NuSTAR

Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array

Phase: Development

Launch Date: June 13, 2012

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array is an Explorer mission that will allow astronomers to study the universe in high energy X-rays. Launching in 2012, NuSTAR will be the first focusing hard X-ray telescope to orbit Earth and is expected to greatly exceed the performance of the largest ground-based observatories that have observed this region of the electromagnetic spectrum. NuSTAR will also complement astrophysics missions that explore the cosmos in other regions of the spectrum.

X-ray telescopes such as Chandra and XMM-Newton have observed the X-ray universe at low X-ray energy levels. By focusing higher energy X-rays, NuSTAR will start to answer several fundamental questions about the Universe including:

• How are black holes distributed through the cosmos?
• How were heavy elements forged in the explosions of massive stars?
• What powers the most extreme active galaxies?

NuSTAR's primary science objectives include:

• Conducting a census for black holes on all scales using wide-field surveys of extragalactic fields and the Galactic center.
• Mapping radioactive material in young supernova remnants; Studying the birth of the elements and to understand how stars explode.
• Observing relativistic jets found in the most extreme active galaxies and to understand what powers giant cosmic accelerators.
  

NuSTAR will also study the origin of cosmic rays and the extreme physics around collapsed stars while responding to targets of opportunity including supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. NuSTAR will perform follow-up observations to discoveries made by Chandra and Spitzer, and will team with Fermi, making simultaneous observations which will greatly enhancing Fermi's science return.

Stem cells can be harvested long after death: study

AFP – Tue, Jun 12, 2012

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  Stem cells are fed at the University …

Some stem cells can lay dormant for more than two weeks in a dead person and then be revived to divide into new, functioning cells, scientists in France said Tuesday.

The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, unlocks further knowledge about the versatility of these cells, touted as a future source to replenish damaged tissue.

"Remarkably, skeletal muscle stem cells can survive for 17 days in humans and 16 days in mice, post mortem well beyond the 1-2 days currently thought," they said in a statement.

The stem cells retained their ability to differentiate into perfectly functioning muscle cells, they found.

"This discovery could form the basis of a new source, and more importantly new methods of conservation, for stem cells used to treat a number of pathologies," the statement said.

Stem cells are infant cells that develop into the specialised tissues of the body.

They have sparked great excitement as they offer hopes of rebuilding organs damaged by disease or accident.

The study led by Fabrice Chretien of France's Pasteur Institute found that to survive in adverse conditions, skeletal muscle stem cells lower their metabolism to enter a dormant state, using less energy.

The team then also looked at stem cells taken from bone marrow, where blood cells are produced.

These remained viable for four days after death in lab mice and retained their ability to reconstitute tissue after a bone marrow transplant.

"By harvesting stem cells from the bone marrow of consenting donors post mortem, doctors could address to a certain extent the shortage of tissues and cells," said the statement, issued by the four institutes backing the research.

The investigators sounded a word of caution, though.

The approach was "highly promising", but required more testing and validation before it could be tested in humans.

MoEF draft seeks to keep miners away from ‘Inviolate Forest Areas

NEW DELHI: If the environment ministry's draft proposal for 'inviolate forest areas' is accepted, large swathes of healthy forests, including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves and wildlife corridors, would be out of bounds for all miningactivities, and not just coal excavation.

The ministry's draft lists criteria for identifying forest patches where mining should be banned following the GoM on coal's decision to junk the no-go policy of the environment ministry. The GoM instead asked the ministry to delineate 'inviolate forest areas' based on a new set of norms.

A committee, under environment secretary Tishyarakshit Chatterjee, has submitted its draft report that looks to give the demarcation legal teeth by notifying inviolate patches under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. Although initially promoted by the coal ministry and Coal India Limited, the no-go policy was attacked later by mining lobbies for lacking a legal mandate.

The norms proposed include forest cover, forestry type, biological richness and wildlife value of areas under review, hydrological and socio-economic benefits. These are tough criteria that can be difficult to overlook in grant of mining rights.

The formula and criteria recommended by the Chatterjee panel will mean that areas within 1 km of parks and sanctuaries and critical migratory corridors linking wildlife habitats would almost by default be regarded as inviolate.

The strong pro-environment criteria recommended by the committee takes more into consideration hydrological values of forests like whether green patches are catchment areas for rivers or feed wetlands. This will also command weight in demarcating the area not to be mined.

Areas located within direct draining catchment of streams utilized as water sources for projects would automatically be excluded. Boundary areas of important wetlands bigger than 10 hectares and storage reservoirs for irrigation, water supply or power projects too would be off limits.

The committee has recommended that in the first phase, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) mark areas on the basis of wildlife and forestry-related criteria. Then, state and central agencies along with the FSI collect and generate data on the three other parameters - hydrological, socio-economic and aesthetic values.

Once this exercise is complete, the ministry would notify areas under the Environment Protection Act after taking the views of state governments and other stakeholders, the panel has advised.