Science & Technology Current Affairs MCQs

Notes:
Scientists recently used drones to detect a dangerous Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) among whales in the Arctic. Cetacean morbillivirus is a viral infection affecting marine mammals, especially cetaceans like whales, dolphins, and porpoises. CeMV has caused multiple outbreaks worldwide, particularly in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Transmission occurs through respiratory routes and direct contact, with the virus shed via ocular and respiratory secretions, urine, feces, and sloughed skin. The virus affects the respiratory and neurological systems, leading to mass strandings and deaths of marine mammals.

Notes:
ISRO’s maiden home-made dust detector, Dust EXperiment (DEX), detects interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) striking Earth roughly every 1,000 seconds. DEX is the first Indian-made instrument designed to study high-speed interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) . Interplanetary Dust Particles are microscopic fragments originating from comets and asteroids. The instrument was flown on the POEM (PSLV Orbital Experimental Module) of PSLV-C58. Dust EXperiment (DEX) was developed by the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad.

Notes:
Scientists at the Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru have developed a novel, non-invasive technique to measure the local density of cold atoms in real time without disturbing their quantum state. The method, called Raman Driven Spin Noise Spectroscopy (RDSNS), overcomes limitations of conventional atom-imaging methods used in cold atom experiments. Cold atoms, cooled near absolute zero, are crucial for quantum computing, quantum sensing, and precision measurement, but traditional detection methods like absorption and fluorescence imaging are often destructive or slow.

Notes:
Recently, researchers at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bengaluru, developed a deep-learning tool called Disobind. Disobind predicts how intrinsically disordered proteins (IDP) bind to their partner proteins. Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDPs) are shapeshifting proteins without fixed structure, crucial for cell signalling, gene regulation, and protein movement. Their flexibility makes them hard to study using traditional structural biology methods. Disobind uses protein language models trained on millions of protein sequences.

Notes:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), scabies is among the most common skin diseases in developing countries. Scabies is a contagious parasitic skin infestation found worldwide. It is caused by the Sarcoptes scabiei mite, which burrows under the skin and causes an itchy rash. It is more common in hot and tropical regions like India. WHO classifies scabies as a Neglected Tropical Disease due to its impact on poor communities.

Notes:
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur researchers developed a new method to predict solar cycles. A solar cycle is an about 11-year cycle of solar activity controlled by the Sun’s magnetic field. It is measured by the number and intensity of sunspots seen on the Sun’s surface. Around every 11 years, the Sun’s magnetic field flips, swapping north and south poles. Sunspots increase and decrease as magnetic activity changes on the Sun. The cycle starts with solar minimum, when sunspots are very few. Activity rises to solar maximum, when sunspots are highest. After this, activity declines back to solar minimum and a new cycle begins.

Notes:
A 29-year-old man in Karnataka died after contracting Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), also called monkey fever. Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) is a tick-borne viral haemorrhagic disease mostly found in southern India, first reported in 1957 from Kyasanur Forest, Karnataka. The virus belongs to the family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus, part of the tick-borne encephalitis complex. It is called monkey fever due to its association with monkey deaths.

Notes:
NASA’s SPHEREx mission recently observed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, the third such object discovered in our solar system. SPHEREx stands for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer. It is a NASA Astrophysics mission launched on March 11, 2025. The telescope has a megaphone-shaped design and will conduct an all-sky spectral survey. It surveys the sky in optical and near-infrared light, which helps study cosmic phenomena invisible to the human eye.

Notes:
The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) will launch three new ocean services: Jellyfish Artificial Intelligence Information Platform (JellyAIIP), SAMUDRA 2.0 Mobile Application, and Seamless Information Visualization and Analysis System (SIVAS) along with a new logo. It was established as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and is located in Hyderabad, Telangana. It provides ocean information and advisory services through continuous ocean observations and focused research. It runs the Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC), issuing tsunami alerts within 10 minutes for India and 28 Indian Ocean countries.

Notes:
Researchers discovered a new marine worm species named Paraleocrates indica in the muddy banks of the Champa Estuary in the Bay of Bengal. It is the first record of this rare genus from Indian waters and only the third species worldwide in this genus. The worm belongs to the Hesionidae family, known for colourful bristle worms that often live symbiotically with other marine organisms like starfish. It appears reddish, measures 14–35 millimetres, and has a unique eye structure with front eyes five times larger than the back ones.