Science & Technology Current Affairs MCQs

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Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander successfully landed in the Mare Crisium region of the Moon after a controlled descent. It carries 10 NASA payloads under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program to boost private-sector lunar exploration. The mission aims to study the lunar environment, using a vacuum for soil collection and a drill measuring temperatures up to 3 meters deep. It will analyze heat flow, plume-surface interactions, and the Moon’s magnetic and electric fields to understand its geological history. The lander will function for 14 Earth days to conduct scientific studies and tech demonstrations.

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IIT Madras researchers developed a framework to enhance protection of critical infrastructure from ballistic missile threats. The framework helps designers improve the ballistic resistance of reinforced concrete (RC) panels. Findings were published in the journal Reliability Engineering & System Safety. Researchers used computational simulations to study missile impacts on RC. RC is used in military bunkers, nuclear power buildings, bridges, and runways.

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Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease shortly after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, passed away from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). HPS is a rare infectious disease that starts with flu-like symptoms and can cause severe lung and heart issues. It is mainly transmitted by rodents through airborne particles from their urine, droppings, or saliva. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, muscle aches, headaches, and abdominal issues, with a 38% mortality rate if respiratory problems develop. There is no specific treatment, but early medical care can improve survival chances.

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NASA launched the SPHEREx and PUNCH space missions on March 12, 2025 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, after multiple delays. SPHEREx successfully separated from Falcon 9 in the second stage and entered a sun-synchronous orbit 650 km above Earth. It will study 450 million galaxies and 100 million stars, creating a 3D map of the sky to understand the history of the universe. PUNCH, a solar mission with four satellites, will study the solar corona, solar winds, and coronal mass ejections to improve space weather predictions.

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Noma is a severe, gangrenous disease of the mouth and face, also called cancrum oris or gangrenous stomatitis. The World Health Organization classified it as a neglected tropical disease in December 2023. It mostly affects children aged 2–6 years suffering from malnutrition, infections, extreme poverty, poor oral health, or weakened immunity. It starts as a gum sore and rapidly destroys soft tissues, hard tissues, and facial skin. It is non-contagious and caused by polymicrobial organisms. Early treatment includes antibiotics, oral hygiene support, mouthwash, and nutrition supplements.

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The European Space Agency (ESA) shut down the Gaia space observatory on March 27, 2025. It was launched in 2013 by European Space Agency (ESA). Gaia aimed to create the most precise 3D map of the Milky Way. Originally named Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics (GAIA), later simplified to Gaia. It is positioned at Lagrange Point 2 (L2), 1.5 million km from Earth, for an unobstructed view.

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The Indian Council of Agricultural Research -Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (ICAR-CTCRI) developed an orange-fleshed sweet potato variety (SP-95/4) to improve tribal food security in Kerala and other states. It successfully passed final trials in Odisha, West Bengal, Karnataka, and Kerala. It contains 8 mg/100g of Beta-carotene, helping combat Vitamin A deficiency in tribal areas. The average tuber weighs 300 grams and has a fusiform shape, making it ideal for processing. The project, currently on 10-15 acres, aims to expand to 100 acres by 2025 with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding. Research trials confirmed its high yield potential in multiple states, including Odisha and Karnataka.

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The European Space Agency (ESA) will launch the Biomass satellite mission by the end of April 2025 using the Vega C rocket from French Guiana. Biomass is the seventh Earth Explorer satellite under ESA’s climate and Earth systems programme. It will study global forests, measuring carbon levels and forest health to understand their role in the carbon cycle. The satellite uses radar to quantify forest biomass and carbon content from space. It will also create detailed 3D models of forest structures and monitor changes over time, helping climate research and forest conservation efforts.

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BatEchoMon stands for Bat Echolocation Monitoring, India’s first real-time automated bat monitoring system. It was developed by Kadambari Deshpande and Vedant Barje under Jagdish Krishnaswamy at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bengaluru. It is part of the Long-Term Urban Ecological Observatory at IIHS’s School of Environment and Sustainability. BatEchoMon detects, records, analyses, and classifies bat sounds using echolocation. It uses an ultrasonic microphone, a Raspberry Pi microprocessor, solar-powered battery, and Wi-Fi unit. It activates at sunset and works through the night using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to identify bat calls.

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Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara discovered that fruit fly larvae can sense electric fields, a rare ability called electroreception. Electroreception is the biological sense that allows animals to detect weak electric fields in their surroundings. It is mostly seen in aquatic vertebrates like sharks and electric fish, but now found in invertebrates like fruit fly larvae too. A single neuron in the larva’s head was found to detect the electric field and trigger movement. The larvae changed direction based on the electric field, proving they sensed it and not other stimuli. This finding shows electroreception may be more common and ancient than previously thought.