26 October 2026
NASA has reported that its Perseverance rover measured Martian dust at a finer scale than any earlier mission. The rover's PIXL instrument detected fine particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres and ultrafine particles of about 100 nanometres, where earlier Mars measurements resolved particles only to about 3 micrometres. Swatches of spacesuit material carried on the calibration target of the SHERLOC instrument showed that static electricity decides which particle sizes stick to which materials, with Teflon collecting dust readily. The dust is rich in sulfur, chlorine and iron and is less abrasive than lunar dust, but the finest grains can reach deep into the lungs. The results are to appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, with Scott VanBommel of Washington University in St. Louis as lead author. Perseverance is operated for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech.
Ultrafine particle size detected:
about 100 nanometres
Journal:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Why it matters for exams: Perseverance, its Jezero Crater landing site and the PIXL and SHERLOC instruments are standard Science and Technology questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
PIXL Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry — The X-ray instrument on Perseverance that maps the chemistry of rocks and dust.
SHERLOC Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals — The Perseverance instrument that looks for organic molecules and minerals.
26 October 2026
NASA has ended science operations of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which launched on 20 November 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions known in the universe. Swift carried co-aligned X-ray and ultraviolet or optical telescopes that could swing quickly to pinpoint a burst's position, and it observed more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts. It also studied supernovae, stars torn apart by black holes, active galaxies, asteroids and comets, and carried out an all-sky X-ray survey. The spacecraft was renamed in 2018 for Neil Gehrels, its first principal investigator. Its orbit has now fallen below 275 kilometres, where atmospheric drag prevents steady pointing, and the final observation was made on 20 October. Re-entry is expected within weeks. Swift is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where S. Bradley Cenko is principal investigator.
Launched:
20 November 2004
Gamma-ray bursts observed:
more than 2,000
Why it matters for exams: Swift is the mission associated with gamma-ray bursts, and the Goddard Space Flight Center is a frequently asked NASA centre.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Gamma-ray burst Gamma-ray burst — An extremely brief and intense flash of gamma rays from a distant cosmic explosion.
26 October 2026
NASA has reported that the sunshade for its NEO Surveyor mission has finished testing and moved to integration. NEO Surveyor, the Near-Earth Object Surveyor, is an infrared space telescope that will search for near-Earth asteroids and comets, including objects that lie in the direction of the Sun and are hard for ground-based optical telescopes to see. Because infrared images record an object's temperature, the data will also allow its size to be estimated. The sunshade, about 6 metres tall, blocks sunlight glare and keeps the telescope cool, and carries solar arrays of 864 cells producing up to 2 kilowatts. The structure was built by Applied Aerospace in Stockton, California, the solar cells were added by SolAero Technologies in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and integration is under way at BAE Systems Space and Mission Systems in Boulder, Colorado. The mission is linked to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office.
Sunshade height:
about 6 metres
Solar cells on the sunshade:
864
Why it matters for exams: NEO Surveyor and NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office are the standard references for asteroid detection questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
NEO Near-Earth Object — An asteroid or comet whose orbit brings it close to the Earth's orbit.
26 October 2026
NASA has said that Blue Origin and SpaceX, its two commercial human landing system providers, are accelerating work towards a crewed lunar landing in 2028. The Artemis III mission has been redefined as a test of rendezvous and docking between test versions of each company's lander and the Orion spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Crews will launch on the Space Launch System rocket in Orion from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX's Starship lander uses in-space propellant transfer in low Earth orbit, while Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 2 uses three transfer stages instead. On a landing mission two crew members would descend while two remain in Orion, with the initial missions targeting the lunar South Pole and two moonwalks of about two hours each in spacesuits provided by Axiom Space. Neither company has yet been assigned a specific landing mission.
Target year for a crewed landing:
2028
Why it matters for exams: The Artemis programme, the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System and the lunar South Pole target are standard Science and Technology questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
HLS Human Landing System — The crewed lander NASA buys from commercial companies for the Artemis Moon missions.
26 October 2026
The World Meteorological Organization has reported that the Sierra Leone Meteorological Agency, known as SLMet, validated a new Strategic Plan and Action Plan covering 2026 to 2031. The plan was validated at a workshop and was supported by the WMO and by the West Africa project of the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems initiative. It sets out five strategic goals, with an action plan listing activities, expected outputs, performance indicators and implementation priorities. The plan is aligned with Sierra Leone's Medium-Term National Development Plan for 2024 to 2030, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Early Warnings for All initiative and the WMO's own strategic priorities.
Plan period:
2026-2031
Strategic goals:
Five
Why it matters for exams: The WMO, the Sendai Framework and the Early Warnings for All initiative are standing questions on disaster risk reduction.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CREWS Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems — An international initiative that funds early warning services in least developed countries and small island states.
Sendai Framework Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction — The global agreement of 2015 that sets targets for reducing disaster losses by 2030.
26 October 2026
The International Labour Organization has reported on the third annual Symposium on Social Protection in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, held in the capital Vientiane on the theme Empowering Workers and Adapting Systems for a Changing Climate. The symposium was organised by the ILO through the European Union funded SOLAR Phase II project together with the Lao Social Security Organization and the National University of Laos. SOLAR Phase II, titled Reducing Vulnerability in Lao PDR, runs from February 2026 to April 2030 and covers the coffee, tea and forestry sectors. Bouahome Phommachanh, Acting Director General of the Lao Social Security Organization, said the priority is extending social security coverage to informal economy workers and their families. The sessions covered guidelines on occupational safety and health including heat stress, adapting health and social security coverage to rising workplace injuries, support to cooperatives for climate-resilient farming, and disaster risk financing.
Project period:
February 2026 to April 2030
Why it matters for exams: The ILO, its founding year and its tripartite structure, and the capital of Laos are frequently asked.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ILO International Labour Organization — The United Nations agency that sets international labour standards, with governments, employers and workers as members.
26 October 2026
The International Labour Organization has reported that East Lampung Regency in Lampung Province, Indonesia, has integrated a Migrant Worker Resource Centre into its Public Service Mall, the first such integration in the country. The centre brings information and protection services for migrant workers into the same building as other government services. It was launched with support from the European Union funded ILO project PROTECT, which works on decent work and reducing vulnerabilities for women and children in the context of labour migration in South-East Asia. East Lampung Regent Ela Siti Nuryamah, Indonesia's Vice Minister for the Protection of Migrant Workers Dzulfikar Ahmad Tawalla, Yunita Rohani of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union and Diego Rei of the ILO took part.
Province:
Lampung, Indonesia
Why it matters for exams: Lampung's location on Sumatra and Indonesia's membership of ASEAN are standard Geography questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
MRC Migrant Worker Resource Centre — A centre that gives migrant workers information, counselling and complaint support before and after they travel.
26 October 2026
UNESCO has reported on the Hong Kong Culture and Sustainability Conference 2026, known as CU:SU 2026, held in Hong Kong on the theme Alliance for Action. The conference was co-organised by the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the Hong Kong Culture and Sustainability Centre, and included a field visit to Kat O Island. UNESCO presented its programme Je Create: Culture and Innovation for a Sustainable Future, launched jointly with the Jeju Self-Governing Province of the Republic of Korea in 2026, and its regional initiative Art for Earth: Climate Creativity Lab. The Artist Exchange Series under the programme supports cross-border mobility and peer learning among artists. Artists Lee Ho Gyeong and Kim Hamin of the Republic of Korea presented their work.
Conference theme:
Alliance for Action
Why it matters for exams: UNESCO's full form, its Paris headquarters and its role in culture and heritage are standard questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CU:SU 2026 Hong Kong Culture and Sustainability Conference 2026 — A conference on the links between culture, creativity and climate action.
26 October 2026
UNESCO has reported that young participants at the Zimbabwe Water Indaba 2026, held in Bulawayo, asked for formal youth representation on the technical committees and other bodies that shape water policy, budgets and investment priorities. They also called for institutional investment in youth-led water innovations, with dedicated funding, structured mentorship and partnerships with local authorities, water service providers and technical institutions. UNESCO supported the attendance of 50 young people through its Be Resilient Zimbabwe Plus project, drawing on the Youth4Water initiative and UNESCO's Water Youth Strategy. The youth session was opened by Dr Muchaneta Munamati, National Programme Specialist at the UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa, and Thando Gwinji of the Youth for Innovation Trust spoke for the young delegates.
Young people supported to attend:
50
Why it matters for exams: Zimbabwe's capital, the Zambezi border river and UNESCO's water programmes are standard Geography and institutions questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
BRZ+ Be Resilient Zimbabwe Plus — A UNESCO-supported project on climate resilience and water in Zimbabwe.
26 October 2026
A study published in the journal Nature reports that the Amazon has become a net source of carbon rather than a sink. Using fifteen years of atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements, the authors put the region's overall carbon balance at 0.32 plus or minus 0.08 petagrams of carbon a year, with fire emissions of 0.40 plus or minus 0.07 petagrams of carbon a year. The study separates the record into three groups of years. In wetter years with low human activity the balance was 0.11 plus or minus 0.08 petagrams of carbon a year. In years dominated by deforestation and degradation under low climatic stress it rose to 0.43 plus or minus 0.13. In warm, dry years linked to El Nino, Tropical North Atlantic warming and biomass burning it was 0.49 plus or minus 0.07. The finding is that human action drives the emissions and drought amplifies them.
Net carbon balance:
0.32 plus or minus 0.08 PgC per year
Fire emissions:
0.40 plus or minus 0.07 PgC per year
Why it matters for exams: El Nino, the petagram unit of the carbon cycle and the countries of the Amazon basin are standard Environment questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
PgC petagrams of carbon — A petagram of carbon is a thousand million tonnes of carbon, the usual unit of the global carbon cycle.
El Nino El Nino — The warm phase of a Pacific Ocean climate pattern that shifts rainfall across the tropics.
26 October 2026
The International Labour Organization has reported a training programme in Shanghai on labour compliance and responsible business conduct in the overseas operations of Chinese enterprises. It was organised with the China Enterprise Confederation and the Shanghai Enterprise Confederation and drew more than 140 participants, including representatives of the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions and sustainability professionals. The programme builds on the Guide on Labour Compliance for Chinese Enterprises in Overseas Operations, released jointly by the ILO and the China Enterprise Confederation in 2025, and was framed around the fundamental principles and rights at work and international labour standards. Mikhail Pouchkin, Director of the ILO Country Office for China and Mongolia, Zhu Hongren of the China Enterprise Confederation and Liu Jiaping of the Shanghai Enterprise Confederation addressed the programme.
Participants:
more than 140
Why it matters for exams: The ILO's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, its Nobel Peace Prize and the International Labour Conference are standard questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CEC China Enterprise Confederation — The national employers' organisation of China that works with the ILO.
Background
The CERN Council is the highest authority of the Organization and controls its work in scientific, technical and administrative matters. It approves programmes of activity, adopts the budgets and reviews expenditure. Two bodies assist it: the Scientific Policy Committee, which weighs the scientific merit of activities proposed by physicists, and the Finance Committee, made up of representatives from national administrations. Each Member State has two official delegates on the Council, one for its government administration and one for national scientific interests, but only a single vote, and most decisions require a simple majority, although in practice the Council aims for a consensus as close as possible to unanimity. The Director-General, appointed by the Council and usually for five years, manages the CERN Laboratory through a structure of departments and reports directly to the Council; Mark Thomson holds the post. CERN has 25 Member States and 11 Associate Member States, and its laboratory sits at Geneva.
Member States:
25
Associate Member States:
11
Highest authority:
The CERN Council
Vote for each Member State:
A single vote
Why it matters for exams: Organisation questions turn on exactly these points: which body is supreme, how the votes are counted, who appoints the head, and how many Member States there are.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
CERN Council the highest authority of CERN — The body of Member State delegates that approves the CERN programme and budget.
Scientific Policy Committee advisory committee of CERN — It evaluates the scientific merit of activities proposed by physicists.
Associate Member State a lower tier of CERN membership — A country linked to CERN with fewer rights than a full Member State.