UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise quiz — Environment, Geography, Science and Technology (Week 9)

QUESTION 1

With reference to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), consider the following statements:

1. It is an international network of laboratories that detect the ripples in spacetime produced by the movement of large celestial objects like stars and planets.

2. LIGO-India will be located in the Dharwad district of Karnataka.

3. The first-ever detection of a gravitational wave happened by the two Japan-based LIGO detectors. 

How many of the above statements are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

QUESTION 2

With reference to the upward lightning, consider the following statements:

1. This is a self-initiated lightning streak that develops from a tall object that travels upward toward an overlaying electrified storm cloud.

2. Upward-developing discharges are usually branched downward.

3. They occur when there is a rapid change in the charge due to a lightning strike.

How many of the above statements are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

QUESTION 3

With reference to the Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution, consider the following statements:

1. The mission is launched by European Space Agency (ESA) which will measure atmospheric pollution around the world.

2. This satellite is located in a low-earth orbit.

Which of the above statement(s) is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

QUESTION 4

Consider the following pairs:

  (Animal)                          (IUCN Status)

1. Tiger                                Endangered

2. African Cheetah         Vulnerable

3. Snow Leopard             Critically Endangered

How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

QUESTION 5

Which space agency has launched Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer Mission?

(a) National Aeronautics and Space Administration

(b) Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

(c) Canadian Space Agency

(d) European Space Agency

ANSWERS TO MCQs

1. (a)

FYI:

— The government has given the final go-ahead to India’s Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, project, clearing the way for the construction of the country’s biggest scientific facility that will join the ongoing global project to probe the universe by detecting and studying gravitational waves.

— LIGO is an international network of laboratories that detect the ripples in spacetime produced by the movement of large celestial objects like stars and planets. These ripples were first postulated in Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, which encapsulates our current understanding of how gravitation works. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— LIGO-India will be located in the Hingoli district of Maharashtra, about 450 km east of Mumbai, and is scheduled to begin scientific runs from 2030. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

How LIGO works

— It is to measure these tiny effects of gravitational waves that scientists have set up the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), one of the most complex pieces of scientific equipment ever built.

— The observatory comprises two 4-km-long vacuum chambers, built perpendicular to each other. Highly reflective mirrors are placed at the ends of the vacuum chambers.

— Light rays are released simultaneously in both vacuum chambers. They hit the mirrors, get reflected, and are captured back. In normal circumstances, the light rays in both chambers would return simultaneously. But when a gravitational wave arrives, one of the chambers gets a little elongated, while the other one gets squished a bit. In this case, light rays do not return simultaneously, and there is a phase difference. The presence of a phase difference marks the detection of a gravitational wave.

— The precision of the measurements required to detect gravitational waves is at a 4 km scale, the changes in distance that light has to travel because of the gravitational wave are 10,000 times smaller than the width of the proton.

— The first-ever detection of a gravitational wave happened on September 14, 2015, by the two US-based LIGO detectors. These gravitational waves were produced by the merger of two black holes, which were about 29 and 36 times the mass of the Sun, 1.3 billion years ago. Black hole mergers are the source of some of the strongest gravitational waves. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

— This achievement was promptly rewarded with the Nobel Prize in 2017. Since then, nine more gravitational wave events have been detected by the four observatories in the United States, Europe and Japan.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

2. (b)

FYI:

— Upward lightning is a phenomenon whereby a self-initiated lightning streak develops from a tall object that travels upward toward an overlaying electrified storm cloud. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— The enabling factors for this phenomenon are storm electrification and the resulting presence of a cloud charge region.

— Upward discharges almost always occur from towers, tall buildings, or mountain tops.

— They occur only when there is a rapid change in the charges aloft, most likely due to a very recent lightning strike. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

— Upward-developing discharges are usually branched upward. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

— The vertical elevation of a tall object accentuates the electric field locally on the ground, resulting in conditions favourable for the initiation of an upward streak (called a leader) from a tall object, which can also develop in response to an electric field change created by a nearby preceding lightning flash.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

Other Source: (http://www.weather.gov)

3. (d)

FYI:

— A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched from Florida carrying a new NASA device that can track air pollution over North America. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

— The Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument will allow scientists to monitor air pollutants and their emission sources from space more comprehensively than ever before, down to the neighborhood level.

— The instrument will measure pollution and air quality across greater North America on an hourly basis during the daytime, all the way “from Puerto Rico up to the tar sands of Canada.

— The data will be used by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other agencies responsible for tackling atmospheric pollution.

— A unique feature of TEMPO, which is about the size of a washing machine and has been described as a chemistry laboratory in space, is that it will be hosted on an Intelsat communications satellite in geostationary orbit. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

— The existing pollution-monitoring satellites are in low Earth orbit, which means they can only provide observations once a day at a fixed time.

— TEMPO will be able to measure atmospheric pollution down to a spatial resolution of 4 square miles (10 square kilometers).

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

4. (b)

FYI:

— India has proposed to launch a mega global alliance under its leadership to protect big cats and assured support over five years with guaranteed funding of $100 million.

— The proposed International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) will work towards the protection and conservation of the seven major big cats — tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, puma, jaguar and cheetah.

— The membership to the alliance will be open to 97 “range” countries, which contain the natural habitat of these big cats, as well as other interested nations, international organisations, etc.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

Other Source: (http://www.cms.int)

5. (d)

FYI:

— The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer Mission has been launched by the European Space Agency (ESA).

— JUICE, or the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, will make multiple flybys past Jupiter’s moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa before going into orbit around Ganymede. The mission will help scientists understand more about Jupiter and its system, with a focus on finding out whether Ganymede can host life.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

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