General Awareness

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - December 2018

Dec 2018

Sep 30, 2022

Astronomers Map Distances in the Largest-ever Catalog to 56,000 Galaxies

Astronomers have assembled the largest-ever compilation of high-precision galaxy distances, called Cosmicflows-4.
Galaxies, such as the Milky Way, are the building blocks of the universe, each comprised of up to several hundred billion stars. Galaxies beyond our immediate neighborhood are rushing away, faster if they are more distant, which is a consequence of the expansion of the universe that began at the moment of the Big Bang. Measurements of the distances of galaxies, coupled with information about their velocities away from us, determine the scale of the universe and the time that has elapsed since its birth.

Sep 29, 2022

Superhot Blob of Gas Discovered Orbiting Milky Way's Black Hole

Astronomers detected a blob of hot gas whizzing around the super massive black hole at the heart of our galaxy at an extraordinary speed. A powerful magnetic field surrounding the colossal space-time tear has supercharged the bizarre gaseous globule, speeding it up to 30% the speed of light, a new study finds.
The super massive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, known as Sagittarius A*, is around 4 million times more massive than the sun and stretches around 40 million miles (60 million kilometres) across. Normally, anything that gets too close to such a massive black hole gets dragged beyond its event horizon by an overwhelming gravitational pull. But the newly discovered gas blob, or hot spot, is moving so quickly that it appears to have formed a stable orbit around the massive cosmic void.

Sep 27, 2022

HAL Sets Up Rocket Engine Manufacturing Facility for ISRO

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited set up a Rs. 208 crore Integrated Cryogenic Engine Manufacturing Facility (ICMF) at Bengaluru that would cater to the entire rocket engine production under one roof for Indian Space Research Organisation.
President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the state-of-the-art ICMF, set up over an area of 4,500 square metres housing over 70 hi-tech equipment and testing facilities for manufacturing cryogenic (CE20) and semi-cryogenic (SE2000) engines of Indian rockets.
In 2013, an MOU was signed with ISRO for establishing the facility for manufacturing cryogenic engine modules at HAL, Aerospace Division, and it was subsequently amended in 2016 for setting up of ICMF.

ISRO Develops Microprocessor-controlled Smart Limbs

A space tech spin-off from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is expected to help above-knee amputees to walk with a comfortable gait. The microprocessor-controlled knees (MPKs) being developed by the space agency offer extended capabilities for the amputee than those offered by the passive limbs that do not use microprocessors.
The 'smart' MPKs are being developed by ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Institute for Locomotor Disabilities (NILD), Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya National Institute for Persons with Physical Disabilities, and the Artificial Limb Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO).

Sep 26, 2022

NASA's DART Mission Collides with an Asteroid

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA's) Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission clashed with an asteroid. The aircraft made history as it crashed an asteroid in the world's first planetary defence test.
The DART Mission slammed a spacecraft into the tiny moon of the asteroid Didymos, with the impact.

India's 1st Avalanche Monitoring Radar Installed in North Sikkim

The Indian Army and the Defence Geoinformatics and Research Establishment (DGRE) jointly installed the Avalanche Monitoring Radar, first of its kind in India, in north Sikkim.
Besides being used for detection of avalanches, this radar can also be employed to detect landslides.
The radar was inaugurated by Tri Shakti Corps commander, Lt Gen Tarn Kumar Aich, at one of the forward posts of the army at an altitude of 15,000 feet in north Sikkim.
This radar has the capability to detect avalanches within three seconds of their triggering and will assist in saving valuable life of troops and civilians as also vehicles in super high altitude areas.

Sep 24, 2022

Saturn's Moon Enceladus more Habitable than Previously Thought

New research presented evidence for a key building block of life on Saturn's moon Enceladus' subsurface ocean. Modelling indicated that the ocean on Enceladus is relatively rich in dissolved phosphorus, which is an essential ingredient for life.
Enceladus is one of the prime targets in humanity's search for life in our solar system. In the years since NASA's Cassini spacecraft visited the Saturn system, we have been repeatedly blown away by the discoveries made possible by the collected data.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft discovered the subsurface liquid water on Enceladus and analysed samples of plumes of ice grains and water vapour that erupted into space from cracks in the icy surface of the planet.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

July GK, June GK, May GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services And Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26