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Solar plane lands in New York City

A solar-powered airplane finished crossing the United States on Saturday, landing in New York City after flying over the Statue of Liberty during its historic bid to circle the globe, the project team said.  The spindly, single-seat experimental aircraft, dubbed Solar Impulse 2, arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport at about 4 a.m. local time after it took off about five hours beforehand at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Pennsylvania, the team reported on the airplane's website.  Such a pleasure to land in New York! For the 14th time we celebrate sustainability," said the project's co-founder Andre Borschberg on Twitter after flying over the city and the Statue of Liberty during the 14th leg of the trip around the globe. The Swiss team flying the aircraft in a campaign to build support for clean energy technologies hopes eventually to complete its circumnavigation in Abu Dhabi, where the journey began in March 2015. The solar cr...

Scientists revel secret of Knut, the famous polar bear that drowned at Berlin Zoo in 2011.


Image result for Scientists say they can now explain what happened to Knut, the famous polar bear that drowned at Berlin Zoo in 2011.
A new investigation has shown that he had a type of autoimmune inflammation of the brain that is also recognised in humans. Researchers hope this knowledge can help both human and animal sufferers. Knut became an international celebrity, after being abandoned by his mother and then hand-raised by a zookeeper. For a while, he was the most recognisable bear on the planet, with his face featuring regularly on TV and in newspapers, and even on the front cover of an edition of Vanity Fair magazine.
His death was as public as his life. Knut experienced a seizure and collapsed into his enclosure's moat - right in front of the many zoo visitors who had come to see him - and never regained consciousness.

Image result for Scientists say they can now explain what happened to Knut, the famous polar bear that drowned at Berlin Zoo in 2011.
The necropsy established he had encephalitis,a brain inflammation, 
but the investigating scientists could find no reason for it. They suspected some kind of infection, however all pathogen screening drew a blank.In humans, the disease is treatable. Patients are given steroids and undergo what is known as plasmapheresis to remove the responsible antibodies from their blood.

Image result for Scientists say they can now explain what happened to Knut, the famous polar bear that drowned at Berlin Zoo in 2011.Co-author Prof Alex Greenwood, from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, said similar therapy could now be developed for animals. He told "Pretty much every aspect of Knut's life was played out in the public sphere. "And reflecting on it now, we're very happy to reach the point where we can end the story by saying why he died. There's some closure. Closure for him, but it opens up possibilities for other animals. He will be the trigger for research that may help not just other polar bears but other wild and captured animals as well."

And both Prof Greenwood and Dr Pruess said they hoped the publicity surrounding Knut would raise awareness of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis in the medical profession, ensuring human patients were diagnosed and treated promptly.

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