General Science and Technology Quiz

The speed of light in vacuum is exactly 299,792,458 meters per second, which is approximately 300,000 km/s. This is a fundamental constant in physics and forms the basis of Einstein's theory of special relativity. Option C correctly gives the approximate value in km/sec.

G. D. Naidu (Gopalaswamy Doraiswamy Naidu) is widely known as the Edison of India for his contributions to engineering, automobile innovation, and electrical technology. He invented numerous devices including an electric razor, super-thin shaving blades, and made significant improvements to the valve radio. Homi Bhabha is the father of India's nuclear program, and Vikram Sarabhai is the father of India's space program.

Srinivasa Ramanujan, the renowned Indian mathematician, was born on December 22, 1887, in Erode, Madras Presidency (now Tamil Nadu). Option A (1920) is actually the year he died, not born. Ramanujan made extraordinary contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, and continued fractions despite having little formal training.

Vikram Sarabhai is universally recognized as the father of the Indian space program for founding the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1969 (originally as INCOSPAR in 1962). Homi Bhabha is the father of India's nuclear program, while APJ Abdul Kalam made crucial contributions to India's missile and space programs but came later. G. D. Naidu is known as the Edison of India for engineering innovations.

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is popularly known as the 'Missile Man of India' for his crucial role in developing India's missile program, particularly as the project director of IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme).

The Hoover Medal is awarded for engineering achievements. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was indeed the first Asian to receive this prestigious American engineering award in 2009, recognizing his contributions to aerospace engineering and defense technology.

Jagadish Chandra Bose demonstrated wireless telegraphy in 1895 in Calcutta, before Marconi's 1897 demonstration. However, Bose did not patent his work, leading to Marconi being more widely credited. The question acknowledges this historical fact.

Dr. Hargobind Khorana won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1968 for his work on deciphering the genetic code and explaining how it functions in protein synthesis. He shared the prize with Marshall W. Nirenberg and Robert W. Holley. Meghnad Saha was a renowned physicist, Dr. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was a chemist, and C.V. Raman won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.

Dr. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar is rightly called the father of research laboratories in India. He was the first Director-General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and established numerous research institutions across the country. Chandrasekhar was an astrophysicist, Khorana was a geneticist, and Abdul Kalam was a aerospace scientist.

Srinivasa Ramanujan is universally regarded as a master of number theory. Despite having little formal training, he made extraordinary contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions. His work on partitions, prime numbers, and modular forms revolutionized the field. Meghnad Saha was an astrophysicist, J.C. Bose was a biologist/physicist, and C.V. Raman was a physicist.

The BrahMos missile has an operational range of 290 km in its baseline configuration. This supersonic cruise missile is developed jointly by India and Russia (Brahmaputra + Moskva rivers). The 290 km range was designed to comply with Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) restrictions. Newer extended-range variants have surpassed this limit, but 290 km is the classic operational range.

Pangaea was the supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras, approximately 335 to 175 million years ago. It incorporated almost all the landmasses on Earth. Managua is actually the capital city of Nicaragua, not an ancient land mass. Panacea refers to a cure-all remedy in Greek mythology. Pangaea began breaking apart around 175 million years ago to form the current continents.

This statement is true. The boundaries between tectonic plates are zones of intense geological activity where plates interact. Most earthquakes occur along these plate boundaries because of the friction and stress that builds up as plates move past, into, or away from each other. The Ring of Fire around the Pacific Ocean is a prime example, where about 90% of the world's earthquakes occur.

All three types of plate movements are major types of tectonic plate boundaries. Convergent boundaries occur where plates move toward each other, often causing subduction or mountain building. Divergent boundaries are where plates move apart, creating new crust as magma rises to fill the gap. Transform boundaries are where plates slide past each other horizontally, creating friction without creating or destroying crust.

Tectonic plates float on the asthenosphere, which is the mechanically weak, ductile layer of the upper mantle. The asthenosphere is partially molten and allows the rigid lithospheric plates to move. The atmosphere is the layer of gases above Earth's surface. The hydrosphere refers to all water on Earth's surface. The asthenosphere's plasticity enables plate movement through convection currents in the mantle.