37 dead, 27 injured as bus plunges into Purna river in Gujarat

                                          Bus plunges into Purna river in Gujarat. (TOI photo)

SURAT: Feb 5, 2016: 37 passengers including many students were dead and more than 27 were injured as the Gujarat State road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) bus in which they were travelling plunged in to Purna river from Khad Supa bridge on Navsari-Bardoli road some 10 km from Navsari town and about 40km from Surat in Navsari district.

The bus was on its way from Navsari to Songadh via Bardoli. Since it was an evening bus, many students were returning home after their schools and colleges from Navsari.

Officials said that the incident took place between 5.30pm and 6.00pm and the bus was carrying about 50-60 passengers on board. Several passengers were grievously injured and are being rushed to different hospitals of Navsari town.

Navsari district collector Remya Mohan who rushed to the spot on hearing the news said, "According to locals incident took place as bus driver driving at full speed tried saving a rider. May be he took a wrong turn and the bus plunged into Purna river breaking the RCC railing."

As there was not much water in the river, the vehicle plunged in the empty river with very high impact.

Initially rescue workers who rushed to the spot had to cut out the top of the bus to bring out injured survivors . As there were no big size cranes available to lift the bus such a step was taken. It was only after the big crane was summoned from Navsari that bus was lifted of the river bed.

Remya Mohan also said, " We have summoned all possible help from all private and government hospitals of Navsari and everybody is cooperating well." She also said that as there are large number of grievously injured people death toll could mount.

Narendra Modi ✔ @narendramodi

Bus accident in Gujarat's Navsari is tragic & deeply upsetting. Condolences to families of the deceased. May the injured recover quickly.

10:22 PM - 5 Feb 2016

  826 826 Retweets   1,702 1,702 likes

According to primary information 10 injured were taken to Mulla hospital, 16 to Navsari civil Hospital, 4 were rushed to Parsi General Hospital and some people were taken to Yashfin hospital too.

Collector Remya Mohan said, "The bodies of all the deceased are kept at four different hospitals namely Parsi General Hospital, New Civil Hospital, Mulla Hospital and at Mulla hospital of Navsari town. Till the relatives of all these people come it will not be possible to identify all the deceased."

Sources also said that number of students belonged to Naran Lala College and Agarwal college of Navsari as their ID cards have been found. However their official confirmation would take place only when their family members come and identify. -  TNN

5.2 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Nepal, Tremors Felt In Bihar: Reports

At least five people have been reportedly injured in the earthquake.

NEW DELHI:  An earthquake measuring 5.2 hit Nepal tonight at 9.50 pm.

Tremors were also felt in adjoining Bihar, bringing back memories of the massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal last year on April 25.

There are no reports yet of damage to life or property.

The US Geological Survey or USGS said on its website that today's earthquake measured 5.2 on the Ritcher Scale and the epicentre was found to be 16 km North-North West of Nepal's capital city Kathmandu.

The capital city and adjoining areas had suffered extensive damage in last year's quake on April 25 that killed nearly 9,000 people, injuring many more and rendering people homeless. - indiatoday

Crane Collapses in New York City, Killing 1

Moment of Fatal NYC Crane Collapse 

New York:  One person died and three others were injured after a construction crane fell in downtown Manhattan this morning.

The crane, which fell around 8:25 a.m., toppled parked cars on Worth Street in the Tribeca neighborhood.

One person was pulled from a crushed vehicle, ABC owned station WABC reported. New York City's Office of Emergency Management said three individuals were injured in the crash, two seriously. A fourth individual was killed. None of the injuries are life threatening.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a press conference this morning that a full police investigation was underway. He said this was the first crane collapse in the city since 2008.

"This is a very sad incident. Thank God it was not worse," the mayor said. "Our hearts go out to the family of the individual who was lost."

De Blasio said the crawler crane collapsed as it was being "lowered into a safe and secure position." The manufacturer of the crane requires that the crane be moved into a "secure position" if winds top more than 20 miles per hour, according to de Blasio. New York City is currently experiencing a winter storm with wind gusts in the 20 mile per hour range. The crane had been inspected as of 6:20 a.m.

The mayor noted that FDNY officers and personnel of utility company Con Ed are sweeping nearby buildings in search of gas links after gas odors were reported in the area. Gas has been temporarily turned off in most buildings in the area as a precaution, de Blasio said.

The force of the collapse also caused a water main break at Worth Street and West Broadway. - abcnews

The Latest: Heavy Snow Likely Won't Hit Iowa During Caucuses

Flagstaff resident Audrey Reichstadt of Flagstaff, Ariz. on Monday, Feb. 1, 2016. A storm dropped snow and rain on the region, shuttering schools and making travel difficult. (AP Photo/Josh Biggs)

DENVER — Feb 1, 2016, The Latest on a storm system moving across the West (all times local):

3:10 p.m.

Heavy snow and strong winds from a storm blowing across the West are expected to move into Iowa, but likely not until after voters gather for the state's leadoff presidential caucuses.

Possible blizzard conditions could complicate candidates' plans to leave Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the system was bringing steady snow to the Denver area on Monday, and forecasters warned that the evening commute could be difficult. Up to about a foot of snow could fall along Colorado's heavily populated Front Range region by the time the storm moves out Tuesday.

The system also is bringing snow to parts of Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico.

It dumped about a foot of snow in southern Utah and on the ski resorts in the mountains east of Salt Lake City.

———

12:40 p.m.

A weather system that unleashed strong winds, snow and heavy rain on California is promising to bring the first big snowstorm of the season to the Denver area before heading across the Plains.

Up to about a foot of snow could fall along Colorado's heavily populated Front Range region by the time the storm moves out Tuesday.

The system also is bringing rain and cool weather to Nevada and snow to parts of Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico.

It's expected to drop snow on Iowa during the caucuses and become heavier soon after people cast their votes.

In California, a driver was killed by a falling tree in San Diego County on Sunday and at least 40 vehicles got into a pileup near Lake Tahoe. - AP

Are we getting closer to understanding where the moon actually came from?

The full moon sets beyond the Rocky Mountains beyond Denver on Sunday. The moon may be the closest object to us in space, but scientists are still struggling to understand how it got there. Charlie Riedel Associated Press  BY DEBORAH NETBURN

The moon may be the closest object to us in space, but scientists are still struggling to understand how it got there. Most planetary researchers think the moon was created as the result of a collision between the Earth and a long-hypothesized protoplanet called Theia about 100 million years after the birth of the solar system.

But whether that impact was a glancing blow or a full, head-on crash is still up for debate.

This week researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles provided new evidence in the journal Science that the collision was head-on, and so powerful that materials from both bodies mixed completely before settling into the Earth-moon system we know today.

To come to that conclusion, the researchers analyzed seven lunar rocks collected by the Apollo 12, 15 and 17 missions, as well as six volcanic rocks that include material from Earth’s mantle. Specifically, they wanted to see if the ratio of oxygen isotopes in lunar rocks was the same as that in the terrestrial rocks.

More than 99.9 percent of Earth’s oxygen is O-16, which means each atom has eight protons and eight neutrons, but there are also small amounts of the heavier isotopes O-17 and O-18 in our planet’s oxygen mix.

“Every rock in the solar system we’ve ever found has a unique fingerprint of oxygen isotopes,” said Edward Young, a geochemist at UCLA and the first author on the study. And yet, his analysis shows that the moon and Earth have the exact same oxygen isotope profile. The only way to explain this finding is if Earth and the moon are made of the exact same material.

And herein lies the challenge.

The easiest way for computer modelers to explain the physics of the Earth-moon system, such as how fast our planet spins on its axis and how fast the moon orbits Earth, is to have Theia giving Earth a glancing blow strong enough for both bodies to become molten. In this scenario, most of the Theia material mixes with the Earth’s, but a small portion of it forms the moon.

If that’s the case, the moon and Earth should have a different chemical fingerprint. Although scientists expect Theia and Earth to have a similar oxygen isotope ratio, they would not expect it to be identical, Young said.

“Even if the proto-Earth and Theia were very similar, they couldn’t possibly be this similar,” he said.

Back in 2012 two groups of scientists presented computer models that show an alternative story of Earth-moon formation. In their simulations, the two bodies collide head-on, allowing for extensive mixing between Earth and Theia. Those models have since been dismissed as “too special,” said Sarah T. Stewart of the University of California, Davis, who was a coauthor on one of those studies.

“The odds of getting one of these perfectly mixing impacts is so low that it is probably not the best solution,” she said.

But Young thinks the team was on the right track. “The collision must have been very energetic for everything to melt together,” he said.

Stewart, who was not involved in the new study, said the work by Young and his colleagues provides the best measurement yet of the oxygen isotope ratio in the two bodies, and provides a challenge to her and her colleagues.

“We have a very big science problem of how did our neighbor form,” she said. “The geochemists have told us the answer, but the physicists have not been able to get us there.” - Los Angeles Times

Japan unveils stealth plane, may combine with next-gen jet

The first domestically-made stealth aircraft, X-2, sits in a hangar at Nagoya Airport in Toyoyama town, central Japan, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016. The demonstration plane is expected to make its maiden flight sometime after mid-February. A Defense Ministry official said the technology will give Japan the option of developing its own stealth fighter jets in the future. (AP Photo/Emily Wang)

OYOYAMA, Japan — Japan unveiled its first homemade stealth plane Thursday as it tries to catch up on the technology and enhance its reconnaissance and intelligence capabilities as China expands its own military presence in the region.

The experimental X-2 is expected to make its maiden test flight in February. Defense officials said the aircraft is designed to test the stealth technology that would possibly be combined with the next-generation fighter jet, replacing the fleet of F-2 fighters as early as 2028.

The red-and-white aircraft, with a 14-meter (45-foot) -long fuselage and 9-meter (30-foot) -long wingspan, sat inside a hanger at the Nagoya Airport in central Japan.

Led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, the stealth plane comes with radar-resistance features, including a canopy with special stealth-enhancing coating, and mobility.

"I cannot go into details, but we recognize it is technologically at a very high level," said Takahiro Yoshida, an official in charge of the project at the Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency of the Defense Ministry.

The 40 billion yen ($340 million) project began in 2009. -AP

There’s no vaccine for Zika virus, but there is a way to fight the fear

                                             Know your enemy. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

There’s a lot of alarm about Zika virus, now spreading “explosively” (says the WHO) in the Americas. Travelers have brought cases from the tropics to the US, and a few to Europe.

The alarm is because there’s a lot scientists still aren’t sure of. Does Zika really cause microcephaly in babies? Was last year’s spike in microcephaly in Brazil even real, or just a result of doctors looking for it harder? Does Zika cause the paralyzing Guillain-Barré syndrome? Can mosquito species other than Aedes aegypti spread Zika? Can it be sexually transmitted?

Zika has been linked to birth defects in thousands of Brazilian babies, born with heads smaller than normal and undeveloped brains. Pictured is Gleyse Kelly da Silva, holding her daughter Maria Giovana, in Recife, Brazil

But while there’s no vaccine against Zika, inoculating yourself against rumor and fear-mongering is just as important. There are sober explainers on what we do know about Zika; there’s advice from health authorities like the CDC and the WHO. The key is to know what to worry about and what not to.

Here’s the brief version: If you’re pregnant or trying to get pregnant, take special care (here’s how) in places where Zika is being actively transmitted (here’s a map). If you’re trying to get pregnant, consider waiting. You might also be a little cautious in places where Zika isn’t spreading but A. aegypti is present and active, like Florida and Texas (here are mosquito maps).

If you’re not pregnant or trying for it, and you’re in a Zika or aegypti region, take precautions, but don’t panic. The link with Guillain-Barré is worrying, but still tenuous. 

Most people with Zika never develop symptoms, and most of those who do develop only mild ones. You can’t infect someone else by touch. And sexual transmission, if it exists at all, is extremely rare.

And if your local mosquitoes aren’t aegypti but another species of Aedes—or a different genus altogether—there’s probably nothing to worry about. But keep an eye on the news, all the same. - quartz