Science & Technology Current Affairs MCQs

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Astronomers have directly imaged a young planet, WISPIT 2b, forming inside a gap in a protoplanetary disk around a distant star. The discovery confirms that disk gaps are indeed caused by growing planets. WISPIT 2b is a gas giant, about five times the mass of Jupiter, and only five million years old. It orbits WISPIT 2, a young star 437 light-years from Earth. Protoplanetary disks are rings of gas and dust around young stars, providing planet-forming material. The planet was imaged using Very Large Telescope (VLT), MagAO-X on Magellan Clay Telescope, and Large Binocular Telescope.

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Recent research shows that eating diets high in Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs) can worsen gut inflammation and increase Crohn’s disease flare-ups. Crohn’s Disease is a chronic Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) that causes swelling and irritation in the digestive tract. It usually affects the small intestine and the beginning of the large intestine. Inflammation can spread deep into the bowel layers, causing pain and serious complications. Common symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and weight loss. It mostly develops between ages 20 and 29. The exact cause is unknown but may involve genes, immune reactions, and the microbiome. There is no cure, but treatment helps control symptoms and maintain remission.

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Google announced that its quantum processor Willow has achieved the first “verifiable” quantum advantage. Quantum advantage means a quantum computer can outperform a classical computer in practice. The announcement was accompanied by an open-access paper in Nature by the Google Quantum AI and Collaborators team. Willow ran a new algorithm, Quantum Echoes, 13,000 times faster than the best classical algorithm on a supercomputer. The experiment used a technique called out-of-time-order correlator (OTOC) to track how information scrambles in quantum systems. OTOC measures how quantum information spreads, is scrambled, and can be “unscrambled” using time-reversal. Willow’s processor precisely controlled quantum bits (qubits) in a chaotic quantum system for the experiment.

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The Telecom Centres of Excellence (TCoE) recently signed agreements with key partners to launch the Samriddh Gram Phygital Services Pilot Project. The project aims to transform rural India by combining physical and digital (phygital) services. It integrates on-ground service delivery with strong digital infrastructure to empower rural citizens. The initiative uses BharatNet connectivity to ensure smooth and sustainable access to essential services. Three villages have been selected for the pilot — Ari and Umri in Madhya Pradesh, Narakoduru in Andhra Pradesh, and Chaurawala in Uttar Pradesh. Each village will have a Samriddhi Kendra serving as an integrated digital service hub.

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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the LVM3-M5 rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 5:35 pm. The rocket carried CMS-03, India’s heaviest communication satellite weighing 4,400 kilograms. It was the fifth operational flight of the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) launcher. CMS-03 was launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). The satellite will provide multi-band communication services across India and nearby ocean regions. It will enhance secure data, voice, and video connectivity for civilian and strategic applications. The mission highlights India’s capability in heavy satellite launches and strengthens its communication network.

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China has achieved the world’s first conversion of thorium into uranium fuel inside a Thorium Molten Salt Reactor (TMSR). It marks the first-ever experimental data on thorium operation from within a molten salt reactor. The 2 megawatt liquid-fuelled TMSR is currently the only operating reactor successfully using thorium fuel. A Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) is a fourth-generation nuclear reactor using molten salt as both coolant and fuel carrier instead of solid rods.

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In November 2025, Google announced ‘Project Suncatcher,’ a research initiative to create a solar-powered, space-based AI infrastructure system. The project aims to use Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) aboard satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) to explore machine learning scalability. It will use Trillium TPUs designed to withstand up to 15 krad(Si) radiation and advanced thermal radiators to manage heat. In partnership with Planet Labs, two prototype satellites will launch in 2027 to test AI performance and optical communication. Solar-powered satellites will operate in a sun-synchronous dawn-dusk orbit, generating up to 8 times the power of ground-based installations

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Recently, researchers found that male and female brains respond differently as Batten Disease progresses, opening new paths for treatment. Batten Disease is a rare genetic disorder affecting the brain and nervous system. It is congenital, progressive, and terminal, leading to steady decline in nervous system function. Symptoms include loss of vision and seizures, beginning in infancy, childhood, or rarely adulthood. Life expectancy varies from early childhood to the twenties depending on the form.

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In November 2025, scientists from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) collaborated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to estimate key parameters of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). They used data from the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) payload onboard India’s Aditya-L1 mission. VELC is the main payload of Aditya-L1, India’s first solar observatory placed 1.5 million kilometres from Earth. It is an internally occulted solar coronagraph capable of imaging, spectroscopy, and spectro-polarimetry near the solar limb.

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In November 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in Mauritania and Senegal, Western Africa. Rift Valley Fever is caused by a Phlebovirus from the Phenuiviridae family. It mainly affects animals such as sheep, goats, cattle, and camels. Humans get infected through contact with infected animals or mosquito bites. It does not spread from person to person. The disease was first identified in Kenya’s Rift Valley in the 1930s. It later spread across sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.