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Subject: Science and Technology

  • What is Retractable Roof Polyhouse?

    The CSIR-CMERI has recently inaugurated a “naturally ventilated polyhouse facility” and laid the foundation stone of “retractable roof polyhouse”.

    What is a Polyhouse?

    • A polyhouse is a specially constructed structure like a building where specialized polythene sheet is used as a covering material under which crops can be grown in partially or fully controlled climatic conditions.
    • It is covered with a transparent material as to permit the entry of natural light. Polyhouses are also helpful in reducing threats such as extreme heat and pest attacks in crops.
    • This is especially important for crops growing in the open field with no protection from the weather, and therefore its yield, quality, and crop maturity timings are changed.

    Retractable Roof Polyhouse

    • The retractable roof system is a modular screen system for greenhouses that helps in saving costs and time along with providing stability, flexibility & durability for the greenhouse structure.
    • Such polyhouse will have an automatic retractable roof which will be operated based on weather conditions and crop requirements from the conditional database using the software.

    Advantages offered

    • Ability to use the benefits of natural weather conditions
    • Long life of the system and material used
    • Easy assembly and installation
    • Maximum insulation and complete protection from insecticides
    • Easy maintenance & even easier repair work during operation

    Why need such polyhouse?

    • With rapidly rising temperatures due to mounting greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from human activities, crops are increasingly facing both threats — extreme heat and pest attacks — simultaneously.
    • Crop losses in India due to insect pests are about 15 percent at present and this loss may increase as climate change lowers the plant defense system against insects and pests.
    • Conventional greenhouses have a stationary roof to reduce the effect of weather anomalies and pests.
    • However, there are still disadvantages due to roof covering which sometimes lead to excessive heat and insufficient light (early morning).
    • Besides this, they are also prone to insufficient levels of carbon dioxide, transpiration, and water stress.

  • Experts raise concerns over mandatory food fortification

    In a pushback against the Centre’s plan to mandatorily fortify rice and edible oils with vitamins and minerals, a group of scientists and activists have warned of the adverse impacts on health and livelihoods.

    Food Fortification

    • Food fortification is defined as the practice of adding vitamins and minerals to commonly consumed foods during processing to increase their nutritional value.
    • It is a proven, safe and cost-effective strategy for improving diets and for the prevention and control of micronutrient deficiencies.

    Types of food fortification

    Food fortification can also be categorized according to the stage of addition:

    1. Commercial and industrial fortification (wheat flour, cornmeal, cooking oils)
    2. Biofortification (breeding crops to increase their nutritional value, which can include both conventional selective breeding, and genetic engineering)
    3. Home fortification (example: vitamin D drops)

    Advantages offered

    • Health: Fortified staple foods will contain natural or near-natural levels of micro-nutrients, which may not necessarily be the case with supplements.
    • Taste: It provides nutrition without any change in the characteristics of food or the course of our meals.
    • Nutrition: If consumed on a regular and frequent basis, fortified foods will maintain body stores of nutrients more efficiently and more effectively than will intermittently supplement.
    • Economy: The overall costs of fortification are extremely low; the price increase is approximately 1 to 2 percent of the total food value.
    • Society: It upholds everyone’s right to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger

    Issues with fortified food

    • Against nature: Fortification and enrichment upset nature’s packaging. Our body does not absorb individual nutrients added to processed foods as efficiently compared to nutrients naturally occurring.
    • Bioavailability: Supplements added to foods are less bioavailable. Bioavailability refers to the proportion of a nutrient your body is able to absorb and use.
    • Immunity issues: They lack immune-boosting substances.
    • Over-nutrition: Fortified foods and supplements can pose specific risks for people who are taking prescription medications, including decreased absorption of other micro-nutrients, treatment failure, and increased mortality risk.

  • The future of nuclear energy

    Context

    Bill Gates recently announced the decision to launch his own nuclear reactor with an eye on the possibility of exporting fast breeder reactors to power-hungry nations.

    About the Gates plan

    • TerraPower, the nuclear company founded by Mr. Gates, has just announced an agreement with private funders, including Warren Buffett, and the State of Wyoming, U.S. to site its Natrium fast reactor demonstration project there.
    • Moreover, since it falls within the “advanced” small modular reactor project of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Department will subsidise the project to the extent of $80 million this year.
    •  Mr. Gates believes that the fast breeder reactors will replace the current reactors.
    • The DOE and other nuclear enthusiasts also believe that small, factory-built, modular reactors will be cheaper and safer, and will be so attractive to foreign buyers.

    The impact of Fukushima Daiichi accident on nuclear power situation

    • The Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan on March 11, 2011 completely transformed the nuclear power situation.
    • Countries phased out nuclear power: As the global community turned its attention to strengthening nuclear safety, several countries opted to phase out nuclear power. 
    • The nuclear industry was at a standstill except in Russia, China and India.
    • Liability clause in India: Even in India, the expected installation of imported reactors did not materialise because of our liability law and the anti-nuclear protests in proposed locations.
    • India had to go in for more indigenous reactors to increase the nuclear component of its energy mix.

    Regaining place as a climate-friendly energy option

    • Two factors have contributed to the emergence of nuclear power as a climate-friendly energy option once again after the Fukushima Daiichi accident:-
    • 1) Intensive efforts to strengthen nuclear safety, and
    • 2) Threat of global warming is becoming ever more apparent.
    • Countries such as Japan and Germany reopened their reactors to produce energy.
    • Organisations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) recognise the ability of nuclear power to address major global challenges.

    Challenges ahead

    • Delay in adoption: Even as IPCC and IEA recognise the importance of nuclear power, it remains uncertain whether the value of this clean, reliable and sustainable source of energy will achieve its full potential any time soon.
    • Policy and financing framework issue: In some major markets, nuclear power lacks a favourable policy and financing framework that recognise its contributions to climate change mitigation and sustainable development.
    • Without such a framework, nuclear power will struggle to deliver on its full potential, even as the world remains as dependent on fossil fuels.

    Concerns with Gates plan

    • Proliferation risk: TerraPower announced in March that Natrium would be fuelled with uranium enriched to 20% U-235 rather than explosive plutonium.
    • The critics believe that there will be a rush to make 20% enriched uranium world wide.
    • The main objection to nuclear enrichment beyond a point in Iran arises from the fact that it would lead to weapon-grade uranium being available for them.
    • Facilitates the production of material used as nuclear explosives: The other objection being raised against is that the principal reason for preferring fast reactors is to gain the ability to breed plutonium.
    • That is surely what foreign customers will want.
    • The way it is configured, the reactor would make and reuse massive quantities of material that could also be used as nuclear explosives in warheads.
    • Focus on India and China: The opponents of TerraPower believe that India and China will be encouraged in their efforts to develop fast breeder reactors and may even want to buy them from Mr. Gates.
    • India’s fast breeder reactor, which is not subject to international inspections, is seen as capable of feeding the nuclear weapons capability of India.

    Conclusion

    With the threat of global warming due to climate change amplifying with each coming day, the world needs to take a serious relook at the adoption of nuclear technology.

    Back2Basics: What is a fast breeder reactor?

    • This special type of reactor is designed to extend the nuclear fuel supply for electric power generation.
    • Whereas a conventional nuclear reactor can use only the readily fissionable but more scarce isotope uranium-235 for fuel, a breeder reactor employs either uranium-238 or thorium, of which sizable quantities are available.
    • Uranium-238, for example, accounts for more than 99 percent of all naturally occurring uranium.
    • In breeders, approximately 70 percent of this isotope can be utilized for power production.
    • Conventional reactors, in contrast, can extract less than one percent of its energy.

    Natrium fast reactor demonstration project

    • Natrium nuclear power plants represent a significant advance over the light water reactor plants in use today.
    • The Natrium plant uses a sodium-cooled fast reactor as a heat source.
    • This heat from the reactor is carried by molten salt from inside the nuclear island to heat storage tanks outside the reactor building, where it is utilized as needed for generating electricity or industrial processes.
    • The net effect is that the overall plant can load follow, thus increasing the revenue and value of the plant while maintaining the optimum constant reactor power.
    • At the same time the cost of the overall plant is reduced since many of the systems outside of the nuclear island need not be nuclear safety grade.
    • The Natrium reactor enables these abilities because it operates in much higher temperature regimes than the light water reactor, thus pairing well to the temperature requirements of the molten salt heat transfer medium.

  • NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar

    The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite, aimed at making global measurement of land surface changes using advanced radar imaging, is proposed to be launched in early 2023, informed Earth Sciences Minister.

    Note the key features of the Mission. Every statement has a unique information.

    NASA-ISRO SAR

    • NISAR is a joint collaboration for a dual-frequency L and S-band SAR for earth observation.
    • NASA and Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO signed a partnership on September 30, 2014, to collaborate on and launch NISAR.
    • The mission is targeted to launch in early 2022 from ISRO’s Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district, about 100km north of Chennai.
    • It is capable of producing extremely high-resolution images for a joint earth observation satellite mission with NASA.
    • It will be the first satellite mission to use two different radar frequencies (L-band and S-band) to measure changes in our planet’s surface less than a centimeter across.

    Objectives of the NISAR

    • NISAR will observe Earth’s land and ice-covered surfaces globally with 12-day regularity on ascending and descending passes, sampling Earth on average every six days for a baseline three-year mission.
    • It will measure Earth’s changing ecosystems, dynamic surfaces, and ice masses, providing information about biomass, natural hazards, sea-level rise, and groundwater, and will support a host of other applications.
    • It would also provide data on natural hazards including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and landslides.

    What are L and S Bands?

    • L band waves are used for GPS units because they are able to penetrate clouds, fog, rain, storms, and vegetation.
    • The S-band is used by airport surveillance radar for air traffic control, weather radar, surface ship radar, and some communications satellites, especially those used by NASA to communicate with the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.
    • NISAR uses a sophisticated information-processing technique known as SAR to produce extremely high-resolution images.
    • Radar penetrates clouds and darkness, enabling NISAR to collect data day and night in any weather.

    What is collaboration?

    • NASA is providing the mission’s L-band SAR, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and payload data subsystem.
    • ISRO is providing the spacecraft bus, the S-band radar, the launch vehicle, and associated launch services for the mission, whose goal is to make global measurements of the causes and consequences of land surface changes using advanced radar imaging.

  • Stellar Mid-life Crisis: What ails the middle-aged Sun?

    Stars like our Sun can go through a mid-life crisis, according to new research carried out by scientists from IISER Kolkata.

    Stellar Middle Age

    • At about 4.6 billion years of age, the sun is middle-aged, that is, it will continue to live for roughly the same period.
    • There are accurate methods for estimating the age of the Sun, such as by using radioactive dating of very old meteorites that have fallen on the Earth.
    • However, for more distant stars which are similar in mass and age to the Sun, such methods are not possible.
    • One of the methods used is called gyrochronology.
    • There is a relationship between rotation rate and age, that is the rotation rate of a star slows down with age.

    How does it occur?

    • When the stellar wind escapes from the star, it carries away with it a part of the angular momentum of the star, which results in its slowing down.
    • The stellar wind has two drivers: one is the high temperature of the outer atmosphere of stars – the corona – which results in an outward expansion and hence plasma winds that emanate out.
    • The other is the magnetic field.
    • The magnetic field actually heats the corona and so when magnetic activity is strong the winds are strong and since wind carries away the internal (rotational) angular momentum of the star, it slows down its rotation.
    • This is called magnetic braking.
    • As the star ages, due to this mechanism, its rotation slows down and this relationship is used in gyrochronology to estimate the age of the star.

    Impact

    • This can lead to dramatic changes in their activity and rotation rates.
    • The study also provides an explanation for the breakdown of the long-established relation between rotation rate and age in middle-aged sunlike stars.
    • However, there is a breakdown of the gyrochronology relationship, because, after midlife, a star’s rate of spin does not slow down with age as fast as it was slowing down earlier.
    • Another intriguing fact is that the Sun’s activity level has been observed to be much lower than other stars of similar age.

  • [pib] Near-Surface Shear Layer (NSSL) of Sun

    Indian astronomers have found a theoretical explanation for the existence of the Near-Surface Shear Layer (NSSL) of the Sun for the first time.

    What is a Near-Surface Shear Layer?

    • It was long known the Sun’s equator spins faster than the poles.
    • However, a peek into the internal rotation of the Sun using sound waves revealed the existence of an intriguing layer where the rotation profile of the Sun changes sharply.
    • The layer is called as a near-surface shear layer (NSSL), and it exists very close to the solar surface, where there is an outward decrease in angular velocity.

    What have researchers found?

    • They have used an equation called the thermal wind balance equation to explain how the slight difference in temperature between solar poles and equator, called thermal wind term.
    • It is balanced by the centrifugal force appearing due to solar differential rotation.
    • They have noted that if this condition is true near the solar surface, it can explain the existence of NSSL, which is inferred in helioseismology (technique of using sound waves to peek inside the Sun) based observation.

    Why study NSSL?

    • Understanding NSSL is crucial for the study of several solar phenomena like sunspot formation, solar cycle, and it will also help in understanding such phenomena in other stars.

  • [pib] What are PRIDE Guidelines?

    The Union Ministry for Science & Technology has released “Biotech-PRIDE (Promotion of Research and Innovation through Data Exchange) Guidelines” developed by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).

    Biotech-PRIDE

    • These guidelines aim at providing a well-defined framework and guiding principle to facilitate and enable sharing and exchange of biological knowledge, information and data.
    • They will facilitate this and enable the exchange of information to promote research and innovation in different research groups across the country.
    • They will be implemented through the Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC) at Regional Centre for Biotechnology supported by the Department of Biotechnology.

    Creating a national repository: Bio-Grid

    • Other existing datasets/ data centres will be bridged to this IBDC which will be called Bio-Grid.
    • This Bio-Grid will be a National Repository for biological knowledge, information and data.
    • It will be responsible for enabling its exchange, developing measures for safety, standards and quality for datasets and establishing detailed modalities for accessing data.

     Why need such guidelines?

    • India ranks number 4 amongst the top 20 countries contributing biological databases.
    • The Government invests a large number of public funds for biosciences to gain deep insights into intricate biological mechanisms and other processes and for translation.

  • The epoch of cyberweapons

    Context

    The controversy over the use of Pegasus spyware for snooping highlights the threats posed by cyber-weapons.

    The emergence of the cyber weapons epoch

    • Cyberattacks on institutions such as banks and on critical infrastructure have proliferated to an alarming extent, signaling the emergence of the cyber weapon epoch.
    • Privacy has been eroded and the Internet has become a powerful weapon in the hands of those seeking to exploit its various facets.
    • Fifth dimension of warfare: Cyber is often touted as the fifth dimension of warfare — in addition to land, sea, air and space.

    The domain of everyday life

    • Cyber, as the domain of military and national security, also co-exists with cyber as a domain of everyday life.
    • The war is no longer out there.
    • It is now directly inside one’s drawing-room, with cyberweapons becoming the weapon of choice.
    • Israelis today dominate the cyber domain along with the Chinese, Russians, Koreans and, of course, the Americans.
    • The linkage between sabotage and intrusive surveillance is but a short step.

    Cyberattacks during the past decades

    •  Beginning with the 2007 devastating cyberattack on Estonia’s critical infrastructure, this was followed by the Stuxnet worm attack a few years later on Iran’s nuclear facility.
    • The Shamoon virus attack on Saudi Aramco occurred in 2012.
    • In 2016, a cyberattack occurred on Ukraine’s State power grid; in 2017 there was a Ransomware attack (NotPetya) which affected machines in as many as 64 countries.
    • United Kingdom’s National Health Service fell prey to the Wannacry attack the same year.
    • The series of attacks happened this year on Ireland’s Health Care System and in the United States such as ‘SolarWinds’, the cyber attack on Colonial Pipeline and JBS, etc.

    What are the threats posed by cyberattacks?

    • Cyberweapons carry untold capacity to distort systems and structures — civilian or military.
    • Cyberweapons also interfere with democratic processes, aggravate domestic divisions and, above all, unleash forces over which established institutions or even governments have little control.
    • As more and more devices are connected to networks, the cyber threat is only bound to intensify, both in the short and the medium term.
    • What is especially terrifying is that instruments of everyday use can be infected or infiltrated without any direct involvement of the target.
    • The possibilities for misuse are immense and involve far graver consequences to an individual, an establishment, or the nation.
    • It is not difficult to envisage that from wholesale espionage, this would become something far more sinister such as sabotage.

    Way forward

    • Deeper understanding:  Dealing with ‘zero day’ vulnerabilities require far more thought and introspection than merely creating special firewalls or special phones that are ‘detached’ from the Internet.
    • Recognising the mindset: What is needed is a deeper understanding of not only cyber technologies, but also recognising the mindsets of those who employ spyware of the Pegasus variety, and those at the helm of companies such as the NSO.
    • Short-term remedies are unlikely to achieve desired results.
    • No use of AI: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is often seen as a kind of panacea for many of the current problems and ills, but all advances in technology tend to be a double-edged sword.
    • If truth be told, AI could in turn make all information warfare — including cyber related — almost impossible to detect, deflect or prevent, at least at the current stage of development of AI tools.

    Conclusion

    All this suggests that security in the era of ever-expanding cyberweapons could become an ever-receding horizon.

    Back2Basics: Zero-day vulnerability

    • The term “zero-day” refers to a newly discovered software vulnerability.
    • Because the developer has just learned of the flaw, it also means an official patch or update to fix the issue hasn’t been released.
    • So, “zero-day” refers to the fact that the developers have “zero days” to fix the problem that has just been exposed — and perhaps already exploited by hackers.

  • Geo-imaging satellite EOS-03

    Geo-imaging satellite for earth observation EOS-03, which would enable near real-time monitoring of natural disasters like floods and cyclones, is scheduled for launch in the third quarter of 2021.

    EOS-03

    • ISRO has realized a geo-imaging satellite, “EOS-03”, for Earth Observation from Geostationary Orbit.
    • EOS-03 is capable of imaging the whole country four-five times daily and would enable near real-time monitoring of natural disasters like floods and cyclones.
    • In addition to natural disasters, EOS-03 would also enable monitoring of water bodies, crops, vegetation condition, forest cover changes.

    Other developments: Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV)

    • The first developmental flight of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2021 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
    • The SSLV is a cost-effective, three-stage and all-solid launch vehicle with a payload capability of 500 kg to 500 km planar orbit or 300 kg to Sun-Synchronous Polar Orbit.
    • It is ideal for the on-demand, quick turn-around launch of small satellites.
    • The major technologies developed as part of SSLV are flexible nozzle control with electro-mechanical actuators for all stages, miniaturized avionics, and a velocity trimming module in the upper stage for precise satellite injection.

  • Russia’s Nauka Module for ISS

    Pirs, a Russian module on the International Space Station (ISS) used as a docking port for spacecraft and as a door for cosmonauts to go out on spacewalks. In its place, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos will be attaching a significantly larger module called Nauka.

    What does Russia’s new Nauka module do?

    • Nauka, which is 42 feet long and weighs 20 tonnes, was supposed to be launched as early as 2007, as per the ISS’s original plan.
    • Nauka — meaning “science” in Russian — is the biggest space laboratory Russia has launched to date, and will primarily serve as a research facility.
    • It is also bringing to the ISS another oxygen generator, a spare bed, another toilet, and a robotic cargo crane built by the European Space Agency (ESA).
    • The new module was sent into orbit using a Proton rocket — the most powerful in Russia’s space inventory — on July 21 and will take eight days to reach the ISS.

    What kind of research goes on at the International Space Station?

    • A space station is essentially a large spacecraft that remains in low-earth orbit for extended periods of time.
    • It is like a large laboratory in space and allows astronauts to come aboard and stay for weeks or months to carry out experiments in microgravity.
    • For over 20 years since its launch, humans have continuously lived and carried out scientific investigations on the $150 billion ISS under microgravity conditions, being able to make breakthroughs in research not possible on Earth.

    Back2Basics: International Space Station (ISS)

    • The International Space Station, which launched its first piece in 1998, is a large spacecraft that orbits around the Earth and is home to the astronauts.
    • The ISS is currently the only active space station in the earth’s orbit.
    • The first crew on the space station arrived on November 2, 2000.
    • The space station is home to a minimum of six astronauts, with two bathrooms, a gymnasium, and a big bay window.
    • It is a joint project between five participating space agencies -NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada).