A cheaper way to make solar cells

Scientists have found a new, cheaper and easier way to manufacture solar cells, which could challenge the domination of silicon. An alternative material called Perovskite is more efficient and adaptable than previous thought, scientists said. “The challenge to developing efficient and cheap commercially available solar panels has, until now, been dominated by silicon, with emerging alternative solar cells considered minor players,” said Lin Leong from Institute of Materials Research and Engineering in Singapore. Perovskite is relatively easy to process, and therefore cheaper to manufacture, but also has an efficiency of 22%, close to silicon cells 25%.

Most sensitive detector fails to find dark matter

The world’s most sensitive dark matter detector has failed to yield any trace of the elusive substance thought to account for more than four-fifths of the mass of the universe, even after 20 months of operation. The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment, which operates beneath a mile of rock at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in the Black Hills of South Dakota, has completed its silent search for the missing matter of the universe. LUX’s sensitivity far exceeded the goals for the project, scientists said, but yielded no trace of a dark matter particle.

NRDC signed License Agreement with Kudos Laboratories

On 16 March 2016, the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) signed a License Agreement with Kudos Laboratories India for commercialization of Ayush-82, an Ayurvedic formulation foe prevention and management of Diabetes. The agreement will now allow Kudos Laboratories India to commercialize the drug under their trade name with due acknowledgement to Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India. Ayush-82 was developed by CCRAS. The CCRAS in as apex organization for research in Ayurveda under the Ministry of AYUSH.

Kudos Laboratories India:

Ø  Kudos Laboratories India, a 100 years old organization, is engaged in marketing, manufacturing and export of the widest range of Ayurvedic / Herbal product and range of cosmetics.

Ø  The company hold G.M.P & ISO Certifications.

ISRO launched Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-1F

On 10 March 2016, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the country’s sixth Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS)-1F, on board the trusted launch vehicle PSLV C-32. The lift off took place from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Shriharikotta. Satellite IRNSS-1F was launched after the 54 and a half hour countdown that started on 8 March 2016. XL version of PSLV was used in PSLV-C32 and ir was the twelfth time that the ‘XL’ configuration was flown.

Salient Features:

Ø  The lift off mass of IRNSS-1F is 1425 kg and the dry mass is 598 kg.

Ø  Its configuration is similar to that of IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, 1D and 1E.

Ø  The two solar arrays of IRNSS-1F consisting of Ultra Triple Junction solar cells generate about 1660 watts of electrical power.

Ø  The mission life of IRNSS-1F is 12 years.

Ø  IRNSS-1F carried two types of payloads navigation payload and ranging payload. The navigation payload of IRNSS-1F will transmit navigation service signal to the users.

IRNSS-1F will form part of the home grown seven satellites Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) to provide accurate position information services, similar to the GPS in the whole country and up to 1500 km around it. This is India’s second mission in 2016, and the first one was also the successful insertion of an IRNSS-1E navigation satellite by PSLV C-31 on 20 January 2016.

World's first robot lawyer ROSS hired by US law firm

US-based law firm Baker Hostetler on May 2016 hired the world’s first robot lawyer ROSS to assist the company and its various teams in legal research. The law firm will license artificial lawyer ROSS for use in its Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Creditors Rights team.

Key Features:

Ø  ROSS has been built by ROSS Intelligence and is built upon IBM cognitive computer Watson.

Ø  With the support of Watson’s lawyers can ask ROSS their research question.

Ø  The ROSS reads through the law, gathers evidence, draws inferences and returns highly relevant, evidence-based answers.

Ø  ROSS also monitors the law around the clock to notify user of new court decisions that can affect a case.

Ø  The programme continually learns from lawyers who use it to bring back better results each time.

UAV flights for early diagnosis of HIV in infants

On 14 March 2016, the Government of Malawi and UNICEF successfully tested the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs or drones) to explore cost effecting ways of reducing waiting times for HIV testing of infants. As part of the test, simulated blood samples were transported from a community health centre to the Kamuzu Central Hospital laboratory that is located at a distance of 10 kilometers. Though drones were used in the past for surveillance and assessments of disaster, this is the first known use of UAVs in Africa for Improvement of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) services. After successful completion of further tests, the drone services well be integrated into the health system alongside others existing mechanism such as road, transport and short message service (SMS).
Significance of UAVs for Malawi
      The successful completion of tests and integration of UAVs with HIV services of significance for Malawi due to the following scenario. In 2014, nearly 40000 children in Malawi were born to HIV positive mothers. It is also estimated that around 10000 children deaths occur every year due to the infection. The high incidence of death is attributed to the fact that there is a considerable delay in diagnosis of the infection in infants. This is because of transport challenges and associated delays experienced by health workers in remote areas of the country.

India successfully test fired Agni-1 ballistic missile

On 14 March 2016, India successfully test-fired indigenously built nuclear capable intermediate range Agni-1 ballistic missile. It was launched from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island) on the Odisha coast. The trial was as part of training exercise by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) of Indian Army. The sophisticated missile covered 700 km distance within 9 minutes and 36 seconds. The latest trial of Agni-1 followed the first successful test-fire that was conducted on 27 November 2015 from the same base.

About Agni-1 ballistic missile:

Ø  Agni-1 was developed by Advanced System Laboratory, the premier missile development laboratory of DRDO in collaboration with Defence Research Development Laboratory and Research Centre Imarat and integrated by Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad.

Ø  The missile is 15-metre long and weighed 12 tonnes and equipped with sophisticated navigation system which ensures it reaches the target with a high degree of accuracy and precision.

The missile is a surface-to- surface and single-stage missile powered by solid propellant and capable of hitting a target 700 kilometers away