Science & Technology

Context:  ∙ In a first, an international team of physicists from the Anti-hydrogen Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy (AEgIS) collaboration has achieved a breakthrough by demonstrating the laser cooling of Positronium. About ∙ Physicists representing the Antihydrogen Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy (AEgIS) collaboration announced this scientific achievement. ∙ AEgIS is a collaboration of physicists from 19 […]

Recently, ISRO has successfully completed the human rating of its CE20 cryogenic engine, which represents a major boost to India’s attempt to launch humans into space under the Gaganyaan mission. About the Gaganyaan Mission: ∙ India’s first human spaceflight program, aims to send astronauts into a low earth orbit. ∙ A critical aspect of this

Context ∙ Recently, the Union Government approved 100% FDI in the Space sector. India and Space Sector ∙ The Indian Space Economy is estimated at around $8.4 billion (around 2-3% of global space economy). ∙ India has privatised space launches and is targeting a five-fold increase in its share of the global launch market. ∙

Context ∙ India is planning to invite private companies to invest approximately $26 billion in its nuclear energy sector. About ∙ The government plans to build 11,000 megawatts (MW) of new nuclear power generation capacity by 2040. ∙ Under the funding plan, the private companies will make the investments in the nuclear plants, acquire land,

Context  ∙ A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket recently lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, carrying the private “Odysseus” moon lander.  About ∙ If Odysseus completes its journey and soft lands on the Moon, it will make it the first privately-led mission to do so.  ∙ Israel’s Beresheet attempted in 2019, Japan’s

In News ∙ Astronomers believe Mimas may have a liquid ocean around 20-30 km under its heavily cratered ice shell. About Mimas ∙ Mimas was discovered in 1789 by English astronomer William Herschel. ∙ It is less than 123 miles (198 kilometers) in mean radius. ∙ The crater-covered Mimas is the smallest and innermost of

Context  ∙ The year 2024 marks 100 years of Bose’s discovery of the correct set of equations to use to work out the behaviour of collections of photons (particles of light).  Satyendra Nath Bose ∙ Satyendra Nath Bose (1894-1974) was one of India’s most eminent scientists.  ∙ He was a renowned Indian physicist whose fundamental

Context ∙ The US has confirmed that Russia is developing a space-based weapon that is a ‘serious threat to national security’. What are anti-satellite weapons? ∙ Anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons are designed to debilitate and/or destroy satellites that are already in orbit and operational.  ∙ Most of these weapons are kinetic, i.e. they destroy satellites in

Context ∙ The first of the 12 demands made by protesting Punjab farmers was for a legal guarantee to MSP, and for the determination of crop prices as per the recommendations of the Dr Swaminathan Commission. About ∙ On November 18, 2004, the Ministry of Agriculture constituted a National Commission on Farmers (NCF) under Prof

Context: ∙ Recently, the Tribal people have been carrying broom grass at a village in Karbi Anglong district of Assam. About Broom Grass: ∙ It is also known as Thysanolaena maxima, is a type of grass that is native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. ∙ Karbi Anglong, in Assam, is the largest producer