Cervical spondylosis refers to age-related wear and tear on the spinal discs in your neck. As the discs dry and shrink, osteoarthritis symptoms emerge, such as bony extensions along the margins of bones (bone spurs). Cervical spondylosis is a prevalent condition that worsens with age. Cervical spondylosis affects more than 85% of adults over the age of 60. A prospective study analyzed simple cervical radiograms of 460 adult patients (220 males and 240 females) in their fourth decade of life and beyond taken from July 2013 to May 2015. Seventy-six patients (16.5%) were in their fourth decade, 107 (23.3%) were in their fifth decade, 112 (24.3%) were in their sixth decade, 85 (18.5%) were in their seventh decade, 64 (13.9%) were in their eighth decade and 16 patients (3.5%) were in their ninth decade. Find out the root cause and simple and efficient solutions for this. Hint: One major reason for the rise in Spondylosis is the current office working environment and the lack of proper posture in people.

Modern food packaging makes food safe, dependable, shelf-stable, and clean. Unfortunately, most food packaging is single-use and cannot be recycled. Because so much food packaging (particularly plastic) has ended up in waterways, the UN has declared ocean plastic pollution a "planetary crisis." Food packaging has other environmental effects, such as those on our air and soil. Provide an alternative to the existing packaging keeping in mind the marine biopolymers available to us to eliminate the plastics. Hint- edible and sustainable film packaging, seaweed, improved antibacterial potential, improved shelf life

Various space research organizations, such as NASA, ESA, ISRO, and Space-X, have made plans to colonize Mars in the distant future. To make the planet habitable for life, various factors must be considered, including the fertility of the soil for agricultural practices. However, Martian soil is largely toxic, due to the presence of chlorine-containing compounds. Perchlorate levels have been found to be around 0.5 %, which is toxic to most plant life. Assuming all other abiotic stresses of the Martian environment have been overcome, suggest a bio-inspired methodology to grow crop plants on Martian soil.

Oil spills in the ocean have an enormous environmental and economical impact. Some of the largest oil spills have resulted in more than 100K tonnes of oil being released into the waterbody. It?s been estimated that there has been 1.7 large oil spills yearly since the 2010s. Oil spills are a major threat to many marine ecosystems, and there is always a large undertaking to clean them up. The clean-up can cost anywhere from 2.4 to 9.4 billion dollars. Current methods involve techniques like bioremediation- where bacterial substances are used to break down the oil. Considering this, suggest an economical, bio-inspired design to effectively clean oil spills

Tissue culture is beneficial for cultivating multiple uniform plants in quick succession . Although , tissue culture is a booming agricultural practice giving a yield of about 500 million plantlets per annum ; there are certain drawbacks which can affect the quality and quantity of the culture produced. Success with tissue culture not guaranteed , there isa a chance that the propagated plants will be less resilient to diseases due to type of environment and the material screening process could fail to pick up any abnormalities. Suggest a device to tackle this issue? (Hint: AI inspired biosensor to identify the pathogens/necrotic plant tissue.)

Inaccessibility in terms of medical facilities in remote areas has made testing of various diseases/disorders very troublesome. According to research one in twenty-eight Indian women is likely to develop breast cancer during her lifetime. As we know, testing for breast cancer is usually done via mammograms. Mammograms, however, tend to give false positives and false negatives which results in overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Devise a method + prototype to make breast cancer detection hassle-free and efficient. (Hint: involvement of biosensors and AI).

Protecting cells against free radicals is paramount. Antioxidants tend to protect the cells in our body by neutralizing these harmful free radicals. Taking into consideration, one such antioxidant is ascorbic acid. However, the downside is that ascorbic acid is a highly temperature sensitive and heat labile substance which requires continuous maintenance of pH, temperature and other factors in order to control microbial spoilage/keep it in check. Keeping this in mind, suggest a model/ device which could tackle this issue?

40% of the world?s electricity comes from coal. Fossil electricity is still subsidized for over 100$ billion worldwide, while renewable resources only come to 1/6th of that. There is a need for not only renewable resources but economic sustainability as well. Windmills are the most common source of wind energy, they are not a constant source. They generate noise and visual pollution, not to mention expensive. What kind of a model can you develop, which takes in consideration the main idea behind windmills, and apply it to create a sustainable and constant source of wind energy?

In the later decades of the twentieth century, astrobiology evolved as a distinct field of study. It arose in two aspects: the quest for life in the universe and the emergence of life on Earth. A biosignature is a chemical or physical process that can be detected at a distance and indicates the presence of living organisms in a particular region. According to advances in biosignatures at altitude, it is possible for Astrobiology to benefit from studies with equipment installed in space probes. A probe can make an approximation of a planet and while it maps it can look for signs of biological signature which could indicate life. In your scientific view, will it be possible to use biosignature to detect life in nearby planets?

A smoke detector is an electronic fire-protection device that automatically senses the presence of smoke, as a key indication of fire, and sounds a warning to building occupants. In the year ending June 2020 FRSs attended 231,510 fire false alarms, a 1% increase with the previous year (229,961), and a 7% increase compared with five years ago (215,857), though a 19% decrease compared with 10 years ago (285,368). Smoke alarms can accidentally alarm if they have power issues, incorrect wiring, ripple frequency issues, are on shared circuits, or the rechargeable battery has been drained due to power supply issues. Given that they also make use of radioactive substances, suggest a more sustainable bioinspired model to tackle these issues?

Biomedical Waste, (BMW) or bio wastes are those potential hazardous waste materials, consisting of solids, liquids, sharps, and laboratory waste. Biomedical waste differs from other types of hazardous waste, such as industrial waste, in major sources of biomedical wastes is hospitals and nursing homes. Approximately 75-90% of the biomedical waste is non-hazardous and as harmless as any other Municipal waste. The rest 10- 25%, though mixed with non-hazardous waste, can be injurious to humans or animals and deleterious to the environment. Given the current situation of the covid pandemic. Hospitals have become a major site of production of biohazardous waste, namely biomedical waste. Suggest a method of disposal of such waste given that it is safe and does not pose any environmental constraints? (Hint: Use of microbial degradation using bacteria such as Bacillus cereus, Bacillus licheniformis, and Bacillus subtilis. And hence, implementing a plan such that this mechanism may be used on a larger scale efficiently).

Spaceflight osteopenia is a common condition astronauts experience when they?re in space. This takes place as bones do not carry the weight of the body in microgravity, hence osteoblast production is reduced. As a result, the synthesis of new bone cells and the elimination of old bone cells are out of balance. Bone density declines as more cells are lost than created. Astronauts may lose bone mass in their legs, hips, and spines as a result of this illness. Suggest an aid/ methodology which could help tackle this problem? (Hint: an AI powered a spacesuit to modulate gravity levels along with biosensors to detect bone loss)

With regard to the growing issues pertaining to traffic or non conducive weather/ and or distance inaccuracies .Navigation systems are on the rise with it being an imperative aid in providing information on nearby vehicles, hazardous obstacles, or providing information on traffic conditions and alternative directions. To compute location to within around 10 meters, GPS systems normally require to receive signals from at least 7 or 8 satellites. The level of ambiguity and inaccuracy grows as the number of satellites participating decreases. Suggest a system to help overcome such inaccuracies ? (Hint: computerized virtual ants inspired navigation system. Ant colony optimization has many applications in the real world. For example, virtual ants have help to improve vehicle and communications network routing.)

Citric acid is an important multifunctional organic acid with a broad range of versatile uses in household and industrial applications that has been produced industrially since the beginning of 20th century. The various applications of citric acid can be found in detergent and cleaning products, cosmetics and toiletries, etc. Global production has now reached 1.4 million tons whereas there is an annual growth of 3.5-4.0% in demand for citric acid. Come up with a novel idea to set up your own factory with greater efficiency and increased productivity of citric acid. (Hint - developing a AI powered bioreactor which could stabilize itself according to the conditions (pH, temperature , organism used) which could increase the productivity)

Technological advancements have made it possible to capture renewable energy sources on a massive scale (solar, wind etc.). However, all renewable energy sources are impacted by environmental conditions (such as wind speed, solar radiation intensity, and cloud cover), resulting in changes in power output from these sources. Furthermore, availability is subject to daily/annual cycles (e.g. Solar energy available during daytime only). How would you overcome these limitations? Devise a framework that: accurately replicates a microgrid; anticipates demand and supply of (renewable) energy; seamlessly schedules supply of renewable (and conventional) energy to meet demand; and gives actionable insights into its operation.

Prosthetic implant is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part. They can mimic the function and the appearance of the body part. Even though they are one of the best inventions made in medical history there are multiple drawbacks which can be faced by the patients worldwide. The common shortcomings include hyperhidrosis or excessive sweating which can affect the fit and may lead to skin issues . A badly fitted prosthetic can cause lasting damage to soft tissues of the residual . Changing residual organ shape usually occurs in the first years of amputation which may affect the fitting of the prosthetics. Come up with a solution to face these obstacle by using the concept of biomimicry and bio-inspired design

Almost all small molecule and biotherapeutic drugs act on the function of proteins. Drug development is therefore based on the identification of these proteins. Due to several factors such as drug toxicity and clinical efficacy of the drug, the overall failure rate in drug development is above 90% in the late clinical stages. The consequences of expensive drug development failures have resulted in job losses and loss in R&D budget. How would you tackle this issue in decreasing the lost budgets and develop a model that predicts the clinical efficacy before it is taken on in trials?

Water is rapidly becoming a scarcity in our world, with estimates claiming that by 2025, 2/3rds of the world population will face severe water shortages. The irony of it all, is that 75% of the Earth consists of water that is unfortunately undrinkable. Saline water treatment plants are taking over, as we turn to the oceans. Currently, there are over 16,000 such plants, generating over 95 million cubic meters of freshwater daily. However, the biggest issue with this process is its expensive nature, mostly stemming from the extremely high energy requirements. The Desalination Association of India states that the production cost for just 1 cubic meter of desalinated water is 40 to 50 rupees. Suggest a bio-inspired design to make desalination more efficient, and reduce the power consumption of such plants. (Hint: Reverse Osmosis remains the most widely used technology in desalination plants. Membrane efficiency can be improved vastly by taking inspiration from biological systems.)