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Subject: Science and Technology

  • Medicine from the Sky Project

    The Telangana government has selected 16 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) spread around Vikarabad area hospital for pilot testing the ambitious ‘Medicine from the sky’, the first-of-its-kind project involving delivery of medicines through multiple drones.

    Medicine from the Sky Project

    • A consortium of seven operators headed by Blue Dart Med-Express had been selected for the project to be launched in the VLOS range of 500 metres initially and will be scaled up gradually to a 9 km range.
    • The selected PHCs are both within the Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) range.
    • The project would be launched in three waves starting with a pilot followed by mapping the route network for the operation of drones for delivering vaccine/medicine in the desired community health centres and PHCs.
    • The project is being launched following the approval granted by the Civil Aviation Ministry to the request made by the State to grant conditional exemption from the Unmanned Aircraft System Rules 2021.

    Benefits of the project

    • The project is aimed at assessing alternative logistics route in providing safe, accurate and reliable pickup and delivery of health care items like medicines, vaccines, units of blood and other lifesaving equipment from the distribution centre to a specific location and back.
    • The model, once successful, would enable deliveries from district medical stores and blood banks to PHCs, CHCs and further from PHCs/CHCs to central diagnostic laboratories.

    Back2Basics: What is VLOS (Visual Line of Sight)?

    • Visual Line of Sight (‘VLOS’) operations are a type of operation in which the remote pilot maintains continuous, unaided visual contact with the unmanned aircraft. In its simplest term, the aircraft must always be visible to the pilot.
    • This allows the remote pilot to control the flight path of the unmanned aircraft in relation to other aircraft, people, and obstacles for the purpose of avoiding collisions.
    • Extended Visual Line of Sight operations (‘EVLOS’) allows flight Beyond Visual Line of Sight of the Remote Pilot by using ‘trained observers’.
    • Trained observers are used to comply with the separation and collision avoidance responsibilities of the operator.
    • ‘Beyond Visual Line of Sight’ operations is where the flying of a drone is without  a pilot maintaining a visual line of sight on the aircraft at all times.
    • Instead, the pilot operates the UAV using Remote Pilot Station (RPS) / Ground Control Station (GCS) instruments.

  • Tianwen-1 lands successfully on Mars

    China landed a spacecraft on Mars carrying its first Mars rover in a big boost to its space ambitions.

    UPSC may ask an MCQ asking: Which of the following is/are the space missions related to Mars? It may throw up 4-5 options (which we all get confused at after few months) like Cassini , InSight , Messanger, Voyager etc.

    Tianwen-1 Mission

    • The mission is named after the ancient Chinese poem ‘Questions to Heaven’, the Tianwen-1.
    • It is an all-in-one orbiter; lander and rover will search the Martian surface for water, ice, investigate soil characteristics, and study the atmosphere, among completing other objectives.
    • It will be the first to place ground-penetrating radar on the Martian surface, which will be able to study local geology, as well as rock, ice, and dirt distribution.
    • The lander descended successfully onto the surface of the red planet carrying a rover named Zhurong, named after a god of fire for a planet known in Chinese as the planet of fire.
    • Only the Soviet Union and the United States had previously carried out a successful landing on Mars.

    Back2Basics: Various missions on Mars

    • The USSR in 1971 became the first country to carry out a Mars landing– its ‘Mars 3’ lander being able to transmit data for 20 seconds from the Martian surface before failing.
    • The country made it’s second and Mars landing two years later in 1973.
    • The second country to reach Mars’s surface, the US, holds the record for the most number of Mars landings.
    • Since 1976, it has achieved 8 successful Mars landings, the latest being the ‘InSight’ in 2019 (launched in 2018).
    • India and the European Space Agency have been able to place their spacecraft in Mars’s orbit.
    • India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or ‘Mangalyaan’ was able to do so in September 2014, almost a year after its launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh.
    • The Chinese mission now is expected to take off around the same time when NASA is launching its own Mars mission– the ambitious ‘Perseverance’ which aims to collect Martian samples and bring them back.

  • Mucormycosis infection in COVID-19 patients

    Hospitals across the country have started to report a number of cases of Mucormycosis, an invasive fungal infection affecting patients who have recently recovered from COVID-19.

    What is Mucormycosis?

    • Mucormycosis is an aggressive and invasive fungal infection caused by a group of moulds called micromycetes.
    • It can affect various organs but is currently manifesting as invasive rhino-orbito-cerebral disease, crawling through the sinus and working its way to the brain, affecting the ear, nose, throat, and mouth.
    • While it is not contagious, it can cause a lot of damage internally and can be fatal if not detected early.
    • It is an old disease; perhaps new and concerning is the sudden increase in the invasive form of the sinus variant, which involves the orbit, and at times the brain, leading to blindness, stroke or death.

    What causes the disease?

    • Diabetes mellitus is the most common underlying cause, followed by haematological malignancies and solid-organ transplants.
    • Diabetes mellitus was reported in 54% to 76% of cases, according to a report.
    • What seems to be triggering Mucormycosis in patients post COVID-19 is indiscriminate use of a high dose of steroids in COVID-19 patients, sometimes even in minimally symptomatic patients.
    • This leads to spikes in the sugar level among diabetics, which, in turn, renders them vulnerable.

    Symptoms

    • The symptoms to watch out for are a stuffy nose, bloody, blackish, or brown discharge from the nose etc.
    • Other symptoms include blackish discolouration of the skin, swelling or numbness around the cheek, one-sided facial pain, toothache or jaw pain, drooping of the eyelids or eyelid swelling, double vision, redness of eyes, and sudden decrease in vision.

    Treatment

    • The mainline of treatment is an anti-fungal drug called amphotericin B, which is given over an extended period of time under the strict observation of a physician.
    • Rational use of steroids is necessary, and constant monitoring of sugar levels and resorting to insulin use to control these levels if required is essential.
    • Surgery to remove the fungus growth might also be warranted.

    Preventive measures

    • It is important to keep blood sugar levels under control and ensure that appropriate calibration of oral drugs or insulin is done from time to time.
    • Further, recognising the symptoms and seeking treatment early if there are two or three symptoms at a time is key.
    • Like most illnesses, if detected early, Mucormycosis can be cured.

  • 2-DG: DRDO’s new oral drug for Covid-19

    Defence Minister has released the first batch of the indigenously developed anti-Covid-19 drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose or ‘2-DG’.

    What is the news?

    • The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had cleared the formulation on May 1 for emergency use as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe Covid-19 patients.

    What is 2-DG?

    • 2-DG has been developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), New Delhi, a lab of the DRDO in collaboration with Hyderabad-based pharma company Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL).
    • The 2-DG anti-Covid drug is expected to reduce dependence on medical oxygen in Covid-19 infected patients.
    • The pseudo glucose molecule in the drug stops the virus in the tracts.
    • Hence, it has been prescribed for Coronavirus infected patients requiring critical medical oxygen.

    How does it work?

    • Clinical trial data show that the molecule helps in faster recovery of patients hospitalized with Covid-19, and reduces their dependence on supplemental oxygen.
    • The drug accumulates in virus-infected cells, and prevents the growth of the virus by stopping viral synthesis and energy production.
    • Its selective accumulation in virally-infected cells makes this drug unique.

    Advantages

    • 2-DG being a generic molecule and an analogue of glucose, it can be easily produced and made available in large quantities.
    • The drug is available in powder form in a sachet, and can be taken orally after dissolving in water.

  • Risk of mucormycosis in Covid-19 patients

    About mucormycosis

    • Mucormycosis is a fungal infection that has a high mortality rate of 50 per cent.
    • An increasing number of Covid-19 patients have been developing this infection while still at the hospital or after discharge.
    • The disease often manifests in the skin and also affects the lungs and the brain.
    • Some of the common symptoms include sinusitis, blackish nasal discharge, facial pain, headaches, and pain around the eyes.

    Who is at risk

    • Patients who have been hospitalised for Covid-19 and particularly those who require oxygen therapy during Covid-19 illness are at a much higher risk of mucormycosis.
    • However, there are some cases of mucormycosis in patients with asymptomatic Covid-19 infection.
    • Before the pandemic, patients with uncontrolled diabetes were at a higher risk of mucormycosis.
    • The risk of mucormycosis rises for these patients for two reasons.
    • First is that Covid-19 further impairs their immune system.
    • Second, they are given corticosteroids for their treatment it leads to a rise in their blood sugar level thus increasing their risk of mucormycosis.

    Treatment

    • Today, we have a number of drugs and anti-fungal medicines that can treat mucormycosis.
    • These are given by IV or taken orally.
    • Surgery is needed to remove the affected dead tissues along with antifungal therapy.

  • National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage

    About the scheme

    • The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister has approved the proposal of Department of Heavy Industry for implementation of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme ‘National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage’.
    • Each selected ACC battery Storage manufacturer would have to commit to set-up an ACC manufacturing facility of minimum five (5) GWh capacity and ensure a minimum 60% domestic value addition at the Project level within five years.
    • Furthermore, the beneficiary firms have to achieve a domestic value addition of at least 25% and incur the mandatory investment Rs.225 crore /GWh within 2 Years (at the Mother Unit Level) and raise it to 60% domestic value addition within 5 Years, either at Mother Unit, in-case of an Integrated Unit, or at the Project Level, in-case of “Hub & Spoke” structure.
    • The scheme will help in achieving manufacturing capacity of Fifty (50) Giga Watt Hour (GWh) of ACC and 5 GWh of “Niche” ACC with an outlay of Rs.18,100 crore.

    About ACC

    • ACCs are the new generation of advanced storage technologies that can store electric energy either as electrochemical or as chemical energy and convert it back to electric energy as and when required.

    Benefits of the scheme

    • Setup a cumulative 50 GWh of ACC manufacturing facilities in India under the Programme.
    • Direct investment of around Rs.45,000 crore in ACC Battery storage manufacturing projects.
    • Facilitate demand creation for battery storage in India.
    • Facilitate Make-ln-lndia: Greater emphasis upon domestic value-capture and therefore reduction in import dependence.
    • Net savings of Indian Rs. 2,00,000 crore to Rs.2,50,000 crore on account of oil import bill reduction during the period of this Programme due to EV adoption as ACCs manufactured under the Programme is expected to accelerate EV adoption.
    • The manufacturing of ACCs will facilitate demand for EVs, which are proven to be significantly less polluting.
    • As India pursues an ambitious renewable energy agenda, the ACC program will be a key contributing factor to reduce India’s Green House Gas (GHG) emissions which will be in line with India’s commitment to combat climate change.
    • Import substitution of around Rs.20,000 crore every year.
    • The impetus to Research & Development to achieve higher specific energy density and cycles in ACC.
    • Promote newer and niche cell technologies.

  • NASA’s OSIRIS-REx begins journey back from asteroid

    On May 11, NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will depart asteroid Bennu, and start its two-year-long journey back to Earth.

    About OSIRIS-REx

    • OSIRIS-REx is NASA’s first mission to visit a near-Earth asteroid, survey its surface and collect a sample from it.
    • The mission was launched in 2016, it reached its target in 2018 and since then, the spacecraft has been trying to match the velocity of the asteroid using small rocket thrusters.
    • It also utilised this time to survey the surface and identify potential sites to take samples.
    • In October 2020, the spacecraft briefly touched asteroid Bennu, from where it collected samples of dust and pebbles. 
    • Once the surface was disturbed, the spacecraft’s robotic arm captured some samples.
    • The spacecraft’s engineers have also confirmed that shortly after the spacecraft made contact with the surface, it fired its thrusters and “safely backed away from Bennu”.

    About Bennu

    • Bennu is considered to be an ancient asteroid that has not gone through a lot of composition-altering change through billions of years, which means that below its surface lie chemicals and rocks from the birth of the solar system.
    • Around 20-40 percent of Bennu’s interior is empty space and scientists believe that it was formed in the first 10 million years of the solar system’s creation, implying that it is roughly 4.5 billion years old.
    • Bennu is a B-type asteroid, implying that it contains significant amounts of carbon and various other minerals.
    • Because of its high carbon content, the asteroid reflects about four percent of the light that hits it, which is very low when compared with a planet.
    • Bennu is named after an Egyptian deity.
    • The asteroid was discovered by a team from the NASA-funded Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research team in 1999.

  • What is 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) and is it effective against Covid?

    About the drug

    • DRDO’s new anti-Covid oral drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), was recently granted emergency use approval by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).
    •  2-DG halts the spread of COVID-19 inside the body cells.
    • Clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.
    • In efficacy trends, the patients treated with 2-DG showed faster symptomatic cure than Standard of Care (SoC) on various endpoints.
    • A significantly favourable trend (2.5 days difference) was seen in terms of the median time to achieving normalisation of specific vital signs parameters when compared to SoC.

    How 2-DG reduces dependence on oxygen

    • The 2 DG drug, like glucose, spreads through the body, reaches the virus-infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and destroys the protein’s energy production.
    • The drug also works on virus infection spread into lungs which help us to decrease patients dependability on oxygen.

     

  • Govt. gives nod for 5G trials

    Trials for 5G technology

    • The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Tuesday gave permission to Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to conduct trials for the use and application of 5G technology.
    • The applicant TSPs include Bharti Airtel Ltd., Reliance JioInfocomm Ltd., Vodafone Idea Ltd. and MTNL.
    • These TSPs have tied up with original equipment manufacturers and technology providers which are Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and C-DOT.
    • Each TSP will have to conduct trials in rural and semi-urban settings also in addition to urban settings so that the benefit of 5G technology proliferates across the country.
    • This formally leaves out Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE from the 5G race in India.

    About 5Gi technology

    • TSPs are encouraged to conduct trials using 5Gi technology in addition to the already known 5G technology.
    •  5Gi technology was advocated by India, as it facilitates much larger reach of the 5G towers and radio networks.
    • The 5Gi technology has been developed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT) and IIT Hyderabad.

  • Hottest planet in the known universe discovered

    About the plane

    • TOI-1431b, also known as MASCARA-5b, was found 490 light-years from Earth and could be the hottest planet in the known universe.
    • Researchers at the University of Southern Queensland’s Centre for Astrophysics in Toowoomba led the global team that made the discovery.
    • NASA’s Training Exoplanet Survey Satellite first flagged TOI-1431b as a possible planet in late 2019.
    • Dayside temperature reaches approximately 2700 degrees celcius and nightside temperature approaches approximately 2300 degrees celcius – no life could survive in its atmosphere.
    • This temperature is significantly greater than the melting point of most metals, many of which will turn to liquid at under 2000 degrees celcius.
    • Titanium melts at 1670 degrees, platinum at 1770 degrees, and stainless steel at between 1375 and 1530 degrees.

    Planet with a retrograde orbit

    • These types of planets, known as ultra-hot Jupiters, are rarely discovered but this particular one is even more unusual due to its retrograde orbit.
    • In our Solar System, all the planets orbit in the same direction that the Sun rotates and they’re all along the same plane.
    • This new planet’s orbit is tilted so much that it is actually going in the opposite direction to the rotation of its host star.