Science & Technology Current Affairs MCQs

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A Gulf Keralite’s quick return home for fever treatment proved life-saving after he was diagnosed with scrub typhus. Scrub Typhus is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Orientia tsutsugamushi. It spreads through bites of infected chiggers (young mites) and not from person to person. Its prevalence depends on factors like climate, vector abundance, farming, domestic animals, and sanitation. The disease is more common during cooler months.

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AIIMS Bhubaneswar has started research on the Cycad plant due to the presence of BMAA (β-N-methylamino-L-alanine), a possible neurotoxin. Cycads are palmlike, woody gymnosperm plants. They are ancient species that existed alongside dinosaurs for over 300 million years. They grow in various habitats, from wet rainforests and grasslands to semidesert and seasonally dry forests. Their distribution spans tropical and subtropical regions, including the Americas, Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, eastern India, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Australia.

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In November 2025, Google announced ‘Project Suncatcher,’ a research initiative to create a solar-powered, space-based AI infrastructure system. The project aims to use Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) aboard satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) to explore machine learning scalability. It will use Trillium TPUs designed to withstand up to 15 krad(Si) radiation and advanced thermal radiators to manage heat. In partnership with Planet Labs, two prototype satellites will launch in 2027 to test AI performance and optical communication. Solar-powered satellites will operate in a sun-synchronous dawn-dusk orbit, generating up to 8 times the power of ground-based installations

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Shri Manohar Lal, Minister of Power and Housing & Urban Affairs, inaugurated India’s first and largest Vanadium Redox Flow Battery (VRFB) system. The VRFB has a capacity of 3 Megawatt-hour (MWh) at NTPC’s NETRA Research & Development Centre in Greater Noida. This milestone advances India’s long-duration energy storage (LDES) solutions and strengthens renewable energy integration and national grid resilience. Vanadium Redox Flow Battery (VRFB) is a modern technology offering an alternative to lithium-ion batteries, expanding the pool of usable elements for battery systems.

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On November 17, 2025, Karnataka’s Department of Electronics, IT & BT, with KEONICS, launched KEO, a compact, affordable and AI-ready personal computer designed entirely in Karnataka. KEO stands for Knowledge-driven, Economical, Open-source, built on an open-source RISC-V processor with a Linux-based OS. It features an on-device AI core that works without internet and includes BUDDH, an AI agent trained on the Karnataka DSERT syllabus to help students in low-connectivity areas. KEO will be deployed across schools, universities, businesses, homes and government offices, supporting locally adaptable, home-grown computing.

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Telangana’s 1 Bio, India’s first single-use bioprocess design and scale-up facility, was inaugurated at Genome Valley, Hyderabad. It was created to solve the lack of affordable bioprocess scale-up infrastructure despite Telangana’s strong biotech talent. The facility supports start-ups and big companies with end-to-end process development and pilot validation. It was developed by the Government of Telangana, Telangana Lifesciences, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, and Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC). It has 500-litre bioreactors, advanced processing systems, and analytical labs.

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Indian scientists developed a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment at the molecular level. The tool, called OncoMark, was created by S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences and Ashoka University under the Department of Science and Technology (DST). It studies cancer through biological “hallmarks” like metastasis, immune evasion, and genomic instability. It goes beyond Tumor–Node–Metastasis (TNM) staging, which often misses hidden tumor behavior. The model was trained on 3.1 million single cells from 14 cancer types. It achieved over 99% accuracy in internal testing and 96% accuracy on patient data.

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The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) reported that 97 central and state laws still have provisions discriminating against persons affected by leprosy. Leprosy (Hansen’s disease) is a chronic bacterial infection caused by bacteria Mycobacterium leprae affecting skin, peripheral nerves, and eyes, which can cause permanent disabilities if untreated. The bacteria spread through droplets from the nose and mouth during close, frequent contact with untreated cases. India’s prevalence rate decreased from 57.2 per 10,000 in 1981 to 0.57 per 10,000 in 2025, achieving national elimination status in 2005.

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A recent study found that the shingles vaccine can reduce the risk of death from dementia. Shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful skin rash. It is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus responsible for chickenpox. After chickenpox, the virus stays dormant in nerve cells and can reactivate when immunity becomes weak. Shingles usually appears as a painful stripe of blisters on one side of the body, face, or neck. It is not directly contagious but can spread chickenpox to unvaccinated people. It mainly affects people over 50 years or those with weak immune systems. The Shingrix vaccine helps prevent shingles and its complications.

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Ten blackbucks died in Jamshedpur Zoological Park, Jharkhand due to suspected Haemorrhagic Septicaemia (HS). Haemorrhagic Septicaemia (HS) is also called Pasteurellosis and is caused by Pasteurella multocida bacteria. It mainly affects cattle and buffaloes, with young animals more vulnerable. Bacteria survive longer in humid and waterlogged conditions. It spreads through contaminated food, water, air and direct contact.