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  • How ‘Vaccine Nationalism’ could block vulnerable populations’ access to COVID-19 vaccines

    Hundreds of COVID-19 vaccine candidates are currently being developed. Many countries are securing priority access to doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

    Practice question for Mains:

    Q. What is Vaccine Nationalism? Discuss various ethical issues involved and its impact on vulnerable populations across the globe.

    Vaccine nationalism during COVID-19

    • Vaccine nationalism occurs when a country manages to secure doses of vaccine for its own citizens or residents before they are made available in other countries.
    • This is done through pre-purchase agreements between a government and a vaccine manufacturer.
    • Vaccine nationalism is harmful to equitable access to vaccines.

    US begins to secure

    • In India, the privately held Serum Institute is developing one of the leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
    • The Serum Institute signalled that, if the development of the vaccine succeeds, most of the initial batches of the vaccine will be distributed within India.
    • At the same time, India, alongside the US and Russia, chose not to join the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator.
    • This was a WHO moves to promote collaboration among countries in the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

    Vaccine nationalism is not new

    • During the early stages of the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, some of the wealthiest countries entered into pre-purchase agreements with several pharmaceutical companies working on H1N1 vaccines.
    • At that time, it was estimated that, in the best-case scenario, the maximum number of vaccine doses that could be produced globally was two billion.
    • The US alone negotiated and obtained the right to buy 600,000 doses. All the countries that negotiated pre-purchase orders were developed economies.
    • Only when the 2009 pandemic began to unwind and demand for a vaccine dropped did developed countries offer to donate vaccine doses to poorer economies.

    Issues with such nationalism

    • The most immediate effect of vaccine nationalism is that it further disadvantages countries with fewer resources and bargaining power.
    • It deprives populations in the Global South from timely access to vital public health goods.
    • Taken to its extreme, it allocates vaccines to moderately at-risk populations in wealthy countries over populations at higher risk in developing economies.
    • Vaccine nationalism also runs against the fundamental principles of vaccine development and global public health.

    Why it is unethical?

    • Most vaccine development projects involve several parties from multiple countries.
    • With modern vaccines, there are very few instances in which a single country can claim to be the sole developer of a vaccine.
    • And even if that were possible, global public health is borderless. As COVID-19 is illustrating, viruses can travel the globe.

    Its impacts

    • If COVID-19 vaccines are not made available affordably to those who need them, the consequences will likely be disproportionately severe for poorer or otherwise vulnerable and marginalised populations.
    • Without broad access to a vaccine, these populations will likely continue to suffer more than others, leading to unnecessary disease burden, continued economic problems and potential loss of life.

    Conclusion

    • Nationalism is at odds with global public health principles. Yet, there are no provisions in international laws that prevent pre-purchase agreements like the ones described above.
    • There is nothing inherently wrong with pre-purchase agreements of pharmaceutical products.
    • Vaccines typically do not generate as much in sales as other medical products.
    • If used correctly, pre-purchase agreements can even be an incentive for companies to manufacture vaccines that otherwise would not be commercialized.

    Way forward

    • Equity entails both, affordability of vaccines and access opportunities for populations across the world, irrespective of geography and geopolitics.
    • Contracts should not trump equitable access to global public health goods.
    • Developed countries should pledge to refrain from reserving vaccines for their populations during public health crises.
    • The WHO’s Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator is a starting point for countries to test collaborative approaches during the current pandemic.
    • International institutions — including the WHO — should coordinate negotiations ahead of the next pandemic to produce a framework for equitable access to vaccines during public health crises.

  • “Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region” Report

    The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has released the “Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region” Report.

    This newscard discusses a very important concept: the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP). Note its definition.  It can be directly asked as a statement based on prelims MCQ.

    Highlights of the report

    • Average surface air temperatures over India could rise by up to 4.4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century as compared to the period between 1976 and 2005, according to the MoES report.
    • The rise in temperatures will be even more pronounced in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region where the average could reach 5.2°C.
    • The region is already highly vulnerable to climate-related variability in temperatures, rainfall and snowfall.
    • By 2100, the frequency of warm days and warm nights might also increase by 55 per cent and 70 per cent respectively, as compared to the period 1976-2005 under the RCP 8.5 scenario.
    • The incidences of heat waves over the country could also increase by three to four times. Their duration of occurrence might also increase which was already witnessed by the country in 2019.

    A 100-year record

    • Between 1900 and 2018, the average temperatures of India rose by 0.7°C.
    • This rise in temperatures has been largely attributed to global warming due to GHG emissions and land use and land cover changes.
    • But it has also been slightly reduced by the rising aerosol emissions in the atmosphere that have an overall cooling characteristic.
    • The report predicts that monsoon rainfall could change by an average of 14 per cent by 2100 that could go as high as 22.5 per cent.
    • The report does not mention if this change will be an increase or a decrease but still represents variability.
    • It further says that the overall rainfall during the monsoon season has decreased by six per cent between 1950 and 2015.

    Data on dry spells

    • The assessment also says that in the past few decades, there has been an increased frequency of dry spells during the monsoon season that has increased by 27 per cent between 1981-2011, as compared to 1951-1980.
    • The intensity of wet spells has also increased over the country, with central India receiving 75 per cent more extreme rainfall events between 1950 and 2015. This means that it either rains too little or too much.
    • One of the primary examples of this was the monsoon seasons of 2018 and 2019 where dry spells were broken by extremely heavy rainfall spells, creating a flood and drought cycle in many regions in India.

    What is Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP)?

    • A Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) is a greenhouse gas concentration (not emissions) trajectory adopted by the IPCC.
    • It is defined as a radiative force in watt per square metre due to the rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere.
    • Four pathways were used for climate modelling and research for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) in 2014.
    • The pathways describe different climate futures, all of which are considered possible depending on the volume of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted in the years to come.
    • The RCPs – originally RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6, and RCP8.5 – are labelled after a possible range of radiative forcing values in the year 2100 (2.6, 4.5, 6, and 8.5 W/m2, respectively).
    • Since AR5 the original pathways are being considered together with Shared Socioeconomic Pathways: as are new RCPs such as RCP1.9, RCP3.4 and RCP7.

  • COVID Isolation Coaches and their deployment

    The Union govt. has declared that 500 COVID isolation coaches would be deployed in Delhi. So far, over 5,000 coaches have been converted into COVID isolation coaches across India.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q. Health infrastructure in India is hardly capable of handling any  pandemic. Critically comment.

    What are these COVID Isolation Coaches?

    • In March, Railways was sounded out by the PMO and the government’s multi-ministerial outbreak-containment apparatus that train coaches could also be used as a last resort to keep isolated patients.
    • So far, 5,321 non-AC sleeper class coaches of ICF variety (older design) have been converted by the 16 zonal railways through their workshops spread across India.
    • These are developed as COVID Care Level 1 centres—as per the Health Ministry classification of COVID facilities—where suspected cases or those with mild symptoms are to be kept.
    • Suspected and confirmed cases will be kept in separate coaches.

    How were these coaches selected?

    • Early into the pandemic, health experts were of the view that air-conditioned environments might aid the spread of the virus.
    • Well-ventilated, airy environments were thought to be safer. India’s decision to use non-AC coaches for isolation has to be viewed in that context.
    • As per targets given to the 16 zonal railways, 5,000 older coaches, surplus to Railways’ operational needs, were marked for conversion.

    What were the challenges faced?

    • The summer heat in the coach was always a matter of discussion.
    • Several ideas were discussed, including erecting shamianas over the coaches or painting the roof with “solar reflective” paints.
    • Another question was how to dispose of toilet waste if the coaches were in remote areas and whether such waste was potentially infectious.
    • It was agreed that since chlorine tablets are placed in the chambers of the bio toilets, the risk was neutralised.
    • In any case, bio-enzymes in the toilet tanks take care of human waste.
    • Another question was the placement. The batteries of the coaches need to be charged and the water needs to be replenished. Not all areas in India might have such facilities.
    • The idea was that being mobile units, they could be dispatched to any part of the country to pick up patients and come back to their bases.

    Deployment of such train

    • Each isolation train will be tied to the nearest hospital.
    • The Centre will not deploy these coaches at will; states will have to request for them.
    • At least 10 coaches, or one train, will have to be deployed in one place. States can request for more.
    • Besides the 500 being deployed in Delhi, Telangana has requested for 60 coaches in three locations, and UP has requested in 24 locations.
    • Many states are said to be informally enquiring about the coaches in zones.

  • Species in news: Hilsa Fish

    Fishermen in West Bengal are in for a pleasant surprise amid the COVID-19 gloom as they have exuded hope of a bumper yield of Hilsa, known as “maacher rani” (queen of fish).

    Try this question from CSP 2019:

    Q. Consider the following pairs:

    Wildlife Naturally found in
    1. Blue-finned Mahseer Cauvery River
    2. Irrawaddy Dolphin Chambal River
    3. Rusty-spotted Cat Eastern Ghats

    Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

    a) 1 and 2 only

    b) 2 and 3 only

    c) 1 and 3 only

    d) 1, 2 and 3

    Hilsa Fish

    IUCN status: Least Concerned

    • The Hilsa is a species of fish related to the herring, in the family Clupeidae.
    • It is a very popular and sought-after food fish in the Indian Subcontinent.
    • It is the national fish of Bangladesh and state symbol in the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura.
    • The fish contributes about 12% of the total fish production and about 1.15% of GDP in Bangladesh.

    What’s so special about Hilsa?

    • Hilsa has a history of migrating to Allahabad in the Ganga river system from Bangladesh.
    • Though it’s a saltwater fish, it migrates to sweet waters of the Ganges from the Bay of Bengal.
    • It travels upstream of the river during the mating seasons and returns to its natural abode after spawning.

  • What are Biosimilars?

    Recently an Indian pharma company has been granted a USFDA approval for Insulin Glargine, a biosimilar. This article briefly introduces us to this term, complexities involved in its manufacturing and also explains why the USFDA approval create hype.

    The story of simple molecules and some difficult diseases

    • Ever since modern medicine started to emerge post the Industrial Revolution, simple molecules have been used to treat most diseases.
    • While these formulations are highly effective against some illnesses, they aren’t particularly effective against more complex diseases like cancer.
    • Our immune system has evolved over millions of years to specifically defend against outside intruders.
    • But cancer isn’t like most diseases.
    • It’s not caused by an invasion of a foreign pathogen.
    • Instead, it’s a byproduct of rogue cells that destroy our bodies from within.
    • To this end, using simple molecules to defend against a barrage of mutating versions of our own cells is an exercise in futility.

    What is biologic?

    • A biologic is manufactured in a living system such as a microorganism, or plant or animal cells. Most biologics are very large, complex molecules or mixtures of molecules. Many biologics are produced using recombinant DNA technology.
    • What we probably need is a biologic or a complex protein isolated from natural sources that can mimic our immune cells.
    • Maybe this would help us in fighting cancer.

    So, Biosimilars are..

    • A biosimilar is a biological product that is developed to be similar to an already FDA-approved biologic, known as the reference product. It can be tempting to think of a biosimilar as a “generic” version of the reference product.
    • But biosimilar is not an exact duplicate of another biologic. There is a degree of natural variability in all biological products; it is not possible to generate a precise copy of a product that comes from living cells. All biologics—including reference products—show some batch-to-batch variation.

    Utility of patents in the pharmaceutical industry

    • Success in this market is deeply intertwined with the research and development process that characterizes the pharmaceutical industry.
    • It might take 5 years for you to develop a new drug and you might still need another 10 years to clinically test the product and get the necessary approvals from the regulatory agencies.
    • This is a capital intensive process and the only way to remunerate the pharma company’s contribution is to protect their investment through patent laws.
    • This way the companies can be incentivised to invest more in research and we can ensure a steady supply of new drugs that could cure the greatest maladies of modern time.

    What happens when the patent expires?

    • Once the patent expires, other companies can market their own version of the drug (copycats) if they can figure out how to synthesize it.
    • Consider — Aspirin. It’s a simple molecule drug and it’s quite easy to replicate the manufacturing process.

    Why biologics would be difficult to replicate after the patent expires

    • Biologics are harvested from living cells and are often produced using complicated manufacturing processes.
    • Most modern biologics are assembled inside vats — or bioreactors — that house genetically engineered microbes or cell cultures and can often take a whole decade of research to perfect.
    • So replicating the process isn’t exactly a cakewalk.
    • Meaning if you want to market your own version of a “biologic” once all the patents expire, you need some expertise and India’s Biocon is at the forefront of this revolution.
    • For the past few years, they’ve been building a “biosimilar pipeline” — copycats of famous biologics and they’ve been using it to fight cancer, diabetes, and arthritis.
    • And it’s not all that easy for most pharma companies to enter this market.

    Why marketing a drug in the US gather headline?

    • Because the US provides an opportunity like no other.
    • Buying drugs here is expensive and pharmaceutical companies make a killing in the process.
    • It might not necessarily bode well for consumers.
    • But it does provide a lucrative market for potential Indian manufacturers who are looking to sell their products elsewhere.

    Consider the question “What is biosimilar technology? How is it different from generic medicine? Discuss its application.”

    Conclusion

    Growing expertise of Indian pharmaceutical companies in the complex research area bodes well for the Indian pharma sector which is known otherwise for the manufacturing of generic medicines.

     

    Reference Source: https://finshots.in/archive/biocon-and-the-world-of-biosimilars/

  • Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI)

    India joins Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) as a founding member to support the responsible and human-centric development and use of AI.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q. Discuss India’s National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence (AI) unveiled by the NITI Aayog.

    About GPAI

    • GPAI is an international and multi-stakeholder initiative to guide the responsible development and use of AI, grounded in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and economic growth.
    • It is the league of leading economies including India, USA, UK, EU, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, and Singapore.
    • GPAI will be supported by a Secretariat, to be hosted by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, as well as by two Centers of Expertise- one each in Montreal and Paris.
    • This is also the first initiative of its type for evolving better understanding of the challenges and opportunities around AI using the experience and diversity of participating countries.
    • In order to achieve this goal, the initiative will look to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.

    Aims and Objectives

    • In collaboration with partners and international organizations, GPAI will bring together leading experts from industry, civil society, governments, and academia to collaborate to promote responsible evolution of AI.
    • It will also help evolve methodologies to show how AI can be leveraged to better respond to the present global crisis around COVID-19.

    India and AI

    • It is pertinent to note that India has recently launched the National AI Strategy and National AI Portal.
    • It has also started leveraging AI across various sectors such as education, agriculture, healthcare, e-commerce, finance, telecommunications, etc. with inclusion and empowerment of human being approach by supplementing growth and development.
    • By joining GPAI as a founding member, India will actively participate in the global development of Artificial Intelligence, leveraging upon its experience around the use of digital technologies for inclusive growth.

    Also read:

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/op-ed-snap-india-takes-the-first-step-to-building-an-ai-vision/

  • Indian Gas Exchange (IGX): the first nationwide online delivery-based gas trading platform

    India’s first gas exchange — the Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) — was launched by the Ministry of Petroleum. The exchange is expected to facilitate transparent price discovery in natural gas, and facilitate the growth of the share of natural gas in India’s energy basket.

    Note the following things with caution from the newscard:

    • IGX allows only imported LNG and not domestically produced natural gas.

    • India’s import of LNG

    • GAIL

    • Taxation of LNG

    What is IGX?

    • The IGX is a digital trading platform that will allow buyers and sellers of natural gas to trade both in the spot market and in the forward market for imported natural gas.
    • It will allow trading across three hubs —Dahej and Hazira in Gujarat, and Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.
    • Imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) will be regassified and sold to buyers through the exchange, removing the requirement for buyers and sellers to find each other.
    • The exchange also allows much shorter contracts – for delivery on the next day, and up to a month – while ordinarily contracts for natural gas supply are as long as six months to a year.
    • This will mean that buyers do not have to contact multiple dealers to ensure they find a fair price.

    Will domestically produced natural gas also be bought and sold on the exchange?

    • The price of domestically produced natural gas is decided by the government. It will not be sold on the gas exchange.
    • However, following appeals by domestic producers that the prices set by the government are not viable given the cost of exploration and production in India.
    • A new gas policy will include reforms in domestic gas pricing and will move towards more market-oriented pricing.

    Will this make India more import-dependent?

    • Domestic production of gas has been falling over the past two fiscals as current sources of natural gas have become less productive.
    • Domestically produced natural gas currently accounts for less than half the country’s natural gas consumption; imported LNG accounts for the other half.
    • LNG imports are set to become a larger proportion of domestic gas consumption as India moves to increase the proportion of natural gas in the energy basket from 6.2% in 2018 to 15% by 2030.

    What regulatory change is required?

    • Currently, the pipeline infrastructure necessary for the transportation of natural gas is controlled by the companies that own the network.
    • State-owned GAIL owns and operates India’s largest gas pipeline network, spanning over 12,000 km.
    • An independent system operator for natural gas pipelines would help ensure transparent allocation of pipeline usage, and build confidence in the minds of buyers and sellers about neutrality in the allocation of pipeline capacity.
    • Experts have also called for natural gas to be included in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime to avoid buyers having to deal with different levies such as VAT across states when purchasing natural gas from the exchange.

  • SIPRI Report on Nuclear Stockpiles

    All nations that have nuclear weapons continue to modernize their nuclear arsenals, while India and China increased their nuclear warheads in the last one year, according to a latest report by Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

    About SIPRI

    • Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an international institute based in Sweden, dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.
    • Established in 1966, the Stockholm based SIPRI provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public.

    Practice question for Mains:

    Q.“Nuclear disarmament of the world seems a distant dream”. Comment.

    Nuclear arsenals are on rise in ‘thy neighbourhood’

    • China is in the middle of a significant modernization of its nuclear arsenal.
    • It is developing a so-called nuclear triad for the first time, made up of new land and sea-based missiles and nuclear-capable aircraft.
    • China’s nuclear arsenal had gone up from 290 warheads in 2019 to 320 in 2020, while India’s went up from 130-140 in 2019 to 150 in 2020.
    • Pakistan’s arsenal was estimated to be between 150-160 in 2019 and has reached 160 in 2020.
    • Both China and Pakistan continue to have larger nuclear arsenals than India.

    A general decline across the globe

    • Together with the nine nuclear-armed states — the U.S., Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea — possessed an estimated 13,400 nuclear weapons at the start of 2020.
    • This marked a decrease from an estimated 13,865 nuclear weapons at the beginning of 2019.
    • The decrease in the overall numbers was largely due to the dismantlement of old nuclear weapons by Russia and the U.S., which together possess over 90% of the global nuclear weapons.

    Major issue in reporting: Low levels of disclosure

    • The availability of reliable information on the status of the nuclear arsenals and capabilities of the nuclear-armed states varied considerably, the report noted.
    • The U.S. had disclosed important information about its stockpile and nuclear capabilities, but in 2019, the administration ended the practice of publicly disclosing the size of its stockpile.
    • The governments of India and Pakistan make statements about some of their missile tests but provide little information about the status or size of their arsenals, the report said.

    New START seems to ‘STOP’ very soon

    • The U.S. and Russia have reduced their nuclear arsenals under the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) but it will lapse in February 2021 unless both parties agree to prolong it.
    • However, discussions to extend the New START or negotiate a new treaty made no progress with the U.S.’s insistence that China must join any future nuclear arms reduction talks, which China has categorically ruled out.
    • The deadlock over the New START and the collapse of the 1987 Soviet–U.S. Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty) in 2019 suggest that the era of bilateral nuclear arms control agreements between Russia and the U.S. might be coming to an end.
    • Russia and the U.S. have already announced extensive plans to replace and modernize their nuclear warheads and delivery systems.
    • Both countries have also given new or expanded roles to nuclear weapons in their military plans and doctrines, which marks a significant reversal of the post-Cold War trend towards the gradual marginalisation of nuclear weapons.

    Back2Basics: INF Treaty

    • Under the INF treaty, the US and Soviet Union agreed not to develop, produce, possess or deploy any ground-based ballistic and cruise missiles that have a range between 500 and 5,500 km.
    • It exempted the air-launched and sea-based missile systems in the same range.
    • The INF treaty helped address the fears of an imminent nuclear war in Europe.
    • It also built some trust between Washington and Moscow and contributed to the end of the Cold War.

    New START Policy

    • The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) pact limits the number of deployed nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers and is due to expire in 2021 unless renewed.
    • The treaty limits the US and Russia to a maximum of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers, well below Cold War caps.
    • It was signed in 2010 by former US President Barack Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
    • It is one of the key controls on superpower deployment of nuclear weapons.
    • If it falls, it will be the second nuclear weapons treaty to collapse under the leadership of US President Donald Trump.

  • International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

    The UN nuclear watchdog IAEA’s governing body began meeting as a row brews over Iran’s refusal to allow access to two sites where nuclear activity may have occurred in the past.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q. Discuss the role of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in enhancing nuclear accountability of the world.

    Concerns over Iran

    • The latest row over access comes as a landmark deal between Iran and world powers in 2015 continues to unravel.
    • If IAEA passes a resolution critical of Iran, it would be the first of its kind since 2012.
    • Even though the two sites are not thought to be key to Iran’s current activities, the agency says it needs to know if past activities going back almost two decades have been properly declared and all materials accounted for.

    About IAEA

    • The IAEA is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.
    • The IAEA has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria. It was established as an autonomous organisation on 29 July 1957.
    • Though established independently of the UN through its own international treaty, the IAEA reports to both the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council.

    Functions of IAEA

    • The IAEA serves as an intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology and nuclear power worldwide.
    • The programs of the IAEA encourage the development of the peaceful applications of nuclear energy, science and technology, provide international safeguards against misuse of nuclear technology and nuclear materials, and promote nuclear safety (including radiation protection) and nuclear security standards and their implementation.

  • What is the Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC)?

    Scientists have observed the fifth state of matter in space for the first time, offering unprecedented insight that could help solve some of the quantum universe’s most intractable conundrums.

    Try this question from CSP 2018

    Q. Consider the following phenomena:

    1. Light is affected by gravity.
    2. The Universe is constantly expanding.
    3. Matter warps its surrounding space-time.

    Which of the above is/are the prediction/predictions of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, often discussed in media?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 3 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs)

    • Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) — the existence of which was predicted by Albert Einstein and Indian mathematician Satyendra Nath Bose almost a century ago — are formed when atoms of certain elements are cooled to near absolute zero (0 Kelvin, minus 273.15 Celsius).
    • At this point, the atoms become a single entity with quantum properties, wherein each particle also functions as a wave of matter.
    • BECs straddle the line between the macroscopic world governed by forces such as gravity and the microscopic plane, ruled by quantum mechanics.

    Why are BECs important?

    • Scientists believe BECs contain vital clues to mysterious phenomena such as dark energy — the unknown energy thought to be behind the Universe’s accelerating expansion.
    • But BECs are extremely fragile. The slightest interaction with the external world is enough to warm them past their condensation threshold.
    • This makes them nearly impossible for scientists to study on Earth, where gravity interferes with the magnetic fields required to hold them in place for observation.

    Studying BECs

    • NASA scientists unveiled the first results from BEC experiments aboard the International Space Station (ISS), where particles can be manipulated free from Earthly constraints.
    • The microgravity onboard the ISS allowed them to create BECs from rubidium — a soft metal similar to potassium — on a far shallower trap than on Earth.
    • Microgravity at ISS allows confining atoms with much weaker forces. Microgravity also allowed the atoms to be manipulated by weaker magnetic fields, speeding their cooling and allowing clearer imaging.
    • Creating the fifth state of matter, especially within the physical confines of a space station, is no mean feat for NASA.