1. A new species of orang-utan named Pongo tapanuliensis identified in North Sumatra (____________). It is most endangered great ape in world with just 800 individuals left ?
2. As per a study by University of Maryland (____________), India is overtaking China as the World’s largest emitter of Anthropogenic Sulphur Dioxide (SO2). Sulphur dioxide causes acid rain, haze and many health-related problems.
- India's emissions of SO2 pollutant increased 50 % since 2007 while China's fell by 75 % (owing to excellent emission control measures undertaken by China)
3. Botanists discovered new species of wild banana named Musa paramjitiana in ______________, named in honour of Paramjit Singh, director of Botanical Survey of India (BSI) ?
4. Columbia University (_____________) researchers converted a bacterial immune system into world’s smallest data recorder, by modifying an ordinary laboratory strain of human gut microbe Escherichia coli, using CRISPR gene-editing method. It enabled bacteria to record their interactions with environment and also time-stamp the events. It has several possible applications such as disease diagnosis, environmental monitoring and basic studies in ecology and microbiology ?
5. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Abilify MyCite as first drug in _____________ with a digital ingestion tracking system, to ensure that patients with mental illness take the medicine prescribed for them ?
6. _____________ based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR) developed Improved Samba Masuri (ISM) variety rice with low Glycemic Index (50.99 against normal value of 53 - 70).
- Rice with low GI is considered suitable for people with diabetics and it results in slow release of glucose into blood.
7. India's First wave-powered navigational buoy developed by National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), has been deployed at Ennore Kamarajar Port (___________________) to guide ships in and out of ports. Buoy's ship guiding beacon is powered by wave energy while conventional ones use solar power.
- National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) will also build India’s first offshore desalination plant about 40km from Chennai coast, with capacity of 10 million litres water / day.
8. India’s First mission to Sun will be launched in _________________, aiming to improve our understanding of dynamical processes of the sun and help resolve some outstanding questions in solar physics. It will be launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on PSLV- XL launch vehicle.
- The mission will put 1500-kg heavy class Aditya-L1 satellite into halo orbit around Lagrangian point L1, a point between Sun and Earth.
9. India’s multi-wavelength space telescope ____________________ accomplished difficult task of measuring X-ray polarisation. It did 18 month long study of Crab pulsar in Taurus Constellation and measured variations of polarisation as this highly magnetised object spins 30 times per second. This measurement puts up a strong challenge to prevailing theories of high energy X-ray emission from pulsars ?
10. Lakhs of migratory birds made their way to Chilika Lake (________) after a long flight of thousands of miles, to wetlands of Nalabana Bird Sanctuary inside Chilika and Mangalajodi.
- During winters, migratory birds fly across continents from Caspian Sea, Baikal Lake and remote parts of Russia, Mongolia and Siberia and flock to marshy lands of Nalabana Bird Sanctuary inside Chilika Lake.
11. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched JPSS-1 (_____________) as first of 4 multi-day weather forecasts satellites.
- JPSS-1 is joint venture between NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). It will be renamed NOAA-20 when it reaches its final orbit. It is designed to monitor weather around world and help improve forecasts.
12. Palaeontologists from University of Portsmouth (__________) discovered remains of humankind’s oldest mammal ancestor — a tiny rat-like creature that lived 145 million years ago ?
13. Researchers at _____________ Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology have developed a flexible material that generates electricity when stretched or compressed, paving way for smart clothing or self-powered pacemakers -
- It is a composite material made of polar nanoparticles and an elastomer - silicone and can convert mechanical movements into electrical charges. Trick is internal polarisation that changes while rubber film is being mechanically stressed.
14. Researchers discovered species of ant in Periyar Tiger Reserve (____________), as one of world’s ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity. It has been named Tyrannomyrmex alii (or T. alii), after eminent myrmecologist Musthak Ali, who is regarded as the India’s ‘ant man’ ?
15. Researchers from University of British Columbia (____________) developed earthquake-proof fibre-reinforced concrete that can enhance earthquake resistance of seismically vulnerable structures.
- Cement Material is made of eco-friendly ductile cementitious composite (EDCC) which combines cement with polymer-based fibres, flyash and other industrial additives, making it highly sustainable.
16. Researchers from University of Tasmania (____________) discovered rare, living specimens of stromatolites, oldest evidence of life on Earth, deep within a remote and protected World Heritage Area ?
17. Scientists at Cornell University (____________) spotted 2 hyper-luminous starburst galaxies, extremely bright and spectacularly massive galaxies, collectively known as ADFS-27, reported to have approximately 50 times amount of star-forming gas as Milky Way?
18. Scientists detected dust belts around Proxima Centauri, indicating presence of elaborate planetary system hosted by closest star to solar system. These observations were made by Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) observatory in ____________ ?
19. Scientists discovered new species of gecko in Eastern Ghats in northern __________, named Hemidactylus sushilduttai or Dutta’s Mahendragiri gecko, after eminent herpetologist Sushil Kumar Dutta from Odisha.
20. Scientists from Botanical Survey of India (BSI) discovered a new species of parasitic flowering plant named Gleadovia konyakianorum near Tobu town of Mon district in eastern ___________________, named in honour of Konyak tribe ?
21. Space Kingdom of Asgardia (virtual nation) launched its first satellite ‘Asgardia-1’ into space from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia (_________).
- Asgardia (virtual nation) project was poroposed in 2016 by Russian scientist and billionaire Igor Ashurbeyli.
22. USA's NASA tested supersonic landing parachute that will be deployed in its Mars rover mission set to launch in 2020, called ASPIRE (_________________). Mission will rely on special parachute to slow spacecraft down as it enters Martian atmosphere at over 5.4 kilometres per second ?
