1) G7: It is an intergovernmental organisation of leading industrialised nations formed in 1975.
- Member countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United State.
- It meets annually to discuss issues such as global economic governance, international security, and energy policy.
- The host of the G7 summit, the presidency, rotates annually among member countries.
- It was formerly referred to as the G-8 until Russia was suspended from the group in 2014 after annexing Crimea.
- As of 2022, G7 countries make up 10% of the world’s population, 31% of the global GDP, and 21% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
2) Starship: Together, the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy rocket are collectively referred to as Starship. They represent the next generation of SpaceX’s launch systems, designed to carry both astronauts and cargo to Earth’s orbit, the Moon, Mars, and maybe even beyond.
- Starship could become the most powerful launch system ever developed by humanity, with the capability to carry a payload of up to 150 metric tonnes in “fully-reusable” mode and 250 metric tonnes in expendable mode.
- The Starship spacecraft is the second stage of the Starship system. According to SpaceX, Starship is also capable of point-to-point transport on Earth. It will have a payload capacity of between 100 tonnes and 150 tonnes
- Super Heavy: it is the first stage of Starship.
- Starship will be completely reusable and after launch, it will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere to land back at the launch site.
3) Raptor-vacuum (R-Vac): The Raptor Vacuum (RVac) engine will have a design similar to the standard Raptor engine.
- The difference with RVac is that it will feature a larger expansion nozzle so that the engine’s efficiency in space is maximised. The Starship spacecraft will be powered by three RVacs along with three standard raptor engines.
4) Mangrove Pitta: It is a species of passerine bird in the Pittidae family native to Southeast Asia and South Asia. It is found in mangrove and nipa palm forests and feeds on crustaceans and insects.
- Conservation Status: IUCN: Near Threatened
- Odisha forest officials have recently sighted 179 mangrove pitta birds in the first ever census conducted of these exotic and colourful birds in the country.
- A passerine is a member of the order Passeriformes, the largest order of birds, containing more than half of all species. They are also known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds. Passerines are all terrestrial, found on all continents except Antarctica.
5) Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron (EMIC) waves: These are the discreet electromagnetic emissions observed in the Earth’s magnetosphere.
- These waves are generated in the equatorial latitudes and propagate along magnetic field lines to their footprint in the high-latitude ionosphere.
- Their signatures can be recorded in both spaces as well as ground-based magnetometers.
- These waves are higher during magnetically disturbed days.
- The dependence of EMIC occurrence on solar flux is evident and they are more frequent during the descending phase of the solar cycle.
- The interesting observational feature is the peak occurrence of EMIC in the noon-dusk sector, which is attributed to the presence of plasma plumes at that time in the Earth’s magnetosphere.
