- A University of Melbourne expedition to Antarctica has discovered that wind drives the formation of colossal rogue waves.
- Rogue waves:
- Rogues, also called 'extreme storm waves', are those waves which are greater than twice the size of surrounding waves.
- Rogue waves can form in large bodies of freshwater as well as the ocean.
- They are often steep-sided with unusually deep troughs.
- Rogue waves are unusually large, unpredictable, dangerous and can cause damage to ships or coastal infrastructure.
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2 sources- Researchers have discovered a type of organelle, called nitroplast, in a marine algae Braarudosphaera bigelowii, that can fix nitrogen.
- Nitrogen fixation is a biological process in which nitrogen gas is converted into a usable form for cell growth.
- It is generally believed that nitrogen fixation only occurs in bacteria and archaea but Braarudosphaera bigelowii marks the first known nitrogen-fixing eukaryote.
- Implications: The nitroplast discovery opens doors for sustainable agriculture, improved crop yields, reduction in need of fertilizers and environmental stewardship.
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1 source- Israel's successful interception of drones and missiles launched by Iran, has been officially named operation “Iron Shield”.
- Israel is protected by a multi-layered defence array, which includes Arrow-2, Arrow-3, David's Sling, and Iron Dome active defence systems.
- Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 intercepts medium to long-range missiles while David’s Sling intercepts short to medium and medium to long range missiles.
- Iron Dome is world’s first missile defense system developed to tackle threat of short range rockets and UAVs.
- It is capable of handling multiple incoming threats simultaneously.
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3 sources- Archaeological excavation reveals 5,200-year-old Harappan settlement at Padta Bet in Kachchh, Gujarat.
- It is near Juna Khatiya, an Early Harappan necropolis (mass burial site).
- Evidence of occupation from Early Harappan to Late Harappan periods:
- Pottery include Ceramic artefacts of novel kinds involving large storage jars, small bowls and dishes.
- Artefacts including semi-precious stone beads made of carnelian and agate, terracotta spindle whorls, copper, lithic tools etc.
- Remains of animal bones representing cattle, sheep or goat and edible shell fragments, thereby indicating animal domestication.
- Noyyal River of Tamil Nadu facing issues of pollution and choking by plastics and sewage.
- Noyyal River
- Origin: From the Velliangiri hills (called as South-Kailash), a division of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve).
- River basin: Flows through Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Karur and Erode districts before joining the Cauvery River.
- Historical significance: Excavated remains of storage tanks, and check dams of the Chalukya and Chola periods have been discovered across the river.
- Restoration efforts: Central Government provided financial assistance from the National River Restoration Fund for its restoration.
- This fund is managed by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
- Recent research highlights that the Bumblebees are resilient to pesticides.
- Bumblebees
- Belongs to the genus Bombus and are important pollinator for many wildflowers.
- They are fuzzy insects with short, stubby wings.
- They are larger than honeybees, but they don't produce as much honey.
- They are known for buzz pollination.
- Their wings beating with high speed combined with their large bodies vibrate flowers until they release pollen.
- They use dance as a means of communicating 'food alert' signals to other members of their colony.
- Threat: Habitat fragmentation, disease transmission, etc.
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- Three new species of fish from the family wrasse are found to be using tools.
- Jansen’s, checkerboard and moon are these new species and they live in the Laccadive Sea.
- They use live or dead coral structures as anvils to break the hard shells of sea urchins for their food.
- Since fishes lack hands, claws, or tentacles, they use a series of specialised behaviours for tool use.
- The use of tools by fish is believed to be rare instances as they are ‘less intelligent’ and hence less likely to be capable of complex cognitive tasks.
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2 sources- New Zealand and the Cook Islands signed a treaty to recognize whales as legal persons.
- Earlier, New Zealand declared the Whanganui River as a legal entity.
- A legal person is a human or a non-human legal entity that is treated as a person for legal purposes.
- A legal person is capable of engaging in all usual legal business that a real person can participate in, such as suing, being sued, owning property, and entering into contracts.
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