Besides placing three Singaporean satellites in precise orbit, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has also achieved the feat of successfully launching the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module or ‘POEM’.   What is POEM? The PSLV Orbital Experimental Module is a platform that will help perform in-orbit experiments using the final, and otherwise discarded, stage of… Continue reading ISRO’s POEM Platform

Recently, NASA has launched CAPSTONE, a microwave oven-sized CubeSat weighing just 55 pounds (25 kg).   What is it? CAPSTONE, short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, is designed to test a unique, elliptical lunar orbit. The satellite, launched on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1,… Continue reading CAPSTONE

Recently, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved the two-dose mRNA vaccine – country’s first homegrown mRNA Covid-19 vaccine, for emergency use for the age group 18 and above. The vaccine – GEMCOVAC-19, developed at Pune’s Gennova Biopharmaceuticals, is stable for storage at 2-8 degree C.   Details – Gennova already has a… Continue reading GEMCOVAC-19

Rosatom State Corporation of Russia has supplied the first batches of more reliable and cost-efficient nuclear fuel over the existing one, the TVS-2M nuclear fuel, to India for the Units 1 and 2 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP).   Background – Russia is building the KNPP under an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) of 1988 and… Continue reading Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for signing of an agreement between the Government of India and the United Nations on a ‘Way Finding Application’ to be used in the Palais des Nations, United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG).   What is it? The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), consisting of five buildings… Continue reading Way Finding Application

NITI Aayog and the Department of Science & Technology (DST) have kicked off deliberations on developing an open-source battery management system (BMS) for two- and three-wheeler EVs. The idea is to develop a BMS solution tailored for Indian conditions.   Background – The idea to develop an open source BMS was first floated in 2021.… Continue reading Battery Management System

Scientists have developed ultra-thin heteroprotein films with excellent thermal, mechanical and pH stability which can pave the way for expanding applications of thin films in biomedical and food packaging industries.   Details – It has been developed by Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati, an autonomous institute under the Department of… Continue reading Ultrathin Heteroprotein Film

The Union Cabinet has approved the auction of airwaves capable of offering fifth generation, or 5G, telecom services, including ultra-high-speed Internet. It also gave its nod for setting up of captive 5G networks by big tech firms.   What has been approved? Approval for 5G auctions — The Cabinet has approved 5G auctions at reserve… Continue reading Auction of 5G

Recently, an engineer associated with Google has claimed that an Artificially Intelligent (AI) chatbot he was working on had become sentient and was showing the ability to think and reason like a human being.   Details – According to the employee, the AI was sentient enough to be compared to a human child in terms… Continue reading LaMDA

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey recently announced his vision for a new decentralised web platform that is being called Web 5.0 and is being built with an aim to return “ownership of data and identity to individuals”.   What do the terms Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 mean? Web 1.0 was the first… Continue reading Web 5.0