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Sunlight may help lower blood pressure Exposing skin to sunlight may help lower blood pressure and cut the risk of heart attack and stroke, a new study has found. Research carried out at the Universities of Southampton and Edinburgh found that sunlight a lters levels of the small messenger molecule, nitric oxide (NO) in the skin and blood, reducing blood pressure . "NO along with its breakdown products, known to be abundant in skin, is involved in the regulation of blood pressure," said Martin Feelisch, Professor of Experimental Medicine and Integrative Biology at the University of Southampton. "When exposed to sunlight , small amounts of NO are transferred from the skin to the circulation, lowering blood vessel tone; as blood pressure drops, so does the risk of heart attack and stroke," Feelisch said. While limiting sunlight exposure is important to prevent skin cancer, the authors of the study, including Dr Richard Weller of the Universi...

India on Friday successfully launched its second navigational satellite IRNSS 1B onboard PSLV-C24 from this spaceport. Indian Space Research Organisation's workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C24 placed the IRNSS IB in precise orbit about 19 minutes after a perfect lift-off at 5.14 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. "PSLV, in its 25th successive successful flight, injected IRNSS-1B very precisely. I thank the entire ISRO team that made this major milestone for the country, thus proving again that India's PSLV has a place of pride," a beaming ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan announced. The 1,432 kg satellite would form part of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), an equivalent to Global Positioning System of the US. The IRNSS 1B is the second of the seven navigational satellite planned by India under the Rs 1,420 crore IRNSS programme.