News on Science, Technology and Research in India
According to data acquired from the expedition, Chandrayaan-2, ISRO’s second lunar mission, has identified the existence of water molecules on the moon. The imaging infrared spectrometre (IIRS) is one of the payloads on-board Chandrayaan-2, which is put in a 100 km polar orbit to gather worldwide scientific data, according to a study co-authored by Mr. A S Kirankumar, former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman.
Being a high sensitivity flexible pressure/strain sensor, it can also be used for small and large scale motion monitoring, with potential applications in robotics, prosthetics, as well as minimal invasive surgery and identification of tumor/cancerous cells.
Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science’s (IISc) Molecular Biophysics Unit (MBU) have found a novel way to block bacteria from flushing out antibiotics which helps them gain drug resistance.
It is a path-breaking achievement for the institute as it is the country’s first application for notifying people about earthquake alerts. It can also help tell the location of people trapped inside a structure following an earthquake.
Using porous carbon nanoparticles from waste onion peels, a team of scientists have developed soft robotic actuators with enhanced photomechanical capacity. The actuators can act as efficient traps for the illuminating low-power near-infrared (NIR) light and can convert a control signal into mechanical motion with bioengineering applications such as drug delivery, wearable and assistive devices, prostheses, and even artificial organs.
Indian scientists 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. Unlike the present preservative dipping technology, where the preservatives are adsorbed by the fruit, causing chronic toxicity to the consumers; here preservatives the wrapper releases the preservative only when needed. The wrapper can be reused, which is not possible with the present technology.
Dhriti Banerjee, entomologist with an expertise in Diptera, has taken over as the 18th director of the 105-year institute on August 6. Headquartered in Kolkata, the ZSI has 16 regional centres and about 300 scientists.
The four astronaut-elects part of the Gaganyaan programme are scheduled to begin their India training from the first week of September with the National Medical Advisory Council constituted specifically for the programme, having laid out the protocol to be followed given the pandemic situation.
Centre for Battery Engineering and Electric Vehicles Research (C BEEV) has developed a range of motors and sub assemblies for commercial deployment. “All e-vehicle makers now import motors and assemble them. We now have motors and sub assemblies fully designed and developed here,” said Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala of C BEEV.
An Indian scientist has developed an advanced wound dressing based on agarose, a natural polymer derived from seaweed agar, for the treatment of infected diabetic wounds and patients suffering from chronic wounds. This indigenous dressing will allow cost-effective dressings for chronic wound patients and will also pave the way for business incubation.
