Science & Technology Current Affairs MCQs

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Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump cited the fentanyl crisis to justify imposing 35% tariffs on Canada. Fentanyl caused over 112,000 overdose deaths in the United States in 2024 alone. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid used medically as a pain reliever and anaesthetic. It is about 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times stronger than heroin. Common street names include Apache, China Girl, China Town, Dance Fever, Goodfellas, Jackpot, and King Ivory. Fentanyl overdose can cause cold skin, bluish lips (cyanosis), coma, respiratory failure, and death.

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Next generation E10 Shinkansen bullet trains will be introduced simultaneously in India and Japan. In India, they will operate on the 508 km Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project. Shinkansen is Japan’s high-speed bullet train known for its safety, speed, and reliability. It is the world’s safest high-speed transport system with high volume and frequency.

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Researchers at Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram recently detected circularly polarised radio emission near a young protostar about 4,500 light-years away. A protostar is the earliest stage in star formation, formed from a collapsing giant molecular cloud in the interstellar medium. As the cloud collapses, gravitational energy turns into heat, warming the forming protostar. The protostar stage lasts from 100,000 to 10 million years depending on the star’s mass. It begins with a dense molecular cloud core and ends with a pre-main-sequence star.

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Recently, Bengaluru-based space company Protoplanet launched the Human Outer Planetary Exploration (HOPE) station in Ladakh’s Tso Kar region. HOPE is a moon and Mars simulation research station mimicking off-Earth terrain and environment. It is located in the high-altitude cold desert of Tso Kar basin, Ladakh. The project is developed by Protoplanet with technical and financial support from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It aims to study human psychological, physiological, and epigenetic responses in extreme isolation. It supports India’s long-term space goals including a crewed lunar mission by 2040 and a space station by 2035.

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Indian space-tech startup Dhruva Space is set to launch its first commercial satellite mission named LEAP-1. LEAP-1 will carry payloads for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Earth observation. It uses the indigenously developed P-30 satellite platform, which was space-qualified on ISRO’s PSLV-C58 in January 2024 during the LEAP-TD mission. The mission is jointly developed by Dhruva Space, Akula Tech (Australia), and Esper Satellites (Australia).

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Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Palakkad launched India’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered learning app named Tutoz. The app is developed by Revin Techno Solutions, a start-up incubated at IIT Palakkad. Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan officially launched the app at IIT Palakkad. Tutoz is designed for competitive exams like Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), and Common Admission Test (CAT). The initiative aims to bridge rural learning gaps and boost India’s digital education mission.

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India’s first government-backed Drone Forensic Laboratory has been set up at Uttar Pradesh State Institute of Forensic Science (UPSIFS), Lucknow. It was inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The lab is designed by Milind Raj, known as the “Drone Man of India,” who is now the forensic drone advisor to UPSIFS. The lab enables real-time tracking, decoding, and forensic examination of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). It can identify launch sites, flight paths, payloads, and hazardous materials like explosives.

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Two Indian aquanauts recently conducted deep-sea dives in the Atlantic Ocean under Samudrayaan Project. They collected over 100 kg of cobalt-rich polymetallic nodules from 1,173 meters depth in the Andaman Sea. Deep Ocean Mission was launched by Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) on 7 September 2021 with ₹4,077 crore for 5 years. The mission develops technologies for exploring and using deep ocean resources sustainably. It supports India’s Blue Economy with potential to push maritime economy beyond ₹100 billion. It aligns with United Nations Decade of Ocean Science (2021–2030).

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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the first uncrewed Gaganyaan mission (G1) in December 2025. The mission will carry Vyommitra, a female half-humanoid robot. Vyommitra will monitor the module, issue alerts, and manage life-support operations. ISRO plans five launches in 2025 and four in 2026. Upcoming launches include Oceansat-3A, NVS-03 (Navigation Satellite), TDS-01 (Technology Demonstration Satellite), and BlueBird Block 2. ISRO declared 2025 as “Gaganyaan Year” to highlight its human-spaceflight ambitions. The mission is a key step towards India’s future crewed space missions.

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On 21 August 2025, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) launched CEREBO, a portable non-invasive device to detect traumatic brain injuries (TBI). It uses near-infrared spectroscopy with machine learning to identify intracranial bleeding and edema within one minute, giving colour-coded, radiation-free results. The device is safe for infants and pregnant women and can be operated by paramedics or unskilled staff with just 30 minutes of training. It was developed by ICMR, AIIMS Bhopal, NIMHANS Bengaluru and Bioscan Research. India records over 1 lakh deaths and 10 lakh serious head injuries annually, making early TBI detection critical.