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

  • Xenobots: Robots developed from stem cells of frogs

    Researchers have developed robots from stem cells of frogs called Xenobots.

    Xenobots, the name itself suggests its peculiarity.

    Xenobots

    • Xenobots, named after the African clawed frog are synthetic organisms that are automatically designed by computers to perform some desired function and built by combining together different biological tissues.
    • They are less than a 1 millimeter (0.039 inches) wide and composed of just two things: skin cells and heart muscle cells, both of which are derived from stem cells harvested from early (blastula stage) frog embryos.
    • They can self-heal after damage, record memories and work together in groups.
    • These biological robots can record information about their surroundings and move using cilia – minute hair like particles present on their surface.

    Its applications

    • These soft-body living machines can have several applications in biomedicine and the environment.
    • They could be made from a human patient’s own cells, which would bypass the immune response challenges of other kinds of micro-robotic delivery systems.
    • Such xenobots could potentially be used to scrape plaque from arteries and with additional cell types and bioengineering, locate and treat disease.

  • [pib] What are Wolf–Rayet Stars?

    Indian astronomers have tracked a rare supernova explosion and traced it to one of the hottest kind of stars called Wolf–Rayet stars or WR stars.

    Space science-related terms these days are often focused on Gravitational waves, Black holes etc. But basic terminologies are very important and need to be taken care of. For example, a layman may hardly find any difference between Novae-Supernovae, Neutron star, Nebula etc. UPSC often tries to bust you with such basic differences.

    Wolf–Rayet Stars

    • Wolf-Rayet stars represent a final burst of activity before a huge star begins to die.
    • These stars, which are at least 20 times more massive than the Sun, “live fast and die hard”.
    • Wolf-Rayets stars are divided into 3 classes based on their spectra, the WN stars (nitrogen dominant, some carbon), WC stars (carbon dominant, no nitrogen) and WO where oxygen is in dominant quantities.
    • The average temperature of a Wolf-Rayet star is greater than 25,000 Kelvin, and they can have luminosities of up to a million times that of the Sun.

    What have Indian researchers studied?

    • Indian astronomers have conducted the optical monitoring of one such stripped-envelope supernova called SN 2015dj hosted in the galaxy NGC 7371 which was spotted in 2015.
    • They calculated the mass of the star that collapsed to form the supernovae as well as the geometry of its ejection.

    Their findings

    • The scientists found that the original star was a combination of two stars – one of them is a massive WR star and another is a star much less in mass than the Sun.
    • Supernovae (SNe) are highly energetic explosions in the Universe releasing an enormous amount of energy.
    • Long-term monitoring of these transients opens the door to understand the nature of the exploding star as well as the explosion properties.
    • It can also help enumerate the number of massive stars.

  • A missing science pillar in the COVID response

    The article deals with the emerging trends from the surge in Covid cases and suggests a data-driven policy approach followed by a national vaccination program to deal with the challenge.

    Surge in Covid cases

    • Recently, there has been a sharp increase in new cases and deaths from the disease.
    • Maharashtra seems to be particularly affected, but nearly all States are reporting increases.
    • The epidemiology of COVID-19 is poorly understood.
    • But some early understanding of the transmission of the virus can enable a more effective science-driven response.

    Variant of virus could be behind the spread

    • The surge is probably driven by variants from the original, as variants worldwide comprise much of the current wave.
    •  Evolutionary theory would expect SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to mutate to become more transmissible.
    • However, the expected concomitant decrease in lethality has not yet been documented.
    • Anecdotal reports that the current surge is occurring more in younger adults and accompanied by unusual symptoms also support the idea that variants are responsible.
    • Direct evidence is needed from genetic sequencing of the virus.

    No herd immunity

    • Various serosurveys have consistently found that half or more of tested urban populations have antibodies to the virus.
    • However, this high level of infection is not the same as a markedly reduced level of transmission, which is what is required for herd immunity.
    • Notions of herd immunity do not fully capture the fact that for largely unknown reasons, viral transmission is cyclical.
    • Much of the infection in India might well be mild, with less durable immune protection than induced by vaccination.
    • Asymptomatic infection is more commonly reported in Indian serosurveys, exceeding 90% in some, in contrast to high-income countries, where about one-third of infections report as asymptomatic.
    • Milder infection might well also correlate with lower severity of clinical illness, helping to explain the Indian paradox of widespread transmission but with low mortality rates.

    Policy must be data-driven

    • Theories or mathematical models are hugely uncertain, particularly early on in the epidemic.
    • A better understanding of the unique patterns of Indian viral transmission has a few pillars, which can be achieved quickly.
    • First, collection of anonymised demographic and risk details like age, sex, travel, contact with other COVID-19 patients, existing chronic conditions, current smoking on all positive cases on a central website in each State remains a priority.
    • Second, greatly expanded sequencing of the viral genome is needed from many parts of India, which can be achieved by re-programming sequencing capacity in Indian academic and commercial laboratories.
    • Third, far better reporting of COVID-19 deaths is needed.
    • Daily or weekly reporting of the total death counts by age and sex by each municipality would help track if there is a spike in presumed COVID-19 deaths.
    • Fourth, the Indian Council of Medical Research’s national serosurvey had design limitations such that it probably underestimated the true national prevalence.
    • A far larger and better set of serial surveys is required.
    • Finally, we need to understand better why some populations are not affected.

    Counter the inequality in vaccination

    • Affluent and connected urban elites of India are vaccinating quickly, but the poorer and less educated Indians are being left behind.
    • Vaccination campaigns need to reach the poor adults over age 45, without having to prove anything other than approximate age.
    • Follow-up studies among the vaccinated can establish the durability of protection, and, ideally, reduction in transmission.
    • Similarly, India must capture and report data on who is vaccinated, including by education or wealth levels.
    • The poor cannot be left in the dark.

    Prepare for future pandemics through adult vaccination plan

    • COVID-19 could well turn into a seasonal challenge and thus, the central government should actively consider launching a national adult vaccination programme.
    • The Disease Control Priorities Project estimates an adult national programme would cost about ₹250 per Indian per year to cover routine annual flu vaccination, five-yearly pneumococcal vaccines, HPV vaccines for adolescent girls and tetanus for expectant mothers.
    • Per year, vaccines for one billion adults might save about 200,000 lives from the targeted diseases.
    • Indeed, we might already be in the era where major zoonotic diseases are not once-a-century events, but once a decade.
    • Thus, adult and child vaccination programmes are essential to prepare for future pandemics.

    Conclusion

    The resurgence of COVID-19 presents a major challenge for governments, yet the best hope is to rapidly expand epidemiological evidence, share it with the public and build confidence that the vaccination programme will benefit all Indians.

  • Baikal Gigaton Volume Detector

    Russian scientists have launched one of the world’s biggest underwater neutrino telescopes called the Baikal-GVD (Gigaton Volume Detector) in the waters of Lake Baikail, the world’s deepest lake situated in Siberia.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2020:

    Q. The experiment will employ a trio of spacecraft flying in formation in the shape of equilateral triangle that has sides one million km long, with lasers shining between the craft.” the experiment in the question refers to?
    (a) Voyager-2
    (b) New horizons
    (c) LISA pathfinder
    (d) Evolved LISA

    Baikal GVD

    • The Baikal-GVD is one of the three largest neutrino detectors in the world along with the IceCube at the South Pole and ANTARES in the Mediterranean Sea.
    • The construction of this telescope, which started in 2016, is motivated by the mission to study in detail the elusive fundamental particles called neutrinos and to possibly determine their sources.
    • It will help understanding the origins of the universe since some neutrinos were formed during the Big Bang while others continue to be formed as a result of supernova explosions or because of nuclear reactions in the Sun.
    • An underwater telescope such as the GVD is designed to detect high-energy neutrinos that may have come from the Earth’s core, or could have been produced during nuclear reactions in the Sun.

    What are fundamental particles?

    • So far, the understanding is that the universe is made of some fundamental particles that are indivisible.
    • Broadly, particles of matter that scientists know about as of now can be classified into quarks and leptons.
    • Explorations has led to the discovery of over 12 such quarks and leptons, but three of these (protons, neutrons and electrons) is what everything in the world is made up of.
    • Protons (carry a positive charge) and neutrons (no charge) are types of quarks, whereas electrons (carry a negative charge) are types of leptons.
    • These three particles make what is referred to as the building block of life– the atom.

    Why do scientists study fundamental particles?

    • Studying what humans and everything around them is made up of gives scientists a window into understanding the universe a better way.
    • This is one reason why scientists are so keen on studying neutrinos (not the same as neutrons), which are also a type of fundamental particle.
    • Fundamental means that neutrinos, like electrons, protons and neutrons cannot be broken down further into smaller particles.

    So where do neutrinos fit in?

    • What makes neutrinos especially interesting is that they are abundant in nature, with about a thousand trillion of them passing through a human body every second.
    • In fact, they are the second most abundant particles, after photons, which are particles of light.
    • But while neutrinos are abundant, they are not easy to catch, this is because they do not carry a charge, as a result of which they do not interact with matter.
    • One way of detecting neutrinos is in water or ice, where neutrinos leave a flash of light or a line of bubbles when they interact.
    • To capture these signs, scientists have to build large detectors.

    Back2Basics: Lake Baikal

    • Lake Baikal is a rift lake located in southern Siberia, Russia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast.
    • It is the largest freshwater lake by volume in the world, containing 22 to 23% of the world’s fresh surface water.
    • With a maximum depth of 1,642 m it is the world’s deepest lake.
    • It is among the world’s clearest lakes and is the world’s oldest lake, at 25–30 million years. It is the seventh-largest lake in the world by surface area.
    • Lake Baikal formed as an ancient rift valley and has a long, crescent shape, with a surface area of 31,722 km2 (12,248 sq mi), slightly larger than Belgium.
    • The region to the east of Lake Baikal is referred to as Transbaikalia or as the Transbaikal and the loosely defined region around the lake itself is sometimes known as Baikalia.
    • UNESCO declared Lake Baikal a World Heritage Site in 1996.

  • [pib] PRISM Scheme

    The Ministry of Science & Technology has inaugurated an Alignment and Awareness Event for the publicity of the DSIR-PRISM Scheme.

    Crux lies in the acronym. Remember the primary aim and objectives. UPSC can also go with numbers esp. the grants.

    PRISM Scheme

    • PRISM stands for Promoting Innovations in Individuals, Start-ups and MSMEs.
    • It is an initiative of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR).
    • It is aimed at transforming an individual innovator into a successful technopreneur by promoting, supporting, and funding implementable and commercially viable innovations created for society.
    • Under the initiative, an Indian innovator- student, professional and common citizen – is provided technical, strategic, and financial assistance by DSIR for idea development, prototype development and pilot scaling, and patenting.
    • The programme is implemented across various sectors from energy to healthcare to waste management and others.

    Grants under the scheme

    The grant is given in two phases:

    1. Phase I and Phase II, catering to both the initial innovation stage and the advanced enterprise setup phase through DSIR outreach-cum-cluster innovation centres available throughout India.
    2. The grant amount in Phase I is around Rs. 2.0 lakhs to Rs. 20.00 lakhs and in Phase II maximum of Rs. 50.00 lakhs.

    Success of the scheme

    • The scheme has been instrumental in supporting individual innovators enabling inclusive development of India.
    • It has extended its support to any citizen through direct benefit transfer in the core technology areas such as-

    Affordable Healthcare, Water, Sewage Management, Green Technology, Clean Energy, Industrially Utilizable Smart Materials, Waste to Wealth aligned with our national objectives

  • Large Hadron Collider beauty Experiment

    The LHCb experiment at CERN (European Council for Nuclear Research) has announced the results of their latest analysis of data.

    LHCb Experiment: An easy explanation

    • LHCb is an experiment set up to explore what happened after the Big Bang that allowed the matter to survive and build the Universe we inhabit today.
    • Fourteen billion years ago, the Universe began with a bang.
    • Crammed within an infinitely small space, energy coalesced to form equal quantities of matter and antimatter.
    • But as the Universe cooled and expanded, its composition changed.
    • Just one second after the Big Bang, antimatter had all but disappeared, leaving the matter to form everything that we see around us — from the stars and galaxies to the Earth and all life that it supports.

    What is the new finding?

    • CERN scientists are excited enough to reveal that if the anomaly they had detected was confirmed.
    • Because, if confirmed, it would require a new physical process, such as the existence of new fundamental particles or interactions.

    What is this excitement all about?

    It is necessary to delve into the world of elementary particles to understand this.

    (1) Particle zoo

    Until now it is believed that the electron, muon and tauon and their antiparticles, though they differ in mass, behave similarly in particle interactions.

    • Broadly speaking, elementary particles are classified into the particles called baryons – which include protons, neutrons and their antiparticles the antiprotons etc.
    • The “middle mass” particles, roughly speaking, are called the mesons and they include members such as the K and B particles.
    • We then have the leptons, which include the electron and its cousins the muon and tau particles and the anti-particles.
    • At a still smaller scale, there are tiny particles called quarks and gluons.
    • There are six flavours of quarks: up, down, truth, beauty, charm and strange. They too have antiquarks associated with them.

    In this particle zoo, while the baryons are made up of combinations of three quarks, the mesons contain two quarks, more accurately a quark and antiquark pair, and the leptons are truly fundamental and are thought to be indivisible.

    Do you know?

    Higgs Boson is called the god particle.

    (2) Colliding particle beams

    By interactions here, is meant the following:

    • If a huge particle accelerator such as the LHC were to accelerate beams of hadrons (such as protons) to very high speeds, a fraction of that of light, and then cause them to collide.
    • Basically, smash through the repulsive nuclear forces and shatter them, the hadrons would break up into constituents which would recombine to form short-lived particles, which would decay into stabler states.
    • Roughly speaking, during this process, they are imaged in a huge multistorey detector and the number of specific processes and particles are counted.

    (3) Lepton universality principle

    • One such process that was measured was the decay of a meson B (which contained the beauty quark) into K-meson (which contains the strange quark) and a muon-antimuon pair, and this was compared with the decay of B into K and an electron-antielectron pair.
    • The expectation is that the ratio of the strengths of these two sets of interactions would be just one.
    • This is because the muons are not essentially different from the electrons as per the Standard Model, the presently accepted theoretical model of all elementary particle interactions.
    • This is called the lepton universality principle.

  • Species in news: Hypnea Indica

    Two new species of seaweed have been discovered by a group of marine biologists from the Central University of Punjab, Bathinda.

    What are the species?

    • Named Hypnea indica (after India) and Hypnea bullata (because of the blisterlike marks on its body – bullate), the seaweeds are part of the genus Hypnea or red seaweeds.
    • They grow in the intertidal regions of the coast, namely the area that is submerged during the high tide and exposed during low tides.

    Do you know?

    Red Algae have great ecological importance. They form a vital part of the food chain and are also involved in producing about 40 to 60 per cent of the total global oxygen for both terrestrial habitat and other aquatic habitats.

    Details of the genus

    • The genus Hypnea consists of calcareous, erect, branched red seaweeds.
    • While Hypnea indica was discovered Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, and Somnath Pathan and Sivrajpur in Gujarat, Hypnea bullata was discovered from Kanyakumari and Diu island of Daman and Diu.
    • There are 61 species of which 10 were reported in India.

    Significance for the food industry

    • Species of Hypnea contain the biomolecule carrageenan, which is widely used in the food industry.
    • As the two species have been found on the west and south-east coasts of India, it suggests good prospects for their cultivation which can be put to good use economically.
    • The extensive calcareous deposit on the body that has been observed also provides room for thought.

  • Space weather preparedness is in our national interest

    The article suggests the need for space weather preparedness to protect the satellite constellations in the future.

    Satellite constellations

    • By 2030, the global space industry could add almost 50,000 new commercial satellites to the existing 5,000.
    • These would include earth-observation satellites selling commercial imagery, telecom orbiters providing 5G and next-in-line 6G data services, and meteorological ones selling weather-forecasts and datasets.
    • The increasing dependence of the digital economy on satellite constellations is spurring investment in this area.

    Risks involved

    • The most important threat to the constellation of satellites will be the collisions between satellites.
    • Such collision could result in massive free-floating space debris.
    • A 2020 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report estimates that protecting satellites from space debris could cost 5-10% more per space mission.
    • Another threat to satellite constellations is that of extreme space weather events, and this cannot be addressed by space and digital players alone.
    • It demands the attention of governments.

    Improving space weather forecasting ability

    • Last October, the US Congress passed an Act that directs civilian and military agencies to reinforce national space weather forecasting abilities.
    • China transferred its meteorological, hydrological and space weather command from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) general staff department to the PLA strategic support force, the latter being its new branch for cyber, space and e-warfare.

    Lessons for India

    • India’s economy is expected to become increasingly dependent on space- and ground-based commercial, civilian and military assets.
    • These will be vulnerable to extreme space weather events.
    • India is progressing with its capital-intensive planetary exploration and human space-flight projects.
    • we must deploy across-the-board space-weather monitoring, forecasting and response systems designed to safeguard deep-space assets and protect our gaganauts.
    • Consequently, it is imperative for the government to develop and adopt space weather forecasts before initiating outer space activities.
    • India, therefore, needs legislation like America’s to issues cross-ministerial directions.
    • The Indian scientific community operates numerous ground-based ‘sun observing’ telescopes across India, and is well connected with its international peers.
    • In the coming months India is expected to launch Aditya-L1, a space-based solar observatory, with assistance from the Indian Space Research Organisation.
    • The data generated by it will be crucial for India’s space weather monitoring ambitions.
    • But without a national policy backed by legislation, the scientific community would find it difficult to meet the strategic demands of the conjoined space and digital economies.

    Consider the question “The increasing dependence of the digital economy on satellite constellations is spurring investment in this area. But it is not risk-free. In light of this, examine the risks involved and suggest the measures to deal with the risks.” 

    Conclusion

    The enactment of a space weather law could help the country protect its digital and telecom systems that extend to outer space from destructive solar storms and intense solar and galactic radiation whiplashes.

  • Early bud-break genes and climate change

    Changing climate has transformed the time spring unfolds in front of us.

    Early bud-break

    • Bud-break — which is when trees leaf out — has undergone a change.
    • Several trees initiate bud-break too early or too late, which affects the harvest.
    • Spring, for example, arrived earlier than usual in Kashmir this year due to higher temperatures in February and March.
    • Gul-tour, a spring-flowering herb started blooming in mid-February in Kashmir. Its yellow flowers would usually blossom in March, heralding Spring.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Other than resistance to pests, what are the prospects for which genetically engineered plants have been created?

    1. To enable them to withstand drought
    2. To increase the nutritive value of the produce
    3. To enable them to grow and do photosynthesis in spaceships and space stations
    4. To increase their shelf life

    Select the correct answer using the code given below

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 3 and 4 only

    (c) 1, 2 and 4 only

    (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

    Answer: (d)

    What causes early bud-break?

    • This is why understanding the genetics of bud-break helps scientists modify or select crop varieties that can be more resilient to the climate threat.
    • The properties of transcription factors are genes that regulate other genes by binding to deoxyribonucleic acid and giving activation instructions.
    • It helps scientists determine what other genes might be involved in a process such as a bud-break.

    EBB genes

    • Researchers of the study had earlier identified transcription factors for early bud-break 1 (EBB1) and short vegetative phase (SVL), which directly interact to control bud-break.
    • EBB1 is a positive regulator of bud-break, whereas SVL is a negative regulator of bud-break.
    • Now, the research team has identified and characterized the early bud-break 3 (EBB3) gene.

    Identified mechanism of Bud-break

    • EBB3 is a temperature-responsive, positive regulator of bud-break that provides a direct link to activation of the cell cycle during bud-break.
    • EBB3 provides a direct link through the signalling pathway for how these cells divide.
    • The analysis reveals how particular genes activate through the season or in response to specific environmental factors.

    Significance of the study

    • New approaches for accelerated tree adaptation to climate change helps ensure bud-break happens at the right time each spring.
    • Using their understanding of the genetic pathways that control bud-break, scientists hope to genetically modify crops to adapt to warmer winters and unpredictable frosts.

  • Carbon footprint of Bitcoins

    At a time when investors around the world are scrambling to follow the newest financial trend, very few are bothered about the carbon footprint that the cryptocurrency is leaving behind.

    If Bitcoin were a country, it would consume more electricity than Austria or Bangladesh!

    Footprint of Bitcoins

    • T A recent study by Alex de Vries, a Dutch economist, has shown that Bitcoins leave behind a carbon footprint of 38.10 Mt a year.
    • The annual carbon footprint of Bitcoins is almost equivalent to that of Mumbai, or to put it to a global perspective, as high as the carbon footprint of Slovakia.
    • A recent study has shown that Bitcoins leave behind a carbon footprint of 38.10 Mt a year.
    • According to a study titled ‘CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion (Highlights) 2017’, Mumbai’s yearly carbon footprint stands at 32 Mt, while Bangalore’s is at 21.60 Mt.
    • Vries has been able to create a Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, one of the first systematic attempts to estimate the energy use of the bitcoin network.

    Relation between creating bitcoins and electricity required

    • Bitcoins are created by “mining” coins, for which high-tech computers are used for long hours to do complex calculations.
    • The more coins there are in the market, the longer it takes to “mine” a new one and in the process, more electricity is consumed.
    • As mining provides a solid source of revenue, people are willing to run power-hungry machines for hours to get a piece.
    • In 2017, the Bitcoin network consumed 30 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity a year.
    • As such, each bitcoin transaction roughly requires an average of 300kg of carbon dioxide – which is equivalent to the carbon footprint produced by 750,000 credit cards swiped.

    Calculating the carbon footprint

    • The major problem with mining Bitcoin is not its massive energy-consumption nature; it is the fact that most of the mining facilities are located in regions that rely heavily on coal-based power.
    • Earlier, determining the carbon impact of the Bitcoin network was difficult as tracking down miners was never easy.
    • As per the estimates of De Vries, roughly 60% of the costs of bitcoin mining is the price of the electricity used.
    • The price of a Bitcoin stood at $42,000 and at this rate; miners would be earning around $15 billion annually.

    Other impacts of Bitcoin mining

    • The effects of cryptocurrency mining often spill over to other parts of the economy.
    • With miners using high-tech computers for hours to formulate new blockchains, these machines do not last long.
    • Manufacturers of Bitcoin mining devices need a substantial number of chips to produce these machines and recently, during the Covid-19 crisis, the world had witnessed a shortage of these chips.
    • This shortage, now, in turn, started affecting the production of electric vehicles around the world.

    What can be done to control the carbon footprint?

    • The Dutch economist asks policymakers to follow the path shown by Québec in Canada, where a moratorium on new mining operations has been imposed.
    • Although Bitcoin might be a decentralized currency, many aspects of the ecosystem surrounding it are not.
    • Large-scale miners can easily be targeted with higher electricity rates, moratoria, or, in the most extreme case, confiscation of the equipment used.
    • Governments can also ban cryptocurrencies from digital asset marketplaces as it will affect the prices of a digital currency.

    India and the cryptocurrency

    • The country, at present, has around 75 lakh cryptocurrency investors who have together pooled over Rs 10,000 crore into Bitcoins and other such digital currencies.
    • The prices have surged by over 900%, courtesy of the worldwide boom – a single bitcoin that used to cost around Rs 4 lakh in 2020 now costs somewhere around Rs 41 lakh now.
    • FM Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the Centre will take a “calibrated approach” and leave a window open for experiments with blockchain technology.