Scientific Nepali

Sweden beating coronavirus without lockdown? Evidence is gradually mounting to prove that Sweden is defeating coronavirus for once and for all without enforcing any mandatory lockdown. Sweden rather moved forward with the target of achieving "Herd Immunity" and is closer to achieving it, experts and researchers claim. Sweden's coronavirus infection rate has surprisingly remained low after initial high rates compared to other European nations whether the second wave of coronavirus is resurging. Leading experts claim that the policy of refusing to shut the country down helped build "herd immunity" - and prevent a second wave in Sweden. This strategy seems to have worked for Sweden well. Sweden's coronavirus infection rate is 28 per 1,00,000 peoples from the month of March and has relatively remained low throughout the last six months. Meanwhile, Britain's infection rate has climbed up to 69 per 1,00,000 peoples with the latest surge in coronavirus infection. Britain is mulling to enforce lockdown again. Similarly, the infection rate in France is seven times higher than Sweden and in Spain, infection rates are Ten times higher than Sweden. Kim Sneppen, professor of biocomplexity at Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, told the Politiken newspaper: “There is some evidence that the Swedes have built up a degree of immunity to the virus which, along with what else they are doing to stop the spread, is enough to control the disease.” A Read the full article

COVID-19 is Man-Made: Chinese Virologist In a shocking claim, Dr. Li-Meng Yan, a Chinese virologist, and whistleblower, claims she has solid evidence to establish that COVID-19 is man-made. She said with undeniable data and proof that she will publish, it will become clear to both scientists and non-scientists that the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic resulted due to man-made virus. She also said both the Chinese government and the World Health Organization(WHO) knew about the human-human transmission of the virus, way earlier than it came out in the public domain. Later she fled to the United States after fearing of prosecution and to continue her research further.   “The genome sequence is like a human fingerprint’, and based on this you can identify these things. I will evidence to tell people why this has come from the lab in China, why they are the ones who made it. Anyone, even if you have no biology knowledge, will be able to read it, and check and identify and verify it yourself.” Dr. Yan said in an interview with Daily Mail. Dr. Yan who is currently doing her research in US received her MD degree from XiangYa Medical College of Central South University (China), and Ph.D. from Southern Medical University (China). She was posted earlier at the prestigious Hongkong University, which is also part of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) global epidemiology network. Read the full article

Breakthrough Living robots: a bio-machine from frog cells Scientists are claiming to have created an entirely new life form, a "Living robot" from living cells o frogs. Scientists and researchers have created the life form by taking embryos of frogs and turning them into a programmable biological machine which can we applied to work as wish. It's for the first time that such biological machines have been created. Scientists are calling the biological machine "Xenobots" These are the first such completely biological machines that have been created in the history of mankind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQRBCCjaYGE&feature=emb_logo These Xenobots are bio-machines that can be dispatched to transport medicines to different parts of the body directly to make medicines more effective. These living machines can also be used to clean waste and remove pollutants from oceans. The uses of efficient bio-machines will be countless. Another best thing about these bio-machines is that they are self-healing and can heal itself to get back to normal after getting damaged. “Xenobots are novel living machines,” says Joshua Bongard, the University of Vermont expert who co-led the new research. “They’re neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal. It’s a new class of artifact: a living, programmable organism.” The new life forms were designed using the latest supercomputer and then built by biologists. Read the full article

Smartphone microscopic system for detection of cysts Smartphones that have been traditionally used for voice calls, messaging, social media, and internet surfing are now increasingly being used in more creative and professional fields. Aided by advancements in processing power, sensors, and high-quality cameras, modern smartphones becoming tools of innovation and discovery. Health and diagnostics field has seen a meteoric rise in the use of modern smartphone technologies to create innovative solutions that are less expensive and widely available. Scientist duo from Nepal, Dr Bhanu Neupane, and Dr Basant Giri have developed a low-cost smartphone-based microscopic system to detect diarrhoea causing parasites. Smart diagnostic technology is developed to detect the presence of diarrhea-causing cysts in different bodies. The presence of Cryptosporidium and Giardia cysts are major causes of diarrhea worldwide. With the development of the smartphone-based detection kit, early and on-site detection of the parasites will become possible. As per WHO, every year around 35 lakhs children below 5 years of age die due to diarrhea in developing countries. This development will decrease both necessities of visiting a laboratory and the time taken to detect diarrhea-causing parasites. The smartphone-based technology will allow the detection and prevention of diarrhea outbreaks in far-flung villages and localities in the country. Read the full article

Japanese Koi Fish are kept as pets Have you ever thought of rearing a pet with whom you can share your joy and be a best friend? Isn’t it beautiful seeing your pet after a stressful day at your work and playing all round? From ancient time pet has been an important part of the life of human beings. Different species of dogs, cats, birds, cattle, insects are kept as pets from centuries. But fish is also one of the most beautiful pets that has been rearing for more than 2 centuries. It has been a culture of having Koi fish as pets in Japan. Koi fish is the national fish of Japan. They are known as “Nishikigoi Koi.” These Japanese Koi fish is a symbol of love, friendship, and prosperity.  It has been reported that from 17th century Koi fish rearing is culture as well as business. They are supposed to be originated in China but brought to Japan as a gift. These fish are the most beautiful freshwater carp in the whole world and also the most expensive fish in the world. These are reared in the water tank, aquarium, and garden pond all over Japan, Europe, and the US mainly. Breeding and rearing of Koi Fish is an art form in Japan These fishes are around 6ft long and weigh up to 15kg. They are reported to live up to 226 yrs. in Japan whereas, generally they live up to 30 to 40 yrs. They have very identical color according to species. There are 6 major colors of Koi fish i.e. golden brown, red, yellow, black, white, blue. Each color represents a symbol of human life. Read the full article

Coronavirus medical waste to Eco-bricks: Sustainable solution Coronavirus medical waste arising from the massive increase in single-use products like Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and Masks is resulting in large scale pollution around the world. Most of the wastes are turning up in landfills and oceans to make matter worse. Apart from being infected these wastes take a long time to get decompose naturally, causing a massive stockpile of waste causing greater stress to the waste management facilities around the world. A Young environmentalist and entrepreneur from India has taken this serious environmental issue in his own hands and has developed solutions to reduce the environmental impact by his creative idea. Dr. Binish Desai also known as Recycle Man of India has devised a way to convert these medical wastes into Sustainable eco-bricks. Eco-brick details The P Block bricks made by Dr. Binish are made of medical wastes collected from hospitals, collection centers, and landfills and are properly disinfected using disinfection guidelines. Wastes are shredded as per required sizes which then is used with other binding materials to create eco-bricks. The bricks created by Binish contain 52 percent of shredded PPE and masks, three percent of the binder, and 45 percent paper waste. They are water-repellant, fire retardant, and pest resistant. The P Block 2.0 brick is standard 12x8x4 inch size. Read the full article

Coronavirus medical waste to Eco-bricks: Sustainable solution Coronavirus medical waste arising from the massive increase in single-use products like Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and Masks is resulting in large scale pollution around the world. Most of the wastes are turning up in landfills and oceans to make matter worse. Apart from being infected these wastes take a long time to get decompose naturally, causing a massive stockpile of waste causing greater stress to the waste management facilities around the world. A Young environmentalist and entrepreneur from India has taken this serious environmental issue in his own hands and has developed solutions to reduce the environmental impact by his creative idea. Dr. Binish Desai also known as Recycle Man of India has devised a way to convert these medical wastes into Sustainable eco-bricks. Eco-brick details The P Block bricks made by Dr. Binish are made of medical wastes collected from hospitals, collection centers, and landfills and are properly disinfected using disinfection guidelines. Wastes are shredded as per required sizes which then is used with other binding materials to create eco-bricks. The bricks created by Binish contain 52 percent of shredded PPE and masks, three percent of the binder, and 45 percent paper waste. They are water-repellant, fire retardant, and pest resistant. The P Block 2.0 brick is standard 12x8x4 inch size. https://scientificnepali.com/recycle-man-of-india-converts-coronavirus-medical-waste-to-eco-bricks/ Read the full article

National Innovation Center Nepal run by Mahabir Pun has designed and fabricated a prototype isolation pod for safe transportation of COVID-19 patients. The team headed by Pun shared in his Facebook post about the product. The Product is designed following all standard guidelines for effective isolation pod by World Health Organization(WHO). Mr. Pun explained the technology behind the isolation pods and iterated that the critically needed pods will be available to hospitals in the coming days. Mr. Pun explained that these isolation pods are extremely essential gadgets for ambulance drivers, helpers, first responders to remain safe and protected from the coronavirus. The droplets of the coronavirus virus can simply spread from breathing and needs to be tackled at the source itself. National Innovation Center designed the pods from durable plastic materials that are cheap and can be used again after proper sanitization. He praised his team which has been working very hard to design and fabricate the isolation pod in these pressing times. How do these isolation pods work?? Isolation pods are negative pressure ventilation systems which means no infected air is allowed to come outside of the pods. These pods are fully-sealed isolation pods and are fitted HEPA filters to treat air-borne viruses coming out of the pods. https://scientificnepali.com/national-innovation-center-designs-isolation-pods/ Read the full article

Wearable AC for personal cooling by SONY How perspiring and tired we feel going out on a sunny day when the sun takes all our energy, this feeling is universal and happens to all of us. There seems to be no solution for outdoor cooling in such situations, no more, Japanese technology giant SONY has come up with a marvelous solution to beat up the heat. Sony has come up with wearable AC (Air conditioner) solution to cool you on the move in all kinds of weather. The mini AC unit originally called Reon Pocket was developed in Sony's startup accelerator program. The wearable AC device uses the Peltier effect to create temperature differential to generate a cooling effect for users. So it means this device creates a temperature difference between two parts of the device to bring a cooling effect to your body. As reported the device can lower your temperature by 23 degrees in hot scorchy days and raise the temperature by 14 degrees in cold days. That's good as it can get, wearable AC device that can function as both heater and cooler as per outside temperature.     Reon pocket's all-white design is about the size of a card case and weighs just 85 grams. It fits neatly inside a special pocket of a matching undershirt that’s sold separately in small, medium, and large for $120 dollars. Wearable AC device has Bluetooth connectivity, is compatible with either iOS or Android. There are both Manual and Automatic control options that can be selected depending on your activities. Read the full article

  Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V induces immune response A preliminary trial of Russian SPUTNIK V coronavirus vaccine confirms its safe and induces desired immune response in the subjects.  The coronavirus vaccine was approved by Russian Authorities and first administered to one of President Putin's daughter along with others without any large scale trails or data made public. The current preliminary trail was conducted on small group of 76 healthy individuals. All volunteers developed specific antibodies and T-cells, without any adverse health effects as published on Lancet Journal today. Next phase III trial of the vaccine is already being conducted to establish whether vaccine stops peoples from getting infected and ill from corona virus. Undergoing phase III trial is expected to include a large group of around 40,000 peoples to establish veracity of the vaccine. World Health Organization (WHO) and other researchers are concerned about vaccine nationalism creating political pressure on administration to release unverified coronavirus vaccine doses to public. A complete veracity of Phase III trials of all coronavirus vaccines needs to be done without implying any shortcuts for effective working of dosage to combat with ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Read the full article

 Steroids: A Life Saver Cheap and widely available steroids reduced number of deaths in severely ill patients with corona virus, three published clinical trails show effectiveness in curbing deaths. The World Health Organization, citing published results of several clinical trails has endorsed use of steroids to combat the corona virus in severely and critically ill patients. It is strongly recommended for doctors to prescribe such medicines in case of severity in symptoms caused by different disease due to corona virus.   WHO's decision to endorse and recommend comes in backdrop of similar decision taken by U.S. National Institutes of Health, which earlier recommended use of a synthetic steroid, dexamethasone, to treat critical patients who require ventilators or oxygen. A Number of Clinical , randomized and controlled trails and meta-analysis  by US Institutes of Health convinced WHO to endorse a medication from the family of anti-inflammatory drugs called corticosteroids. The review of drugs as per clinical and randomized trails, concluded corticosteroids reduced deaths in critically ill patients by 20 percent — a drop from 2 deaths per 5 patients to 1 in 3. It found that another steroid, hydrocortisone, had benefits on par with those of dexamethasone. Read the full article

In latest development, Government of India has banned popular gaming app PUBG( Playground Unknown Battle Grounds) in India. The Chinese gaming app is hugely popular in India among casual and professional gamers.  The latest decision was taken after months of deliberation and speculation about banning acts detrimental to security as quoted by the government. PUBG Game source :TencentThe current ban is follow up from previous ban which banned more than hundred chinese owned apps in india including popular apps like Tiktok, CamScanner etc. Other chinese owned apps banned by Ministry of Information Technology includes wechat, beauty app etc. 118 chinese apps banned by india Read the full article

Institute of Engineering (IOE) a premier government institution from Nepal affiliated with Tribhuvan University has got all necessary authorization and approvals from Government of Nepal(GON) to start formal courses of Aerospace Engineering from coming sessions. The latest approvals were provided in a meeting of cabinet ministers including the Prime minister of the country. Central Campus has been gearing up and building necessary infrastructures and partnerships with foreign institutions to start the faculty in the country.   AEROSPACE ENGINEERING Aerospace Engineering is faculty of engineering dealing with development of aerocraft and spacecrafts. Aerospace engineering initially called aeronautical engineering is mix and overlaping of several faculties including mechanical engineering, aeronautical engineering, astronautical engineering ,avionics engineering and electronics engineering. These courses are designed to develop graduate students capable of undertaking design, development, fabrication and maintenance works related to aerocrafts and spacecrafts. With latest increase in interest due to space exploration and air travel becoming essential part of life, these faculties will create basis of further development of aerospace in the country.   ABOUT IOE CENTRAL CAMPUS Under Tribhuvan University there are various faculties and institutes. Institute of engineering is one of the Institute of Tribhuvan University. Read the full article