Short Articles

Topic: Polity & Governance

Meghalaya unveils Asia’s first drone delivery hub

• The Meghalaya government in partnership with startup TechEagle has unveiled Asia’s first drone delivery hub and network.
• It is aimed at providing universal access to healthcare for the people in the state.
• The project is aimed at delivering vital supplies like drugs, diagnostic samples, vaccines, blood and blood components quickly and safely to different regions of the state using a dedicated drone delivery network.
• With Asia’s first drone delivery network, the solution overcomes the problem of
  • lack of visibility
  • high delivery costs
  • outdated technology
  • inaccessibility through roads and railway networks

Topic: Environment

Greenland was once as green as its name, oldest DNA discovery reveals

World’s Oldest DNA Discovered

• The oldest DNA ever recovered has revealed a remarkable two-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland.
• Exact location: The DNA is found locked in sediments in a region called Peary Land called Kap København at the farthest northern reaches of Greenland.
• Technique: The researchers reconstructed ancient Peary Land using disembodied fragments of DNA.
• Temperature: Two million years ago, North Greenland was much warmer than it is now. The average annual temperatures were about 11-19C hotter.
• Species of that time: Genetic traces of elephant-like mastodons, reindeer and geese and poplar trees, and of marine life including horseshoe crabs and algae.
• Present condition of Greenland: Today the area in North Greenland is a polar desert.

The previous record holder

• Until now, the oldest DNA ever recovered came from a million-year-old mammoth tooth.
• The oldest DNA ever found in the environment—rather than in a fossil specimen—was also a million years old and came from marine sediments in Antarctica.