General Awareness

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - August 2015

Aug 2015

Nov 17, 2018

Call Drop Benchmark by TRAI

TRAI conducted a call drop benchmark in a drive test on different highway and rail routes. All telecom operators, except Jio failed to meet the call drop benchmark. While network performance of telcos differed on highways, none of them, except RJio, could meet the call drop benchmark on the three rail routes covered under the test.

According to the quality of service rule, not more than 2 percent of total calls in a telecom circle on a network should automatically get disconnected.

Nov 16, 2018

Our New Neighbour

A 'super-Earth' has been discovered orbiting the closest single star to our sun. This breakthrough could shine a light on Earth's nearest planetary neighbours.

Astronomers studied Barnard's Star, a red dwarf just six light years away, practically in our back garden, galactically speaking, and noticed the presence of a frozen, dimly lit world at least 3.2 times heavier than Earth.

The planet, known for now as Barnard's Star b, is the second nearest to Earth outside the solar system and orbits its host star once every 233 days.

Definition of Kilogram Set to Change

Scientists are set to change the way the kilogramme is defined.

Currently, it is defined by the weight of a platinum-based ingot called "Le Grand K" which is locked away in a safe in Paris.

Researchers are expected to vote to get rid of it in favour of defining a kilogram in terms of an electric current.

The decision is to be made at the General Conference on Weights and Measures, in Paris.

Le Grand K has been at the forefront of the international system of measuring weights since 1889.

China's Artificial Sun

Researchers from China's Hefei Institutes of Physical Sciences announced that China's 'artificial sun' became the hottest known nuclear fusion experiment on Earth, literally, with the plasma reaching 100 million degrees Celsius.

For some perspective, our solar system's real Sun is only about 15 million degrees Celsius in comparison.

While that comparison in itself is mind-blowing, the temperature also has another important significance for nuclear energy researchers: 100 million degrees Celsius is thought to be the minimum temperature needed for self-sustaining nuclear fusion on Earth.

Nov 15, 2018

India's Heaviest Rocket GSLV-Mk III

India`s heaviest rocket GSLV-Mk III, carrying cutting-edge communication satellite GSAT-29, was launched into the outer space from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mk III) is 43.4 metre tall and weighs 640 tonnes.

The GSLV-MkIII is going to launch the Chandrayaan-II and also the manned mission. ISRO's Chandrayan -II is hoping to send an orbiter, lander and rover to the moon by early January of 2019.

Nov 11, 2018

Organs-on-Chips to Space

NASA is planning to send small devices containing human cells in a 3D matrix, known as tissue chips or organs-on-chips, to the International Space Station (ISS) to test how they respond to stress, drugs and genetic changes.

Made of flexible plastic, tissue chips have ports and channels to provide nutrients and oxygen to the cells inside them.

The US space agency is planning the investigations in collaboration with CASIS and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institutes for Health (NIH).

Nov 10, 2018

First AI News Anchor in China

China's state news agency Xinhua introduced the newest members of its newsroom: AI anchors who will report "tirelessly" all day every day, from anywhere in the country.

Chinese viewers were greeted with a digital version of a regular Xinhua news anchor named Qiu Hao. The anchor, wearing a red tie and pin-striped suit, nods his head in emphasis, blinking and raising his eyebrows slightly.

Developed by Xinhua and the Chinese search engine, Sogou, the anchor is developed through machine learning to simulate the voice, facial movements, and gestures of real-life broadcasters, to present a "a lifelike image instead of a cold robot

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