Science & Technology Current Affairs MCQs

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Nvidia has unveiled a powerful AI system called Evo 2 for genetic research. Evo 2 is the largest publicly available AI model for genomic data. It was built using 2,000 Nvidia H100 processors on Amazon’s cloud with Arc Institute and Stanford University. It is trained on 9 trillion nucleotides from 128,000+ organisms, covering plants, animals, and bacteria.

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella showcased Project Farm Vibes in Baramati, Maharashtra, demonstrating AI-driven solutions that improved crop yields by 40% and reduced fertilizer use by 25%. The Agricultural Development Trust, Baramati, in collaboration with Microsoft, is expanding the project from 1,000 to 50,000 farmers. Project Farm Vibes is an AI-driven agricultural technology suite developed by Microsoft Research to improve farming efficiency, sustainability, and productivity. The project involves partnerships with Microsoft Research, Azure AI Team, and Oxford University AI researchers.

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A Lancet Global Health study found that over a third of newborns with sepsis could die. Neonatal sepsis is a blood infection in infants under 90 days old, caused by bacteria like E. coli, Listeria, and Streptococcus. It is classified into early-onset (within 72 hours) and late-onset (after 3 days). Symptoms include temperature changes, breathing issues, and diarrhea. Treatment involves intravenous antibiotics in hospitals. Neonatal sepsis causes 5,50,000 deaths globally yearly, with India accounting for nearly one-fourth of these deaths.

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Multiple sclerosis (MS) occurs when the immune system attacks the brain and spinal cord. It affects nearly 1 million people in the U.S. and over 2.8 million worldwide. Genetics influence MS risk, but environmental factors like diet, infections, and gut health play a major role. Studies show gut bacteria imbalance can predict MS severity. MS patients have more Blautia and Akkermansia but lower Bifidobacterium and Prevotella. A lower Bifidobacterium-to-Akkermansia ratio is linked to worse disability. Findings may help improve MS diagnosis and treatment by focusing on gut microbiome health.

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Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE) is a rare but serious brain disorder linked to measles (rubeola) infection. It remains a health concern in Lucknow and Uttar Pradesh due to low measles vaccination coverage. SSPE appears years after measles infection, even in those who seemed fully recovered. It is caused by an abnormal immune response or a variant form of the measles virus. This leads to long-term brain inflammation, often resulting in death. SSPE is rare worldwide but more common in unvaccinated regions. It mostly affects children and adolescents, with males at higher risk.

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African Swine Fever (ASF) has resurged in Mizoram, causing 41 more pig deaths, raising the total toll to 503 since March 20. ASF first emerged in Mizoram in Lungsen village, Lunglei, on March 21, 2021, and has since become endemic. The causative agent of African Swine Fever (ASF) is the African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV). ASF is a highly contagious and fatal viral disease affecting domestic and wild pigs but poses no risk to humans. The virus can spread through contaminated clothing, equipment, or vehicles, threatening pig populations. There is no treatment or vaccine, making prevention and strict biosecurity measures the only effective control methods.

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Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) CARTOSAT-3 satellite captured high-resolution images of earthquake damage in Myanmar. A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar on March 28, 2025. Post-disaster images from March 29 were compared with pre-event data from March 18 to assess damage in Mandalay and Sagaing. CARTOSAT-3 is a third-generation agile advanced Earth observation satellite developed by ISRO. It replaces the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) series and has high-resolution imaging capabilities. It was launched aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C47).

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Vibe coding became a trending term in Silicon Valley after being coined by OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy. It refers to using Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) not just for coding assistance but to generate entire applications. Users communicate with Large Language Model (LLM)-based systems like ChatGPT in natural language to create apps. Andrej Karpathy, a founding engineer at OpenAI and former head of AI at Tesla, introduced the term. Vibe coding allows people to build tools, apps, and services without deep programming knowledge. However, it raises security concerns as AI-generated code may lack efficiency, scalability, and proper security frameworks. AI code generators might produce functional code but may not consider optimization, cost, or security risks.

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POEM-4, or PSLV Orbital Experiment Module-4, recently re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and fell into the Indian Ocean, as tracked by ISRO’s IS4OM (System for Safe and Sustainable Space Operations Management). It is a space research platform developed by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) using the spent fourth stage (PS4) of the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket as an orbiting lab. POEM-4 is part of the SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment) mission and is the fourth in the POEM series, after POEM-3. It has three times more payload capacity than POEM-3, showing major progress in reusing rocket stages for science.

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U.S.-based biotech company Colossal Biosciences announced the birth of three genetically engineered wolf pups, aiming to revive the extinct dire wolf species after 12,500 years. This marks the first-ever attempt at “de-extinction,” using methods like gene editing (e.g., CRISPR-Cas9), ancient DNA sequencing, cloning, and synthetic biology. De-extinction helps in biodiversity conservation, ecological balance, and climate resilience, and boosts public interest in conservation science. The dire wolf, scientifically named Aenocyon dirus, once lived in North American grasslands and forests during the Pleistocene Epoch and went extinct around 12,500 years ago.