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Subject: Science and Technology

  • NavIC navigation system

     

    Qualcomm Technologies has released chipsets, supporting India’s own GPS system ‘Navigation with Indian Constellation’ (NavIC).

    New androids to be equipped with NavIC

    • The Qualcomm chipsets now supports up to 7 satellite constellations at the same time, including the use of all of NavIC’s operating satellites.
    • These enhancements will enable select mobile, automotive and IoT platforms to better serve key industries and technology ecosystems in the region.
    • It will help improve user experience for location-based applications especially in dense urban environments where geolocation accuracy tends to degrade, said the company earlier.

    About NavIC

    • The name NavIC was given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after successful launch of the seventh navigation satellite, in April, 2016.
    • To date, ISRO has built a total of nine satellites in the IRNSS series, of which eight are currently in orbit.
    • The constellation is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1,500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area.
    • It is designed to provide two types of services – Standard Positioning Service (SPS), which is provided to all users and Restricted Service (RS), which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorised users.
    • The system is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 m in the primary service area.

    For more readings about NAVIC, navigate to the page:

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/navic-navigation-in-indian-constellation/

  • Species in news: Natrialba Swarupiae

    • Scientists at the National Centre for Microbial Resource — National Centre for Cell Science (NCMR-NCCS) in Pune have reported a new archaeon (a kind of microorganism), which they discovered in Sambhar Salt Lake in Rajasthan.
    • The new archaeon has been named Natrialba swarupiae, after Dr Renu Swarup, secretary, Department of Biotechnology, for her initiative in supporting microbial diversity studies in the country.

    Archaea

    • Archaea (singular archaeon) are a primitive group of microorganisms that thrive in extreme habitats such as hot springs, cold deserts and hypersaline lakes.
    • These slow-growing organisms are also present in the human gut, and have a potential relationship with human health.
    • They are known for producing antimicrobial molecules, and for anti-oxidant activity with applications in eco-friendly waste-water treatment.
    • Archaea are extremely difficult to culture due to challenges in providing natural conditions in a laboratory setting.
    • As archaea are relatively poorly studied, very little is known about how archaea behave in the human body.
    • The organism has potential gene clusters that helps maintain the metabolism of the archaea to survive in extreme harsh conditions.

    Search and discovery

    • Sambhar Lake has been poorly studied for microbial ecology studies.
    • With a salt production of 0.2 million tonnes per annum, it is also a hypersaline ecosystem which provides an opportunity for microbial ecologists to understand organisms that thrive in such concentrations.

  • [pib] Establishment of Chairs named after eminent Women in Universities

     

    On the occasion of National Girl Child Day, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has set up 10 Chairs in different fields with an aim to carry out research activities to encourage women.

    Chairs named after eminent Women

    • The initiative is called “the Establishment of Chairs in the Universities in the name of eminent women administrators, artists, scientists and social reformers”.
    • It is being launched with the assistance of University Grants Commission (UGC).
    • The main objective is to inspire women to pursue higher education and to achieve excellence in their area of work.
    • The financial implications of the proposal is Rs. 50 lakh per Chair per year and the total expenditure for establishing ten Chairs will be approximately Rs. Rs. 5 crore per annum.
    • The Chairs are to be established for a period of 5 years initially as per the guidelines.

    The chairs proposed by UGC and approved by the Ministry are as under:

    S. No. Subject Proposed name of chair
    1. Administration Devi Ahilyabai Holkar
    2. Literature Mahadevi Varma
    3. Freedom Fighter (North East) Rani Gaidinliu
    4. Medicine & Health Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi
    5. Performing Art Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi
    6. Forest/Wildlife Conservation Amrita Devi (Beniwal)
    7. Mathematics Lilavati
    8. Science Kamala Sohonie
    9. Poetry & Mysticism Lal Ded
    10. Educational Reforms Hansa Mehta

     Functions of these chairs

    • Academic functions of the Chairs will be to engage in research and, in turn, contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the area of the study, strengthen the role of university/academics in public policy making etc.
    • The University will review the progress of the Chair annually and submit a final report on the activities and outcome of the Chair to the UGC after five years.
    • However, the UGC may undertake the exercise of reviewing the Chair for its continuance, at any stage.

  • [op-ed of the day] Lady Gaganaut

    Context

    The first gaganaut-Vyomamitra- to head for space in an Indian craft will not be human, but humanoid.

    What Vyomamitra would do on spaceflight?

    • Test the technological environment: Vyomamitra unveiled by ISRO will fly two missions to test the technological environment which human gaganauts will inhabit on India’s first demonstration of human spaceflight in 2022.
      • She will test the systems and instruments that they would use.
      • Vyomamitra cannot test the cabin ecosystem,  as she would not be able to breathe the air.
      • Other functions: Vyomamitra is perfectly capable of issuing commands, activating switches and, obviously, communicating with earth.
    • Give company to human travellers: Her prototype has already chatted with people at the Isro event where she was introduced to the public, and future iterations will be able to give company to human travellers at the loneliest frontier.

    A shift from sending animals to humanoids

    • Performing roles previously performed by animals: Vyomamitra will be executing the pioneering role which has traditionally been given to animals – testing systems for survivability.
      • Fruit flies and monkeys were the first beings to lift off, riding V2 rockets with devices monitoring their vital signs.
    • Why using humanoid is more useful: Using a humanoid robot is more useful because it can be used to replicate the behavioural and operational responses of a human.
      • Indeed, robots need not remain pioneers testing survivability, or assistants to the human crew, but are expected to crew missions that are too prolonged or too dangerous for a human pilot.

    Opportunities and the future of AI-powered humanoid

    • Russian robot in space: As India prepared for human flight, in August 2019, the Russian space agency Roscosmos sent up the anthropomorphic robot Skybot F-850 to dock with the International Space Station.
      • The mission has been halted because of technical issues.
      • Goals beyond survivability testing: If the nation which pioneered human spaceflight with Yuri Gagarin’s mission in 1961 is sending humanoid robots into space, survivability testing is not the only legitimate goal of missions powered by artificial intelligence and robotics.
    • Opportunity to develop new technologies: Humanoid in space also provide opportunities to test and develop these technologies under circumstances that do not prevail on earth.
      • The inputs, goals and skills learned are different and while AI on earth specifically focuses on creating systems which do not think like humans,
    • Human-like AI system need of industry: The space industry would value systems that are human-like, to stand in for crew.

    Conclusion

    Vyomamitra represents the very first iteration of AI in space, and later generations could prove to be as essential for spaceflight as cryogenic engines.

     

     

  • Vyom Mitra: ISRO’s half-humanoid

     

    ISRO unveiled its first ‘woman’ astronaut during the event ‘Human Spaceflight and Exploration’.

    Vyom Mitra

    • The AI-based robotic system is being developed at a robotics lab at the VSSC in Thiruvananthapuram.
    • Vyom Mitra will be used for an unmanned flight of ISRO’s GSLV III rocket in December 2020, which, along with a second unmanned flight in July 2021.
    • This will serve as the test of ISRO’s preparedness for its maiden manned space mission, Gaganyaan, being targeted for 2022 to mark 75 years of India’s independence.

    Functions of the humanoid

    • Vyommitra, equipped with a head, two arms and a torso, is built to mimic crew activity inside the crew module of Gaganyaan.
    • Attaining launch and orbital postures, responding to the environment, generating warnings, replacing carbon dioxide canisters, operating switches, monitoring of the crew module, receiving voice commands, responding via speech (bilingual) are among its functions listed.
    • It will have a human-like face, with lips synchronised for movement to mimic speech.
    • Once it is fully developed, Vyommitra will be able to use equipment on board the spacecraft’s crew module, like safety mechanisms and switches, as well as receive and act on commands sent from ground stations.

  • Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) in Hawaii

     

    India, a partner in the construction of one of the largest telescopes in the world, TMT, has said it wants the project to be moved out of the proposed site at Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano in Hawaii.

    Thirty Metre Telescope

    • The TMT is a proposed astronomical observatory with an extremely large telescope (ELT) that has become the source of controversy over its planned location on Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii in the US state of Hawaii.
    • It is being built by an international collaboration of government organisations and educational institutions, at a cost of $1.4 billion.
    • “Thirty Metre” refers to the 30-metre diameter of the mirror, with 492 segments of glass pieced together, which makes it three times as wide as the world’s largest existing visible-light telescope.
    • The larger the mirror, the more light a telescope can collect, which means, in turn, that it can “see” farther, fainter objects.
    • It would be more than 200 times more sensitive than current telescopes and would be able to resolve objects 12 times better than the Hubble Space Telescope.

    Utility of the telescope

    • One of its key uses will be the study of exoplanets, many of which have been detected in the last few years, and whether their atmospheres contain water vapour or methane — the signatures of possible life.
    • For the first time in history, this telescope will be capable of detecting extraterrestrial life.
    • The study of black holes is another objective.
    • While these have been observed in detail within the Milky Way, the next galaxy is 100 times farther away; the TMT will help bring them closer.

  • Corona Virus

     

    Chinese scientists have confirmed can spread between human beings.

    Corona Virus

    • Corona viruses are large family of viruses, which cause illnesses to people and also circulate in animals including camels, cats and bats.
    • They cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
    • 2019-nCoV is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.
    • Much remains to be understood about the new coronavirus, which was first identified in China earlier this month.
    • Not enough is known about 2019-nCoV to draw definitive conclusions about how it is transmitted, clinical features of disease, or the extent to which it has spread. The source also remains unknown.

    Why is it called the Wuhan Virus?

    • The first cases emerged in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province.
    • On December 31 last year, authorities confirmed that a large number of patients with unexplained pneumonia were admitted in hospitals in the city.

    Symptoms of infection

    • According to the WHO, common signs include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Serious infections can lead to pneumonia, kidney failure, and death.
    • Although human-to-human transmission has now been confirmed, the WHO says animals are the outbreak’s likely primary source. It is not known yet which animals are responsible.
    • To prevent the spread of all respiratory infections, the WHO in general asks people to cover their mouths and noses when coughing or sneezing, and to frequently wash their hands.
    • Direct contact with farm or wild animals should be avoided — similar outbreaks in the past, like the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) emerged from markets where people were in contact with live animals.

    Why is there concern around the world?

    • People see a similarity with the SARS outbreak that infected over 8,000 people and killed around 775 in more than 35 countries worldwide in 2002-03.
    • SARS too, was caused by a mystery coronavirus, and started in China.
    • The source of the virus remained unknown for 15 years, until Chinese scientists in 2017 traced it back to a colony of horseshoe bats living in remote cave in Yunnan province.
    • The virus was carried by civet cats which are sold in markets in China.
    • Fears that SARS could reappear and memories of China misleading the rest of the world on the extent and seriousness of the outbreak have not gone away.

  • Xenobot

    Scientists in the US have created the world’s first “living machines” — tiny robots built from the cells of the African clawed frog that can move around on their own.

    Xenobot

    • Scientists have developed living robots from frogs stem cells.
    • They have named this millimetre-wide robots “xenobots” — after the species of aquatic frog found across sub-Saharan Africa from Nigeria and Sudan to South Africa, Xenopus laevis.
    • Scientists have repurposed living cells scraped from frog embryos and assembled them into entirely new life-forms.
    • The xenobots can move toward a target, perhaps pick up a payload (like a medicine that needs to be carried to a specific place inside a patient) — and heal themselves after being cut.

  • IVF of White Rhinos

    Researchers had created another embryo — the third — of the nearly extinct northern white rhino. This is seen as a remarkable success in an ongoing global mission to keep the species from going extinct.

    What is IVF?

    • IVF is a type of assisted reproductive technology used for infertility treatment and gestational surrogacy.
    • A fertilised egg may be implanted into a surrogate’s uterus, and the resulting child is genetically unrelated to the surrogate.
    • Some countries have banned or otherwise regulate the availability of IVF treatment, giving rise to fertility tourism.
    • Restrictions on the availability of IVF include costs and age, in order for a woman to carry a healthy pregnancy to term.
    • IVF is generally not used until less invasive or expensive options have failed or been determined unlikely to work.

    IVF process

    • In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilization where an egg is combined with sperm outside the body, in vitro (“in glass”).
    • The process involves monitoring and stimulating a female ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from the female ovaries and letting sperm fertilise them in a liquid in a laboratory.
    • After the fertilised egg (zygote) undergoes embryo culture for 2–6 days, it is implanted in the same or another female uterus, with the intention of establishing a successful pregnancy.

    Types of Rhinos

    • The northern white is one of the two subspecies of the white (or square-lipped) rhinoceros, which once roamed several African countries south of the Sahara.
    • The other subspecies, the southern white is, by contrast, the most numerous subspecies of rhino, and is found primarily in South Africa.
    • There is also the black (or hook-lipped) rhinoceros in Africa, which too, is fighting for survival, and at least three of whose subspecies are already extinct.
    • The Indian rhinoceros is different from its African cousins, most prominently in that it has only one horn.
    • There is also a Javan rhino, which too, has one horn, and a Sumatran rhino which, like the African rhinos, has two horns.

  • Drone Census

    India’s first drone census has seen only 2,500 Ownership Acknowledgment Numbers (OANs) being issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) since five days of beginning.

    Drone Census

    • The MoCA had issued a notice providing a one-time opportunity for voluntary disclosure of all drones and operators starting from January 14.
    • The DGCA issued the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), Section 3 – Air Transport Series X, Part I, Issue I, dated August 27, 2018 regulates use of drones.
    • It provides the process for obtaining Unique Identification Number, Unmanned Aircraft Operator Permit (UAOP) and other operational requirements; there are drones that do not comply with the CAR.
    • If a drone is not enlisted by 5 p.m. on January 31, then it will most definitely be confiscated.
    • After January 31, only authorised retailers will be allowed to sell them after uploading buyers’ Know your Customer (KYC) and sale invoice, similar to the sale of mobile phones and cars.

    Why such move?

    • The exercise will give the government a picture of who owns what kind of drone in which part of the country.
    • It will help in making policy decisions that should ideally become the base for understanding the scale of operations.