News in Short

• In a research paper published in Marine Mammal Science, scientists propose that whales that forage in polar waters migrate to low latitudes to maintain healthy skin.
• Whales undertake some of the longest migrations on earth, often swimming many thousands of miles, over many months, to breed in the tropics. 
• Migrating to warmer water would allow whales to revive their skin metabolism and molt in an environment that does not sap their body heat.

• A new study released by ‘Addictive Behaviors’ says smartphone addiction has a similar impact on the brain to that of drug addiction.
• The study found that, of the participants, those with smartphone addiction showed material changes to the size and shape of the brain, similar to drug addiction.
• Since the release of the first smartphone only a decade ago, the average age of smartphone users continues getting younger, giving early access to addictive behaviour.

• Specialists from NASA has found one especially huge space rock through their space rock trackers. The space rock being referred to alluded to as 99942 Apophis, was seen voyaging Earthbound at a speed of 67,000 miles for each hour.
• The analysts anticipate that Apophis would be coming in near-Earth by the thirteenth of April, 2029, which would be quite a while from now. Different reports have viewed this space rock as a “planet executioner” in light of how close it can get.
• Enormous space rocks like Apophis have delegated Potentially Hazardous Objects or PHOs as they can cause harm on a worldwide scale if they at any point come in for arrival on Earth.

• Researchers have provided new insights into why people often make unrealistic plans that are doomed to fail.
• The studyanalysed the complex relationship between reward and effort in achieving goals, and identified two critical stages in the decision-making process.
• The researchers found that when people first decide what to do they are motivated by rewards. However, once they begin to put plans into action, their focus turns to the difficulty of the effort they need to put in.

• In response to growing concerns about the spread of Covid-19 in South Korea, President Moon Jae-in has raised the country’s threat alert level to the highest of its four levels.
• The country is currently struggling to stop the rapid spread of the novel virus, and has the second largest number of confirmed cases in the world.
• The last time the country raised its virus threat level to four was in 2009, when a novel influenza outbreak killed more than 260 people.
• By raising the threat level, the president has given the government the ability to take drastic measures: officials can now restrict public transportation, flights to and from South Korea, bar tourists, lock down cities, and close schools.