Science and Technology MCQ Set 54
Showing question 266 to 270 of total 301 MCQs
MCQ Set: 54
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Question No: 266
Which star has an earth like planet about 40 light years away orbited, with the planet showing signs of life?
- A red dwarf star
- LHS 1140
- Both of the above
- Neither of the above
Answer and Explanation
Answer: C
Explanation
Scientists have discovered a new Earth-like planet orbiting a red dwarf star about 40 light years away, which may be the best place yet to look for signs of life beyond the solar system.
Using European Southern Observatory (ESO)'s HARPS instrument at La Silla, and other telescopes around the world, an international team of astronomers discovered the exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone around the faint star LHS 1140.
This world is a little larger and much more massive than the Earth and has likely retained most of its atmosphere.
This, along with the fact that it passes in front of its parent star as it orbits, makes it one of the most critical future targets for atmospheric studies.
Red dwarfs are much smaller and cooler than the Sun.
Although the super-Earth LHS 1140b is ten times closer to its star than the Earth is to the Sun, it only receives about half as much sunlight from its star as the Earth and lies in the middle of the habitable zone.
The orbit is seen almost edge-on from Earth and as the exoplanet passes in front of the star once per orbit it blocks a little of its light every 25 days.
For life as we know it to exist, a planet must have liquid surface water and retain an atmosphere.
When red dwarf stars are young, they are known to emit radiation that can be damaging for the atmospheres of the planets that orbit them.
The planet's large size means that a magma ocean could have existed on its surface for millions of years.
This seething ocean of lava could feed steam into the atmosphere long after the star has calmed to its current, steady glow, replenishing the planet with water.
The astronomers estimate the age of the planet to be at least five billion years.
They also deduced that it has a diameter 1.4 times larger than the Earth - almost 18 000 kilometres.
However, with a mass around seven times greater than the Earth, and hence a much higher density, it implies that the exoplanet is probably made of rock with a dense iron core.
This super-Earth may be the best candidate yet for future observations to study and characterise its atmosphere, if one exists than Proxima b or TRAPPIST-1.
Question No: 267
Which two companies signed an MoU to help develop low cost lithium batteries?
- ISRO, BHEL
- BHEL, ESA
- ISRO, ESA
- None of the above
Answer and Explanation
Answer: C
Explanation
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which is finalising a memorandum of understanding with BHEL to help develop low-cost lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles, also envisages a buyback commitment for such batteries.
The move is expected to take care of concerns on managing the waste generated at the end of battery life.
According to the MoU, BHEL will set up a production plant, while ISRO will provide support for scale-up, joint effort in cost optimisation, research and development for alternate chemistry and buyback commitment.
Question No: 268
Researchers have developed a thermal diode that runs on _______.
- Heat
- Electricity
- Steam
- Carbon
Answer and Explanation
Answer: A
Explanation
Electronic systems do not work well in heat, apart from some exceptions. Heat is a normal byproduct of electricity. Researchers have evolved a thermal diode which is a computer component that runs on heat instead of electricity.
This could be a step towards heat resistance computers that can function in places that are extremely hot such as Venus or Earth without breaking into sweat.
A regular diode is a key logic component in electronic circuits that permits electricity to flow freely into one direction, but blocks it from moving back the other way.
Crucial components often fail under high temperature or when exposed to ionizing radiation.
Scientists have made hardier computer systems, developing thermal diodes powered by heat and not electricity.
Both heat and electricity are energy carriers. If heat can be controlled, it can be used on computing to avoid overheating.
The team's thermal diode is made up of pairs of surfaces, where one is fixed and another can move towards or away from its stationary partner. Movement is handled with ease by the system to maximize the heat transfer.
While the moving surface is hotter than the still one, it actuates with ease inwards and increases the rate that heat moves to a cooler surface.
When performed at temperatures between 215° and 494° F (102° and 257° C), the thermal diode hit a peak heat transfer rate of about 11 percent, but the researchers reported that the device was able to function at temperatures as high as 620° F (327° C).
The future versions could even operate at up to 1,300° F (704° C), potentially leading to computers that can work under extreme heat conditions.
Even when they're not running in the molten core of the planet, electronics can overheat and damage themselves if they aren't properly cooled by fans or water circulation systems.
More Innovations
Lockheed Martin has tinkered with embedding microscopic water droplets inside chips.
IBM developed the counter-intuitive technique of cooling with warm water
Microsoft has turned to the power of the ocean itself to cool a large data centre.
Cloud compute services market is poised to reach US$68.4 billion by 2020.
With the use of components like thermal diodes, the researchers said the wasted heat could be instead fed back into the system as an alternative energy source, improving energy efficacy.
Nearly 60 percent of the energy produced for consumption in the US is wasted in heat. If this heat could be harnessed and used for energy in devices, waste and cost of energy can be cut down on.
Researchers are now working to improve the efficiency of the thermal diode. Diodes are not the only components in electronics and a thermal computer would need the rest of the system to be able to bear those temperatures as well. If high efficiency can be attained, computations can be carried out and the logic system is run experimentally.
Question No: 269
What is Alphabet Inc's life sciences business called?
- ABC Inc
- Verily
- Google Inc
- None of the above
Answer and Explanation
Answer: B
Explanation
Verily, Alphabet Inc's life sciences business was launching a four-year study with about 10,000 participants to understand how people transition from being healthy to becoming sick.
This is to identify additional risk factors for diseases.
Verily is partnering with Duke University and Stanford Medicine in the United States for the study.
The study is the first initiative of Project Baseline, a broader effort to develop a reference, or a baseline", for what health refers to.
The study will collect data, as well as biological samples such as blood and saliva.
The sites will gather data from participants through repeat clinical visits, a wristwatch that monitors heart rate and activity levels, as well as participation in surveys and polls.
The Project Baseline study has the opportunity to significantly influence our current body of knowledge by better understanding the indicators of wellness.
Beyond this initial study, the project will also test and develop new tools and technologies to access and organize health information.
Pharmaceutical company Sanofi SA and Verily unveiled a $500 million investment in a joint venture which combined devices with services to improve diabetes care.
This is an example of growing ties between the pharmaceutical and technology sectors.
Verily also has several other medical projects in the works, including the development of a smart contact lens in partnership with Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG that has an embedded glucose sensor to help monitor diabetes.
Question No: 270
Which is the world's first truly collaborative dual arm industrial robot?
- YuMi
- RedMi
- XiaoMi
- ToMi
Answer and Explanation
Answer: A
Explanation
Robots and robotic automation brings with it incredible precision, productivity, and flexibility to any industrial process.
But robots can now offer small businesses the same opportunities to increase profitability.
YuMi is the world's first truly collaborative dual-arm industrial robot and its makers ABB believe it will fundamentally alter the types of industrial processes that can be automated with robots.
Thanks to YuMi, the traditional barriers, cages and zones are not a thing of the past.
It can work safely side- by-side with humans and are able to perform tasks with a high degree of precision.
It is outfitted with padded arms, which allow for a soft landing if it nudges its human counterpart.
Equally as important, these robots can be operated and reprogrammed by most anyone to easily meet a new need as production requirements change.
YuMi is able to perform the motions required in Small-Parts-Assembly within a very small space while maintaining a human-like reach.
This is critical to minimizing the footprint on the factory floor and makes it possible to install it in the work stations currently used only by humans.
In India, the growth potential of the robotics industry is tremendous.
Robot density - the number of robots per 10,000 manufacturing employees, there, is less than 10.
This contrasts with other countries in the region like Japan and Korea where robot density is between 300 and 400.
Robots like YuMi are specifically designed to meet the flexible and agile production needs of the consumer electronics industry–and this might have significant impact for India as it tries to become a mobile phone manufacturing hub.
Surprisingly, much of the technology in robotics that this global conglomerate uses are made in India.
Rao predicts that the future belongs to those companies who can have bespoke offerings on a base product.