General Awareness

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - December 2018

Dec 2018

May 07, 2022

Lunar Soil Contains Active Compounds that Can Convert Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen and Fuels

In light of significant efforts being taken toward manned deep space exploration, it is of high technological importance and scientific interest to develop the lunar life support system for long-term exploration. Lunar resource utilization offers a great opportunity to provide the material basis of life support for lunar habitation and traveling. Based on the analysis of the structure and composition of the sample returned by China's Chang'e-5 mission, lunar soil has the potential for lunar solar energy conversion, i.e., extraterrestrial photosynthetic catalysts.
After analyzing the Chang'e 5 lunar soil sample, scientits found the sample contains compounds — including iron-rich and titanium-rich substances — that could work as a catalyst to make desired products such as oxygen using sunlight and carbon dioxide.

May 06, 2022

Giant MRI of Antarctica Reveals 'Fossil Seawater' under Ice Sheet

Beneath a fast-flowing ice stream in West Antarctica, scientists have discovered a vast aquifer brimming with seawater that's likely been locked down there for thousands of years.
This is the first time scientists have detected groundwater beneath an ice stream in Antarctica, and the discovery could reshape our understanding of how the frigid continent reacts to climate change and what kinds of mysterious organisms lurk beneath its many ice shelves.

May 05, 2022

Four-astronaut Team Departs International Space Station on Flight back to Earth

The third long-duration team of astronauts launched by SpaceX to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA safely departed the orbiting outpost to begin their descent back to Earth, capping a six-month science mission.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying three U.S. NASA astronauts and a German astronaut from the European Space Agency undocked from the ISS at 1:20 a.m. EDT (0520 GMT) to embark on a return flight expected to last about 23 hours.
Wearing helmeted white-and-black spacesuits, the four astronauts were seen strapped into the crew cabin shortly before the spacecraft separated from the space station, orbiting some 250 miles (400 km) above the Earth.

May 04, 2022

Russia to Pull Out of International Space Station: Roscosmos

US space agency NASA and Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos have been the two largest partners on the International Space Station (ISS) for the last three decades. The two organisations have agreed to work together on the ISS through 2024, but on December 31, 2021, US President Joe Biden's administration committed to extending the operations through 2030. While Russia did not formally agree to the extension, in January 2022, Rogozin had said that Roscosmos and NASA were in talks on extending the operation of the ISS until 2030. But Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, affected space cooperation between the two countries and Roscosmos's participation in the extension started to seem unlikely.
Russia has already made the decision to pull out of the International Space Station, likely in about two years time, chief of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said.

May 03, 2022

IIT-Mandi Team Discovers Molecule that Can be Used for Treatment of Diabetes

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mandi identified a drug molecule which triggers the release of insulin by pancreas and can potentially be used as an orally administered medicine for diabetes. According to the research team, the molecule is called PK2 and the findings of the research have been published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Diabetes is associated with insufficient insulin release by beta cells of pancreas in response to blood glucose levels. The release of insulin entails many intricate biochemical processes. One such process involves protein structures called GLP1R present in the cells. A hormonal molecule called GLP1, released after the ingestion of a meal, binds to the GLP1R and triggers the release of insulin.

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