India's Top 5 Costliest bikes

5.Bugatti Veyron 

The most expensive bike launched in 2015, the Indian Roadmaster has 

been priced at Rs 34.95 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The bagger type 

cruiser has a huge appearance with a dry weight of more than 400 kg.

Its key features include the iconic Thunder Stroke 111 engine, ABS, 

Cruise Control, keyless start, 200-watt stereo system with Bluetooth and 

smartphone compatibility, horizon power windshield, 142.33 litres of 

remote locking storage, comfortable heated grips and seats and keyless 

ignition.

 4. BMW K 1600 GTL

The BMW K 1600 GTL is the most expensive sports-tourer available in 

India, with a price tag of Rs 36.28 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The unique 

motorcycle comes with an in-line 6-cylinder engine displacing 1,649cc 

which produces a maximum output of 160PS at 7,750rpm and delivers a 

peak torque of 175Nm at 5,250 rpm.

Besides that, it gets digital engine management (BMS-X), high-

performance braking with ABS, traction control and a fully adjustable 

suspension set-up as standard, while the adaptive headlight and ESA II 

(Electronic Suspension Adjustment) are optional.

3. Ducati Panigale R

The just-barely-road-legal Ducati Panigale R has been priced in India at 

Rs 49.02 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Born for the racetracks, the bike has 

a power output of 205PS and a dry weight of just 162kg, which makes it 

one of the fastest accelerating machines on the planet.

Powered by a Superquadro 1198cc, L-Twin engine, the highly advanced 

supersports bike gets different riding modes, power modes, cornering 

ABS, DTC (Ducati traction control), DQS (Ducati quick shift) up/down, 

DWC (Ducati wheelie control), EBC (engine braking control), ride-by-wire, 

DDA+ (Ducati data analyser plus) with GPS and lean angle acquisition, 

auto tyre calibration and auxiliary adjustment buttons.

 2. Harley-Davidson CVO Limited

Priced at Rs 49.32 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), the CVO Limited is the most 

expensive bike in Harley-Davidson's line-up. Like the Indian Roadmaster, 

it is a super-premium touring bike that offers the ultimate comfort, 

convenience, style and power.

The bike gets Twin-Cooled Twin Cam 110 engine, which is a 1,801cc V-

twin and delivers 156Nm of peak torque at just 3,750 rpm. Key features of 

the CVO Limited include infotainment system with a full-colour 

touchscreen, high-performance Reflex linked, tyre pressure monitoring, 

dual control heated seat with passenger and rider backrest, Brembo 

brakes with ABS, keyless ignition and much more.

1. MV Agusta F4 RC

Just recently launched in India, the MV Agusta F4 RC is the most 

expensive motorcycle in the country, with a price tag of Rs 50 lakh (ex-

showroom, Pune). The exotic Italian superbike is a replica of their Reparto 

Corse team's FIM Superbike World Championship motorcycle and is a 

limited edition.

Powered by a 214.8PS engine, the F4 RC weighs 15kg lesser than even 

the RR model. Besides the dedicated race bike paint job it gets one of the 

most advanced electronic package with Bosch 9 Plus ABS (race mode 

and rear wheel lift-up mitigation), fully adjustable suspension set-up and 

other kit racing parts.

Evidence Of Tsunamis On Indian Ocean Shores Long Before 2004

Kruawun Jankaew led a team of geologists who unearthed evidence that tsunamis have repeatedly washed over a Thai island during the last 2,800 years.

A quarter-million people were killed when a tsunami inundated Indian Ocean coastlines the day after Christmas in 2004. Now scientists have found evidence that the event was not a first-time occurrence.

A team working on Phra Thong, a barrier island along the hard-hit west coast of Thailand, unearthed evidence of at least three previous major tsunamis in the preceding 2,800 years, the most recent from about 550 to 700 years ago. That team, led by Kruawun Jankaew of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, included Brian Atwater, a University of Washington affiliate professor of Earth and space sciences and a U.S. Geological Survey geologist.

A second team found similar evidence of previous tsunamis during the last 1,200 years in Aceh, a province at the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra where more than half the deaths from the 2004 tsunami occurred.

Sparse knowledge of the region's tsunami history contributed to the loss of life in 2004, the scientists believe. Few people living along the coasts knew to heed the natural tsunami warnings, such as the strong shaking felt in Aceh and the rapid retreat of ocean water from the shoreline that was observed in Thailand.

But on an island just off the coast of Aceh most people safely fled to higher ground in 2004 because the island's oral history includes information about a devastating tsunami in 1907.

"A region's tsunami history can serve as a long-term warning system," Atwater said.

The research will reinforce the importance of tsunami education as an essential part of early warning, said Jankaew, the lead author.

"Many people in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand, believe, or would like to believe, that it will never happen again," Jankaew said. "This will be a big step towards mitigating the losses from future tsunami events."

The team found evidence for previous tsunamis by digging pits and auguring holes at more than 150 sites on an island about 75 miles north of Phuket, a Thai tourist resort area ravaged by the 2004 tsunami. That tsunami was generated 300 miles to the west when the seafloor was warped during a magnitude 9.2 earthquake.

At 20 sites in marshes, the researchers found layers of white sand about 4 inches thick alternating with layers of black peaty soil. Witnesses confirmed that the top sand layer, just below the surface, was laid down by the 2004 tsunami, which ran 20 to 30 feet deep across much of the island.

Radiocarbon dating of bark fragments in soil below the second sand layer led the scientists to estimate that the most recent predecessor to the 2004 tsunami probably occurred between A.D. 1300 and 1450. They also noted signs of two earlier tsunamis during the last 2,500 to 2,800 years.

There are no known written records describing an Indian Ocean tsunami between A.D. 1300 and 1450, including the accounts of noted Islamic traveler Ibn Battuta and records of the great Ming Dynasty armadas of China, both of which visited the area at different times during that period. Atwater hopes the new geologic evidence might prompt historians to check other Asian documents from that era.

"This research demonstrates that tsunami geology, both recent and past tsunamis, can help extend the tsunami catalogues far beyond historical records," Jankaew said.

The new findings also carry lessons for the northwest coast of North America, where scientists estimate that many centuries typically elapse between catastrophic tsunamis generated by the Cascadia subduction zone.

"Like Aceh, Cascadia has a history of tsunamis that are both infrequent and catastrophic, and that originate during earthquakes that provide a natural tsunami warning," Atwater said. "This history calls for sustained efforts in tsunami education."

Findings from both teams are published in the Oct. 30 edition of Nature.

Other co-authors of the Thai paper are Yuki Sawai of the Geological Survey of Japan, Montri Choowong and Thasinee Charoentitirat of Chulalongkorn University, Maria Martin of the UW and Amy Prendergast of Geoscience Australia.

The research was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, Thailand's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Thailand Research Fund.

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided byUniversity of Washington. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length

Historic Indian sword was masterfully crafted

75-centimeter-long shamsheer
from the late 18th or early
19th century made in India (Wallace Collection, London).

Italian, UK researchers use non-destructive techniques and show the secrets of forging methods.

The master craftsmanship behind Indian swords was highlighted when scientists and conservationists from Italy and the UK joined forces to study a curved single-edged sword called a shamsheer. The study, led by Eliza Barzagli of the Institute for Complex Systems and the University of Florence in Italy, is published in Springer's journal Applied Physics A -- Materials Science & Processing.

The 75-centimeter-long sword from the Wallace Collection in London was made in India in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. The design is of Persian origin, from where it spread across Asia and eventually gave rise to a family of similar weapons called scimitars being forged in various Southeast Asian countries.

Two different approaches were used to examine the shamsheer: the classical one (metallography) and a non-destructive technique (neutron diffraction). This allowed the researchers to test the differences and complementarities of the two techniques.

The sword in question first underwent metallographic tests at the laboratories of the Wallace Collection to ascertain its composition. Samples to be viewed under the microscope were collected from already damaged sections of the weapon. The sword was then sent to the ISIS pulsed spallation neutron source at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK. Two non-invasive neutron diffraction techniques not damaging to artefacts were used to further shed light on the processes and materials behind its forging.

"Ancient objects are scarce, and the most interesting ones are usually in an excellent state of conservation. Because it is unthinkable to apply techniques with a destructive approach, neutron diffraction techniques provide an ideal solution to characterize archaeological specimens made from metal when we cannot or do not want to sample the object," said Barzagli, explaining why different methods were used.

It was established that the steel used is quite pure. Its high carbon content of at least one percent shows it is made of wootz steel. This type of crucible steel was historically used in India and Central Asia to make high-quality swords and other prestige objects. Its band-like pattern is caused when a mixture of iron and carbon crystalizes into cementite. This forms when craftsmen allow cast pieces of metal (called ingots) to cool down very slowly, before being forged carefully at low temperatures. Barzagli's team reckons that the craftsman of this particular sword allowed the blade to cool in the air, rather than plunging it into a liquid of some sort. Results explaining the item's composition also lead the researchers to presume that the particular sword was probably used in battle.

Craftsmen often enhanced the characteristic "watered silk" pattern of wootz steel by doing micro-etching on the surface. Barzagli explains that through overcleaning some of these original 'watered' surfaces have since been obscured, or removed entirely. "A non-destructive method able to identify which of the shiny surface blades are actually of wootz steel is very welcome from a conservative point of view," she added.

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided bySpringer Science+Business Media. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. E. Barzagli, F. Grazzi, A. Williams, D. Edge, A. Scherillo, J. Kelleher, M. Zoppi. Characterization of an Indian sword: classic and noninvasive methods of investigation in comparison. Applied Physics A, 2015; DOI:10.1007/s00339-014-8968-0

New discoveries concerning Ötzi's genetic history

The Iceman's hand is pictured.

A study was published last week on the DNA of Helicobacter pylori, the pathogen extracted from the stomach of Ötzi, the ice mummy who has provided valuable information on the life of Homo Sapiens. New research at the European Academy of Bolzano/Bozen (EURAC) further clarifies the genetic history of man who lived in the Eastern Alps over 5,300 years ago.

In 2012 a complete analysis of the Y chromosome (transmitted from fathers to their sons) showed that Ötzi's paternal genetic line is still present in modern-day populations. In contrast, studies of mitochondrial DNA (transmitted solely via the mother to her offspring) left many questions still open. To clarify whether the genetic maternal line of the Iceman, who lived in the eastern Alps over 5,300 years ago, has left its mark in current populations, researchers at the European Academy of Bolzano/Bozen (EURAC) have now compared his mitochondrial DNA with 1,077 modern samples. The study concluded that the Iceman's maternal line -- named K1f -- is now extinct. A second part of the study, a comparison of genetic data of the mummy with data from other European Neolithic samples, provided information regarding the origin of K1f: researchers postulate that the mitochondrial lineage of the Iceman originated locally in the Alps, in a population that did not grow demographically. The study, which also clarifies Ötzi's genetic history in the context of European demographic changes from Neolithic times onwards, was published in Scientific Reports, an open access journal of the Nature group.

"The mummy's mitochondrial DNA was the first to be analysed, in 1994." says Valentina Coia, a biologist at EURAC and first author of the study. "It was relatively easy to analyse and -- along with the Y chromosome -- allows us to go back in time, telling us about the genetic history of an individual. Despite this, the genetic relationship between the Iceman's maternal lineage and lineages found in modern populations was not yet clear."

The most recent study regarding the analysis of Ötzi's complete mitochondrial DNA, conducted in 2008 by other research teams showed that the Iceman's maternal lineage -- named K1f -- was no longer traceable in modern populations. The study did not make clear, however, whether this was due to an insufficient number of comparison samples or whether K1f was indeed extinct. Valentina Coia explains further: "The first hypothesis could not be ruled out given that the study considered only 85 modern comparison samples from the K1 lineage -- the genetic lineage that also includes that of Ötzi -- which comprised few samples from Europe and especially none from the eastern Alps, which are home to populations that presumably have a genetic continuity with the Iceman.

To test the two hypotheses, we needed to compare Ötzi's mitochondrial DNA with a larger number of modern samples." The EURAC research team, in collaboration with the Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Santiago de Compostela, thus compared the mitochondrial DNA of the Iceman with that from 1,077 individuals belonging to the K1 lineage, of which 42 samples originated from the eastern Alps and were for the first time analysed in this study. The new comparison showed that neither the Iceman's lineage nor any other evolutionarily close lineages are present in modern populations: the researchers therefore lean towards the hypothesis that Ötzi's maternal genetic branch has died out.

It remains to be explained why Ötzi's maternal lineage has disappeared, while his paternal lineage -- named G2a -- still exists in Europe. To clarify this point, researchers at EURAC compared Ötzi's mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome with available data from numerous ancient samples found at 14 different archaeological sites throughout Europe. The results showed that the paternal lineage of Ötzi was very common in different regions in Europe during the Neolithic age, while his maternal lineage probably existed only in the Alps.

Putting together the genetic data on the ancient and modern samples, namely those already present in the literature and those analysed in this study, researchers have now proposed the following scenario to explain the Iceman's genetic history: Ötzi's paternal lineage, G2a, is part of an ancient genetic substrate that arrived in Europe from the Near East with the migrations of the first Neolithic peoples some 8,000 years ago. Additional migrations and other demographic events occurring after the Neolithic Age in Europe then partially replaced G2a with other lineages, except in geographically isolated areas such as Sardinia. In contrast, the Iceman's maternal branch originated locally in the eastern Alps at least 5,300 years ago. The same migrations that have replaced only in part his paternal lineage caused the extinction of his maternal lineage that was inherited in a small and demographic stationary population. The groups from the eastern Alps in fact significantly increased in size only from the Bronze Age onwards, as evidenced by archaeological studies conducted in the territory inhabited by the Iceman.

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided byEuropean Academy of Bozen/Bolzano (EURAC). Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. V. Coia, G. Cipollini, P. Anagnostou, F. Maixner, C. Battaggia, F. Brisighelli, A Gómez-Carballa, G. Destro Bisol, A. Salas, A. Zink. Whole mitochondrial DNA sequencing in Alpine populations and the genetic history of the Neolithic Tyrolean Iceman. Scientific Reports, 2016; 6: 18932 DOI: 10.1038/srep18932

Harmful mutations have accumulated during early human migrations out of Africa

Harmful mutations have accumulated
during early human migrations out of Africa.

Modern humans (Homo sapiens) are thought to have first emerged in Africa about 150,000 years ago. 100,000 years later, a few of them left their homeland travelling first to Asia and then further east, crossing the Bering Strait, and colonizing the Americas. Excoffier and his colleagues developed theoretical models predicting that if modern humans migrated as small bands, then the populations that broke off from their original African family should progressively accumulate slightly harmful mutations -- a mutation load. Moreover, the mutational load of a population should then represent a way of measuring the distance it has covered since it left Africa. In a nutshell: an individual from Mexico should be carrying more harmful genetic variants than an individual from Africa.

To test their hypothesis, the researchers used next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology to sequence the complete set of coding variants from the genomes of individuals from seven populations within and outside Africa, i.e. from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, Algeria, Pakistan, Cambodia, Siberia and Mexico. They then simulated the spatial distribution of harmful mutations according to their theory. And their findings coincided: the number of slightly deleterious mutations per individual does indeed increase with distance from Southern Africa, which is consistent with an expansion of humans from that region.

The main reason for a higher load of harmful mutations in populations established further away from Africa is that natural selection is not very powerful in small populations: deleterious mutations were purged less efficiently in small pioneer tribes than in larger populations. In addition, selection had less time to act in populations that had broken away from their African homeland and thus settled far later.

"We find that mildly deleterious mutations have evolved as if they were neutral during the out-of-Africa expansion, which lasted probably for more than a thousand generations. Contrastingly, very harmful mutations are found at similar frequencies in all individuals of the world, as if there was a maximum threshold any individual can stand," says Stephan Peischl, a SIB member from Bern, and one of the main authors of the study.

"It's quite amazing that 50 thousand year-old migrations still leave a mark on current human genetic diversity, but to be able to see this you need a huge amount of data in many populations from different continents. Only 5 years ago, this would not have been possible," concludes Laurent Excoffier.

These results were recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Brenna M. Henn, Laura R. Botigué, Stephan Peischl, Isabelle Dupanloup, Mikhail Lipatov, Brian K. Maples, Alicia R. Martin, Shaila Musharoff, Howard Cann, Michael P. Snyder, Laurent Excoffier, Jeffrey M. Kidd, Carlos D. Bustamante. Distance from sub-Saharan Africa predicts mutational load in diverse human genomes.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015; 201510805 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1510805112

Mosquitoes capable of carrying Zika virus found in Washington, D. C.

Mosquito biting.

On Monday (Jan. 25), the World Health Organization announced that Zika virus, a mosquito-borne illness that in the past year has swept quickly throughout equatorial countries, is expected to spread across the Americas and into the United States.

The disease, which was discovered in 1947 but had since been seen in only small, short-lived outbreaks, causes symptoms including a rash, headache and small fever. However, a May 2015 outbreak in Brazil led to nearly 3,500 reports of birth defects linked to the virus, even after its symptoms had passed, and an uptick in cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, an immune disorder. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a travel alert advising pregnant women to avoid traveling to countries where the disease has been recorded.

Zika virus is transmitted by the mosquito species Aedes aegypti, also a carrier of dengue fever and chikungunya, two other tropical diseases. Though Aedes aegypti is not native to North America, researchers at the University of Notre Dame who study the species have reported a discovery of a population of the mosquitoes in a Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington, D.C. To add insult to injury, the team identified genetic evidence that these mosquitoes have overwintered for at least the past four years, meaning they are adapting for persistence in a northern climate well out of their normal range.

While the Washington population is currently disease-free, Notre Dame Department of Biological Sciences professor David Severson, who led the team, noted that the ability of this species to survive in a northern climate is troublesome. This mosquito is typically restricted to tropical and subtropical regions of the world and not found farther north in the United States than Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina.

"What this means for the scientific world," said Severson, who led the team, "is some mosquito species are finding ways to survive in normally restrictive environments by taking advantage of underground refugia. Therefore, a real potential exists for active transmission of mosquito-borne tropical diseases in popular places like the National Mall. Hopefully, politicians will take notice of events like this in their own backyard and work to increase funding levels on mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases."

Severson's research focuses on mosquito genetics and genomics with a primary goal of understanding disease transmission. He has studied and tracked mosquitoes all over the world and most recently served as the director of the Eck Institute for Global Health at Notre Dame. His team, in coordination with the Disease Carrying Insects Program of Fairfax County Health Department in Fairfax, Virginia, recently published their findings in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Notre Dame has a long history of mosquito research, studying both Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae species, vector control and using mathematical models to better understand the dynamics of infectious disease transmission and control. Alex Perkins, Eck Family Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, focuses on using mathematical, statistical and computational approaches to study mosquito-borne pathogens including dengue, chikungunya and Zika. Perkins uses the models to understand how to best control and prevent transmission of these diseases. He has previously worked with the CDC on making recommendations for chikungunya and dengue virus, and said he has discussed working with the CDC on Zika virus modeling.

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided byUniversity of Notre Dame. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. A. Lima, D. D. Lovin, P. V. Hickner, D. W. Severson.Evidence for an Overwintering Population of Aedes aegypti in Capitol Hill Neighborhood, Washington, DC.American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2015; 94 (1): 231 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.15-0351

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