SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS OCTOBER 2017

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS OCTOBER 2017

• Indigenously built anti-submarine warfare INS Kiltan commissioned into Indian Navy
  Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman commissioned an indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette INS Kiltan into the Indian Navy at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam on 16th October.
  
  The Minister said, INS Kiltan strengthens India's defence system and will be a shining armour in 'Make in India' programme as it is totally built indigenously.
  
  This is the third of the four Kamorta-class corvettes being built under Project 28.
  
  INS Kiltan is the latest indigenous warship after Shivalik Class, Kolkata Class and sister ships INS Kamorta and INS Kadmatt to have joined the Indian Navy's arsenal.
  
  It is India's first major warship to have a superstructure of carbon fibre composite material resulting in improved stealth features, lower top weight and maintenance costs, the statement added.
  
• Mars has twisted magnetic ‘tail’: Scientists
  Nasa’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission) spacecraft, which has been orbiting Mars since 2014, has been gathering data that will allow scientists to understand changes in the upper atmosphere of the Red Planet.
  
  It is known that Mars, billions of years ago, had atmosphere and water and could have supported life.
  
  It is now barren and cold.
  
  What Mars now has is a thin atmosphere - and even this is at risk, say scientists who have discovered that the planet has a twisted tail.
  
  The process that created this tail could also allow some of Mars' already thin atmosphere to escape to space, researchers said on science news website Science Daily.
  
• World's largest combustion research centre inaugurated at IIT Madras
  The world's largest combustion research centre was inaugurated at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in Tamil Nadu on 12th October. A release by the IIT Madras said that the National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD) was inaugurated by NITI Aayog member VK Saraswat in the presence of Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology.
  
  The establishment of the centre will give a major boost to the Indian scientific community and will provide an impetus to research in 'Alternative Energy and Environmental Protection' by focusing on effective utilisation of combustion as a means of thermo-chemical energy conversion.
  
• China develops laser gun for counter-terrorism operations
  China has developed a new laser gun capable of hitting the targets within 200 meters in one second for counter-terrorism operations. The gun contains a handset for aiming and a back pack containing the power supply with a remote control and laser emitter.
  
  One of the engineers who developed the gun, makes no sound or light when fired. Yan said it is also easy to operate because it does not recoil, and inexpensive to maintain.
  
• Ninth planet of solar system does exist, believes NASA
  The existence of a ninth planet has always been speculated till now but National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) believes that it does exist. As per a NASA report, a ninth planet might be there on the outer edges of our solar system.
  
  Experts suspect that the planet's presence has been tilting the entire solar system to one side and this gives them the clue that it does actually exist.
  
  As per estimation, it is believed to be about 10 times bigger than the planet Earth and 20 times further from the sun than the eighth planet Neptune.
  
• Ninth planet of solar system does exist, believes NASA
  The existence of a ninth planet has always been speculated till now but National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) believes that it does exist. As per a NASA report, a ninth planet might be there on the outer edges of our solar system.
  
  Experts suspect that the planet's presence has been tilting the entire solar system to one side and this gives them the clue that it does actually exist.
  
  As per estimation, it is believed to be about 10 times bigger than the planet Earth and 20 times further from the sun than the eighth planet Neptune.