Science & Technology Current Affairs MCQs

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Prime Minister of India welcomed the agreement between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for the Chandrayaan-5 mission under the Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) programme. LUPEX is jointly developed by ISRO and JAXA to explore the Moon’s southern polar region. The mission aims to investigate the presence of water and other elements, potentially as surface ice, and demonstrate innovative surface exploration technologies. It features a lander developed by ISRO and a rover developed by JAXA. The rover will autonomously search for water-rich areas, drill, sample soil, and analyze it with onboard instruments.

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Cholesterol, a fat-like substance, can control the spin of electrons, a quantum property crucial for next-generation spintronic devices. Spintronics uses electron spin to develop energy-efficient electronics and bioelectronic devices. Scientists from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali, under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), developed cholesterol-based nanomaterials for spintronic and quantum applications. Cholesterol’s intrinsic handedness (chirality) and flexibility allow precise control over molecular properties. This innovation could enable energy-efficient memory chips and greener quantum technologies.

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Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat inaugurated the Gyan Bharatam International Conference in New Delhi on 11 September. Gyan Bharatam is a national initiative for preserving, digitising, and disseminating India’s manuscript heritage. The mission envisions 25 clusters, 20 regional centres, and 10 centres of excellence to safeguard manuscripts. The conference brought together 1,100+ participants, including scholars, experts, institutions, and cultural practitioners from India and abroad.

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Researchers at Stanford University and the Arc Institute created the world’s first entirely AI-generated genome. The AI-designed virus can infect and kill bacteria, acting as a bacteriophage. Artificial Intelligence (AI) model named Evo was used, employing genome “language models” to design complete viral genomes. Evo was trained on about 2 million viral genomes to learn DNA patterns, gene order, and composition. Scientists guided Evo to mimic phiX174, a small bacteriophage with 11 genes and approximately 5,000 DNA letters. This achievement marks a significant advancement beyond AI-designed proteins or small multi-gene systems. It demonstrates AI’s potential to innovate in synthetic biology and genome engineering.

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India’s first dedicated space astronomy observatory, AstroSat, completed 10 years of operation on 28 September 2025. It was launched on 28 September 2015 by PSLV-C30 (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C30) XL from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. Though designed for 5 years, it continues to provide valuable data after a decade. AstroSat studies the universe across multi-wavelengths: UV (Ultraviolet), Visible, Low and High Energy X-rays. It was developed by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) with collaboration from Indian institutes and partners from Canada and the UK.

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Australia recently approved Lecanemab for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia causes progressive memory and thinking problems and is now Australia’s leading cause of death. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 60-80% of dementia cases. Lecanemab is a monoclonal antibody drug that targets amyloid proteins in the brain. It aims to slow disease progression by tackling the cause of Alzheimer’s, not just symptoms. The drug works by using antibodies to mark amyloid for removal by brain immune cells, preventing toxicity to brain cells.

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A new analysis of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft data shows that Saturn’s moon Enceladus may support life. Cassini was a joint mission of NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and Italian Space Agency (ASI). It was launched on October 15, 1997, to study Saturn and its moons in detail. The mission had NASA’s Cassini orbiter and ESA’s Huygens probe, which landed on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. Cassini studied Saturn’s atmosphere, rings, and magnetosphere, along with Titan’s surface and atmosphere. It provided key insights into Saturn’s cloud properties, ring composition, and planetary evolution.

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Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) recently detected phosphine (PH3) in the atmosphere of brown dwarf Wolf 1130C. Phosphine is a chemical compound consisting of one phosphorus atom and three hydrogen atoms. On Earth, phosphine is naturally produced by bacteria in low-oxygen environments. These bacteria absorb phosphate from minerals or biological material and combine it with hydrogen to form phosphine. Phosphine is also present in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn. The compound is also known as hydrogen phosphide. Its detection in Wolf 1130C provides insights into chemical processes in brown dwarf atmospheres.

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United States (US) researchers have developed a novel monoclonal antibody named MAM01 that showed strong protection against malaria in an early clinical trial. MAM01 targets a highly conserved region of Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein, blocking infection before the parasite enters the bloodstream. The trial demonstrated dose-dependent full protection with minimal side effects. It is administered as a single long-acting injection, providing immediate and months-long protection. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are lab-made proteins mimicking the body’s natural immune defenses.

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Researchers recently found that carabid ground beetles can act as bioindicators to track soil microplastics. They are commonly called ground beetles and belong to the Carabidae family. These beetles play a key role in the food web as both predators and prey species. They live in diverse habitats such as forests, grasslands, agricultural fields, wetlands, and urban areas. They thrive in temperate to tropical climates. Ecologically, they help in biological pest control and now aid in monitoring soil pollution.