General Awareness

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - October 2015

Oct 2015

Aug 09, 2019

Scientists Produce Radioactivity-Free Chernobyl Vodka

A team of British scientists has helped produce a radioactivity-free vodka called "ATOMIK" from crops near the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, according to the University of Portsmouth .
The team did find some radioactivity in the grain but said the normal distillation process meant the only radioactivity in the alcohol was natural Carbon-14 "at the same level expected in any spirit drink".

Why Chandrayaan 2 Will Take 48 Days To Reach Moon ?

USSR's Luna-2 craft took just 34 hours to reach Moon in 1959. Ten years later on July 20, 1969, Nasa's Apollo-11 mission carrying humans landed on Moon in just four days, 6 hours and 45 minutes. Besides being the world's first manned Moon mission, Apollo-11 was also the fastest trip of astronauts to the Moon.
So why is Chandrayaan-2 taking more than a month? The answer lies in the build of the rocket, the amount of fuel it's carrying and the speed of the lunarcraft.
In space, covering long distances requires high speeds and straight trajectories. For Apollo-11, Nasa had used Saturn V, a super heavy-lift launcher, to travel at more than 39,000km per hour.
The powerful rocket had a lifting capability of 43 tonnes, including the lunar module, service module and command module housing the crew capsule.
Saturn V's third stage put the modules (command with crew capsule, service and lunar modules) into the trans-lunar trajectory soon after orbiting Earth for the second time. The launcher and the lunar craft used powerful engines to reach Moon covering 3.8 lakh km in just four days
India does not have a rocket powerful enough to hurl Chandrayaan-2 on a straight path to Moon.
It's the reason ISRO chose a circuitous route to take advantage of Earth's gravity, which will help slingshot the craft towards the Moon.
The role of GSLV-MkIII, with only 4-tonne lifting capability, was limited to putting Chandrayaan-2 (3.8 tonnes) in the geosynchronous transfer orbit.

Aug 08, 2019

'Indestructible' Earthlings on Moon?

Tardigrades can withstand extreme radiation, sizzling heat, the coldest temperatures, and decades without food.
These terrifying-sounding beings aren't aliens but instead microscopic Earthlings known as tardigrades, who likely made it out alive following a crash landing on the lunar surface by Israel's Beresheet probe, the US-based organisation responsible for their trip.
Based on an analysis of the spacecraft's trajectory and the composition of the device the micro-animals were stored in, it is believed that the chances of survival for the tardigrades are extremely high.

Aug 07, 2019

MISSION MOON ON TRACK

Chandryaan-2 has successfully carried out the fifth orbit-raising manoeuvre, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) when the Earth-bound orbit raising manoeuvre was performed in line with the Indian space agency's schedule.
Using the onboard propulsion system for a firing duration of 1,041 seconds, the orbit achieved was 276 x 142975km.
On August 14, 2019, ISRO will now undertake the next procedure – the Trans-Lunar Insertion, which will put it on a lunar transfer trajectory – on August 14, 2019 between 3 am and 4 am.

Aug 06, 2019

New Japanese Flying Car Hovers for One Minute

The Japanese electronics maker demonstrated the machine, flying without a passenger, at a Tokyo suburb. Made by NEC Corp., the vehicle is essentially a large drone with four propellers that's capable of carrying people. Powered by a battery, it rose briefly to about 3 meters (10 ft.) above the ground before settling down again. Japan's government wants the country to become a leader in flying cars after missing out on advancements in technology such as electric cars and ride-hailing services. The country's technological roadmap calls for shipping goods by flying cars by around 2023 and letting people ride in flying cars in cities by the 2030s. NEC is positioning itself as an enabler for air mobility, providing location data and building communications infrastructure for flying cars.

Aug 05, 2019

India test-fires Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile

The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test-fired the indigenously developed Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur.
Two missiles have been tested against two live targets meeting complete mission objectives of engaging the targets. The systems have been tested in final configuration with radar mounted on a vehicle and missiles on the launcher.
The missiles with many state-of-the-art technologies engaged the targets at different ranges and altitudes.
The system is being developed for the Army with search and track on move capability with very short reaction time.
The systems are equipped with indigenously developed phased array radar, inertial navigation system, data link and radio frequency seeker.
The entire mission was captured by various electro-optical tracking systems, radar systems and telemetry systems at ITR Chandipur.

At IIT Tech Exhibit, Researchers Provide Simple Solutions For Everyday Problems

From a prototype of artificial skin for people with burn injuries to environment friendly LPG and kerosene cooking stoves, affordable cancer diagnosis technique to a device for detection of insecticides in fruits and vegetables, at least 143 such projects were on display at Indian Institute of TechnologyDelhi (IIT-D) during its annual technology exhibition (TechEx).
Around 50 institutions, including Indian Institute of Science (IISc-Bengaluru) and other IITs, participated in the event organised under two of the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry's flagship programmes —IMPRINT (IMPacting Research, INnovation and Technology) and Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY).
The programmes are intended to provide solutions for everyday problems through research.
During the event, Union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said researchers should select subjects of social concerns.

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