FROM THE GARDEN OF BOTANY

PLANT THAT ATE THE SOUTH’ BOOSTING CARBON POLLUTION

A plant called the scourge of the south has the new strike against it. Recent research shows that the impact of the invasive species in question, kudzu, is more troublesome than had been previously thought. When it takes over ecosystem this invader causes soils to surrender their carbon & release it as green house gas .

Kudzu is one of the most impressive invasive species in the world. Introduced to the US as a handful of plants in 1876, this invader now occupies over 3meter hectares of land in the US.

It is a member of a legume family of plants- like beans- & grows in a wine- like manner, laying down roots whenever it comes in to contact with the ground. Originally introduced as an ornamental plant & then for livestock feed & erosion control, it has since over run entire ecosystems, destroying native long needled pine forest, woodlots, & grasslands alike.

In addition to the damage it inflicts by overwhelming other plants, kudzu has indirect effects aswell. Most notably, it carries the kudzu bug.This foul smelling insect is also an invasive species. Unfortunately the kudzu bugs ‘ tasteextends beyond its namesake plant, & includes other legumes grown for human consumptions. This means kudzu’s impact is not only native ecosystems but agricultural productivity as well.

The main problem with kudzu is that it changes the rate at which the carbon remains logged away in the soil. It changes the degradation rate of the organic matter.

SOME FUN FACTS ABOUT PLANTS

TORENIA, a shade loving annual, is called the wish bone flower.

BAMBOO is the fastest growing woody plant in the world. It can grow 35 inches in a single day.

During the 1600s, Tulips were so valuable in Holland that their bulbs were worth more than gold. The craze was called Tulipmania, & cost the crash of the Dutch economy. Tulips can continue to grow as much as an inch per day.

Small pockets of air inside cranberries cause them to bounds & float in water.

The average strawberry has 200 seeds. It’s the only fruit that bears its seeds on the outside.

Sulphuric compounds are to blame for cut onions bringing tears in your eyes.

Cranberries, concord grapes, &blueberries are three popular fruits native to North America.

A sunflower looks likeone large flower, but each head composed of 100s of tiny flowers called florets, which ripen to become the seeds.

Snapdragon flowers resemble a dragon, & if you squeeze the sides, the dragons mouth will appear to open & close.

BIOTECH-LAB

EBOLA OUTBREAK IN WEST AFRICA

The latest Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa has been described by the who as the largest, most severe & most complex outbreak in the history of disease.

The epidemic began at the end of 2013, in Gunea. From where it spread to Liberia, Nigeria Senegal. Many of the affected countries face enormous challenges in stopping its spread & providing care for all patients.

1000s of people have died & many are at risk as the fatality rate from this virus is very high. As the crises worsens, as well as the enormous health challenges involved, the social & economical consequences may set these countries back, reversing some gains a number of countries have made in recent year.

SUGAR-SWEETENED

SODA CONSUMPTION

Sugar sweetened soda consumption might promote disease independently from its role in obesity, according to US san francisco researcher who found in a new study that drinking sugary drink was associated with cell aging. Regular consumption of sugar sweetenedsoda.

BY JYOTI KIRAN BARA

MICRO-LAB

JET LAG UPSETS GUT MICROBES

Jet lag may be as disorienting to the microbes that inhibit the human intestinal tract as it is to the human , according to a new study of how disturbances to the circadian clock can impact the gut microbiome. Researchers in Israel have shown, in both mice and humans, that the bacterial assemblages inhabiting the digestive tract are vulnerable to the ravages of circardian rhythm alteration. & when the gut microbiome is disrupted, they found a suite of maladies, including glucose in tolerance & obesity, result.

Immunologist EranElinav of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot let a team of researcher that subjected mice to a disruption in their sleep cycle that mimicked jet lag from an 8hr. time difference in human & surveyed changes to their gut microbes.

The researchers ,also studied the microbiota of two people who flew from the US to Israel, & found similar compositional & functional changes.

When Elinav & his colleagues transferred jet lagged microbes from either mice or humans in to germ free mice, the rodents became more susceptible to glucose intolerance & diabetes.

The human microbiomes that change in response to jet lag did, however, return to normal 2weeks after their flights. But frequent air travel or other activities that disrupt sleep/ wake cycles, such as shift work could make the disruption & their resultant health problems,chronic. RICHA SHARMA

ZOOLOGICAL PARK

SUBGLACIAL ECOSYSTEM

In January 2013, a team of us based researchers announced that it had successfully extracted liquid water from the lake Whillans, which lies 800 meters (2,624 feet) beneath the Western Antarctic ice sheet. A week later, preliminary reports told of microbial life that was alive and metabolizing energy. Now, publishing in nature the researchers’ present confirmation that such life not only exists in the sub glacial lake but is highly abundant.

“The number of microorganisms we saw in the water was very comparable with what you’d find in a typical surface lake or in the ocean. Microbiologist and lead author Brent Christner of Louisiana state university in Baton Rouge told Science News.

A Russian team is working on a similar project at Antarctica’s sub glacial lake Vostoc , but some have questioned whether the evidence of life the researchers found in their sample were due to surface contamination. The current study of lake Whillans “contained far fewer , if any surface contaminants because of ultra clean drilling methods employed to get down through the ice the lake body. “BBC NEWS REPORTED”.

Because little light reaches the depths of these sub glacial lakes, the ecosystems that exist in these environments must derive energy from another source. “To have an ecosystem, it has to be filled”, Christner told the BBC. He and his colleagues suggest that inorganic compound such as ammonium nitrate and sulfides may serve this function. “ The action of the ice sheet pulverizes the

rock bed and the mineral particles then go into the water where they become

available for chemical and biological alteration

“Christner said”.

Whether larger organisms also exist in these sub glacial environments remains to be seen. “If we found nematodes or tardigrades that would be huge amazing, “Christner told the BBC. “We have no evidence that they are down there and perhaps Willans is just too extreme for them. It’s ok for microorganisms but the energy flows may simply not be there for these higher life forms.

BY DEEPIKA CHANDEL

B.Sc. V SEM

scientific inventions

1. Ants better than the google search engine at processing information.

2.The cheetah is not the fastest terrestrial animal.(it’s the SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MITE: Paratarsotomusmacropalpis.

3.HUMAN hair can be used for makingjewelry boxes ,mirrior frames and combs.

4.Discovery of a new planet named MEGA EARTH not in our solar system.

5.A new machine that can extract images from people’s brain anddisplay them on a screen.

6.Human blood can be prepared in laboratories.

BY JYOTI KIRAN BARA

PENNING POETRY

T o get to the following words, I don’t had to write the theme, just a single thought is to be kept in mind and that thought is –“YOU ARE A GIRL !!!!!!!“ and you will automatically grab it all:

I am not a toy , to play for others,

I have my own , only my mother,

I am not a burden, on anyone else,

Not even a piece of cloth , for those who dwells,

Just one needs to understand the purity ,

I even don’t need anyone’s clarity ,

Those “few guys”have sold their sole,

Who tried the pretty princess’s life to stole.

Let this world for we all, a melodious tune,

Not a shining ,scortching 48 degree celcius afternoon!

And at last , a brief line to tell , we want a happy life , not a grief voice to yell.

For them all , I don’t want to be a murdering sample,

I WILL FIGHT , WILL BE MY “GUIDE”, A RULER AND AN EXAMPLE!!!!!

NEHA SINGH PANWAR

B. Sc. SEMV

RECENT ACTIVITY

TRAINING COURSE ON ENVIRONMENT EDUCATION IN ENVIRONMENT PLANNING $ COORDINATION , BHOPAL(EPCO)

It was summarized that its our attitude that makes our life 100%.

Therefore to have a green and pollution free environment , make your attitude positive.

RICHA SHARMA

B.Sc. SEM