An Asteroid may hit earth is 2068 A.D. Claimed NASA

The 325-metre asteroid99942 Apophis, that will safely fly by the Earth in 2029 and 2036,may strike the planet in 2068, says an article published on the NASA website.
The chances of it striking Earth are slim, however, with impact odds being about 2.3 in a million. The asteroid has been the focus of considerable attention after it was discovered in December 2004 to have a significant probability of Earth impact in April 2029.

While the 2029 potential impact was ruled out through the measurement of archival telescope images, the possibility of a potential impact in the years after 2029 continues to prove difficult to rule out. Based on optical and radar position measurements made in 2004-2012, the asteroid will pass the Earth in 2029 at an altitude of 31900, give or take 750 km.The altitude is close enough for the Earth's gravity to deflect
Such impact trajectories require Apophis to pass the Earth at a precise altitude, known as a keyhole, in 2029 en route to a subsequent impact.

"The new report, which does not make use of the 2013 radar measurements, identifies over a dozen keyholes that fall within the range of possible 2029 encounter distances," said the article prepared by a group of scientists led by Davide Farnocchia.

The uncertainty in predicting the asteroid's position in 2029 is completely dominated by the so-called Yarkovsky effect, a subtle non-gravitational perturbation due to thermal re-radiation of solar energy absorbed by the asteroid.

Read More

Hydrogen sulfide could be next anti-ageing agent

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) may play a wide-ranging role in staving off ageing, says a research team from China who has explored the compound’s plethora of potential anti-ageing pathways.

H₂S has been gaining increasing attention as an important endogenous signaling molecule because of its significant effects on the cardiovascular and nervous systems, the team noted.

The evidence is mounting, they said, that hydrogen sulfide slows ageing by inhibiting free-radical reactions, by activating SIRT1, an enzyme believed to be a regulator of lifespan, and probably through its interactions with a gene, klotho, which appears to have its own market basket of anti-ageing activity.

Hydrogen sulfide is produced within the human body, and has a variety of important physiological effects. For example, it relaxes the vascular endothelium and smooth muscle cells, which is important to maintaining clean arteries as one ages, explained first author Zhi-Sheng Jiang, of the University of South China, Hunan.

It functions as an antioxidant. And it inhibits expression of pro-inflammatory factors, all of which “imply an important role in ageing and age-associated diseases,” according to the study.

For example, mice lacking CSE, the gene for an enzyme involved in producing H₂S, manifest extensive, premature arteriosclerosis, an inevitable consequence of ageing, said Jiang.

The gene, klotho, which appears to be upregulated by hydrogen sulfide, is thought to extend lifespan via a number of different pathways, some of which promote production of endogenous antioxidants, according to the their report.

Produced in the kidneys, it has direct angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibiting activity; that is, it’s an ACE inhibitor, just like certain drugs that mitigate high blood pressure. Not surprisingly, plasma H₂S declines with age, and is lower in spontaneously hypertensive rats than in those with normal blood pressure. More generally, a lack of H₂S is implicated in cardiovascular disease.

A decline in H₂S is also thought to undermine neurological health. Endogenous H₂S has been found wanting in an animal model of Parkinson’s disease, and is found to be depressed in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. There are even suggestions, mostly in animal models, but also in human studies, that H₂S may be protective against cancer, according to the report.

“Data available so far strongly suggest that H₂S may become the next potent agent for preventing and ameliorating the symptoms of ageing and age-associated diseases,” concluded Jiang.

In the future, he asserted, people may take H₂S via food, or as an anti-ageing supplement.

The results appeared online ahead of print in the journal Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Read More

Americans Win Nobel in Chemistry for Work on How Humans Sense the World

Two Americans shared this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry for deciphering the communication system that the human body uses to sense the outside world and send messages to cells — for example, speeding the heart when danger approaches. The understanding is aiding the development of new drugs.

The winners, Dr. Robert J. Lefkowitz, 69, a professor at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute researcher, and Dr. Brian K. Kobilka, 57, a professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, will split eight million Swedish kronor, or about $1.2 million

.

Read More

Two scientists share 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine

The Nobel Committee at Swedish Karolinska Institute in Stockholm Monday named two scientists for the 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went jointly to John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka "for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent", reported Xinhua citing an institute statement."Their findings have revolutionised our understanding of how cells and organisms develop," it added.

Shinya Yamanaka and John B. Gurdon

Read More

Research:Drinking beer makes men more intelligent !!

It is common knowledge that alcohol damage judgement - if consumed in sufficient quantity. But are you fond of drinking beer but afraid of being alcoholic? If yes just don’t get worry as  a recent study published by the University of Illinois in Chicago claims that drinking only a few beers may, in fact, make men more intelligent. 

The researchers who conducted the study devised a game for participants comprised of word association.

Half the participants in the study drank two pints of beer before answering questions, while the other half abstained.

The participants were asked to answer a range of questions, such as finding a word to fit a particular pattern; for example, blue, cottage, Swiss [cheese].

The results of the test were quite interesting to say the least. Participants who consumed two pints of beer finished their problems in a cool 12 seconds, compared to non-drinkers who required 15.5 seconds.

"We found at 0.07 blood alcohol, people were worse at working memory tasks, but they were better at creative problem-solving tasks," psychologist Jennifer Wiley explained.

"We have this assumption, that being able to focus on one part of a problem or having a lot of expertise is better for problem solving," she continued. "But that’s not necessarily true. Innovation may happen when people are not so focused. Sometimes it’s good to be distracted."

The study participants who drank beer also solved 40% more of the problems posed to them compared to non-drinkers. "Sometimes the really creative stuff comes out when you’re having a glass of wine over dinner, or when you’re taking a shower," Wiley added.

Read More