1. New Cancer-Killing Drug : Dosterlimab
Tags: Science and Technology
A trial of 18 colorectal cancer patients in the US found that the cancer is curable without chemotherapy or surgery. All the patients involved in the trial were given a drug called Dostarlimab. The drug was given to the patients every three weeks for six months.
Experts say this is perhaps the first time in the history of modern medical science that an experimental procedure has been successful against the most dreaded disease.
What is Dostarlimab?
It is an immunotherapy drug from GlaxoSmithKline.
It consists of molecules created by the laboratory.
It acts as a substitute antibody. It is sold under the brand name Gemperly.
It was approved for medical use in the United States and the European Union in 2021.
Its side effects include vomiting, joint pain, itching, rash, fever, etc.
Findings of the experiment
The trial showed that immunotherapy alone (without chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery) has been the basis of cancer treatment.
It can completely cure patients with a specific type of rectal cancer called 'mismatch repair deficit' cancer.
No cases of progression of disease or recurrence had been reported during the treatment.
Within nine weeks of starting treatment, 81% of patients had less symptoms and a faster physical response.
How does the drug work?
It is a type of monoclonal antibody that blocks proteins called checkpoints that are made by immune system cells, such as T cells and some cancer cells.
The test used checkpoints that allow T cells to kill cancer cells.
When these checkpoints are blocked, T cells are free to kill cancer cells more efficiently.
Examples of checkpoint proteins found on T cells or cancer cells include PD-1, PD-L1, CTLA-4 and B7-1.
2. Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have discovered the Indian Lipstick plant
Tags: Science and Technology
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Researchers from the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have discovered a rare plant after more than a century in Anjou district of Arunachal Pradesh. It is known as 'Indian lipstick plant'.
Scientists had collected some specimens of 'Eschinanthus' from Huiliang and Chipru in Anjou district in December 2021 during flower studies in Arunachal Pradesh.
After review of documents and study of fresh specimens it was confirmed that specimens belong to Aeschynanthus monetaria, which has not been found in India since the year 1912.
This plant was first discovered in Arunachal Pradesh in 1912 by the British botanist Stephen Troyt Dunn.
The discovery was based on plant samples collected from Arunachal Pradesh by another English botanist, Isaac Henry Burkill.
About 'Indian Lipstick Plant'
It is known in botany as 'aeschynanthus monetaria dun'.
The word aeschynanthus is derived from the Greek word aishine or aishine, which means feeling ashamed or embarrassed, while anthos means flower.
Some species under the genus Eschinanthus are called lipstick plants due to the presence of the tubular red corolla.
This plant grows in moist and evergreen forests at a height of 543 to 1134 metres.
The flowering and fruiting time of this plant is between October to January.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has placed the lipstick plant species in the 'endangered' category.
3. Strategic missile Agni-4 successfully test fired
Tags: Science and Technology
India on 6 June successfully test-fired nuclear-capable long-range ballistic missile Agni-IV from APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha.
The test was part of the routine user training launch conducted under the aegis of Strategic Forces Command.
The launch of the missile recognized all the operational parameters as well as the reliability of the system.
This successful test reaffirms India's policy of having 'reliable minimum deterrence'.
In May 2022, India successfully test-fired an extended range version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a Sukhoi fighter jet.
This was the first launch of the extended range version of the BrahMos missile from a Su-30MKI aircraft.
About Agni-IV Missile
It is an intermediate range ballistic missile with a range of about 4,000 km.
It is developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
It can carry a payload of 1,000 kg and can reach an altitude of 900 km.
The first flight test of Agni-4 took place on 10 December 2010.
The missile crashed into the sea soon after launch because of errors in its control system.
Features of Agni-IV Missile
It is a two-stage, solid-fueled missile weighing 17,000 kg.
It is about 20 metres long and 1.2 metres in diameter at its lower stage.
Agni class of missiles
Agni I - Range of 700-800 km.
Agni II - Range more than 2000 km.
Agni III - Range of more than 2,500 Km.
Agni IV - Range is more than 3,500 km and can fire from a road mobile launcher
Agni V - The longest missile of the Agni series, with a range of over 5,000 km.
These missiles are built under Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).
4. Chinese astronauts enter Tiangong space station module after successful launch
Tags: Defence Science and Technology
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced that three Shenzhou-14 astronauts successfully entered the Tiangong Space Station on June 6 with the Tianzhou-4 cargo craft.
The three astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Kai Xuje will collaborate with the ground team to complete the assembly and construction of the Tiangong space station.
Astronauts will grow the space station from a single-module structure with core module Tianhe, two lab modules Wentian and Mengtian into a National Space Laboratory.
About Tiangong Space Station
This is a planned permanent space station of China which will be placed in Low Earth Orbit.
It was launched on September 15, 2016.
This is China's longest manned space mission so far.
China had launched Tiangong-1 in 2011 as a proof-of-concept of technologies for future stations.
Tiangong will be fully operational by the end of 2022.
5. India’s First Liquid Mirror Telescope
Tags: Science and Technology
The country's and the world's first Liquid Mirror Telescope has been set up in Uttarakhand. This telescope has been set up on top of a hill in Devasthal Observatory located in Nainital.
Through this telescope, it will be helpful to take information about supernova, gravitational lens and asteroids etc. in space.
The Indian Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) will help in surveying the sky.
This will also make it easy to observe many galaxies and other astronomical sources.
In 2017, with the help of countries like Belgium, Canada, Poland, Aeries started the International Liquid Mirror Telescope Project with the help of 500 million.
What is a Liquid Mirror Telescope (LMT)?
It has been made by India with the help of astronomers from Belgium and Canada.
It is like a 4 metre diameter rotating mirror made of a thin film of liquid mercury, which collects and focuses the light.
It has been installed at Devasthal Observatory at an altitude of 2450 metres above sea level.
This observatory is situated in the Aryabhata Research Institute of Observational Science (ARIS), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science, Government of India.
To prepare the telescope, scientists created a pool of mercury, which is a reflective liquid. This causes the surface of the telescope to become curved.
This is ideal for focusing light.
A thin transparent film over it protects the mercury from the air.
It also has a large electronic camera, which records the images.
The telescope was designed and built in Belgium by the Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems (AMOS) Corporation and the Center Spatial de Lige.
This telescope has taken a clear picture of the NGC 4274 galaxy, 95 thousand light years away.
Along with this, it has also easily captured the stars of the Milky Way in the camera.
6. D2M Technology
Tags: Science and Technology
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Prasar Bharati are exploring the feasibility of ‘direct-to-mobile’ (D2M) broadcasting.
What is D2M Technology?
This technology is based on the convergence of broadband and broadcast, using which mobile phones can receive terrestrial digital TV.
This would be similar to how people listen to FM radio on their phones, where a receiver within the phone can tap into the radio frequency.
Using D2M, multimedia content can also be beamed to phones directly.
Benefit and need of D2M Technology
It allows video and other forms of multimedia content to be transmitted directly to mobile phones without the need for an Internet connection.
It improves consumption of broadband and utilisation of spectrum.
This technology can be used to directly broadcast content related to citizen-centric information.
It can also be used to combat fake news, issue emergency alerts and provide assistance in disaster management.
In addition, it can be used to broadcast live news, sports, etc. on mobile phones.
Government's initiative to facilitate D2M technology
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has constituted a committee to study the feasibility of a spectrum band to provide broadcast services live on users' smartphones.
Band 526-582 MHz is envisaged to work in sync with both mobile and broadcast services.
Currently, this band is used by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for TV transmitters across the country.
7. World's largest plant discovered off Australia's west coast
Tags: Science and Technology
The world's largest plant has recently been discovered off the west coast of Australia, it is a sea grass with a length of 180 km.
About the plant
The name of the discovered plant is Posidonia australis or ribbon weed.
It has been discovered in Shark Bay by a group of researchers from Flinders University and The University of Western Australia.
Researchers have also found that the plant is 4,500 years old, is sterile, and has double the number of chromosomes than other similar plants.
The plant has managed to survive in the volatile atmosphere of the shallow Shark Bay.
Plant’s size
Posidonia australis covers an area of 20,000 hectares.
The second largest plant, is the clonal colony of a quaking Aspen tree in Utah, which covers 43.6 hectares area.
The largest tree in India is the Great Banyan in the Botanical Garden of Howrah which is spread over 1.41 hectares.
The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
8. PARAM ANANTA Supercomputer commissioned at IIT, Gandhinagar
Tags: Science and Technology
A state-of-the-art supercomputer PARAM ANANTA under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), was dedicated to the nation at IIT Gandhinagar.
NSM is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Department of Science and Technology (DST).
About PARAM ANANTA
This high power supercomputer can process 838 lakh crore calculations per second.
It is capable of offering peak performance of 838 teraflops.
The facility has been set up under Phase 2 of the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between IIT Gandhinagar and Center for Development in Advanced Computing (C-DAC) on 12 October 2020 to set up this 838 teraflops supercomputing facility under NSM.
It is equipped with a mix of CPU nodes, GPU nodes, High Memory nodes, High throughput storage and high performance Infiniband.
It is based on direct contact liquid cooling technology to achieve high power utilization effectiveness and reduce operating costs.
This facility will be of great benefit to IIT Gandhinagar to pursue Research and Development (R&D) activities in the multidisciplinary domain of Science and Technology.
What are supercomputers?
A supercomputer can perform high-level processing at a faster rate than a normal computer.
They work together to perform complex operations that are not possible with normal computing systems.
Fast speed and fast memory are the characteristics of supercomputers.
The performance of a supercomputer is generally evaluated in petaflops.
National Supercomputing Mission
The National Supercomputing Mission was launched In 2015.
The aim of the mission was to enhance the research capacities in the country to form a Supercomputing grid.
It supports the government's vision of 'Digital India' and 'Make in India' initiatives.
The mission is being jointly operated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
It is implemented by Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune and IISc, Bengaluru.
Some important facts about supercomputer
China has the maximum number of supercomputers followed by the US, Japan, France, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom..
India’s first supercomputer - PARAM 8000
first supercomputer assembled indigenously - PARAM Shivay, installed in IIT (BHU)
PARAM Shakti, PARAM Brahma, PARAM Yukti, PARAM Sanganak are some name of india's supercomputers
India's PARAM-Siddhi AI, has been ranked 63rd in the Top 500 list of most powerful supercomputers in the world.
9. One person dies of West Nile fever in Thrissur
Tags: Science and Technology
The health department has been alerted after one person died of West Nile fever, a mosquito-borne disease, in Thrissur's Panancheri panchayat on May 29.
About West Nile Virus
West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne, single-stranded RNA virus.
As per WHO, it is a member of the flavivirus genus and belongs to the Japanese Encephalitis antigenic complex of the family Flaviviridae.
Transmission of virus
The Culex species of mosquitoes serves as the major carrier for transmission.
It is transmitted through infected mosquitoes to humans, animals and birds.
Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds and circulate the virus in their blood for a few days.
The virus eventually moves into the mosquito's salivary glands.
When mosquitoes bite, the virus enters the body of humans and animals where there is a rapid increase in the number of viruses that cause disease.
The virus can also be spread by blood transfusion, from an infected mother to her child, or through exposure to the virus in laboratories.
Symptoms
In 80% of the infected people the disease is asymptomatic.
Symptoms seen in 20% of cases include fever, headache, fatigue, body aches, nausea, rash and swollen glands.
Severe infection can lead to encephalitis, meningitis, paralysis, and even death.
It usually becomes fatal in individuals with co-morbidities and in immune-compromised individuals (e.g. transplant patients).
10. MoU signed between Ministry of Ayush and Department of Biotechnology
Tags: National Science and Technology
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of AYUSH and the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India to explore the possibility of collaboration, convergence and synergy to bring together expertise towards evidence based biotechnology interventions in the AYUSH sector.
The MoU is expected to enable traditional health care and biotechnology to come together to conduct innovative and path-breaking research.
Innovation and research can be used for the exploration of various fundamental principles of Ayush systems.
The discovery and application of the ancient scientific method in the public health care sector requires multi-dimensional and technological methods.
This is expected to pave the way for coordinated research in the AYUSH sector and harness the vast untapped potential of the AYUSH health care system for community benefit.
The MoU will facilitate inter-ministerial cooperation for evidence based biotechnology interventions in the AYUSH sector.
