Civil Services Simplified: Decoding the Enigma of UPSC by Dr. CP. Kaushik

Link for Environment Channel, for those who don't know about another platform.👍

A dedicated platform for important Core and Concepts and Current Affairs related to Environment, Biodiversity & Climate Change https://t.me/EnvtUPSC_CSE

3. What are Neutrinos (v)? • Neutrinos (ν) are sub-atomic, elementary particles that have no charge (charge-neutral). • They have finite, but negligible mass (whose value is unknown). They are, thus, able to easily penetrate objects without interaction with them, & travel great distances. • Their weak interaction with objects makes them extremely difficult to detect. Hence, their detection requires high-end instruments and an environment that is effectively shielded from other radiant interference. • There are many other natural sources of neutrinos including exploding stars (supernovae), relic neutrinos (from the birth of the universe), natural radioactivity, & cosmic ray interactions in atmosphere of Earth. • 2nd most widely occurring particle in universe, only next to photons, the particle which makes up light.

2. GEOTAIL • ISRO recently announced that an instrument on Chandrayaan-2, CLASS, designed to detect signatures of elements in the Moon’s soil, had detected charged particles during the mission. • This happened during the orbiter’s passage through the “Geotail”. • Geotail - The geotail is a region in space that allows the best observations. -The region exists as a result of the interactions between the Sun and Earth. - Once every 29 days, the Moon traverses geotail for about 6 days. -When Chandrayaan-2, which is orbiting the Moon, crosses the geotail, its instruments can study properties of the geotail.

Day 14: August 30 1. Railway Protection Force (RPF) has busted an illegal software operation called “Real Mango” — used for cornering confirmed train reservations during the coronavirus pandemic. 􀀇 “Real Mango” is illegal software used for cornering confirmed Railway reservations. 􀀇 The software was earlier with the name ‘Rare Mango’. 􀀇 The operation of an illegal software called “Rare Mango” (later changed its name to “Real Mango”) was revealed during action against touts by the field units of RPF. 􀀇 The software has now been fully decimated.

3. Redshift and Blueshift • Redshift and Blueshift describe how light changes as objects in space (such as stars or galaxies) move closer or farther away from us. The concept is key to charting the universe’s expansion. • Visible light is a spectrum of colours, which is clear to anyone who has looked at a rainbow. • When an object moves away from us, the light is shifted to the red end of the spectrum, as its wavelengths get longer. • If an object moves closer, the light moves to the blue end of the spectrum as its wavelength gets shorter. • American astronomer Edwin Hubble was the first to describe the redshift phenomenon (galactic redshift) and tie it to an expanding universe (galaxies are drifting apart). • Hubble's law: the farther away galaxies are, the faster they are moving away from Earth ― also known as accelerating the expansion of the universe.

2. Einstein’s theory of general relativity • In 1905, Albert Einstein determined that the laws of physics are the same for all nonaccelerating observers and that the speed of light in a vacuum was independent of the motion of all observers. • As a result, he found that space and time were interwoven into a single continuum known as space-time. • Events that occur at the same time for one observer could occur at different times for another. This was the theory of special relativity. • In 1915, Einstein published his theory of general relativity. In it, he determined that massive objects distort space-time, which is felt as gravity. • Gravitational lensing and gravitational waves are strong evidence for Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

Day 13: August 29 1. Black holes: Black holes are believed to form from massive stars at the end of their lifetimes. • The gravitational pull in a black hole is so great that nothing can escape from it, not even light. • The density of matter in a black hole cannot be measured. Black holes distort the space around them and can suck neighbouring matter into them including stars. • Gravitational lensing: Light around a massive object, such as a black hole, is bent, causing it to act as a lens for the things that lie behind it.

3. Biorock or Mineral Accretion Technology: • The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), with help from Gujarat’s forest department, is attempting for the first time a process to restore coral reefs using biorock or mineral accretion technology. • Biorock is the name given to the substance formed by electro accumulation of minerals dissolved in seawater on steel structures that are lowered onto the sea bed and are connected to a power source, in this case solar panels that float on the surface. • A biorock structure has been installed one nautical mile off the Mithapur coast in the Gulf of Kachchh. The location had been chosen keeping in mind the high tidal amplitude in the Gulf. • Mineral Accretion Technology is a coral reef restoration technology that utilizes low voltage electricity to improve the health and growth rates of corals and other marine organisms. • The technology works by passing a small amount of electrical current through electrodes in the water. • When a positively charged anode and negatively charged cathode are placed on the sea floor, with an electric current flowing between them, calcium ions combine with carbonate ions and adhere to the structure (cathode). This results in calcium carbonate formation. Coral larvae adhere to the CaCO3 and grow quickly. • Fragments of broken corals are tied to the biorock structure, where they are able to grow at least four to six times faster than their actual growth as they need not spend their energy in building their own calcium carbonate skeletons.

2. Vyommitra: • Vyommitra (Vyoma = space, mitra = friend) is a “half-humanoid”, being developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in collaboration with IISc, that will be sent on the unmanned Gaganyaan mission. • Vyommitra being called a half-humanoid since she will only have a head, two hands and a torso, and no lower limbs. • Vyommitra, is built to mimic crew activity inside the crew module of Gaganyaan. Once flown into space, she will be able to test systems in the crew module meant for the survival and safe travel of the first Indian astronaut in 2022. • She can also double up as an artificial buddy to an astronaut — providing audio inputs on aspects like the health of the spacecraft during the launch, landing and orbital phases of the manned mission.

Day 12: August 28 1. White-Space: • White Space refers to the unused broadcasting frequencies in the wireless spectrum. • Television networks leave gaps between channels for buffering purposes, and this space in the wireless spectrum is similar to what is used for 4G and so it can be used to deliver widespread broadband internet. • Typical home Wi-Fi can travel through two walls. White Space broadband can travel up to 10 kilometers, through vegetation, buildings, and other obstacles. • Tablets, phones, and computers can all access this wireless internet using White Space through fixed or portable power stations. • Microsoft is implementing this to deliver cost effective broadband to rural areas.

3. Ramanujan Machine: • Scientists from Technion — Israel Institute of Technology have developed a concept and named it Ramanujan Machine, after the Indian mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan. • The Ramanujan ‘machine’ is not really a machine but is an algorithm (a concept) that automatically generates conjectures for fundamental constants (like pi). • Conjectures are mathematical statements which are proposed as true statements. In other words, they are mathematical statements that are, as yet, unproven. • The algorithm reflects the way Srinivasa Ramanujan worked during his brief life (1887-1920). • Typically, people provide the input and the algorithm finds the solution. For example, the user enters the ‘Destination’ in Google Maps and then the algorithm provides the user with the Navigation assistance. • But Ramanujan worked in reverse manner. Throughout his life, Ramanujan came up with novel equations and identities —including equations leading to the value of pi — and it was usually left to formally trained mathematicians to prove these.

2. Bullsequana Supercomputer: • France-based European Information Technology Corporation, Atos, and India’s C-DAC (Centre for Development and Advanced Computing) have entered into agreement for designing, building and installing BullSequana Supercomputer in India. • BullSequana Supercomputer will create a network of 70 high-performance supercomputing facilities for various academic and research institutions across India. • Application: - Strengthening academic and research institutions in India - Recreating the Big Bang - Understanding earthquakes, cosmos and subatomic particle - Modelling swine flu, other deadly diseases - Testing nuclear weapons - Predicting climate change/ Weather Forecasting/ hurricanes - Building artificial human brains • French IT services firm Atos has won a three-year contract to build the first phase of supercomputers under India’s Rs 4,500-crore National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).

Day 11: August 27 1. SpiNNaker: World’s Largest Brain – Like Supercomputer: • Spiking Neural Network Architecture (SpiNNaker) machine, the world’s largest supercomputer designed to work in the same way as the human brain, has been switched on for the first time. • Designed and built in the United Kingdom, it can model more biological neurons in real time than any other machine. • SpiNNaker is unique because, unlike traditional computers, it does not communicate by sending large amounts of information from point A to B via a standard network. Instead it mimics the massively parallel communication architecture of the brain, sending billions of small amounts of information simultaneously to thousands of different destinations. • Biological neurons are basic brain cells present in nervous system that communicate by emitting ‘spikes’ of pure electro-chemical energy. • It has also simulated a region of the brain called the Basal Ganglia – an area affected in Parkinson’s disease, thus, it has massive potential for neurological breakthroughs in science such as pharmaceutical testing.

https://t.me/Drcpk4UPSC This link can be used to put up your concerns regarding S and T and Environment.. Also, U people can tell me about some weak areas, for which we can share more content in a simplistic way.

Hello Everyone, I am sharing some important lectures and shortlisted topics, that we took for prelims 2020... These are equally relevant for 2021 Prelims also.