SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS APRIL 2014

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS APRIL 2014

• India on 27th April successfully test-fired a new interceptor missile from Integrated Test Range at Wheeler Island which is capable of neutralizing any incoming long-range missile at higher altitude. The target, mimicking an incoming enemy missile, was first test fired from a naval ship and after getting signals from the radars, the interceptor went into action. Earlier Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) had successfully tested six interceptor missiles developed by it, both in endo-atmosphere (within 30 km altitude) above sea level and exo-atmosphere stage (above 30 km altitude). The Prithvi Air Defence interceptor missile has already demonstrated its killing capability at an altitude of 50 km and 80 km while the Advanced Air Defense interceptor missile has smashed the target missile at an altitude of 15 km to 30 km. The defense sources said that the next target is to achieve the interception at an altitude of above 100 km of a long range missile.
  
• Boston Dynamics of US developed a life-sized Atlas Anthropomorphic robot called Atlas. The Atlas robot has been designed not as a warrior but it is a humanitarian machine and will be used for the rescue purposes at the time of natural disasters. The robot was developed as a part of a challenge to create a robot that could go at the places, which are dangerous to humans. The 6-foot-2-inch Atlas is a powerful robot in the form of an adult human. It moves with a variety of lifelike and natural behavior, including dynamically-balanced walking, calisthenics, manipulation and user-programmed tasks.
  
  • Atlas robot has been developed by Boston Dynamics and is a brainchild of project of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
  • The Atlas robot will be used for the rescue purposes at the time of natural disasters.
    
• U.S astronomers have discovered the first Earth-size planet orbiting a star in the "habitable zone" by using Kepler telescope. They confirmed that planet has the size of Earth exist in the habitable zone of stars other than our sun. Even though some planets have previously been found in the habitable zone, they are all at least 40 percent larger in size than Earth and understanding their makeup is challenging. Kepler-186f is more reminiscent of Earth. NASA sources say that the discovery of Kepler-186f is a significant step toward finding worlds like our planet Earth. Although the size of Kepler-186f is known, its mass and composition are not yet known.Kepler-186f resides in the Kepler-186 system, about 500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. Kepler-186f orbits its star once every 130-days and receives one-third the energy from its star that Earth gets from the sun, placing it nearer the outer edge of the habitable zone. On the surface of Kepler-186f, the brightness of its star at high noon is only as bright as our sun appears to us about an hour before sunset.
  • Kepler is a space observatory launched by NASA to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. The spacecraft, named after the Renaissance astronomer Johannes Kepler. It was launched on March 7, 2009.
  • Kepler is part of NASA's Discovery Program of relatively low-cost, focused primary science missions.
    
• The Agni-1 surface-to-surface nuclear-capable ballistic missile was successfully test-fired for its full 700-km range from the Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast on 11th April. This is the first night trial for the Agni-1 missile. The single-stage; solid-fuelled missile is capable of carrying a payload weighing 1,000 kg up to a distance of 700 km. The missile had already been inducted into the military.
  • The Agni missile is a family of Short to Intermediate range ballistic missiles developed by India under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.
  • On 28 Mar 2010, a trial was conducted with a special Strategic Forces Command (SFC) nuclear-capable Agni-I ballistic missile, with a range of 700 km from the Wheelers Island off the coast of Orissa, thus making Agni-I missile operational by army.
  • Agni-I was first tested at the Interim Test Range in Chandipur in 1989, and is capable of carrying a conventional payload of 1,000 kg or a nuclear warhead. Agni missiles consist of one (short range) or two stages (intermediate range). These are rail and road mobile and powered by solid propellants.
  • The Agni I has a range of 700–1250 km.
  • Agni-I is a single stage, solid fuel, road and rail mobile, medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM).
  • The 15 metre tall Agni-1 missile, weighing about 12 tonnes, is capable of carrying both conventional as well as nuclear warheads of 1,000 kg.
    
• US Navy scientists have successfully designed that can flow a radio-controlled airplane that runs purely on fuel derived from sea water. Scientists obtained the fuel using the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)'s gas-to-liquid technology, which involved removing carbon dioxide from water at 92 per cent efficiency while simultaneously producing hydrogen. The CO2 and hydrogen gases were then converted into a liquid hydrocarbon fuel, using a metal catalyst in a separate reactor system. This event marked for the first time that the fuel had been used in a conventional combustion engine. Researchers are now working on up scaling the system to a commercial scale.
  
• Israel's Defence Ministry said on 10th April, that it had successfully launched a new observation satellite named Ofek 10, into orbit. It is expected to be used to observe Iran and hostile militant groups in the Middle East. The Israeli-made Ofek 10 satellite was launched in cooperation with state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries. The satellite has already begun transmitting data and visual material. It is expected to be operational within months. Israel is expected to use the satellite to keep vigilant on Iran and the region. It believes Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon. The Ofek 10 is the latest in a line of spy satellites built by Israel Aerospace Industries for the government. It is a lightweight satellite that is expected to improve Israel's reconnaissance abilities by providing sharp images at any time of day, and in any weather condition. The satellite has the capability to direct its imaging radar on a specific target, as opposed to other satellites that perform a general sweep of territory.
  
• Scientists created world's first vagina in lab using patients' tissues. In a path-breaking procedure, scientists have carried out successful vaginal implant in four women using engineered tissues. A team of scientists in the US and Mexico, led by Professor Anthony Atala from Wake Forest School of Medicine, implanted tissue-engineered vaginal organs in four women, aged 13-18 years. The women suffered from a condition known as Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome that causes the vagina to be underdeveloped or absent. After transplantation, the organs continue to function as if they were native tissues and all recipients are sexually active, had no pain and remain satisfied with their desire, lubrication and orgasm. The team obtained a vulvar tissue from each patient from which they grew smooth muscle cells and vaginal epithelial cells in the lab. The cells were then placed onto specially designed vagina-shaped biodegradable scaffolds and left to grow for seven days. The researchers then surgically implanted the engineered vaginas which remain structurally and functionally normal.
  
• The UN's International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 31st March ruled that the Japanese government must halt its whaling programme in the Antarctic. It agreed with Australia, which brought the case in May 2010 that the programme was not for scientific research as claimed by Tokyo. Japan said it would abide by the decision. Australia argued that the programme was commercial whaling in disguise. The court's decision is considered legally binding. Japan had argued that the suit brought by Australia was an attempt to impose its cultural norms on Japan.ICJ said that Japan should withdraw all permits and licenses for whaling in the Antarctic and refrain from issuing any new ones. It also said Japan had caught some 3,600 minke whales since its current programme began in 2005, but the scientific output was limited. Japan signed up to a moratorium on whaling in 1986, but continued whaling in the north and south Pacific under provisions that allowed for scientific research. Japan has argued that minke whales and a number of other species are plentiful and that its whaling activities are sustainable.
  
  • The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial branch of the United Nations.
  • It is based in the Hague-Netherlands.
  • Its main functions are to settle legal disputes submitted to it by states and to provide advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized international branches, agencies, and the UN General Assembly.
  • Current president is Peter Tomka
    
• The European Union on 3rd April launched the first satellite of its multibillion-euro Copernicus Earth observation project. The Sentinel-1a satellite was sent into Earth's orbit from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana on 3rd April. It will be used to monitor sea ice, oil spills and land use and to respond to emergencies such as floods and earthquakes. It will supply valuable images in the event of natural disasters or even a plane crash. The satellite is now orbiting the planet at 693 km (439 miles) above the earth. Consequently, Sentinel-1a will be followed by Sentinel-1b in 2015. As a pair, they will be able to acquire a radar image of anywhere on Earth within six days, whatever the weather.
  
  • The Copernicus project, for which the EU and the European Space Agency (ESA) is described by the ESA as the most ambitious earth observation programme till date.
  • Copernicus is designed to supply data that can help policy makers develop environmental legislation or react to emergencies such as natural disasters or humanitarian crises.
  • Copernicus is one of the EU's two flagship space programmes along with satellite-navigation initiative Galileo, which is meant to rival the dominant US Global Positioning System, or GPS, Russia's GLONASS and China's new Beidou system.