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Subject: Science and Technology

  • International Day of Light and its significance

    The UN marks the International Day of Light (IDL) — an annual initiative held globally to raise awareness on the critical role played by light-based technologies in everyday life.

    The IDL as mentioned in the news creates no scope for a possible prelim question, but the purpose behind its celebration does.  i.e. LASER technology. LIDAR is the latest development in the LASER technology. UPSC may puzzle you here by asking the working principle of LIDAR.

    International Day of Light (IDL)

    • The IDL is administered from the International Basic Science Programme (IBSP) of UNESCO, and its Secretariat is located at the Abdus Salam International Centre of Theoretical Physics (ICTP) at Trieste, Italy.
    • The IDL highlights the contribution of such technologies in various avenues such as science, technology, art, and culture, thus helping achieve the UNESCO goals of education, equality, and peace.
    • The day selected, May 16, marks the anniversary of the first successful operation of the LASER in 1960 by physicist and engineer Theodore Maiman.
    • The LASER is a perfect example of how a scientific discovery can yield revolutionary benefits to society in communications, healthcare and many other fields.

    Why is the IDL celebrated?

    • In 2015, to raise global awareness of the achievements of light science and its applications, the UN observed the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015 (IYL 2015).
    • The event helped establish links and collaborations between decision-makers, industry leaders, scientists, artists, social businesses, NGOs, and the public at large.
    • Following the success of IYL 2015, Ghana, Mexico, New Zealand and Russia placed a resolution before the UNESCO Executive Board supporting the idea of an International Day of Light.
    • It was adopted on September 19, 2016, at the Board’s 200th session at the UNESCO HQ in Paris, France.
    • The Board decision was endorsed by the UNESCO General Conference at its 39th session on November 7, 2017, and the first IDL was held on May 16, 2018.

    Back2Basics: LASER

    • A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation.
    • It is an acronym for “light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation.
    • The laser stimulates atoms or molecules to emit light at particular wavelengths and amplifies that light, typically producing a very narrow beam of radiation.
    • The emission generally covers an extremely limited range of visible, infrared, or ultraviolet wavelengths.
    • Many different types of lasers have been developed, with highly varied characteristics.
    • A laser is widely used in industrial cutting, surgical removal of tissues etc.
    • LIDAR is the most famous application of LASERs.

    LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging)

    • It is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth.
    • It bounces pulsed laser light off the ground, revealing contours hidden by dense foliage.
    • These light pulses—combined with other data recorded by the airborne system— generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics.
    • LIDAR systems allow scientists and mapping professionals to examine both natural and manmade environments with accuracy, precision, and flexibility.
    • A LIDAR instrument principally consists of a laser, a scanner, and a specialized GPS receiver.
    • Airplanes and helicopters are the most commonly used platforms for acquiring LIDAR data over broad areas.

  • Species in news: Quinine Nongladew

    Quinine, the most primitive antimalarial avatar of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), has made a village in Meghalaya latch on to its past for a curative future.

    Relate Quinine Nongladew with the following question. Such peculiar names are very important.

    Q. Recently, there was a growing awareness in our country about the importance of Himalayan nettle (Girardinia diversifolia) because it is found to be a sustainable source of (CSP 2019)

    (a) anti-malarial drug

    (b) bio-diesel

    (c) pulp for paper industry

    (d) textile fibre

    Quinine Nongladew

    • The herb Quinine Nongladew is the alkaloid quinine extracted from the bark of cinchona, a plant belonging to the Rubiaceae family and classified as either a large shrub or a small tree
    • The tree is named after a village about 70 km south of Guwahati, on the highway to Meghalaya capital Shillong.
    • The cinchona nursery was raised in the 19th century, probably around 1874, when Shillong became the British administrative headquarters for Assam Province.
    • Large swathes of Meghalaya used to be, and still are, malaria-prone.
    • The British had the foresight to start the plantation to combat malaria and other diseases caused by mosquitoes.

    Back2Basics: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)

    • HCQ is an oral tablet used as an anti-malarial drug. It is used to treat malaria, lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis.
    • It may be used as part of a combination therapy where it is taken with other drugs.

  • What is Palliative Care?

    The newscard talks about palliative healthcare which may help when the world is reeling under this most unexpected and unprecedented pandemic, COVID-19.

    Palliative Care is a promising approach to counter the psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak. We can use this as an example to quantify the measures required to improve mental healthcare infrastructure in India.

    Social sufferings caused by the pandemic

    • COVID-19, because of its unique nature and magnitude has brought in its wake, not only physical illness but more of emotional and social suffering.
    • These include- fear, anxiety, uncertainty, loss of loved ones and social distress such as losing jobs and income, inability to move freely to work and other places, frustrations, staying long hours at home and other hardships, all leading to psychological disturbances for many.

    What is Palliative Care?

    • The literal meaning of the word ‘palliate’ is ‘to alleviate pain — physical and emotional’, meaning, relief of suffering. ‘Suffering’ literally means ‘the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship’.
    • It is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with a life-threatening illness.
    • It involves prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.
    • It is part and parcel of treatment for any patient for any disease at any stage, for any age. It is simply a ‘whole person’ approach to improving health in any patient.

    A promising remedy

    • ‘Palliative Medicine’ is a medical speciality, which involves the treatment of pain, breathing difficulty and other distressing physical symptoms caused by chronic and life-limiting diseases.
    • It also addresses the psychological issues of both patient and family, with the sole aim of improving the quality of life. It is most beneficial when started early in the disease trajectory.
    • It is also a form of supportive care, giving that extra layer of support a patient needs, to alleviate suffering, alongside disease treatment even in acute illness.
    • In the present scenario, in addition to what physicians are toiling with to cure patients, and the government and health care policies and strategies, palliative care can play a supportive role.

    Supportive role

    • Distressing physical symptoms like pain, breathing difficulty, restlessness (delirium) and others can be well relieved or palliated with medicines in consultation with the specialists.
    • Similarly, skilled counselling is an integral part of the palliative approach.
    • It helps address the psychological, social and spiritual issues, which both patient and family are experiencing in the present scenario.
    • There is a way of responding to their fears, anxieties and to questions. They rarely need antidepressants when we acknowledge their emotions as normal.

    Conclusion

    • Active listening is by far the most important part of counselling.
    • This care can be availed of from psychologists, specialists in palliative medicine, as well as those from medical organisations who have the expertise and willingness to render their services.
    • Hence, Palliative care is the reinstatement of the humane aspects of medical care and is complementary to all medical specialities, a common thread running through the total care of all patients.

  • What is ‘Direct Seeding of Rice’ (DSR)?

    Farmers are now being encouraged to adopt ‘direct seeding of rice’ (DSR) in place of conventional transplanting due to lack of labourers, who are stranded due to lockdown.

    Recall the classification of cropping seasons on India based on onset and retreat of Monsoon.

    The kharif crops include rice, maize, sorghum, pearl millet/bajra, finger millet/ragi (cereals), arhar (pulses), soyabean, groundnut (oilseeds), cotton etc. The rabi crops include wheat, barley, oats (cereals), chickpea/gram (pulses), linseed, mustard (oilseeds) etc.  Kindly make a note of this.

    What is ‘Direct Seeding of Rice’ (DSR)?

    • In transplanting, farmers prepare nurseries where the paddy seeds are first sown and raised into young plants.
    • These seedlings are then uprooted and replanted 25-35 days later in the main field.
    • Paddy seedlings are transplanted on fields that are “puddled” or tilled in standing water using tractor-drawn disc harrows.
    • In DSR, there is no nursery preparation or transplantation. The seeds are instead directly drilled into the field by a tractor-powered machine.

    How is the question of herbicides addressed in DSR?

    • Paddy being very much water-intensive is compromised by weeds that compete for nutrition, sunlight and water.
    • Water prevents the growth of weeds by denying them oxygen in the submerged stage, whereas the soft ‘aerenchyma tissues’ in paddy plants allow air to penetrate through their roots.
    • Water, thus, acts as a herbicide for paddy. The threat from weeds recedes once tillering is over; so does the need to flood the fields.
    • In DSR, water is replaced by real chemical herbicides. Farmers have to only level their land and give one pre-sowing irrigation or rauni.
    • Once the field has good soil moisture, they need to do two rounds of ploughing and planking (smoothening of soil surface), which is followed by the sowing of the seeds and spraying of herbicides.

    What are these herbicides?

    • There are two kinds. The first is called pre-emergent, i.e. applied before germination. In this case, the pre-emergent herbicide used is Pendimethalin.
    • The second set of herbicides is post-emergent, sprayed 20-25 days after sowing, depending upon the type of weeds appearing.
    • They include Bispyribac-sodium (Rs 600-700 at 100 ml/acre) and Fenoxaprop-p-ethyl (Rs 700-800 at 400 ml/acre).

    What is the main advantage of DSR?

    • The most obvious one is water savings. The first irrigation (apart from the pre-sowing rauni) under DSR is necessary only 21 days after sowing.
    • This is unlike in transplanted paddy, where watering has to be done practically daily to ensure submerged/flooded conditions in the first three weeks.
    • The second savings, relevant in the present context, is that of labour. About three labourers are required to transplant one acre of paddy at almost Rs 2,400 per acre.
    • As against this, the cost of herbicides under DSR will not exceed Rs 2,000 per acre.

    Limitations of DSR

    • The main issue is the availability of herbicides.
    • The seed requirement for DSR is also higher, at 8-10 kg/acre, compared to 4-5 kg in transplanting.
    • Further, laser land levelling, which costs Rs 1,000/acre, is compulsory in DSR. This is not so in transplanting.
    • The yields are as good as from normal transplanting, but one need to sow by the first fortnight of June. The plants have to come out properly before the monsoon rains arrive.
    • There is no such problem in transplanting, where the saplings have already been raised in the nursery.

  • Spirulina Groundnut Chikki to boost immunity

    The Mysuru-based Central Food Technological Research Institute, CFTRI has developed Spirulina groundnut Chikki that can provide micro-nutrients and boost the immunity of people during this time of the pandemic.

    Beware, the Chikki so mentioned has no GI tag. What makes it significant is the Spirulina, a photosynthetic bacteria, which is suitable for human consumption.

    Spirulina Groundnut Chikki

    • It is a snack that provides good micro-nutrients.
    • It has used Spirulina as well as the tasty, nourishing groundnuts to prepare Chikki that is rich in micro-nutrients such as Vitamin A, Beta Carotene and easily digestible algal proteins.
    • Other nutritious snacks of CFTRI such as Nutri mango fruit bar and cardamom flavoured water is also part of the food items supplied to the migrant labourers.
    • The mango bar is rich with carbohydrates, carotene, Vitamin C and Zinc to improve the immunity.
    • Cardamom flavoured water with traditional herbs to have immune booster qualities.

    What is Spirulina?

    • Spirulina is an organism that grows in both fresh and saltwater.
    • It is a type of cyanobacteria, which is a family of single-celled microbes that are often referred to as blue-green algae.
    • It is used as a dietary supplement or whole food. It is also used as a feed supplement in the aquaculture, aquarium, and poultry industries.
    • Just like plants, cyanobacteria can produce energy from sunlight via a process called photosynthesis.

  • Toda Embroidery of the Nilgiris

    Many women and indigenous Toda artisans from the Nilgiris are producing thousands of stylish, embroidered masks for local residents, police, and sanitary workers.

    Recently, the Assamese Gamosa was in new. Now the Pukhoor Embroidery has made it into the list. Keep a note of all such handicrafts. We can expect a match the pair based prelim question.

    Toda Embroidery

    • The Toda Embroidery, also locally known as “pukhoor” is an artwork among the Toda pastoral people of Nilgiris, in Tamil Nadu, made exclusively by their women.
    • The embroidery, which has a fine finish, appears like a woven cloth but is made with the use of red and black threads with a white cotton cloth background.
    • Both sides of the embroidered fabric are usable and the Toda people are proud of this heritage.
    • This handicraft product is listed as a geographically tagged product and is protected under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act (GI Act) 1999.

    Related facts

    • The local terms used to describe the embroidery work are ‘kuty’ or ‘awtty’ meaning “stitching” and ‘kutyvoy’ meaning the embroidered piece.
    • The materials used in this work are roughly woven white cloth, woollen black and red threads with use occasionally of blue threads and manufactured needles.
    • The designs developed relate to nature and the daily cycle of life.
    • The patterns used in Toda embroidery do not cover many floral motifs but generally cover celestial bodies (like Sun and Moon), reptiles, animals, and horns of buffaloes, made in crimson and black colours.
    • Rabbit ears are a constant depiction on the boundary of the embroidered cloth. Another common design in the form of black triangles in a box design is done in honour of their first priest.
    • Women who do embroidery consider their work as a “tribute to Nature”.
    • As a traditional garment, it is worn by both men and women at all ceremonial occasions and also at funerals. Elderly people of the community wear this cloth daily.

  • [pib] BiPAP Non-Invasive Ventilator “SwasthVayu”

    National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) Bangalore, a constituent of the lab of CSIR has developed a Non-Invasive BiPAP Ventilator ‘SwasthVayu ’in a record time of 36 days to treat COVID-19 patients.

    The name ‘SwasthVayu’ can be tricky to guess, specially after some days. In prelims, UPSC may throw some options related to air pollution.

    SwasthVayu

    • A ventilator is a machine that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently.
    • BiPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure) Non-Invasive ventilator is a microcontroller-based precise closed-loop adaptive control system.
    • It is a built-in biocompatible “3D printed manifold & coupler” with HEPA filter (Highly Efficient Particulate Air Filter).

    Benefits of SwasthVayu

    • The major advantage of this machine is that it is simple to use without any specialized nursing, cost-effective, compact and configured with the majority of indigenous components.
    • This is ideal for treating COVID -19 patients in Wards, Makeshift Hospitals, dispensaries and home in current Indian COVID 19 scenario.

  • Indigenous antibody test: COVID Kavach ELISA

    Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Virology (NIV) at Pune has developed and validated the indigenous IgG ELISA test “COVID KAVACH ELISA” for antibody detection for COVID-19.

    Our thumb rule suggests that the ELISA test is being used only for the diagnosis of HIV infection. Right?

    But the ELISA test is a broader term to diagnose antibody-antigen interaction after certain virus infection to a person.  UPSC can test your basic knowledge of core biology with a question based on this concept.

    What is ELISA test?

    • ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) is a plate-based assay technique designed for detecting and quantifying substances such as peptides, proteins, antibodies and hormones.
    • Other names, such as enzyme immunoassay (EIA), are also used to describe the same technology.
    • In an ELISA, an antigen must be immobilized on a solid surface and then complexed with an antibody that is linked to an enzyme.
    • Detection is accomplished by assessing the conjugated enzyme activity via incubation with a substrate to produce a measurable product.
    • The most crucial element of the detection strategy is a highly specific antibody-antigen interaction.

    What are antibodies?

    • An antibody is a large, Y-shaped protein produced mainly by plasma cells that are used by the immune system to neutralize pathogens such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses.
    • There are five immunoglobulin classes (isotypes) of antibody molecules found in serum: IgG, IgM, IgA, IgE and IgD.
    • They are distinguished by the type of heavy chain they contain.

    Application of ELISA

    • Presence of antigen or the presence of antibody in a sample can be evaluated
    • Determination of serum antibody concentrations in a virus test
    • Used in the food industry when detecting potential food allergens
    • Applied in disease outbreaks- tracking the spread of disease e.g. HIV, bird flu, common, colds, cholera, STD etc

    Significance

    • Robust antibody tests are critical for surveillance to understand the proportion of the population exposed to infection.
    • The test will have the advantage of testing 90 samples together in a single run of 2.5 hours.
    • Moreover, ELISA based testing is easily possible even at the district level as the ELISA kit has an inactivated virus.
    • There are also minimal bio-safety and bio-security requirements as compared to the real-time RT-PCR test.
    • The test has the advantage of having much higher sensitivity and specificity as compared to the several rapid test kits which have recently flooded the Indian market.

    Limitations

    • Since the ELISA test is based on the detection of antibodies, it can only help in knowing if the person has been previously infected by a coronavirus.
    • It takes one-three weeks for the antibodies to develop in response to infection.
    • So, if a person who has been recently infected by the virus is tested during the window period (the time taken to develop antibodies) the result will turn out to be negative.
    • But a repeat test after a couple of weeks will indicate the true infection status.

    How it is different from the PCR test?

    • While the RT-PCR, which detects the RNA of the coronavirus, enables detection of current infection, it will not be useful if the testing is carried out days after the infection clears as the virus will no longer be present.
    • However, antibodies developed in response to the coronavirus infection will be present in the blood for a longer duration and hence the ELISA test can help detect past infection.
    • The maximum time the antibodies will be present in the body is not known for coronavirus.

    Back2Basics: Reverse Transcriptase – Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Test

    • It uses a technique that creates copies of a segment of DNA. ‘Polymerase’ refers to the enzymes that make the copies of DNA.
    • Kary Mullis, the American biochemist who invented the PCR technique, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1993.
    • The ‘chain reaction’ is how the DNA fragments are copied, exponentially — one is copied into two, the two are copied into four, and so on.
    • However, SARS-COV-2 is a virus made of RNA, which needs to be converted into DNA. For this, the technique includes a process called reverse transcription.
    • A ‘reverse transcriptase’ enzyme converts the RNA into DNA. Copies of the DNA are then made and amplified.
    • A fluorescent DNA binding dye called the “probe” shows the presence of the virus. The test also distinguishes SARS-COV-2 from other viruses.

  • What is African Swine Fever (ASF)?

    • Amid the coronavirus pandemic, another disease outbreak is affecting thousands of animals in Assam.
    • Since February, over 2,900 pigs have died in the state due to African Swine Fever (ASF), which does not affect humans but can be catastrophic for pigs.
    • This is the first time that an ASF outbreak has been reported in India.

    As Flu is nowadays a lot in news, keep a tab on them for prelims. Be it the Swine Flue, African Swine Fever or even H5N1.

    African Swine Fever (ASF)

    • ASF is a severe viral disease that affects wild and domestic pigs typically resulting in an acute hemorrhagic fever.
    • The disease has a case fatality rate (CFR) of about 100 per cent.
    • Its routes of transmission include direct contact with an infected or wild pig (alive or dead), indirect contact through ingestion of contaminated material such as food waste, feed or garbage or through biological vectors such as ticks.
    • The disease is characterized by the sudden deaths of pigs.
    • Other manifestations of the disease include high fever, depression, anorexia, loss of appetite, hemorrhages in the skin, vomiting and diarrhoea among others.

    How did the current outbreak start?

    • As per the latest update issued by FAO, the current outbreak of ASF has affected China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Republic of Korea and Indonesia among others.
    • In China, the first ASF outbreak was confirmed in August 2018 and since then more than 1 million pigs have been culled in the country.
    • ASF came into India through Tibet into Arunachal Pradesh and then into Assam, the state with the highest population of pigs in the country.

    How is ASF different from swine flu?

    • Swine influenza or swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs, which is caused by type A influenza virus that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza in pig populations.
    • While the swine flu causing virus leads to a high number of infections in pig herds, the disease is not as fatal and causes few deaths. Specific swine influenza vaccines are available for pigs.
    • The swine flu viruses are spread among pigs through close contact and through contaminated objects moving between infected and uninfected pigs.
    • Symptoms include fever, depression, coughing, discharge from the nose and eyes, eye redness or inflammation.

    Vaccines availability

    • As of now, there is no approved vaccine, which is also a reason why animals are culled to prevent the spread of infection.
    • It is important that determination of ASF is made through laboratory testing and it is differentiated from Classical Swine Fever (CSF), whose signs may be similar to ASF, but is caused by a different virus for which a vaccine exists.
    • Even so, while ASF is lethal, it is less infectious than other animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease.

    What is the impact ASF will have on pig farmers?

    • Pig farmers in Assam describe the outbreak as a “double whammy” since the COVID-19 lockdown was already impacting sales negatively.
    • The outbreak has ruined the prospect of the Northeastern states as a hub for the export of pork products.

  • Luhman 16A: A binary brown-dwarf system

    A group of international astrophysicists have identified cloud bands on the surface of Luhman 16A, one of a pair of binary brown dwarfs in the Vela constellation.

    Space terminology has gained importance in prelims. The Luhman 16A coupled with few more examples of space concepts like binary star and dwarf star are discussed in this newscard.

    Luhman 16A

    • Luhman 16 is a binary star system, the third closest system to the Sun after Alpha Centauri and Barnard’s star.
    • At a distance of about 6.5 light-years from the Sun, this pair of brown dwarfs referred to as Luhman 16A and Luhman 16B orbit each other, casting a dim light.
    • Brown dwarfs are also called failed stars because their masses are intermediate to the largest planets and the smallest main sequence stars.
    • Their masses being too small, they are unable to sustain fusion of their hydrogen to produce energy.
    • It is believed that some of the more massive brown dwarfs fuse deuterium or lithium and glow faintly.

    The cloud band over Luhman

    • The group, by using the Very Large Telescope at European Southern Observatory, Chile, found that Luhman 16A had band-like clouds in its atmosphere, whereas the same was not true of Luhman 16B.
    • Many astronomers detected polarization of brown dwarfs.
    • But what is special in the newest study of Luhman 16 is that the researchers have found the actual structure of the clouds — that they form bands over one of the pair.
    • Understanding the cloud system over a brown dwarf can shed light on the pressure, temperature and climate on the surface of the celestial body.

    Why it has made into a headline?

    • The researchers have used an idea put forth nearly two decades ago by Indian astrophysicist Sujan Sengupta, who works at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru.
    • Sengupta had propounded the light emitted by a cloudy brown dwarf, or reflected off an extrasolar planet, will be polarized.
    • He then suggested that a polarimetric technique could serve as a potential tool to probe the environment of these objects.

    Back2Basics: Binary Star System

    • A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common barycenter.
    • Systems of two or more stars are called multiple star systems.
    • These systems, especially when more distant, often appear to the unaided eye as a single point of light, and are then revealed as multiple by other means.
    • Binary star systems are very important in astrophysics because calculations of their orbits allow the masses of their component stars to be directly determined.