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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.

  • HL-2M Tokamak: The Artificial Sun of China

    China successfully powered up its “artificial sun” nuclear fusion reactor for the first time marking a great advance in the country’s nuclear power research capabilities.

    Scratch your school basics to answer this PYQ:

    Q.The known forces of nature can be divided into four classes, viz, gravity, electromagnetism, weak nuclear force and strong nuclear force.

    With reference to them, which one of the following statements is not correct? (CSP 2012)

    (a) Gravity is the strongest of the four

    (b) Electromagnetism act only on particles with an electric charge

    (c) Weak nuclear force causes radioactivity

    (d) Strong nuclear force holds protons and neutrons inside the nuclear of an atom.

    HL-2M Tokamak

    • The HL-2M Tokamak reactor is China’s largest and most advanced nuclear fusion experimental research device.
    • The mission is named Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST).
    • Located in Sichuan province and completed late last year, the reactor is often called an “artificial sun” on account of the enormous heat and power it produces.
    • It uses a powerful magnetic field to fuse hot plasma and can reach temperatures of over 150 million degrees Celsius- approximately ten times hotter than the core of the sun.
    • Scientists hope that the device can potentially unlock a powerful clean energy source.

    Back2Basics: Nuclear Fusion

    • Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles (neutrons or protons).
    • Fusion is the process by which the sun and other stars generate light and heat. It is a nuclear process, where energy is produced by smashing together light atoms.
    • It is the opposite reaction of fission, where heavy elements like Uranium and Thorium are split apart.

    Nuclear Fusion Reaction

    • For a nuclear fusion reaction to occur, it is necessary to bring two nuclei so close that nuclear forces become active and glue the nuclei together.
    • Nuclear forces are small-distance forces and have to act against the electrostatic forces where positively charged nuclei repel each other.
    • This is the reason nuclear fusion reactions occur mostly in high density, high-temperature environment (millions of degree Celsius) which is practically very difficult to achieve under laboratory conditions.

  • [pib] The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)

    The Ministry of Science & Technology has inaugurated the 2nd Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) 2020 Conference.

    Do you know?

    According to the World Cancer Report by the WHO, one in 10 Indians develops cancer during their lifetime and one in 15 dies of the disease!

    The Cancer Genome Atlas

    • The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) is a landmark project started in 2005 by the US-based National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI).
    • The idea was to make a catalogue of the genetic mutations that cause cancer.
    • This meant collecting tumour samples and blood samples (known as the germline) from patients and processing them using gene sequencing and bioinformatics.
    • The TCGA is a continuing effort even after fifteen years and has generated over 2.5 petabytes of data for over 11,000 patients.
    • This data is available to researchers all around the world and has been used to develop new approaches to diagnose, treat and prevent cancer.

    Indian Cancer Genome Atlas (ICGA)

    • On similar lines, the establishment of an ICGA has been initiated by a consortium of key stakeholders in India led by CSIR in which several government agencies, cancer hospitals, academic institutions and private sector partners.
    • It is aimed at improving clinical outcomes in cancer and other chronic diseases.

    Why need such Atlas?

    • Diverse molecular mechanisms- including genetic and lifestyle factors contribute to cancer, posing significant challenges to treatment.
    • Therefore, it is necessary to better understand the underlying factors- patient by patient.
    • In this context, it is important to create an indigenous, open-source and comprehensive database of molecular profiles of all cancer prevalent in Indian population.

  • Surveyor-2 Spacecraft

    NASA has confirmed that the Near-Earth Object called 2020 SO is the rocket booster that helped lift the space agency’s Surveyor spacecraft toward the Moon in 1966.

    Try this PYQ:

    Consider the following phenomena:

    1. Size of the sun at dusk
    2. Colour of the sun at dawn
    3. Moon being visible at dawn
    4. Twinkle of stars in the sky
    5. Polestar being visible in the sky

    Which of the above are optical illusions?

    (a) 1, 2 and 3

    (b) 3, 4 and 5

    (c) 1, 2 and 4

    (d) 2, 3 and 5

    What is Surveyor-2?

    • The Surveyor-2 spacecraft was supposed to make a soft landing on the Moon’s surface in September 1966, during which time one of the three thrusters failed to ignite.
    • As a result of this the spacecraft started spinning and crashed on the surface.
    • The aim of the mission was to reconnoiter the lunar surface ahead of the Apollo missions that led to the first lunar landing in 1969.
    • While the spacecraft crashed into the Moon’s surface, the rocket booster disappeared into an unknown orbit around the Sun.

    How was the object determined to be the rocket booster?

    • Astronomers track asteroids using telescope to determine if there are potentially hazardous asteroids that pose a threat to the planet.
    • Therefore, it is also important for them to be able to distinguish between natural and artificial objects that orbit around the Sun.
    • The rocket booster has come “somewhat close” to the Earth in the past few decades.
    • One approach to the Earth in late 1966 was so close that the object was thought to have originated from Earth.
    • In September, the NASA-funded telescope detected it.

  • Arecibo Radio Telescope

    A massive radio telescope at Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory — one of the world’s largest — collapsed on after sustaining severe damage, following 57 years of astronomical discoveries.

    Try this PYQ:

    Which of the following is/are cited by the scientists as evidence/evidence for the continued expansion of the universe?

    1. Detection of microwaves in space
    2. Observation of redshirt phenomenon in space
    3. Movement of asteroids in space
    4. Occurrence of supernova explosions in space

    Codes:

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1, 3 and 4

    (d) None of the above can be cited as evidence.

    Arecibo Telescope

    • The Arecibo Observatory, also known as the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC), was an observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico owned by the US National Science Foundation (NSF).
    • It was the world’s largest single-aperture telescope for 53 years, surpassed in July 2016 by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in China.
    • The second-largest single-dish radio telescope in the world, it had withstood many hurricanes and earthquakes since it was first built in 1963.

    Its contributions

    • Being the most powerful radar, scientists employed Arecibo to observe planets, asteroids and the ionosphere.
    • It made several discoveries over the decades, including finding prebiotic molecules in distant galaxies, the first exoplanets, and the first millisecond pulsar.
    • In 1967, Arecibo was able to discover that the planet Mercury rotates in 59 days and not 88 days as had been originally thought.
    • In the following decades, it also served as a hub in the search for extraterrestrial life, and would look for radio signals from alien civilizations.
    • In 1993, scientists Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on the observatory in monitoring a binary pulsar.
    • It provided a strict test of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity and the first evidence for the existence of gravitational waves.

  • Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP)

    A powerful new telescope ASKAP, in Australia has mapped vast areas of the universe in record-breaking time, revealing a million new galaxies and opening the way to new discoveries.

    Note all important telescopes in news and their features. Some of them are – Thirty Meter Telescope, Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, Spitzer, Chandra etc.

    What is ASKAP?

    • ASKAP is a telescope designed over a decade ago and located about 800 km north of Perth.
    • It became fully operational in February 2019 and is currently conducting pilot surveys of the sky before it can begin large-scale projects from 2021 onward.
    • ASKAP surveys are designed to map the structure and evolution of the Universe, which it does by observing galaxies and the hydrogen gas that they contain.
    • One of its most important features is its wide field of view, because of which it has been able to take panoramic pictures of the sky in great detail.
    • The telescope uses novel technology developed by CSIRO- the Australian space agency, which is a kind of a “radio camera” to achieve high survey speeds and consists of 36 dish antennas, which are each 12m in diameter.
    • The survey team has been able to observe over 83 per cent of the sky visible from ASKAP’s site in Western Australia.

    Significance of the results

    • The present Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS) taken by the ASKAP telescope is like a “Google map” of the Universe.
    • Mapping the Universe on such a scale enables astronomers to study the formation of stars and how galaxies and their supermassive black holes evolve and interact with each other.
    • Significantly, the images the telescope has taken are on average deeper and have better spatial resolution compared to those taken during other surveys of the sky.
    • The aim of the RACS survey is to generate images that will aid future surveys undertaken using the telescope.

  • Looming heath crisis in the form of antimicrobial resistance

    Rapidly rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses the threat of the next health crisis if not addressed with urgency. The article examines the severity of the issue.

    The severity of the antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

    • Globally, about 35% of common human infections have become resistant to available medicines.
    • About 700,000 people die every year because available antimicrobial drugs — antibiotics, antivirals, antiparasitic and antifungals — have become less effective at combating pathogens.
    • Resistance to second- and third-line antibiotics — the last lines of defence against some common diseases — are projected to almost double between 2005 and 2030.
    • In India, the largest consumer of antibiotics in the world, this is a serious problem.

    Responsible factors

    •  Microorganisms develop resistance to antimicrobial agents as a natural defence mechanism.
    • Human activity has significantly accelerated the process.
    • The misuse and overuse of antimicrobials for humans.
    • Livestock and agriculture but other factors also contribute.

    Research points  to role of environment and pollution

    • Once consumed, up to 80% of antibiotic drugs are excreted un-metabolised, along with resistant bacteria.
    • Their release in effluents from households and health and pharmaceutical facilities, and agricultural run-off, is propagating resistant microorganisms.
    • Wastewater treatment facilities are unable to remove all antibiotics and resistant bacteria.
    • In India, there is capacity to treat only about 37% of the sewage generated annually.
    • Water, then, may be a major mode for the spread of AMR, especially in places with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene.
    • Wildlife that comes into contact with discharge containing antimicrobials can also become colonised with drug-resistant organisms.

    Initiative to tackle the AMR

    • The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) identified antimicrobial resistance as one of six emerging issues of environmental concern in its 2017 Frontiers Report.
    • UN agencies are working together to develop the One Health AMR Global Action Plan (GAP) that addresses the issue in human, animal, and plant health and food and environment sectors.
    • The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) issued draft standards which set limits for residues of 121 antibiotics in treated effluents from drug production units.
    • The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and MoEF&CC constituted the inter-ministerial Steering Committee on Environment and Health, with representation from WHO and UNEP.

    Way forward

    • The Centre and State governments in India can strengthen the environmental dimensions of their plans to tackle antimicrobial resistance.
    • It is important to promote measures that address known hotspots such as hospitals and manufacturing and waste treatment facilities.

    Consider the question “Being the largest consumer of antibiotics in the world, India faces a grave threat from growing anti-microbial resistance. What are the factors responsible for it? Suggest the ways to deal with it.”

    Conclusion

    We saw how quickly a pandemic can spread if we are not ready. This is an opportunity to get ahead of the next one.

  • Honey Adulteration in India

    10 out of 13 popular honey brands failed a key test of purity, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has claimed in an investigation.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following kinds of organisms:

    1. Bat
    2. Bee
    3. Bird

    Which of the above is/are pollinating agent/agents?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Adulteration in honey

    • The CSE has resorted to the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) testing to ascertain the composition of a product at the molecular level.
    • The NMR test is not required by Indian law for honey that is being marketed locally but is needed for export.
    • Current regulations specify around 18 parameters that honey must comply with for producers to label it ‘pure honey.
    • Among the tests employed as per Indian regulations is one to check whether the honey is adulterated with C4 sugar (cane sugar) or C3 sugar (rice sugar).
    • Most samples cleared these tests but failed another test called the Trace Marker for Rice test, to test for rice syrup adulteration.

    Significance of the CSE study

    • Adulteration of honey is a global problem with several countries, including India, devising regulations and new tests to check it.
    • It also destroys the livelihoods of bee-keepers who found it unprofitable to make pure honey because sugar-syrup honey was often available at half the price.
    • Some Indian companies in the honey business were importing synthetic sugar syrups from China to adulterate honey.
    • This shows how the business of adulteration has evolved so that it can pass the stipulated tests in India.

    Back2Basics: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)

    • NMR spectroscopy is a crucial analytical tool for organic chemists.
    • It is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a frequency characteristic of the magnetic field at the nucleus.
    • It is widely used to determine the structure of organic molecules in solution and study molecular physics and crystals as well as non-crystalline materials.
    • It is also routinely used in advanced medical imaging techniques, such as in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

  • Japan’s Hayabusa2 Probe

    A Japanese spacecraft is nearing Earth after a yearlong journey home from a distant asteroid with soil samples. It is set to land in Australia.

    Try this PYQ:

    Which of the following is/are cited by the scientists as evidence/evidence for the continued expansion of the universe?

    1. Detection of microwaves in space
    2. Observation of redshirt phenomenon in space
    3. Movement of asteroids in space
    4. Occurrence of supernova explosions in space

    Codes:

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1, 3 and 4

    (d) None of the above can be cited as evidence.

    Hayabusa2 Probe

    • Hayabusa2is an asteroid sample-return mission operated by the Japanese space agency, JAXA.
    • It follows on from the Hayabusa mission which returned asteroid samples in 2010.
    • It was launched on 3 December 2014 and rendezvoused with near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu on 27 June 2018.
    • It surveyed the asteroid for a year and a half and took samples. It left the asteroid in November 2019.
    • It carries multiple science payloads for remote sensing, sampling, and four small rovers that investigated the asteroid surface to inform the environmental and geological context of the samples collected.

  • Zebrafish and its heart regeneration capacity

    Indian scientists have used the Zebrafish model and identified its genes that can promote heart regeneration.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.With reference to India’s Biodiversity, Ceylon frogmouth, Coppersmith Barbet, Gray-chinned minivet and White-throated redstart are-

    (a) Birds

    (b) Primates

    (c) Reptiles

    (d) Amphibians

    Zebrafish

    • Zebrafish is a small (2-3 cm long) freshwater fish found in the tropical and subtropical regions.
    • The fish is native to South Asia’s Indo-Gangetic plains, where they are mostly found in the paddy fields and even in stagnant water and streams.
    • The fish become adults at three months and survive 2-3 years in a laboratory condition.
    • Its unique characteristics lie in its transparency during its embryonic stages, allowing observing all organs, including beating heart and blood circulation.

    Ability to heal their heart

    • The ability of Zebrafish to heal their heart after injury makes them an attractive model to investigate mechanisms governing the regenerative process.
    • Researchers worldwide are actively working to understand the mechanism behind the heart regeneration in Zebrafish for the last two decades.
    • Years of efforts have helped them identify the cellular communication network factor 2a (ccn2a), a gene that can promote heart regeneration by enhancing cardiomyocyte proliferation.
    • They have also observed that this gene resolves the transient collagenous fibrotic scar resulting in faster regeneration.

    Significance for humans

    • Cardiovascular diseases are the number 1 cause of deaths globally, taking an estimated 17.9 million lives each year, according to the World Health Organisation.
    • Humans cannot regenerate their hearts upon myocardial damage and a person who suffered a heart attack cannot functionally heal the damaged heart muscle, resulting in reduced pumping efficiency.
    • While on the other hand, this unique fish has the full potential to regenerate its heart and restore its function after injury.
    • Till now, there is no treatment available to restore the damaged heart function in humans. Hence scientists have sought to decode the heart regeneration processes using this model animal.

  • RT-LAMP: a new technology for detecting COVID-19

    Indian Council of Medical Research has recently validated the LAMP technology for COVID-19 testing.

    What is RT-LAMP?

    • RT-LAMP stands for Reverse Transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification) technology.
    • Agappe Diagnostics has recently developed the technology indigenously, and their kit has been validated and approved by the ICMR for marketing.
    • It is named LUME Screen nCoV.

    How does it work?

    • RT-LAMP technology is a one-step nucleic acid amplification method to multiply specific sequences of RNA of the coronavirus.
    • The RNA is first made into cDNA (copy DNA) by the usual reverse transcription. Then, the DNA is amplified by the LAMP technique.

    Current method

    • •The current method diagnosis is the real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test which detects the presence of viral nucleic acids in nasopharyngeal swab samples.
    • But it has certain shortcomings.
    • The test requires complex and costly equipment. It requires extensive training for potential users.

    Benefits of LAMP over RT-PCR

    • The LAMP technology is superior to the PCR technology–based COVID-19 kits where specificity is around 95% only.
    • As the specificity and sensitivity of the test is about 95%, there is a possibility of false negative results.
    • The turnaround time is about 10 hours, so that the result will be available only by the next day.
    • In remote places, the turnaround time further increases depending on the distance the samples need to travel.
    • In short, the RT-PCR does not have the capacity to keep pace with the increasing demand.
    • The LAMP technology does not need laborious preparation as in the case of RT-PCR. LAMP is cost effective and does not need complex expensive equipment.