An ancient landmass broke-up, giving us pink diamonds (GS Paper 1, Geography)
Why in news?
- Scientists have found the “missing ingredient” for pink diamonds and the discovery could help find more.
- More than 90% of all the pink diamonds ever found were discovered at the recently closed Argyle mine in the remote northwest of Australia.
Details:
- In a new study, a team of Australia-based researchers said the pink diamonds were brought to the earth’s surface by the break-up of the first supercontinent around 1.3 billion years ago.
- The two of the three ingredients for forming pink diamonds had already been known.
- The first ingredient is carbon, and it must be more than 150 km deep.
- The second is just the right amount of pressure, to damage the otherwise clear diamonds.
- The missing ingredient was the event that sent the diamonds shooting up to the surface.
Basis of research:
- The researchers used a laser thinner than a human hair to probe tiny crystals in an Argyle rock sample supplied by the mine’s owner, Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto.
- By measuring the age of elements in the crystals, they determined that Argyle was 1.3 billion years old.
- The immense pressure that twisted colour into the diamonds occurred during collisions between western Australia and northern Australia 1.8 billion years ago.
- When Nuna started to break up 500 million years later, it re-aggravated the “scar” from that event.
- Magma shot up through this old scar taking the diamonds along for the ride.
Potential reserves:
- Over the last 200 years, people have mostly looked for diamonds in the centre of massive continents. But knowing the “missing ingredient” for pink diamonds could assist future efforts to find the rare stones.
- Old mountain belts marking Nuna’s breakup near the edges of continents have the potential to be home to a new “pink diamond paradise”, naming Canada, Russia, southern Africa and Australia as possible locations.
Scientists recover RNA from extinct Tasmanian tiger that hunted Kangaroos
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Why in news?
- In a first-of-its-kind experiment, researchers have successfully extracted Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) from the preserved skin and muscle of an extinct Tasmanian tiger.
Why it matters?
- The specimen, stored since 1891 at a museum in Stockholm, has provided the first-ever recovery of RNA from an extinct species. This discovery could potentially boost efforts towards recreating extinct species and help decipher the cause of past pandemics.
What is RNA?
- RNA, similar to Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA), carries genetic information and plays a crucial role in protein synthesis.
- While DNA contains an organism's genetic code, RNA carries genetic information it receives from the DNA, synthesizing proteins that an organism requires to live and regulating cell metabolism.
Concerns:
- The research has raised questions about how long RNA can survive in conditions like room temperature in a cupboard, where these remains had been stored.
- The remains were in a state of semi-mummification, with skin, muscles, and bones preserved but internal organs lost.
Tasmanian tiger:
- The Tasmanian tiger, also known as the thylacine, was a dog-sized striped carnivorous marsupial that once roamed the Australian continent and adjacent islands.
- The Tasmanian tiger resembled a wolf, aside from the tiger-like stripes on its back. The arrival of people in Australia roughly 50,000 years ago ushered in massive population losses.
- The 18th-century arrival of European colonisers spelled doom for the remaining populations concentrated on the island of Tasmania.
- The last-known Tasmanian tiger succumbed in a Tasmanian zoo in 1936.
- It was an apex predator that hunted kangaroos and other prey. However, due to human activities, the species is now extinct.
National Medical Commission Achieves Prestigious WFME Recognition Status for 10 Years
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Why in news?
- The National Medical Commission (NMC), India has achieved the remarkable feat of being granted the coveted World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) Recognition Status for a remarkable tenure of 10 years.
- This recognition is a testament to NMC’s unwavering commitment to the highest standards in medical education and accreditation.
Significance:
- As part of this recognition, all the 706 existing medical colleges in India will become WFME accredited and the new medical colleges that will be set up in the coming 10 years will automatically become WFME accredited.
- The recognition will further enhance the quality and standards of medical education in India by aligning them with the global best practices and benchmarks.
- It will also enable Indian medical graduates to pursue postgraduate training and practice in other countries that require WFME recognition, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
- It will increase the international recognition and reputation of Indian medical schools and professionals, facilitate academic collaborations and exchanges and promote continuous improvement and innovation in medical education and foster a culture of quality assurance among medical educators and institutions.
- With NMC being WFME accredited all the Indian students become eligible to apply for Education Commission on Foreign Medical Education and United States Medical Licensing Examination.
About World Federation for Medical Education (WFME):
- The World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) is a global organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of medical education worldwide.
- WFME's accreditation program plays a pivotal role in ensuring that medical institutes meet and uphold the highest international standards of education and training.
About National Medical Commission (NMC):
- The National Medical Commission (NMC) is India's premier regulatory body overseeing medical education and practice.
- Committed to upholding the highest standards in healthcare education, N M C ensures the delivery of quality medical education and training across the nation.
