How are muscle cells made

The mangrove protection cell of the Maharashtra government has demolished the illegal bunds that were blocking sea water from flowing into the mangroves in Dahisar. Earlier, reacting to Mumbai Mirror’s report dated February 21, Additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Virendra Tiwari said, “We have given orders to destroy the illegal bunds, seizure of material for construction of bunds and also booking the elements responsible for reclaiming mangrove land .’’ Neenu Somraj, the deputy conservator, also promised to take strict action against those destroying the mangroves. The tahsildar of Borivali, Vinod Dhotre, submitted a report on February 25, showing the damage done to the protected mangroves. The report said that paver blocks were also used. The report of local range forest officer, S Deshpande, also confirmed the damage to mangroves. ... » Learn More about State mangrove cell razes illegal bunds

Spacewalking astronauts ventured out Sunday to install support frames for new, high-efficiency solar panels arriving at the International Space Station later this year. NASA 's Kate Rubins and Victor Glover emerged from the orbiting lab lugging 8-foot (2.5-meter) duffle-style bags stuffed with hundreds of pounds of mounting brackets and struts. The equipment was so big and awkward that it had to be taken apart like furniture, just to get through the hatch. "We know it's super tight in there," Mission Control radioed. The astronauts headed with their unusually large load to the far port side of the station, careful not to bump into anything. That's where the station's oldest and most degraded solar wings are located. With more people and experiments flying on the space station, more power will be needed to keep everything running, according to NASA. The six new solar panels - to be delivered in pairs by SpaceX over the coming year or so - should boost the station's ... » Learn More about Spacewalking astronauts prep station for new solar wings

Mumbai: Startups are likely to witness a strong hiring uptick this year, courtesy a bounceback in business and revenue, with growth for some even surpassing pre-pandemic levels. The pace of recruitment will increase this year, said about 72% of startup founders surveyed by debt fund InnoVen Capital in its annual Startup Outlook Report. Startups operating in logistics, digital media , e-commerce and deep-tech sectors are the most bullish about hiring. “At the beginning of the festive season in August and September last year, demand came back and the pervasive changes in consumer behaviour also played to the strengths of digital-first consumer-focused business models,” Ashish Sharma, chief executive officer of InnoVen Capital, said in the report. The Covid-19 pandemic hurt most companies last year, and they had to make tough calls around realigning team sizes and salary cuts, although a few enjoyed immediate tailwinds (edtech, online gaming, etc.), the report stated. ... » Learn More about Startup jobs seen aplenty in 2021 as post-pandemic hiring gathers pace

As India gears to vaccinate all citizens above 60 years of age and those over 45 years with comorbidities from March 1, the centre on Saturday released the list of 20 comorbidities that would be covered for vaccination. The document will work as a certificate to identify individuals with comorbidities that enhance the risk of mortality in Covid-19 disease and must be signed by a registered medical practitioner for priority vaccination. The list of comorbidities includes cardiovascular ailments, diabetes , hypertension, cancer , AIDS and persons with disabilities. According to the centre’s estimates, around 27 crore people belong to these categories. While phase-2 of vaccination is good progress towards protecting the high-risk groups against severe Covid-19 disease, however, experts are witnessing hesitation among patients especially with underlying health conditions. Medical experts said that they have been receiving queries from patients seeking advice on whether they ... » Learn More about Doctors urge people with comorbidities to take Covid-19 vaccine without hesitation

An adenovirus vector vaccine against COVID-19 by CanSino Biologics is projected to provide protection for two years if a booster shot is administered, said a scientist who played a key role in the vaccine's development. The Chinese National Medical Products Administration granted conditional market approval to the vaccine on Thursday. The vaccine, called Ad5-nCoV, has an efficacy rate of 65.7 percent at preventing symptomatic cases and is 90.9 percent effective in preventing severe disease with a single injection, according to interim analysis of late-stage human trials released in February. The vaccine uses a genetically modified adenovirus－a common type of virus－to carry an antigen from the novel coronavirus into cells to induce an immune response. Chen Wei, a key figure behind the vaccine and a researcher at the Institute of Military Medicine of the Academy of Military Sciences, told China Central Television that data shows a single dose should provide protection for six ... » Learn More about New vaccine to ‘provide 2-year protection’

(Subscribe to Science For All, our weekly newsletter, where we aim to take the jargon out of science and put the fun in. Click here .) Air-powered robot Published in Science Robotics If you thought all robots need electronics to function, meet this cute four-legged soft robot that uses pressurised air to function. The authors write that these robots can find applications in places where electronics cannot function, such as MRI machines and mine shafts. The team is now working to improve the robot’s gait to help it walk on uneven surfaces and navigate over obstacles. Massive black hole Published in Science Cygnus X-1, one of the closest black holes to Earth discovered in 1964, has now been found to have a mass of over 20 times the mass of our Sun. Co-author Professor Ilya Mandel said in a release that the black hole is so massive it’s actually challenging how astronomers thought they formed. “The black hole in the Cygnus X-1 system began life as a star ... » Learn More about Best from science journals: A robot without electronics

MUMBAI : Surprised that obesity has failed to make it to the list of 20 comorbidities that would determine the eligibility for Covid-19 vaccination for those between 45-59 years, experts say it should have been included as it was one of the common underlying conditions found in hospitalised patients. Overall, the categories of underlying conditions for vaccination released by the Union health ministry on Saturday has divided the medical community with some calling it exhaustive, while others have found it too restrictive, reports Sumitra Deb Roy. Doctors also pointed out that diabetes and hypertension have been clubbed with other ailments or tied to complications, or a patient’s duration of medication. One of the criteria reads ‘having diabetes for more than 10 years or with complications and hypertension on treatment’. “Diabetics have to be on medication for more than 10 years and if they have hypertension as well, they will qualify,” said physician Dr Gautam ... » Learn More about Obesity should’ve been on comorbidity list: Experts