Prelim Bits 04-04-2018

Earthquake

• Recently, a strong but deep earthquake struck Bolivia in South America.
• Earthquake is any sudden shaking of the ground caused by the passage of seismic waves through Earth’s rocks.
• Seismic waves are produced when some form of energy stored in Earth’s crust is suddenly released.

• The location below the earth’s surface where the earthquake starts is called the hypocenter.
• The location directly above it on the surface of the earth is called the epicenter.
• Earthquakes are recorded by instruments called seismographs and the recording they make is called a seismogram.

Underwater Melting –Antarctica

• Warming waters have caused the base of ice near the ocean floor around the South Pole to shrink.
• According to the first complete underwater map of the world’s largest body of ice, hidden underwater melt-off in the Antarctic is doubling every 20 years.
• It could soon overtake Greenland to become the biggest source of sea-level rise.
• The base of the ice around the South Pole shrank by 1,463 square kilometers between 2010 and 2016.
• Climate change is affecting the Antarctic more than previously believed and may lead to global projections of sea—level rise upward.

Materials ISS Experiment Flight Facility (MISSE-FF)

• Astronauts aboard the International Space Station were set to receive research, crew supplies and hardware in SpaceX, a commercial resupply mission.
• The SpaceX Dragon lifted off on a Falcon 9 rocket with a delivery of experiments dealing with how the human body, plants and materials behave in space
• The MISSE Flight Facility is a commercially-available materials research facility that will reside externally aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
• It has been developed by Alpha Space Test and Research Alliance (Alpha Space) under a Cooperative Agreement with NASA.
• The primary MISSE-FF platform provides the ability to test materials, coatings, and components or other larger experiments in the harsh environment of space.
• The MISSE-FF provides a platform for testing how materials react to exposure to ultraviolet radiation, atomic oxygen, ionizing radiation etc., in the low-Earth orbit environment.

Dark Net

• In some registered cases, ‘Dark Net’ was used for sale and purchase of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances as per the records of Narcotics Control Bureau.
• It is a computer network with restricted access that is used chiefly for illegal peer-to-peer file sharing.
•  It also refers to networks that are not indexed by search engines such as Google, Yahoo or Bing.
• These are networks that are only available to a select group of people and not to the general internet public, and only accessible via authorization, specific software and configurations.
• In recent past ,Silk road ,an online dark market was busted which was used to sell drugs, weapons and stolen identities.

Antacids and allergies

• A study warns babies who are given antacids or antibiotics during their first 6 months of life may have a sharply higher risk for allergies or asthma.
• Gut bacteria play a role in a healthy immune system.
• Antibiotics and antacids might change the makeup of a baby's microbiome, perhaps enough to cause an overreaction in the immune system that shows up as an allergy.
• Though the cause and effect phenomenon is ambiguous but the relationship between the allergies and drug usage is striking.
• Antacids are medicines that counteract (neutralize) the acid in our stomach to relieve indigestion and heartburn.
• They contain ingredients such as aluminum, calcium, or magnesium which act as bases (alkalis) to counteract the stomach acid and lower pH.
• They work quickly and are used to relieve symptoms of acid reflux, heartburn or indigestion.

National Institution Ranking Framework (NIRF)

• The Indian Institute of Science (IISC) in Bengaluru was adjudged the overall best institution in the country by the Human Resource Development Ministry's national ranking framework (NIRF).
• NIRF was launched by Ministry of Human Resources Development (MoHRD) in 2015.
• This year for the first time medical and dental colleges were also ranked by the NIRF.
• NIRF has also added Architecture and Law this year.

• The rankings assume significance as performance of institutions has been linked with “Institutions of Eminence” scheme.
• ‘Institutions of Eminence’ is a government scheme in which 20 institutions both public and private would be selected on challenge method and they would be actively supported to come up in the global rankings.

Map of the Day

India Physical - South

• Chotanagpur plateau and Megahalaya Plateau are part of the Peninsular Plateau Region.
• Pulicat Lake is spread over the state of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Source: PIB, The Hindu