Science & Technology Current Affairs March 2016

Ecology & Environment Current Affairs

Falcated Duck Sighted in Goa

• The birders of Goa have sighted a new bird Falcated Duck on February 13, 2016, a very rare vagrant species to the South of India. As on February 23, 2016, the bird became the latest addition to i he checklist of ‘Birds of Goa’.
• The birders found the bird at Ambulor Lake in Vema in South Goa, around 25 km from Panaji and photographed the Falcated Duck. The Falcated duck is a regular winter migrant to the Northern States of India. They breed in Russia and North China in summers and migrates towards North of India in winter.
• There are two reports of this species from South of India. The first was reported from Tamil Nadu in 2012 while in January, 2015 a single individual was reported from Akola in Maharashtra and this sighting by the birding trio is only the third from South India.

Seismic Microzonation Reports Released

• The Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan released Seismic microzonation reports for Delhi and Kolkata in New Delhi on February 22, 2016.

• Seismic microzonation is a process of identifying such related geological, seismological, hydrological and geotechnical site characteristics in a specific region. These would help design of safe structures to reduce loss of human life.

• Such scientific endeavours should help us lo minimise the impact of earthquakes by (a) Proper assessment of Seismic Hazard (b) Implementation of safe building construction codes, and (c) adopting appropriate land-use planning.
• Earlier, a seismic zoning map for entire India was prepared and published by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), classifying the entire country into 4 major groups Zone-V (High intensity) to Zone-11 (Low intensity).

National Air Quality Indices for 24 Cities Released

• Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) published. National Air Quality Indices (NAQI) for 24 cities with a colour code and a numerical value that will help in comparing pollution levels in each cities, in the first week of February, 2016.
• The NAQI is determined on the basis of concentration of eight pollutants, including Particulate Matter (PM2.5 fine, respirable partides), sulphur dioxide (S02), nitrogen dioxide (N02), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (Oj), ammonia (NH) and lead (Fb).
• Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Muzzafarpur in Bihar topped the list and were coded as ‘severe’ in terms of air pollution with an AQJ value of 409 points each. They are followed by Faridabad (399), Patna (388) and Agra (372) at 3rd, 4th and 5th position respectively.

Space Current Affairs

Five ‘Hot’ Dupiter-like Planets Discovered

• The researchers from Recle University in UK have discovered five new Jupiter-like planets designated as WASP-119 b, WASP-124 b, WASP-126 b, WASP-129 b and WASP-133 b. They are similar in characteristics to Jupiter and orbit very close to their host stars.
• They used the Wide Angle Search for Planets-South (WASP-South) instrument; an array of eight cameras observing selected regions of the Southern sky, to study five stars showing planet-iike transits in their light curve.
• The orbital periods of the planets vary from 2.17 to 5.75 days, and their masses range from 0.3 to 1.2 the mass of Jupiter, with radius between one to 1.5 Jupiter radius. WASP-119 b, which has a mass of 1.2 of the mass of Jupiter, and an orbital period of 2.5 days, is a typical hot Jupiter.
• Its host star has a similar mass to the Sun’s but appears to be much older based on its effective temperature and density. WASP-124 b, less massive than Jupiter, has orbital period of 3.4 days and a much younger parent star. WASP-126 b is the lowest-mass world.