1. Home
  2. Two habitable planets that could support life discovered

Two habitable planets that could support life discovered

Agencies
June 19, 2019

Two exoplanets that have been discovered, which are warm similar to Earth and may have water, could be alternatives to support life, according to a study on Tuesday.

Scientists have been searching for planets close to nearby stars since 2016 using a 3.5-meter telescope.

Images captured at the Calar Alto Observatory in Almeria, southern Spain, and two other Spanish telescopes allowed researchers to analyse, in great detail, the Teegarden star—a cold red dwarf only around 12.5 light years away from our solar system, Efe news reported.

"Teegarden only has eight per cent of our sun's mass," said Ignasi Ribas, co-author of the study. "It is much smaller and much less brighter than the Sun. In fact, despite being very close to the Earth it was not discovered until 2003," Ribas said.

The temperature of the star is around 2,600C (the Sun's temperature is 5,500C) and because it is 10 times smaller, it's 1,500 times weaker and radiates mostly infrared waves.

Once the star was found, scientists used the Doppler technique, also known as the wobble method, which uses radial-velocity measurements of the parent star to detect planets around it.

The Doppler technique detected at least two signals, which have now been identified as planets Teegarden b and Teegarden c.

Teegarden b has the mass similar to Earth and orbits the star every 4.9 days. The second planet takes 11.4 days to complete the orbit, which is the length of its year.

"In other words, they are much closer to their (parent) star than the Earth is to the Sun," Ribas said.

"Teegarden, the more internal one, receives 10 per cent more light than we do from the Sun, that's why we think it may be too hot and may not have water. But this is just speculation because there are elements of its climate that we don't know and that could mean there could be liquid water," he continued.

Teegarden hovers in the midst of a habitable zone, which means the temperature on its surface is between 0 degree Celsius and 100 degree Celsius, meaning it could very well have water on surface.

What scientists are excited about is that both exoplanets are excellent candidates to support life, alongside Proxima, which to date was the planet that presented the best conditions for habitability.

Experts believe between the closest star to our solar system -- Proxima Centauri that is four light years away, and Teegarden (the 24th furthest away at 12 light years) -- there are dozens of stars, some with planets orbiting them, but "apart from Proxima, none of them present ideal conditions (for life)," Ribas said.

Researchers have not ruled out the possibility of there being more planets orbiting Teegarden, but the system would have to be observed in more detail. "These planets are of great interest in order to search for life in the mid-term," Ribas said.

Without doubt, for the scientist, the forthcoming decade will be thrilling and key in space exploration and the search for suitable terrestrial exoplanets.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 18,2020

New Delhi, Feb 18: Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor on Tuesday questioned the Nitish Kumar government's development model, even as he sneered at the chief minister for making ideological compromises to stay in an alliance with the BJP.

Kishor, who has been vocal about his opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), said Kumar needs to spell out whether he is with the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi or those who support Nathu Ram Godse.

"Nitish ji has always said that he cannot leave the ideals of Gandhi, JP and Lohiya... At the same time, how can he be with the people who support the ideology of Godse? Both cannot go together. If you want to stay with the BJP, I don't have any problem with it but you cannot be on both sides," he said.

"There has been a lot of discussion between me and Nitish-ji on this. He has his thought process and I have mine. There have been differences between him and me that the ideologies of Godse and Gandhi cannot stand together. As the leader of the party you have to say which side you are on," he added.

In a direct assault on Kumar's model of governance, Kishor said Bihar was the poorest state in 2005 and continues to be so.

"There has been development in Bihar during the last 15 years, but the pace has not been as it should have," he added.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
July 29,2020

New Delhi, Jul 29: Coronavirus infections in India continue to mount as the country's total case tally crossed the 15-lakh mark.

India added 48,513 fresh cases in 24 hours, taking the total tally to over 15.3 lakh, according to the Health Ministry’s 8 a.m. update on July 29.

Key Figures

Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 15,31,669
Active cases: 5,09,447
Cured/discharged/migrated: 9,88,029
Deaths: 34,193
Number of fresh cases in 24 hours: 48,513
One-day recoveries: 35,175
One-day deaths: 768
India’s coronavirus epidemic is growing at the fastest pace in the world, increasing 20% over the last week, according to Bloomberg’s Coronavirus Tracker. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are among the states where the maximum number of daily cares are being reported.

Fresh cases continued to come in at a heightened pace, hovering just below 50,000 for the last six days.

Moderna Inc.’s vaccine candidate against Covid-19 protected against the virus in a trial that inoculated 16 monkeys, an encouraging step on the path to a defense for humans against the pandemic. Pfizer Inc., however, is preparing for the novel coronavirus to endure, leading to long-term demand for a seasonal shot to protect against Covid-19.

“There is a likely scenario that either the vaccine’s immunity will not be lasting forever,” said Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla in an interview Tuesday, “or that the virus will mutate, or that the virus will find ways to come back again and again.”

Even as the transmission rate of Covid-19 remains high in India, the pace of recovery has risen too. On Wednesday, India reported its third day of over 35,000 recoveries.

Global Update

Flare-ups in virus cases from Hong Kong to Europe are proving difficult for policy makers to wrangle. The U.S. neared 150,000 deaths from Covid-19, even as daily infections slowed in some hard-hit states. China reported 101 new cases, up from 68 a day earlier, with 98 of the total from local infections, mostly in Xinjiang.

Philippine health authorities warned that hospitals and infirmaries risk getting overwhelmed.

Globally, confirmed Covid-19 cases have topped 16.6 million with over 658,000 dead.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 1,2020

When it comes to the economy, dark days do loom large over India. May it be growth (lowest since 2008), inflation (highest in the last six years), or revenue collection (lowest in 10 years), the Indian economy is faltering. Hence, there is little leeway that can be assumed in the incumbent Union Budget 2020 (the first of the decade) if the economy needs to be boosted.

While presenting the decade's first Budget for India, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday in Parliament:

Taxation

•             AADHAR based tax verification introduced

•             Review of customs duty exemptions in September 2020

•             GST refund process simplified

•             Electronic invoice implementation in phases

•             New digital scheme for tax litigation

•             PAN to be instantly allotted online against Aadhar

•             Vivaad se Vishwas Scheme: Defaulter to pay only disputed tax and no penalty or interest by 31 March 2020, post which additional amount can be paid till June 2020

•             Measure to promote affordable housing - tax holiday extended for developers

•             Concession on real estate transactions

•             Turnover threshold for audit raised to Rs 5 crore from 1 crore

•             Company audit requirements eased

•             Taxes on ESOPs (employee stock ownership) in start-ups deferred by 5 years

•             100% per cent tax exemption

•             Corporate Tax at 15%

•             Dividend Distribution Tax removed, dividend taxed only for recipients

•             No tax for 0-5 lakh

•             30% above 15 lakh

•             25% for income between Rs 12.5-15 lakh

•             20% for income between Rs 10-12.5 lakh

•             15% for income between Rs 7.5-10 lakh

•             10% for income between Rs 5-7.5 lakh, against the prevailing 20%

•             A new, optional simplified personal income tax regime for those not seeking exemptions

 

Major steps and initiatives taken by the government in finance

•             3.8 percent fiscal deficit estimated

•             GDP nominal growth expected at 10 per cent

•             Govt to sell part of holding LIC via IPO (initial public offering)- partial LIC disinvestment

•             Partial credit guarantee for NBFCs

•             New law for netting of financial contracts

•             Mechanism to end liquidity crisis

•             NRIs (non resident Indians) can invest in certain govt securities

 

Aspirational India: Caring society

•             App-based invoice financing loans for MSMEs

•             Amendment to Factoring Regulation Act to aid MSMEs

•             Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDI) Act amendments

•             No criminal liabilities for civil acts

•             Auto-enrolment in universal pension scheme

•             5958 cr allocated for Ladakh

•             30757 cr allocated for J&K

•             Insurance for depositors raised to 5 lakh from 1 lakh

•             Robust mechanisms in place to monitor all PSU banks

•             Depositors’ money safe

•             100 cr for hosting G20 in 2022

•             National Recruitment Agency to be set up

•             Tax payers’ charter to be enshrined in statutes

•             Amendments for Companies Act

•             Tax payer charter proposed to free citizens from tax harassment

•             Businesses should have confidence that system is fair

•             4400 crore allocation for clean air and climate change policy

•             Aim to reduce carbon footprint - Warning to old thermal plants

•             Committed to preserve environment, tackle climate change

•             23150 crore for culture ministry

•             2500 crore for tourism sector

•             Institute of Heritage and Conservation to come up soon

•             Aim to set up more museums

•             5 archaeological sites to be made iconic

•             Proposal to end manual scavenging

•             53700 crore for welfare of STs

•             85000 crore for SCs and OBCs for 2021

•             35600 crore for nutritional schemes

•             Gross enrollment ratio of girls higher than boys in elementary level

•             Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao - tremendous results

 

Aspirational India: Infrastructure and economic development

•             Further reforms for transparent price discovery for natural gas

•             22000 crore for power sector

•             8000 crore for quantum technology in next 6 years

•             Two national level science schemes

•             Expand Jan Aushadhi Scheme

•             1 lakh gram panchayats to be connected via Bharat Net

•             6000 crore for Bharat Net

•             Data Centre parks to be set up across the country

•             National Gas Grid to be expanded

•             Reforms to help stressed DISCOMS (distribution companies)

•             Delhi-Mumbai Expressway by 2023

•             100 more airports by 2024

•             Plans to energise economic activity along river banks

•             Need to enhance sea ports

•             High Speed Mumbai-Ahmedabad train

•             More Tejas-type trains

•             4 station redevelopment projects under PP model

•             2000 km of strategic highways to be built, 11000 km of track electrification

•             Accelerated development of highways

•             National Logistics Policy to be released soon

•             Big push on infrastructure - 100 lakh crore

•             National Technical Textiles Mission to be set up

•             1480 crore outlay for textile sector

•             27300 crore for industrial development by 2021

•             Digital refund of duties for exporters

•             Boost domestic manufacturing - electronic equipment, mobile phone, medical devices

•             5 new smart cities in collaboration with states

•             Investment clearance cell to be set up for end to end facilitation

•             Entrepreneurship has been the strength of India

 

Aspirational India: Education and skills

•             High need for medical teachers and paramedics

•             Internships for engineers in panchayats

•             Rs 99300 cr for education sector

•             Large hospitals to be encouraged to start PG courses

•             Attach medical colleges to district hospitals

•             National police university to be set up

•             IND-SAT programme for overseas students for studying in India

•             New courses in 159 universities by 2026

•             Focus on education for jobs

•             Propose a fresh education policy

•             Urban local bodies should give opportunities to new engineers

•             Education needs more finances

 

Aspirational India: Healthcare

•             AI (artificial intelligence) to be used for Ayushman Bharat Scheme

•             69000 crore for health sector

•             Propose to set up more hospitals

•             Holistic vision for national healthcare

 

Aspirational India: Agriculture, Irrigation and rural development

•             Need to liberalise farm markets

•             108 million metric tonne milk production by 2021

•             2.83 lakh cr allocation for agriculture and irrigation

•             Propose raising fish production to 200 lakh tonne

•             Zero budget national farming

•             NABARD refinance scheme to be expanded

•             Village credit card scheme

•             Agriculture credit target for 2020 set at Rs 15 lakh crore

•             Village storage scheme for farmers, zero budget natural farming

•             Dhanya Lakshmi scheme for women in villages

•             Krishi Udaan by civil aviation ministry for air transport of such commodities over longer distances

•             Indian railways to set up 'kisan rail'

•             Govt to provide help to geo-tag warehouses

•             Financial inclusion has helped raise farm incomes

•             Plan for 100 water stressed districts

•             Scheme for 20 lakh farmers to set up solar pumps

•             Doubling farm income - model agricultural land leasing act, balanced use of fertilisers, solar pumps for 20 lakh farmers

 

Budget 2020 and its three focuses

•             Budget's first focus is 'Aspirational India'. Second focus: economic development for all. Third focus: building a caring society.

•             FDI at 284 billion dollars, achieved 7.84% growth

•             GST formalised the economy

•             Efficiency gained in logistics

•             16 lakh new tax payers added

•             Fundamentals of economy hold strong

•             Scaled up implementation of pro-poor schemes

 

Key challenges FM faces

•             India needs to grow by 9 per cent to 10 per cent a year to become the $5 trillion economy by 2024, as projected by the government. The government is now forecasting growth will come in at 5 per cent

•             The IMF, which had originally predicted 6.1 per cent growth for India in 2019, has revised that downwards to 4.8 per cent

•             The government’s likely to miss its fiscal deficit target for the current fiscal year of 3.3 per cent and hike its target to as much as 4 per cent for the next financial year

•             India will struggle to achieve 5 per cent GDP growth in 2020 - Economist Steve Hanke, Johns Hopkins University

•             Investment is forecast to grow at less than 1 per cent -- the lowest since 2004-05

•             India's unemployment rate rose to 7.5 per cent during September-December 2019 quarter, according to data released by think-tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy

 

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.