Stripes help zebras keep calm
Scientists from the United States and Germany studied 29 different environmental variables in Plains Zebras at 16 different locations in seven countries across south and central Africa. They also gathered data on local conditions like amount of rainfall and vegetation of the area to understand which of these factors had the most profound effect on the number of stripes on zebras and their thickness.
The study elaborated that these amazing striped animals have to spend more time looking for food which puts them at greater risk of overheating and falling prey to the big hunters like lions and deadly biting insects. These stripes are their defense against multiple dangers.
“Zebras in areas with seasonal cold temperatures are less stripy than those in areas with sustained warm temperatures,” UClA researcher and lead study author Brenda larison told The Huffington Post. Stripes help zebras keep calm
Two hidden planets beyond Pluto
A recent study has revealed that there can be at least two unknown planets hidden well beyond Pluto. According to the calculations of researchers at the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Cambridge, not only one, but at least two planets must exist to explain the orbital behaviour of extreme trans-Neptunian objects (ETNO), whose gravitational influence determines the orbits and strange distribution of objects observed beyond Neptune.
The most accepted theory establishes that the orbits of these objects, which travel beyond Neptune, should be distributed randomly, and by an observational bias, their paths must fulfill a series of characteristics: have a semi-major axis with a value close to 150 AU (astronomical units or times the distance between the Earth and the Sun), an inclination of almost 0 degree and an argument or angle of perihelion (closest point of the orbit to our Sun) also close to 0 or 180 degrees.
The study is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society letters.
Amazon says sorry for high price
Amazon doesn’t have anything to say about the allegations of it only offering 3,000 units of the Micromax Yu Yureka earlier this week, but it has said sorry for charging customers more than what the handset was worth. A formal apology was recently posted on the e-commerce giant’s official Twitter account and it says that they’re “actively working on addressing this issue”.’
The Micromax Yu Yureka smartphone was put on sale for the first time on January 12 and the entire inventory of 10,000 units got sold out in just a few seconds. And while many customers were frustrated that they didn’t get a chance to buy the handset, some had it worse as they were overcharged for the phone.
The Yu Yureka is tagged at Rs8,999 which is what makes it a sweet pick, but some noticed that they were charged Rs12,499 for the handset on checkout.
Audi R8 lMX launched at Rs2.97 cr
Audi has launched the R8 lMX in India at Rs2.97 crore, ex-showroom Delhi. The R8 lMX will have a limited production run of just 99 units globally and that makes one of the final sets of R8s quite a rare commodity. The R8 lMX and R8 Competition will be the last set of R8s to hit Audi showrooms.
The R8 lMX is powered by the same 5.2-litre V10 engine block from the R8 V10 but it produces 570PS of power, about 45PS more than the stock R8 V10 and is the second fastest R8 ever with a 0-100kmph sprint in 3.4 seconds.
The R8 Competition can do this in 3.2 seconds. The R8 lMX has a top speed of 320kmph and comes with the 7-speed S tronic gearbox to transfer power to all four wheels. What makes the R8 lMX special is its headlights. The R8 comes with a combination of lED and laser lights used for the first time on the Audi R18 e-tron quattro at the 24 Hours of le Mans last year.