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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.

  • What is Dark Matter?

    Space scientists from the University of Sussex have found a new way to know more about dark matter. They have narrowed down the range of masses within which particles that could make up dark matter may lie in.

    What is the news about?

    • Around 95 % of the Universe is unknown to human beings.
    • It is often referred to as dark which has nothing to do with the colour of any substance but to do with the unknown nature of cosmic entities known as dark matter and dark energy.

    Trending in news these days is the Quantum Technology. (as it used to be until last year were- the Internet of Things (IoT) CSP 2019, Artificial Intelligence (AI) etc.)

    Must read all this news in a loop:

    1. National Mission on QC
    2. Quantum Coin
    3. Quantum Supremacy
    4. Quantum Entanglement

    What is Dark Matter?

    • Dark matter is composed of particles that do not absorb, reflect, or emit light, so they cannot be detected by observing electromagnetic radiation.
    • Dark matter is a form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe and about a quarter of its total mass-energy density or about 2.241×10−27 kg/m3.

    What does the research say?

    • Scientists carried out the research using quantum gravity, a field of study that tries to combine two of Einstein’s concepts — quantum physics and general relativity theory of gravity.
    • This is the first time anyone has thought of using what we know about quantum gravity to calculate the mass range for dark matter.
    • Their research shows that the dark matter particles can neither be super light nor super heavy unless there is a force acting on it that is yet unknown.

    Quantum gravity: The concept

    • Quantum gravity is a field of theoretical physics that seeks to describe gravity according to the principles of quantum mechanics.
    • Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics which describes nature at the smallest scales of energy levels of atoms and subatomic particles.
    • Here quantum effects cannot be ignored, such as in the vicinity of black holes or similar compact astrophysical objects where the effects of gravity are strong, such as neutron stars.

    Significance of the findings

    • This might help in finding out more about this mysterious force. There are currently four known forces in the Universe — gravitational, electromagnetic, weak and strong.
    • Scientists estimate that roughly 68 per cent of the Universe is made up of dark energy which is responsible for the accelerated expansion of the Universe.
    • Another 27 per cent is a dark matter whose existence was inferred from the observation that ordinary matter in galaxies, including the Milky Way, is far less than that required by gravity to hold the galaxies together.

    Why does the ‘Dark Matter’ matter?

    • Dark matter’s gravitational effects are also necessary to explain the motions of clusters of galaxies and the structure of the entire Universe at the largest scale.
    • On smaller scales, dark matter is too diffused to impact the motion of the Solar System, Earth or the origin and evolution of humans in any significant way.
    • But the nature of that dark matter is still unclear. It is most likely made of particles that do not couple to light because of which humans cannot see them.

  • Emphasising self-reliance in science

    The article discusses the features in the fifth Science, Technology and Innovation policy and also suggests the areas that needs attention.

    Draft Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy

    • The new policy envisages technological self-reliance and aims to position India among the top three scientific superpowers.
    • For that to happen, the draft policy says, we need to attract our best minds to remain in India by developing a people-centric science, technology, and innovation ecosystem.
    • It aims at doubling private sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development every five years.

    Following are the highlights of the policy

    1) Funding issue

    • Raising our R&D investment in science (about 0.6% now) to 2% of the GDP has been a national goal for a while.
    • Despite strong recommendations in the past by several scientific bodies and leading scientists and policymakers, we are still well short of that goal.
    • The 2020 draft policy blames this on “inadequate private sector investment” and adds that “a robust cohesive financial landscape remains at the core of creating an STI-driven Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
    • Government is trying to shift the responsibility of financing R&D to different agencies such as the States, private enterprises, and foreign multinational companies.
    • But it is doubtful if the various funding models that are presented are workable or practical, especially during a pandemic.
    • Private sector cannot be expected to pay for basic research as return on investment in basic research takes too long from a private sector perspective.
    • The fact is that basic science research in India is suffering from the lack of adequate funding despite grand proclamations.
    • We need to implement the self-financing revenue model proposed in the Dehradun Declaration for the CSIR labs back in 2015.

    2) A decentralized institutional mechanism

    • Policymakers are considering alternative mechanisms of governance of the financial landscape.
    • The issue of the administrative burdens of researchers and the problem of journal paywalls is also being considered.
    • Policymakers are also exploring international best practices of grant management.
    • The draft policy visualises a decentralized institutional mechanism for a robust STI Governance.
    • This intention is in fact defeated in the document itself, where several new authorities, observatories and centres have been proposed.
    • Decentralisation of administrative architecture is essential, but we need to explore the practical option of providing more autonomy to research and academic centres for financial management.

    3) Steps to tackle the discrimination

    • The number of suicides of students is on the increase in the IITs.
    •  In 2019, more than 2,400 students dropped out from the 23 IITs in just two years, over half of them belonging to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes.
    • Caste discrimination could be one of the reasons for these tendencies.
    • As a part of inculcating an inclusive culture in academia, the document promises to tackle discriminations “based on gender, caste, religion, geography, language, disability and other exclusions and inequalities”.
    • It mentions more representation of women and the LGBTQ community.

    Way forward

    • The document should prioritise important issues and amplify first the problems which have cultural and administrative dimensions.
    • The document does not mention how to stem the rot within, although it speaks extensively about science communication and scientific temperament.
    • There is need to facilitate an environment that encourages a mindset that constantly challenges conventional wisdom as well as open-minded inquiry among the students.

    Consider the question “As India aspires to be the scientific superpower, suggest the areas which the new Science, Technology and Innovation policy should focus on”

    Conclusion

    With the advent of new disruptive technologies, global competitiveness will be increasingly determined by the quality of science and technology, which in turn will depend on raising the standard of Indian research/education centres and on the volume of R&D spending. India has no time to waste.

  • Why do Viruses mutate?

    SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged independently in several countries, and research published over the past week indicates that the virus is changing more quickly than was once believed.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.H1N1 virus is sometimes mentioned in the news with reference to which one of the following diseases?

    (a) AIDS

    (b) Bird flu

    (c) Dengue

    (d) Swine flu

    Mutation of Virus

    • Mutation, an alteration in the genetic material (the genome) of a cell of a living organism or of a virus that is more or less permanent and that can be transmitted to the cell’s or the virus’s descendants.
    • Like all life, viruses carry a genetic code in the form of nucleic acids — either DNA or RNA.
    • When cells multiply, the DNA within them replicates as well, to make copies for the new cells.
    • During replication, random errors are introduced into the new DNA, much like spelling errors when we write.
    • While the errors in DNA virus genomes can be corrected by the error-correcting function of cells in which they replicate, there are no enzymes in cells to correct RNA errors.
    • Therefore, RNA viruses accumulate more genetic changes (mutations) than DNA viruses.

    Effect of mutation on the virus

    • Evolution requires not just mutations, but also selection.
    • While most mutations are deleterious to the virus, if some allow a selective advantage — say better infectivity, transmission, or escape from immunity — then the new viruses out-compete the older ones in a population.
    • The mutations can be synonymous (silent) or non-synonymous (non-silent); the latter also changes an amino acid (protein building block) at that position in the coded protein.

    Mutations in COVID

    • As of January 26, about 29,000 infections are attributed to UK variants from 63 countries, many due to local transmission.

    Why is it harmful?

    • Viruses with mutations within the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the Spike protein have the most potential to evade antibodies that develop as a result of natural infection or vaccination.
    • The RBD binds the cellular receptor allowing the virus to infect cells, and anti-RBD antibodies neutralize the virus.
    • Such mutations were recently found in variant viruses that emerged in the UK, South Africa and Brazil.

    Testing of mutation

    • Indirect tests are done in laboratories to assess if an emerging variant might escape antibodies developed after natural infection or vaccination.
    • Serum (the blood components that contain antibodies) from recovered patients or vaccinated people, and antibodies are known to neutralize the original virus, are tested.
    • Serial dilutions of the serum or antibodies are separately mixed with a fixed amount of the original and variant viruses, and the mixture is added to cells in culture.
    • After a period of incubation, cells are washed and stained. Cells infected and killed by viruses multiplying within them appear as clear zones (plaques) on a dark background.
    • The effectiveness of serum or antibody is expressed as an inhibitory concentration (IC) or plaque reduction neutralisation titer (PRNT) value.
    • The IC50 or PRNT50 value is the reciprocal dilution of serum or antibody that neutralises 50 per cent viruses in the sample.

    India’s response

    • Only the UK variant viruses have so far been reported from India — and that too, in travellers.
    • There is no reported local transmission, but considering its increased infectivity, this is likely to happen.
    • The evidence so far suggests that current vaccines would still protect against the UK variant, even if with reduced efficacy.
    • The evidence at this time, though of concern, does not indicate that current vaccines are failing.
    • But this has to be watched carefully, and all efforts made to limit transmission between people, which drives mutations and the emergence of variants.

  • The threat of deepfakes

    Deepfakes creates media in which it challenges our ability to detect real from fake, it blurs the line between two. This article explains the threat associated with it.

    What are deepfakes and threat associated with it

    • Deepfakes are synthetic media (including images, audio and video) that are either manipulated or wholly generated by Artificial Intelligence.
    • AI is used for fabricating audios, videos and texts to show real people saying and doing things they never did, or creating new images and videos.
    • These are done so convincingly that it is hard to detect what is fake and what is real.
    • They are used to tarnish reputations, create mistrust, question facts, and spread propaganda.

    Legal provision in India

    • Deepfakes even have the power to threaten the electoral outcome.
    • So far, India has not enacted any specific legislation to deal with deepfakes.
    • However, there are some provisions in the Indian Penal Code that criminalise certain forms of online/social media content manipulation.
    • The Information Technology Act, 2000 covers certain cybercrimes.
    • But this law and the Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines (Amendment) Rules, 2018 are inadequate to deal with content manipulation on digital platforms.
    • The guidelines stipulate that due diligence must be observed by the intermediate companies for removal of illegal content.
    • In 2018, the government proposed rules to curtail the misuse of social networks.
    • Social media companies voluntarily agreed to take action to prevent violations during the 2019 general election.
    • The Election Commission issued instructions on social media use during election campaigns.

    How to deal with the problem of deepfakes

    • Only AI-generated tools can be effective in detection.
    • Blockchains are robust against many security threats and can be used to digitally sign and affirm the validity of a video or document.
    • Educating media users about the capabilities of AI algorithms could help.
    • Six themes identified in the workshop convened by the University of Washington and Microsoft are to dela with the deepfakes
    • 1) Deepfakes must be contextualised within the broader framework of malicious manipulated media, computational propaganda and disinformation campaigns.
    • 2) Deepfakes cause multidimensional issues which require a collaborative, multi-stakeholder response that require experts in every sector to find solutions.
    • 3) Detecting deepfakes is hard.
    • 4) Journalists need tools to scrutinise images, video and audio recordings for which they need training and resources;
    • 5) Policymakers must understand how deepfakes can threaten polity, society, economy, culture, individuals and communities.
    • 6) Any true evidence can be dismissed as fake is a major concern that needs to be addressed.

    Consider the question “What are the deepfakes and threats associated with it? How these threats can be tackled?”

    Conclusion

    In today’s world, disinformation comes in varied forms, so no single technology can resolve the problem. As deepfakes evolve, AI-backed technological tools to detect and prevent them must also evolve.

  • New ideas needed for online privacy policies

    The article discusses challenges posed by online privacy policies and suggests some ideas to make them more user friendly.

    Issues with online privacy policies

    • Such policies are not designed for easy reading.
    • These policies are full of legal jargon and most are difficult to read.
    • Most policies are exclusively in English, which is clearly inadequate in a country where no more than 12 per cent are comfortable with the language.
    • A human-centric study across India found that even people who couldn’t read or write, when made aware of what they were consenting to, cared deeply about it.
    • Online consent is, therefore, a false choice for most Indians.

    Importance of consent in data ecosystem

    • Consent is also the fulcrum of India’s fast-growing data ecosystem.
    • The Data Protection Bill under consideration by Parliament lists consent as a legal ground for data processing.
    • Last year, NITI Aayog sought public comments on the Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA), a system that will connect an individual’s financial, health, telecom and other data so that it can be moved from one provider to another.
    • DEPA intends to use consent to ensure that users remain in control of their data.

    New ideas needed to give users greater control

    1) Business as steward of consumer trust

    • Businesses need to become more responsible stewards of consumer trust.
    • Experiments suggest that making consumers read privacy policies by getting them to stay on the “privacy policy” page for a few minutes, led to increased trust in businesses and greater data sharing.
    • Businesses can adopt such ideas to make users trust them more.

    2) Regulatory bodies need to guide consumers

    • Consumers do not have the time or knowledge to go through privacy policies.
    • The food regulator’s food safety certifications and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)’s rating guides have become part of our everyday lives.
    • Similarly, a “privacy rating” for apps can help individuals make more informed choices about their data.
    • Such “rule of thumbs” can help them cut through the jargon, trust businesses more and share more data.

    3) Running awareness campaign

    • Governments and industry associations can play an enabling role by running innovative awareness campaigns that leverage local contexts, and relatable narrative styles.
    • The campaign should include awareness about messages logging off from public computers, and not sharing phone numbers easily.

    4) Some other ideas

    • The “burden of proof” on privacy should rest with providers rather than consumers.
    • Businesses should act as fiduciaries of user data and act in the best interest of the user than simply maximising profits.

    • Regulators can create a new class of intermediaries that warn consumers about dangerous practices, represent them, and seek recourse on their behalf.

    Consider the question “What are the issues with the consent to the online privacy policies? Suggest the measures to give users greater control over their digital destinies.

    Conclusion

    By educating and empowering every Indian, we will enable her to participate fully in India’s digital economy, and thereby create a meaningful digital life for every Indian. Only then will the true potential of Digital India be realised.

  • NASA’s Curiosity Rover celebrates 3000 days on Mars

    The Mars rover ‘Curiosity’ has completed 3,000 Martian days.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which region of Mars has a densely packed river deposit indicating this planet had water 3.5 billion years ago?

    (a) Aeolis Dorsa

    (b) Tharsis

    (c) Olympus Mons

    (d) Hellas

    Curiosity Rover

    • Curiosity is an SUV-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars as part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission
    • The main mission of Curiosity was “to search areas of Mars for past or present conditions favourable for life, and conditions capable of preserving a record of life.”
    • It has a suite of instruments:
    1. A gas chromatograph, a mass spectrometer, a tunable laser spectrometer, X-ray diffraction, fluorescence instrument help study the rocks
    2. The Mars Hand Lens Imager (for close-up pictures) and a Mast Camera (to take photos of the surroundings)
    3. An instrument named ChemCam to vaporize thin layers of Martian rocks.
    4. Radiation Assessment Detector to study the radiation environment at the surface of Mars
    5. Rover Environmental Monitoring Station to measure atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, winds, plus ultraviolet radiation levels
    6. Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument to measure subsurface hydrogen

    Back2Basics: Martian Day/ Sol

    • Coincidentally, the duration of a Martian day aka ‘Sol’ is within a few per cent of that of an Earth day, which has led to the use of analogous time units.
    • A sol is slightly longer than an Earth day. It is approximately 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds long.
    • A Martian year is approximately 668 sols, equivalent to approximately 687 Earth days.
    • Mars has an axial tilt and a rotation period similar to those of Earth.
    • Thus, it experiences seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter much like Earth.

  • ‘Recoiling’ Black Holes

    A supermassive black hole, which is estimated to weigh up to 100 billion times the mass of the Sun, is seemingly missing, leaving astronomers perplexed.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Recently, scientists observed the merger of giant ‘blackholes’ billions of light-years away from the Earth. What is the significance of this observation?

    (a) ‘Higgs boson particles’ were detected.

    (b) ‘Gravitational waves’ were detected.

    (c) Possibility of inter-galactic space travel through ‘wormhole’ was confirmed.

    (d) It enabled scientists to understand ‘singularity’.

    The ‘missing’ black hole

    • The black hole is supposed to be located in Abell 2261, an enormous galaxy cluster that is about 2.7 billion light-years away from our planet.
    • So, when we look at a celestial object, we are looking at how it appeared that long ago in the past.
    • At 2.7 billion light-years away, the Abell galaxy is at an overwhelmingly large distance away from us.

    What could have happened?

    • Every large galaxy in the universe has a supermassive black hole at its centre, whose mass is millions or billions of times that of the Sun, says NASA.
    • The black hole at the centre of our galaxy– the Milky Way– is called Sagittarius A*, and is 26,000 light-years away from Earth.
    • Scientists have been using data gathered in 1999 and 2004 to look for the centre of the Abell galaxy, but have so far been unable to find its black hole.
    • A reason for this could be that Abell’s black hole has been ejected from the centre of the galaxy.

    Recoil of Black Holes

    • When two black holes merge, they release what is known as gravitational waves– invisible ripples travelling at the speed of light, which squeeze and stretch anything in their path.
    • As per the theory of gravitational waves, during such a merger, when the amount of waves generated in one direction is stronger than another, the new big black hole can be sent away from the centre of the galaxy into the opposite direction.
    • This is known as a “recoiling” black hole.
    • So far, though, scientists are yet to find definitive evidence for recoiling black holes and are still to discover whether supermassive black holes can merge and release gravitational waves.
    • As of now, only mergers of significantly smaller black holes have been verified.

    Why it is significant?

    • The researchers assert that this may have happened because of the merging of two smaller galaxies to form Abell– a process in which both of their black holes merged to form an even bigger black hole.
    • If this hypothesis turns out to be true, it would mean a major breakthrough in astronomy.

    Back2Basics:

  • Mukundpura CM2

    An asteroid which made its landfall in Mukundpura village near Jaipur has been named after the same village and is under the study of Geological Survey of India, Kolkata.

    Try this question from CSP 2014:

    Q.What is a coma, in the content of astronomy?

    (a) Bright half of material on the comet

    (b) Long tail of dust

    (c) Two asteroids orbiting each other

    (d) Two planets orbiting each other

    Mukundpura CM2

    • The meteorite named Mukundpura CM2 was classified to be a carbonaceous chondrite.
    • This is a type of stony meteorite, considered the most primitive meteorite and a remnant of the first solid bodies to accrete in the solar system.
    • The composition of carbonaceous chondrites is also similar to the Sun.
    • Chondrites are silicate-droplet-bearing meteorites, and this Mukundpura chondrite is the fifth carbonaceous meteorite known to fall in India.

    Why it is important to study meteorites?

    • Meteorites are representative of asteroids.
    • Asteroids are the remnant debris of the inner solar system formation process and thus offer the formation history or the building blocks of the planets.
    • Therefore, by studying meteorites in the laboratory and asteroids by exploration and sample return mission we try to reconstruct the activity of early solar system events.
    • Also, asteroids are often rich in volatiles and other minerals and can be exploited for future planetary exploration.

    Do you know?

    Meteorites are broadly classified into three groups – stony (silicate-rich), iron (Fe–Ni alloy), and stony-iron (mixed silicate–iron alloy).

    Details of its study

    • The study revealed that Mukundpura CM2 had experienced varying degrees of alteration during the impact.
    • Some minerals like forsterite and FeO olivine, calcium aluminium rich inclusion (CAI) minerals escaped alteration.
    • Few magnetites, sulphides and calcites were also found.
    • Detailed spectroscopic studies revealed that the meteorite had very high (about 90%) phyllosilicate minerals comprising both magnesium and iron.
    • Further X-ray studies showed it also had aluminium complexes.

    Relevance to asteroids

    • The results of the Mukundpura CM2 study are relevant to the surface composition of near-Earth asteroids Ryugu and Bennu.
    • In October 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission collected samples from Bennu and is expected to return in September 2023.
    • Last month, Japan’s Hayabusa-2 mission landed on Earth with samples from Ryugu.

    Back2Basics:

  • Agricultural research in India

    The article highlight the need for more emphasis on agricultural R&D as a solution to the woes of the farmers.

    India needs low-input high-output agriculture

    • Amid farmers protest against farm acts, the current debates focus mainly on MSP, reducing farmers’ debt liabilities, reducing post-harvest losses, cash transfers and marketing reforms.
    • India with entrenched poverty requires low-input, high-output agriculture; low input in terms of both natural resources and monetary inputs.
    • Very little attention is being given to reducing the natural resource inputs — most critical being water —and agricultural R&D.
    • This cannot be achieved without science and technology.

    Following are the areas in which Indian agriculture needs R&D to reduce agriculture inputs

    1) Water usage for agriculture

    • India receives around 4,000 billion cubic meters (bcm) of rainfall, but a large part of it falls in the east.
    • Moreover, most of the rain is received within 100 hours of torrential downpour, making water storage and irrigation critical for agriculture.
    • India has one of the highest water usages for agriculture in the world — of the total 761 bcm withdrawals of water, 90.5 per cent goes into agriculture.
    • In comparison, China uses 385.2 bcm (64.4 per cent) out of the total withdrawals of 598.1 bcm for agriculture.
    • China’s per-unit land productivity in terms of crop production is almost two to three times more.
    • The total estimated groundwater depletion in India is in the range of 122-199 bcm .
    • The depletion is highest in Punjab, Haryana, and western UP.

    2) Increasing the yields of coarse-grain crops and oilseed crops

    • Years of intense research on yield increase and yield protection by breeding varieties and hybrids resistant to pests and pathogens have made wheat, rice and maize stable high yielders.
    • Environmentalists suggest replacing rice with coarse grain crops — millets, sorghum etc.
    • However, the yields of these crops are not comparable to those of wheat and rice even when protective irrigation is available.
    • These crops have a serious R&D deficit leading to low yield potential as well as losses to pests and pathogens.
    • This leaves us with pulses and oilseeds.
    • In the 2017-18 fiscal year, India imported around Rs 76,000 crore worth of edible oils.
    • Three oilseed crops (mustard, soybean, and groundnut) are already grown very extensively.
    • Soybean and groundnut are legume crops and fix their nitrogen.
    • All three crops not only provide edible oils but are also an excellent source of protein-rich seed or seed meal for livestock and poultry.
    • Unfortunately, yields of the three crops are stagnating in India at around 1.1 tons per hectare, significantly lower than the global averages.

    3) Genetic improvements of crops

    • Pests and pathogens can be best tackled by agrochemicals or by genetic interventions.
    • A recent global level study on crop losses in the main food security hotspots for five major crops showed significant losses to pests — on average for wheat 21.5 per cent, rice 20 per cent, maize 22.5 per cent, potato 17.2 per cent, and soybean 21.4 per cent.
    • India is one of the lowest users of pesticides.
    • In 2014, comparative use of pesticides in kilograms per hectare in some select countries/regions is as following: Africa 0.30, India 0.36, EU countries 3.09, China 14.82, and Japan 15.93.
    • A more benign method for dealing with pests is through breeding.
    • The Green Revolution technologies were based on the effective use of germplasm and strong phenotypic selections.
    • Recombinant DNA technologies since the 1970s have brought forth unprecedented opportunities for genetic improvement of crops.
    • Since 2000, genomes of all the major crops have been sequenced.
    • The big challenge is in the effective utilisation of the enormous sequence data that is available.
    • India’s efforts in all three areas are half-hearted.

    Way forward

    • Over the last 20 years, India has been spending between 0.7 to 0.8 per cent of its GDP on R&D.
    • This is way below the percentage of GDP spent by the developing countries and Asia’s rapidly growing economies.
    • There are structural issues like lack of competent human resources and lack of policy clarity.
    • However, the biggest impediment to agricultural R&D has been overzealous opposition to the new technologies.

    Consider the question “India needs low-input, high-output agriculture. This cannot be achieved without science and technology. In light of this, examine how R&D could play a role in the advancement of agriculture in India.”

    Conclusion

    Maybe the present crisis in agriculture would lead to a greater appreciation of the need for strong public supported R&D in agriculture.

  • India to explore Lithium reserves in Argentina

    India has inked a pact with an Argentine firm to jointly prospect lithium in the South American country.

    Why such a move?

    • Currently, India is heavily dependent on import of these cells and the move to ink sourcing pacts for lithium is seen as another salvo in the front against China, a key source of both the raw material and cells.
    • India is seen as a late mover as it attempts to enter the lithium value chain, coming at a time when EVs are predicted to be a sector ripe for disruption.
    • And 2021 is likely to be an inflexion point for battery technology, with several potential improvements to the Li-ion technology.

    About Lithium

    • Lithium is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3.
    • It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element.
    • Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable and must be stored in mineral oil.
    • When cut, it exhibits a metallic lustre, but moist air corrodes it quickly to a dull silvery grey, then black tarnish.
    • Lithium metal is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride.
    • It is a crucial building block of the lithium-ion rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs), laptops and mobile phones.

    Global producers of lithium

    • Australia and Chile have swapped positions as the world’s leading lithium-producing country over the past decade. In 2019, the world’s Top 5 lithium producers were:
    1. Australia – 52.9% of global production
    2. Chile – 21.5%
    3. China – 9.7%
    4. Argentina – 8.3%
    5. Zimbabwe – 2.1%
    • The U.S. ranked 7th with 1.2% of the world’s lithium production.
    • In 2019, the world’s Top 5 lithium reserves by country were:
    1. Chile – 55.5% of the world’s total
    2. Australia – 18.1%
    3. Argentina – 11.0%
    4. China – 6.5%
    5. U.S. – 4.1%

    Lithium-ion batteries

    • A lithium-ion battery or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery.
    • They are commonly used for portable electronics and electric vehicles and are growing in popularity for military and aerospace applications.
    • A prototype Li-ion battery was developed by Akira Yoshino in 1985, based on earlier research by John Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, Rachid Yazami and Koichi Mizushima during the 1970s–1980s.
    • In 2019, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was given to this trio “for the development of lithium-ion batteries”.

    How does it work?

    • In the batteries, lithium ions move from the negative electrode through an electrolyte to the positive electrode during discharge, and back when charging.
    • Li-ion batteries use an intercalated lithium compound as the material at the positive electrode and typically graphite at the negative electrode.
    • The batteries have a high energy density, no memory effect and low self-discharge.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles produce one of the following as “exhaust”:

    (a) NH3

    (b) CH4

    (c) H2O

    (d) H2O2

    Limitations

    • Despite the improvements in lithium-ion batteries over the last decade, long charging times and weak energy density are still barriers.
    • The Li-ion batteries are seen as sufficiently efficient for applications such as phones and laptops, in case of EVs.
    • They still lack the range that would make them a viable alternative to internal combustion engines.
    • A number of alternatives are being fostered to achieve more optimal options.