cutinase(leaf branch composed cutinase) is being worked upon for the degradation of polyethylene glycol terephthalate (PET). The ester group was cut off by the LCC enzyme and converted to terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol. But the enzyme conversion rate was much slower when compared to the rate of PET generated. Furthur working is being done to improve the thermostability of the enzyme to use it at highly elevated temperatures. Outlook for other novel strategies for microplastic degradation Apart from the above biological methods, it is necessary to realize the kind of damage that is being caused to the environment due to hazardous chemicals used in plastic production so optimization of the choice of monomers used should be of prime concern. The classification and segregation of plastics before their disposal and following the three R’s are essential steps to reduce microplastic entry into water bodies. Although there is work being carried out for microplastic degradation our prime aim should be to reduce the number of plastics that we use so that the new methods developed can help reduce the microplastic pollution at a faster rate. AUTHOR Harini Niharika V CSE The little effort of everyone may change into a big one!!Giving presents to our beloved peoples always makes us more cheerful, and making our environment more fresh, clean and healthy is a big gift for the next generation. Green technology is a wonderful technique to keep our surrounding fresh and beautiful. Greentech refers to environment-friendly technology. It involves the usage of technology in production processes using sustainable forms of energy. It can also refer to clean energy production. NEED OF GREEN TECHNOLOGY Green technology has been around for the past two decades, but it’s recently gaining more popularity as the need to address global warming becomes more urgent. From electric scooters to using green appliances, green tech has tapped on a range of sectors to help the environment. However, green tech’s growth is not surprising, given that it is the solution to overcoming current environmental challenges, such as global warming, greenhouse gases, and wildlife conservation, among others. technology aims to replace materials, products that harm The environment with solutions that do not disrupt or deplete natural resources. SOME OF THE GREEN TECHNOLOGIES: SUNLIGHT TRANSPORT We know very well that the best way to save carbon emissions is to save energy. What if we could light up entire buildings with just sunlight? This is what the Swedish company parans has been developing. Their technology “Sunlight Transport” is a passive system that channels sunlight from an external source and transports it through fibre optic cables to illuminate light-deprived rooms. As a result, energy consumption during daytime is zeroed. PLANT WALL Plant or Green Walls have become an architectural piece in recent years. Plant Walls are vertical built structures that hold enough soil to have different types of plants or other greens growing on them. Because these structures have living plants, they also usually feature built-in irrigation systems. A Plant Wall can be enhanced with features of smart technology, such as monitoring and selfirrigation, improving its survival, aesthetic and air purification potential. Like any other plant, some degree of maintenance is however required. Pruning dead plants and weeds and filling in gaps will keep the wall healthy and pleasant looking. BUILDING – INTEGRATED PHOTOVOLTAICS Photovoltaics (PV) has been one of the reasons we are getting rid of fossil fuel-based electricity. Actually, PV can be directly incorporated into the façade or roof of a building, substituting envelope materials seamlessly. The most common Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) systems are the photovoltaic shingles — solar panels that mimic the appearance and function of conventional roofing materials like slate, while performing the core task of generating electricity. Tesla solar roofs have been getting a lot of attention lately, but they are other brands such as RGS Energy, SunTegra and CertainTeed. Some other technologies are Waste water treatment, waste to energy, elimination of industrial emission, self-sufficient building, generation of energy from waves , harnessing solar energy, plant based packaging. GREEN TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS IN INDIA: Green Ventures – Sustainable energy solutions Green Ventures creates green technologies and innovative business models to create sustainable energy solutions. Their solutions include large-scale renewable energy generation projects, improved energy efficiency schemes, and rural social energy initiatives. Banyan Nation – Recycling plastic Banyan Nation collects plastic wastes from industries and recycles it for further use in the industry. “We have come a long way on the engineering front and are now adding performance enhancers to the recycled plastic in order to ensure that the recycled plastic has a greater lifecycle,” says Mani Vajipey, co-founder of Banyan Nation which inaugurated its recycled plastic bags manufacturing unit at Patancheru in Hyderabad. The company recycles more than 300tons of plastic every month. Waste Ventures – Waste management Waste Ventures India averts up to 90% of waste from dumpsites and produces nutrient-rich organic compost. They sign multi-year contracts with local municipalities and employ waste pickers at their processing units to segregate waste. The Delhi-based startup, launched in 2011, has 44 projects lined up this year. Two of these have been kickstarted in Andhra Pradesh villages. Priti International – Ecommerce for products made out of waste Hritesh Lohiya literally found his fortune in a trashcan. His startup Priti International recycles industrial and consumer waste into useful products. This $10million firm designs and manufactures handmade products out of waste materials, like handbags from old gunny bags, cast off military tents and denim pants. They also produce furniture from waste tins, drums, old military jeeps, tractor parts, waste machine parts and lamps from old scooter and bike lights. FUTURE SCOPE : Fortunately, the energy sector worldwide is focusing more on the development of alternative fuels and energy resources. Additionally, the future of green technology will greatly depend on the way businesses and organizations learn to invent, develop, and apply different processes to products and materials because this will play a huge role in helping us transform the manufacturing of products and chemical processes. All these changes can help reduce and eliminate the use and generation of hazardous materials and substances. AUTOR: ADITYA KRISHNAN BIOTECH (II Year) WHAT IS CRISPR? CRISPR-Cas9 is a genome editing tool that is creating a buzz in the science world. It is faster, cheaper and more accurate than previous techniques of editing DNA and has a wide range of potential applications. It’s a unique technology that enables geneticists and medical researchers to edit parts of the genome by removing, adding or altering sections of the DNA sequence. It is currently the simplest, most versatile and precise method of genetic manipulation and is therefore causing a buzz in the science world. MECHANISM OF STAGING :- The CRISPR-Cas9 system consists of two key molecules that introduce a change (mutation) into the DNA. These are an enzyme called Cas9. This acts as a pair of ‘molecular scissors’ that can cut the two strands of DNA at a specific location in the genome so that bits of DNA can then be added or removed. A piece of RNA, called guide RNA (gRNA). This consists of a small piece of pre-designed RNA sequence (about 20 bases long) located within a longer RNA scaffold. The scaffold part binds to DNA and the pre-designed sequence ‘guides’ Cas9 to the right part of the genome. This makes sure that the Cas9 enzyme cuts at the right point in the genome. The guide RNA is designed to find and bind to a specific sequence in the DNA. The guide RNA has RNA bases that are complementary to those of the target DNA sequence in the genome. This means that, at least in theory, the guide RNA will only bind to the target sequence and no other regions of the genome. The Cas9 follows the guide RNA to the same location in the DNA sequence and makes a cut across both strands of the DNA. At this stage the cell recognizes that the DNA is damaged and tries to repair it. Scientists can use the DNA repair machinery to introduce changes to one or more genes in the genome of a cell of interest. DEVELOPMENTAL FORTE :- Some bacteria have a similar, built-in, gene editing system to the CRISPR-Cas9 system that they use to respond to invading pathogens like viruses, much like an immune system. Using CRISPR the bacteria snip out parts of the virus DNA and keep a bit of it behind to help them recognize and defend against the virus next time it attacks. Scientists adapted this system so that it could be used in other cells from animals, including mice and humans.
APPLICATIONS :- CRISPR-Cas9 has a lot of potential as a tool for treating a range of medical conditions that have a genetic component, including cancer, hepatitis B or even high cholesterol. Many of the proposed applications involve editing the genomes of somatic (non-reproductive) cells but there has been a lot of interest in and debate about the potential to edit germline (reproductive) cells. Because any changes made in germline cells will be passed on from generation to generation it has important ethical implications. Carrying out gene editing in germline cells is currently illegal in the UK and most other countries. By contrast, the use of CRISPR-Cas9 and other gene editing technologies in somatic cells is uncontroversial. Indeed they have already been used to treat human disease on a small number of exceptional and/or life-threatening cases. AuthorBY - HARINI B Over the years cancer has proven to be vicious and untreatable. Despite the odds, patients, doctors and scientists alike have been fighting tooth and nail to find a well-established and assured treatment for cancer. Having several mainstream options like chemotherapy, radiation and surgery in front of them, there seem to be a million different scientists still working on a single cure for cancer. The new form of cancer treatment, now approved by the FDA, is a process of gene therapy. In simple terms, it uses a part of our own immune cells taken from our blood, called T-cells, which is modified with new genes and reinserted into the blood stream to better find and kill cancer cells. WHAT IS CAR T-CELL THERAPY? As the name implies, the T-cells are the main part of this type of treatment. T-cells in the body kill infested cells and control and orchestrate the immune response given by the body to foreign bodies. When the T-cells are engineered after being collected from the blood, a gene for a special receptor that binds to a certain protein on the patient’s cancer cells is added to the T cells. The now reengineered cell binds with the cancer cells in the patient's body effectively killing the cell. This special receptor is called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). This method is used widely to treat certain types of blood cancers but is also being studied for other types of cancer. SIDE EFFECTS As is the case with all types of cancer treatments, CAR T-cell therapy also has its wide range of side effects including a mass decline in the B-cells which produce antibodies. A major and serious side effect is CRS- cytokine release syndrome. Cytokines are released by the T-cells regularly to stimulate and direct immune responses. When the T-cells and engineered and a person is affected with CRS, the T-cells start flooding the bloodstream with cytokine which can cause side effects ranging from fevers to low blood pressure, and sometimes may even be fatal HOW EFFECTIVE IS CAR T-CELL THERAPY?
In most cases, CAR T-cell therapy is considered a last stage treatment when a patient’s cancer is already worse. But there have been cases in which this method has proven more efficient than the standard treatments for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma whose cancer returned after their initial, or first-line, chemotherapy. Besides being considered a second line treatment for people with a return of cancer, CAR seems to have a higher success rate in children with ALL who are not having an optimal response to their initial chemotherapy treatments. CAR T-cells has also paved the way for other cellular therapy treatments like TILs and TCRs which have shown promise in certain areas. AuthorBY - THAPASVI PUVVADA The transport and logistics industry is, without doubt, the most important industry, that being said, this is also the industry that has the biggest global carbon footprint, contributing to about 7.3 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. With the growing concern in global warming and pollution, an interest to find an alternative fuel has been on the rise and is likely to be driven by more research and development to make this alternative source of fuel sustainable for commercial use. The need to switch to an alternate source of fuel, for commercial applications includes the fact that fossil fuels sources are finite and depleting at a rapid rate, energy crisis and security, and the constant increase in oil prices. WHY BIOFUELS? Biofuel is one such alternative source of fuel, and as the name suggests it can be extracted from renewable sources such as corn, algae, soybean, animal fats, and so on, therefore, biofuels could potentially be the next big thing in the automotive industry, and may even beat electric vehicles, on running on a cleaner source of energy, when taking the detrimental effects of lithium-ion mining and electricity production into consideration. The production and usage of biofuels are not new, vegetable oils have been used as a source of fuel back in 1930 under emergency situations, however, biofuels are as of now not completely sustainable. Biofuels can be classified based on the source from which biofuel is extracted as first generation, second generation, and third-generation biofuels. First-generation- First-generation biofuels are extracted from starch and sugar sources, vegetable oils, and animal fats, in general, first-generation biofuels, are extracted from consumable crops and animal fats. Second-generation- Second-generation biofuels are extracted from non-consumable crops such as stalks of wheat and corn. Third-generation- Third-generation biofuels are produced from micro-organisms such as microalgae and green algae. The question of sustainability arises when talking about the commercial application or implementation of these biofuels, as first-generation biofuels are produced from edible crops, it is not considered as sustainable as these crops compete for land used for cultivating crops as a food source, hence the question of ethical morality arises when using these biofuels. Second-generation biofuels as mentioned earlier are produced from non-consumable plant matter, they do not compete directly with arable land, and are hence said to be more sustainable, however low conversion rates of plant matter to fuel means that they cannot meet the global energy demands unless a substantial area is dedicated for growing such crops, this explains the increasing interest in the production of third-generation biofuels. Third-generation biofuels are cultivated using micro-organisms such as algae. Algae grow rapidly in favorable conditions and are known to accumulate up to 50% oil in their total weight. Future scope of genetic engineering in biofuel synthesis
The production of third-generation biofuel can be further improved to increase its sustainability through the applications of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering in this field is rapidly expanding due to its potential to boost the production of biomass while lowering its cost and enhancing its quality, this gives rise to a new type of biofuel classified as fourth-generation biofuels, which is the usage of genetically modified algae for the production of biofuel. Through genetic engineering, many improvements have been realized such as increased carbohydrate and lipid production and improved H2 yields. AuthorBY- ANUSHRI M WHAT ARE COBOTS? We all would have heard about robots but what are cobots? Collabarative robots also known as cobots are capable of collaborating with humans. This collaboration is supposed to enhance human abilities in a safe way. Collaborative robots are capable of monitoring the environment and co-existing in the same facility together with humans without sacrificing performance or safety. DESIGN OF COBOTS: Cobots are designed using continuously variable transmission (CTVs) as an alternative traditional motor driven links. Flexibility and ease of use are the key advantages of cobots. It should be designed in such a way that it can be relocated and reprogrammed to a range of functions, specifically the ease with which it can be inserted into an existing production line or logistics setting. Because the robots are collaborative, they cannot work without human assistance and supervision. HOW COBOTS ARE USED? Manual pick and place is one of the most repetitive tasks performed by human workers today. Pick and place functions require an end-effector that can grasp the object. It could either be a gripper or vacuum cup effector. A subset of the pick and place is the packaging and palletizing of products. These tasks are repetitive and involve small payloads, making them ideal for cobots.
A cobot can provide the necessary force, repetition, and accuracy required for finishing jobs. These finishing jobs can include polishing, grinding, and deburring. WIDE APPLICATIONS: According to BIS Research, by 2021, the collaborative-robot market is expected to grow to approximately $2 billion and 150,000 units. Cobots have a wide applications in most of the industries. Some of them are discussed below: Automobile manufacturers were the first companies to embrace collaborative industrial robots given the manual, repetitive tasks they require. The BMW Mini factory in the UK has been using a cobot to transform its riveting process. The medical manufacturing firm Dynamic Group based out of Minnesota employ cobots that are responsible for picking and placing component at the injection molding site, transporting parts to the trimming area etc., |