Tag: Scientific

  • India landing on the moon makes us miss Fawad Chaudhry and his wadaa

    India landing on the moon makes us miss Fawad Chaudhry and his wadaa

    India’s space agency has shared pictures of their spacecraft Chandrayaan-3, as the rover gets closer and closer to the surface of the planet. BBC revealed that by August 23, Chandrayaan’s rover and lander are due to reach the surface of the earth. It was released from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota in the Andhra Pradesh state on July 14.

    This would be the second time after thirteen years that the country has launched a spacecraft to the moon. The first time was in 2008 after which the discovery of the presence of water molecules in the moon’s atmosphere was made.

    Scientists from the Indian Space Research Agency (ISRO) spoke to the media, stating that Chandrayaan-3 was in “good health”, adding that this was the third time in succession that ISRO had successfully injected a spacecraft into a lunar orbit.

    If the mission is successful this would make India the first country to perform a controlled soft landing near the south pole, and the fourth country after USA, China and the former Soviet Union to achieve a soft landing on the moon.

    Congratulations to India but we do remember how a certain promise was made by the former Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry, whol announced in a tweet in 2019 that by the year 2022, Pakistan will send their first person to space. He even mentioned that selection for the project was to begin by Feb 2020 after which 25 people will be selected. Kya hua tera wada, wo qasam wo iraada?

  • Netflix movie ‘Don’t Look Up’ advertised sex hotline number

    Netflix movie ‘Don’t Look Up’ advertised sex hotline number

    Hollywood A-list actors starrer Netflix movie ‘Don’t Look Up’ used a number in a scene meant to give “peace of mind” which in reality belongs to a sex hotline.

    The apocalypse movie has been the talk of the town since its release and gauged a lot of attention.

    Spoiler alert:

    The not-so-serious discussion about the end of the world in the movie took an unexpected turn when viewers decided to call a phone number that’s advertised in the movie.

    A commercial in the latest movie shows a phone number, promising “peace of mind” which led to viewers actually calling it.

    According to various outlets, the number immediately directed callers to a sex hotline.

    “Welcome to America’s hottest hotline. Guys, hot ladies are waiting to talk to you. Press 1 now,” the call apparently stated. “Ladies, to talk to interesting and exciting guys free, press 2 to connect free now.”

    The movie is about two astronomers (Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence) who discover that a comet is headed directly towards Earth and is set to smash into our planet in six months.

  • Covid-19 in men: ‘Could make it hard to perform in the bedroom’

    As per a report quoted by WebMD, it is suspected by doctors that, “Covid-19 could make it hard for men to perform in the bedroom”. The study was published in the World Journal of Men’s Health.

    According to the study, Covid-19 can linger in the penis and can cause impotence. Researchers found coronavirus particles in penile tissue samples taken from two former COVID-19 patients who had became impotent after getting infected from coronavirus.

    “We found that the virus affects the blood vessels that supply the penis, causing erectile dysfunction,” said senior researcher Dr Ranjith Ramasamy, director of the reproductive urology program at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine.

    “The blood vessels themselves malfunction and are not able to provide enough blood to enter the penis for an erection,” he added.

    “We think the penis also could be affected in a similar way,” Ramasamy said. “We don’t think this is a temporary effect. We think this could be permanent.”

    Two recovered COVID-19 patients who are undergoing penile prosthesis surgery for their erectile dysfunction, had normal erectile function prior to their infections.

  • Pakistani doctor Asifa Akhtar to receive Germany’s highest scientific award

    Pakistani doctor Asifa Akhtar to receive Germany’s highest scientific award

    Pakistani-born Dr Asifa Akhtar has been selected to receive Germany’s highest scientific award, the ‘Leibniz Prize’. In addition to the award, she will also receive prize money of 2.5 million euros.

    According to details, Dr Asifa Akhtar has been selected for the award on the basis of her “cell biological work on mechanisms of epigenetic gene regulation and understanding chromosome regulation (“dosage compensation”). This is a mechanism in which the genes of the X chromosome are produced in equal strength in the male and female sex.”

    German Consulate General Karachi congratulated Dr Asifa on her achievement and said that she makes “both Pakistan and Germany extremely proud with your outstanding contributions to science!”

    Dr Asifa received her PhD from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London in 1997. She continued her research at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, where – after a stopover at the LMU Munich – she headed a research group from 2001 to 2009. Akhtar has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina since 2019.

    She is currently serving as the director at the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg. She is also the Vice President of the Max Planck Society. Established in 1948, the Max Planck Society is Germany’s most successful research organisation with 18 Nobel laureates from the ranks of its scientists. It is on par with the best and most prestigious research institutions worldwide.

    The Leibniz Prize will be awarded digitally on 15 March 2021. The Leibniz Prize has been honouring up to ten scientists each year since 1986.

  • Religious, cultural misconceptions of COVID-19 in Pakistan

    IPSOS is an international firm that produces data on the global market and public opinion across the world. From April 4 to 7, they polled 1,000 people across Pakistan to evaluate how Pakistanis treated myths and misconceptions regarding COVID-19.

    The sample size is from all the provinces and territories of Pakistan: Punjab, 57%, Sindh, 22%, Balochistan, 6%, KP, 10% and AJK, 5%. The age bracket is from 18 to 50 plus, and social-economic status is from higher to lower income holders, as shown in the picture below.

    COVID-19 MYTHS IPSOS SNAP POLL

    The results are overwhelming. As per the report, only “2 people out of 5 can correctly recall the official helpline (1166) to report COVID-19 cases, rest are either unaware or cannot recall correctly.”

    COVID-19 MYTHS IPSOS SNAP POLL

    RELIGIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC MISCONCEPTIONS

    Moreover, Pakistanis have alarming religious and scientific misconceptions on COVID-19. According to the data: 82% believe that “they can remain protected if they do wudu 5 times a day. “67% believe that “Allah has control over all viruses so congregation prayer in the mosque (jamaat) cannot infect anyone with the virus. 58% think that if “once the summer hear starts, the coronavirus will disappear.” 48% says that “shaking hands is Sunnah, so they cannot infect anyone with COVID-19 by doing so.”

    Other majors misconceptions are mentioned below in the slide.

    COVID-19 MYTHS IPSOS SNAP POLL

    CONSPIRACY THEORIES

    Apart from religious and scientific misconceptions, a large number of Pakistanis have controversial misconceptions on COVID-19. 43% in Pakistan see COVID-19 as a “foreign conspiracy by America and Israel to weaken us (Pakistan).” 43% believe that they “should avoid people from certain sects or faiths, as they are more prone to coronavirus.” 39% think “Women who breastfeed should be in ablution/wudu all the time, so they don’t transfer COVID-19 to the baby. 30% is off the view that “only sweepers and domestic workers can contract the virus because they’re not clean.”