UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative of subject-wise quizzes. These quizzes are designed to help you revise some of the most important topics from the static part of the syllabus. Each day, we will cover one new subject. Attempt today’s subject quiz on Environment, Geography, Science and Technology to check your progress. Come back tomorrow to solve the Economy Quiz.

Consider the following statements:

Statement 1: When a stream of light passes through a liquid, a fraction of the light scattered by the liquid is of a different colour.

Statement 2: It is due to the change in the wavelength of light that occurs when a light beam is deflected by molecules.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

(a) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 are correct and Statement 2 is the correct explanation for Statement 1.

(b) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 are correct and Statement 2 is not the correct explanation for Statement 1.

(c) Statement 1 is correct but Statement 2 is incorrect.

(d) Statement 1 is incorrect but Statement 2 is correct.

With reference to Genie, consider the following statements:

1. It is a foundation world model that is trained on videos sourced from the Internet.

2. It can generate an endless variety of playable (action-controllable) worlds from synthetic images and photographs.

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

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Which of the following U.S. spacecraft completed a seven-day journey to lunar orbit and softly landed near crater Malapert A in the South Pole region of the Moon?

(a) Odysseus

(b) Luna 1

(c) Suryevor 3

(d) Artemis

With reference to the Crumbs homolog or CRB1 gene, consider the following statements:

1. It is associated with inherited eye diseases.

2. This gene is the cause of 10 per cent of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) cases.

3. It plays an important role in controlling the integrity of the lower gastrointestinal tract.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

Consider the following statements about Qubits:

1. It can be either a 1 or 0.

2. It represents the information in the quantum form.

3. It is hard to build and require huge cryogenic refrigerators.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

FYI:

— In 1986, the Government of India, under then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, designated February 28 as National Science Day to commemorate the announcement of the discovery of the “Raman Effect”.

— The Raman Effect refers to the phenomenon in which when a stream of light passes through a liquid, a fraction of the light scattered by the liquid is of a different colour.

— It happens due to the change in the wavelength of light that occurs when a light beam is deflected by molecules.

— The Raman Effect is when the change in the energy of the light is affected by the vibrations of the molecule or material under observation, leading to a change in its wavelength.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

FYI:

— Google DeepMind has just introduced Genie, a new model that can generate interactive video games from just a text or image prompt.

— According to the official Google DeepMind blog post, Genie is a foundation world model that is trained on videos sourced from the Internet. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— The model can generate an endless variety of playable (action-controllable) worlds from synthetic images, photographs, and even sketches. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

— According to the research article ‘Genie: Generative Interactive Environments’, Genie is the first generative interactive environment to be taught unsupervised from unlabeled internet movies.

— Genie has 11B parameters and includes a spatiotemporal video tokenizer, an autoregressive dynamics model, and a simple and scalable latent action model.

— These technological specifications allow Genie to act on a frame-by-frame basis in created settings without the need for training, labels, or other domain-specific requirements.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

FYI:

— Odysseus, the first U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon since 1972.

— Odysseus completed a seven-day journey to lunar orbit and softly landed near crater Malapert A in the South Pole region of the Moon.

— In an online update, Texas-based Intuitive Machines stated that its Houston control centre maintained contact with the lander while it “efficiently sent payload science data and imagery in furtherance of the company’s mission objectives.”

— The spacecraft reached the lunar surface after an 11th-hour navigational glitch and white-knuckle descent that ended with Odysseus landing in a sideways or sharply tilted position that has impeded its communications and solar-charging capability.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

FYI:

— Loss of sight in some inherited eye diseases may be caused by gut bacteria and could potentially be treated using antimicrobials.

— The human gut has trillions of bacteria and many of them play an important role in healthy digestion.

— Crumbs homolog or CRB1 gene is also associated with inherited eye diseases, most commonly either Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) or retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— This gene is the cause of 10 per cent of LCA cases and 7 per cent of RP cases worldwide. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

— They used mouse models to discover that CRB1 plays an important role in controlling the integrity of the lower gastrointestinal tract. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

FYI:

— International Business Machines (IBM) has designed a new quantum computing chip, “Eagle” has 127 so-called “qubits,” which can represent information in quantum form. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

— The classical computers work using “bits” that must be either a 1 or 0, but qubits can be both a 1 and a 0 simultaneously. Quantum computers are much faster than classical computers. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

— The qubits are exceedingly hard to build and require huge cryogenic refrigerators to operate correctly. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

Daily subject-wise quiz — Polity and Governance (Week 47)

Daily Subject-wise quiz — History, Culture, and Social Issues (Week 47)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Environment, Geography, Science and Technology (Week 46)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 46)

Daily subject-wise quiz – International Relations (Week 46)

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