1) A
genetic parasite may explain why humans and other apes lack tails By Erin
Garcia de Jesús
Not having a tail
is one way apes differ from monkeys A genetic parasite may have robbed humans
and other apes of their tails.
Around 25 million
years ago, this parasite, a small stretch of repetitive DNA called an Alu
element, ended up in a gene important for tail development, researchers report
in the Feb. 29 Nature. The single insertion altered the gene Tbxt in a way that
seems to have sparked one of the defining differences between monkeys and apes:
Monkeys have tails, apes don’t. “It was like lightning struck once,” says Jef
Boeke, a geneticist at New York University Langone Health, and ape behinds
ultimately became bare.
The genetic tweak
may also give insight into why some babies are born with spinal cord defects
such as spina bifida, when the tube that holds the cord doesn’t close all the
way (SN: 12/6/16). Alu elements are part of a group of genetic parasites known
as transposons or jumping genes that can hop across genetic instruction books,
inserting themselves into their hosts’ DNA (SN: 5/16/17). Sometimes, when the
gene slips itself into a piece of DNA that is passed down to offspring, these
insertions become permanent parts of our genetic code. Transposons, including more than 1 million
Alu elements, are found throughout our genome, says geneticist and systems
biologist Bo Xia of the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Mass. Researchers once
thought of transposons as genetic garbage, but some have central roles in
evolution. Without transposons, the placenta, immune system and insulation
around nerve fibers may not exist (SN: 2/16/24).
And
humans might still have tails.
To find out how
apes lost their tails, Xia, then at NYU Langone Health, Boeke and colleagues
analyzed 140 genes involved in vertebrate tail development. The team found that
in monkeys, including baboons and rhesus macaques, the Tbxt gene was missing a
chunk of DNA that’s found in humans, chimpanzees and other apes. It was a
“eureka moment,” Boeke says. The insertion may have appeared around the time
apes diverged from African and Asian monkeys, around 25 million years ago.
But the missing
chunk was in a part of the gene called an intron, a bit of genetic material
that isn’t made into proteins. “So why would that even matter?” he asks. A
close look at the gene’s structure provided a plausible explanation: The
missing bit tweaked Tbxt so that the gene makes a different form of the protein
in apes than in monkeys.
Experiments in mice
seemed to confirm the hypothesis. Mice, like monkeys, make normal versions of
the Tbxt protein and have full-length tails. But when genetically engineered to
make shortened versions of the Tbxt protein like apes do, the mice had shorter
tails or none at all. Some mice also had spinal cord defects similar to spinal
bifida, suggesting that there may be drawbacks to tail loss.
2) Why
large language models aren’t headed toward humanlike understanding By Tom
Siegfried
Generative AI is
not very skillful at applying what it learns to new situations Apart from the
northward advance of killer bees in the 1980s, nothing has struck as much fear
into the hearts of headline writers as the ascent of artificial intelligence.
Ever since the
computer Deep Blue defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997, humans
have faced the prospect that their supremacy over machines is merely temporary.
Back then, though, it was easy to show that AI failed miserably in many realms
of human expertise, from diagnosing disease to transcribing speech. But then
about a decade ago or so, computer brains — known as neural networks — received
an IQ boost from a new approach called deep learning. Suddenly computers
approached human ability at identifying images, reading signs and enhancing
photographs — not to mention converting speech to text as well as most typists.
Those abilities had
their limits. For one thing, even apparently successful deep learning neural
networks were easy to trick. A few small stickers strategically placed on a
stop sign made an AI computer think the sign said “Speed Limit 80,” for
example. And those smart computers needed to be extensively trained on a task
by viewing numerous examples of what they should be looking for. So deep
learning produced excellent results for narrowly focused jobs but couldn’t
adapt that expertise very well to other arenas. You would not (or shouldn’t)
have hired it to write a magazine column for you, for instance.
But AI’s latest
incarnations have begun to threaten job security not only for writers but also
a lot of other professionals.
“Now we’re in a new
era of AI,” says computer scientist Melanie Mitchell, an artificial
intelligence expert at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico. “We’re beyond the
deep learning revolution of the 2010s, and we’re now in the era of generative
AI of the 2020s.”
Generative AI
systems can produce things that had long seemed safely within the province of
human creative ability. AI systems can now answer questions with seemingly
human linguistic skill and knowledge, write poems and articles and legal
briefs, produce publication quality artwork, and even create videos on demand
of all sorts of things you might want to describe.Many of these abilities stem
from the development of large language models, abbreviated as LLMs, such as
ChatGPT and other similar models. They are large because they are trained on
huge amounts of data — essentially, everything on the internet, including
digitized copies of countless printed books. Large can also refer to the large
number of different kinds of things they can “learn” in their reading — not
just words but also word stems, phrases, symbols and mathematical equations.By
identifying patterns in how such linguistic molecules are combined, LLMs can
predict in what order words should be assembled to compose sentences or respond
to a query. Basically, an LLM calculates probabilities of what word should
follow another, something critics have derided as “autocorrect on
steroids.”Even so, LLMs have displayed remarkable abilities — such as composing
texts in the style of any given author, solving riddles and deciphering from
context whether “bill” refers to an invoice, proposed legislation or a
duck.“These things seem really smart,” Mitchell said this month in Denver at the
annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.LLMs’
arrival has induced a techworld version of mass hysteria among some experts in
the field who are concerned that run amok, LLMs could raise human unemployment,
destroy civilization and put magazine columnists out of business. Yet other
experts argue that such fears are overblown, at least for now.
At the heart of the
debate is whether LLMs actually understand what they are saying and doing,
rather than just seeming to. Some researchers have suggested that LLMs do
understand, can reason like people (big deal) or even attain a form of
consciousness. But Mitchell and others insist that LLMs do not (yet) really
understand the world (at least not in any sort of sense that corresponds to
human understanding).
“What’s really
remarkable about people, I think, is that we can abstract our concepts to new
situations via analogy and metaphor.”
Melanie
Mitchell
In a new paper
posted online at arXiv.org, Mitchell and coauthor Martha Lewis of the
University of Bristol in England show that LLMs still do not match humans in
the ability to adapt a skill to new circumstances. Consider this letter-string
problem: You start with abcd and the next string is abce. If you start with
ijkl, what string should come next?
Humans almost
always say the second string should end with m. And so do LLMs. They have,
after all, been well trained on the English alphabet.But suppose you pose the
problem with a different “counterfactual” alphabet, perhaps the same letters in
a different order, such as a u c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t b v w x y z.
Or use symbols instead of letters. Humans are still very good at solving
letter-string problems. But LLMs usually fail. They are not able to generalize
the concepts used on an alphabet they know to another alphabet.While humans
exhibit high performance on both the original and counterfactual problems, the
performance of all GPT models we tested degrades on the counterfactual
versions,” Mitchell and Lewis report in their paper.Other similar tasks also
show that LLMs do not possess the ability to perform accurately in situations
not encountered in their training. And therefore, Mitchell insists, they do not
exhibit what humans would regard as “understanding” of the world.
“Being reliable and
doing the right thing in a new situation is, in my mind, the core of what
understanding actually means,” Mitchell said at the AAAS meeting.Human
understanding, she says, is based on “concepts” — basically mental models of
things like categories, situations and events. Concepts allow people to infer
cause and effect and to predict the probable results of different actions —
even in circumstances not previously encountered.
“What’s really
remarkable about people, I think, is that we can abstract our concepts to new
situations via analogy and metaphor,” Mitchell said.
She does not deny
that AI might someday reach a similar level of intelligent understanding. But
machine understanding may turn out to be different from human understanding.
Nobody knows what sort of technology might achieve that understanding and what
the nature of such understanding might be.If it does turn out to be anything
like human understanding, it will probably not be based on LLMs.After all, LLMs
learn in the opposite direction from humans. LLMs start out learning language
and attempt to abstract concepts. Human babies learn concepts first, and only
later acquire the language to describe them.So LLMs are doing it backward. In
other words, perhaps reading the internet might not be the correct strategy for
acquiring intelligence, artificial or otherwise.
3)
Mind-reading devices are revealing the brain’s secrets By Miryam Naddaf
Implants and other
technologies that decode neural activity can restore people’s abilities to move
and speak — and help researchers to understand how the brain works. Moving a
prosthetic arm. Controlling a speaking avatar. Typing at speed. These are all
things that people with paralysis have learnt to do using brain–computer
interfaces (BCIs) — implanted devices that are powered by thought alone.
These devices
capture neural activity using dozens to hundreds of electrodes embedded in the
brain. A decoder system analyses the signals and translates them into
commands.Although the main impetus behind the work is to help restore functions
to people with paralysis, the technology also gives researchers a unique way to
explore how the human brain is organized, and with greater resolution than most
other methods.
Scientists have
used these opportunities to learn some basic lessons about the brain. Results
are overturning assumptions about brain anatomy, for example, revealing that
regions often have much fuzzier boundaries and job descriptions than was
thought. Such studies are also helping researchers to work out how BCIs
themselves affect the brain and, crucially, how to improve the devices.
“BCIs in humans
have given us a chance to record single-neuron activity for a lot of brain
areas that nobody’s ever really been able to do in this way,” says Frank
Willett, a neuroscientist at Stanford University in California who is working
on a BCI for speech.
The devices also
allow measurements over much longer time spans than classical tools do, says
Edward Chang, a neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco.
“BCIs are really pushing the limits, being able to record over not just days,
weeks, but months, years at a time,” he says. “So you can study things like
learning, you can study things like plasticity, you can learn tasks that
require much, much more time to understand.”
Recorded
history
The idea that the
electrical activity of the human brain could be recorded first gained support
100 years ago. German psychiatrist Hans Berger attached electrodes to the scalp
of a 17-year-old boy whose surgery for a brain tumour had left a hole in his skull.
When Berger recorded above this opening, he made the first observation of brain
oscillations and gave the measurement a name: the EEG (electroencephalogram).
Researchers
immediately saw that recording from inside the brain could be even more
valuable; Berger and others used surgery to place electrodes on the surface of
the cortex to study the brain and diagnose epilepsy. Recording from implanted
electrodes is still a standard method for pinpointing where epileptic seizures
begin, so that the condition can be treated using surgery. Then, in the 1970s,
researchers began to use signals recorded from further inside animal brains to
control external machines, giving rise to the first implanted brain–machine
interfaces.
In 2004, Matt
Nagle, who was paralysed after a spinal injury, became the first person to
receive a long-term invasive BCI system that used multiple electrodes to record
activity from individual neurons in his primary motor cortex1. Nagle was able
to use his system to open and close a prosthetic hand, and to perform basic
tasks with a robotic arm.
Researchers have
also used EEG readings — collected using non-invasive electrodes placed on a
person’s scalp — to provide signals for BCIs. These have allowed paralysed
people to control wheelchairs, robotic arms and gaming devices, but the signals
are weaker and the data less reliable than with invasive devices.
So far, about 50
people have had a BCI implanted, and advances in artificial intelligence,
decoding tools and hardware have propelled the field forwards.Electrode arrays,
for instance, are becoming more sophisticated. A technology called Neuropixels
has not yet been incorporated into a BCI, but is in use for fundamental
research. The array of silicon electrodes, each thinner than a human hair, has
nearly 1,000 sensors and is capable of detecting electrical signals from a
single neuron. Researchers began using Neuropixels arrays in animals seven
years ago, and two papers published in the past three months demonstrate their
use for questions that can be answered only in humans: how the brain produces
and perceives vowel sounds in speech2,3.Commercial activity is also ramping up.
In January, the California-based neurotechnology company Neuralink, founded by
entrepreneur Elon Musk, implanted a BCI into a person for the first time. As
with other BCIs, the implant can record from individual neurons, but unlike
other devices, it has a wireless connection to a computer
And although the
main driver is clinical benefit, these windows into the brain have revealed
some surprising lessons about its function along the way.
Fuzzy
boundaries
Textbooks often
describe brain regions as having discrete boundaries or compartments. But BCI
recordings suggest that this is not always the case.
Last year, Willett
and his team were using a BCI implant for speech generation in a person with
motor neuron disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). They expected to find
that neurons in a motor control area called the precentral gyrus would be
grouped depending on which facial muscles they were tuned to — jaw, larynx,
lips or tongue. Instead, neurons with different targets were jumbled up4. “The
anatomy was very intermixed,” says Willett.
They also found
that Broca’s area, a brain region thought to have a role in speech production
and articulation, contained little to no information about words, facial
movements or units of sound called phonemes. “It seems surprising that it’s not
really involved in speech production per se,” says Willett. Previous findings
using other methods had hinted at this In a 2020 paper about motion6, Willett
and his colleagues recorded signals in two people with different levels of
movement limitation, focusing on an area in the premotor cortex that is
responsible for moving the hands. They discovered while using a BCI that the
area contains neural codes for all four limbs together, not just for the hands,
as previously presumed. This challenges the classical idea that body parts are
represented in the brain’s cortex in a topographical map, a theory that has been
embedded in medical education for nearly 90 years.
“That’s something
that you would only see if you’re able to record single-neuron activity from
humans, which is so rare,” says Willett.
Nick Ramsey, a
cognitive neuroscientist at University Medical Center Utrecht in the
Netherlands, made similar observations when his team implanted a BCI in a part
of the motor cortex that corresponds to hand movement7. The motor cortex in one
hemisphere of the brain typically controls movements on the opposite side of the
body. But when the person attempted to move her right hand, electrodes
implanted in the left hemisphere picked up signals for both the right hand and
the left hand, a finding that was unexpected, says Ramsey. “We’re trying to
find out whether that’s important” for making movements, he says. Movement
relies on a lot of coordination, and brain activity has to synchronize it all,
explains Ramsey. Holding out an arm affects balance, for instance, and the
brain has to manage those shifts across the body, which could explain the
dispersed activity. “There’s a lot of potential in that kind of research that
we haven’t thought of before,” he says.
To some scientists,
these fuzzy anatomical boundaries are not surprising. Our understanding of the
brain is based on average measurements that paint a generalized image of how
this complex organ is arranged, says Luca Tonin, an information engineer at the
University of Padua in Italy. Individuals are bound to diverge from the
average.
“Our brains look
different in the details,” says Juan Álvaro Gallego, a neuroscientist at
Imperial College London.
To others, findings
from such a small number of people should be interpreted with caution. “We need
to take everything that we’re learning with a grain of salt and put it in
context,” says Chang. “Just because we can record from single neurons doesn’t
mean that’s the most important data, or the whole truth.”
Flexible
thinking
BCI technology has
also helped researchers to reveal neural patterns of how the brain thinks and
imagines.
Christian Herff, a
computational neuroscientist at Maastricht University, the Netherlands, studies
how the brain encodes imagined speech. His team developed a BCI implant capable
of generating speech in real time when participants either whisper or imagine speaking
without moving their lips or making a sound8. The brain signals picked up by
the BCI device in both whispered and imagined speech were similar to those for
spoken speech. They share areas and patterns of activity, but are not the same,
explains Herff.
That means, he
says, that even if someone can’t speak, they could still imagine speech and
work a BCI. “This drastically increases the people who could use such a speech
BCI on a clinical basis,” says Herff.
The fact that
people with paralysis retain the programmes for speech or movement, even when
their bodies can no longer respond, helps researchers to draw conclusions about
how plastic the brain is — that is, to what extent it can reshape and remodel
its neural pathways.
It is known that
injury, trauma and disease in the brain can alter the strength of connections
between neurons and cause neural circuits to reconfigure or make new
connections. For instance, work in rats with spinal cord injuries has shown
that brain regions that once controlled now-paralysed limbs can begin to
control parts of the body that are still functional9.
But BCI studies
have muddied this picture. Jennifer Collinger, a neural engineer at the
University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and her colleagues used an
intracortical BCI in a man in his 30s who has a spinal cord injury. He can
still move his wrist and elbow, but his fingers are paralysed.
Collinger’s team
noticed that the original maps of the hand were preserved in his brain10. When
the man attempted to move his fingers, the team saw activity in the motor area,
even though his hand did not actually move. “We see the typical organization,”
she says. “Whether they have changed at all before or after injury, slightly,
we can’t really say.” That doesn’t mean the brain isn’t plastic, Collinger
notes. But some brain areas might be more flexible in this regard than others.
“For example, plasticity seems to be more limited in sensory cortex compared to
motor cortex,” she adds.
In conditions in
which the brain is damaged, such as stroke, BCIs can be used alongside other
therapeutic interventions to help train a new brain area to take over from a
damaged region. In such situations, “people are performing tasks by modulating
areas of the brain that originally were not evolved to do so”, says José del R.
Millán, a neural engineer at the University of Texas at Austin, who studies how
to deploy BCI-induced plasticity in rehabilitation.In a clinical trial, Millán
and his colleagues trained 14 participants with chronic stroke — a long-term condition
that begins 6 months or more after a stroke, marked by a slowdown in the
recovery process — to use non-invasive BCIs for 6 weeks11. In one group, the
BCI was connected to a device that applied electric currents to activate nerves
in paralysed muscles, a therapeutic technique known as functional electrical
stimulation (FES). Whenever the BCI decoded the participants’ attempts to
extend their hands, it stimulated the muscles that control wrist and finger
extension. Participants in the control group had the same set-up, but received
random electrical stimulation.
Using EEG imaging,
Millán’s team found that the participants using BCI-guided FES had increased
connectivity between motor areas in the affected brain hemisphere compared with
the control group. Over time, the BCI–FES participants became able to extend
their hands, and their motor recovery lasted for 6–12 months after the end of
the BCI-based rehabilitation therapy.
What
BCIs do to the brain
In Millán’s study,
the BCI helped to drive learning in the brain. This feedback loop between human
and machine is a key element of BCIs, which can allow direct control of brain
activity. Participants can learn to adjust their mental focus to improve the
decoder’s output in real time.Whereas most research focuses on optimizing BCI
devices and improving their coding performance, “little attention has been paid
to what actually happens in the brain when you use the thing”, says Silvia
Marchesotti, a neuroengineer at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.Marchesotti
studies how the brain changes when people use a BCI for language generation —
looking not just in the regions where the BCI sits, but more widely. Her team
found that, when 15 healthy participants were trained to control a non-invasive
BCI over 5 days, activity across the brain increased in frequency bands known
to be important for language and became more focused over time12.
One possible
explanation could be that the brain becomes more efficient at controlling the
device and requires fewer neural resources to do the tasks, says Marchesotti.
Studying how the
brain behaves during BCI use is an emerging field, and researchers hope it will
both benefit the user and improve BCI systems. For example, recording activity
across the brain allows scientists to detect whether extra electrodes are
needed in other decoding sites to improve accuracy.
Understanding more
about brain organization could help to build better decoders and prevent them
making errors. In a preprint posted last month13, Ramsey and his colleagues
showed that a speech decoder can become confused between a user speaking a
sentence and listening to it. They implanted BCIs in the ventral sensorimotor
cortex — an area commonly targeted for speech decoding — in five people
undergoing epilepsy surgery. They found that patterns of brain activity seen
when participants spoke a set of sentences closely resembled those observed when
they listened to a recording of the same sentences. This implies that a speech
decoder might not be able to differentiate between heard and spoken words when
trying to generate speech.
The scope of
current BCI research is still limited, with trials recruiting a very small
number of participants and focusing mainly on brain regions involved in motor
function.
“You have at least
tenfold as many researchers working on BCIs as you have patients using BCIs,”
says Herff.
Researchers value
the rare chances to record directly from human neurons, but they are driven by
the need to restore function and meet medical needs. “This is neurosurgery,”
says Collinger. “It’s not to be taken lightly.”
To Chang, the field
naturally operates as a blend of discovery and clinical application. “It’s hard
for me to even imagine what our research would be like if we were just doing
basic discovery or only doing the BCI work alone,” he says. “It seems that both
really are critical for moving the field forwards.”
4) New
species of ancient vampire squid unearthed in Luxembourg :by Bob Yirka ,
Phys.org
A trio of
paleontologists in Germany has found a fossilized vampire squid that they dated
to 183 million years ago. In their paper published in the Swiss Journal of
Palaeontology, Robert Weis, Ben Thuy and Dirk Fuchs describe where the fossil
was found, its condition, and how it compares to modern vampire squids. Vampire
squid (vampyromorphs) are a type of cephalopod—they most resemble squid but are
actually related more closely to octopi. Several species of vampyromorphs have
been discovered, including several that are extinct. They are known for their
bioluminescent organs and long, retractable filaments, a feature that
distinguishes them from other squid and octopi.
For this new study,
the research team further investigated the fossilized remains of a vampyromorph
found at a dig site in Bascharage in 2022 and dated it back to the Early
Jurassic. They named the new species Simoniteuthis michaelyi.
The researchers
found the fossil to be in excellent condition, and it was a complete specimen,
which allowed for a detailed study. They also found that the creature had died
while in the middle of consuming two small fish—a rare find for any fossil. It
measured 38 centimeters long. They describe the find as exceptional due to its
quality of preservation. They were able to study what had once been soft tissue
structures, such as eyeballs, and muscle tissue, all in great detail.
Prior research
suggests that the vampyromorph lived in the shallows off an island that once
existed in what is now the heart of the European mainland. The research team
believes that the remarkable degree of preservation of this squid is due to
unique conditions at the moment of the creature's death. Water at the bottom of
the sea where it ventured would have been poorly oxygenated, causing the
creature to suffocate. In addition to killing the squid, it would have
prevented other creatures from feeding on its remains, allowing it to become
buried in the seafloor, wholly intact.
5) The
possibility of past life on Mars: Biomolecules may have originated from
atmospheric formaldehyde :by Tohoku University
Organic materials
discovered on Mars may have originated from atmospheric formaldehyde, according
to new research, marking a step forward in our understanding of the possibility
of past life on the red planet. Scientists from Tohoku University have
investigated whether the early atmospheric conditions on Mars had the potential
to foster the formation of biomolecules—organic compounds essential for
biological processes. Their findings, published in Scientific Reports, offer
intriguing insights into the plausibility of Mars harboring life in its distant
past.
Today, Mars
presents a harsh environment characterized by dryness and extreme cold, but
geological evidence hints at a more hospitable past. About 3.8–3.6 billion
years ago, the planet probably had a temperate climate, sustained by the
warming properties of gases like hydrogen. In such an environment, Mars may
have had liquid water, a key ingredient for life as we know it.
The researchers
investigated whether formaldehyde could have formed in the early Martian
environment. Formaldehyde is a simple organic compound that plays a crucial
role as a precursor for the formation of vital biomolecules through purely
chemical or physical processes. These biomolecules, like amino acids and
sugars, serve as the fundamental building blocks for proteins and RNA,
essential components of life. Using an advanced computer model, the team
simulated the potential atmospheric composition of early Mars to explore the
potential for formaldehyde production. The model was built with the assumption
that the atmosphere was rich in carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide.
Their simulations
suggest that the ancient Martian atmosphere could have provided a continuous
supply of formaldehyde which would have potentially led to the creation of
various organic compounds. This raises the intriguing possibility that the
organic materials detected on the Martian surface could have originated from
atmospheric sources, particularly during the planet's two earliest geological
periods.
"Our research
provides crucial insights into the chemical processes that may have occurred on
ancient Mars, offering valuable clues to the possibility of past life on the
planet," says Shungo Koyama, lead author of the study. By revealing that
there were conditions favorable for the formation of biomolecules, the research
broadens our understanding of the planet's ancient capacity to sustain life.
Next, the team
plans to analyze geological data gathered by NASA's Martian rovers, with the
aim of increasing their understanding of organic materials present early in the
planet's history. By comparing the expected carbon isotopes of ancient formaldehyde
with data from Martian samples, they hope to get a better picture of the
processes that shaped the planet's organic chemistry.
6)
Scientists reveal how first cells could have formed on Earth by The Scripps
Research Institute
Roughly 4 billion
years ago, Earth was developing conditions suitable for life. Origin-of-life
scientists often wonder if the type of chemistry found on the early Earth was
similar to what life requires today. They know that spherical collections of
fats, called protocells, were the precursor to cells during this emergence of
life. But how did simple protocells first arise and diversify to eventually
lead to life on Earth? Now, Scripps Research scientists have discovered one
plausible pathway for how protocells may have first formed and chemically
progressed to allow for a diversity of functions.
The findings,
published online on February 29, 2024, in the journal Chem, suggest that a
chemical process called phosphorylation (where phosphate groups are added to
the molecule) may have occurred earlier than previously expected. This would
lead to more structurally complex, double chained protocells capable of
harboring chemical reactions and dividing with a diverse range of
functionalities. By revealing how protocells formed, scientists can better
understand how early evolution could have taken place.
"At some
point, we all wonder where we came from. We've now discovered a plausible way
that phosphates could have been incorporated into cell-like structures earlier
than previously thought, which lays the building blocks for life," says
Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy, Ph.D., co-corresponding senior author and
professor in the Department of Chemistry at Scripps Research.
"This finding
helps us better understand the chemical environments of early Earth so we can
uncover the origins of life and how life can evolve on early Earth."
Krishnamurthy and his team study how chemical processes occurred to cause the
simple chemicals and formations that were present before the emergence of life
in prebiotic Earth. Krishnamurthy is also a co-leader of a NASA initiative
investigating how life emerged from these early environments. In this study,
Krishnamurthy and his team collaborated with the lab of soft matter
biophysicist Ashok Deniz, Ph.D., co-corresponding senior author and professor
in the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at
Scripps Research. They sought to examine if phosphates may have been involved
during the formation of protocells. Phosphates are present in nearly every
chemical reaction in the body, so Krishnamurthy suspected they may have been
present earlier than previously believed.Scientists thought protocells formed
from fatty acids, but it was unclear how protocells transitioned from a single
chain to a double chain of phosphates, which is what allows them to be more
stable and harbor chemical reactions.
The scientists
wanted to mimic plausible prebiotic conditions—the environments that existed
prior to the emergence of life. They first identified three likely mixtures of
chemicals that could potentially create vesicles, spherical structures of
lipids similar to protocells.The chemicals used included fatty acids and
glycerol (a common byproduct of soap production that may have existed during
early Earth). Next, they observed the reactions of these mixtures and added
additional chemicals to create new mixtures. These solutions were cooled and
heated on repeat overnight with some shaking to promote chemical reactions.They
then used fluorescent dyes to inspect the mixtures and judge if vesicle
formation had taken place. In certain cases, the researchers also varied the pH
and the ratios of the components to better understand how these factors
impacted vesicle formation. They also looked at the effect of metal ions and temperature
on the stability of the vesicles.
"The vesicles
were able to transition from a fatty acid environment to a phospholipid
environment during our experiments, suggesting a similar chemical environment
could have existed 4 billion years ago," says first author Sunil
Pulletikurti, postdoctoral researcher in Krishnamurthy's lab.It turns out that
fatty acids and glycerol may have undergone phosphorylation to create that more
stable, double chain structure. In particular, glycerol derived fatty acid esters
may have led to vesicles with different tolerances to metal ions, temperatures,
and pH—a critical step in diversifying evolution.
"We've
discovered one plausible pathway for how phospholipids could have emerged
during this chemical evolutionary process," says Deniz. "It's
exciting to uncover how early chemistries may have transitioned to allow for
life on Earth. Our findings also hint at a wealth of intriguing physics that
may have played key functional roles along the way to modern cells."Next,
the scientists plan to examine why some of the vesicles fused while others
divided to better understand the dynamic processes of protocells.
1) General
Elections Buzz: INDIA Alliance Reportedly Finalise Seat Sharing in Maharashtra,
Tamil Nadu
The BJP’s Central
Election Committee Meeting too was held at the party headquarters in Delhi on
Thursday.There are news reports about alliances and seat-sharing deals being
reached in the states.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi or
Maharashtra’s MVA alliance, knocked off power in an Eknath Shinde-led coup last
year, is reported to have agreed on a seat-sharing arrangement. The Uddhav
Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will contest 48 seats in the state, it is reported.
The state has the highest number of seats in the country after UP’s 80 seats.
Congress leaders Nana
Falgunrao Patole, Prithviraj Chavan, Varsha Gaikwad, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction)
leaders Jayant Patil, Jitendra Awhad and Anil Deshmukh, and Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay
Raut and Vinayak Raut participated in the meeting, according to news agency
PTI.
The final agreement is
said to be announced in a press conference later.
Sanjay Raut, MP and
spokesperson for the UBT faction, said that no proposal (as reported in a
section of the press) has come forth from the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi’s Prakash
Ambedkar, for a seat to Manoj Jarange Patil from Jalna. Patil has emerged as
the focal point of the intense protests for Maratha reservations across the
state that have proved to be a big thorn in the BJP-Eknath Shinde-Ajit Pawar
government’s plans.
The Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) had won 23 Lok Sabha seats, its then-alliance partner Shiv Sena
(undivided) had bagged 18, undivided NCP had won four. Congress and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul
Muslimeen (AIMIM) had won one seat each. An independent candidate had won one
seat. There were reports of “nine seats” holding up the alliance a week ago,
which appear to have been ironed out.
Tamil Nadu: DMK + allies
The DMK on Thursday (February
29) finalised its seat-sharing talks with the Communist Party of India (CPI)
and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), “allotting two seats each to both
Left parties. The constituencies are to be decided upon later,” the Hindu
reported. The decision was made during a meeting between the Left parties at
the DMK head office on Thursday morning.
The DMK had started
finalising seat-sharing pacts with its allies last week. Like with the Left
parties, retaining the numbers they contested together in the 2019 election,
DMK allotted the Ramanathapuram constituency to the Indian Union Muslim League
(IUML) and Namakkal to the Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi (KMDK). The talks
between the DMK and the MDMK would continue, MDMK were reported to have said
earlier.
“We have asked for two
Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat. Today’s talks were satisfactory.
Talks will continue,” MDMK’s Arjun Raj told reporters after meeting the DMK
seat-sharing committee.
The DMK’s seat-sharing
committee is led by T.R. Baalu while K.N. Nehru, I. Periyasamy, K. Ponmudy, A.
Raja, M.R.K. Panneerselvam and Tiruchi N. Siva are the other members.
BJP meets
The BJP’s Central
Election Committee meeting too was held at the party headquarters in Delhi on
Thursday. The meeting is said to have focused on Lok Sabha election seats
across 17 states. “During the meeting, decisions were made regarding over 155
seats, the details of which are expected to be released within the next couple
of days”, say news reports.
2) Himachal Pradesh
News Highlights: Vikramaditya Singh announces to not to press for resignation
Himachal Pradesh MLA Vikramaditya Singh
The Congress government
is on the brink after a major setback in the Rajya Sabha elections held on
Tuesday, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the only Rajya Sabha seat
in the state. Despite the BJP's minority position in the Himachal assembly, the
saffron party succeeded in outmanoeuvring the Congress. Leader of the
Opposition Jairam Thakur has now called for the resignation of Himachal Pradesh
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Chief Minister
Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu faced challenges in maintaining party unity during the
Rajya Sabha elections, with six MLAs from the Congress cross-voting, leading to
an embarrassing defeat.
With the Congress
holding 40 out of 68 seats in the assembly and the BJP 25, the six Congress
MLAs' actions may pave the way for a potential no-confidence motion.
On Wednesday, Thakur
along with members of the BJP's legislative party, convened with Governor Shiv
Pratap Shukla at the Raj Bhawan. On Tuesday, amid disruptions from both the
treasury and opposition benches, the Himachal Pradesh assembly adjourned for
the day. Thakur accused the government of evading the division of votes,
alleging a loss of majority.
He told reporters on
Wednesday, “We have informed the Governor about what happened in the Assembly.
When we demanded a division of votes during the financial bill, our request was
denied, and the House was adjourned twice. The conduct of the Marshals towards
our MLAs was unacceptable.”
In the assembly session
on Wednesday, the Speaker of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly expelled 15 BJP
MLAs, including LoP Jairam Thakur, Vipin Singh Parmar, Randheer Sharma,
Lokender Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Hans Raj, Janak Raj, Balbir Verma, Trilok Jamwal,
Surender Shori, Deep Raj, Puran Thakur, Inder Singh Gandhi, Dileep Thakur, and
Inder Singh Gandhi. Their expulsion was purportedly due to shouting slogans and
engaging in misconduct within the Speaker's chamber.
3) Himachal crisis:
Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu claims Congress government is 'safe'
The political crisis for
the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh began on Monday, shortly after six
of its MLAs cross-voted in Rajya Sabha elections.
Amid the ongoing
political crisis in Himachal Pradesh, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on
Wednesday said that the ruling government in the state is “safe”. Sukhu's
comment came shortly after he held a meeting with the Congress observers in
Shimla.
The three observers
included Bhupesh Baghel, DK Shivakumar, and Bhupinder Hooda who will submit
their report in two parts - the accountability behind the cross-voting, and the
future course of action for the Congress government in Himachal
Pradesh.“Discussion was held regarding elections…We decided on the future
course of action. Our government is safe,” Sukhu told the media post the
meeting.Earlier in the day, Sukhu refuted all the reports of his resignation
asserting that he will prove a majority in the House and run the government for
five years. “Neither anyone asked for my resignation nor have I presented my
resignation to anyone. We will prove the majority. We will win, the people of
Himachal will win,” the Himachal CM said.
He added, “I am not
someone who will get scared and I can say this with guarantee that the Congress
is going to win…The BJP is spreading rumours of my resignation. The Congress is
united.”The political crisis for the Congress government in the hilly state
began on Tuesday, shortly after six of its MLAs cross-voted which resulted in
the BJP winning the state's lone Rajya Sabha seat, despite the Congress being
in the majority. Adding to the crisis, Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh also
announced his resignation from the state cabinet.The surprising win of the
saffron party prompted it to challenge Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sikhu-led
government and demand a show of strength in the House.
Meanwhile, Himachal
Pradesh speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania has reserved an order on a Congress
petition seeking the disqualification of six party MLAs who cross-voted.
4) 3 TV News
channels fined, ordered to take down content that spread hate
NBDSA has ordered three TV news channels to remove programmes broadcast by them from their online platforms and YouTube.
Three leading TV News
channels – Aaj Tak, News18 India, Times Now Navbharat – have been penalised and
ordered to take down content that spread hate.
The News Broadcasting
and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) has taken stern action against three
prominent television news channels – News18 India, Times Now Navbharat, and Aaj
Tak, ordering them to remove videos of several shows aired over the past two years.
The directive comes in response to complaints over the dissemination of content
that promotes hatred and communal disharmony, deemed to be in violation of
broadcasting standards and ethics guidelines. Among the channels penalised,
News18 India faced a fine and removal order for three specific shows. These
shows, two anchored by Aman Chopra and one by Amish Devgan, were found guilty
of communalising the Shraddha Walker case, labelling it as "love
jihad." The NBDSA imposed a fine of Rs. 50,000 on the channel and mandated
the removal of the offending videos.
The NBDSA order stated
that the “term ‘love jihad’ should not be used loosely and should be used with
great introspection in future broadcasts as religious stereotyping can corrode
the secular fabric of the country, cause irreparable harm to a community and
create religious intolerance or disharmony.” The regulatory body also imposed a
fine of ₹1 lakh on Times Now Navbharat for its show, hosted by Himanshu Dixit,
on “love jihad” which was aired on May 31, 2023.
“It appears that at the
very beginning of the broadcast, the anchor has concluded that men from a
certain community lured women from another community by hiding their religious
identity and then committed violence or murders against such women and every
such violence or murder committed on women of a certain community related to
love jihad,” it said.
Aaj Tak came under
scrutiny for a show hosted by Sudhir Chaudhary. The NBDSA found Chaudhary's use
of terms such as "Tukde Tukde Gang," "Khalistani in
Punjab," and "Pakistani Supporters" during a discussion on
former President Barack Obama's comments concerning India to be inflammatory
and violative of objectivity and neutrality standards. A fine of Rs. 75,000 was
levied on Aaj Tak, coupled with an order to either expunge the objectionable
remarks from the video or remove it entirely.
In its assessment, the
NBDSA noted a clear departure from journalistic principles in the implicated
broadcasts. The channels were found to have failed in presenting controversial
issues with impartiality, objectivity, and sensitivity, as mandated by
broadcasting standards.
A legal representative
of the India Today Group, said, “Even though we are disappointed by the order,
we respect the decision by the regulatory body and will follow it”, reported
The Indian Express
5) Morning
briefing: Bengaluru's Rameshwaram cafe owners react to blast, IMD's rainfall
alert for states; all latest news
10 people got injured on
Friday after a low-intensity blast took place in Rameshwaram Cafe, a popular
eatery in Bengaluru's Brookefield area. The cafe's owners said that they are
cooperating with the law enforcement authorities. "We are deeply saddened
by the unfortunate incident at our Brookefield branch. We are cooperating with
the authorities and officials in their investigations," the cafe said in a
statement. Divya Raghavendra Rao, the co-founder of the cafe, said they are
offering support to those injured. "Our thoughts are with the injured and
their families, and we are offering them all the support, assistance and care
they need and praying for their speedy recovery," she said. The Bengaluru
Police have registered a case under the stringent Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act and Explosives Substances Act in connection with the explosion
at the cafe.
Delhi-NCR experienced a
sudden shift in weather as the region received light rainfall on Saturday
morning. Following the rainfall, cloudy skies enveloped the national capital
and adjoining areas, bringing the temperature a notch down. Visuals captured
from the Kartavya Path and Greater Kailash area showed droplets of rain
creating ripples on puddle-covered streets. Pedestrians were seen carrying
umbrellas as they navigated through the wet conditions. A Western Disturbance,
coupled with a cyclonic circulation over northwest Afghanistan and its
vicinity, alongside a trough extending from this circulation to the Northwest
Arabian Sea in the lower and middle tropospheric levels, is currently
influencing weather patterns, according to the Indian Meteorological Department
(IMD).
6) Narendra Modi
Bengal Visit: Mamata Banerjee meets PM at Raj Bhavan
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi is on a visit to Jharkhand and West Bengal today. In Jharkhand's Sindri
the Prime Minister inaugurated several developmental projects worth ₹17,600
crore. These projects encompass significant developments such as the expansion
of the Sone Nagar-Andal third and fourth lines, the Tori-Shivpur first and
second lines, and the Biratoli-Shivpur third line, a part of the Tori-Shivpur Project.
Additionally, new rail lines like Mohanpur-Hansdiha and the Dhanbad-Chandrapura
line were inaugurated.The Prime Minister also flagged off three trains during
the event: the Deoghar-Dibrugarh service, MEMU Train Service between Tatanagar
and Badampahar daily, and a long-haul freight train departing from Shivpur
station.
Later in the day, the
Prime Minister visited West Bengal.
In Bengal's Arambagh,
the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone and dedicated multiple
developmental projects related to rail, ports, oil pipeline, LPG supply, and
wastewater treatment.
Among these projects,
the Prime Minister inaugurated Indian Oil's 518-km Haldia-Barauni Crude Oil
Pipeline, which has been developed at a cost of approximately ₹2,790
crore.Additionally, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of multiple
projects aimed at enhancing the infrastructure at Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port
in Kolkata, with an investment of approximately ₹1000 crore.
PM Modi also laid the
foundation stone for Raghunathpur Thermal Power Station Phase II (2x660 MW)
situated in Raghunathpur, Purulia district. This coal-based thermal power
project, overseen by the Damodar Valley Corporation, will employ highly
efficient supercritical technology.The establishment of this new plant marks a
significant stride towards fortifying the energy security of the country.
7) Sandeshkhali
case: Sheikh Shahjahan of TMC arrested, sent to 10-day police custody
Sandeshkhali case:
Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested from a house at Minakhah in North 24 Parganas
district where he was hiding, the police said.Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh
Shahjahan, who was arrested on Thursday morning for allegedly torturing
villagers in the trouble-torn Sandeshkhali area in West Bengal, has been sent
to a 10-day police custody by a local court. Sheikh is accused of alleged
sexual atrocities on women and land grabbing in Sandeshkhali. He was arrested
from a house at Minakhah in North 24 Parganas district where he was hiding, the
police said.
Advocate Raja Bhowmick,
lawyer of Sheikh Shahjahan said, “ ...The police sought 14 days custody but the
court granted 10 days…On March 10, he will be produced in court again”The
Calcutta high court on Wednesday directed that Sheikh Shahjahan can be arrested
by the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the West Bengal Police.
On Monday, the high
court had directed police to arrest Sheikh Shahjahan, following which the
state's ruling party asserted that it does not shield culprits and he would be
arrested within seven days.
Sheikh Shahjahan was at
large since an ED team that went to raid his house in connection with the
alleged ration scam was attacked by a mob of around 1,000 people on January
5.West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose welcomed the arrest of Sheikh Shahjahan
asserted that the time has come to put criminals, who are ruling the roost in
parts of Bengal, behind bars.
“This is the beginning
of an end. We have to put an end to the cycle of violence in Bengal. In parts
of Bengal, the goons are ruling the roost. This must end and the gangsters
should be put behind bars,” news agency PTI quoted the Bengal governor saying
at a press conference
CV Ananda Bose
maintained that the Sandeshkhali incident is only the tip of an iceberg,
suggesting there is much more to it than what meets the eye.
1) India win 4th
test by 5 wickets to claim series victory over England
Indian and English players greet each other after India won the fourth Test cricket match against England, in Ranchi, Monday, Feb. 26,
India win 4th test by 5
wickets to claim series victory over England India took an unassailable 3-1
lead in the five-match test series against England by winning the fourth test
by five wickets on Monday. Chasing 192 to win, India lost five wickets for 36 runs
to be reduced to 120-5 but Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel put on a sixth-wicket
partnership of 72 runs to get the hosts over the line.
It is the first test
series’ defeat for England under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.
India's victory was set
up on Sunday's third day when England's batting lineup collapsed to be all out
for 145 in its second innings as the tourists surrended the initiative after
taking a 46-run lead from the first innings.
India's victory here
gives it unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-test series. England had won the
first test in Hyderabad by 28 runs. India responded by winning the second test
in Visakhapatnam by 106 runs, and then the third test in Rajkot by 434 runs.
The fifth test will be played in Dharamsala from March 7.
Chasing 192, India
resumed Monday at 40 without loss. Captain Rohit Sharma completed his half
century and seemingly had set India on course for victory, before England
snared three wickets to keep their slight hopes alive of achieving a dramatic
turnaround.
Sharma shared an 84-run
opening stand with Yashasvi Jaiswal, before the latter was spectacularly caught
by veteran James Anderson off Joe Root for 37 to give the tourists a
much-needed breakthrough against the seemingly comfortable Indian opening pair.
Jaiswal’s wicket sparked
a mini-collapse as India went from 84-0 to 100-3 inside nine overs as England
sniffed a chance of victory.
Left-arm spinner Tom
Hartley had Sharma caught behind in the 26th over for 55. It was initially
judged as a stumping, but on review, the television umpire also detected an
edge from the batter while keeper Ben Foakes held on to a sharp
catch.Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir then had Rajat Patidar caught at short leg for
a six-ball duck as India lost its second wicket in eight deliveries.
India went to lunch at
118-3, but the slide continued after the break.
Ravindra Jadeja (4) was
caught first ball on resumption of play. He hit a low full toss off Bashir
straight to mid-on. Next ball, Sarfaraz Khan was out caught at short leg.
Jurel (39 not out)
denied Bashir the hat-trick and then bedded down for a match winning
partnership with Gill.
The 24-year-old Gill was
watchful and intent on not taking any risks. He only scored his first boundary
after 119 deliveries.The two batters grew in confidence as they spent time at
the wicket, adding 50 off 122 balls as England's spinners began to wane.Gill
(52 not out) then hit two sixes to reach his sixth test half century and
brought a swift end to an enthralling match.Bashir, playing only his second
test, finished with 3-79 and collected a match haul of eight wickets to lead
the tourist bowlers.
2) Who is Mathias
Boe? The kingmaker behind Chirag-Satwik's stellar rise, now set to marry Indian
actress Taapsee Pannu
Taapsee Pannu with Mathias Boe. The two are reported to exchange vows in March 2024(
Mathias Boe will
reportedly be marrying Indian actor Taapsee Pannu in March
Bollywood actress
Taapsee Pannu and her longtime partner, former badminton ace Mathias Boe, are
reportedly gearing up to exchange vows in March, according to NDTV. The
extravagant affair, the report states, is slated to unfold in the picturesque
city of Udaipur and is expected to be an intimate gathering of close family
members.
As they prepare for
their big day, it's worth delving into the illustrious career of Mathias
Boe.Hailing from Denmark, Boe boasts an impressive resume as a badminton
player, having clinched silver medals at both the 2012 London Olympics and the
2013 World Championships. Throughout his twenty-year tenure in the sport, the
Danish former shuttler formed formidable partnerships with renowned players
such as Michael Jensen, Thomas Hovgaard, and Michael Lamp.
However, it was his
partnership with Carsten Mogensen that stood out; together, they achieved
remarkable success, securing a silver medal at the London Olympics and
clinching victory at the World Championships the following year.
In Indian badminton
circles, Mathias Boe is best known for his work with India's star men's doubles
duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy. Currently coaching the men's
world no.1 doubles duo, Mathias Boe took on the coaching role for Rankireddy
and Shetty in early 2021.This decision came about when the Indian national
team's doubles coach at the time, Flandy Limpele, stepped down due to personal
reasons.
Known for his aggressive
and passionate approach on the court during his playing days, Boe's coaching
style has left a noticeable impact on Rankireddy and Shetty's game, too.
2023 saw a phenomenal
rise for the Indian duo as it achieved the world no.1 ranking, as well as
stellar wins at the Indonesia Open Super 1000, the Thomas Cup, and a medal at
the BWF World Championships. Shetty and Rankireddy, fondly known ‘SatChi’, also
won India's first-ever gold at the Asian Games last year under Boe's
coaching.Mathias Boe continues to be key for Indian badminton in the Olympic
year, as the duo of Shetty and Rankireddy remains the country's biggest
prospect for a badminton gold medal in Paris.
3) Asian team title boosts India ahead of Uber Cup
challenge
Indian women team celebrates after winning the Badminton Asia Team Championships with a 3-2 victory over Thailand in Selangor
Despite top teams
resting their best, India's BATC triumph was commendable. The Uber Cup from
April 28 to May 5 will be a tough test Every two years, the Badminton Asia Team
Championships (BATC) commences a journey that culminates with the prestigious
Uber Cup, for which it is also a qualifier. Thrice in the last four editions,
the team winning the Asian title at least reached the final of the Uber Cup, if
not win it.
Will it be the case this
time around too?A young Indian team put up an impressive performance in Shah
Alam, Malaysia earlier this month to win the BATC for the first time since its
inception in 2016. Barring PV Sindhu, who was returning after a four-month
injury break, and Ashwini Ponnappa, the team was full of youngsters. The
youngest member, Tanvi Sharma, is only 15.
Despite the lack of
experience, the unheralded Indians upset the top three seeds China, Japan and
Thailand to lift the trophy. It was really commendable with 17-year-old Anmol
Kharb emerging the star performer, winning the high-pressure fifth and deciding
matches against much-higher ranked opponents to return unbeaten from Malaysia.
But will Sindhu, Anmol
and teammates be able to repeat this success at the Uber Cup, which will be
held in Chengdu, China from April 28 to May 5.“It will be tough at the Uber
Cup, definitely. You will have China come in with Chen Yufei and He Bing Jiao
to start with. Japan will have (Akane) Yamaguchi. Ratchanok (Intanon) will be
back in the (Thailand) team as well. It makes their teams stronger. We went in
with our full team (to BATC) so we can't definitely say we are contenders for
Uber Cup in that sense,” chief national coach Pullela Gopichand said.
Certain of qualification
for Uber Cup -- it is also called the World Women’s Team Championships -- most
of the top teams didn't field full strength squads in BATC. For example, China,
who India beat 3-2 in the group stage, didn't have Olympic champion Chen Yufei,
world No.6 He Bingjiao and world No.1 doubles combine Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi
Fan Japan were without two-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi and two of their
top pairs. Thailand were without their top two singles players, including
former world champion Ratchanok, with the big names rested and prepare for the
BWF World Tour that resumes this week, given it is the Paris Olympics
qualification period.
“Having said that,
Sindhu and Anmol have done well. If you look at the Indian group, there’s a lot
of young talent. We are looking at an immense possibility. Both the doubles
(pairs) are good. We have two strong doubles combinations, otherwise we would
have been tilted towards the singles to pull out our wins," the former All
England champion said.
India now has two pairs
– world No.20 Tanisha Crasto/Ashwini Ponnappa and No.23 Treesa Jolly/Gayatri
Gopichand – who regularly beat the best in the business. While Tanisha got injured
before the semi-finals against Japan, Treesa and Gayatri pulled off sensational
victories to remain unbeaten in the continental tournament.Gayatri and Treesa
first stunned 2022 All England champions Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida for
the first time in three outings before beating world No.10 Jongkolphan
Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand in the final.
“Gayatri-Treesa were
unbeaten, having beaten China, Japan and Thailand who had top 10 players. That
along with the singles make it (India) a strong team. But if you ask me if they
are really going to win all the matches against China, Japan, Korea, Thailand
all the time, it will be tough. But this certainly is a very positive step. I
am looking at many more of these in the future, it augurs very well for Indian
women’s badminton," Gopichand said.
In 32 editions, India
have medalled only twice (2014 and 2016) in Uber Cup, Saina Nehwal, Sindhu and
Jwala Gutta-Ashwini powering India to bronze both times.More than anything,
BATC provided youngsters Ashmita Chaliha, Anmol and the doubles pair of Priya
Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra, and even those who didn’t get a game, the
exposure of being at a major team event. This should benefit them in the
future.
National selector U
Vimal Kumar said: “It is not going to be easy (at Uber Cup). But winning the
Asian title is not only for the young girls but for the profile of our sport.
These young girls will get an opportunity to compete. They need to find a
breakthrough and play because in team championships anything can happen. For me
it is heartening, especially since I was a little concerned about what after
Saina and Sindhu. There’s some sort of positive trend emerging. How we can
nurture these young ones is the key.”
4) Trials for
Olympic qualifiers more a trial for wrestlers
For Bajrang and Vinesh to appear in the federation's trials will be a setback as they had fought against the regime(
Confusion over whether
the federation or the IOA-appointed ad hoc panel runs the sport has left the
wrestlers in a tight spot Sakshi Malik shared a cryptic post on the current
situation in wrestling on Tuesday, insisting that Wrestling Federation of India
(WFI) is back to governing the sport and things will go back to what it was
before their protests against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the then federation
chief, in January last year.
With broken heart and
mind, I welcome Sanjay Singh alias Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to the Wrestling
Federation of India (WFI). Once again national camps will be held in Lucknow
and Nationals will be held in Nandini Nagar....Nobody can stop them, they are
bigger than the government and people of this country," the 2016 Rio
Olympics bronze medallist and one of the leading protesters against Brij
Bhushan, posted on Facebook.
In the last few days,
WFI has announced dates for selection trials to pick the Indian squad for the
Olympic qualifier and Asian Championships and a list of wrestlers eligible to
attend the trials. The list includes the three top protesting wrestlers, Tokyo
Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, Sakshi and world championship medallist
Vinesh Phogat.This was in keeping with the United World Wrestling's (UWW)
condition that WFI should not discriminate against the protesting wrestlers,
particularly Bajrang, Vinesh and Sakshi while lifting its suspension on
February 13.
However, in an Olympic
year with so much at stake, the wrestlers are grappling with confusion and
uncertainty barely two weeks before the selection trials. Despite being
reinstated by UWW, the federation remains suspended by the union sports
ministry. IOA's ad hoc panel still officially governs wrestling in India and it
had fixed the trials for March 10-11 in Patiala and Sonipat. The suspended WFI
has picked the same dates with Delhi's IG Stadium as the venue. A year after
the sit-in wrestling protests, things have got to a point where it is not clear
who will pick the team for the Olympic qualifiers."We don't know who is
running the sport in the country. Who will select teams, whether it will be WFI
or the ad-hoc committee. It is such a discouraging situation before the Olympic
qualifiers," said a coach whose trainee will participate in the trials
WFI bosses have met
sports ministry officials while Bajrang, who is training in Russia, has also
spoken to the ministry top brass over the possible return of WFI. In a message
on February 14, he requested that the government decide on the matter and
"not force the wrestlers to protest again."
The ministry has not
reacted to UWW's reinstatement of WFI, nor has it lifted the suspension of the
Sanjay Singh-led body. "Unless the ministry lifts its suspension, the ad
hoc panel will remain the deciding authority," according to people aware
of the development.While suspending WFI on December 24, the sports ministry had
said "WFI continues to be in the complete control of former office-bearers
in complete disregard to the Sports Code."
There have been voices
within WFI as well, especially after it announced nationals in Pune, parallel
to that held by the ad hoc body in Jaipur. Some WFI state units, including
powerhouse Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha chose to field teams
for the Jaipur meet. "The wrestlers should not suffer. The sports ministry
should find a way to solve this crisis. Things will be clear in a day or
two," a WFI official said.
Future of Bajrang,
Vinesh
With its suspension by
UWW lifted, WFI holds the right to send teams for international meets. For
Bajrang and Vinesh to appear in the federation's trials will be a setback as
they had fought against the regime. It remains to be seen what their next
course of action will be. In the list issued by WFI, Vinesh has been put in the
non-Olympic 55kg category in which she competed in the nationals of the ad hoc
body and won, marking her injury comeback. Vinesh has spoken about entering
53kg for the Paris Olympics. A WFI official said: "Wrestlers will be
allowed to change their weight class if they desire."
Antim Panghal has
already won the Olympic quota in 53kg, and in the current scenario it is not
clear what the selection criteria for Paris will be. Though the Olympic quota
is for the country, WFI had earlier said that the quota winner will go for the
Olympics as has been the practice.
Even for Antim -- the
only Indian wrestler to win an Olympic quota so far -- the situation can't be
more baffling. The ad hoc panel had exempted her from trials for the Asian
Championships. WFI, however, has named her for the trials on March 10-11.There
has been so much confusion since the last one year. So close to the Paris
Olympics, the wrestlers are not clear about the selection process," said
another coach.
5) Manu Gandas eyes
redemption after reality check
Gandas started the 2024 PGTI season by winning the Players Championship in Kolkata's Tollygunge Club last month and finished 13th at Vooty Masters
The 27-year-old could
not retain his DP World Tour card but has returned richer in experience First
seasons on international tours can always be tricky, and Manu Gandas discovered
it the hard way last year. The 27-year-old from Gurugram qualified for his
maiden DP World Tour (European Tour) in 2023 by virtue of topping the PGTI
Order of Merit the year before, but only five cuts from 25 appearances meant
the European sojourn was a bit of an eye-opener for Gandas."The results
didn't go my way but I have returned richer in experience. I now know what it
takes to compete with world-class golfers in challenging conditions,"
Gandas, whose best finish in Europe was a tied-20th at ISPS HANDA World
Invitational in Northern Ireland, said.
Gandas, however, has
shown signs of returning to form. He started the 2024 PGTI season by winning
the Players Championship in Kolkata's Tollygunge Club last month and finished
13th at Vooty Masters. Later this month, he will be eyeing another good week at
the Hero Indian Open — a DP World Tour event — on his home course.
This year's Indian Open
will carry a record prize purse of $2.25 million and will be the second of five
events comprising the Asian Swing. The tournament will see 144 players in
action, about a third of which will be Indians.While the entry list is yet to
be closed, 2015 champion Anirban Lahiri, Indian veteran Shiv Kapur, and
three-time DP World Tour winner Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium are among the star
attractions.
"I will try and put
my learnings to use. DLF course can be a bit intimidating, and it can get very
windy sometimes," said Gandas who finished the competition tied-32nd last
year.
Reflecting on his
European experience, he said, "It is much colder and windier and it gets
very tough when it rains. The body gets longer to warm up which again affects
the distances you hit. These are the conditions that we don't get in
Asia."
European courses, Gandas
reckoned, are longer than most Indian courses, which means the long game is put
to test. The Indian was also troubled by recurring niggle on his right wrist
and left ankle."I have been playing with pain for the past 2-3 years. It
is a muscle stress-related issue. This season, I want to give it proper rest
and also get physically stronger to add more yardage to my game," he said.
The tour can be a lonely
place, especially if the results are not encouraging, and Gandas admitted to
pangs of self doubt. "There were a lot of days when I questioned myself,
but as an athlete, you ought to keep trying."
"Although I had
Shubhankar to lean on, you can get homesick easily. There were a lot of
technical and mental inputs from the tour regulars but speaking to my coach
Anitya Chand really helped," Gandas, who made trips to India every two
weeks, added.Meanwhile, Indian Golf Union (IGU) President Brijinder Singh said
they are in the process of hiring a National Development Manager (NDM) and
National High Performance Manager (NHPM).
"We have already
interviewed a few people for the two posts. For NDM, we have shortlisted a few.
They are supposed to make a presentation about what would be their approach to
grow golf. Hopefully, we should get a NDM by the first week of April.
"NHPM has to be an
established player, someone who is a good golfer and is committed. It is a long
process," Singh said.
Maamla Legal Hai:
Chaos collides with the
letter of the law at the District Court of Patparganj, where quirky employees
work to uphold justice. However, their daily escapades are not without a few
objections.
DUNE2:
Paul Atreides unites
with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who
destroyed his family.
Director
Denis Villeneuve
Writers
Denis VilleneuveJon
SpaihtsFrank Herbert
Stars
Timothée
ChalametZendayaRebecca Ferguson
Laapataa Ladies
It's a jolly mess when
two young brides get lost from a train. Set in 2001, somewhere in rural India.
Director
Kiran Rao
Writers
Biplab GoswamiDivyanidhi
SharmaSneha Desai
Stars
Nitanshi GoelSparsh
SrivastavSavita Malviya
Sunflower Season 2
Season 2 of Sunflower
continues the investigation into Mr. Kapoor's (Ashwin Kaushal) death, with a
majority of the residents and frequent visitors coming under suspicion and
being interrogated.
Eagle
Mass Maharaja Ravi Teja
recently came up with the stylish action drama Eagle. Directed by the famous
cinematographer Karthik Ghattamneni, the film was lauded for its superior
technical values. Kavya Thapar played the romantic interest of Ravi Teja, while
Anupama Parameswaran played a journalist.
The latest update is
that the film will make its digital debut on March 1 on ETV Win and Prime
Video. Both OTT platforms hold Eagle’s post-theatrical streaming rights, and
the movie is making its premiere on the same day on both digital platforms.
This is a great chance for all those who missed watching this full-on action
film in theatres.
BOOK OF THIS WEEK:
Vanara : The Legend
of Baali, Sugreeva and Tara by Anand Neelakantan (Author)
Baali and Sugreeva of
the Vana Nara tribe were orphan brothers who were born in abject poverty and grew
up as slaves like most of their fellow tribesmen. They were often mocked as the
vanaras, the monkey men. Sandwiched between the never-ending war between the
Deva tribes in the north and the Asura tribes in the south, the Vana Naras
seemed to have lost all hope. But Baali was determined not to die a slave.
Aided by his beloved brother, Sugreeva, Baali built a country for his people.
The capital city, Kishkindha, became a beacon of hope for emancipated slaves
from across the world. It was a city of the people, by the people, for the
people, where there was no discrimination based on caste, creed, language or
the colour of skin. For a brief period in history, it seemed as if mankind had
found its ideal hero in Baali. But then fate intervened through the beautiful
Tara, the daughter of a tribal physician. Loved by Baali and lusted after by
Sugreeva, Tara became the cause of a fraternal war that would change history
for ever.
The love triangle
between Baali, Tara and Sugreeva is arguably the world's first. Written by
Anand Neelakantan who gave a voice to Ravana in Asura, Duryodhana in the Ajaya
series and Sivagami in the Baahubali series, Vanara is a classic tale of love,
lust and betrayal. Shakespearean in its tragic depth and epic in its sweep,
Vanara gives voice to the greatest warrior in the Ramayana-Baali.
Anand Neelakantan
is one of India's top
selling authors with more than 15 books to his credit. Anand is also a
columnist, screenwriter, and public speaker. He is known for writing
mythological fiction and has authored fourteen books in English and one in
Malayalam. He has also written screenplays for popular television series in
Hindi on various GEC and OTT platforms. He has been writing a column named
Acute Angle in the New Indian Express since 2017.[1] Anand has acted in two
Advertisement films and has also played the role of the antagonist Ettappa
Naicker in the Doordarshan Television show Swaraj.[2] He follows the style of
telling stories based on the perspective of the antagonists or supporting characters
of a larger work. His debut work Asura: Tale of the Vanquished (2012) was based
on the Indian epic Ramayana, told from the perspective of Ravana—the first book
in his Ramayana series. It was followed by series of books based on characters
from Mahabharata and Baahubali. His books have been translated to different
languages such as Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali,
Gujarati, Assamese, English, Sinhalese, Burmese and Indonesian. Anand has
written screenplays for popular Hindi television serials like Siya Ke Ram in
Star TV, Mahabali Hanuman in SONY TV, Chakravarthy Ashoka in Colors TV,
Sarfarosh in Netflix, Swaraj in DD National, Srimad Ramayan in Sony TV etc. He
has written the story for the OTT series TAJ in Zee5
Nature Magazine
National Geographic
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Scientific American
Filmfare Mag
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Time Mag
Unexplained Mysteries
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