Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Science & Technology) – August 13, 2020

Launch vehicles use combustion of propellants consisting of oxidiser and fuel for deriving the energy.

• Air breathing propulsion systems use atmospheric oxygen, which is available up to about 50 km of earth’s surface to burn the fuel stored on-board thereby making the system much lighter, more efficient and cost effective.
• Air breathing propulsion is a solution for a powered long return cruise flight necessary for reusable launch vehicles.
• The collection and use of air involves challenges as the launch vehicle speeds through atmosphere at supersonic speeds.
• This calls for the development of ramjet or scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) technologies.
• The Dual Mode Ramjet (DMRJ), the ramjet-scramjet combination, is currently under development, which will operate during the crucial Mach 3 to Mach 9 ascend flight of the launch vehicle.

QZSS is a Japanese satellite positioning system composed mainly of satellites in quasi-zenith orbits (QZO).

• QZSS (Michibiki) has been in operation since November 2018 to develop a satellite positioning service that can be used stably in all locations at all times.
• This system is compatible with GPS satellites and can be utilized with them in an integrated fashion.
• In this way, the satellite positioning service environment was advanced dramatically.
• QZSS can be used even in the Asia-Oceania regions with longitudes close to Japan, so its usage will be expanded to other countries in these regions as well.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) initiated ‘Project NETRA’ – an early warning system in space to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites.

• The space agency says our SSA (space situational awareness) will first be for low-earth orbits or LEO which have remote-sensing spacecraft.
• Under NETRA, or Network for space object Tracking and Analysis, the ISRO plans to put up many observational facilities: connected radars, telescopes; data processing units and a control centre.
• They can, among others, spot, track and catalogue objects as small as 10 cm, up to a range of 3,400 km and equal to a space orbit of around 2,000 km.

India became home to the world’s first-ever thermal battery plant, which was inaugurated in Andhra Pradesh.

Conventional battery technology: is based on the system of charging/discharging cycles that are driven by electricity.

• For example, the Lithium-ion battery, a staple of many electronic devices, consists of electric charges being transferred from electrodes.
• Energy is derived from this battery, when lithium atoms turn into lithium ions (Li+), and get stored when this reaction reverses.
• Therefore, Li-ion batteries work on the basis of electrical energy.

Thermal batteries: on the other hand, use thermal energy to operate, i.e., the energy created by temperature differences.

• Therefore, the energy transfer in thermal batteries helps store heat when heat travels from one part of the battery setup to the other.
• For that to happen, a thermal battery consists of two parts: a cool zone known as sink, and a hot source called source.
• Both these sides consist of compounds known as phase-changing materials (PCMs), which can change their state of matter on the basis of a physical/chemical reaction.

To tackle the problem of space debris, a company called Tethers Unlimited has demonstrated an easy solution to get rid of satellites once they are of no use.

• The solution involves a 230-feet long strip of conductive tape, which is delightfully called the Terminator Tape.
• The Terminator Tape is a small module about the size of a notebook.
• Weighing less than two pounds, it is designed to attach to the exterior of a satellite which deploys the 230-feet long conductive tape through an electric signal from either the satellite or an independent timer unit when the satellite completes its mission and is ready to get disposed.

It is a type of genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted or replaced in the genome of an organism using artificially engineered nucleases, or “molecular scissors”.

• Human genome editing can be used to treat many human diseases & genetic disorders like HIV/AIDS, hemophilia etc.
• It could substantially bolster disease resistance in humans & increase life span.
• It could form the basis of highly efficient & cost effective next generation antibiotics (based on bacteriophage viruses).
• Gene editing can be used to protect endangered species or bring to life extinct species.
• It can be used to grow healthier food (via fortification) and increasing harvest.
• It has the potential to slow down the spread of diseases by eliminating its means of transmission. E.g. Gene editing can be used to introduce sterile mosquitoes into the environment.

TRIPs Plus are higher level of protection norms demanded by the developed countries that are not prescribed by the WTO’s TRIPs regime.

• Although they are named as ‘TRIPS-Plus,’ they are not formally related to TRIPs.
• Rather, the term is used to indicate that these requirements go beyond the minimum standards imposed by TRIPs.
• Many developing countries who are members of FTAs are under pressure to enact these tougher conditions in their patent laws.
• An example for advanced norms under TRIPs Plus is the protection demanded by developed countries for data exclusivity.

One of the most notable developments in the S&T sector in the XI Plan has been the setting up of the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) through an Act of Parliament, viz. the Science and Engineering Research Board Act, 2008.

• Promoting basic research in Science and Engineering and to provide financial assistance to persons engaged in such research, academic institutions, research and development laboratories, industrial concerns and other agencies for such research and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto are the primary and distinctive mandate of the Board.
• SERB aims to build up best management systems which would match the best global practices in the area of promotion and funding of basic research.

Microsoft HoloLens, known under development as Project Baraboo, is a stand-alone mixed reality holographic headset specifically designed to be used on the Windows 10 platform.

• HoloLens allows users to experience 3D holographic images as though they are a part of their environment.
• It can help doctors to see through the organs and tissues in the operating theatre.

The Shahi Litchi, a speciality of the north Bihar district of Muzaffarpur which earned the Geographical Indication tag a couple of years ago, stands apart from other varieties by virtue of its unique fragrance, extra-juicy pulp and smaller-than-usual seed.