💥Join UPSC 2027,2028 Mentorship (August Batch) + XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

GS Paper: GS3-17.Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nano-technology, Bio-technology and issues relating to Intellectual Property Rights.

  • Bring genomic sequencing into the pandemic fight

    The article highlights the importance of genomic sequencing in dealing effectively with the pandemic and suggest the scaling up of genomic sequencing.

    Why genomic sequencing is important

    • An effective COVID-19 pandemic response requires, inter alia, keeping track of emerging variants and then conducting further studies about their transmissibility, immune escape and potential to cause severe disease.
    • The success of the United States and the United Kingdom in containing the virus also goes to scaled-up genomic sequencing, tracking the emerging variants and using that evidence for timely actions.
    • The data from genomic sequencing has both policy and operational implications.
    • Our scientific knowledge and understanding about emerging strains is going to be the key to deploy public health interventions (vaccines included) to fight the pandemic.
    • The emerging variants — with early evidence of higher transmissibility, immune escape and breakthrough infections — demand continuous re-thinking and re-strategising of the pandemic response by every country.

    Insufficient genomic sequencing in India

    • Though the procedural steps such as setting up the Indian SARS-CoV2 Genomic Consortia, or INSACOG have been taken, the sequencing has remained at a very low level of a few thousand cases only.
    • The challenge of insufficient genomic sequencing is further compounded by slow pace of data sharing.

    Steps need to be taken

    • 1) Scale-up genomic sequencing: India needs to scale up genomic sequencing, across all States.
    •  More genomic sequencing is needed from large urban agglomerations.
    • A national-level analysis of collated genomic sequencing data should be done on a regular basis and findings shared publicly.
    • 2) Research on vaccine effectiveness: The Indian government needs to invest and support more scientific and operational research on vaccine effectiveness.
    • Rethink vaccine policy: There are early indications of immune escape and reduced vaccine effectiveness against the Delta variant (especially after one-shot).
    • These are the questions that experts need to deliberate and come up with the answers.

    Consider the question “What is genomic sequencing and how it could help in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic? Suggest the steps India need to take to use genomic sequencing in curbing the pandemic.”

    Conclusion

    As India prepares for the third wave, increasing genomic sequencing and use of scientific evidence for decision making are not a choice but an absolute essential.

  • Supersonic flying: benefits and concerns

    The United Airlines of USA has announced it was ordering 15 Overture planes with the ability to travel at Mach 1.7, faster than the speed of sound, from the Denver-based startup Boom.

    What is a Supersonic Plane?

    • Supersonic aircraft are planes that can fly faster than the speed of sound.
    • The technology for supersonic flights is actually over 70 years old, but only recently has been used for commercial flying.
    • Before 1976, when the first commercial supersonic flight took off, the planes were used entirely for military purposes.
    • Usually, supersonic planes can travel at the speed of around 900 kmph, twice the speed of normal aircraft.

    What about the Overture supersonic plane?

    • The Overture aircraft would travel at the speed of Mach 1.7 or 1,805 kmph with a range of 4,250 nautical miles. In a single flight, it could carry 65 to 88 passengers and reach an altitude of 60,000 ft.
    • The company has expressed confidence in getting an “experimental” jet ready by 2022, start rolling out aircraft by 2025 and eventually open them for passengers by 2029.
    • It claims to build on Concorde’s legacy through faster, more efficient and sustainable technology.

    Challenges with supersonic planes

    Flying passengers at a supersonic speed is accompanied by a whole set of challenges.

    • Firstly, the costs of making “sustainable” supersonic planes are extremely high.
    • The very nature of its flying — using excessive amounts of fuel and energy — is likely to have high environmental costs.
    • Despite the use of sustainable fuels, greenhouse gas emissions are not nullified.
    • Secondly, the very speed of the planes results in producing excessive amounts of noise pollution in the environment.
    • The “Sonic Boom” created by these planes feels like an explosion to the human ear.
    • This, thus, limits where and when the supersonic planes can fly. They can only reach their actual speed until they are far enough from people and completely over the ocean.
    • Lastly, it would not be economically feasible for everyone. Only the very rich can afford supersonic planes, as a ticket is likely to be way costlier than a first-class ticket of a regular plane.

  • How blind people can navigate better using Echolocation

    A technique used by animals such as dolphins, whales, and bats to navigate their surroundings can also be used by blind people to get around better and have greater independence and well-being, researchers at Durham University in the UK have shown.

    What is Echolocation?

    • Echolocation, also called biosonar, is a biological sonar used by several animal species.
    • Echolocating animals emit calls out to the environment and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from various objects near them.
    • They use these echoes to locate and identify the objects.

    What has the new study found?

    • The same technique can help blind people locate still objects by producing clicking sounds from their mouth and hands.
    • The researchers organized a 10-week training programme, in which 12 blind and 14 sighted volunteers aged between 21 and 79 were taught click-based echolocation.
    • The volunteers were trained in distinguishing between the size of objects, orientation perception and virtual navigation.
    • At the end of the training, the participants had been able to improve their ability to navigate using clicking noises either from one’s mouth, walking cane taps or footsteps.

  • CIBER-2 Mission to count the stars in the Universe

    A NASA-funded rocket’s launch window will open at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, USA. The aim of this mission is to count the number of stars that exist in the Universe.

    Answer this PYQ from CSP 2020 in the comment box:

    Q.“The experiment will employ a trio of spacecraft flying in formation in the shape of an equilateral triangle that has sides one million kilometers long, with lasers shining between the craft.” The experiment in question refers to

    (a) Voyager-2

    (b) New horizons

    (c) Lisa Pathfinder

    (d) Evolved LISA

    What is CIBER-2?

    • In order to roughly estimate the number of stars in the Universe, scientists have estimated that on average each galaxy consists of about 100 million stars, but this figure is not exact.
    • The figure of 100 million could easily be an underestimation, probably by a factor of 10 or more.
    • To put this into perspective, an average of 100 million stars in each galaxy (there an estimated 2 trillion of them as per NASA), would give a total figure of one hundred quintillion stars or 1 with 21 zeroes after it.
    • NASA notes that if this figure is accurate, it would mean that for every grain of sand on Earth, there are more than ten stars.
    • But this calculation assumes that all stars are inside galaxies, which might not be true and this is what the CIBER-2 instrument will try to find out.

    How will CIBER-2 count stars?

    • NASA notes that the instrument will not actually count individual stars but it will instead detect the extragalactic background light
    • It is all of the light that has been emitted throughout the history of the Universe.
    • From all of this extragalactic background light, the CIBER-2 will focus on a portion of this called cosmic infrared background, which is emitted by some of the most common stars.
    • Essentially, this approach is aiming to look at how bright this light is to give scientists an estimate of how many of these stars are out there.
    • The ESA infrared space observatory Herschel also counted the number of galaxies in infrared and measured their luminosity previously.

  • DAVINCI+ and VERITAS missions for exploration of Venus

    NASA has selected two missions to the planet Venus, Earth’s nearest neighbor. The missions are called DAVINCI+ and VERITAS.

    DAVINCI+ and VERITAS

    (1) DAVINCI+

    • DAVINCI+ is short for ‘Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging’ and is the first US-led mission to the planet’s atmosphere since 1978.
    • It will try to understand Venus’ composition to see how the planet formed and evolved.
    • This mission also consists of a decent sphere that will pass through the planet’s thick atmosphere and make observations and take measurements of noble gases and other elements.
    • Significantly, this mission will also try to return the first high-resolution photographs of a geological feature that is unique to Venus.
    • This feature, which is called “tesserae” may be comparable to Earth’s continents.
    • The presence of tesseraes may suggest that Venus has tectonic plates like Earth.

    (2) VERITAS

    • The second mission called VERITAS is short for ‘Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy’.
    • It will map the planet’s surface to determine its geologic history and understand the reasons why it developed so differently from Earth.
    • VERITAS will orbit Venus with a radar that will help to create a 3D reconstruction of its topography which might be able to tell scientists if processes such as plate tectonics and volcanism are still active there.
    • This mission will also map the emissions from Venus’s surface that may help in determining the type of rocks that exist on Venus–a piece of information that is not exactly known yet.
    • It will also determine if active volcanoes are releasing water vapor into the atmosphere.

    Why study Venus?

    • The results from DAVINCI+ are expected to reshape the understanding of terrestrial planet formation in the solar system and beyond.
    • Taken together, both missions are expected to tell scientists more about the planet’s thick cloud cover and the volcanoes on its surface.
    • Further, scientists speculate about the existence of life on Venus in its distant past and the possibility that life may exist in the top layers of its clouds where temperatures are less extreme.

    Have humans visited Venus?

    • Because of the planet’s harsh environment, no humans have visited it and even the spacecraft that have been sent to the planet have not survived for a very long time.
    • Venus’ high surface temperatures overheat electronics in spacecraft in a short time, so it seems unlikely that a person could survive for long on the Venusian surface.
    • So far, spacecraft from several nations have visited the planet.
    • The first such spacecraft was the Soviet Union’s Venera series (the spacecraft, however, could not survive for long because of the planet’s harsh conditions).
    • It was followed by NASA’s Magellan Mission that studied Venus from 1990-1994. As of now, Japan’s Akatsuki mission is studying the planet from Orbit.

    Back2Basics: Venus

    • For those on Earth, Venus is the second-brightest object in the sky after the moon.
    • It appears bright because of its thick cloud cover that reflects and scatters light.
    • Surface temperatures on Venus can go up to 471 degrees Celsius, which is hot enough to melt lead, NASA notes. Surface temperatures on Venus can go up to 471 degrees Celsius, which is hot enough to melt lead, NASA notes.

    Some unknown facts

    • While Venus, which is the second closest planet to the Sun, is called the Earth’s twin because of their similar sizes, the two planets have significant differences between them.
    • For one, the planet’s thick atmosphere traps heat and is the reason that it is the hottest planet in the solar system, despite coming after Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun.
    • Further, Venus moves forward on its orbit around the Sun but spins backwards around its axis slowly.
    • This means on Venus the Sun rises in the west and sets in the East.
    • One day on Venus is equivalent to 243 Earth days because of its backward spinning, opposite to that of the Earth’s and most other planets.
    • Venus also does not have a moon and no rings.

  • OneWeb constellation for Internet from the Skies

    Following the successful launch of 36 satellites, OneWeb’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation reached 218 in-orbit satellites.

    What is OneWeb?

    • OneWeb is a global communications company that aims to deliver broadband satellite Internet around the world through its fleet of LEO satellites.
    • OneWeb satellites are built at a OneWeb and Airbus joint venture facility in Florida that can produce up to two satellites a day.
    • The launch roll-out of the satellites is facilitated by French company Arianespace using Russian-made Soyuz rockets.
    • The company has announced plans to enter the Indian market by 2022.

    About its constellation

    • The company has one more launch to complete before it obtains the capacity to enable its ‘Five to 50’ service of offering internet connectivity to all regions north of 50 degrees latitude.
    • The Five to 50 service is expected to be switched on by June 2021 with global services powered by 648 satellites available in 2022.

    What are LEO satellites?

    • LEO satellites have been orbiting the planet since the 1990s, providing companies and individuals with various communication services.
    • They are positioned around 500km-2000km from earth, compared to stationary orbit satellites which are approximately 36,000km away.
    • Latency, or the time needed for data to be sent and received, is contingent on proximity.
    • As LEO satellites orbit closer to the earth, they are able to provide stronger signals and faster speeds than traditional fixed-satellite systems.
    • Additionally, because signals travel faster through space than through fiber-optic cables, they also have the potential to rival if not exceed existing ground-based networks.
    • However, LEO satellites travel at a speed of 27,000 kph and complete a full circuit of the planet in 90-120 minutes.
    • As a result, individual satellites can only make direct contact with a land transmitter for a short period of time thus requiring massive LEO satellite fleets and consequently, a significant capital investment.

    Criticisms of LEO satellites

    • During the days of the Sputnik and Apollo missions, governments dominated and regulated space-based activities.
    • There are logistical challenges with launching thousands of satellites into space as well.
    • Satellites can sometimes be seen in the night skies which creates difficulties for astronomers as the satellites reflect sunlight to earth, leaving streaks across images.
    • Satellites traveling at a lower orbit can also interrupt the frequency of those orbiting above them, an accusation that has been leveled against Starlink satellites already.
    • Another worry is that there are already almost 1 million objects larger than 1cm in diameter in orbit, a byproduct of decades of space activities.
    • Those objects, colloquially referred to as ‘space junk,’ have the potential to damage spacecraft or collide with other satellites.

  • China’s EAST Tokamak Device

    China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), which mimics the energy generation process of the sun, set a new record.

    What is China’s ‘artificial sun’ EAST?

    • The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reactor is an advanced nuclear fusion experimental research device.
    • The purpose of the artificial sun is to replicate the process of nuclear fusion, which is the same reaction that powers the sun.
    • The EAST is one of three major domestic tokamaks that are presently being operated across the country.
    • Apart from the EAST, China is currently operating the HL-2A reactor as well as J-TEXT.
    • Since it first became operational in 2006, the EAST has set several records for the duration of confinement of exceedingly hot plasma.
    • The EAST project is part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) facility, which will become the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor when it becomes operational in 2035.
    • The project includes the contributions of several countries, including India, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the United States.

    How does the ‘artificial sun’ EAST work?

    • The EAST Tokamak device is designed to replicate the nuclear fusion process carried out by the sun and stars.
    • Nuclear fusion is a process through which high levels of energy are produced without generating large quantities of waste.
    • Previously, energy was produced through nuclear fission — a process in which the nucleus of a heavy atom was split into two or more nuclei of lighter atoms.

    Fission vs. Fusion

    • While fission is an easier process to carry out, it generates far more nuclear waste.
    • Unlike fission, fusion also does not emit greenhouse gases and is considered a safer process with a lower risk of accidents.
    • Once mastered, nuclear fusion could potentially provide unlimited clean energy and very low costs.

    But what is Fusion?

    • For nuclear fusion to occur, tremendous heat and pressure are applied on hydrogen atoms so that they fuse together. `
    • The nuclei of deuterium and tritium — both found in hydrogen — are made to fuse together to create a helium nucleus, a neutron along with a whole lot of energy.
    • Fuel is heated to temperatures of over 150 million degrees C so that it forms a hot plasma “soup” of subatomic particles.
    • With the help of a strong magnetic field, the plasma is kept away from the walls of the reactor to ensure it does not cool down and lose its potential to generate large amounts of energy.
    • The plasma is confined for long durations for fusion to take place.

    What is the latest record and why does it matter?

    • The EAST reactor set a new record on Friday when it achieved a plasma temperature of 216 million degrees Fahrenheit and also managed to run for 20 seconds at 288 million degrees Fahrenheit.
    • To put this in perspective, the sun’s core only reaches about 15 million degrees Celsius, which means the reactor was able to touch temperatures that are 10 times hotter than that.
    • The next goal for the scientists behind the experimental reactor is to maintain the high temperature for a long period of time. Previously, the EAST had reached a record temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius in 2018.

    China is not the only

    • But China is not the only country that has achieved high plasma temperatures.
    • In 2020, South Korea’s KSTAR reactor set a new record by maintaining a plasma temperature of over 100 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds.

  • Cryptocurrency & India

    The article highlights the need for coherent cryptocurrency policy and avoid missing the benefits offered by the technology.

    Growing dominance of cryptocurrencies

    • Created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency.
    • It is a fully decentralised, peer-to-peer electronic cash system that didn’t need the purview of any third-party financial institution.
    • The Bitcoin, which traded at just $ 0.0008 in 2010, commanded a market price of just under $65,000 this April.
    • Many newer coins were introduced since Bitcoin’s launch, and their cumulative market value touched $ 2.5 trillion this May.
    • Within a span of just over a decade, their value has surpassed the size of economies of most modern nations.
    •  The “cryptomarket” grew by over 500 per cent, even while the pandemic unleashed global economic carnage not seen since the Great Depression.
    • China’s recent crackdown on cryptocurrency had far-reaching consequences.
    • An astounding trillion US dollars were wiped out from the global cryptomarket within a span of 24 hours.
    • This kind of  volatility mentioned above has always been a concern for regulators and investors alike.

    India’s approach

    • Law enforcement and taxation agencies have called for a ban, expressing concerns over cryptocurrencies being used as instruments for illicit activities, including money laundering and terror funding.
    • In 2018, the Reserve Bank barred our financial institutions from supporting crypto transactions — but the Supreme Court overturned it in 2020.
    • Yet, Indian banks still block these transactions, and the government has circulated a draft bill outlawing all cryptocurrency activities, which has been under discussion since 2019.
    • The Reserve Bank has announced the launch of a private blockchain-supported official digital currency, similar to the digital Yuan.
    • India is increasingly mimicking China’s paradoxical attempt to centralise a decentralised ecosystem.
    • India is trying to decouple cryptocurrencies from their underlying blockchain technology, and still derive benefit.
    • Unfortunately, this is impractical, and shows a lack of understanding of this disruptive innovation.
    • The funds that have gone into the Indian blockchain start-ups are less than 0.2 per cent of the amount the sector raised globally.
    • The current central government approach makes it near-impossible for entrepreneurs and investors to acquire much economic benefit.

    Need for regulation

    • Regulation is definitely needed to prevent serious problems, to ensure that cryptocurrencies are not misused, and to protect unsuspecting investors from excessive market volatility and possible scams.
    •  However, regulation needs to be clear, transparent, coherent and animated by a vision of what it seeks to achieve.
    • India has not been able to tick these boxes, and we’re in danger of missing out in the global race altogether.

    Way forward

    • Any new regulations made in this sector should prevent the misuse of these digital assets without hindering innovation and investments.
    • Provisions have to be made to route the value extracted from these networks transparently into our financial system.
    • Regulatory uncertainties over India’s position on cryptocurrency highlights the need for clear-headed policy-making.

    Consider the question “India was a late adopter in all the previous phases of the digital revolution be it the semiconductors, the internet or smartphones. Do you think the same is happening again in India’s adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology?”

    Conclusion

    We are currently on the cusp of the next phase, which would be led by technologies like blockchain. We have the potential to channel our human capital, expertise and resources into this revolution, and emerge as one of the winners of this wave. All we need to do is to get our policymaking right.

     

  • Data is an essential weapon against Covid

    The article highlights how data played an important role in decision-making in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. 

    Importance of data in decision making

    • The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted globally how important data is to governments in decision-making.
    • Epidemiological data is of paramount significance for targeting and implementing control measures for public health in a timely manner
    • Such data was used effectively in the evidence-based response and decision-making in countries like South Korea.
    • Modern response to pandemics has focused on exploiting all the available data to inform policy action in real time.

    How data analysis helped during pandemic

    • Data analysis has revealed the need for continuous and repeated tracking of case numbers, fatalities and recoveries.
    • The epidemiological concept of flattening the curve and its predictions are results of data analysis and modelling.
    • Understanding testing adequacy or lack thereof allows us to measure our preparedness, prognostic versus diagnostic ability, and shape our responses to identify, manage, and care for new cases.
    • Epidemic outbreak data like case data, medical and treatment data can be used to understand disease pathogenesis and severity.
    • Genome sequencing surveillance helps identify and track viral genome sequence variants in real time and the evolution of the virus.
    •  The concept of open access to various data enables models to improve forecast and study the spread of the disease.’

    Integration and analysis of multiple datatypes

    • The integration and analysis of multiple heterogeneous datatypes eventually would yield a holistic picture.
    • This helps guide policy decisions for control and management of public health.
    • When genome surveillance data is correlated with the magnitude of cases and their outcomes, then we can understand the transmissibility or infectivity of the virus.
    • Geographical mapping of prevalence of mutants allows us to understand viral spread and explain recoveries or deaths in a specific area.
    • The roll out of vaccinations can shape viral evolution and drug-treatment strategies.
    • Surveillance through studying genome sequencing of the virus, coupled to other epidemiological data allows us to identify these connections.

    Challenges

    • Part of the challenge lies in the standardisation of data collection, curation, annotation and the integration of data analytics pipelines for outbreak analytics.

    Way forward

    • Ensuring data availability and quality under operational constraints is critical.
    • The use of data standards instils consistency, reduces errors and enables transparency.
    • Embedded in the idea of data sharing lies the concept of data security and confidentiality.
    • Concerns of privacy and security calls for a systemic infrastructure with built-in safeguards to ensure data encryption while preserving anonymity and ensuring privacy.
    • As our dependence on data-based decisions becomes more and more critical, an urgent charter for standardised digital health data in India is required.

    Consider the question “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted globally how important data is to governments in decision-making. Explain how data helps in decision making and challenges in evidence-based decision making based on data.”

    Conclusion

    Rational and scientific methods necessitate data without which neither can we have information, nor knowledge or wisdom. Data sharing, and transparency and timely dissemination of data are critical to overcome the pandemic.

  • [pib] National AI Portal INDIAai

    The ‘National AI Portal (https://indiaai.gov.in)’, celebrated its first anniversary on May 28, 2021.

    National AI Portal

    • INDIAai is the National AI Portal of India – a central hub for everything AI in India and beyond.
    • A joint initiative of MeitY, NeGD and NASSCOM, the website aims to be the trusted content powerhouse in the backdrop of India’s journey to global prominence in Artificial Intelligence.
    • It serves as a central hub for AI related news, learning, articles, events and activities etc., in India and beyond.
    • It has been set up to prepare the nation for an AI future.
    • It is the single central knowledge hub on artificial intelligence and allied fields for aspiring entrepreneurs, students, professionals, academics, and everyone else.
    • The portal focuses on creating and nurturing a unified AI ecosystem for driving excellence and leadership in India’s AI journey, to foster economic growth and improve lives through it.

    B2BASICS

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is a wide-ranging branch of computer science concerned with building smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. AI is an interdisciplinary science with multiple approaches, but advancements in machine learning and deep learning are creating a paradigm shift in virtually every sector of the tech industry.