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Yearly Review of Science & Technology

2017 – Current Affairs Capsule in PDF February 2017

• “Tool to filter out toxic‟ comments

o Google and Jigsaw have launched a new tool that uses artificial

intelligence to filter ‗toxic‘ comments online.

o The tool has been designed to crack down on online harassment by

letting creators and readers identify abusive comments.

o The Perspective tool reviews comments and scores them based on

how similar they are to comments people said were ‗toxic‘.

• 7 new Earth-like exoplanets discovered

o Astronomers of NASA have discovered 7 Earth-sized planets

orbiting a star called TRAPPIST-1.

o 3 of them are in the habitable zone the happy place where liquid

water can exist on the surface of rocky planets, as it‘s not too hot or

cold.

o The 3 planets in the habitable zone, also known as the Goldilocks

Zone, are called TRAPPIST-1e, f, and g.

o Exoplanet ―e‖ is about the same size as Earth.

• World Forum on Homeopathic Medicine

o AYUSH will inaugurate the World Integrated Medicine

Forum on Regulation of Homeopathic Medicinal

Products.

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o This is the first-of-its-kind forum considering the

increased perception of the international world towards

India as a key player.

o The aim is to develop and harmonise homoeopathic

pharmacopoeias and to strengthen regulatory provisions

for homoeopathy in the whole world.

• First stretchable integrated circuit

o Researchers from US based Michigan State University have

developed the first stretchable integrated circuit (IC) made entirely

using an inkjet printer.

o This elastic material is made up of several materials fabricated

from nano-materials and organic compounds.

o These compounds are dissolved in solution to produce different

electronic inks, which can easily run through printer to make

devices.

• First artwork created in space

o A ‗laugh star‘ a 3D-printed representation of sound waves

generated from human laughter created aboard the International

Space Station has become the first-ever piece of art to be produced

outside Earth.

o The artwork was printed using Additive Manufacturing Facility, a

gravity independent 3D printer.

o The work was conceptualised by Israeli contemporary artist Eyal

Gever.

• High-quality graphene from soybean

o In a breakthrough, scientists have used the humble soybean to

make the world‘s strongest material graphene commercially

more viable.

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o Graphene is a carbon material that is one atom thick.

o Its thin composition and high conductivity means it is used in

applications ranging from miniaturised electronics to biomedical

devices.

• Project Loon can now predict weather

o Researchers at Google have a network of huge balloons to provide

Internet connectivity to billions of people in the world.

o Project Loon team, part of the company‘s X research lab, said it can

now use machine learning to predict weather systems.

o Google has much more control over where its balloons reach,

making it possible to focus on a specific region, rather than

circumnavigating the globe.

• Thubber, a stretchable rubber discovered

o Scientists from Carnegie Mellon have developed a thermally

conductive rubber material that represents a breakthrough for

creating soft, stretchable machines and electronics.

o The new material, nicknamed "thubber," is an electrically

insulating composite that exhibits an unprecedented

combination of metal-like thermal conductivity.

• Zealandia a new continent

o Zealandia, a new continent submerged in the southwest Pacific

is a step closer to being recognised a new continent.

o Zealandia covers nearly 5m square km, of which 94% is under

water, and encompasses not only New Zealand but also New

Caledonia,Norfolk Island, the Lord Howe Island group &

Elizabeth & Middleton reefs.

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o The continent sank between 65-80 million years ago.

• New malaria vaccine found 100% effective

o A new vaccine called Sanaria PfSPZ-CVac for malaria is up to

100% effective when assessed at 10 weeks after last dose,

according to the results of a clinical trial.

o Malaria parasites are transmitted by the bite of female

Anopheles mosquitoes.

o The research was published in the journal Nature.

March 2017 • Sands of Titan are electrically charged

o The particles that cover the surface of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, are

“electrically charged”, show results of an experiment.

o The findings, published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

o To test particle flow under Titan-like conditions, the researchers built a

small experiment in a modified pressure vessel in their Georgia Tech

lab.

• ‘Snake robot’ can crawl into your gut

o Scientists have developed a tiny, ingestible 3D-printed snake-like robot

that can navigate through the small intestines, and could one day be

used to visualise the digestive system in real time.

o The robot, called SAW, moves in a wave-like motion and can

travel through the extremely squishy environment of the small

intestine.

o It was developed at Ben-Gurion University, Israel.

• Indian Neutrino Observatory

o The Government intends to set up the India-based Neutrino

Observatory.

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o The project is awaiting a clearance from the Tamil Nadu Pollution

Control Board.

o The project is held up because of the long overdue Tamil Nadu

Pollution Control Board clearance. Presently the TNPCB has formed a

committee of experts to advise it for further course of action.

• NASA-ISRO to work on NISAR

o ISRO & NASA are jointly working on the development of Dual

Frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging Satellite named as

NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar.

o The data obtained from this satellite will be useful for a variety of

application, which include natural resources mapping and monitoring

etc.

o The data obtained is not meant for building climate resilience.

• SpaceX launches first recycled rocket

o SpaceX has launched its first recycled rocket, the biggest leap yet in its

bid to drive down costs and speed up flights.

o The Falcon 9 blasted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center hoisting

a broadcasting satellite into the early evening clear sky on the historic

rocket reflight.

o It was the first time SpaceX founder tried to fly a booster that soared

before on an orbital mission.

• ISRO sends 4 teams to Antarctica

o ISRO on March 29 joined the 36th scientific mission to Antarctica,

organised by the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research

o This year, four teams from ISRO - one team from Space Applications

Centre, Ahmedabad and one team each from the National Remote

Sensing Centre, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun and the

Space Physics Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram—are participating.

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• National Conference on Down Syndrome

o Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment inaugurated a “National

o Down Syndrome is a chromosomal condition associated with

intellectual and learning disabilities.

o Delayed development and behavioural problems are often reported in

children with Down Syndrome.

o Persons with Down Syndrome have 47 chromosomes as compared to

46 in majority of people.

• World's largest artificial Sun rises

o Germany isn't exactly famous for its sunshine, so to help with the

country's commitment to investigating renewable energy, the German

Space Center (DLR) has constructed the world's largest artificial Sun.

o In addition to solar-generated hydrogen, DLR sees Synlight has having

other applications, including studies of how materials age under

extreme UV rays.

• GRAPES-3 Telescope upgraded

o The GRAPES-3 experiment at TIFR’s Cosmic Ray Laboratory in

o The telescope made news last year when it detected the effect of a solar

storm that hit the earth in June 2015.

o The upgrade will play a major role in getting precise information about

the propagation of storms in ‘the last million miles’ (from the L-1

point) of their journey from the Sun to the earth.

• ISRO commissions two facilities at VSSC

o ISRO commissioned two facilities- a Hypersonic Wind Tunnel and

Shock Tunnel- at the VSSC at Thiruvananthapuram as part of its

continuous and concerted efforts to minimize cost of access to space.

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o The 1 meter Hypersonic Wind Tunnel and 1 meter Shock Tunnel have

been established with a wide spectrum of simulation capabilities in

terms of Mach number, Reynolds number and re-entry velocities.

April 2017

• SpaceX launches 10 satellites

o SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket carrying 10 satellites to bolster the

global data communications network for Virginia-based company,

Iridium.

o The white rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

o About seven minutes after launch, the tall portion of the Falcon 9, known

as the first stage, returned to Earth for an upright landing.

• Infosys launches new AI Platform

o Building on its first generation Artificial Intelligence platform Infosys

Mana and its Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solution, AssistEdge,

Infosys announced the launch of ‘Infosys Nia’.

o This comes in the wake of the company having stated that they would

place stronger emphasis on data analytics, cyber security and artificial

intelligence in the coming months.

• Scientists create ‘Artificial Womb’

o Researchers have created a fluid-filled transparent container called the

Biobag to simulate how foetuses float in amniotic fluid inside the uterus of

their mothers.

o So far the device has only been tested on fetal lambs.

o The device is kept in a dark, warm room where researchers can play the

sounds of the mother's heart for the lamb fetus and monitor the fetus with

ultrasounds.

• Planet discovered through Microlensing

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o NASA has discovered a new planet with the mass of Earth, orbiting its star

at the same distance that we orbit our sun. However it is too cold to

support any life.

o It was discovered through a process called microlensing.

o Microlensing is a technique that facilitates the discovery of distant objects

by using background stars as flashlights.

o The new planet has been called OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb.

• Artificial photosynthesis

o Scientists from the University of Central Florida have discovered a way to

trigger artificial photosynthesis, which would help turn greenhouse gases

such as carbon dioxide into clean air and produce energy at the same time.

o Titanium was used as light-harvesting antennae to see if that configuration

would work.

o The findings were published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A.

• ISRO solar calculator app

o ISRO has developed an Android app, named Solar Calculator, for

computing the solar energy potential of any location.

o Developed at the behest of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable

Energy, the ISRO Solar Calculator app is considered to be useful ti install

solar panels.

o The app app provides monthly and yearly solar potential and the

minimum and the maximum temperatures at any location.

• NASA launches super balloon in NZ

o A stadium-sized pressure balloon launched by NASA in New Zealand

began collecting data in near space.

o The balloon is designed to detect ultra-high energy cosmic particles from

beyond the galaxy as they penetrate the earth’s atmosphere.

o The balloon was launched from Wanaka, New Zealand’s South Island.

• New variety of Bakla developed

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o Scientists of Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) here have developed

a new variety of Fababean, commonly called Bakla.

o The new variety HFB-1 is high yielding and also has high nutritional

quality.

o HFB-1 has been found superior to National Check variety Vikrant in seed

yield.

o It also contains levo-dopa, a precursor of neuro-chemicals in brain such as

dopamine, epinephrine.

• Wax worm caterpillar that eats plastic

o The wax worm, the larvae of insect Galleria mellonella, is found to possess

the ability to biodegrade polyethylene.

o The scientists have observed that the degradation rate of the wax worm is

extremely fast when compared to other recent discoveries.

o The worms were found to transform the polyethylene into ethylene glycol.

o Wax worms are considered as parasites.

• India's first hospital for eye tumours

o The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is India's first public

hospital to start plaque brachytherapy facility for the treatment of eye

tumours.

o The facility is a form of local radiation delivered to the eye through a

radioactive device which is attached to the eye for a temporary period of

time.

o AIIMS was established in 1956.

May 2017

• A new cure for hepatitis C

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o Drugs that prevent entry of the Hepatitis C virus into the host cells are

equally effective as other drugs.

o These drugs, called entry inhibitors, when combined with drugs that

prevent the multiplication of the virus inside the host cell.

o The report was published by Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

• Judy Malware infects Android users

o A new malware named ‘Judy’ has found in over 41 apps on the Google Play

Store, and it has infected between 8.5 million to 36.5 million users.

o This is according to a report from security research firm Check Point,

which discovered the malware and alerted Google.

o The search giant has started removing these infected apps from the Play

Store.

• World's first robot police officer.

o Dubai has recruited world's first robot police officer at the 4th Gulf

Information Security Expo and Conference.

o This robot is known as robocop. It is around 5-foot tall and weighs a

100kg.

o It can not only identify hand gestures from a distance of up to 1.5 m, but

can also detect people's emotions and facial expressions.

o The robot will patrol shopping malls and other tourist attractions.

• Most expensive imaging satellite.

o NASA and ISRO will jointly develop and launch the world's biggest and

most expensive earth imaging satellite, costing $1.5 billion.

o The satellite has been named NISAR - NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture

Radar.

o This is two frequency RADAR, it is an L-band 24 centimetre RADAR and

S-band 13 centimetre.

o S-band is being built by ISRO and L-band by NASA.

• India's first womb transplant conducted.

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o Doctors at a Pune hospital successfully conducted India's first womb

transplant by transferring a woman's uterus to her 21-year-old daughter,

who was unable to conceive a child.

o The surgeons retrieved the uterus using a laparoscopic technique, which

shortened the duration of the procedure from normal 12 hours to 9.

o Hospital has been preparing for womb transplants over past few months.

• WannaCry hits lakhs of systems in India

o The WannaCry ransomware is estimated to have hit lakhs of computers in

India. Kaspersky Labs found India to be among the worst hit by the

malware, IT security firm QuickHeal said over 48,000 systems

were infected.

o According to Quick Heal, Kolkata was the worst hit city followed by

Maharashtra and Gujarat.

o WannaCry has hit computers globally, asking victims to cough up $300 to

be unfreezed.

• Pneumonia vaccine launched

o India has decided to introduce pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the

Universal Immunisation Programme.

o The vaccine will provide protection against 13 types of pneumococcal

bacteria which results in pneumonia.

o The whole of Himachal Pradesh as well as 6 districts of Uttar Pradesh and

17 districts of Bihar will be covered under the 1st phase of the

immunisation programme.

• ‘Ransomware’ attack hits 99 countries

o A large-scale cyberattack has spread across 99 countries, including the

UK, US, China, Russia, Spain, Italy and India.

o It has been dubbed ‘WannaCry’.

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o Unknown hackers apparently launched ‘ransomware’ attacks, which

basically encrypt files and demands a Bitcoin payment to regain access.

• India to replace Maitri station

o What's so unique about the pin code 403001? It is the pin code you would

use to write a letter to India's permanent research station Maitri in

Antarctica.

o It has been revealed that it will be replaced after by a new station in the

next three to four years.

o Maitri is India's second permanent research station in Antarctica as part of

the Indian Antarctic Programme.

o It was constructed in 1989.

• India’s First Bio Refinery in Pune

o Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated India’s First Integrated

Bio‐refinery for Renewable Fuels & Chemicals for producing ethanol from

a variety of biomass.

o The plant is situated at Rahu in Pune district of Maharashtra. The

demonstration plant has been built by Praj industries.

o The plant is capable of producing 1 million litres of ethanol per annum.

June 2017

• SpaceX launches 10 satellites

o SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket succeeded in launching 10 communication

satellites into the orbit.

o The rocket carried the 2nd batch of new satellites for Iridium

Communications, which is replacing its fleet with a next-generation

constellation of satellites.

o 7 minutes after liftoff, rocket's first-stage booster returned to earth and

landed on a floating platform on a ship in the Pacific Ocean.

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• ISRO to launch Earth Observation Sat

o India will launch its earth observation satellite Cartosat-2 series weighing

712 kg and 30 co-passenger satellites with its rocket Polar Satellite Launch

Vehicle.

o According ISRO, the PSLV rocket's XL variant is expected to lift off on

23rd June from the Sriharikota rocket port.

o The co-passenger satellites comprise 29 nano satellites from 14 countries

as well as one Indian nanosatellite.

• World's Fastest Machine

o According to a list released today by researchers in the US and

Germany Two Chinese supercomputers have been declared the fastest

machines in the world.

o China's Sunway TaihuLight and Tianhe-2 are the world's fastest and

second fastest machines.

o While Switzerland's Piz Daint and the US' Titan took the third and fourth

positions respectively.

• IIT Kharagpur develops wearable tech

o A team of experts at the Indian Institute of Technology - Kharagpur has

fashioned a hybrid material based on silk protein called silk fibroin.

o This novel material has the potential to spawn prototype textile-based

smart electronic devices for soldiers and defence personnel as well as for

biomedical applications.

o The USP of the material is that it is flexible, streachable etc.

• World’s First Hybrid Aeroboat

o The world's first hybrid "aeroboat" that has been built by an Indo-Russian

joint venture was unveiled in Moscow.

o This Hybrid "aeroboat" is capable of travelling on land, water, snow and

sand .

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o The aeroboat is designed to access difficult terrain, such as flooded or

marshy areas where the use of regular boats is made impossible.

o It has been designed by IIAAT Holding.

• Planet Hotter Than Most Stars

o Astronomers have discovered the hottest planet ever, having a dayside

temp. of more than 4,300 degrees Celsius.

o The planet called KELT-9b, is hotter than most stars and is 2.8 times more

massive than Jupiter.

o It takes 2 days to complete 1 orbit of the star, being so close means that it

cannot exist for very long.

o It is a hybrid planet-star, has mass of Planet and an atmosphere like a star.

• Apple unveils new operating system

o Apple has unveiled iOS 11, a new and advanced operating system for its

devices.

o It features a "Do Not Disturb while Driving" mode that turns iPhone

screens black and stops users from replying to messages.

o It includes a more helpful Siri, phone-to-phone payments within iMessage

and a control centre that collates all functions in one place.

o It will be available in Autumn.

• ISRO launches heaviest rocket

o ISRO launched India's heaviest rocket GSLV-Mk III along with a

communications satellite GSAT-19 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

o The 43.43m rocket that weighs 640 tonnes is capable of lifting payloads of

up to 4000 kg into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.

o The rocket’s cryogenic engine has been developed by space scientists

indigenously.

o It was developed in 15 years at a cost of 300 crore.

• LIGO makes Gravitational Wave Detection

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o Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory detectors have

detected another merger of 2 black holes.

o GW150914, is the 3rd confirmed detection of gravitational waves coming

from a binary black hole merger.

o The detection has revealed not only a black hole merger, but also

alignment of the spins of black holes.

o GW170104, GW151226 and GW150914 are the 3 confirmed detections by

LIGO.

• NASA to launch Sounding Rocket

o NASA will launch a sounding rocket which will release blue-green and red

artificial clouds.

o The rocket will eject vapour canisters between 10 to 20 km from the

rocket’s main payload.

o The vapor tracers will allow scientists on the ground to view the movement

of the particles in the ionosphere.

o The sounding rockets are short lived and follows a parabolic trajectory.

July 2017

• India to see launch of two moon missions

o India will witness launch of 2 lunar missions from Indian soil early next

year.

o ISRO will launch its Chandrayaan-2 mission, an advanced version of its

previous 2018 mission with the objective of deeper lunar surface probe.

o The other mission is by Team Indus, a group of space enthusiasts who

want to unfurl the tricolour on moon’s surface as part of a global lunar

competition.

• AI system that can create 3D models

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o Scientists including one of Indian origin have developed new artificial

intelligence software called SurfNet that can create three dimensional

models from 2D photographs.

o When fully developed SurfNet could have significant applications in the

fields of 3D searches on the internet researchers.

o In an advance version it can allow future robots to navigate in the real

world.

• Balloons to study total solar eclipse

o NASA is collaborating with student teams across US to send balloons into

the sky for eclipse observation which will help in understanding about life

beyond Earth.

o NASA's 'Eclipse Balloon Project' will send more than 50 high-altitude

balloons that will livestream aerial footage of the total solar eclipse.

o It will provide insight into how bacterial life responds to Mars-like

conditions.

• Launch of Satellite carrying Rocket

o Iran has successfully launched a new type of rocket designed to carry a

satellite into space.

o The “Simorgh” rocket is capable of carrying a 250 kg satellite as far as 500

km above Earth.

o Iran successfully launched its 1st domestically produced satellite in 2009.

o Launch of the rocket comes after US moved to increase economic

sanctions placed on Iran over its ballistic missile program.

• Zika Virus cure

o Researchers from San Antonio Catholic University of Murcia announced

the discovery of a molecule that could be used as a potential drug to fight

the effects of a Zika virus infection.

o The novobiocin molecule (compound) was previously used in antibiotic

drug to fend off “nosocomial” infections (those acquired inside a hospital).

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o Zika virus was first isolated in Uganda in 1947.

• AIDS claimed 1 million lives

o According to a UN report, AIDS claimed a million lives in 2016, almost

half the 2005 toll that marked the peak of deadly epidemic.

o In 2016,19.5 million of 36.7 million people living with HIV had access to

treatment, 1st time more than half of infected people were receiving the

treatment.

o There is no cure for AIDS, infected people rely on anti-retroviral therapy

to stop virus from replicating.

• First global robotics competition

o A group of 7 Indian students has bagged two awards at the first global

robotics Olympiad in the US where 157 countries participated.

o Students from Mumbai, won gold for Zhang Heng Engineering Design

Award and bronze for Global Challenge Match.

o The Afghan team won the Rajaa Cherkaoui El Moursli award for

courageous achievement.

o Mexico City would host the competition next year.

• Govt launches low-cost screening device

o Indigenously developed newborn hearing screening device – SOHUM was

launched in New Delhi.

o SOHUM is a low-cost indigenous screening device to detect a congenital

hearing loss in newborns.

o It uses brainstem auditory evoked response to check for hearing response

in a newborn.

o It is developed by School of International Biodesign startup M/s Sohum

Innovation Labs India.

• ISRO battery to power e-vehicle

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o Indian Space Research Organisation has approved commercial use of its

indigenously developed lithium-ion battery.

o Use of ISRO's indigenous battery technology is bound to reduce the cost of

e-vehicles, whose manufacture is currently dependent on costly, imported

parts.

o It has been developed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and is currently

used in satellites & launch vehicles like GSLV, PSLV.

• Made in India micro circuit boards

o The Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), Thrissur,

has developed low-cost microwave printed circuit boards.

o The boards are required in strategic applications such as space, defence,

and atomic energy.

o This is one of the major steps in the indigenization of electronic materials

drive, especially for wireless communication sectors.

August 2017

• ISRO all set to launch IRNSS-1H

o Indian Space Research Organisation is all set to launch PSLV-C39 carrying

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System.

o The satellite IRNSS-1H is a part of the indigenous navigation system called

‘NavIC,’ that was initially planned to have a constellation of 7 satellites.

o Like its other IRNSS predecessors, IRNSS-1H also carries 2 types of

payloads such as navigation payload & ranging payload.

• A new score in waste management

o Scientists from CSIR’s National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and

Technology, Thiruvananthapuram have been able to turn waste into

wealth.

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o They have produced ethanol from discarded cotton-stalks by using a

combination of chemical and biological techniques.

o The results were published in Bioresource Technology.

• Taiwan launches 1st homegrown satellite

o Taiwan's first locally built satellite Formosat-5 has been launched into

space from an air base in the US.

o The Formosat-5 rode on a Falcon 9 rocket owned by private spaceflight

company SpaceX.

o The satellite is equipped with Complementary Metal-oxide-semiconductor

sensors to observe the Earth.

o The launch is seen as a great leap that demonstrates Taiwan's

technological progress.

• Google launches Android ‘Oreo’

o Google has launched its version 8.0 of operating system as Android Oreo

o New update comes with a Picture-in-Picture feature that allows user to see

2 apps simultaneously

o Oreo is more secure with Google Play Protect built in, security status front

& centre in settings and has tighter app install controls

o Android Instant Apps is a new feature which teleports directly into new

apps from browse.

• World's smallest surgical robot

o British scientists have developed worlds smallest surgical robot which

could transform daily operations for tens of thousands of patients.

o The robot, called Versius, mimics human arm & can be used to carry out a

wide range of laparoscopic procedures including hernia repairs, colorectal

operations.

o Robot is controlled by a surgeon at a console guided by a 3D screen in the

operating theatre.

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• Japan launches satellite to improve GPS

o Japan has launched a rocket & put the 3rd of its new quasi-zenith satellites

into orbit to help improve precision of the global positioning system.

o H-2A rocket launched by JAXA carried Michibiki No 3 which is part of a 4

satellite constellation.

o New satellite system will be officially put into use next year & complement

a network of US satellites that Japan previously used for its GPS needs.

• Fiat Chrysler & BMW to develop robotaxi

o Fiat Chrysler will join an alliance led by BMW to develop self-driving

cars,intensifying a race by carmakers and technology companies to

develop "robotaxis" which can be called up via smartphone and paid for by

the minute.

o The market for such self-driving cabs could be worth $2 trillion by 2030.

o The first car will enter production in 2021.

• New tectonic plate discovered

o US-based Rice University researchers have found a new tectonic plate in

the eastern Pacific Ocean off Ecuador’s coast.

o It is named after a Colombian island, the Malpelo plate is the 57th plate to

be discovered and the first in nearly a decade.

o The research was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

• Damselfly named after David Attenborough

o Scientists have named a 100-million-year-old damselfly after veteran

broadcaster and naturalist, Sir David Attenborough.

o The delicate creature, dubbed Mesosticta davidattenboroughi, was

discovered in Burma's Kachin province locked inside a nugget of amber

dating from the mid-Cretaceous, when dinosaurs still lorded over the

planet.

o Amber is a fossilised form of tree resin.

• Tissue bandage to repair hearts

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o Scientists have developed an injectable tissue bandage smaller than a

postage stamp that can repair damaged hearts.

o Researchers at University of Toronto have developed a technique that lets

them use a small needle to inject a repair patch, without the need to open

up chest cavity.

o Angio Chip is a tiny patch of heart tissue with its own blood vessels & heart

cells beating with a regular rhythm.

September 2017

• Nasa delays launch of James Webb

o NASA has pushed the planned launch of its $8.8 billion James Webb

Space Telescope from October 2018 to spring of 2019, citing spacecraft-

integration issues.

o It will be the world’s most powerful space telescope ever built, serving

thousands of astronomers worldwide.

o The 6.5 meter diameter infrared-optimized telescope is designed to study

an extremely wide range of astrophysical phenomena.

• First space station near Moon

o Russia & US have agreed to cooperate on a NASA-led project to build the

1st lunar space station, part of a long-term project to send humans to

Mars.

o Deep Space Gateway will allow mankind to eventually undertake space

flights to Mars & elsewhere in the Solar System

o The project envisages building a crew-tended spaceport in lunar orbit that

would serve as a gateway to deep space & lunar surface.

• Scientists detect 4th gravitational wave

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o Scientists have made the 4th detection of gravitational waves – ripples in

fabric of space & time formed by the collision of 2 massive black holes.

o For the first time, the detection was made jointly with Virgo observatory

from Europe.

o LIGO-Virgo collaboration includes more than a thousand scientists from

different countries, setting a great example in international scientific

cooperation.

• Mars Orbiter Mission completes 3 years

o ISRO's low-cost Mars Orbiter Mission has completed 3 years in its Martian

orbit.

o The 450 cr MOM mission aims at studying Martian surface & mineral

composition. It will scan its atmosphere for methane which is an indicator

of life on Mars.

o ISRO had launched the spacecraft from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on

Nov 5, 2013.

• Australia announces new space agency

o Australia will create its own space agency in an attempt to cash in on a

$420 billion aeronautical industry and create thousands of new jobs.

o A national space agency will ensure a strategic long-term plan that

supports the development and application of space technologies and grows

the domestic space industry of Australia.

o Most developed nations have a space agency, including New Zealand.

• Optical polarisation phenomenon

o Over 70 years after Indian astrophysicist and Nobel laureate

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar predicted that rapidly rotating stars would

emit polarised light, scientists in Australia have observed the phenomenon

for the first time.

o Optical polarisation is a measure of the orientation of the oscillations of a

light beam to its direction of travel.

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o It was first observed in 1946.

• India joins quantum computing race

o The Department of Science and Technology is planning to fund a project to

develop quantum computers.

o A quantum computer, still largely a theoretical entity, employs the

principles of quantum mechanics to store information in ‘qubits’ instead of

the typical ‘bits’ of 1 and 0.

o Canada’s D-Wave Systems, is a pioneer in quantum computers.

• Cassini spacecraft ends 20-year journey

o NASA’s $3.9 bn Cassini spacecraft ended its 20-year-long groundbreaking

journey with a fiery plunge into Saturn’s crushing atmosphere.

o Cassini began its mission to Saturn in 1997, reaching the ringed planet in

2004.

o Its aim was to take pictures, giving the most detailed look at Saturn's rings

& its moons.

o Cassini found new moons orbiting the planet, signs of possible life on

existing moons.

• NASA finds 'shape-shifting' bacteria

o Bacterial cells treated with a common antibiotic have been spotted

changing shape to survive while aboard the International Space Station.

o The way bacteria act in near-zero gravity environments could pose a

serious problem for treating astronauts with infections.

o The group of researchers was led by Luis Zea of the University of Colorado.

• 1st global map of water on Moon created

o Scientists have created 1st map of water trapped in uppermost layer of

Moon’s soil which may prove useful to future lunar explorers.

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o Scientists from Brown University used a new calibration of data taken

from Nasa’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper, which flew aboard Chandrayaan-1

spacecraft to quantify how much water is present on a global scale.

o Signature of water is present nearly everywhere on Moon

October 2017

• World’s first hydrogen tram

o The world’s first hybrid electric tram powered by hydrogen fuel cells has

started running in China.

o It is a big step in the application of green energy in public transport.

o With water being its only emission, the tram emits no pollutants. No

nitrogen oxides will be produced as the temperature of the reaction inside

hydrogen fuel cells is controlled under 100 degrees Celsius.

• World’s oldest astrolabe found

o A navigation tool recovered from a ship of Portuguese explorer Vasco da

Gama, that guided ships to India in the 16th century, has been confirmed

as the world’s oldest astrolabe (maritime navigation tool).

o The object was recovered by Blue Water Recovery, from the wreck of the

ship Esmeralda, that sank in the Indian Ocean in 1503.

o The astrolabe is a bronze disc of 17.5 cm in diameter.

• First 3D printed wearable ‘battery’

o Researchers from Brunel University in the UK have developed the first 3D

printed wearable ‘battery’.

o The 3D printing method of the wearable ‘battery’ stacks silicone, layer by

layer to make a supercapacitor.

o The wristbands could be used in the future to power smartphones, electric

cars like pacemakers etc. The research was published in the journal

Materials Science and Engineering.

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• Dawn Mission Extended at Ceres

o NASA has authorized a second extension of the Dawn mission at Ceres, the

largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

o During this extension, the spacecraft will descend to lower altitudes than

ever before at the dwarf planet, which it has been orbiting since March

2015.

o Dawn is the only mission ever to orbit two extraterrestrial targets.

• Astronauts to install new camera system

o Two NASA astronauts have successfully completed a spacewalk to install a

new camera system outside the International Space Station.

o This has replaced a blown fuse and installed a new high definition camera

on the starboard truss of the station.

o This was the fifth spacewalk of Bresnik's career - 32 hours total

spacewalking - and the third for Acaba - 9 hours and 46 minutes total

spacewalking.

• Mobile device for malaria detection

o A mobile phone mounted with a super-cheap paper microscope can detect

presence of malarial parasites in the blood in 10 seconds, says an Indian

researchers' team.

o They have developed a system that archives data and maps real-time

distribution of the disease in a particular locality.

o It aims to eradicate human error, enhance diagnosis in remote areas and

enable treatment as fast as possible.

• US to provide EMALS technology to India

o Trump Government has promised to provide the Electromagnetic Aircraft

Launch System(EMALS) technology to India for aircraft carriers.

o This EMAL will help to launch heavy combat planes from the short runway

of an aircraft carrier using electromagnetic force.

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o EMALS is a type of aircraft launching system currently under development

by the General Atomics for United States Navy.

• Neutron star collision creates light

o For the first time, two neutron stars in a nearby galaxy have been observed

engaging in a spiral death dance around one another until they collided.

o The collision created the first observed instance of a single source emitting

gravitational waves, as well as light, which was released in the form of a

two-second gamma ray burst.

o The collision also created gold, platinum and lead.

• Watch that can survive nuclear blast

o Scientists have developed a military watch for the Russian army kit, that

can resist high impact, and even survive the consequences of a nuclear

blast.

o The watch has been developed by experts of the Central Scientific

Research Institute for Precision Machine Engineering.

o It has been included in the new combat system for land forces, airborne

forces, coastal troops of the Russian Navy.

• A plan to stamp out animal TB

o The first-ever road map to combat animal tuberculosis (bovine TB) and its

transmission to humans, referred to as zoonotic TB, was recently

launched.

o The roadmap has been built on a ‘One Health Approach’, addressing

health risks across sectors for the animal tuberculosis known as bovine TB

and its transmission to humans.

o Zoonotic It is a type of TB in people caused by mycobacterium bovis.

November 2017

• China launches remote sensing satellites

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o China successfully launched remote sensing satellites designed to conduct

electromagnetic probes and other experiments.

o The satellites were carried by Long March-6 rocket, a new generation of

liquid-fuelled carrier rocket developed by China Aerospace Science and

Technology Corporation.

o The launch was the 256th mission of the Long March rocket family.

• SAM: World’s first AI politician

o Scientists have developed the world's first artificial intelligence politician,

that can answer a person's queries regarding local issues such as policies

around housing, education etc.

o The virtual politician, called SAM, was created by Nick Gerritsen,

a entrepreneur in New Zealand.

o Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science concerned with

making intelligent machines.

• How life evolved on earth

o A boost in levels of oxygen may have caused a three-fold increase in

biodiversity during between 445 and 485 million years ago, a study has

found.

o The explosion of diversity, recognised as the Great Ordovician

Biodiversification Event, brought about the rise of various marine life.

o The study was carried out by the Washington University in the U.S.

• Tape recorder created from bacteria

o Columbia University researchers have converted a bacterial immune

system into the world’s smallest data recorder.

o Using CRISPR gene-editing method, the team modified the human gut

microbe E. coli, enabling the bacteria to record their interactions with the

environment and also time-stamp the events.

o It could be used for disease diagnosis and environmental monitoring.

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• New species of Gecko found

o A new species of gecko was found in the Eastern Ghats in northern Andhra

Pradesh.

o Named after eminent herpetologist Sushil Kumar Dutta from Odisha,

Hemidactylus sushilduttai or Dutta’s Mahendragiri gecko is the 32nd

species of house geckos in India.

o The discovery, report of which was published earlier this month in the

taxonomy journal Zootaxa.

• First supersonic parachute test

o NASA has completed the first test of its Mars 2020 mission’s parachute-

testing series, the Advanced Supersonic Parachute Inflation Research

Experiment.

o The mission will rely on a special parachute to slow the spacecraft down as

it enters the Martian atmosphere at over 5.4 km per second.

o The payload is a bullet-nosed, cylindrical structure.

• First mission to study the Sun

o ISRO plans to launch ‘Aditya-L1’, the first Indian mission to study the

Sun, by the year 2019 – 2020.

o The Aditya-1 mission was conceived as a 400kg class satellite carrying one

payload, the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) and was planned

to launch in an 800 km low earth orbit.

o The satellite will be launched from Sriharikota.

• NASA Launches NOAA Weather Satellite

o NASA has successfully launched for the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration the first in a series of four highly advanced

polar-orbiting satellites.

o JPSS-1 lifted off on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from

Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

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o Satellite will provide meteorologists with observations of atmospheric

temperature and moisture, clouds, sea-surface temperature.

• First Pill with Digital Tracking Device

o The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first drug in the

United States with a digital ingestion tracking system.

o This will ensure that patients with mental illness take the medicine

prescribed for them.

o The drug Abilify MyCite, developed by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd,

was first approved by the FDA in 2002 to treat schizophrenia.

• Asgardia launched Asgardia-1 into space

o The Space Kingdom of Asgardia (virtual nation) launched its first satellite

‘Asgardia-1’ into space from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

o The Asgardia – so-called ‘virtual nation’ is the project of Russian scientist

and billionaire Igor Ashurbeyli.

o The Asgardia-1 satellite, which is about the size of a loaf of bread, contains

half a terabyte of data.