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Current Affairs - June 2020

Month June 2020 Type Science and Technology

40 Current Affairs were found in Month - June 2020 for Type - Science and

Technology

Science 1. A National Centre of and Ocean Research (NCPOR) Research found a dramatic decline in Arctic sea ice due to global warming, leading to localized increase in evaporation, air humidity, cloud cover, and rainfall. NCPOR noted that largest decline in Arctic sea ice in the past 41 years happened in July 2019. In last 40 years (1979-2018), sea ice has been declining at a rate of ‘-4.7%’ per decade, while its rate was found to be ‘-13%’ in July 2019. If this continues, there would be no ice left in the Arctic sea by 2050, which would be dangerous for humanity. Worrying element is that volume of ice formation during winters is unable to keep pace with volume of ice loss during summers. 2. A study of a microscopic ancient marine algae (Coccolithophores) led by National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) has found that there is a decrease in concentration of oceanic calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in Southern Indian ocean. It is attributed to increase in concentration of another single-celled algae known as diatoms. This will affect growth and skeleton structure of coccolithophores, with potential significance for world ocean ecosystem. Coccolithophores are single-celled algae living in the upper layers of the world's oceans, playing key role in marine ecosystems and global carbon cycle. Coccolithophores calcify marine phytoplankton that produces up to 40% of open ocean calcium carbonate and responsible for 20% of global net marine primary productivity. Coccolithophores also help remove CO2 from atmosphere and ocean by consuming it during photosynthesis. Research revealed that reduction of coccolithophore diversity in early summer and late summer periods is due to an increase in presence of diatom algae, which occurs after sea ice breakdown with climate change and ocean acidification, and increases silicate concentration in Southern Ocean. Results point to climate change as a major reason for the altered coccolithophore calcification rate. 3. A study of space weather storms over India by Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) found that the occurrence of equatorial spread F (ESF) irregularities and GPS scintillations are significantly affected by geomagnetic storms depending upon time of onset of geomagnetic storm. Earth's magnetic field lines are nearly horizontal over magnetic equator due to which equatorial ionosphere is a bed for a variety of plasma instabilities to cause plasma disturbances and plasma irregularities. These irregularities pose severe problems to communication and navigation systems. Understanding thermosphere‐ionosphere-magnetosphere interactions that control electrodynamics behind dynamical evolution of ionospheric irregularities under disturbed periods like geomagnetic storms is important in developing communication / navigation systems. 4. Amid tremendous increase in demand of transparent conducting glasses (TCG) with high light transparency, Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences Bengaluru (CeNS) has developed a novel recipe for fabrication of TCG which brings down its production cost by 80% compared to tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) based technology which is currently in use. Newly fabricated TCG consists of metal mesh on a glass substrate with thin overlayers of metal oxides. The design is attractive as hybrid electrode possesses excellent conductive property of metal mesh while offering an oxide surface finish for conductive glass. 5. Astronaumers discovered a rare space object that looks like both asteroid and comet, called Active Asteroid and named 2019 LD2. It has an orbit like an asteroid and a tail like a comet. It shares orbit of Jupiter and is a part of asteroid swarm called Jupiter Trojans. This object is first that emits gas just like a comet. The asteroid was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). This discovery also provides that Jupiter Trojans have large amounts of ice beneath their surfaces. Active Asteroids are celestial bodies that look like comet and have asteroid like orbit. The first active asteroid discovered was Elst Pizarro. 6. Astronomers at Nainital Based Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) found that of varied ages can co-exist in open clusters. This challenges earlier understanding that stars in an have the same age. Scientists measured light from three poorly studied open clusters NGC 381, NGC 2360, and Berkeley 68 observed using the 1.3-m telescope at Devasthal. They found two different stellar evolutionary sequences in cluster NGC 2360, which has been observed in very few open clusters in Milky Way until now. Clusters are found to be relatively older, having ages between 446 Million years to 1778 million years. Researchers also stated that mass distributions of stars belonging to clusters have shown preferential distribution of massive stars in inner part of clusters, while low mass stars are found towards outer region of clusters. It is believed that some of the very low mass stars have in fact, left their parent clusters and may be roaming as a free like our own . Their study lent important insight about the stellar and dynamical evolution of these clusters. 7. Fossilized millipede-like Silurian Period creature called Kampecaris obanensis(approximately 450 million years old) is discovered on island of Kerrera in Scottish Inner Hebrides(Scotland), which is likely to be world’s oldest-known land animal. Fossils of oldest-known plant with a stem, called Cooksonia, were also found in the same ancient lake region as Kampecaris. 8. IIT-Bombay Researchers created Indian beneficiary chip “Dhruva”, which can be utilized in cell phones and route gadgets to discover locations and route inside India. Dhruva will get signals from India’s NAVIC group of navigation satellites. 9. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) received a patent for its Liquid Cooling and Heating Garment (LCHG), a protective garment for human spaceflight. It is a close fitting long garment that covers entire body as a single piece lightweight comfort inner wear. 10. Institute of Microbial Technology Chandigarh (IMTECH) validated clinical utility of Foldscope in diagnosis of diseases using various patient samples. Study evaluated use of Foldscope in clinical diagnosis of oral and urinary tract infections and evaluated its efficacy as a motivational tool for improving oral health among school children in India. Study identifies that Foldscope is particularly convenient to diagnose urinary tract infection (UTI) and monitor kidney stone. Using this tool, one can easily monitor own-kidney stone status at home with a simple glass-slide, a Foldscope and a phone in hand. Such monitoring could perhaps avoid kidney stone reaching a painful state or surgery in recurring cases. 11. International Researchers (Including researchers from Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences Nainital (ARIES)), are observing changes in a very high energy gamma-ray emitting blazar ‘1ES 0806+524’ using seven optical telescopes. A blazar is a feeding super-massive black-hole (SMBH) in heart of a distant galaxy that produces a high-energy jet viewed face-on from Earth. Study explained large flares as result of propagation of a shock in relativistic jet that accelerates electrons to high energies followed by subsequent cooling. 12. Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) and Breathe Applied Sciences, a company incubated at JNCASR for transfer of technology based on lab-scale research on reducing CO2 to methanol and other useful chemicals and fuels. In pilot mode, the current capacity of CO2 conversion is 300 kg per day, which can be scaled upto 500 tons in an industrial scale, within a year. 13. NASA Stated that 5 Asteroids passed by Earth Safely on June 3, Including 170 feet wide 2020 KE4 as nearest flyer. It passed by Earth within a distance of 0.01966 astronomical units (1.8 Miles approx). 14. NASA and Italian Space Agency Research state that Saturn’s moon Titan has been moving away from its host hundred times faster than previously understood, at rate of about 4 inches (11 centimeters) every year. Moon starts drifting away from its host planet because as a moon orbits, its pulls on a planet which causes a temporary bulge in planet as it passes. With time, energy created by subsiding and bulging, transfers from planet to moon and nudging it farther out. Our own moon drifts 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) from the Earth each year. While scientists have known that Saturn was formed 4.6 billion years ago, there has been more of an uncertainty about planet’s rings and when its system of more than 80 moons was formed. Titan is currently 1.2 million kilometers from Saturn. Revised drift Data has suggested that moon started out much closer to Saturn, meaning that whole system expanded more quickly than previously believed. 15. NASA discovered youngest known (a type of ) named “Swift J1818.0-1607” about 16,000 light years away from Earth - It belongs to a special class of objects called “”, estimated to be 240 years old. It has a magnetic field up to 1,000 times stronger than a typical neutron star and about 100 million times stronger than the most powerful magnets made by humans. It was first discovered in March 2020 by NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory when when a large amount of X-rays were emitted by it. European Space Agency and NASA then studied this magnetar and found that it was the youngest one. 16. NASA unveiled first results of Bose-Einstein condensate experiments under which particles can be manipulated free from Earthly constraints. Bose-Einstein Condensates were predicted by Indian Mathematician Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein almost a century ago. 5th State (BEC) is a state of matter that is typically formed when a gas of bosons is cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero. Absolute Zero is the temperature at which the entropy and enthalpy of cooled gas reach their minimum value. Other 4 States of matter are solid, liquid, gas and plasma. 17. National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) and Goa University (GU) synthesized gold nanoparticles (GNPs) using psychrotolerant Antarctic bacteria through a non-toxic, low-cost, and eco-friendly way. Through this study, NCPOR and GU have established that 20-30-nm-sized spherical-shaped GNPs could be synthesized in a controlled environment. These GNPs can be used as a composite therapeutic agent clinical trials, especially in anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-diabetic, and cholesterol-lowering drugs. The NCPOR-GU study revealed genotoxic effect of GNPs on a sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB). GNPs displayed enough anti-bacterial properties by inhibiting the growth of SRB and its sulphide production by damaging genetic information of DNA of bacterial cell. Genotoxicity describes property of a chemical agent that is capable of damaging genetic information of DNA and causing mutation of cell, which can lead to cancer. 18. National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) predicts that there would be a 24% increase in expansion of Ameri Ice Shelf (AIS) boundaries by 2021 and another 24% expansion by 2026 from its 2016 positions. Study would help understand ongoing changes in the ocean and atmospheric forces better. Ice shelves connect a glacier to the landmass. AIS is one of the largest glacier drainage basins in world, located on the east coast of Antarctica. AIS dynamics and mass balance help in understanding changes in the global climate. It becomes clear from study that the AIS is losing its stability owing to the impact of a downstream giant glacial drainage system over past 19 years, thereby advancing ice shelf boundaries due to higher freezing rates than basal melting. NCPOR also estimated rate at which ice shelves have extended for the last three years (2017-2019). The AIS extended by about 550 m in 2017, 1470 m in 2018, and 2200 m in 2019. If this continues, it is possible that by 2026, positions of ice shelf would closely coincide with actual boundary conditions. NCPOR observations also revealed a critical cooling of sea surface temperature (SST), resulting in an advancement of ice shelf by 88% in past 15 years. These changes would contribute in a major way to climate variability. 19. New fish species called Schizothorax sikusirumensis has been discovered in Arunachal Pradesh, with its name derived from names of rivers where fish was found - River Sirum and River Siku. 20. RedDots team of astronomers Research led by University of Göttingen (Germany) detected a system of super-Earth orbiting the nearby star Gliese 887, the brightest star in the sky. Super-Earths are planets which have mass higher than Earth but substantially below those of our local ice giants, Uranus and Neptune. Team monitored red dwarf, using HARPS spectrograph at European Southern Observatory in Chile. They used a technique known as "Doppler wobble", which enables measuring tiny back and forth wobbles of star caused by gravitational pull of planets. Regular signals correspond to orbits of just 9.3 and 21.8 days, indicating two super-Earths - Gliese 887b and Gliese 887c - both larger than Earth yet moving rapidly. Gliese 887 is one of closest stars to the Sun at around 11 light years away. 21. Researchers at Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences Nainital (ARIES) found that aerosol radiative forcing larger than global averages, implying some amount of radiative effects, in spite of clean atmosphere over trans-Himalayas. Study shows that monthly-mean atmospheric radiative forcing of aerosols leads to heating rates of 0.04 to 0.13 C per day. Also, temperature over Ladakh region is increasing 0.3 to 0.4 degrees Celsius per decades from the last 3 decades. Atmospheric aerosols play a key role in climate system through scattering and absorption of incoming solar radiation and by modifying cloud microphysics. Team analysed variability of aerosol optical, physical and radiative properties from January 2008 to December 2018 and role of fine and coarse particles in aerosol radiative forcing (ARF) assessment. Observations show that aerosol optical depth (AOD) exhibited a distinct seasonal variation with higher values (0.07) in May and lower (0.03) in winter months. Study can help better understand aerosol optical and microphysical properties and improve modelling of aerosol effects in view of aerosol-climate implications. 22. Researchers at Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute have found a rare fish from the Gulf of Mannar, named Scorpaenospsis neglecta and locally called Scorpion Fish, for its venomous tail. Gulf of Mannar is a shallow bay in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and India. A Chain of low islands and reefs called Ram Sethu separates Gulf of Mannar from Palk Bay. 23. Researchers at IIT Mandi developed a herbal infusion technology, as a source of income for local marginal farmers in the mid- Himalayas. Technology is ready to license industries interested in working with Enabling Women of Kamand (EWOK)- a rural incubator at IIT Mandi. 24. Researchers at University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy (US) unveiled magnetic field of solar corona, outermost atmosphere of the Sun which expands into interplanetary space. Charged particles radiating from surface of sun is called solar wind and expands to fills the . Corona is most easily seen during a total solar eclipse – when the Moon is directly between Earth and Sun. Magnetic field lines of solar corona were recorded for over 14 eclipses that occurred in 2 decades. Study found that pattern of coronal magnetic field lines is highly structured, which is changing with time. During periods of minimum solar activity, corona's field emanated almost straight out of Sun near equator and poles. During solar maximum, coronal magnetic field was far less organized and more radial. Earlier, it was assumed that coronal magnetic field is radial beyond 2.5 solar radii. Study found that coronal magnetic field is non-radial to at least 4 solar radii. 25. Researchers discovered a new planet named KOI-456.04 & its host star called Kepler-160 by using Kepler Space Telescope, described as “mirror image” of earth and sun. Exoplanet KOI-456.04, which is less than twice the size of Earth, orbits its star located some 3,000 light-years away from us and it takes approximately 378 days to complete one orbit. 26. Researchers from Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) discovered a 1100-year-old monolithic sandstone Shiva linga, at Cham Temple Complex located in My Son Sanctuary of Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. It was Built by the kingdom of Champa, between 4th to 13th century. 27. Researchers from IIT Madras and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru have identified a specific microRNA (miRNAs) called ‘miR-155’ that is over-expressed in tongue cancer. This finding is important in that molecular strategies can potentially be devised to manipulate miR-155 expression to develop therapeutics for tongue cancer. The main function of miRNA is to silence the expression of the other genes. If the silence oncogenes then the cancer will be suppressed. On the other hand, if they suppress tumour suppressor gene, the cancer will progress. Accordingly, miRNA can act as oncogenes or tumour suppressor genes depending on what they act upon. 28. Researchers from World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) claimed to have discovered fossil of a stegodon — a now-extinct elephant species known as Proboscideans — believed to be 5 to 8 million years old from Badshahi Bagh area of Shivalik range in Saharanpur district (Uttar Pradesh). Presence of stegodons shows the existence of dense forests and lots of river channels in the area during that time. 29. Researchers from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology Dehradun (WIHG) traced paleoclimatic history of Indus River in Ladakh Himalaya - They studied discharge during periods in which river experienced an increase in land elevation, due to deposition of sediment) and its incision. Researchers observed that aggradation in Himalayan rivers occurred in glacial-interglacial transient warm climatic conditions (33–21 ka and 17–14 ka) when sediment budget in rivers increased just after glacial events. Study shows that aggradation took place in Indus River when sediment to water ratio was higher during MIS-3 (Marine isotope stages (MIS), marine oxygen-isotope stages, are alternating warm and cool periods in Earth's paleoclimate. 30. Researchers stated that fossil named The Thing, which was found in 2011, on Seymour Island of Antarctica, is the second-largest egg in terms of size (29 by 20 centimeters) that has been discovered to date. It is second largest to the Madagascan Elephant Bird (extinct) egg and also the largest soft-shelled egg on record. The fossil, since its discovery in 2011, was kept at a museum in Chile and was named ‘The Thing’, as for over next 7 years scientists kept on trying to resolve the football-sized mysterious fossil. Scientists stated that the animal that had laid the egg could be up to 17 meters tall and at least 7 meters long, possibly a Mosasaur. 31. Russian Company S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (RSC Energia) will take first tourist for a spacewalk in 2023, RSC Energia signed a deal with US Based Space Adventures. RSC Energia is a part of the Roscosmos (Russia’s space agency). As per the deal, two tourists will be sent to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2023. In 2001, Dennis Tito (US businessman) became the World’s First Private Space Explorer (first paying space tourist in the world). 32. Scientists at Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST) found a new process for synthesizing crystalline rubrene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-based thin film which can be useful for development of optoelectronic devices and preparation of Electronic Skin (E-Skin). New synthesis is a water-free, solvent-free, environmentally friendly one-step plasma process. A highly uniform pin-hole- free thin film can be deposited by this process, which is useful for fabrication of high-end devices. Study revealed that centro-symmetric rubrene crystal has a thin amorphous oxide layer formed over crystalline film. This induces surface layer polarization effect leading to pyro-phototronic effect. Formation of crystalline rubrene at sufficiently high Radio Frequency(RF) plasma power confirmed that with increasing applied RF power, a phase transition from amorphous to crystalline rubrene can be obtained. 33. Scientists at Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology Guwahati (IASST) developed an artificial intelligence (AI) based algorithm, for rapid diagnosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma. 4 candidate pre-trained models, namely Alexnet, VGG-16, VGG-19, and Resnet-50, were chosen to find the most suitable model for the classification problem, and a proposed convolutional neural network (CNN) model developed to fit the problem. Although the highest classification accuracy of 92.15% was achieved by the Resnet-50 model, the experimental findings highlight that the proposed CNN model outperformed the transfer learning approaches displaying accuracy of 97.5%. Around 16.1% of all cancers amongst men and 10.4% amongst women are oral cancer, and the picture is all the more alarming in NE India. 34. Scientists at Institute of Nano Science & Technology (INST) developed a nanotechnology-based industry-friendly and low-cost method for production of antiepileptic drug ‘Rufinamide’. Researchers developed a new recyclable copper-oxide catalyst, which plays a crucial role in the key reaction for producing Rufinamide drug. Existing technology has an inherent selectivity issue, which often leads to unwanted non-drug isomer. This necessitates use of organic solvent, high temperature, and need to purify and separate soluble catalyst, leading to high production costs. In new method, unlike traditional CuSO4 catalyst, newly designed catalyst comprising of very small-sized (3-5 nm) CuI and CuII is so reactive that reaction can be conducted efficiently under aqueous condition and at room temperature. The developed catalyst is also useful for other organic transformation reactions. It can also be commercialized for academic use. 35. Scientists at International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI) developed a rare-earth- based magnetocaloric material that can be effectively used for cancer treatment. Magnetic hyperthermia tries to address issues of side effects of cancer treatment like chemotherapy. In it, magnetic nanoparticles are subjected to alternating magnetic fields of few Gauss, which produces heat. Temperature required to kill tumor cells is between 40 - 45°C. However, magnetic hyperthermia lacks control of temperature, which may damage healthy cells. These problems can be avoided by using magnetocaloric materials, as it can provide controlled heating. 36. Scientists at International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI) developed new environment friendly way to shape ceramics through 3D printing with Methyl Cellulose. Ceramic parts are produced from powder formulations with additives using various shaping processes followed by post thermal treatments. High-end applications require complex geometries with micro-features, which is major limitation of ceramic shaping process. 3D printing offers new possibilities for near-net shaping. However, 3D process is only a shaping procedure, and property of final part depends on composition and microstructure, which are dictated by thermal processing after printing. Hence, optimization of processing parameters with respect to flow properties and tailoring of defect-free microstructures have been challenging. ARCI team used thermal gelation property of methylcellulose (MC), and demonstrated 3D printing of advanced ceramics with MgAl2O4 spinel. Based on results, team carried out 3D printing using a moldable paste with a concentration of 0.25% of methylcellulose having shear-thinning rheology. 37. Scientists from Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences Bengaluru (CeNS) synthesised a series of novel photo-sensitive cholesteric liquid crystals at room temperature for widest thermal range, which can be used to make optical storage devices such as optically rewritable boards, advertising boards etc. Liquid crystals are widely used in devices such as computers, mobiles, TV screens, etc. If such cholesteric liquid crystals are made photo-sensitive, then these materials can be used for optical storage devices and other related applications. Team synthesised these novel photo-sensitive cholesteric liquid crystals for temperature range from -10oC to 160oC. Hence, devices made using these liquid crystals can be used in Syberia to Saudi Arabia where extreme temperatures were reported. This will help bring down cost of the devices with a simple yet powerful photoisomerisation concept. 38. Scientists from Institute of Nano Science & Technology Mohali (INST) synthesized a novel inorganic-organic hybrid compound that can inhibit breast, lung, and liver cancer cells, opening up new possibilities for metallodrugs. The solid compound based on phosphomolybdate cluster, an inorganic salt of phosphomolybdic acid, belongs to the Polyoxometalates (POMs) family, which had earlier been identified to have antitumor potential. 39. Scientists from Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS) found out a low cost and efficient way to generate from water using Molybdenum dioxide as a catalyst. Molybdenum dioxide (MoO2) nanomaterials annealed in hydrogen atmosphere can act as efficient catalysts to reduce energy input to bring about water splitting with great efficiency. Electrolytic splitting of water is a promising method to generate hydrogen but requires energy input that can be brought down in presence of a catalyst. Molybdenum dioxide can replace currently employed catalyst Pt, which is expensive and has limited resources. Need - Hydrogen is considered as future of clean and sustainable energy as it can be generated from water and produces water on energy generation without any carbon footprint. 40. Study by Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) that detected presence of singly ionised fluorine for the first time in the atmospheres of hot Extreme Helium Stars, makes strong case that main formation of these objects involves a merger of a carbon- oxygen (CO) and a Helium (He) . An extreme or EHe is a low-mass supergiant that is almost devoid of hydrogen, the most common of . Origin and evolution of these Hydrogen deficient objects have been shrouded in mystery. Research showed fluorine abundances determined from singly ionized fluorine (F II) lines suggest a very high enrichment of fluorine, about a factor of 100 to 10000 times higher than normal stars. Fluorine plays a very crucial role in this regard to determine the actual evolutionary sequence of these hydrogen deficient objects. Detection of enhanced fluorine abundances in the atmospheres of hot EHes solves a decade-old mystery about their formation. It firmly places hot EHes in an evolutionary sequence with cool EHes and other hydrogen-deficient stars and zeros in on evolutionary scenario, which involves merger of two double degenerate white dwarfs (WDs). Top

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