Science & Tech

Science & Technology
CURRENT AFFAIRS 3 Jan
Why Dinosaur fossils are in demand?
Issue
In 2020, an exhibit at a Christie’s auction fetched $31.8 million for well-
preserved skeleton of a dinosaur, which was a record-breaking feat.
Background
The proceeds from the sale of Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton period far
exceeded the high estimate of $8 million, and smashed the previous record
for a dinosaur fossil at a Sotheby’s auction.
Details
 Palaeontologists have raised concerns that the commercial sale of
dinosaur fossils and escalating prices would encourage people to sell well-
preserved fossils in the open market rather than leaving them for
palaeontologists to study.
 They also fear that most of the good fossils will probably enter private
collections, as universities and museums may not be able to match the high
prices they offer.
 In the US, fossil bones found on federal land are public property, and
can be collected only by researchers with permits.
 These go to public trust and repositories, including accredited
museums. Fossils discovered on private land, however, can be bought and
sold.
 In Canada, Mongolia, China, and Argentina, fossils can’t be exported,
even though cases of black marketing have come to light.
www.studyiq.com
 In India, too, palaeontologists fear that the country’s rich fossil heritage
is under threat in the absence of stringent laws and preservation efforts.
Popularity of dinosaur fossils

 The fact that Christie’s auctioned Stan in a sale of contemporary art
rather than a natural history auction is being seen as an indicator of the
collector base of the fossils.
 While Hollywood actors, including Nicolas Cage, Russell Crowe and
Leonardo DiCaprio, are known to buy dinosaur fossils, there is also a broad
collector base in countries such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand,
Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Fossils
A fossil is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing
from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons,
stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair,
petrified wood, oil, coal, and DNA remnants.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Signs of brain damage in deceased Covid patients
Issue
In an in-depth study of how Covid-19 affects a patient’s brain, researchers
have spotted hallmarks of damage in tissue samples from deceased patients
of the disease.
Background
The damage to tissue samples was caused by thinning and leaky brain blood
vessels. Yet the researchers saw no signs of SARS-CoV-2 in the tissue
samples. This suggests that the damage was not caused by a direct viral
attack on the brain.
Details
 In this study, the researchers conducted an in-depth examination of
brain tissue samples from 19 patients who had died after experiencing
Covid-19 between March and July 2020.
 The patients died at a wide range of ages, from 5 to 73 years old. They
died within a few hours to two months after reporting symptoms.
 Many patients had one or more risk factors, including diabetes, obesity,
and cardiovascular disease.
 Researchers suspect that the brains of patients who contract infection
from SARS-CoV-2 may be susceptible to microvascular blood vessel damage.
The results suggest that this may be caused by the body’s inflammatory
response to the virus.
www.studyiq.com
 Although Covid-19 is primarily a respiratory disease, patients often

experience neurological problems including headaches, delirium, cognitive
dysfunction, dizziness, fatigue, and loss of the sense of smell. The disease
may also cause patients to suffer strokes.
 Several studies have shown that the disease can cause inflammation
and blood vessel damage. In one of these studies, researchers found
evidence of small amounts of SARS-CoV-2 in some patients’ brains.
Observations
 Initially, the researchers used a special, high-powered MRI scanner to
examine samples of the olfactory bulbs and brainstems from each patient.
 The scans revealed that both regions had an abundance of bright spots
(called hyperintensities) that often indicate inflammation, and dark spots
(called hypointensities) that represent bleeding.
 The researchers then used the scans as a guide to examine the spots
more closely under a microscope.
 They found that the bright spots contained blood vessels that were
thinner than normal and sometimes leaking blood proteins, like fibrinogen,
into the brain.
 This appeared to trigger an immune reaction. The spots were
surrounded by T cells from the blood and the brain’s own immune cells called
microglia.
 In contrast, the dark spots contained both clotted and leaky blood
vessels but no immune response.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
SolarWinds cyberattacks
Issue
Microsoft has revealed that its internal source code was likely accessed by
the attackers during investigation into SolarWinds cyberattack.
Background
The attack primarily targeted the United States (US) government and several
other private organisations. The SolarWinds cyberattack was first revealed in
December by cyber-security firm FireEye.
Details
 Microsoft’s internal security research team has found evidence that the
attackers accessed some internal source code in the company’s systems.
 Microsoft has not confirmed what source code was accessed by the
hackers. However, the fact that the hackers got in so deep is quite worrying,
given the importance of source code in any piece of software.
 Source code is the key to how a software product is built and if
compromised could leave it open to new, unknown risks. Hackers could use
this information to exploit any potential weakness in the programmes.
 Microsoft has said that the attack has not put any risk on its users or
customer data. They believe that the act was performed by a powerful state
actor.
 The company notes that its threat models work on the belief that
attackers have knowledge of their source code.
www.studyiq.com
Data suggests Covid-19 is seasonal
Issue
TNew research data suggests that Covid-19 pandemic has seasonal
characteristics. This makes their occurrence pattern oriented.
Background
Researchers show that Covid-19 cases and mortality rates are significantly
correlated with temperature and latitude across 221 countries.
Details
 The researchers downloaded relevant epidemiological data (disease
incidence, mortality, recovery cases, active cases, testing rate,
hospitalisation) from 221 countries, along with their latitude, longitude, and
average temperature.
 The research team then used statistical methods to test if
epidemiological variables were correlated with temperature, latitude, and
longitude. The expectation was that warmer countries closer to the equator
would be the least affected.
 Epidemiological analysis showed a statistically significant correlation
between temperature and incidence, mortality, recovery cases, and active
cases. The same tendency was found with latitude, but not with longitude.
 One conclusion is that the disease may be seasonal, like the flu. This is
very relevant to what we should expect from now on after the vaccine
controls these first waves of Covid-19.
www.studyiq.com
 While temperature and latitude were unmistakably correlated with

Covid-19 cases, the researchers also pointed out climate is only one factor
driving seasonal Covid-19 incidence worldwide.
 They also assigned each country a risk index reflecting public health
preparedness and incidence of co-morbidities in the population.
 The idea was that if the disease was surging in countries with
inadequate resources or higher-than-average rates of diabetes, obesity, or
old age, the risk index would appear more important in the analysis than
temperature.
 The researchers also noted that the body’s own immune system could
be partially responsible for the pattern of seasonality. They believe that it is
too soon to say how seasonality and our immune systems interact in the case
of Covid-19.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Covaxin could work against UK strain
Issue
Bharat Biotech has released potentially promising information related to its
Covid-19 vaccine’s ability to protect people against a specific mutation of
the virus.
Background
The Covaxin was allowed for emergency use in India after there were
indications of its efficacy on UK strain of virus.
Details
 Bharat Biotech conducted a test of its vaccine, Covaxin, against the UK
strain of the virus. This “plaque reduction neutralization” test (PRNT50)
involved collecting the serum (protein-rich liquid separated from blood after
it is clotted) of 26 people who received the vaccine.
 The sera was then tested against the UK variant of the virus as well as
a heterologous strain of the virus that Covaxin was previously tested against.
 The study highlighted comparable neutralization activity of vaccinated
individual’s sera against variant as well as heterologous SARS-CoV-2 strains.
 Importantly, sera from the vaccine recipients could neutralise the UK-
variant strains discounting the uncertainty around potential escape,” stated
the pre-print findings.
www.studyiq.com
Significance of findings
 India has seen a rising number of cases of the UK strain. The UK strain
is not only more spreads more quickly than the more common strain, but
there has been some evidence to suggest that this variant was associated
with a higher degree of mortality, making it more deadly.
 The UK strain was one of the main reasons that Bharat Biotech received
restricted emergency approval in India despite Covaxin not having completed
enough of its large-scale human trials to show even interim information on
its efficacy.
Issues associated
 The findings have not been peer reviewed yet. The data collected from
26 people looks promising, but there is no clarity on the vaccine’s efficacy
yet.
 The findings show the vaccine’s ability to protect against the UK strain
only. At the same time, there are various other mutant strains of the virus
that pose a threat to vaccination programmes around the world.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Science and Technology
Axiom Mission
Issue
A former Israeli fighter pilot, an American technology entrepreneur and a
Canadian investor will be part of the crew of the first entirely-private orbital
space mission.
Background
The three men are paying a whopping $55 million each to fly aboard a
SpaceX rocket for an eight-day visit to the International Space Station,
organised by spaceflight firm Axiom.
Details
 The Axiom Mission 1 (AX 1) flight is being arranged under a commercial
agreement with NASA.
 While private citizens have travelled to space before, the AX 1 mission
will be the first to use a commercially built spacecraft, the SpaceX Dragon 2.
 After lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, the crew will take about
a day or two to arrive at the ISS and will then proceed to spend eight days
there.
 Axiom insists that the mission is by no means a vacation. The three men
will participate in research and philanthropic projects alongside the
astronauts from all over the world who are already stationed at the ISS.
 Private astronauts will have to pass medical tests and also undergo 15
weeks of rigorous training before their trip to space.
Significance
www.studyiq.com
 Private civilians have travelled to the space station before. Since 2001,
Russia has been selling rides to the ISS to wealthy businessmen around the
world.
 They travelled onboard the Russian Soyuz aircraft along with
professional cosmonauts and NASA astronauts.
 Until 2019, NASA did not permit ordinary citizens to be launched into
space from American soil. It finally reversed its stance, stating that the
missions would help spur growth in the commercial space industry.
 Several other space companies, including Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, also plan to take paying customers to space
in the near future.
www.studyiq.com
BBV154 vaccine
Issue
An expert body has been looking into Bharat Biotech’s application for testing
its proposed single-dose intranasal Covid-19 vaccine, BBV154.
Details
 Vaccines are most commonly administered as injectable shots into the
muscles (intramuscular) or the tissue just between the skin and the muscles
(subcutaneous).
 However, with intranasal vaccines, the solution is squirted or sprayed
into the nostrils and inhaled instead of injecting it.
 It is not the most common route of administering a vaccine and, so far,
only some flu shots are given this way.
Benefits
 Such vaccines not only aim to overcome barriers to delivery and
administration that come with producing and distributing injectable vaccines,
they also may be able to tap an additional set of immune cells found in the
tissues lining the nose, mouth and lungs.
 Intranasal vaccines cut down on the need for syringes, needles and
other components like alcohol swabs, as they are not injected.
 BBV154 is non-invasive and eliminates needle-associated injuries,
infections and is easy to administer, as it also does not require trained
healthcare workers.
www.studyiq.com
 It is also a single-dose, making it easier for those receiving the vaccine

as well–they would not have to schedule revisits for booster shots the way they
would have to with existing, injectable Covid-19 vaccines.
Issues
 Past attempts to develop intranasal vaccines, including for measles flu,
have not been very successful.
 These vaccines have mostly been made using live, weakened viruses, but
have never cleared clinical trials. Only a live attenuated influenza flu vaccine
has been licenced through this route of delivery.
 While the company says that animal studies have shown promise, it
remains to be seen how safe and effective this vaccine may actually be when
tested on humans.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Rhesus macaque as a model for covid-19 vaccine
Issue
According to independent studies, the rhesus macaque is a promising model
for vaccines against Covid-19.
Background
In infectious diseases such as Covid-19, animal studies help scientists predict
how well a candidate vaccine will work.
Details
 Animal studies inform scientists which immune cells triggered by the
vaccine are protective, whether the vaccine will be viable as a human
intervention, and how the disease progresses in people with compromised
immune systems.
 The study also found that the baboon showed greater disease
development, making it a potential option for evaluating anti-viral
therapeutics and co-morbidities such as diabetes.
 Rhesus macaques infected with SARS-CoV-2 developed protective
immune responses that might be reproduced with a vaccine.
 Researchers found that the macaque and baboon models develop
strong signs of acute viral infection leading to pneumonia, and the non-
human primate immune system mounts a strong response and clears the
SARS-CoV-2 infection.
www.studyiq.com
 The researchers followed immune responses in the rhesus macaques

over about two weeks. The animals showed all the signs of producing an
effective immune response to a viral infection.
Rhesus monkey
The rhesus macaque is a species of Old World monkey. It is listed as least
concern in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in view of its wide
distribution, presumed large population, and its tolerance of a broad range of
habitats.
Old world monkeys

 The Old World monkeys are native to Africa and Asia today, inhabiting
numerous environments such as tropical rain forests, savannas, shrublands,
and mountainous terrain.
 They consist of Twenty-four genera and 138 species, making it the
largest primate family. Old World monkey genera include baboons and
macaques.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Smell test to screen people for Covid-19
Issue
Some scientists think that a quick test consisting of little more than a stinky
strip of paper can be used to detect Covid-19 in people.
Background
Loss of smell is a characteristic feature of Covid-19 patients and can be used
to detect cases of the disease.
Details
 The test does not look for the virus itself, nor can it diagnose disease.
Rather, it screens for one of Covid-19’s trademark signs: the loss of the sense
of smell.
 Many researchers have come to recognize the symptom, which is also
known as anosmia, as one of the best indicators of an ongoing coronavirus
infection, capable of identifying even people who don’t otherwise feel sick.
 A smell test cannot flag people who contract the coronavirus and never
develop any symptoms at all.
 But a mathematical model showed that sniff-based tests, if administered
sufficiently widely and frequently, might detect enough cases to substantially
drive transmission down.
 Although some smell tests are already in use in clinical and research
settings, the products tend to be expensive and laborious to use and are not
widely available.
 Some experts have been doubtful that smell tests could be distributed
widely enough, or made sufficiently cheat-proof, to reduce the spread of
infection.
www.studyiq.com
 A reliable smell test offers many potential benefits. It could catch far
more cases than fever checks, which have largely flopped as screening tools
for COVID-19.
 In comparison, only a minority of people with COVID-19 end up
spiking a temperature. Fevers also tend to be fleeting, while anosmia can
linger for many days.
 However, smell tests would not be free of the problems associated with
other types of tests, such as poor compliance or a refusal to isolate.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
NASA’s Lucy mission
Issue
NASA will launch Lucy mission in October 2021 to study Trojan asteroids of
our outer solar system at the distance of Jupiter.
Background
The mission takes its name from the fossilized human ancestor whose
skeleton provided unique insight into humanity’s evolution.
Details
 In 2025, it will fly by the inner main-belt asteroid 52246
Donaldjohanson, which was named for the discoverer of the Lucy hominin
fossil.
 In 2027, it will arrive at the L4 Trojan cloud, where it will fly by four
Trojans, 3548 Eurybates (with its satellite), 15094 Polymele, 11351 Leucus,
and 21900 Orus.
 After these flybys, Lucy will return to the vicinity of the Earth whereupon
it will receive a gravity assist to take it to the L5 Trojan cloud.
 Three instruments comprise the payload: a high-resolution visible
imager, an optical and near-infrared imaging spectrometer and a thermal
infrared spectrometer.
 Lucy’s discoveries will open new insights into the origins of our Earth
and ourselves.
Trojans
 The Jovian Trojans are asteroids that revolve the Sun in the same orbit
www.studyiq.com
as Jupiter and are uniformly dark with a hint of burgundy colour, and have
matte surfaces that reflect little sunlight.
 The Trojans are stabilized by the Sun and its largest planet in a
gravitational balancing act. There may be as many Trojans as there are
asteroids in the asteroid belt.
 These primitive bodies hold vital clues to deciphering the history of the
solar system, and perhaps even the origins of organic material on Earth.
 The dark-red P- and D-type Trojans resemble those found in the Kuiper
Belt of icy bodies that extends beyond the orbit of Neptune.
 The C-types are found mostly in the outer parts of the Main Belt of
asteroids, between Mars and Jupiter.
 All of the Trojans are thought to be abundant in dark carbon
compounds. Below an insulating blanket of dust, they are probably rich in
water and other volatile substances.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
5G technology
Issue
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has sought inputs from telcos
and other industry experts on the sale and use of radio frequency spectrum
over the next 10 years, including the 5G bands.
Background
5G or fifth generation is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE)
mobile broadband networks.
Details
 5G mainly works in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high frequency
spectrum — all of which have their own uses as well as limitations.
 While the low band spectrum has shown great promise in terms of
coverage and speed of internet and data exchange, the maximum speed is
limited to 100 Mbps (Megabits per second).
 The mid-band spectrum, on the other hand, offers higher speeds
compared to the low band, but has limitations in terms of coverage area
and penetration of signals.
 Telcos and companies have indicated that this band may be used by
industries and specialised factory units for building captive networks that
can be moulded into the needs of that particular industry.
 The high-band spectrum offers the highest speed of all the three
bands, but has extremely limited coverage and signal penetration strength.
Internet speeds in the high-band spectrum of 5G has been tested to be as
high as 20 Gbps.
www.studyiq.com
Advantages of 5G technology
The main advantages of the 5G are a greater speed in the transmissions, a
lower latency and therefore greater capacity of remote execution, a greater
number of connected devices and the possibility of implementing virtual
networks (network slicing).
India’s 5G progress
 India had planned to start 5G services with an aim to capitalise on the
better network speeds and strength that the technology promised.
 One big hurdle is the lack of flow of cash and adequate capital with at
least two of the three players, namely Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.
 Reliance Jio plans to launch an indigenously built 5G network for the
country as early as the second half of this year.
 The company is said to have a complete end-to-end 5G solution
prepared by the company itself that is ready for deployment once the
networks are in place.
Global 5G rollout
 Global telecom companies have started building 5G networks and
rolling it out to their customers on a trial basis.
 In countries such as China, some of the telcos had started 5G trials as
early as 2018, and have since rolled out the commercial services for users.
 South Korean giant Samsung has taken the lead when it comes to
building the hardware for 5G networks for several companies.
www.studyiq.com
Rapid blood tests can predict severe

covid-19 patients
Issue
Scientists have shown that a relatively simple and rapid blood test can predict
which Covid-19 patients are at highest risk of severe complications or death.
Background
It is a difficult for doctors to predict which Covid-19 patients will go on to
develop severe disease, including complications that require intensive care.
Details
 Doctors are surprised when younger, seemingly healthier patients suffer
severe complications that can lead to death.
 The blood test measures levels of mitochondrial DNA, a unique type of
DNA molecule that normally resides inside the energy factories of cells.
 Mitochondrial DNA spilling out of cells and into the bloodstream is a
sign that a particular type of violent cell death is taking place in the body.
Research
 The researchers evaluated 97 patients with Covid-19, measuring their
mitochondrial DNA levels on the first day of their hospital stays.
 They found that mitochondrial DNA levels were much higher in patients
who eventually were admitted to the ICU, intubated or died.
 The researchers found this association held independently of a patient’s
age, sex and underlying health conditions.
 On average, mitochondrial DNA levels were about tenfold higher in
Covid patients who developed severe lung dysfunction or eventually died.
www.studyiq.com
 Those with elevated levels were almost six times more likely to be
intubated, three times more likely to be admitted to the ICU and almost twice
as likely to die compared with those with lower levels.
 The test predicted outcomes as well as or better than existing markers
of inflammation currently measured in Covid patients.
 Most other markers of inflammation measured in patients with
Covid-19, including those still under investigation, are general markers of
systemic inflammation, rather than inflammation specific to cell death.
 The researchers said the test could serve as a way to predict disease
severity as well as a tool to better design clinical trials.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Post-vaccination deaths in Norway
Issue
Twenty-nine people have died in Norway after being administered Pfizer’s
vaccine against the novel coronavirus.
Background
The vaccine manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech was the only one being
administered in Norway, and all deaths are linked to this vaccine.
Details
 The suggestion by authorities is that the vaccines may be risky for very
old or terminally ill people. This is so far the most cautious statements.
 For those who have a very short remaining life span, the benefit of the
vaccine may be marginal or irrelevant.
 Norwegian authorities have adjusted their advice on who should be
administered the vaccine by giving individual doctors discretion to make this
decision.
 A mass vaccination campaign involves a very large number of people
and some adverse events, such as serious side effects and deaths are not
totally unexpected.
 It is critical is to determine whether the vaccine was responsible for the
death. This can be complicated and can take time to establish.
 The Norwegian Medicines Agency had communicated that when
vaccinating the oldest and sickest, it is expected that deaths will occur in a
time-related context with vaccination.
www.studyiq.com
 Side effects and fatalities have been reported in the United Kingdom
and the United States as well. India too had adverse effects on about 0.2% of
the beneficiaries.
 The European Medicines Agency, which assesses and supervises
medicinal products in the European Union, has said that it would examine
safety reports submitted by all companies authorised to supply vaccines to the
EU every month.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Immunity from Covid-19
Issue
A new study says that people infected with COVID-19 in the past are likely to
be protected against re-infection for several months.
Background
The duration of immunity to Covid-19 has been a subject of research through
the pandemic, and studies so far have provided various results.
Details
 The longevity of immunity against a disease varies from disease to
disease and one of the factors influencing this is the amount of neutralising
antibodies produced by the infected person.
 Experts have warned that even people with immunity may still be able
to carry the virus in their nose and throat and therefore have a risk of
transmitting it to others.
 They have suggested that individuals who have acquired the disease
and recovered from it continue to take all precautions such as wearing
masks, regularly washing their hands, and maintaining a distance of at least
two metres from others.
Findings
 Researchers have been testing tens of thousands of healthcare workers
since June for COVID-19 infections as well as the presence of antibodies.
 Two probable cases of re-infections reported having experienced
COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic but were not tested. These
two patients reported having less severe symptoms the second time.
www.studyiq.com
 None of the 44 potential re-infections were tested using PCR during the
first wave, but tested positive for antibodies subsequently.
 Scientists have concluded that naturally acquired immunity as a result of
past infection from the SARS-CoV-2 virus provides 83 per cent protection
against re-infection, compared to people who have not had the disease
before.
 This protection appears to last for a period of five months from the time
that the person first became sick from COVID-19.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Breathing rate and risk of coronavirus infection
Issue
Researchers have found that a lower breathing frequency and holding one’s
breath increases the risk of virus-laden droplets reaching the deep lung.
Background
Breathing slow can bring various health benefits but not as far as airborne
transmission of disease is concerned.
Details
 Human bodies fight off much of the aerosols we inhale before they can
deposit themselves in the inner lung, thanks to the complex geometry of the
extrathoracic region and the lungs.
 Part of the aerosols are flushed out in the form of mucus, while those
that cross the nasal passage would still have to navigate the complex
branching structure that define the lung.
 The study looked at the dynamics of micrometre-sized droplets through
such micro-channels, mimicking the lung environment.
 Transport of material or gases in the deep lung is purely diffusive. This
diffusive nature ensures that gases are able to diffuse much faster than
particles. This is part of the body’s own protection against aerosol particles
reaching the blood.
 Since different individuals are likely to have differing lung
morphometry, their inherent protection is likely to be different.
 This variability in aerosol uptake from individual to individual is a
possible reason why some people are more susceptible to airborne diseases
than others.
www.studyiq.com
 The research found a correlation between deposition and the aspect

ratio of the capillaries, suggesting that droplets are likely to deposit in longer
bronchioles.
 Diffusion and impaction are two of the three mechanisms by which
aerosols are deposited in various regions of the lung, the third being
sedimentation.
 Impaction happens when the droplets are moving so fast that they do
not faithfully follow the air, and instead “impact” the walls of the bronchi.
 Turbulence is the primary mode of deposition in the upper bronchi where
the air velocity is high. But once the air reaches the deep lung, it is slowed
down significantly, resulting in gas transport aided by diffusion.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
World’s oldest cave painting
Issue
A team of archaeologists has discovered world’s oldest known cave painting
dating back to more than 45,000 years.
Background
The cave painting depicts a wild boar endemic to the Sulawesi island of
Indonesia, where the painting was found.
Details
 The archaeologists note that the dated painting of the Sulawesi warty
pig seems to be the world’s oldest surviving representational image of an
animal.
 The team came across this painting in the limestone cave of Leang
Tedongnge while conducting field research.
 The painting was made using red ochre pigment and depicts a pig with
a short crest of upright hairs and a pair of horn-like facial warts in front of
the eyes, who is likely observing a social interaction or fight between two
other warty pigs.
 The pigs have been hunted by humans for tens of thousands of years
and are the most commonly depicted animal in the ice age rock art of the
island.
 The Sulawesi island contains some of the oldest directly dated rock art
in the world and also some of the oldest evidence for the presence of
hominins beyond the south-eastern limits of the Ice Age Asian continent.
www.studyiq.com
 Hominins include modern humans, extinct human species and our

immediate ancestors. Homo sapiens are the first modern humans who evolved
from their hominid predecessors between 200,000-300,000 years ago.
 It is estimated that these modern humans started migrating outside of
Africa some 70,000-100,000 years ago.
Dating the painting

 While dating rock art can be challenging, for this painting archaeologists
used a method called U-series isotope analysis, which uses calcium carbonate
deposits that form naturally on the cave wall surface to determine its age.
 For the painting, early humans used a calcium carbonate deposit. When
it was analysed, they were able to figure out a minimum age for the painting
at around 45,500 years.
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is a central Indonesian island, located between Asia and Australia
and has a long history of human occupation.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Nanobodies to fight coronavirus
Issue
An international research team has identified and further developed novel
antibody fragments against SARS-CoV-2.
Background
These “nanobodies” are much smaller than classic antibodies and therefore,
penetrate the tissue better and can be produced more easily in larger
quantities.
Details
 Nanobodies are antibody fragments that are so simple that they can be
produced by bacteria or yeast, which is less expensive.
 The researchers have also combined the nanobodies into potentially
particularly effective molecules, which attack different parts of the virus
simultaneously.
 The new approach could prevent the pathogen from evading the active
agent through mutations.
Production process
 Researchers first inject a surface protein of the coronavirus into an
alpaca and a llama. Their immune system then produces mainly antibodies
directed against this virus.
 In addition to complex normal antibodies, llamas and alpacas also
produce a simpler antibody variant that can serve as the basis for
nanobodies.
www.studyiq.com
 A few weeks later, the researchers take a blood sample from the
animals, from which they extracted the genetic information of produced
antibodies.
Role of anti-bodies
 Antibodies are an important weapon in the immune system’s defence
against infections. They bind to the surface structures of bacteria or viruses
and prevent their replication.
 One strategy in the fight against disease is therefore to produce
effective antibodies in large quantities and inject them into patients.
However, producing antibodies is difficult and time-consuming.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Pneumonia in Covid-19 patients

different from typical pneumonia
Issue
Researchers have discovered that the pneumonia caused by covid-19 was
different from the typical type of pneumonia.
Background
This is the first study in which scientists analysed immune cells from the lungs
of Covid-19 pneumonia patients in a systematic manner and compared them
to cells from patients with pneumonia from other viruses or bacteria.
Details
 In pneumonia caused by bacteria and viruses like influenza, these
agents can usually be controlled by antibiotics, or by the body’s immune
system.
 The virus responsible for Covid-19, however, does not rapidly infecting
large regions of the lung like other viruses.
 Instead, SARS-CoV-2 affects multiple small areas of the lung. The virus
then hijacks the lungs’ own immune cells and uses them to spread across the
lung over a period of many days or even weeks.
 As the infection slowly moves across the lung, it leaves damage in its
wake and continuously fuels the fever, low blood pressure and damage to
the kidneys, brain, heart and other organs in patients with Covid-19.
 The severe complications of Covid-19 compared with other
pneumonias might be related to the long course of disease rather than more
severe disease.
www.studyiq.com
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Science & Technology 14 Jan
 Researchers identified critical targets to treat severe SARS-CoV-2

pneumonia and lessen its damage. The targets are the immune cells:
macrophages and T cells.
 The macrophages, which are typically charged with protecting the
lung, can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 and can contribute to spreading the
infection through the lung.
Mortality
 The study also found reasons why the mortality among patients on a
ventilator for Covid-19 was lower than patients on a ventilator due to
regular pneumonia.
 An intense conflagration in the lungs (regular pneumonia) has a
higher risk of death. Those with Covid-19 pneumonia are sick for a long
time, but the inflammation in their lungs is not as severe as regular
pneumonia.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Arthritis drug back in Covid-19 treatment
Issue
Two arthritis drugs, tocilizumab and sarilumab, have re-emerged as possible
treatment options for Covid-19.
Background
The use of arthritis drugs against coronavirus has been the subject of debate
through the pandemic. It has gained and lost significance over a time.
Details
 The latest study suggests that tocilizumab and sarilumab could help
save lives among Covid-19 patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU).
 The study assessed 803 Covid-19 patients in ICU. Of them, 353 were
administered tocilizumab within 24 hours of ICU admission, another 48 were
given sarilumab within the same time-frame, and the remaining 402 were
administered standard care minus these two drugs (the control arm).
 While 64.2% ICU patients survived in the control arm, 72% survived
when administered tocilizumab and 77.8% survived when given sarilumab.
 The researchers found that the two arthritis drugs also helped reduce
the need for organ support.
 Those given tocilizumab required organ support after 10 days on an
average, those on sarilumab required after 11 days, and those in the control
arm required organ support system in a single day.
www.studyiq.com
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Science & Technology 14 Jan
Working of the drugs

 In India, the three immunosuppressant drugs (tocilizumab, sarilumab,
and itolizumab) are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
 These drugs work against a protein called IL-6, which plays a key role
in the body mounting a cytokine response (when the immune system attacks
the body’s own cells) after the virus infects the body.
 By suppressing IL-6, these repurposed drugs are supposed to stop the
self-damaging cytokine response in severe Covid-19 infections.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Covid-19 in Gorillas
Issue
Several gorillas have tested positive for COVID-19 at the San Diego Zoo in
California, becoming the first captive primates to contract the infection in
the US.
Background
While some gorillas at the zoo are showing mild symptoms, further studies
are needed to understand the precise effects of the virus on the primates.
Details
 It is likely that the gorillas contracted the infection from an
asymptomatic staff member. They are expected to recover soon.
 Since the COVID-19 outbreak began early last year, there have been
several reports of animals contracting the infection.
 There are known instances of infection in domestic cats, lions and
tigers. The Denmark government culled its mink population to prevent
spread of mutated strain from the animal to humans.
 New virus strains are of concern as one of the mink-associated
variants was thought to have moderately decreased sensitivity to
neutralising antibodies.
 Research has showed that felines are particularly susceptible to the
virus because of their cellular structure.
 Another research analysed the potential risk of infection in 410
species including fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.
www.studyiq.com
Spread from humans to animals

 While the virus was initially transmitted from an animal to a human, the
current pandemic is being mainly sustained by human to human transmission
of the virus.
 While the virus can be transmitted from people to animals, the risk of the
infection spreading from animals to humans is low.
 A few pets including cats and dogs have been known to contract the
virus, probably due to close contact with people who were COVID-19 positive.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Lung immune cells can contribute to virus attack
Issue
In Covid-19 and many other diseases caused by virus attacks, immune cells
in the lungs can contribute to worsening the attack.
Background
Researchers have described how different kinds of immune cells develop in
the lungs, and which of them may be behind severe lung diseases.
Details
 The structure of the lungs exposes them to viruses and bacteria from
both the air and the blood. The study looked at the role of certain immune
cells, called macrophages, during a virus attack.
 Macrophages are immune cells that protect the lungs from such
attacks. But under certain conditions, lung macrophages can also contribute
to severe lung diseases, such as COPD and Covid-19.
 Researchers used a model to study the development of lung
macrophages directly in a living lung. They combined this with another
method to study RNA sequencing and discovered how blood monocytes
become human lung macrophages.
 Researchers identified a special kind of monocyte, HLA-DRhi, which is
an intermediate immune cell between a blood monocyte and an airway
macrophage. These HLA-DRhi monocytes can leave the blood circulation and
migrate into the lung tissue.
www.studyiq.com
 In an infection with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, researchers

believe that protective, anti-inflammatory macrophages are replaced with
pro-inflammatory lung macrophages from blood monocytes.
 Patients with severe Covid-19 also have fewer HLA-DRhi monocytes in
their blood, probably because they move away from the blood into the lungs.
 Given their important role in rapid inflammatory responses, the results
indicate that future treatments should focus on inflammatory macrophages
and monocytes to reduce lung damage and mortality from severe COVID-19.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Allergic reactions to Covid-19 vaccines
Issue
Concerns have been raised in US and other countries over reports that some
people have possible allergic reactions to Covid-19 vaccines.
Background
A team of experts has now examined the relevant information and offered
reassurance that the vaccines can be given safely, even to people with food
or medication allergies.
Details
 The allergic reactions to vaccines in general are rare, with a rate of
about 1.3 per 1 million people.
 Experts stress that Covid-19 vaccine clinics will be monitoring all
patients for 15 to 30 minutes and can manage any allergic reactions that
occur.
 They recommend that individuals with a history of anaphylaxis to an
injectable drug or vaccine containing the compounds polyethylene glycol or
polysorbate discuss with their allergists before being vaccinated.
 They stress that patients with severe allergies to foods, oral drugs,
latex, or venom can safely receive the Covid-19 vaccines.
 They also outline steps on safely receiving the second dose in
individuals who develop a reaction to their first dose.
www.studyiq.com
 In the UK, following accounts of potential allergic reactions in some

people following vaccination, the medical authorities advised that individuals
with a history of anaphylaxis to a medicine or food should avoid Coid-19
vaccination.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Bird flu
Issue
Bird flu has been reported among wild geese in Himachal Pradesh, crows in
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and ducks in Kerala.
Background
In Himachal Pradesh’s Pong Dam Lake, around 1,800 migratory birds have
been found dead. In Kerala, the flu has been detected in ducks of two
districts.
Details
 Bird Flu or Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral disease caused
by Influenza Type A viruses which generally affects poultry birds such as
chickens and turkeys.
 There are many strains of the virus – some of them are mild and may
merely cause a low egg production or other mild symptoms among chickens,
while others are severe and lethal.
 Wild aquatic birds such as ducks and geese are the natural reservoir of
Influenza A viruses and the central players in the ecology of these viruses.
Many birds carry the flu without developing sickness, and shed it in their
droppings.
 Through migrating water birds, the viruses are further spread to poultry
and terrestrial birds. Sometimes, the virus jumps over to mammals such as
pigs, horses, cats and dogs.
www.studyiq.com
Human infection
 In 1997, humans were first known to have contracted bird flu following
an outbreak in a live bird market of Hong Kong. It was the H5N1 strain of the
virus.
 Movement of infected poultry and migratory birds, and an illegal bird
trade are believed to be the causes of the spread. Some mammals such as
cats and lions were also infected.
 Several other strains of the virus such as H5N2 and H5N8 jumped from
animals to humans, thus becoming a global public health concern.
 People coming in close contact with infected alive or dead birds have
contracted the H5N1 bird flu, and it does not usually spread from person to
person.
Reason for worry

 H5N1 is severe and deadly – around 6 out of 10 confirmed cases in
humans have led to deaths. The mortality is quite higher.
 If the virus mutates and becomes easily transmissible from person to
person, it can potentially cause a pandemic.
 The avian influenza attacks the respiratory tract of humans and may
cause severe respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia or Acute Respiratory
Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Its early symptoms include fever, cough, sore
throat, and sometimes abdominal pain and diarrhoea.
Preventing outbreak
 Among poultry birds, vaccination strategies advised by the World
Organisation for Animal Health can be used to prevent the flu.
 Eradicating the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) at its source to
decrease the disease in avian species and further human infections.
www.studyiq.com
Parler social network
Issue
Apple, Amazon and Google have suspended the social network called
Parler, saying that the platform has not taken enough measures to make
sure that content inciting violence remains in check.
Background
The move has come following the events of January 6 when an armed mob
of Trump supporters stormed Capitol Hill.
Details
 Parler is a social media platform that is considered to be an alternative
to Twitter and is popular with conservatives.
 The platform is favoured by right-leaning users and as per media
reports was actively used by supporters of US President Donald Trump,
including several of those who participated in the Capitol Hill siege.
 The suspension means that users can no longer download the app
from the Apple app store or the Google play store. Amazon, on the other
hand, has suspended the platform from its web-hosting service called
Amazon Web Services.
 Tech companies such as twitter, facebook and instagram have
suspended US President Trump from their platform.
 The moves taken by the tech giants in the last one week have reignited
the debate on the power that tech companies have in censoring content.
www.studyiq.com
 Others worry that the moves demonstrate how much political power
has been built up by a handful of private companies.
Web hosting service

A web hosting service is a mechanism through which companies provide
space to websites on a physical server where they can store data and other
information necessary for their websites to function.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
New state of matter
Issue
A team of scientists have discovered a new state of matter called Liquid
Glass, hidden inside mysterious transformations that happen between
liquid and solid states of glass.
Details
 Suspensions of colloidal particles are widely spread in nature and
technology and have been studied intensely over more than a century.
 When the density of such suspensions is increased to high volume
fractions, often their structural dynamics are arrested in a disordered,
glassy state before they can form an ordered structure.
 The scientists, focused on ellipsoidal polymethylmethacrylate colloids,
which gives rise to entirely new and previously unstudied kinds of complex
behaviours.
 Researchers recorded temporal development of the 3D positions and
orientations for nearly 6,000 ellipsoidal particles using confocal laser
scanning microscopy.
 Liquid glass is a result of clusters mutually obstructing each other
and mediating characteristic long-range spatial correlations.
 The results further suggest that similar dynamics may be at work in
other glass-forming systems.
www.studyiq.com
Bacteria can tell time through internal clocks
Issue
New research has revealed that bacteria too have internal clocks that align
with the 24-hour cycle of life on Earth.
Background
The research answers a long-standing biological question and could have
implications for the timing of drug delivery and biotechnology.
Details
 Biological clocks or circadian rhythms are exquisite internal timing
mechanisms that are widespread across nature enabling living organisms to
cope with the major changes that occur from day to night.
 Existing inside cells, these molecular rhythms use external cues such as
daylight and temperature to synchronise biological clocks to their
environment.
 Although bacteria represent 12% biomass of the planet and are
important for health, ecology, and industrial biotechnology, little is known of
their 24hr biological clocks.
 Previous studies have shown that photosynthetic bacteria which require
light to make energy have biological clocks. But free-living non
photosynthetic bacteria have remained a mystery in this regard.
 Researchers applied a technique called luciferase reporting, which
involves adding an enzyme that produces bioluminescence that allows
researchers to visualise how active a gene is inside an organism.
www.studyiq.com
 They focused on two genes: firstly, a gene called ytvA which encodes a
blue light photoreceptor and secondly an enzyme called KinC that is
involved in inducing formation of biofilms and spores in the bacterium.
 They found that the pattern of ytvA levels were adjusted to the light
and dark cycle, with levels increasing during the dark and decreasing in the
light. A cycle was still observed in constant darkness.
 Researchers observed how it took several days for a stable pattern to
appear and that the pattern could be reversed if the conditions were
inverted.
Significance of research
This research could be used to help address such questions as: is the time of
day of bacterial exposure important for infection? Can industrial
biotechnological processes be optimised by taking the time of day into
account? And is the time of day of anti-bacterial treatment important?
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
African elephants surveyed using AI
Issue
A new approach for surveying African elephants using satellite imagery and
artificial intelligence (AI) could help in conservation of the unique species.
Details
 A satellite orbiting in space is capable of capturing more than 5,000
square kilometre of imagery in a single run, within minutes.
 It not only eliminates the risk of double counting, but also makes it
possible to conduct repeat surveys at short intervals.
 The captured imagery is processed through a deep learning model to
detect elephants. The team used a customised dataset of over 1000
elephants in South Africa, to train the model.
 The current techniques used for surveying the elephants like using
manned aircraft for aerial counts can be costly, hindered by poor visibility,
and logistically challenging.
Advantages
 Machines are less prone to error, false negatives and false positives in
deep learning algorithms.
 Elephants can be detected in satellite imagery with accuracy as high as
human detection capabilities.
 The model was able to spot elephants in places away from the training
data location, and also identify calves even though it was only trained on
adults.
www.studyiq.com
 The remote detection method makes it possible to monitor cross-border

areas without terrestrial permits. These areas are usually important to
conservation planning.
Deep learning
 Deep learning is an AI function that mimics the workings of the human
brain in processing data for use in detecting objects, recognizing speech,
translating languages, and making decisions.
 Deep learning AI is able to learn without human supervision, drawing
from data that is both unstructured and unlabeled.
Working
 Digital era has brought about an explosion of data in all forms and from
every region of the world. This data, known simply as big data, is drawn from
sources like social media, internet search engines, e-commerce platforms etc.
 Using the data effectively and identifying the trend shown by the data is
very important in analytics. This method is called big data analytics and has
become very important in recent times.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
How did Ryugu lose its water?
Issue
Researchers have offered an explanation for why Ryugu is not as rich in
water-bearing minerals as some other asteroids.
Background
Researchers are using data from the Hayabusa spacecraft’s instruments to
reveal new details about the asteroid’s past.
Details
 The Hayabusa2 mission represents the first time a sample from one of
these asteroids has been directly collected and returned to Earth.
 The study suggests that the ancient parent body from which Ryugu was
formed had likely dried out in some kind of heating event before Ryugu
came into being, which left Ryugu itself drier than expected.
 Those meteorites have been studied in great detail in laboratories
around the world for many decades, but it is not possible to determine with
certainty which asteroid a given carbonaceous chondrite meteorite may
come from.
 Scientists think these asteroids likely form from debris left over when
larger and more solid asteroids are broken apart by a large impact event.
 It could also be that Ryugu dried out after a catastrophic disruption and
re-formation as a rubble pile. It may also be possible that Ryugu had a few
close spins past the sun in its past, which could have heated it up and dried
out its surface.
www.studyiq.com
Significance of study
 One of the reasons Ryugu was chosen as a destination is that it belongs
to a class of asteroids that are dark in colour and suspected to have water-
bearing minerals and organic compounds.
 These types of asteroids are believed to be possible parent bodies for
dark, water- and carbon-bearing meteorites found on Earth known as
carbonaceous chondrites.
Ryugu asteroid
 Ryugu is a near-Earth object and a potentially hazardous asteroid of the
Apollo group. In June 2018, the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa-2 arrived at
the asteroid.
 After making measurements and taking samples, Hayabusa-2 left
Ryugu for Earth and returned the sample capsule to Earth.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Missing Supermassive black hole
Issue
A supermassive black hole, which is estimated to weigh up to 100 billion
times the mass of the Sun, is seemingly missing.
Background
Scientists have been looking for the black hole using NASA’s Chandra X-ray
Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope, and have so far found no
evidence.
Details
 The black hole is supposed to be located in Abell 2261, an enormous
galaxy cluster that is about 2.7 billion light-years away from our planet.
 Scientists have been using data gathered in 1999 and 2004 to look for
the centre of the Abell galaxy, but have so far been unable to find its black
hole.
 Every large galaxy in the universe has a supermassive black hole at its
centre, whose mass is millions or billions of times that of the Sun.
 The black hole at the centre of our galaxy is called Sagittarius A*, and
is 26,000 light-years away from Earth.
 A reason for this could be that Abell’s black hole has been ejected from
the centre of the galaxy. This may have happened because of the merging of
two smaller galaxies to form Abell.
www.studyiq.com
Recoiling of black hole

 When two black holes merge, they release gravitational waves, which
squeeze and stretch anything in their path.
 During such a merger, when the amount of waves generated in one
direction is stronger than another, the new big black hole can be sent away
from the centre of the galaxy into the opposite direction.
 Scientists are yet to find definitive evidence for recoiling black holes, and
are still to discover whether supermassive black holes can merge and release
gravitational waves.
 Currently, only mergers of significantly smaller black holes have been
verified. If the hypothesis turns out to be true, it would mean a major
breakthrough in astronomy.
Light year
One light-year is the distance that a beam of light travels in one Earth year,
which is 9 trillion km. On the scale of the Universe, astronomers measure the
distance from stars and galaxies in the time it takes for light to reach us.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com
Anti-bodies target different parts of coronavirus
Issue
According to a study, antibodies against Covid-19 preferentially target a
different part of the virus in mild cases and a different part in severe cases.
Details
 SARS-CoV-2 binds to human cells via a structure on its surface called
the spike protein. Once inside, the virus sheds its outer coat to reveal an
inner shell encasing its genetic material. Soon, the virus created multiple
copies of itself, which are then released to infect other cells.
 Antibodies that recognise and bind to the spike protein block its ability
to bind to the human cell, preventing infection.
 On the other hand, antibodies that target other viral components are
unlikely to prevent viral spread.
 They found that people with severe Covid-19 have a lower proportion
of antibodies targeting the spike protein used by the virus to enter human
cells than of antibodies targeting proteins of the virus’s inner shell.
 The research analysed the levels of three types of antibodies — IgG,
IgM and IgA — and the proportions that targeted the viral spike protein or
the virus’s inner shell as the disease progressed and patients either
recovered or grew sicker.
 They also measured the levels of viral genetic material in nasal
samples and blood from the patients. Finally, they assessed the effectiveness
of the antibodies in preventing the spike protein from binding to the human
protein ACE2 in a laboratory dish.
www.studyiq.com
 Those people with mild illness tended to have a higher proportion of

anti-spike antibodies, and those who died from their disease had more
antibodies that recognized other parts of the virus.
 The findings raise concerns about whether people can be re-infected,
whether antibody tests to detect prior infection may be insufficient and
whether vaccinations may need to be repeated at regular intervals to
maintain a protective immune response.
NOTES
www.studyiq.com

Science &amp; Tech

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Science &amp; Tech

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Science & Technology

CURRENT AFFAIRS 3 Jan

Why Dinosaur fossils are in demand?

Popularity of dinosaur fossils

Signs of brain damage in deceased Covid patients

 Although Covid-19 is primarily a respiratory disease, patients often

Data suggests Covid-19 is seasonal

 While temperature and latitude were unmistakably correlated with

Covaxin could work against UK strain

 It is also a single-dose, making it easier for those receiving the vaccine

Rhesus macaque as a model for covid-19 vaccine

 The researchers followed immune responses in the rhesus macaques

Old world monkeys

Smell test to screen people for Covid-19

NASA’s Lucy mission

Rapid blood tests can predict severe

Post-vaccination deaths in Norway

Immunity from Covid-19

Breathing rate and risk of coronavirus infection

 The research found a correlation between deposition and the aspect

World’s oldest cave painting

 Hominins include modern humans, extinct human species and our

Dating the painting

Nanobodies to fight coronavirus

Pneumonia in Covid-19 patients

 Researchers identified critical targets to treat severe SARS-CoV-2

Arthritis drug back in Covid-19 treatment

Working of the drugs

Spread from humans to animals

Lung immune cells can contribute to virus attack

 In an infection with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, researchers

Allergic reactions to Covid-19 vaccines

 In the UK, following accounts of potential allergic reactions in some

Reason for worry

Parler social network

Web hosting service

New state of matter

Bacteria can tell time through internal clocks

African elephants surveyed using AI

 The remote detection method makes it possible to monitor cross-border

How did Ryugu lose its water?

Missing Supermassive black hole

Recoiling of black hole

Anti-bodies target different parts of coronavirus

 Those people with mild illness tended to have a higher proportion of

You might also like

Science & Tech

Science & Tech