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THE TIMES OF INDIA, NEW DELHIMONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016 15TIMES   TRENDS XII   X   I     X

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Ian Johnston

 The Arctic is on track tobe free of sea ice thisyear or next for the

first time in more than100,000 years, a leading scien-tist has claimed.

Provisional satellite dataproduced by the United Sta-tes National Snow & Ice Data

Centre shows there were justover 11.1million sq km of seaice on June 1 this year, com-pared to the average for thelast 30 years of nearly 12.7million sq km.

This difference — more

than 1.5 million sq km — isabout the same size as aboutsix United Kingdoms.

Professor Peter Wad-hams, head of the Polar Oce-an Physics Group at Cam-

bridge University, told TheIndependent that the latestfigures largely bore out acontroversial prediction hemade four years ago.

“My prediction remainsthat the Arctic ice may welldisappear, that is, have anarea of less than one millionsquare kilometre for Septem-ber of this year,” he said.

“Even if the ice doesn’tcompletely disappear, it is ve-ry likely that this will be a re-cord low year...I think there’sa reasonable chance it couldget down to a million this ye-ar and if it doesn’t do it this

year, it will do it next year.“Ice free means the central

part of the Arctic and theNorth Pole is ice free,” he said.

Most of the remaining icewithin the Arctic Circle wo-uld be trapped among the my-riad of islands along Cana-da’s north coast. The last ti-me the Arctic was clear of iceis believed to be about 100,000

to 120,000 years ago.The rapid warming of the

polar region has been linkedwith extreme weather eventssuch as “bomb cyclones”, flo-oding in the UK and out-of-se-ason tornadoes in the US.

And the sea ice off thenorth coast of Russia, whichinsulates the water below tokeep it cool, is no longer pre-sent for much of the year, al-lowing the sea to get signifi-cantly warmer than before.

Scientists have monito-red greenhouse gas methane

 – once frozen on the sea bed – bubbling up to the surface at

an alarming rate. A studypublished in the journal Na-ture by professor Wadhamssaid this could produce an av-erage rise in global tempera-ture of 0.6 degrees Celsius in

 just five years. THE INDEPENDENT

First time in 100k yrs, Arctic may be free of sea iceOnly 11.1m Sq Km Of Frozen Sea Seen This Year, Compared To An Average Of 12.7m Sq Km

This difference — more than 1.5 million sq km — is about the same

size as about six United Kingdoms. The rapid warming of the polarregion has been linked with extreme weather events such as “bombcyclones”, flooding in the UK and out-of-season tornadoes in the US

Getty Images

Andrew Pollack

Chicago:Ablood test to detectcancer mutations produced re-sults that generally agree withthose of an invasive tumourbiopsy, researchers reported,

heralding a time when diagno-sing cancer and monitoring itsprogression may become lesspainful and risky.

The blood tests, known asliquid biopsies, represent oneof the hottest trends in onco-logy. They take advantage of the fact that DNA fragmentsfrom tumors can be found intiny amounts in the blood of patients with cancer. Resear-chers hope that such tests canbecome alternatives to con-ventional tumor biopsies, inwhich a piece of the tumor isextracted by needle or by sur-gery — procedures that canhave complications.

The results of the study,the largest to date of a liquidbiopsy test, give some reassu-rance that this might be pos-sible. “I think this study real-ly demonstrates the veracityof the liquid biopsy appro-ach,” said Philip C Mack, di-

rector of molecular pharma-cology at the University of Ca-lifornia Davis Comprehensi-ve Cancer Center.

The liquid biopsies are not

currently used to diagnosecancer but rather to monitordisease progression or to de-tect genetic mutations in thetumor that could suggestwhich drug should be used totreat the disease.

Just this week the Food

and Drug Administration ga-ve its first approval for such atest, one developed by Rocheto detect mutations in a parti-cular gene. NYT NEWS SERVICE

‘Liquid’ cancer testoffers alternative to

 painful biopsies

Boston:Scientists have foundavery small protein in our bo-dy that can swallow up and qu-arantine the Zika virus, dra-matically reducing its abilityto infect cells, an advance thatmay lead to new therapies tofight the infection linked to se-rious birth defects.

The interferon-inducedprotein 3 (IFITM3), in somecases, can also prevent Zikavirus from killing our cells,researchers said.

The findings, from theUniversity of MassachusettsMedical School (UMMS) inthe US, suggest that boostingthe actions of IFITM3 may

be useful for inhibiting Zikavirus and other emerging vi-ral infections.

“This work representsthe first look at how our cellsdefend themselves against Zi-ka virus’ attack,” said Abra-ham Brass, assistant profes-sor at UMMS.

“Our results show that Zi-ka virus has a weakness thatwe could potentially exploitto prevent or stop infection,”said Brass.

Found in nearly all humancells, IFITM3 works to alter thecell membrane, making it mo-re difficult for viruses to penet-rate this outer defence. PTI

Protein that isolates

Zika virus identified

Male students may perform better thanfemales in life science exams not becausethey have better academic ability, but due tothe way the questions are designed, accordingto new research. Researchers from ArizonaState University, US, found that females andmales do equally well on exams that requiremostly memorisation. However, when testsinclude cognitively challenging questions thatrequire elevated critical thinking, females scorelower than their male, even though the studentshave equal academic ability, researchers said.

Baby fish prefer plastic, not natural food:Young fish exposed to microplastic particlesduring development tend to eat plastic and ignoretheir natural food source of free-swimmingzooplankton, a new study has found. Researchersfrom Uppsala University in Sweden found thatlarval perch exposed to microplastic particlesshow changed behaviours and stunted growthwhich lead to greatly increased mortality rates.Microplastic particles (less than 5mm in size)originate from large plastic waste products thatfragment into smaller pieces, or from manufac-tured plastics of microscopic size. For the firsttime, scientists haveshown that development of fish is threatened by microplastic pollution.

SHORT CUTS

Study shows why boys dobetter in science tests

Reuters

Participants dressed as elves, dwarves, goblinsand orcs re-enact the ‘Battle of Five Armies’ fromJRR Tolkien’s novel ‘The Hobbit’ in Czech Republic

THOR STEALS THE THUNDERAFP

FLIGHT TO THE FUTURE: A prototype of a 3D-printed aircraft called THOR (Test of High-tech Objectivesin Reality) is displayed in Schoenefeld, Germany. The aircraft is windowless, weighs 21kg and is less than13ft long. In Thor, the only parts that are not printed from a substance call ed polyamide are the electricalelements. The small pilotless propeller aircraft is seen as a pioneer that offe rs a taste of things to come —an aviation future when 3D printing technology promises to save time, fuel and money. The 3D-printedparts are 30-50% lighter and there is almost zero manufacturing waste, thus promising ecologicalbenefits as lighter jets use less fuel and spew out fewer pollutants

Washington: Reduced access to naturemay be part of the reason why mental ill-nesses and mood disorders are more com-mon in cities, researchers say. “There is anenormous amount of disease largely tiedto our removal from the natural environ-ment,” said Peter Kahn of the Universityof Washington. In an article published inthe journal Science, researchers discussedthe growing tension between the necessary

role urban areas play in society and the debi-litating aspects of cities that disconnect hu-mans from the natural world. Researcherspointed to studies that show the emotionaland mental strain cities can have on people.

Mental illnesses and mood disorders aremore common in urban areas, and while ma-ny factors share the blame, reduced access t onature is a contributing cause, said Kahn. Ci-ty dwellers in dense urban areas have little orno contact with nature in their daily lives. PTI

Mental disorders incities tied to reduced

access to nature

Jess Staufenberg

Norway will ban the sale of all fossil fuel-based carsin the next decade, conti-

nuing its trend towards beco-ming one of the most ecological-ly progressive countries on theplanet, according to reports.

Politicians from both sides of the political spectrum have re-

portedly reached some concreteconclusions about 100% of Nor-wegian cars running on greenenergy by 2025.

According to a Norwegian

newspaper, “FRP will remove allgasoline cars”, which refers tothe populist right-wing Fram-

stegspartiet, or Progress Party.Yet there is some denial from

other right-wing representati-

ves that the move has been con-firmed. If passed, it would beparticularly significant becausea large proportion of Norway’sfunds rely on the country’s pet-roleum industry.

Yet while the DemocraticParty and the Liberal Party havecorroborated the report, theFRP have said the move is stillbeing looked at. If the measure

is fully confirmed, it would bemore ambitious than the LabourParty’s proposal that no new die-sel or petrol cars should be soldby 2030. THE INDEPENDENT

 Norway to ban all petrol cars by 2025 

Adopting a Mediterranean

diet which includes freshfish and olive oil may dramat-ically reduce the chances of breast cancer returning, a newstudy has claimed. There isproof that a Mediterraneandiet can help reduce chances of developing cancer in the firstplace. Researchers studiedmore than 300 women who hadbeen treated for early stagebreast cancer and formed twogroups. After three years, 11patients in the group on nor-mal, healthy diet again devel-oped breast cancer. None of the patients on the Medit-erranean diet had a relapse. PTI

Mediterranean dietmay prevent breastcancer relapse

The Norwegian parliament pledged the g overnment’s publicprocurement policy will become deforestation-free after a panel of MPs recommended imposing regulations to ensure the state did “notcontribute to deforestation of the rainforest”. Norway funds forestconservation projects worldwide and also supports human rightsprogrammes for forest communities. Nils Hermann Ranum, the head of Policy and Campaign at Rainforest Foundation Norway, said, “This is animportant victory in the fight to protect the rainforest. Over the last fewyears, a number of firms have committed to cease the procurement of 

goods that can be linked to destruction of the rainforest. THE INDEPENDENT

Nation also commits to zero deforestation