science and technology updates

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Canadian Scientists Created Artificial Brain : Software engineers as well as neuroscientists at University of Waterloo, Canada
claimed that they have developed a closest model of the functioning human brain, known as Spaun which is advanced enough for
passing the basic IQ tests. This is the virtual brain which functions on the supercomputer and comprises of a digital eye, which can
be used for visual input. It also has the robotic arm which can be used for drawing the response.
Voyager 1 Drifts Into Unknown Region of Space : NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has discovered a new layer of the solar system
that scientists hadn’t known was there, researchers announced on 4 December 2012. Voyager 1, in particular, has entered a new
region of the heliosphere that scientists are calling a “magnetic highway,” which allows charged particles from inside the
heliosphere to flow outward, and particles from the galaxy outside to come in.
New Anti-HIV Gel for HIV Transmission : Researchers led by Dereuddre-Bosquet from the European Combined Highly Active
Anti-Retroviral Microbicides (CHAARM) Consortium describe the gel’s key ingredient, which are small peptides engineered to present
a decoy to bind up the virus and prevent it from entering and infecting the body cells. Because this is a gel it can be topically
applied and could represent a powerful preventative agent against sexual transmission of HIV. Bosquet and colleagues engineered
peptides named ‘miniCD4s’ because they mimic the CD4 receptor used by HIV to gain entry into immune cells of the body.
NASA to Send New Rover to Mars in 2020 : NASA was announced plans to send a new robotic explorer to the the Red Planet,
Mars in 2020.
7 Planets Discovered In The Milky Way : New York Scientists have been discovered Seven planets in the Milky Way outside our
solar system that could potentially harbour life and researchers from an ambitious project to catalogue all habitable worlds claim.
Russia Delivered MiG-29 Fighter Jets to India : Russia on 10 December 2012 delivered the first three upgraded MiG-29UPG
fighter jets to India under a USD 900 million contract to modernise the ageing fleet of MiG-29 aircraft with the IAF.
Tata Group Developed new “Artillery Gun” : On 11 December In a step towards developing the indigenous private sector
defence industry, the Tata group has created a new Artillery Gun. The 155mm 52 calibre gun developed by the Tata group is likely
to have a strike range of 52 kms, which would probably be the longest in the Indian inventory.

India Successfully Test Fired Agni-I Ballistic Missile : India on 12 December 2012 successfully test-fired its indigenously
developed nuclear capable Agni-I ballistic missile with a strike range of 700 km from a test range off Odisha coast. Weighing 12
tonnes, the 15-metre-long Agni-I, which is capable of carrying payloads up to 1000 kg and destroy the targets at a distance of
700 km.
North Korea Launched Unha-3 Rocket : On 12 December North Korea launched a long-range rocket Unha-3 despite
international opposition and growing tensions in the region successfully delivering a scientific satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 into
orbit.Unha-3 is the second version of satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 which is successfully lifted off from the Sohae Space Center by
carrier rocket.The US and its allies view the launch as a disguised test of ballistic missile technology.
NASA’s Twin Probes Crashed Successfully onto Lunar Mountain : Ebb and Flow, the gravity mapping satellites of NASA
ended the successful mission to Moon by crashing on the rim of crater. Lunar surface on which Ebb and Flow crashed will be given a
name after Sally Ride, the first woman of America in the space who died earlier in 2012.
Rocket with 3 Astronauts Takes off for ISS : A Soyuz spacecraft carrying three astronauts took off atop a towering Russian
rocket on 19 December 2012, headed for the International Space Station.It launched from Russia’s manned-space facility in the
frigid steppes of Kazakhstan. American Tom Marshburn, Russian Roman Romanenko and Canadian Chris Hadfield are travelled in
capsule.
Prithvi-II Flight- Tested Successfully : The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) successfully flight-tested nuclear weaponscapable
Prithvi-II missile from Chandipur, off the Odisha coast on 20 December 2012. The surface-to-surface ballistic missile, was
fired from a road mobile launcher and tested for its full range of 350 km.The single-stage, liquid propelled missile can carry a
payload of 500 kg.
Astra Missile Successfully Test-fired : India on December 2012 test launched its indigenously developed beyond visual range
(BVR) air-to-air interceptor missile Astra at the interim test range(ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha.Astra which has the capability to
intercept and destroy enemy aircraft at a supersonic speed can be fitted into any fighter aircraft. Considered as one of the best of
its kind in the world, the 3.8 metre long missile which weighs about 160 kg can carry explosive loaded conventional warheads up to
15 kg.
Scientists Discovered Mini Nile River on Saturn’s Moon Titan : Nasa scientists had spotted the longest extraterrestrial river
system ever – on Saturn’s moon Titan – and it appears to be a miniature version of Earth’s Nile river.
Higgs Boson ‘ Tops Journal Science’s 2012 List : The discovery of the Higgs Boson, an invisible particle that explains the
mystery of mass, leads a list of the top 10 scientific advances of 2012 released by the US journal Science on 22 December .
America Launched Reusable Rockets : US California based SpaceX’s industry successfully launched ‘Grasshopper’ reusable
rockets.The rocket took a giant leap for commercial space flight and when it rose 131 feet and landed safely back on Earth.
Grasshopper rocket rose to a height of 131 feet around ten storeys and hovered before landing safely on its launch pad using
closed loop thrust vector and throttle control.
Hot Spots For World’s more Powerful Earthquakes Revealed : The locations of where the world’s largest earthquakes are
most likely to take place had pinpointed with greater accuracy than ever before, by researchers from the University of Sydney.The
coasts of Southern Chile and Peru, Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, and several regions along the eastern Eurasian coastline, are some
of the regions prone to great earthquakes.
US approved First new Tuberculosis Drug : On 1 January The US Food and Drug administration approved a Johnson & Johnson
tuberculosis drug in 40 years .This is the first new medicine to fight the deadly infection in more than four decades.The disease is
rare in the US, but kills about 1.4 million people a year worldwide.
Spiral galaxy IC 2233 : Astronomers had captured one of the flattest galaxies known in the universe, sitting like a silver needle in
the haystack of space. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope produced a beautiful image of the spiral galaxy IC 2233, one of the
flattest galaxies. The IC 2233 is located about 40 million light-years away from Earth. This galaxy was earlier discovered by British
astronomer Isaac Roberts in 1894.
“Immune system ‘booster’ may hit cancer” : Japanese research where stem cells were used to clone and produce large
numbers of a specialized type of white blood cell. These cells, known as cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), are produced by the
immune system and are able to recognize specific markers on the surface of various tumour cells, causing them to launch an attack
to kill the tumour cells.The researchers are succeeded in using stem cells to “mass-produce” CTLs in laboratory conditions.
Chinese Biologists Discovered Antibiotic In Panda Blood : Chinese biologists have discovered that the blood of the
endangered giant panda includes a compound called ” Cathelicidin-AM ” which acts as a natural antibiotic. The nature of the blood
compound makes it an attractive treatment for so-called superbugs, those strains of disease that have become immune or resistant
to traditional antibiotics.
India to make world’s largest solar telescope : India is likely to begin construction of the world’s largest solar telescope on the
foothills of the Himalayas in Ladakh to understand the fundamental processes taking place on the Sun by year-end.A 2-metre class,state-of-the-art National Large Solar Telescope (NLST), built by Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), will permit
Indian scientists to carry out cutting edge research aimed to study Sun’s atmosphere.
Internet emits 830 mt of carbon dioxide annually : According to Researchers from the Centre for Energy-Efficient
Telecommunications (CEET) and Bell Labs, Internet and other components of information communication and technology (ICT)
industry annually produces more than 830 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas, and is expected to
double by 2020
‘Lakshya’ Missile Successfully Tested : India’s indigenously developed, ‘Lakshya’ was sucessfully tested on 7 January .It was
launched from the Integrated Test Range – ITR, at Odisha .25 meters in length, 100 km away from the target to the missile .
17 billion’ Earth-sized planets in Milky Way : The Milky Way contains at least 17 billion planets the size of Earth.Astronomers
using NASA’s Kepler spacecraft found that about 17 percent of stars in our galaxy have a planet about the size of Earth in a close
orbit.The Milky Way is known to host about 100 billion stars, meaning that about one of every six has an Earth-sized planet around
it.
Brahmos cruise missile test fired in successfully : Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos scored once again in its 34th launch on
09 January 2013 off Visakhapatnam in the Bay of Bengal, hitting a decommissioned vessel with accuracy.As it took off vertically
from a naval warship, reached an altitude of 14 km, levelled out and started cruising at three times the speed of sound, it
performed “a double manoeuvre in S-form” and hit the decommissioned ship, about 290 km away.
Astronomers Found ” NGC 6872 ” Largest known Spiral Galaxy : A team of astronomers from the United States, Chile and
Brazil has crowned it the largest-known spiral galaxy, a spectacular behemoth five times bigger than our own Milky Way, based on
archival data from NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) mission.The title-holder is now NGC 6872, a barred spiral found 212
million light-years away in the southern constellation Pavo. The distance between NGC 6872′s two huge spiral arms is 522,000
light-years, compared to about 100,000 light-years for the Milky Way.
Indian Scientists Discovered Molecule for Cancer Treatment : A team of Indian researchers, led by Dr Sathees C Raghavan
of the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore, have identified a molecule which they claim will revolutionise the cure for
cancer.The molecule has been named after “Sathees as SCR7” and a detailed account of it has been carried in the international
scientific journal “Cell”".Scientists world over believe that the double strand break (DSB) of DNA is one of the most lethal form of
DNA damage, resulting in drastic consequences such as genome instability, and cancer.
“Largest Space structure in the Universe:Large Quasar Group : An international team lead by astronomer Roger Clowes of
the University of Central Lancashire in England discovered the largest known structure in the universe, a clump of active galactic
cores that stretches 4 billion light-years from end to end.This is the largest Space structure in the Universe.This structure is known
as a “Large Quasar Group(LQG)”.
Indian Scientists Discovered Molecule for Cancer Treatment : A team of Indian researchers, led by Dr Sathees C Raghavan
of the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore, have identified a molecule which they claim will revolutionise the cure for
cancer.The molecule has been named after “Sathees as SCR7” and a detailed account of it has been carried in the international
scientific journal “Cell”".Scientists world over believe that the double strand break (DSB) of DNA is one of the most lethal form of
DNA damage, resulting in drastic consequences such as genome instability, and cancer.
World’s First Global Renewable Energy Atlas Launched : On 13 January Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy
Agency (IRENA) launched the world’s first clean energy atlas at IRENA’S General Assembly , currently offers open-access
information on solar and wind power throughout the world and the creators plan to expand to other renewable energy resources
over the next two years.The atlas includes information on clean energy resources in 37 countries, including those which have no
diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates.The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is working in partnership
with the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) to build a qualitative and quantitative data framework for
renewable energy in developing countries.
Ancient River Found on Mars : On 17 January The European Space Agency scientists have revealed a 1500 km long and 7
kilometre wide river that once ran across Mars.The images which were captured by the ESA’s Mars Express showed Reull Vallis, the
river-like structure, which is believed to have formed when water ran from the surface of Mars in distant past. The structure which
surprised the astronomers stretches for around 900 miles or 1500 km across the Martian surface and also shows various tributaries.
These structures, it is believed, were formed somewhere around 3.5 billion years ago.
India Increased Rafale Fighter Jets’ Order : India could buy up to 189 of the Rafale fighter jets currently being used by France
to bomb Islamist militants in Mali, sources close to negotiations on the multi-billion dollar deal .The possibility of an additional 63
jets being added to an expected order for 126 was raised by India .The Indian press has estimated the value of the deal for 126
Rafales at $12 billion (nine billion euros).A 50 per cent increase in the number of planes ordered would take it to around $18 billion,
in a huge boost for the French defence industry.
‘Japan to replace Fukushima plant with world’s largest wind farm’ : In the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster,
Japan had decided to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm to replace the crippled nuke plant.The country plans to build a
total of 143 wind turbines on platforms 16 kilometres off the coast of Fukushima by 2020, which is home to the stricken Daiichi
nuclear reactor that hit the headlines in March 2011 when it was damaged by a severe earthquake and tsunami.The wind farm willgenerate 1 gigawatt of power once completed, and is part of a national plan to increase renewable energy resources following the
post-tsunami shutdown of the country’s 54 nuclear reactors.The wind farm will surpass the 504 megawatts generated by the 140
turbines at the Greater Gabbard farm off the coast of Suffolk, UK – currently the world’s largest farm.
India, US finalise Rs 3,000 crore deal for jet engines : India and the US have finalised a Rs 3000-crore deal for supplying 99
jet engines to be used in the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft ‘Tejas’ being developed by the DRDO.Around two years ago, India
had selected the American company General Electric over its rival European Eurojet 2000 for the LCA Mark II programme expected
to be ready around 2014-15.The deal worth Rs 3,000 crore has been finalised with the US for procuring 99 engines for the LCA
Tejas MkII.As per the contract, the order could be for 99 engines initially but India will have the option of ordering another 100
engines in the future.
INS Saryu Inducted into Indian Navy : On 21 January Air Marshal PK Roy, Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar
Command, commissioned INS Saryu into the Indian Navy at Goa .INS Saryu is the lead ship of the indigenous Naval Offshore Patrol
Vessel (NOPV) Project designed and built by Goa Shipyard Limited, the ship aptly demonstrates the immense potential of the
country’s indigenous designing and ship building capabilities.Capable of carrying a helicopter (ALH) onboard, the ship’s weapon and
sensor outfit includes a SRGM 76.2 mm gun with an electro-optic fire control system, two 30mm guns as close in weapon systems,
latest navigational and early warning radars, chaff launchers for self protection and an integrated ESM system to undertake all
assigned missions.
MIT researchers Created Moisture – Powered Polymer : MIT ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology ) researchers have
created a new polymer film that can generate electricity by drawing on a ubiquitous source: water vapor.The new material changes
its shape after absorbing tiny amounts of evaporated water, allowing it to repeatedly curl up and down. Harnessing this continuous
motion could drive robotic limbs or generate enough electricity to power micro- and nanoelectronic devices, such as environmental
sensors.
India Sucessfully Test Fired K-5 Ballistic Missile : On 27 January India successfully test fired medium range K-5 ballistic
missile ,with a strike range of around 1500 kilometres, from an underwater platform in Bay of Bengal.K-5 is part of the family of
underwater missiles being developed by Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) for the Indian strategic forces’
underwater platforms.
Iran ‘successfully sent monkey into space’ : Iran on 28 January 2013 announced that it had successfully send a monkey to the
space.It also declared that the monkey come back to the Earth successfully.The rocket called Pishgam (meaning Pioneer) reached
at a height of 120 km (75 miles) for a sub-orbital flight before “returning its shipment intact”. The first country to launch the
primate into space was US.
Iran launches new fighter jet : Iran had unveiled a new home-made combat aircraft on 02 February 2013.Iran announced that
this is the most Sophisticated aircraft in the world.The name of this aircraft was Qaher F313 (Dominant F313).Qaher F313 was
designed using the Advanced Electro-Aviation System.
World’s Largest Prime Number Discovered with 17,425,170 digits : Researchers from the University of Central Missouri in
Warrensburg discovered the largest prime number of the world, Contains 17 Million Digits. This is the 48th Mersenne prime found
so far. However there are certain rare kinds of prime numbers called Mersenne primes which have the form 2 multiplied by itself p
times minus 1, where p denotes a prime number. The new largest prime is 2 multiplied by itself 57885161 times minus 1.
First Complete Bionic Man Unveiled in U.K : On 7 February The world’s first complete ‘Bionic Man’ named “ Rex ” was unveiled
at London’s Science Museum. The bionic man was created using 1 million US dollar limbs as well as organs.Rex has a human face
with brown eyes and a height of 6.5 feet. It was designed jointly with assistance from 18 universities and companies.
Rudra Inducted into the Army : On 8 February The first indigenously built Weapon System Integrated Advanced Light
Helicopter, “Rudra” was handed over to the Indian Army by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) .Rudra is the Mk-IV variant of
the Advanced Light Helicopter designed and manufactured by HAL. The helicopter is fitted with weapons, targeting systems,
warning and counter-measure systems and survivability features.This is the first of the 60 armed helicopters provided to the army
by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) after the Defence Ministry handed over the control of all attack helicopters to the land
force.
Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘Rajratan’ Commissioned : On 11 February Indian Coast Guard ship “ Rajratan “ , the fifth in a series
of eight Inshore Patrol Vessels (IPVs), was commissioned by Indian Coast Guard.The vessel has been indigenously built by Garden
Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata.The 50m long IPV can achieve a maximum speed of 34 knots, with an endurance of
1,500 nautical miles at an economical speed of 16 knots.
North Korea conducted third nuclear test : On 12 February 2013,North Korea “successfully” conducted a third underground
nuclear test with the violation of United Nations sanctions.In the past North Korea two times conducted nuclear tests but this is
most powerful than those tests.North Korea announced that,a miniaturised nuclear device had been detonated successfully at the
test site.The test was reported to have taken place at a test site in the North Hamgyeong province, where the Punggye-ri nuclear
complex that conducted tests in 2006 and 2009 is located.
Asteroid “ 2012 DA14 “ Passed Very Near To Earth : The small Asteroid named “ 2012 DA14 “ with an estimated diameter ofFebruary 15.During its 2013 close passage, the asteroid passed 27,700 km (17,200 mi) from the surface of Earth. Scientists at
NASA estimated that an asteroid the size of 2012 DA14 flies this close to Earth about once every 40 years. A 2012 DA14-size
asteroid impacts Earth once every 1,200 years, on average.
PSLV-C20 Successfully Launched ‘SARAL’ and 6 Other Satellites : On 25 February ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
(PSLV) from the Satish Dawan Space centre at SPSR Nellore in Sriharikota , launched the Indo-French satellite “SARAL” along with
six commercial payloads from Austria, Britain, Canada and Denmark into a 785-km polar sunsynchronous orbit.It was the 23rd
mission of PSLV, which has an impeccable record of 21 consecutive successful flights. : About SARAL:- – The Saral mission results
from the common interest of both ISRO and CNES in studying the ocean from space. For instance, it can provide information on
seasonal forecasting, study on animal migration, locating ‘buoys’ and fishing vessels, collecting environmental data such as ocean
temperature profiles and currents.
Besides Saral, the PSLV-C20 has put into orbit two micro-satellites UniBRITE and BRITE (both from Austria), AAUSAT3 from
Denmark and STRaND from UK. It also carried one micro-satellite (NEOSSat) and one mini-satellite (SAPPHIRE) from Canada.With
a lift-off mass of 407 kg, Saral is the 56th satellite to be launched by PSLV.The six commercial payloads from abroad together have
a lift-off mass of 259.5 km.PSLV-C20 is the ninth PSLV in ‘core alone’ configuration (without solid strap-on motors).
Spinning Black Hole Observed for the First Time : The Spinning black holes are first identified by Paranal Observatory
astronomers in Chile.The enormous black hole at the center of the spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is spinning about 84 percent as fast as
Einstein’s general theory of relativity allows it to, researchers determined. NGC 1365, located about 56 million light-years from
Earth.
Pinaka’ Rockets Successfully Test-Fired : On 1 March Indigenously developed ‘Pinaka’ rockets were successfully test-fired by
Indian army from a multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) by an armament establishment from a base at Chandipur-on-sea, about 15
km from Balasore.’’Pinaka’ is an area weapon system with a range of 40 km.’Pinaka’ system can fire a salvo of 12 rockets in 44
seconds ,adding that the battery of six launchers can neutralise at a time a target area of 3.9 sq km.
Large Meteorite Found in Antarctica : On 1 March the international group of researchers has discovered the18-kg meteorite in
eastern Antarctica, the largest found in that area in 25 years.
Astronomer Measured Exact Distance to Our Closest Neighbouring Galaxy : On 7 March Astronomers have for the first time
accurately measured the distance to one of the Milky Way’s neighbouring galaxy and it is just 163,000 light-years away.
Japan Pioneers Gas Extraction From Seafloor Methane Hydrate : On 12 March Japan has become the first country in the
world to extract natural gas from frozen methane hydrate successfully off the central coast. According to the Japanese study, it was
estimated that around 1.1tn cubic metres of methane hydrate existed in the offshore deposits. This is equal to the gas consumption
of Japan in more than 10 years.
World’s Largest Telescope Inaugurated in Chile : On 13 March The world’s largest radio telescope has been inaugurated in
Chile on a mountain high above the Atacama Desert, wielding unprecedented power to peer into the remotest regions of the
universe.The ceremony attended by President Sebastian Pinera and other dignitaries.The ALMA space observatory consists of 66
antennae creating a telescope array 16 kilometres in diameter.
UAE Inaugurated World’s Largest CSP Solar Power Plant : On 17 March United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Khalifa
Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan inaugurated the 100-megawatt solar plant “Shams 1 “ in the desert of Abu Dhabi,the world’s largest
concentrated solar power plant in operation.Covering an area of 2.5 square km, the 600-million-U.S. dollars project incorporates
the latest in parabolic trough technology and features more than 258,000 mirrors mounted on 768 tracking parabolic trough
collectors, capable of delivering green electricity to 20,000 homes.
India Successfully Test Fired World’s First Underwater Supersonic Cruise Missile : On 20 March India has successfully test
fired its submarine-launched version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile of the over 290 km-range in the Bay of Bengal off the
coast of the southern port city of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).The launch of Missile is counted as the first test-firing of an
underwater supersonic cruise missile anywhere in the world. The missile travelled its complete range of over 290 km.
Big Bang Radiation Map Unveiled : On 21 March The European Space Agency (ESA) has unveiled the most detailed map yet of
relic radiation from the Big Bang,revealing new data it hopes will shed light on the creation and expansion of our Universe.The map
results suggest the universe is expanding more slowly than scientists thought, and is 13.8 billion years old, 100 million years older
than previous estimates.
India and US Agreed for Future Cooperation in Moon and Mars Missions : On 23 March India and the US agreed for
cooperation on future missions to the Moon and Mars after successful collaboration in Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission. The highly
successful Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission which was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in October 2008
led to strong evidence of the presence of lunar water.
Crew Reaches Space Station in Less than 6 Hours : On 29 March An astronaut from the U. S.with three Russian cosmonauts
took a short cut to reach space station and saved around 45 hours of journey. The crew took only 5 hours and 45 minutes to reach
the space station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.This is for the first time that any crew has used this express route toreach space station in the minimum possible time.Three members on this Russian Soyuz are Chris Cassidy from NASA, Alexander
Misurkin and Pavel Vinogradov from Russia.
NTPC Commissioned New Solar Power Project in Andaman & Nicobar : On March 30,NTPC Ltd has commissioned a 5-MW
solar photo-voltaic power project at Port Blair in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.It is the first grid-connected solar photo-voltaic project
in these islands and also the first greenfield renewable solar PV project of NTPC.
New Indian Ship ‘ASWC Kiltan’ Launched in Kolkata : INS Kiltan is an anti-submarine warfare corvette of the Indian Navy
built under Project-28. It is the third of four Kamorta class corvettes under various stages of induction with the Indian Navy. The
ship was built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata and launched on 26 March.The ship takes its name from
the Kiltan island, a coral island that is part of India’s archipelagic Union Territory of Lakshadweep.The Kiltan is to be armed with a
range of indigenously developed cutting edge weapons and sensors including a medium range gun, torpedo tube launchers, rocket
launchers and a close-in weapon system.
Cicada’s Insect Wing’s Kills Bacteria : Human eye cells have been grown on cicadas’ wings after it was found that the wings’
surface kills bacteria and boosts cell growth.Dr Greg Watson, a researcher at James Cook University in Cairns, began looking more
closely at cicadas after noticing, while out on a walk more than a decade ago, that their wings took much longer to decompose than
their bodies.It is the first time scientists have found that tiny features found on a natural surface, rather than chemicals, kill
bacteria.
Supreme Court of India Rejected Novartis’ Patent Plea for Cancer Drug Called Glivec : The Supreme Court of India on 1
April 2013 rejected the plea of Novartis, the Swiss drug maker, to patent the updated version of cancer drug called Glivec. A bench
of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai dismissed the patent plea to Novartis on the basis that there was no
inventiveness or novelty in the new version of the drug. In its ruling, the Supreme Court of India declared that because the
application for patent on beta-crystalline salt did not meet any inventiveness or novelty standard, therefore the company’s plea for
patent was dismissed.
World’s first solar plane to fly across US : A first of its kind ultra-lightweight plane powered completely by the sun is set to fly
coast-to-coast this spring.The Solar Impulse plane will stop in Dallas city in Texas during its historic cross-country journey that
begins on May 1.The plane, which requires zero fuel and relies solely on solar panels and battery power, would be the world’s first
plane powered purely by solar energy.
Obama Announced $100 Million “Brain Initiative” Project : On 2 April US President Barack Obama has announced the “BRAIN
Initiative” a $100 million brain-mapping project.The BRAIN initiative will attempt to find ways to treat Alzheimer’s disease and
strokes while also aiding in job growth.
Carbon aerogel world’s lightest material : Chinese scientists have developed the world’s lightest substance — carbon aerogel
— with a density only one sixth of that of the air.Scientists at Zhejiang University produced the solid material which has a density of
only 0.16 mg/cubic centimetre, breaking the previous record of the world’s lightest material held by graphite aerogel.The graphite
aerogel was developed by German scientists last year with a density of 0.18 mg/cubic centimetre.
Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Detected Evidence of Dark Matter : On 3 April NASA scientists announced the Alpha Magnetic
Spectrometer (AMS) placed on the International Space Station (ISS) may have detected the elusive dark matter. The scientists
made the announcement after they observed an excess of positrons in the Cosmic Ray Flux, which can be the reason of the
presence of elusive dark matter.
100 billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy : Scientists have proposed a new method for finding Earth-like planets in our Milky
Way galaxy and they anticipate that their number may be up to a whopping 100 billion.The strategy devised by researchers at The
University of Auckland uses a technique called gravitational microlensing, currently used by a Japan-New Zealand collaboration
called MOA (Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics) at New Zealand’s Mt John Observatory.
German Shipyard Launches World’s Largest Private Yacht : On 5 April A German shipyard has launched “”Azzam”" , the
world’s largest private yacht at 590-feet long, which also happens to be among the fastest vessels, costing a whopping USD 609
million.The luxury private vessel ‘Azzam’ – with a beam 68-feet high – overshadows previous longest superyacht, The Eclipse, by
57-feet. Designed by Nauta Yachts in Italy and constructed by German company Lurssen Yachts, Azzam is almost two football
fields long and rivals the size of some cruise ships.It took four years to complete the superyacht from concept to construction.With
94,000 horsepower generated from two gas turbines and two diesel engines, the Azzam can reach speeds of over 55.5kph, which
makes it one of the fastest yachts in the world.
New Camera System That Can Captured Images From 1 km Away : In the month of April the team of researchers from
Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh , developed a New Laser powered Camera System that can take image of any object from a
distance of about one kilometer by creating high-resolution 3D images.The technique on which the camera is based is called ‘Timeof-
Flight (ToF)’ navigation systems for autonomous vehicles. In this principle of photography, to capture the image of the far away
object, a laser beam is bounced on the object and measure the time that is taken by the beam of light to be back to the detector.
India test-fires nuclear capable Agni-II missile : The medium-range, nuclear capable Agni-II missile was successfully testfired
with a strike range of more than 2,000 kms from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast on 07 April 2013.The trial of the surfaceto-
surface missile was conducted from a mobile launcher from the Launch Complex-4 of Integrated Test Range (ITR).The 20-metrelong Agni-II is a two-stage, solid-propelled ballistic missile. It has a launch weight of 17 tonnes and can carry a payload of 1,000
kgs over a distance of 2,000 kms.The state-of-the-art Agni-II missile was developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) and
integrated by the Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) in Hyderabad.Agni-II is part of the Agni series of missiles developed by DRDO
which includes Agni-I with a 700 km range, Agni-III with a 3,000 km range, Agni-IV with 4,000 km range and Agni-V with a more
than 5,000 km range.
NASA Approved “TESS” Project : NASA has approved a The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a $200 million mission
to search for Earth-size planets orbiting the nearby stars.Led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with seed funding from
Google, TESS was one of 11 proposals selected for NASA funding in September 2011, down from the original 22 submitted in
February of that year.TESS, along with the Neutron star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER), had been selected for launch in
2017.
The project will come into full swing within the next four years.
Pakistan Tests Nuclear-Capable Hatf-IV Missile : Pakistan successfully test-fired the nuclear-capable Hatf-IV ballistic missile
on 10 April 2013. The missile has a range of 900 km and it can also hit targets in India. Hatf- IV ballistic missile is also called
Shaheen-1.
Indian Astronomer Discovered Blue Super-Giant Star : An Indian scientist Dr. duo Ananda Hota and his Taiwanese colleague
Dr. Youichi Ohyama have discovered a blue super-giant star located in the constellation Virgo, far beyond our Milky Way Galaxy.
Over 55 million years ago, the star emerged in an extremely wild environment, surrounded by intensely hot plasma (a million
degrees centigrade) and amidst raging cyclone winds blowing at four million kilometres per hour.This star is in small IC 3418 Milky
Way Galaxy and it is about 5.5 billion light-years away from Earth.
Astronomers find most Earth-like planets yet : NASA scientists announced on 19 April 2013 that they discovered two earths
like plants which are 1200 light years far from earth. NASA discovered the five plants which are rotating around Kepler 62 star
using the Kepler Space Telescope. Two of the five planets orbiting a sun-like star called Kepler-62 are squarely in what
astronomers call the habitable zone — not too hot, not too cold and possibly bearing water. These two plants are named as a
Kepler-63e and Kepler 62f.
China Tested Self Developed Biofuel Flight : On 24 April China successfully conducted a first test flight powered by selfdeveloped
biofuel made mainly from palm oil and recycled cooking oil.An Airbus A320 operated by China Eastern Airlines landed at
Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport ,after completing an 85-minute journey using aviation biofuel produced by Sinopec, the
country’s top oil refiner.The success made China the fourth country after the United States, France and Finland to boast
independent production of bio-jet-fue
50 meters (160 ft) and an estimated mass of 190,000 metric tons passed within about 3.5 Earth radii of the Earth’s surface on