My Science Space

Have we ever thought of reading the minds of youths involved in crimes? Why are they not normal? Why are they drawn more toward unlawful activities? Is this anomalous behaviour induced into their minds through external stimulus or is it something genetically inherited? Such many other questions compel us to figure out the exact causes behind the conduct of delinquent adolescents . U nlike, non-delinquent groups, it is believed that youths engaged in crimes most likely develop anti-social behaviour at a very early age. This normally includes violent behaviour that can cause harm to others, breach upon the basic rights of another person, oppose cultural norms or are less able to take the opinions of others. In one of the latest findings, researchers at the  University of Leiden and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany , have come up with a viable reason associated with the neural development of Anti-social Personality Syndrome (APS) in delinquent ado

‘An elderly man, aged 70, reads about their love story to his elderly wife, everyday without fail. The wife, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, doesn’t remember him and merely consider him as friend. He pins his hope each day that she would remember him and their children’: a scene from a famous movie ‘ The Notebook ’ pours my heart out for those elderly couple, who are facing this odd disease in real life. I didn’t hear about this disease until year 2000, when I got to know from a classmate that her grandmother was living with a mysterious ailment (Alzheimer’s) where she kept forgetting things throughout the day. The disease had torn her grandmother badly, as she used to scream, shout and sometimes run away from the house. Really appalling! Alzheimer’s, a neurodegenerative disease, is a condition of the brain that gradually destroys memory and thinking abilities of a person. Even, one can’t carry out the simplest routine tasks. People living with this ailment lose things ea

Recalling a few memories of a popular serial during 90’s, Jungle Book, I remember that we (me and my siblings) used to gather in our living room and watch it silently every Sunday morning at 9.00 without fail. Fascinated with Mowgli’s voice, main lead of the serial, we used to imitate his voice, “Bagheera, run with me”. Imitation or copying comes as a phenomenon where our mind/brain tries to reproduce the same character that we see. Our brain has certain spots that store information. Brain of a child below the age of six months, is still under a developing phase. He can only see but can’t respond because he cannot make out things in this strange world. He only remembers his mother, her touch, her affection and all. As he grows, his mind develops, where he starts perceiving everything and starts recognising everything in real. Their perception power gradually increases with age. Initially, they try to understand each bit of their surroundings, putting random stuffs in their mouth

With a distance of around 814 million kilometres from Earth, Rosetta is expected to meet comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko or 67P, this August. Assisted by eleven other scientific board instruments, it will orbit the comet till December 2015, so as to gather minute and detailed information about the ‘cometary materials’. Scientists believed that studying the surface materials of the comet in depth would help them in getting an idea about the composition of dust particles that might act as foundation of comet’s activity. Sleeping beauty, Rosetta, woke up after spending more than 30 months in hibernation. The European Space Agency (ESA) at Darmstadt, Germany, received a signal at 7.18 p.m CET (Central European time) on January 20 th 2014 that released the worries of the Scientists about Rosetta's well being  in space. Earlier during the day on January 20 th , several internal commands were kicked off by the ESA’s Rosetta space probe. The scientist at the Main Control Room ap