Science and Technology MCQ Set 45
Showing question 221 to 225 of total 301 MCQs
MCQ Set: 45
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Question No: 221
Indian Space Research Organisation and which international space agency are collaborating to make satellite NISAR?
- NASA
- ESA
- Chinese space agency
- Roscosmos
Answer and Explanation
Answer: A
Explanation
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have collaborated to make an Earth-imaging satellite called NISAR.
The satellite will help scientists monitor the Earth like never before.
The expanded form of NISAR is NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar.
It is scheduled to be launched in 2021.
The estimated cost of the radar is over 1.5 billion dollars and it could possibly be the world’s most expensive Earth imaging satellite.
The two documents to launch the NASA-ISRO satellite mission were signed.
The aim of the mission is to observe Earth and establish a pathway for future joint missions for Mars exploration.
The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar will provide an unprecedented detailed view of Earth by using advanced radar imaging.
The satellite is designed to observe and take measurements of some of the planet’s most complex processes, including ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, and natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides.
Under the terms of the agreement, NASA will provide the mission’s L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR), a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid state recorder, and a payload data subsystem.
On the other hand, the ISRO will provide the satellite bus, an S-band synthetic aperture radar, the launch vehicle and associated launch services.
Data collected from the ambitious mission will unfold information about the evolution and state of Earth’s crust. It will also help scientists better understand our planet’s processes and changing climate, and aid future resource and hazard management.
The Earth-imaging satellite design will make use of a large deployable mesh antenna and will operate on dual L band and S band.
NISAR will be 3-axis stabilised and is planned to be launched into a Sun-synchronous dawn to dusk orbit with a mission life of 3 years.
NASA US Manned Programs: Know More
Apollo Skylab Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (joint)
Space Shuttle Shuttle–Mir (joint)
ISS (joint)
Mercury Gemini
Manned Venus Flyby
Manned Orbiting Laboratory
Space Transportation System
Orion Constellation
Question No: 222
Sloan Digital Sky Survey has created the first map of the bigger universe based on the position of _______.
- stars
- planets
- moons
- quasars
Answer and Explanation
Answer: D
Explanation
Astronomers using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) have created the first map of the large-scale structure of the universe based entirely on the positions of quasars.
Quasars are incredibly bright and distant points of light.
The quasars are so bright that they can be seen all the way across the universe and that is what makes them the ideal objects to use to make the biggest map yet.
The extra brightness of the quasars is due to the super- massive black holes found at their centres.
As matter and energy fall into a quasars’ black hole, they heat up to incredibly high temperatures and begin to glow.
Scientists used the Sloan Foundation Telescope to observe the innumerable quasars in order to make the map.
During the first two years of the survey, astronomers measured accurate three-dimensional positions of more than 147,000 quasars.
The telescope observations gave the team the distances of the quasars, which were used to create a three-dimensional map of where the quasars are located.
Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Know More
The survey known as Sloan Digital Sky Survey was extended to Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) to better understand the expansion history of the universe.
The process involved studying baryon acoustic oscillations, which are the present-day imprint of sound waves that travelled through the early universe, when it was much hotter and denser than today.
However, due to a sudden change in conditions when the universe was 380,000 years old, the sound waves became “frozen” in place.
These frozen waves are left imprinted in the three- dimensional structure of the present-day universe. The study confirms the standard model of cosmology that researchers have built over the last 20 years. In this standard model, the universe follows the predictions of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, but includes components that cannot be measured or causes not understood.
Question No: 223
What is PervasiveSUB project concerned with?
- A technique for typing braille in real time to help deaf-blind people watch YV directly
- A method of compiling subtitles of TV channels that forwards them to smartphone apps for Braille transliteration
- Both a and b
- None of the above
Answer and Explanation
Answer: C
Explanation
Researchers from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid have invented a technique that types Braille in real time and helps deaf-blind people “watch” television without intermediaries.
The technique developed under “PervasiveSUB Project” compiles all the subtitles of television channels and sends them to a central server which forwards them to smartphones or tablets.
The compiled data from smartphones or tablets are sent to the Braille line of the deaf-blind person through an app that makes it possible to control the speed of the subtitles that are captured directly from the TV broadcast in perfect synchronisation.
PervasiveSUB project was financed by Spanish broadband and telecommunications provider Telefonica.
The tests had great success and the technology has already been implemented on all the national and regional Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) channels in Madrid.
The research team is now providing this service free of charge to anyone who needs it.
Question No: 224
Who has won the Dan David prize from India so far?
- Shrinivas Kulkarni
- Zubin Mehta
- Amitav Ghosh
- All of the above
Answer and Explanation
Answer: D
Explanation
Indian scientist Shrinivas Kulkarni has won the prestigious Dan David prize as a recognition for his contributions made in the field of astronomy.
Shrinivas Kulkarni, a professor of astrophysics and planetary science at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, is a pioneer in the field of time-domain astrophysics.
He has been credited for building and conducting the Palomar Transient Factory, which is a large-area survey of the night sky that has turned up with thousands of stellar explosions.
Shrinivas Kulkarni would share the award with Andrej Udalski of the University of Warsaw and Neil Gehrels of NASA for their discoveries on time-domain astrophysics in the “Future” category of the prize.
With this award, he will join other prominent Indians who have won the Dan David prize like noted author Amitav Ghosh, music conductor Zubin Mehta and renowned chemist CNR Rao.
Dan David Prize: Know More
The Dan David Foundation was established in 2000 by the late Dan David, an international businessman and philanthropist.
Three Dan David prizes of $1 million each are awarded each year in the categories of “Past,” “Present” and “Future” to people who have made exemplary contributions to humanity in the field of sciences, humanities, or for their work in civil society.
The recipients in the “Past” category are chosen from the field of history, archaeology, paleontology, biography, etc;.
The recipients in the “Present” category are chosen from arts, media, policy, economics, etc.
The recipients in the “Future” category are chosen from one of the exact or natural sciences. The prize mandates the laureates to donate 10% of their prize money to provide scholarships for graduate or post-graduate researchers in their respective fields.
Question No: 225
Which armed forces signed an MOU with SAC on data sharing and scientific cooperation?
- Indian army
- IAF
- BSF
- Indian navy
Answer and Explanation
Answer: A
Explanation
The Indian Navy and the Space Application Centre has signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Data Sharing and Scientific cooperation in the field of Meteorology and Oceanology.
As per the MoU, the scientific advancements and expertise achieved by SAC would be synergised into the Indian Naval efforts in order to keep the Indian Navy abreast with rapid developments that has taken place in the field of Environment Sciences and Satellite Data acquisition technology.
The MoU has further enhanced the already established collaboration between the two organisations.
The broad areas of cooperation under the MoU are:
Sharing of non-confidential observational data for pre-launch sensor calibration and post launch satellite data validation,
Operational use of SAC generated weather products,
provisioning expertise for installation of various satellite data processing modules at Naval METOC organisations,
Performing calibration and validation for ocean models,
Transfer of technology to produce weather information, training on latest technology and sharing of subject matter experts between the organisations facilitating effective knowledge transfer.
SAC: Know More
Space Applications Centre (SAC) is one of the major centres of ISRO.
It was established in the year 1972.
It primarily focuses on the design of space-borne instruments for ISRO missions.
It also develops applications of space technology and is headquartered in Ahmedabad, Gujarat