News on Science, Technology and Research in India
Efforts to build fuel-efficient and less polluting next-generation gas turbines are expected to get a major boost with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras and the American multinational firm, General Electric (GE), establishing a state-of-the-art expanded gas turbine combustor testing facility at the National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD) at IIT-Madras.
In a significant development in environmental pollution, a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Mandi, has developed a method that promises to help transform plastic into hydrogen when exposed to light. The generation of hydrogen from plastics is expected to be more useful because hydrogen is considered the most practical non-polluting fuel of the future.
EOS-02 is Technology demonstration satellite for various new technologies with applications that include agriculture, forestry, geology, hydrology, miniaturised power electronics, reaction wheels etc. and forming the payload for SSLV-1.
The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) which is being steered jointly by Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeiTY) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and implemented by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, has progressed significantly. The four major pillars of the NSM, namely, Infrastructure, Applications, R&D, HRD, have been functioning efficiently to realize the goal of developing indigenous supercomputing eco system of the nation.
As it awaits the arrival of its successor in August this year, Chandrayaan-2 has once again found new developments happening under the surface of the Moon. Chandra’s Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2 (CHACE-2) instrument onboard Chandrayaan-2 has found Argon-40 in the tenuous lunar exosphere.
A team of researchers at the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) in Australia have addressed this question by developing a mathematical model that predicts how antibodies generated by COVID-19 vaccines confer protection against symptomatic infections. The team has published a report of their study in Nature Computational Science.
Researchers say that neutrinos in supernovae, neutron stars, and in the early Universe may change flavor (type) collectively and unstably, due to neutrino-neutrino forward scattering. Neutrinos emitted by exploding stars can change their flavor via collective flavor (type) instability. Scientists have identified the ingredient for flavor instability which will have observable consequences for the observations made by telescopes and neutrino detectors.
Hornbills are frugivorous, or fruit eating birds, that disperse seeds of large trees such as Ficus, and play a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community
Prof Haridas has collaborated with virologist Prof. Guruprasad Medigeshi from the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), and biochemist Prof. Bishwajit Kundu from the Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, IIT Delhi, for this research work.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi, have used hydrochar derived from orange peels as a catalyst to convert biomass-derived chemicals into biofuel precursors.The research will help develop biomass-based fuel to overcome the socio-political instabilities associated with dwindling petroleum reserves.
