Current Affairs - New Technology

The Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter - a Mars orbiter launched in 2016 - has spotted water in Mars’ canyon system called the Valles Marineris.

• Mission: It is a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

On 13th December, 2021, the supersonic missile assisted torpedo system – developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) - was successfully launched from Wheeler Island in Odisha.

• The system is a next generation missile-based standoff torpedo delivery system.

Benjamin List (Germany) and David W.C. MacMillan (USA) were announced joint winners of Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 “for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis”.

Research

• The type of catalysis developed independently by Benjamin List and David MacMillan, called organocatalysis, uses small organic molecules that are generally both environmentally friendly and inexpensive to produce. The use of organocatalysts has rapidly expanded since 2000. This is largely due to their ability to drive asymmetric synthesis.

Indian researchers led by Dr. P. S Vijayakumar from Institute of Nano Science and Technology, Mohali have developed a composite paper made of carbon (graphene oxide) loaded with preservatives that can be used as wrappers to help extend shelf life of fruits.

India's first early warning mobile application which can alert users before an earthquake was recently launched in Uttarakhand.

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata, teaming up with IIT Kharagpur, have developed piezoelectric molecular crystals that repair themselves from mechanical damages without need for any external intervention.

• Recently, two people died and four were missing after a dyke of a fly ash pond of Reliance’s Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project in Singrauli breached , causing spillage on several acres of agricultural fields.

On 7^th February, 2020, the government gave clearance to an ambitious gene-mapping project- Genome India Project (GIP), which has been described as the “first scratching of the surface of the vast genetic diversity of India”.

The government in its budget-2020 has announced a National Mission on Quantum Technologies & Applications (NM-QTA) for developing quantum computing linked technologies in the country.