James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations were used to map the weather on a pair of brown dwarf stars.
- JWST is a large infrared telescope, result of an international collaboration among NASA, European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency.
About Brown Dwarf
- Objects which have a size between that of a giant planet like Jupiter and that of a small star.
- They do not have enough mass to fuse normal hydrogen like a regular star and thus are not able to sustain nuclear fusion. So, they are often called ‘Failed Stars’.
Paris mayor took pre-Olympics dip to prove Seine clean ahead of 2024 Games.
About the Seine
- It’s France's second-longest river (after the Loire).
- It flows in a Northwesterly direction through Paris before emptying into the English Channel at Le Havre.
- Origin: Near Dijon, France.
- Major tributaries: Marne, Aube and Yonne.
- Significance: It’s vital for transportation, commerce, and culture in France for centuries.
- Paris, Banks of the Seine is a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site as it comprises some of the iconic monuments like Saint-Chapelle, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower.
Cassini's radar observations reveal new details about the seas of liquid hydrocarbons on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan.
- Cassini (1997-2017) was a joint space mission to Saturn, by NASA, European Space Agency, and Italian Space Agency.
About Saturn
- Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the solar system.
- It’s surrounded by rings made of chunks of ice and rock.
- Saturn has the second-shortest day in the solar system (only 10.7 hours).
- Saturn has 146 moons in its orbit ex. Dione, Enceladus, Epimetheus, Titan etc.
Recently, there has been outbreak of Chandipura virus in Gujarat.
About Chandipura virus
- Also known as Chandipura vesiculovirus (CHPV), it is an Ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus belonging to the Rhabdoviridae family.
- It also includes the rabies virus.
- It was first identified in 1965 in Chandipura, a village in Maharashtra.
- It primarily affects children (aged 9 months-14 years) and has been associated with outbreaks of acute encephalitis in India.
- Transmission: Spread through the sting of a vector-infected sandfly and is seen more in rural areas.
- Symptoms: Fever, vomiting, loose motion and headache.
Jerdon's Courser has not been visually spotted in over a decade.
About Jerdon's Courser
- Nocturnal bird found only in the Eastern Ghats.
- Exclusively endemic to Andhra Pradesh, specifically within the Sri Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary in Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh.
- Protection Status:
- Under Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’ (IDWH) scheme.
- Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
- IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
Researchers have found evidence of an underground cave on the moon that is accessible from the surface.
- The cave was recorded at the Sea of Tranquillity, a large, dark, basaltic plains on lunar surface.
About Lunar cave
- Lunar caves are believed to be the underground passageways formed through volcanic processes that are connected to the pits covering the moon’s surface.
- Significance of the discovery:
- New insight into the evolution of the moon and lunar volcanism.
- Caves could provide shelter for future astronauts from radiation, micrometeorites, and temperature extremes.
Scientists suggest LUCA could have formed just 300 million years after Earth's formation.
About LUCA
- Researchers believe all the three branches of life i.e. bacteria, archaea, and eukarya have originated from a single microbe, called LUCA.
- However, there is no fossil evidence to support the existence of LUCA.
- Suggested Characteristics:
- Anaerobic: Grew in an environment devoid of oxygen.
- Thermophile: Heat loving microbe.
- Metabolism: Depended upon hydrogen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, turning them into compounds such as ammonia.
84,119 children were rescued by the Railway Protection Force under 'Operation Nanhe Farishtey' in the last 7 years.
About 'Operation Nanhe Farishtey’
- It is a mission dedicated to rescuing children in need of care and protection across various Indian Railway Zones.
