Science and Technology Crux Vol. 07
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aspirantforum.com ScienceNews and for Tech.July-Sep 2016 The Crux of The Hindu Vol. 07 News of July-Sep 16 Vol. 07 Important News in the field of Space Atomic Energy Environment and Ecology Health and Medicine Bio-Technology Computer and IT Defence Agriculture Miscellaneous aspirantforum.com: ASPIRANT FORUM : Vol. 07 July.-JSep Vol. AN INITIATIVE BY UPSC ASPIRANTS Visit Aspirantforum.com for guidance and study material for IAS Exam. aspirantforum.com Science and Tech. The Crux of The Hindu Vol. 07 News of July-Sep 16 Aspirant Forum is a Community for the UPSC Contents Civil Services (IAS) Aspirants, to discuss and debate the various things related to the exam. We welcome an active Space.........................................4 participation from the fellow members to enrich the Atomic Energy.........................14 knowledge of all. Environment and Ecology.......22 Health and Medicine...............33 Compiled and Edited by Karuna Thakur Shakeel Anwar Bio-Technology.......................42 Designed by: Computer and IT......................47 Anupam Rastogi Defence....................................48 Agriculture...............................54 The Science and Tech. Crux will be published online Miscellaneous..........................57 for free for every three months. We appreciate the friends and followers for apprepreciating our effort. For any queries, guidance needs and support, Please contact at: [email protected] You may also follow our website Aspirantforum.comaspirantforum.com for free online coaching and guidance for IAS Vol. 07 July.-JSep Vol. Visit Aspirantforum.com for guidance and study material for IAS Exam. aspirantforum.com Science and Tech. The Crux of The Hindu Vol. 07 News of July-Sep 16 About the ‘CRUX’ After the success of our monthly magazine The Crux of The Hindu and PIB, we are introducing a new and convenient product, to help the aspirants for various public services examinations. Today, the knowledge of the Current Affairs (Science and Technology) constitutes an indispensable tool for all the recruitment examinations. However, as per the examinations are concerned, it is quite tedious task to memorise each and every news. Moreover, every news as given in magazines and newspapers may or may not be relevant from exam perspective which forces the candidates to spend a quality time in extracting useful matter and framing notes. This problem of aspirants strikes our minds and made us to think for a sure shot solution as a result of which our experts have come out with the unique magazine of Science and Technology, Crux of Science and Technology. This trimonthly convenient product is going to save our aspirants’ time. The whole concept of the CRUX is to provide you with a summary of the important news and current affairs, from an exam point of view. By reading the CRUX, you will be able to save your precious time and effort, as you get all the relevant matter in a summarized and convenient form. The Crux is particularly helpful for the Civil Services, Banking, SSC and other exams that have a current affairs section. The material is being provided in such a manner that it is helpful for both- objective and descriptive sections. Our aim is to help the candidates in their effort to get through the examinations. Your efforts and dedication inspire us to keep going. It is our sincere effort to make your journey easier. Best Wishes Editorial Board Team Aspirant Forum Courtesy: The Hindu aspirantforum.com Vol. 07 July.-JSep Vol. Visit Aspirantforum.com for guidance and study material for IAS Exam. aspirantforum.com Science and Tech. The Crux of The Hindu Vol. 07 News of July-Sep 16 lasting 26 days.It is the first of four deployments that will SPACE take place over the next three years in different seasons. NASA plans to map Earth’s atmosphere Next month ISRO to launch weather NASA is launching an airborne mission that will map satellite India will launch a weather satellite next month with its the contours of the Earth’s atmosphere to discover how heavy rocket, the geosynchronous satellite launch vehi- much pollution exists in the most remote corners of the cle (GSLV-Mk II), Indian space agency chief A.S. Kiran planet and assess how the environment has changed as Kumar said in a meeting in Chennai. The Indian Space a result. Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch INSAT-3DR Pollutants emitted to the atmosphere are dispersed over next month with its GSLV rocket, said Dr Kiran Kumar. the whole globe, but remote regions are cleaner, by fac- He was speaking at the Madras Institute of Technology tors of 1,000 or more, than areas near the continents, Alumni Association meeting held in Chennai. researchers said. The Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) He also said ISRO is targeting to increase the number mission is the first to survey the atmosphere over the of its satellite and rocket launches from the current six- oceans. eight per year to 12-18 per year. Vikram Sarabhai Space Scientists aboard NASA’s DC-8 flying laboratory will jour- Centre (VSSC) director K. Sivan said that ISRO will also ney from the North Pole south over the Pacific Ocean to be launching ScatSat — a weather monitoring and fore- New Zealand and then across to the tip of South America casting satellite — with the polar satellite launch vehicle and north up the Atlantic Ocean to Greenland. (PSLV). “We’ve had many airborne measurements of the atmos- phere over land, where most pollutants are emitted, but land is only a small fraction of the planet,” said Michael Prather, an atmospheric scientist and ATom’s deputy pro- ject scientist at University of California Irvine. “The oceans are where a lot of chemical reactions take place, and some of the least well-understood parts are hard to get to because they are so remote,” Prather said. “With ATom we’re going to measure a wide range of chemically distinct parts of the atmosphere over the most remote areas of the ocean that have not been measured Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the event, he said before,” he said. that the Indian satellite will be a co-passenger to an Al- “Humans produce a lot of pollution, and it doesn’t just dis- gerian satellite. appear when it’s blown off the continents. It goes some- “Both the satellites will be put into different orbits. So the where,” said atmospheric scientist Steve Wofsy, ATom fourth stage/engine of the rocket will be switched off after principal investigator at Harvard University.“We want to ejecting ScatSat first. Then after a gap of around 30 min- understand the processes that do that and where and utes, the engine will be switched on and put the Algerian how long they take,” Wofsy said. satellite into its intended orbit,” Sivan said. According to The team will use ATom’s collected data on the air’s him, the year end is expected to see the launch of GSLV- chemical signatures to understand where pollutants origi- Mk-III with communication satellite GSAT 19 weighing nate, and where and how quickly these climate gases around 3.2 ton — the heaviest satellite to be lifted by an react chemically and eventually disappear from the at- Indian rocket from the Sriharikota rocket port in Andhra mosphere. Pradesh. ATom is particularly interested in methane, ozone and Dr Sivan also said ISRO will soon be testing its scramjet airborne particles called black carbon, which have strong aspirantforum.comor air breathing engine for use future use to power Indian effects on climate and which all have both human and rockets. Vol. 07 July.-JSep Vol. natural origins. ATom’s first flight is planned for July 28, a round trip over the tropics between Palmdale, California and the equator. A 3D map of the universe and a handle On July 31, the mission begins its around-the-world trip on dark energy Visit Aspirantforum.com for guidance and study material for IAS Exam. aspirantforum.com Science and Tech. The Crux of The Hindu Vol. 07 News of July-Sep 16 Astronomers at the Sloan Digital Sky Survey have then, thereby getting a handle on the expansion rate of achieved an amazing feat of mapping the galaxies in the the universe and thereby an estimate of dark energy, universe in a three-dimensional plot. They have used this based on popular theories. It must be pointed out, how- to get a handle on how fast the universe is expanding. ever, that while there is a large body of scientists who Five years of observing the sky has yielded this enor- believe in the concept of dark energy, there is a small mous map which comprises 1.2 million galaxies spread section that thinks that there must be an alternative ex- out over 650 cubic billion light years. planation. Using this map, the astronomers have obtained an esti- More experiments to verify or dispute the existence of mate of the rate of expansion of the universe, the best so dark energy are in the pipeline across the world. far. Not just that, knowing the expansion rate better also gives a better handle on the so-called dark energy. Deep canyons on Saturn’s moon Observations of distant galaxies, made in 1998, revealed In a significant find, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has dis- that the rate of expansion of the universe was increasing. covered deep, steep-sided canyons on Saturn’s largest This was completely unexpected, because while the uni- moon Titan. These are flooded with liquid methane. The verse had to expand as a result of the big bang, cosmolo- finding represents the first direct evidence of the pres- gists thought this expansion would slow down due to the ence of liquid-filled channels on Titan and could give sci- effect of gravitational attraction.