science Flashcards
(108 cards)
1
Q
pratyush
A
India’s fastest supercomputer at Pune with a capacity of 4 petaflops
2
Q
Mihir
A
a high-performance computer system at Noida with a capacity of 2.8 petaflops.
It is India’s first multi-petaflop supercomputer and is the fourth fastest supercomputer in the world which
is dedicated to weather and climate research after Japan, U.S.A, and the United Kingdom
3
Q
Other top five supercomputers of India are
A
SahasraT (Cray XC40), Aaditya (IBM/Lenovo system), TIFR Colour Boson (Cray XC-30), IIT Delhi HPC and Param Yuva 2
4
Q
Cartosat-2 series
A
It an earth observation satellite whose high-resolution scene-specific spot images will be useful
for cartographic applications, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring, water distribution, creation of land use maps and change detection to bring out geographical Land Information Systems and Geographical Information System applications.
5
Q
Parker Solar Probe by NASA
A
It will study how energy and heat move through
the solar corona and to explore what accelerates
the solar wind as well as solar energetic particles.
6
Q
NASA’s Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS)
A
SPARCS is a space telescope to study the
habitability and high-energy environment around
M-dwarf stars. The telescope will study the Ultra-Violet light emitted by dwarf stars.
7
Q
M-dwarf stars
A
Dwarf stars are generally cooler and they may be
surrounded by many habitable zones.
8
Q
NASA’s Global-scale Observations of the
Limb and Disk (GOLD) and Ionospheric Connection
Explorer (ICON) mission:
A
ICON will be in low-Earth orbit at 560 km above
Earth and GOLD will be at 35398 km above the earth surface in a geostationary orbit. They will study the Ionosphere region or the boundary area between Earth and space where electrically-charged electrons and ions by the Sun’s radiation are present. The missions will help in understanding how the upper atmosphere changes in response to hurricanes and geomagnetic
storms.
9
Q
Chandrasekhar limit
A
maximum mass of a stable white dwarf star and a mass greater than the limit will turn the star into a neutron star or black hole at the end of its life.
10
Q
Dwarf Stars
A
A dwarf star form at the end of star’s evolutionary phase. It has a mass of up to about 20 sols (Our Sun), and luminosity of up to about 20,000 sols.
11
Q
NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
A
study exoplanets in orbit around the brightest
stars in the sky
12
Q
NASA’s InSight Mars lander
A
will study the interior of Mars and listen for Marsquakes.
13
Q
NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex
A
launched earlier in 2016 is scheduled to arrive at the near-Earth asteroid Bennu in August 2018.
14
Q
ICESat-2 and GRACE satellites
A
to observe Earth’s ice sheets, sea level, and underground water reserves.
15
Q
Blue Moon
A
When two full moons appear in the same calendar month, the second is termed a “blue moon”.
16
Q
Super Moon
A
when the full moon is at the closest point of its orbit to the Earth, which is also called the perigee. The moon
appears 30% brighter and 14% bigger than the apogee full moon
17
Q
Blood Moon
A
The moon turns into red color during the height of the eclipse as some light does reach it even though the moon is in the shadow of the Earth. Fine particles in the atmosphere scatter (Rayleigh scattering) the blue component of solar spectrum, & what reaches us is the longer wavelength red light.
18
Q
Lunar Eclipse
A
A lunar eclipse happens whenever the moon passes through Earth’s shadow, also known as its umbra. A lunar eclipse can occur only on the night of a full moon.
19
Q
Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC)
A
X Development LLC, a subsidiary of Alphabet will supply and deploy 2000 cutting-edge Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC) links for Andhra Pradesh (AP) fiber-grid. It is an optical communication technology in which data is transmitted by propagation of light in free space allowing optical connectivity. Working of FSO is similar to OFC (optical fiber cable) networks but the only difference is that the optical beams are sent through free air or vacuum instead of glass fiber.
• It is a Line of Sight (LOS) technology. It consists of an optical transceiver at both ends to provide full duplex
(bidirectional) capability.
•It is capable of sending up to 1.25 Gbps of data, voice, and video communications simultaneously through
the air. It has low error rate.
20
Q
NASA’s SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy)
A
It is an aircraft (Boeing 747SP jetliner) modified to carry a 100-inch diameter telescope. It is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Centre, DLR.
• It is the world’s largest airborne astronomical observatory and is in fourth year of operation now.
• Its 2.5 diameter telescope allows astronomers to access the visible, infrared and sub-millimeter spectrum. It has the ability to produce a higher resolution image, three times higher in quality than those captured by
other observatories.
It is going to study observations of celestial magnetic fields, star-forming regions, comets and Saturn’s giant moon Titan.
Through observations from SOFIA scientists also aim to:
• study comet 46P/Writanen as it passes close to the Earth, to search for clues in the comet’s dust that may
understand the evolution of the early solar system.
• understand how active black holes contribute to most luminous, distant galaxies.
• understand how magnetic fields affect the rate at which interstellar clouds condense to form new stars.
• understand how methane levels change with seasons on Mars.
21
Q
Excitons
A
- When an electron which is seated at the edge of the crowded electron valence band gets excited and jumps over the energy gap into an empty conduction band, it leaves behind a hole in the valence band.
- The hole in the valence band acts as a positively charged particle and attracts the escaped electron.
- When the escaped electron with negative charge pairs with the hole, a composite bosonic particle – exciton is formed.
22
Q
3200 Phaethon
A
It is an Apollo Asteroid and has characteristics close to a comet.
• Sometimes the orbits of an asteroid intersect with the orbit of Mars and Earth. The earth orbiting asteroids
are called Apollo Asteroids.
23
Q
Geminid meteor shower
A
It fell on Earth on Dec 12. Usually, meteor shower happens due to the debris left behind by a Comet. However, it can happen due to an asteroid as well such as in the case of Geminid Shower.
• Geminid Meteor shower is the dust particle of constellation of Gemini. Earth passes through the path of its parent asteroid 3200 Phaethon every year.
24
Q
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
A
- It was established in 1960.
- It is the only competent organization for marine science within the UN system.
- The purpose of the Commission is to promote international cooperation and to coordinate programmes in research, services, and capacity-building, in order to learn more about the nature and resources of the ocean and coastal areas.
25
ITCOocean
ITCOocean is being set up under the commitment of Govt. of India in helping the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) in their capacity building efforts in areas of Operational Oceanography.
26
Space Activities Bill, 2017
The new Bill encourages the participation of private sector agencies in space activities in India under the
guidance and authorisation of the government through the Department of Space.
The provisions of this Act shall apply to every citizen of India and to all sectors engaged in any space activity in India or outside India.
A non-transferable licence shall be provided to any person carrying out commercial space activity through an appropriate mechanism.
The government will maintain a register of all space objects (any object launched or intended to be launched around the earth).
It will provide professional and technical support for commercial space activity and regulate the procedures
for conduct and operation of space activity through a regulatory body.
If any person undertakes any commercial space activity without authorisation they shall be punished with
imprisonment up to 3 years or fined more than ₹1 crore or both.
27
Lagrange Point:
It is the point where the combined gravitational force of
two large bodies is equal to the centrifugal force that is felt by a third body which is relatively smaller.
There are about 5 such points in a two body system.
The point L1 has the major advantage of viewing the sun without any occultation/ eclipses.
28
Halo Orbit:
It is periodic, three-dimensional orbit near the L1, L2 and L3 lagrange point (unstable) in a three body system.
29
Aditya L1
The mission will carry seven payloads including the main payload the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VLEC).
Aditya L1 is to be the first satellite to study the magnetic field of the sun’s corona.
The Aditya L1 is expected to help study that why the photosphere, the deeper layer of the sun is at much lower temperature than the corona.
It will also study aspects that affect space weather, the origin of solar wind ions, their reaction to coronal mass ejections, the distribution of these in the heliosphere- the space around the sun that extends up to Pluto.
30
Gravitational Lenses
It is a phenomenon in which the gravity of a massive object (like a galaxy or a cluster of galaxies) bends and amplifies the light from an object that lies beyond it.
31
Embryo Transfer Technology (ETT)
It is a technique of assisted reproduction in which the embryo or zygote is collected from a donor animal with higher genetic merit and transferred to a recipient animal which serves as surrogate for rest of the pregnancy.
Government has undertaken a Mass Embryo Transfer programme in Indigenous Breeds under the scheme,
National Mission on Bovine Productivity.
The programme is implemented with the objective of conservation and development of indigenous breeds
under Rashtriya Gokul Mission.
Indigenous Cow Breeds such as Sahiwal, Gir, Red Sindhi, Ongole, Deoni and Vechur will be the recipient
surrogates under the program.
32
Living Drug -
Genetically modified cells that are infused back into patients in Chimeric-Antigen Receptor CAR T-cell therapy, continue multiplying to fight disease for months or years. That’s why these immunotherapy treatments are called “living drugs.”
33
Yescarta therapy
It is a type of gene therapy that turns cells in the patient’s body into a “living drug” that targets and kills cancer cells.
It has been given Orphan Drug Designation.
Side Effects: It might cause Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS), a response to the activation and proliferation of CAR T-cells, which leads to high fever and neurological problems.
34
Neutron stars
a celestial object of very small radius (typically 30 km) and very high density, composed predominantly of closely packed neutrons. Neutron stars are thought to form by the gravitational collapse of the remnant of a massive star after a supernova explosion, provided that the star is insufficiently massive to produce a black hole.
35
Cryo-electron microscopy
It is a method for imaging frozen-hydrated specimens at cryogenic temperatures by electron microscopy.
Specimens that are to be analysed would remain in their native state without the need for dyes or fixatives, which would allow the study of fine cellular structures, viruses and protein complexes at molecular resolution.
Contrary to earlier electron micro-scoping, cryo-electron
miscroscopy can view solutions (as water would not
evaporate under microscope’s vacuum).
This method helps in better imaging 3D structures of
biomolecules.
It helps researchers to freeze biomolecules mid-movement and visualise the processes they have never previously seen.
It has been used to image the elusive Zika virus and its medicine associated research.
36
X-ray Crystallography
X-rays scatter as they pass through a sample of crystallized protein. The resulting waves interfere with each other and create a diffraction pattern from which the position of atoms is deduced.
37
Cassini Mission
Cassini is an ambitious space missions launched through collaboration between NASA, ESA and the Italian space agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana.
Cassini began the first up-close study of Saturn and its system of rings and moons in 2004. It also became the
first spacecraft to orbit Saturn.
Cassini's observations of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, have given scientists clues about the origin of life.
38
World’s most powerful LASER
European X-Ray Free Electron Laser (European XFEL) was recently unveiled in Hamburg, Germany.
39
Free-electron lasers
They create coherent light by constantly accelerating a beam of electrons. Free-electron lasers can produce radiation with a very short-wavelength, down to just a few tenths of a nanometre i.e. to the level of an atom.
40
LASER
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
It is device that generates an intense beam of coherent monochromatic light (or other electromagnetic radiation).
It means unlike the conventional light, LASER has radiation of only one wavelength (Monochromatic) and they are always in same phase in space and time (Coherent).
41
European X-Ray Free Electron Laser (European XFEL)
XFEL is the world’s third major X-ray laser facility after projects in Japan (SACLA) and the US (LCLS) which are already operational.
The 3.4 km facility is housed in a series of underground tunnels which are kept at a temperature of just 2 degrees above absolute zero.
As an X-ray free-electron laser, the European XFEL generates X-ray laser beam from accelerated electrons. It does so using undulators (long sections of alternating magnetic fields kept at superconducting temperatures).
This laser beam of electrons in the end is like flashes of radiation with about 27000 pulses per second which is much higher than its predecessors.
42
OSIRIS-REx
Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) is NASA’s first unmanned asteroid sampling mission which was launched in September 2016.
Asteroid Bennu orbits around the Sun however its orbit is more tilted as compared to Earth’s and it crosses Earth’s orbit only twice a year. Therefore OSIRIS-REx will have to make adjustments in its path to intersect with Asteroid.
43
Asteroids –
Asteroids are small bodies of rocks which revolve around the sun. The Asteroid belt in our Solar System is found between the Mars and Jupiter.
44
Meteoroids –
When asteroids smash into each other, small fragments break off. These fragments are called Meteoroids.
45
Meteors –
When these meteoroids come closer to Earth and enter its atmosphere they vaporize with a streak of light in the sky. They are then called Meteors or shooting stars.
46
Meteorites –
When the meteors do not vaporise completely after entering the Earth’s atmosphere, they are called Meteorites.
47
Chandrayan-1
Chandrayan-1 was launched by India in October 2009 using PSLV-C11.
The primary objective of the mission was to prepare a three-dimensional atlas of both near and far side of the moon and chemical, mineralogical and photo-geological mapping of moon.
It had made almost 3400 orbits around the moon before it lost contact with Earth in 2009.
Chandrayaan-1 had payloads from India namely:
o Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC)
o Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI)
o Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI)
o High Energy X-Ray Spectrometer (HEX)
o Moon Impact Probe (MIP)
48
Jeevan Bindi
Singapore based marketing agency and Maharashtra based NGO developed a Vermillion (Bindi) named Jeevan-Bindi which contains iodine.
Bindi delivers the daily requirement of iodine 100-150 adsorption through the skin.
It needs to be worn every day for up to eight hours to be effective.
This initiative is supplemented with iodine pills available at community health centre.
49
monkey fever
Scientists have traced the source of a re-emerging disease, Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) or “monkey fever”, to cashew plantations in Goa.
It is caused by Kyasanur forest disease virus (KFDV), a member of the virus family Flaviviridae, which also causes yellow fever and dengue.
It was first detected in 1957 in Shimoga, Karnataka and is endemic to South Asia.
Monkey fever is so named because it primarily affects black-faced langurs and red-faced bonnet monkeys
and result in death. Even when the monkey dies still the KFD virus gets transmitted through ticks thriving on
monkeys.
The Hard ticks (Hemaphysalis spinigera) are the reservoir of KFDV. These ticks are known to thrive in The Western Ghats and transmit the disease to humans.
50
Bionic Leaf
uses solar energy to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen, and hydrogen-eating bacteria to produce liquid fuels from CO2.
51
Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana
Under the scheme, Department of Science and Technology will adopt and develop a cluster of villages into self-sustainable in time bound manner.
In this, the local resources and manpower will be utilised which will be further imparted value addition in
local produce and services.
52
quantum computing
In a classical computer, information is stored using binary units, or bits. A bit is either a 0 or 1. A quantum computer instead takes advantage of quantum mechanical properties to process information using quantum bits, or qubits.
A qubit can be both 0 or 1 at the same time, or any range of numbers between 0 and 1.
They function according to two key principles of quantum physics: superposition and entanglement.
Superposition means that each qubit can represent both a 1 and a 0 at the same time.
Entanglement means that qubits in a superposition can be correlated with each other; that is, the state of
one (whether it is a 1 or a 0) can depend on the state of another.
53
What is 5G?
5G is a wireless communication technology.
54
International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium
It is an international scientific organisation that works to fight against healthcare-associated infections.
55
“Project Brainwave"
Microsoft has launched “Project Brainwave” deep learning acceleration platform for real-time artificial intelligence (AI).
The 'Project Brainwave' uses the massive field-programmable gate array (FPGA) infrastructure.
The system architecture reduces latency
56
HySIS (Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite)
ISRO plans to launch HySIS (Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite) – a earth observation satellite, using a critical chip it has developed called “optical imaging detector array”.
57
Hyperspectral imaging
Hyperspectral imaging, or imaging spectroscopy, combines the power of digital imaging and spectroscopy.
For each pixel in an image, a hyperspectral camera acquires the light intensity (radiance) for a large number of contiguous spectral bands.
Every pixel in the image thus contains a continuous spectrum in the visible and near infra-red regions and can be used to characterize the objects in the scene with great precision and detail.
58
India’s first private missile production facility
in Hyderabad.
The missile sub-section manufacturing facility has been established as a joint venture (51:49) between Kalyani Group and Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence System Ltd.
59
Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES)
It is an international intergovernmental institution for generation and application of early warning information formed in the aftermath of 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami by the efforts of African and Asian countries.
It operates from the early warning centres located at the campus of the Asian Institute of Technology in Pathumthani, Thailand.
It is registered with United Nations under Article 102 and is also supported by UNESCAP and DANIDA.
It provides information related to Tsunami and extreme weather conditions. It also acts as a test bed for emerging technologies and help to enhance performance.
60
Participating countries in RIMES
Bangladesh, Comoros, Cambodia, India, Laos, Maldives, Mangolia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste
61
ESSO Indian National Centre for Ocean and Information Services (INCOIS)
ESSO INCOIS is an autonomous body established under Ministry of Earth Sciences and it is a unit of Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO).
It provides ocean information and advisories to the government, industry, society and scientific research community through sustained and continuous observations and improvement through systematic and
focussed research.
International presence of ESSO INCOIS :
o Permanent member of IOC of UNESCO
o Founding member of Indian Ocean Global Ocean Observing System (IOGOOS) and Partnership for Observing the Oceans (POGO)
o Provides information to member countries of Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES) etc.
62
New Tectonic Plate (57th)
Malpelo Plate. The plate is discovered off the coast of Ecuador in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Their analysis revealed the presence of a diffused plate boundary running from the Panama fault east to a deep
ocean trench off the coasts of Ecuador and Colombia.
The plate movements may explain a mysterious series of very deep, large earthquakes known as the Vityaz
earthquakes, which originated in the mantle between Fiji and Australia.
63
Comet Swift-Tuttle
Comet Swift-Tuttle, having a nucleus of about 16 miles (26 kilometres) wide, is the largest object known to repeatedly pass by Earth.
The Comet last passed nearby Earth during its orbit around the sun in 1992. It will next pass by the Earth in
2026.
64
Perseid Meteor Shower
Perseid meteor Shower is the dust of Comet Swift Tuttle which passes through Earth every year.
65
India’s first TISC (Technology and Innovation Support Center)
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has inked agreement with Punjab State Council of Science and Technology to establish India’s first TISC (Technology and Innovation Support Center).
TISC is WIPO’s (World Intellectual Property Organisations) program that provides innovators in developing countries with access to locally based, high quality technology information and related services.
The program will help innovators to fully exploit their creative potential and also protect their Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)
CIPAM (Cell for IPR Promotion and Management) has been designated as the national focal point for the TISC network.
CIPAM is responsible to identify host institutions, access their capacities and host them in joining the TISC network.
CIPAM will also act as the main intermediary between WIPO and TISC host institutions and coordinate all the activities of the national TISC network.
66
“JIGYASA”
It is a student- scientist connect programme which will be implemented by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in collaboration with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS).
67
SOHUM
SOHUM, an indigenously developed newborn hearing screening device has been launched by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology.
It has been developed by School of International Biodesign (SIB)
It measures auditory brain waves via three electrodes placed on the baby's head. When stimulated, electrodes detect electrical responses generated by the brain's auditory system. If there is no response, it indicates child cannot hear.
It is battery operated device and is non-invasive. It doesn't require babies to be sedated, which is risky process at present.
68
School of International Biodesign
SIB is a flagship Program of the DBT aimed to develop innovative and affordable medical devices as per India's unmet clinical needs and to train the next generation of medical technology innovators in India.
It is implemented jointly at AIIMS and IIT Delhi in collaboration with International partners.
69
The Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment
| (AIDA) mission
AIDA mission is an international collaboration among the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA, Observatoire de la Côte d´Azur (OCA), and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL).
AIDA is a dual-mission concept, involving two independent spacecraft – NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), and ESA’s Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM).
Its target is the binary near-Earth asteroid Didymos, which consists of a primary body approximately 800 meters across, and a secondary body (or “moonlet”) whose 150-meter size is more typical of the size of asteroids that could pose a more common hazard to Earth.
The DART spacecraft will achieve the kinetic impact by deliberately crashing itself into the moonlet at a speed of approximately 6 km/s to deflect the path of Didymos.
70
ESA’s Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM)
The AIM spacecraft, with its extensive array of scientific instruments, will arrive at Didymos before DART’s impact, and perform the first-ever close-up study of a binary asteroid, providing high-resolution imagery of the surfaces of the binary system as well as measurements of the masses, densities, and shapes of its two bodies
71
Saraswati
It is ‘supercluster’ of galaxies, some four billion light years away from Earth.
72
What are Superclusters?
Galaxies are like the building blocks of the universe, they contain a huge number of stars. Galaxy clusters have 3-100 galaxies, and super clusters are the clusters of clusters.
Within superclusters, clusters are connected by filaments and sheets of dark matter with galaxies embedded in them
Sarawati has 42 clusters.
73
World organization for Animal Health.
It is recognised as a reference organisation by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in 2017 has a
total of 181 Member Countries.
It maintains permanent relations with 71 other international and regional organisations.
Ban is lifted after 90 days of the surveillance is done by the organization
74
Kala -Azar OR Visceral leishmaniasis
It is a vector borne disease caused by a protozoan parasite of genus Leishmania.
Post Kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL) is a condition when Leishmania donovani (parasite) invades skin cells, and manifests as dermal leisions.
Some of the kala-azar cases manifests PKDL after a few years of treatment. The compound called mahanine, isolated from leaves of curry plant commonly used in Indian kitchens has been found to inhibit the growth of kala-azar parasite.
75
Metrino
It is fully automatic small pods travel independently suspended over an overhead network
76
Pod Taxis
Small automated vehicles cable cars or pod cars equipped to carry a small group of passengers.
77
Hyperloop
Pod-like vehicle is propelled through a near-vacuum tube connecting cities at speeds matching that of an aircraft.
78
Stadler Bus
Tram like high frequency bus service for end to end connectivity.
79
Hybrid Bus
Transport system uses hybrid propulsion systems, consisting diesel and electric ones.
80
Freight Rail System
Elevated corridors would be built with rail lines where freight trucks can be placed.
It would move on rails at high speed, reducing freight time and increasing freight quantity.
81
Sagar Vani
It is an integrated information dissemination system for the ocean information system using single central server.
It will use power of television and cable network for alert information dissemination through voice Call / Audio Advisory, Mobile Apps (User / Admin modules), Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), Email, GTS, Fax, Digital Display Boards, Radio / Television broadcast units, IVRS, Cloud Channels, etc.
It will serve the coastal community with advisory in regional languages.
Science and Technology and Earth Sciences ministry launched it.
ESSO-Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) would provide the various facilities under the system.
82
LENR
Cold fusion energy, also called Low Energy Nuclear Reaction (LENR) is the energy obtained from the fusion of sub-atomic particles at near room-temperatures. Cold fusion describes a form of energy generated when hydrogen interacts with various metals like nickel and palladium. Excess heat is generated by the interaction that can be used to turn the turbine. No radioactive materials are used in cold fusion and cold fusion makes no radioactive waste.
83
BIO International Convention
The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) BIO
2017 was held in San Diego, USA
BIO is the world's largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.
India Biotech Handbook 2017, showcasing the strengths of India’s fast-growing $42 bn bio-economy was released
84
A gamma-ray burst
A gamma-ray burst is a light emanating from a bursting star, that may lead to the formation of a black hole.
85
ASTROSAT
ASTROSAT observes universe in the optical, Ultraviolet, low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum
86
GROWTH (Global Relay of Observatories Watching Transients Happen) network of observatories
GROWTH is an international scientific collaborative project in astronomy studying the physics of fast-changing events in the cosmos like supernovae, neutron stars or black hole mergers, and near-earth asteroids. It is partnership of eleven universities and research institutions from US, India, Sweden, Taiwan, Japan, Israel and Germany.
It continuously gathers data of cosmic transient events in the first 24 hours after detection to build a more complete picture and better understand the physical processes of their evolution.
It jointly operates 17 observatories in the northern hemisphere. Girawali Observatory – IUCAA in Maharashtra (near Pune) is part of this network.
87
POLAR project
POLAR is an international mission of China and European collaboration is dedicated to establishing whether the photons from Gama-ray bursts (GRBs) — thought to be a particularly energetic type of stellar explosion — are polarized.
88
Atomic clock
An atomic clock is a clock device that uses an electronic transition frequency of the electromagnetic spectrum of atoms as a frequency standard for its timekeeping element.
Atomic clocks are the most accurate time and frequency standards known, and are used as primary standards for international time distribution services, to control the wave frequency of television broadcasts, and in global navigation satellite systems such as GPS.
89
Rubidium atomic clock
A rubidium atomic clock is a frequency standard in which a specified hyperfine transition of electrons in rubidium-87 atoms is used to control the output frequency. It is the most inexpensive, compact, and widely used type of atomic clock.
90
Citizen scientist concept
Citizen science is the practice of public participation and collaboration in scientific research to increase scientific knowledge. Through citizen science, people share and contribute to data monitoring and collection programs.
Citizen-science projects may include wildlife-monitoring programs, online databases, visualization and sharing technologies, or other community efforts.
Examples: the Christmas Bird Count in USA and Canada, Asian Waterbird Census by Birdlife International in India
91
Backyard Worlds project:
It is a citizen science project and was launched in February 2017. The Backyard Worlds project lets anyone with a computer and an Internet connection flip through images taken by NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft.
It aims to discover new brown dwarf stars and other low-mass stars, some of which might be among the nearest neighbors of our solar system.
92
Brown dwarf
A celestial object intermediate in size between a giant planet and a small star believed to emit mainly infrared radiation.
Sometimes called “failed stars”, are spread throughout the Milky Way. They are strikingly similar to Jupiter.
Scientists study their atmospheres in order to look at what weather on other worlds might look like.
93
Drought resistance (DR)
Drought resistance (DR) is a broader term applied to plant species with adaptive features which enables plants to escape, avoid and tolerate drought stress.
94
Drought escape (DE)
```
Drought escape (DE) is the ability of a plant species to complete its life cycle before the onset of drought.
Thereby, plants do not experience drought stress, as they are able to modulate their vegetative and reproductive growth according to water availability. Eg rapid plant growth during wet season and little growth during the dry season.
```
95
Drought avoidance (DA)
Drought avoidance (DA) involves the ability of plants to maintain relatively higher tissue water content, despite the water scarcity in the soil (saving for a deficit day).
96
Drought tolerance (DT)
Drought tolerance (DT) involves the plant enduring low water content on its tissues through various adaptive traits.
97
GSLV Mk III (D1 Rocket)
It can lift payloads of up to 4000 kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit and 10000 kg into the Low Earth Orbit.
It is a three stage vehicle with an indigenous cryogenic upper stage engine (C25).
Apart from the upper cryogenic stage, the vehicle has two solid strap-on motors (S200) and a core liquid booster (L110).
For the first time there will be no transponders on the satellite. It will be using a new way beaming data down using multiple frequency beams. It is therefore called "a high through put satellite".
For the first time, it would have indigenously made Lithium ion batteries.
This spacecraft would have advanced technologies including miniaturized heat pipe, fibre optic gyro, Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) accelerometer.
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New Frontiers program
NASA’s New Frontiers program organises robotic solar system missions of discovery costing up to $1 billion.
The New Frontiers strategy is to explore the solar system with frequent, medium-class spacecraft missions that conduct high-quality, focused scientific investigations designed to enhance our understanding of the solar system.
This would be the fourth mission in the New Frontiers portfolio. Its predecessors are the New Horizons mission to Pluto, the Juno mission to Jupiter, and OSIRIS-Rex.
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Deep Ocean Mission
Ministry of Earth Sciences is set to launch 10,000 crore “Deep Ocean Mission” to study and harness the mineral resources beneath the ocean floor.
It will also involve the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Biotechnology.
Major components of the project are deep ocean energy, desalination plant along the Chennai coast, deep sea science and fisheries, minerals and polymetallic nodules.
The exclusive economic zone allotted to India will be covered under the mission.
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Berginin
Berginin is a phytochemical isolated from tender leaves of sakhua or shala tree (Shorea robusta).
It modulates the immune system to kill the bacteria inside the macrophages.
However, it was also concluded that the compound failed to kill the bacteria when used directly but was effective when used as an agent to modulate the immune system to act upon it.
A team of Indian researchers had been able to achieve 100-fold reductions in TB bacterial load in a lab experiment on mice using the compound named berginin.
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Disarib
A novel small molecule, designed and synthesised by Indian researchers, has shown promise in targeted killing of cancer cells.
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Tarang Sanchar Portal
The Telecom Department launched a portal – Tarang Sanchar Portal that will allow people to track radiation
emitted from mobile towers within a locality.
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Village Resource Centres (VRC)
ISRO has established around 473 Village Resource Centres (VRCs) on a pilot basis, in association with selected NGOs, Trusts and State Government Departments.
This is one of the unique initiatives that use Satellite Communication (SATCOM) network and Earth Observation (EO) satellite data to reach out to the villages to address the needs of the local people in villages itself.
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Digital therapeutics or Digiceuticals
It can broadly be defined as a treatment or therapy that utilizes digital and often Internet-based health technologies to spur changes in patient behavior to treat a medical or psychological condition. It uses methods rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy to spur patients to make lifestyle changes.
It is often used as a preventive measure for patients who are at risk of developing more serious conditions. For instance, a patient with prediabetes may be prescribed digital therapeutics as a method to change their diet and behavior.
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E-Shodh Sindhu-
It aims to provide e-resources on technical education to 94 AICTE supported technical institutes.
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India’s Seed Vault
It is situated at Chang La, Ladakh
Built jointly by the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) and the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in 2010 under the aegis of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), this permafrost seed bank is the second largest in the world.
Presently, the only other facility in India for long-term storage of seeds is the one set up by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) New Delhi.
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Brayton cycle
A thermodynamic cycle using constant pressure, heat addition and rejection to spin the blades of a turbine, which can be used to generate electricity.
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“Udaan”
CBSE has launched a scheme “Udaan” to provide free online resources to girl students of Class XI and Class XII for preparation of admission test for the premier engineering colleges in the country.
