Cloud burst is a natural meteorological phenomenon, occurs when sudden extremely heavy rainfall falls within a very short interval of time. These incidents usually occur in localized areas, especially in mountainous areas, and most often are accompanied by thunderstorms.
A cloud Burst
The hottest air currents carrying large amounts of water vapor tend to rise on the mountainside while violent up rushing air currents prevent condensed raindrops from falling on the ground and thus accumulate extremely high levels of vapor which ultimately burst in the form of heavy rainfall wreaking havoc and destruction. The destructive power of nature is most visible on mountain slopes, valleys, and gullies which are instantly filled with water due to heavy downpour.
The intensity of the cloud burst in the most severe cases can only be conjectured. On 29th November 1911, a rainfall of 63mm (2.47 inches) was recorded in just three minutes in Porto Bello Panama. In other cases, excavations made into the ground by the falling water of cloud burst have indicated the extreme intensity of this powerful natural phenomenon.
Last week at least two dozen people were feared dead and several others reported missing on Monday after flash floods, due to a cloudburst, wreaked havoc within minutes in Neelum Valley, Azad Kashmir.
The world witnessed a partial lunar eclipse which began on 16 July 2019 at 23:43 pm (PST) or 8 pm (UTC) and was maximum at 02:30 pm (PST) on 17 July 2019.
Mirzakhani was born in Iran and won the World Mathematics Olympiad twice at the age of 17 and 18. She received a field’s medal at the age of 37 — an honor considers as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in Mathematics.
Maryam Mirzakhani
Maryam’s research basically covers some of the specific branches of mathematics and complex geometry, the most exciting queries like the movements of planets, the discovery of other universes, and other complicated problems related to space exploration could be better understood and solved through her ground-breaking research in mathematics.
A year after her death, remembering her makes me wonder why Pakistani students are still lagging behind their counterparts in neighboring countries, specifically in subjects such as math.
Because Maryam was a foreigner she did not speak English properly, but instead of feeling guilty or embarrassed she used to put down her lecture notes into Persian. However, in Pakistan, our educational system is obsessed with fluency in English.
Once in an interview, Maryam Mirzakhani unveiled that when she just enrolled in Harvard University, because she was a foreigner she did not speak English properly, but instead of feeling guilty or embarrassed she used to put down her lecture notes into Persian for quite some time. However, in Pakistan, our educational system is obsessed with fluency in English rather than excellence in mathematics or other science subjects.
Note: The article is originally published on 15th July 2018 in Daily Times Lahore
The Horse Nebula is a small dark Nebula in the constellation Orion. This is just located in South Alnitak, which is an Eastern star of Orion belt. The horse Nebula is categorized as dark nebula those are clouds of dust in space, commonly they obscure behind them. Here is a collection of some stunning astrophotographs of Horse Nebula captured worldwide.
Asteroids are the rocks have been drifting through space and spending a lonely life since the formation of our solar system. But last week asteroid Ryugu was visited by a special visitor: Hayabusa-2, Japan’s spacecraft, which landed successfully on the distant icy world.
The images released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are remarkable and show the image of the asteroid just before it took off from the surface of the distant world.
A stunning image of Asteroid Ryugu
The first photo was taken at 10:06:32 JST (onboard time) and you can see the gravel flying upwards. The second shot was at 10:08:53 where the darker region near the center is due to touchdown,” JAXA tweeted.
Hayabusa-2 launched in December 2014 by JAXA. Its mission was to visit the distant, lonely and icy world of Ryugu―a half-mile wide-body― study its surface and collect samples of soil and debris. Asteroid Ryugu is a primitive asteroid that orbits the sun at a distance of up to 131 million miles (211 million kilometers).
Source JAXA
The probe reached the distant world in June 2018 and carried out observations of the surface, gravitational studies, and rehearsals before a complicated touchdown last week. It also collected shallow samples from the surface. In April 2019, the probe blasted a copper plate and an explosive box to study the layers of the soil underneath the surface of the asteroid. The probe also collected samples from the asteroid.
A stunning image of Asteroid Ryugu
The Japanese exploration program will provide insights into the chemical nature of asteroids and probably unveil secrets of the solar system.
The southern parts of the earth comprise of Antarctica continent, a behemoth of vast glacial ice sheets formed over hundreds and thousands of years is melting rapidly than previously, researches had predicted for long ago. Recent research conducted by more than 100 polar scientists, known as Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-Comparison Exercise (IMBIE), through data collected between 2012 to 2017 has shown that the West Antarctic lost some 159 billion tons of ice annually, more than twice the rate of the early 2000s.
Totten Glacier
East Antarctica, the coldest place on earth, holding vast sheets of ice, more than three kilometers thick at some places, was previously considered to be stable and not affected by the rising global average temperatures. If anything, it was expected that climate change would bring more snow to its interior, increasing the thickness of its ice sheets.
But that picture is now changing rapidly. Satellite imagery has shown that the eastern glaciers are dumping their ice sheets into the southern ocean at a rate which is worrying for the scientists. Antarctica as a whole contains 90 percent of the global ice cover. Theoretically, it can raise the average global sea levels by 200 feet if all of it melts. The Totten Glacier, the biggest glacier, alone contains enough ice to raise the sea levels by 12.6 feet.
“You want to be scared of something?” says Eric Rignot, a glaciologist at the University of California, Irvine. “That’s the worst-case scenario. Antarctica can do that.”
The gene editing experiment has major ethical and health concerns
The
scientific world was shocked last year when a scientist from China, edited
human genomes of two twin girls. He claimed to have used CRISPR gene editing
technology to alter sequences that were linked with HIV. It was disturbing
because the study was done without any ethical considerations and now, research
has shown that the gene edited babies are at risk of dying early. At the University
of California, Berkeley, scientists looked at health records of individuals who
had registered their genomes in the gene bank and found that the mutation on
the region of the gene where the Chinese scientist aimed at, was linked with
early death. The causes of the linkage are not yet available and more
vulnerability to diseases in such mutant individuals have also been observed.
This is not the first time this gene editing experiment was criticized though.
Last year, these results were rejected when presented in a conference and were
also exempted from publications in several journals. Even the Chinese
government got involved and condemned this research.
Henry Lynch, the father of cancer genetics, dies at 91
He discovered the common form of hereditary colorectal cancer
Father of Cancer Genetics Henry Lynch died on June 2 at the age of 91. He was an American Physician, who discovered the common form of hereditary colorectal cancer. Henry joined the faculty at Creighton University in 1969, where he observed that cancers patients had relatives and ancestors with the same type of cancer. He also helped define the necessary criteria for genetic cancer: early age of onset of the disease, specific pattern of multiple primary cancers, and Mundelein patterns of inheritance in hundreds of extended families worldwide. He established the cancer prevention clinic at Creighton, and his credited work focused on promoting the early detection techniques and spreading awareness to people about cancer and its symptoms which can save thousands of lives.
Controversy about US Bill on gene patents
The proposed bill will allow the patenting of human genes
On 3 June 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Washington, D.C., along with more than 169 other signatories from research institutes and advocacy groups, sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property strongly opposing a draft bill that would allow companies to patent human genes. The US Supreme ruling in 2013 barred from future patenting on genes and associated studies. Last month the US senators’ bipartisan groups of lawmakers drafted a bill, making changes to the several sections of the patent law and added a provision that would nullify the supreme court’s exceptions. This Bill created huge controversy about human health as it can allow companies to hold patents granting them rights to nature, disease, and, gene studies. Patent holders would be able to control who can provide tests for genetic mutations associated with pathologies like cancer, muscular dystrophy, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and other rare and common diseases,
First gene edit performed in space
The study aimed at understanding DNA repair mechanisms
For the first time in history, ISS (International Space Stations) astronauts edited a gene in space to using CRISPR Cas9 technology. It was a successful experiment repairing human DNA damage by cosmic radiations. Four students of a high school in America sent this proposal to NASA for a space program. The team of Students David Li, Aarthi Vijayakumar, Rebecca Li, and Michelle Sung, won the 2018 Genes in Space contest. The study is the result of a multi-center collaboration between scientists and engineers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The basic purpose of the experiment was to study the effects of radiation on the human genome and proper remedies for future astronauts. When astronauts travel in space and spend time, they face many problems with their health and their bodies are affected by cosmic radiations. “Our aim,” explained Emily Gleason, one of the researchers who perfected the miniature experimental apparatus for ISS, “is to understand whether DNA repair mechanisms in space are different from those on Earth. With this information,” she concluded, “in the future, we will be able to help astronauts better protect themselves.”
Sponges could capture DNA to track ocean health
Sponges can filter water and catch DNA in their tissues
Although it is very difficult to find the biological health of the ocean and sea, researchers have discovered a unique idea to found genetic material in the sea, which is through using sponges. Likes humans, water-dwelling animals leave DNA behind in the water and the marine biologists discovered that sponges can filter 1000 liter of water daily and catch DNA in their tissues. DNA in sponges from the Mediterranean and Antarctic demonstrated that sponges can be used for finding biotic health. Ecologists say that sponges are ideal sampling units because they are found everywhere and in every aquatic habitat, including freshwater. Using this method researcher Mariani and his team found the DNA of 31 taxa. Most of the DNA obtained was from fish, but one sponge sample from Antarctica included DNA from Weddell seals and chinstrap penguins. The benefit of using this process is that the DNA of sponges can’t affect the DNA of any other species. Mariani noted that the gathering of sponge samples isn’t always practical, especially when they’re located in deep water. So, researchers are now looking into gathering DNA from other water-filtering organisms such as jellyfish.
We gazed dreamily at the Milky Way Galaxy and once in a while caught some shooting stars. Times like those provided me the opportunity to wonder and ask all those very basic questions. That sense of awe for the heavens started there. Kalpana Chawla
A Total Solar Eclipse observed in the narrow zones of the Pacific Ocean and South America on 2nd July 2019, that was the only total Solar Eclipse of the ongoing year. Take a look of some of the mesmerizing moments captured by the astrophotographers in Brazil, Chile, and Argentina.
?: The first diamond ring from the Total Solar Eclipse
Location: Chile, Atacama
Astrophotographer: Jaxson Pohlman
Diamond Ring
The World at Night (TWAN) ?: Total Solar Eclipse from Lambert, La Serena, Chile on July 2, 2019. From @Miguel_Claro: Sharing my landscape views of the last Total Solar Eclipse as seen from Lambert, 30km northeast of La Serena. Photos have been captured with Sigma 105mm.
Different Phases during Total Solar Eclipse
?: A complete cycle of total solar eclipse, 2nd July 2019
Location: La Serena, Chile
Astrophotgrapher: @startojano
A Total Solar Eclipse
?: Total Solar eclipse, a shadow of the Moon and Venus
Planet Earth is facing disastrous impacts of climate changes from the beginning of the 21st century, United Nation is taking several steps to control it including sustainable development goals 2015 agreement, which was signed by 193 countries including Pakistan. Unfortunately, the US-one of the major contributors to global warming withdraws herself from the agreement.
Pakistan is also taking several steps to achieve 17 goals of sustainable development, including success full Tree plantation and constructing new water resources. Though Pakistan has the least contribution in global carbon footprints it is affected most. Pakistan’s carbon footprint will be increased to 400 % by 2030. Youth across the globe is not very much happy with the existing scenario and they are tired of listening boring speeches made by world leaders, now they want real action against climate change.
In this manner, young souls from 24 countries including Pakistan are getting united to launch a campaign called “All in for climate action”. young people are calling each other for real climate action and for this purpose they have filed a petition on change.org, which has been signed by 250.000 people. The team is looking forward to getting it signed by one million people before September 2019, so they can put their demand in front of global leaders in the UN Climate Summit on September 23rd in New York.
The #AllinforClimateAction-Movement demonstrates the unity and power of the rising youth movements, intend on carrying their message to leaders who will meet at the UN Summit. Petitioners are calling on them to go “All in for Climate Action” and to make the UN Climate Action Summit in September a historical turning point. They demand that world leaders acknowledge and declare a Climate Emergency and focus on presenting courageous action plans to keep global warming below 1.5°C, – press release reads.
Durlabh Ashok is a Coordinator for Central and South Asia and he says, “According to scientific reports, five of the ten countries worst affected by Climate Change are in Asia. For example, Cyclone Nargis affected 2.4 Million people in Myanmar and Pakistan witnessed a catastrophic heat wave in 2015 causing the death of over 2000 people. If necessary steps are not taken, these extreme weather patterns will intensify; that is why we demand urgent action.”
Saher Rashid is an ambassador for the campaign from Pakistan and she believes that We have an age of environmental breakdown. 58000 species are lost each year mostly because of human lifestyle/activities. Are we moving back towards the age of dinosaurs extinction or is it something more dangerous than that as the earth is undergoing the 6th massive extinction in its history
In the present, the youth is not taking to the streets only for the reduction of greenhouse gases, we march because climate change adds on to the human and financial costs being historically assumed by the most vulnerable, like the people living in emergency villages whose houses are destroyed by floods, or the lands of indigenous communities being expropriated by corporations, and this is already happening now. The climate emergency crisis is a matter of human rights, says Nicki Becker, petition starter from Argentina, Latin America.
Climate activists from currently more than 20 countries are participating in #AllinforClimateAction.The petitions are all united around 10 demands. Until September, they collect signatures. Till then, they are actively looking for youth ambassadors to launch petitions and movements in every country.
This all-volunteer movement is independent of governments and political parties, international, collaborative and open to all. The climate crisis affects all of us, regardless of location, gender, race, religion, culture, age or origin, and will require all of us to pitch in to prevent its worst effects from being unleashed.
Volunteers in Pakistan are also trying to create awareness on climate change and a volunteer force -free from Government and any political influence, so they can build pressure on related institutes including government to take mandatory actions to control climate change impact.
