Rare fossil bird deepens mystery of avian extinctions

Today's birds descend from a small number of bird species living before the dinosaur extinction. Some of the birds that went extinct, the enantiornithines, were actually more common than and out-competed modern bird ancestors. Analysis of a newly described fossil, the most complete known from the Americas, demonstrates, too, that the enantiornithines were as agile and strong in flight as the ancestors of modern birds. But after the cataclysm that wiped out most of the dinosaurs, only one group of birds remained: the ancestors of the birds we see today. The 75-million-year-old fossil, from a bird about the size of a turkey vulture, is the most complete skeleton discovered in North America of what is called enantiornithines, or opposite birds. Discovered in the Grand Staircase-Escalante area of Utah in 1992 by University of California, Berkeley, paleontologist Howard Hutchison, the fossil lay relatively untouched in University of California Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley until doctoral student Jessie Aderholt learned about it in 2009 and asked to study it

Purple bacteria 'batteries' turn sewage into clean energy

Purple phototrophic bacteria -- which can store energy from light. when supplied with an electric current can recover near to 100 percent of carbon from any type of organic waste, while generating hydrogen gas for use as fuel. Organic compounds in household sewage and industrial wastewater are a rich potential source of energy, bioplastics and even proteins for animal feed -- but with no efficient extraction method, treatment plants discard them as contaminants. Now researchers have found an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective solution.

Overflowing crater lakes carved canyons across Mars

Today, most of the water on Mars is locked away in frozen ice caps. But billions of years ago it flowed freely across the surface, forming rushing rivers that emptied into craters, forming lakes and seas. New research has found evidence that sometimes the lakes would take on so much water that they overflowed and burst from the sides of their basins, creating catastrophic floods that carved canyons very rapidly, perhaps in a matter of weeks.

New definition of kilogram from next year

India will adopt a new definition of the kilogram (kg) from May next year, after representatives of 60 countries last week voted to redefine the International System of Units.

The new SI System will be helpful in bringing in accuracy while dealing with international trade, biotechnology, high-tech manufacturing and human health and safety, said Consumer Affairs Secretary AK Srivastava during a press briefing in New Delhi.
The existing definition of the kg is over 130 years old. The new SI system, which is defined in terms of the Planck's constant, would be stable in the long term and practically realisable.

The 26th General Conference on Weights & Measures (GCWM), which is comprised of 60 member countries, voted for the redefinition last week. It will adopted on May 20, which is World Metrology Day.

The new definition of kg involves accurate weighing machines called 'Kibble balance'. It uses the constant to measure the mass of an object using a precisely measured electromagnetic force.

National Physical Laboratory (NPL) Director DK Aswal said the facility to produce 'Kibble balance' machines to be used across the country will be ready in the next three-four years. It is expected to cost Rs 60 crore.