SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS NOVEMBER 2016

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS NOVEMBER 2016

• Russia's Soyuz spacecraft arrives at International Space Station
  Russia's Soyuz spacecraft has arrived at the International Space Station, carrying a European, a Russian and an American astronaut for a four-month mission at the orbiting outpost.
  
  The trio - including Frenchman Thomas Pesquet, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and American astronaut Peggy Whitson, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 17th November. Pesquet, a rookie astronaut and amateur saxophone player, is the first French national to be sent to the ISS by the European Space Agency since 2008.
  
• INS Chennai: New feather in India's strategic arsenal.
  Largest-ever 'Made-in-India' warship INS Chennai commissioned into the Indian Navy's combat fleet; The ship is armed with supersonic surface-to-surface BrahMos missiles and Barak-8 long-range surface-to-air missiles.
  
  Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 21st November commissioned 'INS Chennai', the third indigenously designed guided missile destroyer in the Kolkata class in Mumbai. Built at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in Mumbai, the ship's construction also marks the end of the Project 15A to build Kolkata class guided missile destroyers. With an overall length of 164 metres and displacement of over 7,500 tonnes, 'INS Chennai' is one of the largest destroyers in the Indian Navy's fleet.
  
• India successfully conducts twin trial of Prithvi-II missile.
  India on 21st November successfully test-fired it’s indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile twice in quick succession from a test range at Chandipur in Odisha. The medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile was test fired in a salvo mode as part of a user trial by the army.
  
  The missile have a strike range of 350 km and are capable of carrying 500 kg to 1,000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engines. It uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory to hit its target.
  
• 14 year old 'Divyang' creates free calling app
   A 14 year old boy from Ramgarh district of Jharkhand has done wonders which many cannot even think to do. Aseem Yash has created a free calling app.
  
  The unique feature of the app is free unlimited calling from any smart phone or android phone to anywhere in the world. Interestingly, the creator of this wonderful app is 'Divyang' since birth.
  
  Aseem Yash is only 14 years old. But at this tender age he created a mobile app for unlimited calling with no charges on it.
  
  His achievement makes a special mark as the kid is 'Divyang' by birth. Aseem overcame all the challenges with his hard work and talent. Aseem's Mobile App provides free calling on Android and IPhone.
  
  Aseem is being popular these days in his region for this app. Aseem got information on app creation through internet. In just three days time he first created the app on computer and later on mobile phone. At the time of birth, he survived after great difficulty.
  
  Government has recognised Aseem's app as Best Business App. Aseem has set an example for the children of his age and above. It is evident from Aseem's life that with right kind of motivation and opportunity, any child can reach the sky.
  
• India's Rustom-II UAV successfully completes maiden test flight
  Rustom-II, India's indigenously developed drone, on 16th November successfully completed its maiden-flight, which enhanced India's development programme for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). The DRDO successfully carried out the maiden-flight of TAPAS 201 (RUSTOM-II), a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV. It has an endurance of 24 hours and can conduct surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The test flight took place from Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, 250 km from Bangalore.
  
• US scientists develop long acting malaria drug
  Scientists in US have developed a new long acting drug capsule that that may effectively treat malaria and many other diseases. The capsule remains in the stomach for up to two weeks after being swallowed, gradually releasing its payload, paving the way for a long acting pill.
  
  This type of drug delivery could replace inconvenient regimens that require repeated doses, which would help to overcome one of the major obstacles to treating and potentially eliminating diseases such as malaria.
  
  Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital in the US used this approach to deliver a drug called ivermectin, which they believe could aid in malaria elimination efforts.
  
• Scientists discovered a new type of atomic bond
  For the first time, physicists have observed a strange molecule called the butterfly Rydberg molecule — a weak pairing of highly excitable atoms that was first predicted back in 2002. The find not only confirms a 14-year-old prediction — it also confirms the existence of a whole new type of atomic bond.
  
  Rydberg molecules form when an electron is kicked far from an atom’s nucleus, making them super electronically excited.
  
  On their own, they’re common enough. But back in 2002, a team of researchers from Purdue University in Indiana predicted that a Rydberg molecule could attract and bind to another atom — something that was thought impossible according to our understanding of how atoms bind at the time.
  
  They called that hypothetical molecule combination the butterfly Rydberg molecule, because of the butterfly-like distribution of the orbiting electrons.
  
  And now, 14 years later, the same team has finally observed a butterfly Rydberg molecule in the lab, and in the process, has discovered a whole new type of weak atomic bond.
  
  Rydberg molecules are unique because they can have electrons that are between 100-1,000 times further away from the nucleus than normal.
  
  The team was able to create them for this experiment by cooling Rubidium gas to a temperature of 100 nano-Kelvin — one ten-millionth of a degree above absolute zero — then exciting the atoms into a Rydberg state using lasers.
  
• China launches pulsar navigation satellite XPNAV-1
  China on 10th November successfully launched a navigation satellite which will conduct in-orbit experiments using pulsar detectors to demonstrate new technologies. The X-ray pulsar navigation satellite — XPNAV-1 — weighing more than 200 kilogrammes, was sent skyward at 7:42 AM (local time) atop a Long March 11 solid-fuelled rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China’s northwest.
  
  The satellite operates in a Sun-synchronous orbit and will conduct in-orbit experiments using pulsar detectors to demonstrate new technologies, state-run China Daily reported. It was carried by a Long March-11 rocket, the 239th flight mission by a Long March carrier rocket series.
  
  While in orbit, the satellite will undergo tests on its detector functions and space environment adaptability. It weighs more than 200 kilogrammes and carries two detectors, China Academy of Space Technology said.
  
  Shuai Ping, chief designer of the satellite at the academy, said X-ray pulsar navigation is an innovative navigation technology in which periodic X-ray signals emitted from pulsars are used to determine the location of a spacecraft in deep space.
  
  The satellite and the rocket were designed by academies affiliated with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The X-ray pulsar navigation will help reduce the spacecraft’s reliance on ground-based navigation methods and is expected to lead to autonomous spacecraft navigation in the future.
  
• INS Vikramaditya completes its first dry-dock refit in Kochi
  The aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya , has successfully completed its first routine maintenance, a 43-day short refit, at the Cochin Shipyard.
  
  It is at a high level of operational competence and preparedness, according to the ship’s Commanding Officer Captain Krishna Swaminathan.
  
  The maiden dry-docking of the vessel after its induction into the Navy in November 2013, had put to rest apprehensions about the feasibility of carrying out its first cycle of underwater maintenance within India
  
  The ship arrived in Kochi in early September, and was dry-docked at the Cochin Shipyard on September 23. INS Vikramaditya was docked after the undocking of the soon-to-be-retired aircraft carrier INS Viraat. The vessel added a great national capability, enhancing the image of the Navy.
  
• Mystery behind birth of Saturn’s rings solved
  Planetary rings that surround Saturn, Neptune and Uranus were formed four billion years ago when large objects passed very close to planets and got destroyed, scientists have found, solving the mystery behind the origin and diversity of these rings.
  
  The giant planets in our solar system have very diverse rings. Observations show that Saturn’s rings are made of more than 95 per cent icy particles, while the rings of Uranus and Neptune are darker and may have higher rock content.
  
  The study by researchers at Kobe University and Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan focused on the period called the Late Heavy Bombardment that is believed to have occurred 4 billion years ago in our solar system, when the giant planets underwent orbital migration. It is thought that thousands of Pluto-sized objects from the Kuiper belt existed beyond Neptune.
  
  Researchers calculated the probability that these large objects passed close to the giant planets and were destroyed by their tidal force during the Late Heavy Bombardment. Results showed that Saturn, Uranus and Neptune experienced close encounters with these large objects multiple times. The team used computer simulations to study disruption of these Kuiper belt objects by tidal force when they passed by the planets. They found that in many cases fragments comprising 0.1-10 per cent of the initial mass of the objects were captured into orbits around the planet.