Science & Technology - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: Kepler 80g, Kepler 90i

Explanation:
Google and NASA said on December 2017 that advanced computer analysis identified two new planets around distant stars, including one that is part of the first star system with as many planets as Earth's solar system.

The research by Google and the University of Texas at Austin that used data from NASA raised the prospects of new insights into the universe by feeding data into computer programmes that can churn through information faster and more in-depth than humanly possibly, a technique known as machine learning.

In this case, software learned differences between planets and other objects by analysing thousands of data points, achieving 96% accuracy, NASA said at a news conference.

The data came from the Kepler telescope which NASA launched into space in 2009 as part of a planet-finding mission that is expected to end next year as the spacecraft runs out of fuel.

The software's artificial "neural network" combed through data about 670 stars, which led to the discovery of planets Kepler 80g and Kepler 90i.

The latter, a scorching, rocky mass 30% larger than Earth, is the eighth planet found to be orbiting the same star.

Astronomers had never before observed an eight-planet network beside the solar system that includes Earth, researchers said.

Advancements in hardware and new techniques for machine learning have made it possible in recent years for automated software to tackle data analysis in science, finance and other industries.

ANSWER: Tonga

Explanation:
The world's newest island - formed during a volcanic eruption in the remote Pacific three years ago - may offer clues to how life potentially developed on Mars, NASA said on Dec 13, 2017.

The island of Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai rose from the seabed about 65 km northwest of the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa in late 2014 or early 2015.

Scientists initially expected the island - created when vast quantities of rock and dense ash spewed from the earth's crust - to wash away within a few months.

But NASA said it had proved more resilient than expected, possibly because warm sea water combined with ash during the volcanic explosion to create a concrete-like substance known as "tuff".

While the island - which initially measured one km wide, two km long and about 100 metres high - has undergone significant erosion, it is now expected to last anywhere from six to 30 years.

Mars had many similar volcanic islands.

ANSWER: Rajasthan

Explanation:
Now access email IDs in Hindi in Rajasthan!

Rajasthan has become the first state in India to launch free email addresses in Hindi for its residents.

The facility will be available at name@rajasthan.bharat (in Devanagari script).

The initiative aims to ensure maximum participation of people towards e-governance and ensure that maximum government facilities are available in vernacular language.

The project is being implemented by state IT department with partnership in form of in-sourcing with private IT companies.

This initiative is small part of 'Rajasthan DigiKit' which has seen enrollment of more than one crore people from the state.

The first e-mail ID from this initiative was created by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje with id casundhara@rajasthan.bharat (in Devnagari).

All government personnel in state will soon have an email id in Hindi too.

The Hindi email ID will be offered to all the Internet users.

ANSWER: Graphene

Explanation:
Scientists have developed a new graphene-based battery material with charging speed five times faster than today's lithium-ion batteries.

The breakthrough by researchers at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) in South Korea provides promise for the next generation mobile batteries and electric vehicles.

Standard lithium batteries require charging time of at least an hour to fully charge, even with quick charging technology, so numerous attempts to explore new innovative materials have been started.

Among the materials looked at, graphene, a material with high strength and conductivity, has widely become the primary source of interest.

In theory, a battery based on the "graphene ball" material requires only 12 minutes to fully charge, researchers said.

This "graphene ball" was utilised for both the anode protective layer and cathode materials.

This ensured an increase of charging capacity, decrease of charging time as well as stable temperatures.

Researchers used graphene and mass synthesised it into a 3D form using silica (SiO2).

Their research enables mass synthesis of graphene at an affordable price as the markets for mobile devices and electric vehicles is growing rapidly.

Graphene: Know More

• Graphene is an allotrope (form) of carbon consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in an hexagonal lattice.
• It is the basic structural element of many other allotropes of carbon, such as graphite, charcoal, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes.
• Graphene has many unusual properties.
• It is the strongest material ever tested,efficiently conducts heat and electricity and is nearly transparent.
• Graphene shows a large and nonlinear diamagnetism, which is greater than that of graphite, and can be levitated by neodymium magnets.

ANSWER: Both a and c

Explanation:
Jupiter's Great Red Spot - the solar system's most famous storm - is almost one-and-a-half Earths wide and penetrates about 300 kilometres into the planet's atmosphere, according to data collected by NASA's Juno spacecraft.

Juno data indicate that the solar system's most famous storm is almost one-and-a-half Earths wide, and has roots that penetrate about 300 kilometres into the planet's atmosphere.

The science instrument responsible for this in-depth revelation was Juno's Microwave Radiometer (MWR).

Juno's Microwave Radiometer has the unique capability to peer deep below Jupiter's clouds.

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a giant oval of crimson- coloured clouds in Jupiter's southern hemisphere that race counter-clockwise around the oval's perimeter with wind speeds greater than any storm on Earth.

Measuring 16,000 kilometres in width as of April 3, this year, the Great Red Spot is 1.3 times as wide as Earth.

Juno found that the Great Red Spot's roots go 50 to 100 times deeper than Earth's oceans and are warmer at the base than they are at the top.

Winds are associated with differences in temperature, and the warmth of the spot's base explains the ferocious winds we see at the top of the atmosphere.

Future of the Great Red Spot

• The future of the Great Red Spot is still very much up for debate. While the storm has been monitored since 1830, it has possibly existed for more than 350 years.
• In the 19th century, the Great Red Spot was well over two Earths wide.
• At the time NASA's Voyagers 1 and 2 sped by Jupiter on their way to Saturn and beyond, in 1979, the Great Red Spot was twice Earth's diameter.
• Today, measurements by Earth-based telescopes indicate the oval that Juno flew over has diminished in width by one- third and height by one-eighth since Voyager times.
• Juno also has detected a new radiation zone, just above the gas giant's atmosphere, near the equator. The zone includes energetic hydrogen, oxygen and sulphur ions moving at almost light speed.
• The new zone was identified by the Jupiter Energetic Particle Detector Instrument (JEDI) investigation.

ANSWER: Only a and b

Explanation:
The Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) is developing small satellite launch vehicles to launch low-cost small satellites.

Preliminary work to design and develop such ambitious small launch vehicle already has started at ISRO's rocket development node, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

The small launch vehicle will be able to put satellites of up to 500-600 kg in orbits close to the Earth. VSSC has designed the vehicle using the rocket technology.

Small satellite launch vehicles have tremendous potential to cut the launch fee that customers pay. Ride on small launchers is ninth or tenth of the present cost.

Besides, they are easy to assemble compared to about 40 days taken to assemble a PSLV.

What is a Small Satellite?

• Small satellites, miniaturized satellites, or smallsats, are satellites of low mass and size, usually under 500 kg (1,100 lb).
• While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass.
• Satellites can be built small to reduce the large economic cost of launch vehicles and the costs associated with construction.
• Miniature satellites, especially in large numbers, may be more useful than fewer, larger ones for some purposes - for example, gathering of scientific data and radio relay.
• Technical challenges in the construction of small satellites may include the lack of sufficient power storage or of room for a propulsion system.

• Since 1999, ISRO's PSLV rockets have launched 209 small satellites from 28 countries for fee. In February 2017, PSLV created world record by launching 104 satellites to space.
• Globally, the small satellites market is booming as they are used for various applications.
• As such, worldwide, operators and private players are developing small launchers to capture the market at a much lower cost.
• Global space industry consulting firm Euroconsult in July 2017 had estimated that 6,200 smallsats - many of them will be launched during 2017-2026 and its market value will touch to $30 billion - up from $8.9 billion in last decade.

ANSWER: 3200 Phaethon

Explanation:
Star-lovers and sky-enthusiasts can enjoy a meteor shower display on December 13 after 10 p.m., and in the early morning hours of December 14, named the Geminid meteor shower.

Rocks and dust particles from space that are about to collide with Earth's atmosphere are called meteoroids. Those that enter and streak through the atmosphere are called meteors.

Usually when comets, which are chunks of ice with lot of dust, come close to the sun, the ice melts and the dust and rocks are left behind along the orbit of the comet.

If Earth, in its yearly motion around the Sun happens to pass through such a debris trail, they enter the Earth's atmosphere with considerable speed and due to friction in the atmosphere, burns up and give rise to not only a single bright streak in the sky but numerous meteors, called meteor shower.

Why is the Geminid meteor shower called so?

• Geminid meteor shower is so named because the meteors appear to originate from the constellation of Gemini in the night sky.
• It is not a comet but an unusual asteroid called 3200 Phaethon, discovered in 1983, that is the origin of the meteors.
• Asteroids are rocky bodies going round the Sun, originating from a region between the orbit of Mars and Jupiter.
• Unlike the planets, their orbits are sometimes extremely elliptical and intersect the orbit of Mars and even Earth.
• The Earth-orbit-crossing asteroids are called Apollo Asteroids.

• 3200 Phaethon, named after the son of the Sun god Helios, is an Apollo Asteroid that may have undergone a collision with another object in the distant past to produce the stream of particles that Earth runs into - creating this meteor shower.
• 3200 Phaethon, a 5.1-k.m.-long piece of rock, has characteristics which are close to a comet. In its close approach to Sun, it sheds huge amount of rock and dust in its path and Earth happens to pass that path every year during December 4-16.
• Generally, the meteor shower associated with 3200 Phaethon peaks around second week of December every year and are quite numerous.

ANSWER: Bacterial

Explanation:
India was declared free from infective Trachoma, a contagious bacterial infection of the eye. The infection causes inflamed granulation on the inner surface of the lids.

It was announced by Union Health Minister J P Nadda after releasing National Trachoma Survey Report (2014-17) in New Delhi.

With this, India met goal of trachoma elimination as specified by World Health Organisation (WHO) under its GET2020 (Global Elimination of Trachoma by the year 2020) program.

Trachoma

• Trachoma is a chronic infective disease of eye and is leading cause of infective blindness globally. It is outcome of poor environmental and personal hygiene and inadequate access to water and sanitation.
• It affects conjunctiva under the eyelids.
• Repeated Trachoma infection causes scarring leading to in-turning of the eyelashes and eyelids which further causes damage to cornea and blindness.
• It is main cause of corneal blindness in India, affecting young children. It was found affecting the population North Indian states like Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh.

ANSWER: Bert Halper

Explanation:
Researchers at the University of Illinois have announced discovery of new form of matter called excitonium.

The existence of this strange and mysterious type of matter was theorized after the term excitonium was theoretically coined by Harvard theoretical physicist named Bert Halper in the 1960s,

To prove existence of excitons, scientists had studied crystals doped with dichalcogenide titanium diselenide (1T-TiSe2), a transition metal.

This material is made up of a kind of boson, a composite particle that could allow matter to act as a superfluid, superconductor, or even as an insulating electronic crystal.

Scientists were able to observe existence of excitonium using novel technique called momentum-resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy (M-EELS).

Excitonium

• Excitonium is a condensate made up of excitons and exhibits macroscopic quantum phenomena just like a superconductor.
• Excitons are particles that are formed in a very strange quantum mechanical pairing.
• They are obtained by combining escaped electrons and "holes".
• This quirky quantum-mechanical pairing is possible because, in semiconductors, electrons on edge of one energy level in atom are able to jump into the next energy level when excited, leaving behind a "hole" in previous level.
• This hole acts like a positively charged particle, attracting the negatively charged electron that escaped.
• Excitonium exhibits macroscopic quantum phenomena, like a superconductor and this findings holds great promise for unlocking further quantum mechanical mysteries.
• As a superconductor and superfluid, this material can be used to further existing technologies. These applications, especially those in practical technologies, are purely speculative at this point.

ANSWER: Solar

Explanation:
A group of researchers from Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, have, for the first time, figured out the conditions under which certain types of solar storms can flow towards the earth and affect its atmosphere.

This is important because such storms contain charged particles travelling at very high speeds and these can affect the electronics present on satellites in orbit around the earth.

Solar storms are violent events on the sun which can temporarily distort the earth's magnetosphere - the region around the earth which is influenced by its magnetic field.

These temporary disturbances, called geomagnetic storms, can generate shock waves in the interplanetary medium that can accelerate charged particles to very high energies and which, in turn, can harm the satellites placed by humans in space.

Such solar storms have two causes: Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) and Corotating Interaction Regions (CIR).

CME and CIR: Know More

• CMEs are huge explosions of charged particles extending beyond the sun's corona or outer layer and can be visibly observed.
• CIRs are much more complicated and difficult to observe.
• CMEs can be detected by a coronagraph when they are ejected from the Sun
• CIRs are generated in the interplanetary medium and there are no visual signatures for CIRs. Hence, in order to detect [them], solar wind parameters need to be characterised critically
• Charged particles are being spewed continually out of the sun's corona, forming the solar wind. Some parts of these winds move faster than others.
• Since they contain charged particles in a plasma state, these different regions physically interact with each other to form wavelike disturbances called CIRs that emanate from the sun and spiral outwards.
• They are called "corotating" interaction regions as they rotate along with the sun, attached to it at one end.
• The sun goes through cyclic variations with a period of eleven years during which sunspot activity increases to a maximum and then decreases.

• There is an imaginary point on the line joining the sun and earth known as the L1 point or the Lagrange 1 point.
• A special feature of this point is that a particle placed there will feel no gravitational pull due to either the sun or the earth as the two forces cancel each other.
• CIRs that come at an angle of 6 degrees or less at the first Lagrangian point of the Sun-Earth system (L1 point) affect the earth's outer plasma environment.
• Those CIRs that are incident at angles more than 6 degrees at the L1 point will not reach the earth.
• This is the first time that such an understanding has been arrived at.
• The group plans to futher focus on the causes for the events when solar wind flow angle deviates from 6 degree for a considerable duration of time.