General Awareness

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - September 2018

Sep 2018

Dec 29, 2019

NASA Unveils Rover for Mars Mission

The Mars 2020 rover, which sets off for the Red Planet next year, will not only search for traces of ancient life, but pave the way for future human missions. The rover has been constructed in a large, sterile room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, near Los Angeles. Shown to invited journalists, the rover is scheduled to leave Earth in July 2020 from Florida's Cape Canaveral.

Dec 26, 2019

Researchers Develop AI to Curb Hate Speech Online

As online hate speech is increasingly threatening democracy, researchers are developing artificial intelligence similar to malware filters to 'quarantine' it, offering users a way to control exposure to it without resorting to censorship.
They are using databases of threats and violent insults to build algorithms that can provide a score for the likelihood of an online message containing forms of hate speech. As these algorithms get refined, potential hate speech could be identified and 'quarantined'.
Users would receive a warning alert with a 'Hate O'Meter' – the hate speech severity score – the sender's name, and an option to view the content or delete unseen, akin to spam and malware.
Hate speech is a form of intentional online harm, like malware, and can therefore be handled by means of quarantining.

Dec 23, 2019

Boeing Astronaut Starliner Capsule Lands after Incomplete Mission

Boeing Astronaut Starliner Capsule landed in New Mexico's White Sands testing range, using parachutes and airbags to make a soft touchdown on desert terrain.
It marked the first US land-landing for this type vehicle. Past crewed capsules have always made splashdowns in the ocean.
Boeing and the US space agency (NASA) must now review the truncated mission before deciding when to allow crew to fly aboard future Starliners.

Dec 22, 2019

Ethiopia Launched First Satellite

Ethiopia's first satellite was sent into space, a landmark achievement for the ambitious country that also caps a banner year for Africa's involvement in space.
A Chinese Long March 4B rocket hoisted the first Ethiopian Remote Sensing Satellite (ETRSS-1) aloft from the Taiyuan space base in northern China.
The 70kg satellite was developed by the Chinese Academy of Space Technology with the help of 21 Ethiopian scientists.

Dec 21, 2019

Device to Detect Bacterial Attack on Crops

Rishikesh Amit Nayak created a device which can detect a bacterial attack on crops and alert farmers on the type of bacteria, potential diseases and prevention. Nayak's technology won the best innovation price at Avishkar make-a-thon competition.
Nayak claims his invention is more advanced than the current bacterial attack detection technology used by NABARD. He said that theirs gives results in a month, while his invention can do it in 12 hours. His technology uses thermal imaging instead of chemical composition. A dip or rise in temperature of plants can help us detect their health.

Boeing Astronaut Ship Stalls in Orbit

The Boeing Company is going to have to cut short the uncrewed demonstration flight of its new astronaut capsule.
The Starliner launched successfully on its Atlas rocket from Florida, but later suffered technical problems that prevented it from taking the right path to the International Space Station.
It appears the capsule burnt too much fuel as it fired its engines, leaving an insufficient supply to complete its planned mission.
Starliner will now come back to Earth.
A landing is expected at New Mexico's White Sands testing range.
The craft will use parachutes and airbags to make a soft touchdown on desert terrain.
Flight controllers recognised the problem but were unable to intervene quickly enough because the capsule was passing between satellite links.

New Form of Uranium Found

A new form of uranium has been discovered which is likely to have implications for current nuclear waste disposal plans.
Many governments are planning to dispose of radioactive waste by burying it deep underground. However, new research has found that in such storage conditions a new chemical form of uranium can temporarily occur, while small amounts of uranium are released into solution. If uranium is in solution, it could make its way into groundwater.
Governments are searching for a way to safely dispose of the waste, and an international consensus is moving towards geological nuclear waste disposal – burying it several hundred metres underground. Many countries are already building such disposal units.

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