NOIDA/DELHI

02 EducationPlus

THE HINDU | MONDAY | OCTOBER 5, 2015

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SNAPSHOTS

Two objects fused to form Rosettas 67P comet

R. PRASAD

Is there ice in comet 67Ps

southern polar region?

A BALANCED DIET IS
GOOD FOR CORALS

A nutrient-rich,
balanced diet is
beneficial to corals
during stressful
thermal events. The
particular nutrient
balance in seawater is
what matters most.

FROG TONGUE LIKE

ADHESIVE TAPE

Scientists have
shown what happens
when a frog's tongue
makes contact with a
surface. Similarities to
conventional adhesive
tape in frogs tongue
were found.

he rubber-duck shaped
comet
67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko (67P)
made up of a larger lobe
and a smaller lobe separated by a thin neck region
were once two fully formed, distinct objects that merged together, notes a study published
recently in the journal Nature.
The origin of the comets double-lobed form has been a key
question since Rosetta first revealed its surprising shape in July last year. Till date, it has been
unclear if comet 67P had formed
by the fusion of two objects or if
concentrated localised erosion of
a single object led to the formation of the thin neck.
By using high-resolution images from the Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging
System (OSIRIS) taken between
August 6, 2014 and March 17,
2015 to study the layers of material seen all over the nucleus, scientists
have
unequivocally
shown that the peculiar shape
arose from a low-speed collision
between two fully, separately developed comets.
Gentle, low-velocity collisions occurred between two fully
formed kilometre-sized cometesimals in the early stages of the
Solar System, notes the paper.
Matteo Massironi, the first author of the study from the University of Padova, Italy, has
found that the two lobes with an
onion-like stratification (layering) have notable structural
similarities and surface composition. The structural similarities, in turn, indicate that the two
comets that formed separately
must have experienced similar
accretion processes.
The researchers were able to

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Gentle, low-velocity collisions occurred between two fully formed kilometre-sized cometesimals in the early
stages of the Solar System. PHOTO: REUTERS
conclude that comet 67P was
formed due to fusion of two separate bodies by using the images
to identify over 100 terraces distributed all over the surface of
the comet and parallel layers of
material clearly seen in exposed
cliff walls and pits. Next, the directions in which the parallel layers were sloping and the depth to
which they were extending were
determined using a 3D shape
model. They found that the strata of the two lobes are clearly
independent of each other, suggesting that the two lobes had
formed separately. The fact that
the layers are inclined in oppo-

site directions at the neck only

confirms that the two lobes had
been fused at the neck. The possibility of localised erosion to form
the thin neck can be ruled out
as erosion cannot alter the direction of inclination of the layers.
The researchers next studied
the relationship between gravity
and the orientation of individual
features seen on the comets surface. Generally, the layering of
strata should be perpendicular to
the gravity of the object.
The scientists considered two
scenarios comet was first considered to be a single body with
the centre of mass close to the

Controlling the moods of brain cells

MOHIT M. RAO

MELTING GLACIERS
ERODE THE LAND

Glaciers in Patagonia
caused more erosion
than those in
Antarctica, as warming
and melting ice helped
lubricate the glacier
beds.

RICE PROTEINS ARE

NOT A WASTE

A new process is
being developed to split
rice proteins into
smaller pieces which
can be put to good use
in cosmetics or
nutritional
supplements.

VOLCANIC 'MAGMA
MUSH' SIMULATED

The first simulation

of crystals in volcanic
mush, a mix of liquid
magma and solid
crystals, helps
understand the buildup
of pressure deep inside
a volcano.

he answer to better artificial

intelligence or even the cure
for autism may lie in one of the
most fickle cells in the body.
The little-understood Purkinje
cells, which form in a single layer
within the cerebellum in the base
of the brain, aids in controlling
balance, coordination and for
learning new motor skills that
enable us to ride a bicycle,
painting or even learning musical
instruments.
However, a study by researchers
from the National Centre for
Biological Sciences (NCBS),
Bengaluru, shows that these
nerve cells have the innate ability
to either follow or ignore
instructions of the brain.
This moodiness of the Purkinje
cell was found to depend on the
voltage across membranes. When
the inside of the cell was more
negative than the outside, the

he Rosetta spacecraft has

finally studied the comet
67P/ChuryumovGerasimenkos southern polar
region and found something
very intriguing about the
material just below its surface.
Data collected by the
Microwave Instrument for
Rosetta Orbiters (MIRO)
millimeter and submillimeter
wavelength channels between
August and October 2014
showed significant differences.
These differences might point
to the presence of large
amounts of ice within the first
few tens of centimeters below
the surface of the comets
southern polar region, says a
release issued jointly by NASA
and ESA.
The results of the study will be
published in the journal
Astronomy and Astrophysics.
It appears that either the
surface material or the material
thats a few tens of centimeters
below it is extremely
transparent, and could consist
mostly of water ice or carbondioxide ice, Mathieu
Choukroun, lead author of the
paper from NASAs Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),
Pasadena, California, said in the
release.
When Rosetta arrived at 67P in
August 2014, the comet was still
experiencing its long summer
in the northern hemisphere,
and regions on the southern
hemisphere received very little

signals in the Purkinje cells

remained silent until
instructions from other parts of
the brain sent it into a flurry of
activity.
This obedient mood was called
down state by the researchers.
However, when the inside was
less negative than the outside, the
cells went into an up mode
where impulses were sent at a
constant rate despite receiving
signals coming from the other
parts of the brain.
We have shown that a more
negative voltage helps the neuron
pay attention to signals it
receives while a less negative
voltage puts it in do not disturb
mode, says Vatsala Thirumalai,
an NCBS scientist who authored
the paper along with her
graduate student Mohini
Sengupta published recently in
the journal eLife. However, only
further experiments can
determine why the voltages in the
cell change, she said.

QUESTION CORNER
COPPER STRANDS
Why are there numerous thin copper strands inside an
electric wire instead of a single copper strand that is as
thick as the numerous copper strands?
S. Udayaprakash, Karur, Tamil Nadu
Copper being a very good conductor of electricity is used
extensively in electric wires and cables. To make these wires and
cables more economical, the prime objective it to optimize the
amount of copper per unit length that can carry certain rated
current through itself without being damaged or burned.
In general, the electric power that is to be supplied to the
household and most of the electric equipment of industries is AC
type, i.e. Alternating Current. One of the properties of alternating
current is that it has tendency to flow in the surface of any
conductor. It means the flow of alternating current is highly
concentrated near the circumference instead of being evenly
distributed in the whole cross-section of the conductor. This
tendency is increased with the increment of frequency of
alternating current. This phenomenon is called skin effect. The
skin effect concludes that for flowing of the higher amount of AC
requires more circumferences instead of more cross-sectional area
of conductor.
Hence, instead of single copper strand, a copper wire has
numerous multi-strands that increases its circumference
dimension so that for the same amount of the copper, a wire of
higher rated current can be manufactured. A multi-strand wire
also offers more mechanical strength then a single-strand wire.
Prakhar Verma
Raigarh

THIS WEEKS QUESTIONS

How do astronauts protect themselves from radiation in
outer space?
J.Michael Niranjan, Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
Why do tears taste salty?
D. Janani, Chennai
Readers can send their questions/answers on science and technology to the email ID:
questioncorner@thehindu.co.in

Several conditions such as

alcoholism, autism and ataxias (a
condition resulting in lack of
muscular coordination) affect
Purkinje neuron function, and
understanding the working of the
cells can help design therapies for
improving motor skills, Dr.
Vatsala said. Apart from the
medical potential, the study can
also aid in designing robots that
have the dexterity of the human
hand. By drawing inspiration
from Purkinje neurons, it may be
possible to design better robots
that learn fine movements, she
said.
The intricacies of the cells were
revealed by observing the
Zebrafish (found in Ganga and
Brahmaputra), which is nearly
transperant and does not have a
fully-grown skull. Nerve cells in
the brain were made to glow by
injecting DNA, while a paralytic
agent, which does not affect
signals in the brain, was used to
keep the fish stationary.

neck and in the second case as

two different comets with their
respective centres of mass.
It was found that close to the
neck, the orientation of a given
layer and the direction of the local gravity are closer to perpendicular only in the model where
the comet is considered as two
separate objects.
Since stratification is a primary structure, and the ordered
sequence of strata is left undisturbed to a depth of 650 metres,
the two lobes should have fused
together only through a low-velocity impact, the researchers
state.

sunlight had been in total

darkness for almost five years.
However, a few months before
the comet reaches perihelion
the closest point to the Sun
along its orbit the situation
changes, and the southern
hemisphere transitions to a
brief and very hot summer.
According to the release, the
difference between the surface
and subsurface composition of
this part of the nucleus and that
found elsewhere might
originate in the comets
peculiar cycle of seasons. One
of the possible explanations is
that water and other gases that
were released during the
comets previous perihelion,
when the southern hemisphere
was the most illuminated
portion of the nucleus. The
water condensed again and
precipitated on the surface
after the season changed and
the southern hemisphere
plunged again into its long and
cold winter. These are,
however, preliminary results,
as the analysis depends on the
detailed shape of the nucleus,
notes the release.
In May 2015, the seasons
changed on 67P and the brief,
hot southern summer, which
will last until early 2016, began.
With the southern polar region
now receiving more sunlight, it
has become possible to observe
it with other instruments on
Rosetta. The combination of
data from different instruments
might eventually disclose the
origin of their curious
composition.

Gene mutations link to leishmaniasis

Y. MALLIKARJUN

cientists have identified three

gene mutations associated
with increased susceptibility of
individuals to Leishmaniasis, a
tropical disease endemic to certain parts of India, Africa and a
few other countries.
In collaborative studies conducted by the Centre for Cellular
and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in
Hyderabad, Institute of Tropical
Medicine, University of Tubingen, Germany, Banaras Hindu
University and Foundation Congolaise pour la Recherche Medicale, Brazzaville, Congo, the
scientists found that mutations in
MBL-2, Ficolin-2 and IL 10 were
associated with increased susceptibility to the disease. Results of
the study was published in Parasitology International.
Leishmaniasis is a tropical disease and the infection is transmitted by an infective bite of a female

sand fly. The Indian subcontinent, Africa and South America

account for approximately 1.3
million new cases every year. Of
the four clinical types of Leishmaniasis, Visceral Leishmaniasis
or Kala-azar is the severest form
and fatal if untreated.
About 4,00,000 new cases and
40,000 deaths are reported annually and about 90 per cent of
the cases occur in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sudan, Ethiopia and
Brazil. Kala-azar is considered a
major health problem in Indian
subcontinent with an estimated
150 million people at risk. It is
endemic in Bihar, West Bengal
and eastern parts of Uttar
Pradesh.
Mannose-binding
Lectin
(MBL), a kind of protein, helps in
recognising the parasite and
binds to its surface during development stages. Scientists have
found that the MBL serum levels
were elevated in patients infected
with Kala-azar.

When we looked at patients

and controls, we got statistically
significant value, said Dr. Kumaraswamy Thangaraj, Deputy Director, CCMB and one of the
authors of the study. It was found
that genetic mutation in MBL-2
was significantly associated with
higher MBL serum levels in patients. Earlier studies implicated
this mutation in malaria too.
Dr. Thangaraj said that screening of individuals for these mutations would help in taking
preventive measures and minimising the risk of infections.
Dr. Anshuman Mishra, senior
research associate at CCMB, said
they studied Kala-azar because it
was a neglected tropical disease
which affected poor people. The
scientists looked at various inert
immunity genes and found that
the mutations were making people susceptible to Leishmaniasis.
This information could be used
for diagnosis and genetic counselling, he added.

Curcumin, a wonder drug in waiting

G. PADMANABAN AND
P.N. RANGARAJAN

here have been many debates

on the contributions of ancient Indian science in a variety of
fields. Some claims are backed by
authentic data, while some others
are based on flights of imagination. But there is one example of a
miracle drug, acknowledged as
such globally for its potential,
which India and its scientists
have deliberated on extensively,
but failed to make an impact in
the world of practicing modern
medicine.
The drug is curcumin, the active principle from the spice turmeric. This spice is a native of
Asia, in particular India. It is
grown almost entirely in India.
Its use can be traced to Vedic culture, some 4,000 years ago in India. Turmeric is extensively used
in Indian cooking and also finds
uses as a dye, cosmetic and medical applications.
In Ayurveda, turmeric has wide
uses. It is used to treat flatulence,
dyspepsia, liver disorders (jaundice in particular), common
colds, eye and ear infections,
small-pox, chicken pox and above
all a variety of skin diseases and
inflammatory conditions. And all
the modern research with curcumin has shown it to be beneficial
in a wider set of ailments. Per-

haps, there is no ailment against

which curcumin has not been
tested in some laboratory or other
globally.
Although, a large segment of
the studies is devoted to the use of
curcumin to treat a variety of cancers, its beneficial use has been
demonstrated with a wide range
of diseases including Alzheimers,
cystic fibrosis, arthritis, other systemic disorders and infectious
diseases. It is equally intriguing
that the molecular targets for curcumin are very diverse, ranging
from genes to membranes. This
defies the very concept of a modern drug, discovered using a variety of computational tools,
animal and human trials to ensure specificity and safety.
Curcumin defies all these concepts, has pleiotropic action and
is safe both as a dietary component as well as orally administered drug (up to 8 grams/day was
shown to be non-toxic in humans). There are stray examples
of side effects such as nausea on
long-term therapy with curcumin, but the overwhelming evidence is in terms of its beneficial
effects.
Another argument against curcumin is that it is poorly absorbed
and metabolized very fast. But,
again it is effective despite defying all the classical requirements
in terms of pharmaco-kinetic and
dynamic parameters. It appears
that tiny concentrations for short

periods are adequate for longterm effects. For example, we

have found its antimalarial activity long after it has disappeared
from circulation, indicating that
it is capable of inducing a memory
effect. At the same time, nanocurcumin preparations are now
available to enhance bioavailability, if required.
The fact remains that curcumin is not an approved drug even
for a single ailment, although
USFDA has classified it as a GRAS
(Generally Regarded As Safe)
molecule. Data is available from
over 100 clinical trials (completed
and ongoing), including cancers
and other diseases, using curcumin alone or in combination with
existing therapy. The data indicate positive trends, but with the
invariable conclusion that larger
clinical trials with appropriate
randomized designs are needed.
This is the stage we have reac-

hed and remained after decades

of research; curcumin was discovered in 1815! A molecule that is
beneficial for a variety of ailments, based on a science that
cannot explain its diverse drug
targets, an action that defies pharmacological parameters and
above all a drug that is cheap and
not easily patentable as such, will
never make the grade in the eyes
of multinational pharmaceutical
companies.
But, what is preventing Indian
drug companies from looking at
curcumin as an approved drug for
specific ailments in the clinic? It
is here that there is an opportunity for the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to step in
and take steps to promote curcumin as a unique molecule to treat
specific diseases.
The best option appears to conduct clinical trials with curcumin
as an adjunct therapy with the
existing drugs. It can work synergistically as an anti-inflammatory molecule and can decrease
the toxicity and resistance to the
primary drug. It can be a unique
antidote to treat and prevent drug
resistance. This will be a great
contribution which India can
make to the cause of affordable
therapy with justifiable pride in
the wisdom of ancient Indian
medicine.
(The authors are from the Department of Biochemistry, Indian
Institute of Science, Bengaluru)

NOIDA/DELHI

02 EducationPlus

THE HINDU | MONDAY | OCTOBER 12, 2015

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SNAPSHOTS

Indian scientists solve a

century-old light puzzle

Neutrinos: oscillations
and open questions
SHUBASHREE DESIKAN

MOHIT M. RAO

SKIN SAMPLES
TO BRAIN CELLS

Scientists can
now use skin
samples from older
patients to create
brain cells, a boon
to study of
Alzheimer's and
Parkinson's.

TROPICAL ANTS
ONCE IN EUROPE

Ants which lived

in Europe 45 to 10
million years ago
were similar to
those now living in
South East Asia
than European
counterparts.

oes the momentum

of light increase or
decrease when it
passes through a material? This question, which formed the crux
of a debate between two German physicists in the early
20th Century nally sees the
answer recreated in a lab in
Mohali.
Ever since the scientists
Hermann Minkowski and
Max Abraham came up with
contradicting equations that
both seemed to be supported
by contradicting experimental data, the controversy has
raged on without a solution as
equipment failed to be sensitive enough to detect the
light-induced tiny deformations at the interface between
air and water.
However, using an indigenous experimental set-up, researchers from the Indian
Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER),
Mohali, have achieved a
breakthrough that shows that
Minkowski was right light
does gain momentum as it enters another medium.
The simple setup involved shining a laser on a water drop to study the chain of
events. The Helium-Neon laser was incident at the Total

Dr. Kamal Singh of IISER Mohali (left) and his PhD student Gopal Verma used an indigenous
experimental set-up to calculate the bulge in the water particle due to the photon beam.
PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Internal Reection a critical angle where all the light is

reected, like a mirror.
Described in the journal
Physical Review Letters published recently, the probe laser produces high-contrast
Newtons ring (concentric
circles of light and dark) on
the water drop. The modulation of these fringes allowed
the scientists to observe bulges in surface of heights lesser
than 5 nano-metre precision.
On conducting the experi-

ment at angles close to TIR,

the water surface was found
to be bent upwards due to the
pressure exerted by the photon beam and was spread to
100 times beyond the area of
the pumped laser. The analysis shows that the light particles
actually
gained
momentum.
For the rst time in history, our experiment validates
the century old Minkowski
theory near Total Internal reectionthis novel and very

Wild animals thrive at Chernobyl

DIVYA GANDHI

T
NEW DATA ON
EARTH'S CORE

New research

data indicates that

the Earth's inner
core was formed
1-1.5 billion years
ago as it "froze"
from the
surrounding molten
iron outer core.

sensitive technique has wide

applications and can be used
to precisely measure properties of light non-invasively,
says Kamal P. Singh, an IISER
scientist who co-authored the
paper with his colleague Gopal Verma.
Apart from solving a century-old problem, the equipment designed can aide in
developing better biosensors,
lab-on-chip devices, easily recongurable lenses and molecular imaging tools.

hree decades after the

worlds worst nuclear
accident turned a vast
area around Chernobyl into
an uninhabitableexclusion
zone, scientists are surprised to nd it packed with
wildlife. Wolves, elks, lynx,
red deer and wild boar have
reclaimed this abandoned
site despite the radiation exposure, nds a study published inCurrent Biology.
As many as 116,000 people
were evacuated from the
Chernobyl exclusion zone after the nuclear disaster in
1986. The proliferation of animals is unique evidence of
wildlifes resilience in the
face of chronic radiation
stress, says the paper. While
there may be some effects on
individual animals, the populations are thriving, particularly in the absence of
people, co-author J.T. Smith,

It is unique evidence of wildlifes resilience in the face of

chronic radiation stress. PHOTO: TATYANA DERYABINA
Professor at School of Earth
& Environmental Sciences,
University of Portsmouth
told this Correspondent.
A helicopter survey revealed rising numbers of elk,
roe deer and wild boar 10
years after the accident. But
most notably, the wolf density was found to be seven
times higherin the exclusion
zone than it is in other nature
reserves in the region. Before the Chernobyl accident,

mammal population densities were likely depressed due

to hunting, forestry and agriculture, say the authors. The
study also looked at animal
tracks on the snow to test
whether the more contaminated routes had fewer
tracks. We didn't nd a correlation. We couldn't see a
difference in the number of
tracks between more and less
contaminated
areas,says
Prof. Smith. The winter track

censuses identied over a

dozen species including, weasel, lynx, pine marten, raccoon dog, mink, ermine, stone
marten, polecat, European
hare and red squirrel.
Radiation is known to damage DNA, but we have to remember that radiation dose
rates now are more than 100
times less than in the rst
days after the accident, says
Prof Smith. While still very
signicant, the radiation levels we see now aren't expected to do major damage to
animals' physiology and reproductive systems.
The very high radiation
dose rates during the rst six
months after the accident
signicantly affected animal
health and reproduction at
Chernobyl, but long-term
radiation damage to wildlife
is not apparent from our
trend analysis of large mammal abundances, the paper
concludes.

extbooks of particle
physics, even in the
1990s, used to describe
the neutrino as a particle
which had no charge or mass.
So if neutrinos have no charge
or mass, how does one detect
them?
In fact, Austrian physicist
Wolfgang Pauli, who postulated the existence of this particle, is said to have written in a
letter: I have done a terrible
thing. I have postulated a particle that cannot be detected.
These textbooks had to be
corrected soon, as, through
independent experiments in
Japan and Canada, it was
shown (in 1998 and 2001) that
the neutrinos do indeed possess a small mass. This discovery is what has led to the
researchers, Takaaki Kajita
and Arthur B McDonald, being awarded the Nobel Prize
in Physics this year.

METAMORPHOSES
Neutrinos come in three
avours electron neutrino,
muon neutrino and tau neutrino the names indicating
that they are associated with
processes involving the electron or its close cousins the
tau particle or the muon.
The two groups, working in
Super Kamiokande detector
near Tokyo and the Sudbury
Neutrino Observatory (SNO)
in Ontario, Canada, made this
discovery indirectly, by observing that on their route to
the earth, the neutrinos undergo a change from one type
to the other, through a process called neutrino oscillations. This process cannot
take place if the neutrinos had
no mass.
The Super-Kamiokande detector became operational in

VARYING PACE
BURNS MORE FAT

Researchers
have found that
walking at varying
speeds can burn up
to 20 percent more
calories compared
to maintaining a
steady pace.

GLOBAL CORAL
BLEACHING

Bleaching has
intensified in
Hawaii and high sea
temperatures
threaten Caribbean
corals. Global coral
bleaching event has
been declared.
CM
YK

r Martin Gardner, of
Scientic American, in
his book: Science -good,
bad and bogus, exposed several experiments and theories, propounded by some
scientists as bogus. The way
we determine whether a scientic theory or claim is good
or not through the process of
repetition and verication. If
I follow the same procedure,
use the same materials, but do
not get what you have
claimed, then your claim is
very likely false. This is what
Karl Popper called as the
touchstone of veriability and
falsiability.
Often a well- respected theory or claim turns out to be
inadequate or even downright
incorrect. But when one
claims long-accepted set of
assumptions to be wrong, the
community looks at his
claims with a ne-truth comb
before accepting or rejecting
it. Alchemists long tried to
create gold out of a variety of
other materials and failed.
Now we know why, thanks to
what we understand in modern science. Alchemy was bad
science.
Bogus science? One Mr Ramar Pillai claimed in 1990s
that he can transmute water
into gasoline using a mixture
of herbs. He was exposed as a
fraud whose claim vaporized
faster than petrol. His claim
was bogus, one with the ulte-

rior idea of making money

and obtaining publicity.
We now have a new avatar
which is best described as
Junk Science. This has arisen
in the area of science journals,
where a scientist publishes
his research work. How? In
the long respected tradition of
science, when one wants to
publish his scientic contribution, he submits it to a journal. The editor sends it to a
few (anonymous) fellow scientists for review. The author
responds to the criticism and
resubmits. The manuscript is
then accepted and published,
or asked to be re-revised or
rejected. This practice assumes honesty, professionalism, no bias or personal
agenda by the referees. The
tougher such peer evaluation,
the better the quality of the
paper and reputation of the
author on one hand, and the
standing of the journal on the
other. Some journals are regarded as high impact while
some others are also-rans.
And the standing of a scientist
in the eld is measured by
where his publications have
appeared and what his Impact factor has been. Happily
enough, all this has been happening for centuries absolutely free of charge, in the
tradition of free exchange of
intellectual ideas. Alas, prot
motive has overtaken this
goodwill scientic service.

We determine whether a scientific theory is good or not

through the process of repetition and verification. PHOTO: AFP
Recently, many of these high
impact journals are owned by
a small group of science journal publishers, who now demand enormous amount of
money (some over $ 2000) for
publication of a paper in them
(and charging a reader for
even accessing a paper in
them, pay-to-read). Disgusted by this cartelization, scientists have initiated steps
towards open access, exemplied by the Public Library
of Science (PLoS) group,
which charge an author a
small amount (to cover operating costs; waived if he cannot afford to pay), and all
articles in these journals
downloadable for free. The
practice of refereeing, and accepting submissions by authors in these journals is just
as rigorous as in the high impact ones mentioned above.
PLoS journals have thus
brought back the value systems that characterized the

Predatory
journals
proliferate
what one may
call Junk
Science
scientic community.
A despicable recent development is the arrival of what
some have called Predatory
Journals. These are other
forms of open access journals, most with fancy titles,
started by bit players out to
make money. They use all of
todays technology, but do not
practice tough evaluation of
submissions through accomplished peers (who take time
to do so). Speedy turn- around
is the game here. Your review will be done in 48 hrs,
and your paper is guaranteed
to be published, but you must

The Nobel has

given a boost
to neutrino
hunters
1996 in a zinc mine some 250
km from Tokyo. It is built to
detect Cosmic neutrinos
those that are produced
through cosmic radiations that
fall on the earth from all directions. The Sudbury Neutrino
Observatory, on the other
hand, is built to study Solar
neutrinos neutrinos created
deep within the Sun.
In 1998, the Super-Kamiokande rst detected that there
was a difference in the number
of muon neutrinos falling on
the detector from above and
those incident from below after passing through the mass of
the globe. One explanation for
this puzzle was that the muon
neutrinos were oscillating
into a different type. They further suspected that the muon
neutrinos were actually changing into Tau neutrinos. This
was corroborated by the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory,
which was built to study electron neutrinos coming from
the Sun, and which in 2001 detected a difference in the number between what was

calculated and what was

observed.
Theoretically explaining
this puzzle meant making a
big dent in the so-far accepted Standard Model of particle
physics, because it meant
that the neutrino had to have
a small mass.

OPEN QUESTIONS
Even today, while the difference between masses of
the three types of neutrino
are known, the absolute mass
of the lightest is not, as Prof.
McDonald said over the telephone to the Nobel committee and the press.
Another question is about
the hierarchy of masses of the
three avours. Would the
electron neutrino be heavier
than the Tau and muon neutrinos, or is it the other way
around?
Every particle known so
far has a unique antiparticle.
For instance, the antiparticle
of the electron is the positron, and that of the proton
is the anti-proton. Similarly,
would neutrino have an antiparticle which is different
from itself or is each neutrino
its own antiparticle?
The Nobel Prize has given
a boost to neutrino hunters
across the globe as they gear
up to pursue these questions.

Antioxidants speed cancer spread

ntioxidants, which are

hailed for their cancerghting abilities, may in
fact increase the risk of the
disease by doubling the
spread of cancer from one
part of the body to another, a
new study has claimed. Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy,
University
of
Gothenburg, in Sweden have
found that antioxidants can
double the rate of melanoma
metastasis in mice. The results reinforce previous ndings that antioxidants hasten
the progression of lung cancer, researchers said. Accord-

Good, bad, bogus and junk sciences

SPEAKING OF SCIENCE

The IceCube neutrino observatory located in the south pole

detected neutrinos coming from outer space.

shell out anywhere from $

1000-2000. These predatory
journals proliferate what one
may call as Junk Science.
What is published is not necessarily bogus, but often halfbaked, and thus not necessarily rigorous science. But they
cater to an author who wants
to fatten his curriculum vitae
for promotion.
Such a Junk Science article
has appeared in one such
predatory (Junk) journal
called Agricultural Sciences, with the title: Do
GMOs accumulate formaldehyde and disrupt molecular
systems equilibria? Systems
biology may provide answers. In a hard- hitting critique of this paper, the science
writer Kavin Senapathy (see
http://www.
project-syndicate.org/
commentary/gmos-junkscience-by-henry-i-millerand-kavin-senapthy-201509) says the prediction made
in the paper is akin to a meteorologist predicting from his
model that it will be sunny all
day, instead of looking out of
the window to see whether
rain is falling. A biologist, upon reading the paper, offered
to work with the authors and
test in his lab the levels of
formaldehyde in genetically
modied soyabean and compare it with the control (nonGM soy). The authors declined. One wonders why. Are
they anti-GMO?
D. BALASUBRAMANIAN
dbala@lvpei.org

ing to Professor Martin Bergo,

people with cancer or an elevated risk of developing the
disease should avoid nutritional supplements that contain antioxidants.
Researchers have shown
that antioxidants hastened
the progression of lung cancer. Mice that were given antioxidants developed additional
and more aggressive tumours.
Experiments on human lung
cancer cells conrmed the results.
Found in many nutritional
supplements, antioxidants
are widely marketed as a

means of preventing cancer.

The followup studies have
now found that antioxidants
double the rate of metastasis
in malignant melanoma.
As opposed to the lung
cancer studies, the primary
melanoma tumour was not affected, Bergo said.
But the antioxidant boosted the ability of the tumour
cells to metastasise, an even
more serious problem because metastasis is the cause
of death. The primary tumour
is not dangerous per se and is
usually removed, he said.
PTI

QUESTION CORNER
TEARS TASTE
Why do tears taste salty?
Janani, Chennai
Body uids like sweat and tears are salty to taste and
this has physiological, immunological and evolutionary signicance. Tears are the secretions of lacrymal
glands of eyes. These tears are classied into basal,
reex and psychic tears. The salinity and chemical
composition of tears vary from type to type and situation to situation. Basal tears are responsible for
keeping the cornea of eye moist. Reex tears are produced during eye irritation.
Psychic tears are produced during weeping. Tears
contain greater quantities of water along with other
organic and inorganic chemical components like mucin, lipids,lysozyme, lactoferrin, lipocalin,lacritin, sodium and potassium. The salinity of tears is attributed
to the presence of salts of sodium and potassium.
This salinity of tears along with the presence of
enzymes like lysozyme is responsible for their antimicrobial activity. Basal tears have a salt content similar to blood plasma. The salinity of basal tears disturbs
the osmotic balance of bacteria and keeps the cornea
in a healthy microbial-free environment. The mineral
content of tears also nourishes the tissues associated
with eyes. Saline nature of tears also indicates our
evolutionary descent from marine organisms.
G.L.N.PRASAD , Head, Department of Zoology, Govt. UG & PG College,
Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

Why do an alcoholic's eyes appear red?
E.S. Chandrasekharan, Chennai
Since the moon revolves around the Earth all
the time, why don't we see solar eclipse during
every moon's revolution around the Earth?
Chaitanya Vuddanti
Why does one's voice differ from another person's?
Sujitha M.S.
Why is there a peculiar smell when butter is
heated to get ghee?
T.N. Sama Rao,Thiruninravur, Tamil Nadu
Readers can send their questions/answers by email to
questioncorner@thehindu.co.in
ND-X

NOIDA/DELHI

02 EducationPlus

THE HINDU | MONDAY | OCTOBER 19, 2015

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SNAPSHOTS

ASTROSAT spots Crab Nebula, ABC conjecture: proved but

still out of reach?
the brightest X-ray source
SHUBASHREE DESIKAN

R. PRASAD
AND MADHUMATHI D.S.

BEES DRAWN TO
NECTAR CAFFEINE

Now,

researchers find
that honey bees
find caffeinated
nectar irresistible,
preferring it over
non-caffeinated
nectar.

SEXUAL SPREAD
OF EBOLA VIRUS

A suspected

case of sexual
transmission of
Ebola virus disease
in Liberia was
confirmed using
genomic analysis
by U.S Army.

n October 9, ASTROSAT, the rst Indian

space observatory,
spotted the Crab
Nebula using the
Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) instrument. The
Crab Nebula is the brightest
hard X-ray (highest energy Xray) source in the sky; researchers often use it as a reference to calibrate hard X-ray
detectors.
The sighting of the Crab is
signicant and implies that
the specic instrument on
board can locate X-ray sources. It would further view other
celestialX-ray sources and
aid Indian research on them.
This is only the beginning,
with many more events to unfold, ISRO said. The nebula
was detected on October 9 [at
the same time] by both the
Mission Operation Centre at
Peenya, Bengaluru, and the
Payload Operation Centre,
IUCAA, Pune.
ASTROSAT also spotted
and viewed Cygnus X-1, a
black hole source, for two
days.

NERVE-WRACKING
The sighting of the Crab
Nebula was preceded by palpable tension and a nerve
wracking
period
which
seemed like eternity but was

The signal from the Crab Nebula was swamped by noise

(background photons) and hence the scientists could not spot
it in the very first orbit. PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The sighting
implies that
the specific
instrument
can locate
X-ray sources
only three days before scientists at the Mission Operation
Centre in Bengaluru detected
the Crab Nebula at 2.03 pm on
October 9. The Payload Operation Centre, IUCAA, Pune
too detected it at almost the
same time.
If we are not looking at the
source, we would get some
background photons. But the
background photons were a
lot more than anticipated,
said Dr. Varun Bhalerao, Post

Doctoral Fellow at the Punebased Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA). In fact, the
background rate exceeded the
anticipated rate by a factor of
four.
When a cosmic ray hits
any matter [in this case the
telescope], it creates lots of
photons locally due to cosmic
ray interaction. What would
be detected as one photon becomes 10 photons, Dr. Bhalerao said. Theoretically and
observationally, it is known
that when a high-energy cosmic ray hits any matter it can
create a shower. Several parameters should be right to
see this shower.
As a result, the signal from
the Crab Nebula was
swamped by noise (background photons) and hence

Butterflies in England at risk

K.S. RAJGOPAL

ALARMING LOSS
OF FORESTS

Protected

forests have been

lost rapidly during
the first 12 years of
this century, say
researchers at
Aalto University,
Finland.

MOST ANTARCTIC
SEA ICE EXTENT

This year's

Antarctica
maximum sea ice
extent is both the
22nd lowest and
the 16th highest of
the 37 years of
satellite readings.

LUNAR MOUND'S
VOLCANIC ORIGIN

A geological

study by scientists
suggests that a
mysterious lunar
mound was formed
by unique volcanic
processes set off by
impact at the basin.

the scientists could not spot

the nebula in the very rst orbit.
Soon thereafter, the ASTROSAT passed through the
South Atlantic Anomaly
(SAA) region when the Crab
was in the eld of view. The
South Atlantic Anomaly is
Earths magnetic eld anomaly region as a lot of charged
particles are trapped there. So
there is so much noise whenever a satellite passes through
the SAA region. The region
can also damage the instruments. Hence all instruments
were switched off when ASTROSAT was passing through
the South Atlantic Anomaly
region.
Once outside the SAA region, the Crab Nebula was behind the Earth for most of the
time, Dr. Bhalerao said. After a couple of orbits, we could
nally see the Crab. The scientists by then were able to
suppress the noise and detect
the signal from the Crab Nebula. On more analysis, we can
now see the Crab from parts
of all orbits. In hindsight, it
becomes easier, he said.
The multi-wavelength ASTROSAT was launched on
September 28 with its ve scientic instruments.
Other X-ray instruments
would be made operational in
the coming weeks. In about a
month, all X-ray instruments
will be ready to stare at interesting stars.

study of climate change and

land-use impacts on buttery
populations in England has
revealed that persistence of a
business as usual scenario will
lead to widespread drought-sensitive buttery population extinctions occurring as early as
2050.
Apart from climate change due
to greenhouse gas emissions, diversion of semi natural habitat areas by
fragmenting them for food and energy needs is another factor in drought
sensitive buttery population collapses.
However, there is a 50 per cent
probability of achieving persistence
right through 2100 if landscape management (restoring the semi natural
habitats to reduce fragmentation) is
combined with a drastic reduction in
emissions, notes a paper published
recently in Natusre Climate Change.
The study used extensive longterm buttery population data from
129 sites of the UK Buttery Monitoring Scheme to assess historical responses of 28 species to an extreme
drought event in 1995. This was the
most severe summer since records
began in 1776.
Butteries, though warmth-loving,
can exhibit declines in population

PHOTO: NAGARA GOPAL

due to heat stress to larvae and absence of host plants under aridity
conditions. The study calculated recovery rates by measuring population
change in the four years following the
drought and found that the recovery
rate was greater in a semi natural
habitat with large contiguous area
unlike a highly fragmented one.
When recovery times exceed return times of drought, it would lead to
continual population erosion, and ultimately local extinction, the authors
say.
The study found that population
decline was more at the edges due to
reduced soil moisture. Explaining

this, the lead author, Dr. Tom Oliver

from the University of Reading, UK
said in an email to this correspondent: The centres of woodlands,
which are dense and shady, remain
moist for longer. In contrast, the
edges dry out quicker, probably
because they receive more sunlight which dries out the forest
oor and also there are more air
currents which lead to higher
rates of evaporation.
In comparison to this scenario,
populations on the brink of extinction can be rescued if there is improved connectivity to neighbouring
fragments and populations. When a
population becomes locally extinct, it
can be re-colonised by individuals
from nearby populations. However,
individuals only tend to move across
landscapes (and produce the rescue
effect) when the landscapes are less
hostile. In contrast, when there are
larger amounts of favourable buttery habitats in the intervening landscape, then individuals are more
likely to move across it and lead to the
rescue effect allowing recovery of the
population. One possibility is that microevolution of drought tolerance
could mitigate some future impacts.
Although there are examples
where evolution in response to climate change can occur rapidly, in Britain it may not occur because
buttery populations are small.

n August 2012, Shinichi

Mochizuki, Japanese
mathematician
from
Kyoto Universitys Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, posted
four papers on his website
that claimed to contain a
proof of the important ABC
conjecture. This was a potential bombshell, as the
ABC conjecture holds the
key to solving several other
important problems.
However, most mathematicians are still ummoxed by the proof which
uses a new branch of the
eld too abstract even to
them. It is not as though
Mochizuki has made elaborate attempts to either
publicise his work or render it more comprehensible by giving lectures about
it around the world. His approach seems to be to
quietly work for about a
decade in near isolation,
and then, equally quietly, to
post the proof online!

THE ABC CONJECTURE

The ABC conjecture
says that an additive condition on integers imposes
strong restrictions on their
multiplicative structure,
that is, their prime factorization, says mathematician Hector Pasten, of
Harvard University, who

Genetic effects are now considered only a small contributor to the overall
detriment to health after radiation exposure.
PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

pocentre, shielding from such

objects as buildings or hills and
shielding from intervening tissues
inside the body before radiation reached a particular organ.
The study covered 16,869 children
with one or both parents within 2 km
of the hypocentres. The researchers
compared them with 18,450 children
born to one or both parents resident
in the city before and after the bombing but neither parent closer than 2.5
km to the hypocentres and 16,738
children who had both parents outside of the cities at the time of the
bombing. Researchers matched the
comparison groups by year of birth,
sex, and city.
They cautioned that the study is

still underpowered. Ninety per cent

of the cohort is still alive. Further
follow up will enhance the statistical
power of the study.
What is the importance of the
study? In an accompanying comment, David Brenner, Center for Radiological Research, Columbia
University Medical Center, U.S.
noted that in the rst decade or so
after the explosions, scientists focussed most of the concerns about
long-term health on potential heritable genetic effects in subsequent
generations.
They relied on Dr. Herman Mueller's 1927 study which showed that
radiation could induce heritable genetic effects in fruit y.

works in number theory

and mathematical logic, in
an email to this correspondent.
For example, take the
equation 128+81=209. On
the left-hand side are 128
(which is factorised as the
prime 2 repeated seven
times) and 81 (which is factorised as the prime 3 repeated four times). The
ABC conjecture says that
we should not expect too
many repetitions on the
right-hand side because, on
average, the primes should
not be repeated too many
times in an equation of the
form A+B=C (after common primes are cancelled).
And, in fact, 209=11x19 has
no repeated prime factor!
he said.
Dr Pasten remarks, Believe or not, the content of
the conjecture is not more
complicated than what I
just explained. A totally different story is trying to
prove it!
There are many known

uses to having a proof of the

conjecture. These include
its ability to solve many of
the so-called Diophantine
equations. Dr Pasten elaborates, It would give much
simpler new proofs to
known very deep and complicated theorems in the area, such as Gerd Faltingss
theorem for curves (previously Mordells conjecture)
and Fermats Last TheoremIt would give solutions
to important open problems in number theory... It
would establish new connections between the number theory and other areas
of mathematics that might
seem rather distant, such as
complex analysis and
mathematical logic...
Dr Pasten says, The key
notion in Mochizukis recent work is identifying
arithmetic-geometric objects from their symmetries. However, this is not a
new subject. In the technical sense required here,
the idea was suggested by
the great mathematician
Alexander Grothendieck
under the name of Anabelian Geometry Mochizuki
is a world expert in the subject of Anabelian Geometry
and, in fact, he proved
Grothendiecks Anabelian
conjecture in 1996. This
makes people consider his
work on ABC as a serious
attempt, although we dont
currently understand it.

Sickle cell anaemia may afflict

Cholanaickan tribals
K.S. SUDHI

holanaickans, the semi-nomadic

hunter-gatherer
tribal community of Kerala, may fall prey to sickle cell
disease in near future.
A multi-disciplinary study
carried out by a group of scientists who screened the tribals for
signs of sickle cell anaemia concluded that currently the tribes
were out of danger but could be
exposed to the incurable disease.
Inter-marriages, which are
common among Kattunaickans
and Cholanaickans, can be a
causative factor for more incidences of the sickle cell anaemia
within this dwindling population in the near future. The limited number of individuals in
the community and consequent
high occurrence of consanguineous marriages may lead to a
serious situation which demands awareness creation and
regular health monitoring, they
cautioned.
Researchers had earlier conrmed a few full-blown cases of
the disease in Kattunayikkar

Effects of atomic bombing on survivors kids

his year we observed the 70th
anniversary of A-bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the
1950 Japanese national census, nearly 280,000 persons stated that they
had been exposed in the two cities.
The Radiation Effects Research
Foundation (RERF)selected about
94,000 people to to study the health
effects of radiation.
One of the most notable among
these projects is the study of the survivors children. Quite contrary to
popular perception, this study recently revealed that the children
born to exposed parents did not suffer from excess cancer mortality or
non-cancer deaths (The Lancet Oncology, September 15, 2015).
Dr Eric J Grant and co workers
from the RERF looked at the birth
records to identify children conceived after the atomic bombings
and born in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
They also collected data from city
offices which entertained applications from pregnant women.
The study included 75,327 children of atomic bomb survivors in the
two cities and unexposed controls,
born between 1946 and 1984, and
followed up to Dec 31, 2009. Researchers interviewed the parents
directly or matched them to a master
list of survivors to estimate the radiation exposure to their reproductive
organs. This dose depended on distance of the individual from the hy-

The
conjecture is
key to
solving
several other
important
problems

Since the 1950s, however, understanding of the relative importance

of genetic and somatic radiation related effects has completely reversed: genetic effects are now
considered only a small contributor
to the overall detriment to health
after radiation exposure, Brenner
claried. The conclusions from the
latest study are consistent with the
recent thinking on the topic.
. Long-term studies of the health
impact of radiation on the progeny of
A-bomb survivors have not shown
any scientic evidence for heritable
genetic effects.
Scientists assume that persons exposed to radiation may suffer from
genetic effects as a matter of abundant caution as studies on fruit ies
and mouse have shown that radiation can cause genetic effects.
Though it is only an assumption,
members of the public consider genetic effects of radiation as gospel
truth a wrong public perception
prevails over a robust scientic fact.
While agreeing with Dr Brenner's
view that absence of evidence is not
evidence of absence, we need not
lose sleep over the genetic effects of
radiation as he rightly stated that
the risks must be small, otherwise
they would have been observed in
the children of survivors.
K.S. PARTHASARATHY
Former Secretary, AERB
ksparth@yahoo.co.uk

Currently the tribals are out of

danger, but could be exposed
to the disease. PHOTO: SPECIAL
ARRANGEMENT

children. Inter-marriages with

this population could lead to the
spread of the disease in Cholanaickans too, warned scientists.
The research group consisting
of T.B. Suma and V. Anitha of
the Kerala Forest Research Institute, Thrissur and Dr. M. Feroze
of
the
Pathology
Department of Medical College,
Kozhikode, arrived at the conclusion. During the study, 33
random blood samples were collected by a medical team from
the Government Medical Col-

lege, Kozhikode, as part of the

All India Sickle Cell Anaemia
Screening Programme. The
DNA-based molecular diagnosis
of sickle cell anaemia could
identify a carrier in the community, said Dr. Suma.
As the identied person is of
70 years of age and unmarried,
there is least chance for the
transfer of this mutant beta globin allele to the next generation.
Till now, sickle cell disease
has not been reported from the
particularly vulnerable Cholanaickan community. The sickle
cell anaemia leads to chronic
anaemia with an extremely low
haemoglobin concentration. In
children below 7 years, severe
anaemia along with rapid spleen
enlargement can occur. It can
also lead to acute chest syndrome and other problems. The
population of Cholanaickans,
particularly vulnerable tribal
group, is estimated to be dwindling. The 2011 census has put
their population to 124 members.
Latest survey statistics project a poor demographic prole
with low female population, indicative of poor health status.

QUESTION CORNER
PECULIAR SMELL
Why is there a peculiar smell when butter is heated to
get ghee?
T.N. SAMA RAO
Thiruninravur, Tamil Nadu

Butter consists of milk fat, milk solids, fatty acids (depending on

the method of fermentation), water, lactones, methylketones and
substances such as diacetyl and dimethyl sulphide. Amongst
these the fatty acids, lactones, methylketones do impart the
characteristic smell to butter at room temperature. Ghee is
purely the fat portion of the milk.
When butter is melted the upper portion containing water forms
the froth. Beyond this point it loses all the moisture and the milk
solids get settled at the bottom and the middle portion
containing pure liquid fat constituting ghee gets separated.
Butter will be normally heated to a point wherein the bottom
milk solids just turn brown and the liquid ghee separates out
with the characteristic pleasant smell. The primary factors that
impart the aroma specically, lactones, methylketones, diacetyl
and dimethyl sulphide will be below their avour threshold
values when butter is not subjected to heating. But when butter
is heated the avour threshold values of methyl ketones,
lactones, diacetyl and dimethyl sulphide exceed their normal
values giving out the characteristic aroma during ghee
preparation.
The diacetyl, lactones and methylketones also react with each
other synergistically producing rich aroma. They also interact
with avour liberating compounds. When butter is heated
beyond the browning of the milk solids, it imparts a smoky
avour to the ghee.
Dr. T. Bhavani, Bengaluru

THIS WEEKS QUESTION

Why should we drink water before taking an abdominal scan?
D. Janani, Chennai

Readers can send their questions/answers by email to questioncorner@thehindu.co.in

NOIDA/DELHI

02 EducationPlus

THE HINDU | MONDAY | OCTOBER 26, 2015

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SNAPSHOTS

Fake journals: Make in

India gone wrong
42 per cent of fake single-journal publishers are based in India
R. PRASAD

BANANAS TO
FIGHT VIRUSES

A substance
originally found in
bananas and
carefully edited by
scientists could
someday fight off a
wide range of
viruses.

HOW A FLYING
BAT SEES SPACE

How bats use

echolocation a
high-frequency
sound navigation
system that bats
use to sense their
environment has
been determined.

HOW HONEYBEES
SELECT MATES

In choosing
suitors, bee females
pay attention to the
way in which males
vibrate their
bodies, which tells
them where the
males are from.

scam of the most

scholarly kind on the
Internet publishing scientic papers
in fake open access
journals (also called as predatory journals) has become
more insidious and grown tremendously in size. And tragically, India has singularly
contributed to the cancerous
growth of pseudo-science.
Open Access (OA) predatory journals are now part of
the scholarly communication
landscape, notes the University of Manchester Library.
From about 53,000 papers
in 2012, the nearly 8,000 active
predatory journals in the
world have published a mindnumbing 4,20,000 articles in
2014. Over 11,000 fake open access journals were identied.
Even if science done in India
has not grown much in the last
few years, India has successfully played a vital role in polluting the scientic literature
with trash.
The number of fake journal
publishers based in the country has grown several-fold in
the last 4-5 years. Today, as
much as 27 per cent of fake
journal publishers are based in
India! And India has the dubious distinction of being
home to 42 per cent of fake
single-journal publishers.
These are some of the disturbing results published in a
paper in October in the open
access journal BMC Medicine.
When the percentage of fake
journal publishers based in India tops the list in the world,
can scientists based in India
who publish sub-standard or
downright trash in predatory
journals be far behind? Based
on a sample of 262 papers
published in fake journals, the
study found a shocking 35 per
cent of corresponding authors
were from India.
The estimated geographical
spread of predatory article authorship in terms of absolute
numbers per year of articles is
highly skewed, with India at
the top, the authors note.
Indian researchers publishing in predatory journals could
be willing or ignorant participants. Either way, fake journals provide the best medium
to publish sub-standard and

Fake journals provide the best medium to publish sub-standard and even highly unethical work
plagiarised content with falsified and/or fabricated data and manipulated images.
PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

A shocking
35% of
corresponding
authors in
fake journals
were from
India
even highly unethical work
plagiarised content with falsied and/or fabricated data and
manipulated images.
Predatory publishers are
essentially fake or counterfeit
publishers that often aim to
trick researchers into thinking
they are legitimate. Unfortunately, they are often successful. They use journal titles that
mimic or copy the titles of legitimate journals, and when
listed on a CV, they look legitimate, Jeffrey Beall, University of Colorado, Denver,
Librarian said in email to this
Correspondent. He coined the
term predatory journals and is
playing a leading role in
spreading awareness on this
evil practice.
Perhaps nowhere are these
abuses more acute than in India, where new predatory publishers or journals emerge each
week. They are appearing because of the market need
hundreds of thousands of sci-

entists in India and its neighbouring countries need to get

published to earn tenure and
promotion, Dr. Beall wrote in
an article published in September 2012 in Nature.

The reasons
The introduction of academic performance indicator
(API) by the University Grants
Commission (UGC), lack of
clarity in identifying and evaluating journals, the focus on
quantity over quality, unhealthy competition between
peers, and overall, a favourable
non-scientic publishing environment have led Indian researchers to publish in
mediocre journals wherein
most manuscripts are published without any peer review.
Perhaps it is also the fear of
peer review that has nourished
predatory journals, making India one of the worlds largest
base for predatory open-access
publishing, notes a September 2014 Editorial in Current
Science.
According to Dr. Beall, the
number of predatory publishers has risen from 18 in 2011 to
nearly 700 in 2015 and the
number of standalone fake
journals has shot up from 126
in 2013 to 507 in 2015.
Sadly, predatory journal
publishing has become a successful business model.
According to the paper, au-

thors paid the publishers an

average processing charge of
$178 per article when they
were published within 2-3
months of submission. And the
estimated size of the predatory
journal market in 2013 was $74
million.
The only objective of the yby-night operators with a little
or no scientic background is
to make prot and surely not
for the dissemination of highquality research ndings and
furtherance of knowledge.
The rapid rise of predatory
journals publications taking
large fees without providing
robust editorial or publishing
services has created what
some have called an age of academic racketeering. There is
little if any quality control.
Their motive is nancial gain,
and they are corrupting the
communication of science,
notes an Editorial published in
January this year in the journal BMJ.
The predatory publishers
have polluted all of scholarly
publishing. We are now entering a time when much junk science and much pseudo-science
is being published. This is a
problem because science is cumulative, with new research
building on previous work.
Now there's so much junk science published that the entire
scholarly record is corrupted,
Dr. Beall lamented.

Indian scientist in the

news for wrong reasons
R. PRASAD

nce again the unethical behaviour of an Indian scientist

has led to the retraction of a
highly cited paper published on July
19, 2013 in the journal Science.
Inappropriate data handling by
Rabindra N. Mahato, the rst author
of the paper (Ultrahigh magnetoresistance at room temperature in molecular wires) has led to its
retraction. The paper was about manipulating the current in a string of
molecules with a magnet.
According to Retraction Watch, the
paper has been cited 41 times since it
was published in 2013, earning it a
designation of highly cited from
Thomson Scientics Web of
Knowledge!
Inappropriate data handling by
Mahato was such that the experimental results are not accurately represented in the paper. This makes it,
in our eyes, impossible to solidly underpin the conclusions made in the
report, Wilfred G. Van der Wiel, the
senior author of the paper from the
MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente in The Netherlands, noted in his Retraction
Letter published in Science on October 9, 2015.
Dr. Mahato was a Postdoc at the
MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology
when the paper was published. He is
currently an Assistant Professor at
the School of Physical Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New
Delhi. He pursued his Ph.D at IIT
Madras between January 2006 and
December 2010.
It all started when suspicion arose
with regard to data collected by Dr.
Mahato when some of the co-authors
tried to undertake follow-up research. In follow-up research, we
had difficulties reproducing the results of Dr. Mahato in our own lab,
Van der Wiel told Retraction Watch.
And this, in turn, led to a thorough

INSIGHT INTO
VACCINE RTS,S

Genetic
variability in the
surface protein
targeted by the
RTS,S malaria
vaccine was why
partial protection
was seen in kids.

LIGHT ON SPINAL
CORD INJURY

A hormone
called serotonin
can help zebrafish
to recover from a
spinal cord injury,
scientists find,
useful for medical
applications.
CM
YK

hat have national leaders like Ho Chi Min of

Vietnam, Chairman Mao of
China and Jimmy Carter of
America to do with this years
Nobel Prize in Physiology or
Medicine? Reports have it
that Ho Chi Min was greatly
disturbed by the loss of thousands of soldiers (ghting the
Americans in the Vietnam
War) to malaria. He appealed
to his ally, Chairman Mao,
stating that a wild plant in
rural Vietnam was claimed to
cure malaria, and whether he
could direct Chinese scientists to help isolate any active
anti-malarial drug molecules
from such a plant. Mao did so,
and decades of work by Chinese scientists led to the drug
artemisinin. The main player
behind this was a lady scientist called Tu You You, who
was honoured with the Nobel
Prize in Medicine a few weeks
ago. (Apparently when the
Nobel Committee tried to call
Tu You You (what a lyrical
name!), they could not; she
was away in the hinterlands,
presumably working away).
Former President of America, Mr. Jimmy Carter, after
retirement, established the
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter
Center in 1982 with the
theme: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope.
In the area of ghting disease,
the Center collaborated with
Emory University at Atlanta,

Several Latin
American
countries
have been
declared free
of sleeping
sickness
GA, and the drug rm Merck.
Together, they focused on the
disease called Human African
Trypanosomosis (also spelt as
trypanosomiasis), which affects vision, leads to sleeping
sickness, lymphatic swelling
and elephantiasis, and overall
lethargy. This disease was
found to spread across 10 million square km in Sub-Saharan Africa (Sudan, Ethiopia,
Uganda, Mali, Nigeria, Kenya,
Gambia, Zimbabwe etc, particularly along river coasts
(hence the name river blindness). It affects not only people but also livestock, where it
leads to drop in milk and meat
production, abortions and
gradual weakness and wasting away. The Carter Center,
in collaboration with Lions
International, Merck Institute and in-house support,
launched a programme to
ght and end trypanosomosis
in affected areas.
The end results have been
stunning and successful. The

To date, thanks to the Carter Centers request and

participation, Merck has given away 270 million tablets of
Ivermectin across Africa, Latin America and Yemen.
PHOTO: REUTERS

researchers, led by Dr William C Campbell of the Merck

Center, obtained a natural
product called Avermectin
(sent to them by Dr. Satoshi
Omura of Tokyo, Japan, who
showed its effectiveness
against parasitic infections),
tweaked its chemical structure a bit to produce the drug
called Ivermectin (Mercks
trade name for this is Mectizan). This drug cures this debilitating disease and also
protects against latter day recurrence. One tablet a year
(yes, just one per year) for 10
years is the dose; rather similar to how we administer vaccines! To date, thanks to the
Carter Centers request and
participation, Merck has given away 270 million tablets of
Ivermectin across not just
Africa but also in parts of La-

tin America (Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Venezuela,

Colombia, Brazil) and in the
Arab country Yemen. Several
of these Latin American
countries have been declared
trypanosomosis-free.
Why and how does trypanosomosis come about and
how does it affect the body of
the infected animals and humans? It is caused by a parasitic protozoan (a type of
roundworm) that resides inside the y called Tsetse (or
Tzetze, also called tik tik; lyrical names again), which
abound along river coasts
across Sub-Saharan Africa
and parts of Latin America.
When the tsetse y bites you,
it delivers the villain parasite.
This is what leads to the
sleeping sickness, elephantiasis, lymphatic swelling and

investigation by the co-authors.

In response to an email question
whether inappropriate data handling meant that Dr. Mahato had falsied or fabricated the data, Prof. Van
der Wiel in an email to this Correspondent said: The term inappropriate data handling has been
carefully and deliberately chosen.
Whether the terms falsied and fabricated are applicable should be determined in a separate, independent
investigation. As co-authors we are
not in the position to draw such conclusions. The present Retraction Letter is solely intended to inform the
scientic community about the retraction of the paper and the underlying motivation of the authors.
Prof. Van der Wiel went further to
state that only a separate, independent investigation can determine
whether the inappropriate data handling was deliberate or not. The way
the rst author handled the data does
not meet our standards for appropriate data handling. This was already
enough reason for us to immediately
retract the paper.
It is to be noted that the co-authors
took a bold but right step in retracting
the paper on their own even before
someone else could spot the problem.
By doing so, they have saved the scientic community from not wasting
time on repeating their work and being wrongly informed.
Retraction is an extreme measure.
Based on our ndings, and our high
standards regarding the handling of
scientic data, the authors are 100 per
cent convinced this was the right
thing to do, Prof. Van der Wiel said.

Bacteria neutralises greenhouse gas

type of bacteria found at the bottom

of the ocean could be used to neutralise large amounts of industrial carbon
dioxide in the Earths atmosphere, researchers have found. Most atmospheric
CO2 is produced from fossil fuel combustion.
But converting the carbon dioxide into
a harmless compound requires a durable,
heat-tolerant enzyme. The bacterium,
Thiomicrospira crunogena, studied by researchers from University of Florida, produces carbonic anhydrase, an enzyme
that helps remove CO2 in organisms.
The bacterium lives near hydrothermal
vents, so the enzyme it produces is accustomed to high temperatures.
That is exactly what is needed for the
enzyme to work during the process of
reducing industrial CO2, said Robert

National leaders and the Medicine Nobel

SPEAKING OF SCIENCE

The study
results are not
accurately
represented in
the paper

inammation of the cornea of

the eye, leading to loss of vision (river blindness or onchocerciasis as the eye
doctors call it).
How was the solution
found? It was in the 1970s
that Dr. Satoshi Omura,
working at the Kitasato University in Tokyo, identied
some microbes called Streptomyces in the soil, and one
form of it called S. avermitilis,
which produces molecules
that ght roundworms and
other parasites. He isolated
one of them, which he called
avermectin and sent it to
Merck in the US. William
Campbell worked on it, modied it into a more effective
molecule which he named
Ivermectin
(apparently
named after a village in UK
called Iver; Campbell is of
Irish origin), and history was
made. Campbell and Omura
share half the prize amount,
while Tu You You gets the
other half. Incidentally, Jimmy Carter himself received
the Nobel Peace Prize in
2002, for his humanitarian
efforts.
Does
trypanosomosis
through such a parasite occur
in India? To date, thankfully
enough, no; and even if it
does, ivermectin will help
take care of it. Thus, the
sleeping sickness we see often
in government offices has
other origins.
D.BALASUBRAMANIAN
dbala@lvpei.org

McKenna at the University of Florida

College of Medicine.
The enzymecatalyses a chemical reaction between CO2 and water.
The CO2 interacts with the enzyme,
converting the greenhouse gas into bicarbonate. The bicarbonate can then be further processed into products such as
baking soda and chalk.
According to the UF researchers, which
included graduate research assistants
Brian Mahon and Avni Bhatt, in an industrial setting the carbonic anhydrase
would be immobilised with solvent inside
a reactor vessel that serves as a large purication column.
Flue gas would be passed through the
solvent, with the carbonic anhydrase converting the carbon dioxide into bicarbonate. PTI

QUESTION CORNER
SOLAR ECLIPSE
Since the moon revolves around the Earth all the
times, why dont we see solar eclipse during every
moons revolution around the Earth?
CHAITANYA VUDDANTI

Before the question is answered, we should know how

solar eclipses do happen. Solar eclipse is nothing but obscuring of the Sun due to the Moon coming in between the
Sun and the viewer on the Earth during the course of
revolving of the Moon and the Earth. As we all know that
the Earth revolves around the Sun in a near circular path
completing one revolution in about 365 days. The plane in
which the Earth moves around the Sun is known as the
Ecliptic.
At the same time the Moon also revolves around the
Earth which is also a near circular path, completing on
revolution in about 28 days, known as a lunar month. But
the fact is that these two planes are inclined to each other
at an angle.
For the Solar eclipse to occur, the Sun, the Moon and the
Earth must come not only in one straight line but also
these three bodies should be in one plane.
Although the Sun, the Moon and the Earth come in one
line every two weeks, once on a new Moon night and
second time on the full Moon night, they seldom come in
one plane during these events. This occurs two to maximum of ve times in a year. Similarly, the Moon eclipse
occurs when the Earths shadow falls on the Moon, which
happens when the Earth comes in between the Sun and the
Moon exactly.
This phenomenon takes place on a full Moon night and
up to three times in a year. Generally the Sun eclipse and
the Moon eclipse follow each other with a gap of 14 days.
Another interesting fact about the Sun eclipse is that the
events repeat each other after a time gap of 18.6 years,
known as Saros cycle.
S.P.S. JAIN
Former Member, Engineering, Indian Railways, Greater Noida

THIS WEEKS QUESTION

As in the case of humans, why don't we see dead sea
creatures/animals oating in water?
T.S. KARTHIK, Chennai
Readers can send their questions/answers to questioncorner@thehindu.co.in
ND-X