Bio-waste run generator developed by Agra entrepreneur
By Brij Khandelwal, IANS
Agra : A city-based entrepreneur has successfully developed a biomass-run generator as a major step towards promoting renewable sources of energy.
The generator developer, Rajesh Garg, told IANS: "We have designed, developed and made operational a power generating set run on 100 percent biogas and industrial waste gas-based engines. We have also successfully developed biomass based generators, which can be run by many types of wastes like wood shavings, rice husk, or oil-seed waste."
US lauds India’s moon mission
By IANS,
New Delhi : Lauding India on its first unmanned scientific mission to the moon, the US Wednesday said it showcased its technological prowess and exemplified ideals of bilateral partnership between the two countries.
“The US congratulates India on the successful launch. This is a proud moment in Indian history and demonstrates India's technological prowess by joining the international community in the peaceful exploration of space,” US ambassador David Mulford said in a statement here.
New NASA mission to reveal moon’s evolution
By Xinhua
Washington : NASA will launch a new mission that will peer deep inside the moon to reveal its anatomy and history, announced Alan Stern, the agency's Associate Administrator for Science, in a press release on Tuesday.
The name of the new moon mission is "Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory," or GRAIL. It will cost 375 million U.S. dollars and is scheduled to launch in 2011, according to the announcement.
Washington : NASA will launch a new mission that will peer deep inside the moon to reveal its anatomy and history, announced Alan Stern, the agency's Associate Administrator for Science, in a press release on Tuesday.
The name of the new moon mission is "Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory," or GRAIL. It will cost 375 million U.S. dollars and is scheduled to launch in 2011, according to the announcement.
Filling fuel for cryogenic engine to start
By IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : Scientists were Thursday getting ready to launch an Indian-designed and built cryogenic engine to inject an advanced communication satellite into space. The filling of liquid fuel that will power the third stage of the 50-metre tall, 416-tonne Indian rocket to inject the satellite in geo-synchronous orbit is expected to start around 11.30 a.m.
Keeping distributed families together through technology
By IANS,
Hyderabad : Buddibot, a web applications company, has developed a web-based communication tool to keep distributed families connected.
This tool, comprising a mobile webcam, will help elderly people remain in touch with their children studying and working abroad through video and audio streams.
Buddibot Thursday launched the subscription-based communication tool, targeting non-resident Indians (NRIs).
Botanical institute setting up on-line herbarium
By IANS,
Lucknow : The National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) here is setting up a digital herbarium through which about 250,000 plant specimens would be made available on-line to scientists across the globe.
"In order to facilitate research work, we decided to set up the herbarium that will provide the desired plant specimen at the click of the mouse," Tariq Husain, a scientist in the taxonomy and biodiversity division of the institute, told IANS.
Site for Agra international airport to be finalized by March
By IANS,
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government Tuesday announced that a suitable site for the proposed international airport at Agra would be finalized by March next year.
China launches manned spacecraft on spacewalk mission
By Xinhua,
Jiquan (China) : China launched Friday a manned spacecraft carrying three astronauts on its first-ever spacewalk mission.
The spacecraft Shenzhou VII blasted off from the Jiuquan space centre in the northwestern province of Gansu at about 9:10 p.m. onboard a Long March-2F carrier rocket.
Onboard pilots Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng are expected to orbit the earth for three days, when one of them will float out of the cabin about 343 km above the earth Friday.
How to avoid computer-induced arm pain
By Aliki Nassoufis, DPA,
Cologne (Germany) : Repetitive strain is a creeping threat for any 21st century computer user. Steady mouse clicking may seem innocent, but many computer users find that pain starts in their arm and eventually spreads to their wrist and shoulder.
In the days of the good old typewriter, people suffered from so-called writer's cramp. Although the phrase has since been shelved, the problem still applies to anyone who spends hours at a desk.
Scientists pinpoint presence of female sex hormone in plant
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have unearthed female sex hormone progesterone in a plant, upsetting conventional wisdom that only animals secreted it.
A steroid hormone produced by the ovaries, progesterone prepares the uterus for pregnancy and maintains it. A synthetic version, progestin, is used in birth control pills and other medications.
"The significance of the unequivocal identification of progesterone cannot be overstated," said the study by Guido F. Pauli, College of Pharmacy, Chicago and colleagues.
US, British scientists win 2007 medicine Nobel
By Xinhua
Stockholm : Two US scientists, Mario R. Capecchi and Oliver Smithies, and Britain's Martin J. Evans won the 2007 Nobel Prize for Medicine Monday.
The trio were awarded for a series of "ground breaking discoveries concerning embryonic stem cells and DNA recombination in mammals", according to the Nobel jury.
Both Capecchi and Smithies are US citizens but were not born in America. Capecchi was born in Italy and Smithies, in Britain.
Can genetic research spur racist attitudes?
By IANS,
Toronto : People might be different in many ways but genetically they are quite similar. However, is it possible that genetic research may evoke racist attitudes, asks University of Alberta's Tim Caulfield. He organised a seminar to examine the issue.
Last year, Nobel Prize winning geneticist James Watson claimed there are genes responsible for creating differences in human intelligence. These comments made international headlines and Watson later apologised.
Nano water filter kills 98 pc bacteria within seconds
By IANS,
Washington : A new low cost filtering system kills up to 98 percent of deadly bacteria like E. coli in water within seconds.
Deleted data on used hard disks still retrievable
By IANS,
London : A huge quantity of sensitive data is still on decommissioned computer hard disks, sold in the second-hand mart by corporations, organisations and individuals.
The study said that this data represents a significant level of risk for commercial sabotage, identity theft, and even political compromise, and suggest that better education is essential to reduce the risk of harm.
NASA turns on humanoid robot in space station
By IANS,
London : NASA Tuesday turned on a humanoid robot in the International Space Station for the first time since it was delivered in February, a media report said.
India Launches Lunar Probe
By Prensa Latina,
Nueva Delhi : After a successful lift-off, the Indian-built PSLV-C11 rocket on Wednesday placed lunar orbiting spacecraft Chandarayaan-1 into a transit orbit.
With the launching, India entered the select group of countries that are exploring the Moon.
Starting from that elliptic position, in a 158-mile perigee from the Earth's surface, Chandarayaan-1 will use its liquid transfer motor to ascend to farther earth's orbits, until it re-launches itself to the moon and occupy a position on its own North Pole.
Protection does help endangered species: study
By IANS,
Sydney : Researchers have come by evidence that protected fish species can bounce back rapidly from the brink, even after heavy fishing has taken its toll.
A strict no-fishing policy in 2004 across a third of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), the largest and most complex of marine ecosystems, has ensured spectacular recovery in coral trout numbers by a whopping 31 to 75 percent.
These results have major ramifications in a world in which most major fisheries are in decline, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Khamenei congratulates Iranian scientists on satellite launch
By IANS,
Tehran : Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has complimented Iranian scientists for their success in sending the first domestically-produced satellite into orbit, IRNA reported.
In a message Tuesday in response to a letter from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Khamenei expressed appreciation for the efforts of Iranian officials and scientists "for their efforts which made such a praiseworthy move possible".
"This is another sign that the hope that the Islamic Revolution has brought to hearts is true," he stated.
Endeavour docks with ISS
By DPA
Washington : Space shuttle Endeavour has successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) but engineers said some damage was caused to the shuttle's heat shield during launch.
The Endeavour crew Friday positioned the shuttle alongside the ISS, where they will install a truss that is part of station's solar power system and will deliver supplies and equipment to the ISS crew.
"It was a flawless rendezvous," said NASA Flight Director Matt Abbott at a press conference in Houston, Texas. "Everything was from the book."
Dolphins surface, rationalists feast during eclipse
By IANS,
Chennai : Joggers on the Chennai beach were surprised to see dolphins swimming and jumping very near the shore early Wednesday, the day of the century's longest eclipse, even as Dravida Kazhagam cadres ate food in public to debunk superstition linked to the celestial event.
As news about the dolphins being close to shore spread, a large number of people gathered on the beach to enjoy seeing them swim.
The sighting of dolphins is being attributed to the solar eclipse and the resultant changes in the sea.
ISRO designed avionics to guide rockets in 2008
By IANS
Chennai : Rocket navigation systems developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are all set to guide the geo-synchronous launch vehicle (GSLV) slated for launch next year.
ISRO tested its new avionics on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) that was launched in April. The vehicle had a second equipment bay - apart from the primary one - housing the navigation and telemetry systems.
“Death Star” galaxy blasts smaller neighbor
By Xinhua
Beijing : A "Death Star" galaxy is blasting a smaller neighbor with a powerful jet of particles and magnetic radiation, NASA astronomers said on Monday.
They said the two galaxies appear to be merging and the disturbance in the magnetic field caused by this movement may have awakened a dormant, supermassive black hole in one of the galaxies.
NASA probe finds second mountain range in Pluto’s ‘heart’
Washington : The New Horizons probe has found a second mountain range situated between bright, icy plains and dark, heavily-cratered terrain on the...
Venezuela uses Vietnamese method to boost rice harvest
By EFE,
Caracas : Venezuela has began a project to grow rice using Vietnamese technology, a method that replaces chemical fertilisers with fish in water channels between the rice plots.
Officials hope the crop yields would increase by as much as 30 percent after using the method.
In a national broadcast, President Hugo Chavez Wednesday praised the "great advances" in agriculture achieved by the Vietnamese, whom he called a "fighting people".
The pilot project will be carried out in a 65,000-hectare area in Apure state.
Aging Ulysses probe frozen out
By Xinhua
Beijing : The Ulysses solar probe, after 17 years of studying the sun and solar system, is about to die by freezing to death, NASA and the European Space Agency have announced.
The satellite had long outlasted the five-year mission it began in 1990, but it continued to transmit useful data on solar winds.
More recently, its plutonium power source had slowly weakened and its fuel was freezing as the probe made a wide circle of the sun, traveling as far as Jupiter.
Commercial ships spew half as much pollution as world’s cars
By IANS,
Washington : Commercial ships account for almost half as much particulate pollution as the total amount released by cars, according to a new study.
The study estimate that worldwide, ships emit about a million kilos of particulate pollution each year. Shipping also contributes almost 30 percent of smog-forming nitrogen oxide gases.
Life under threat as more ultraviolet radiation to hit earth
By IANS,
Toronto : Rapid climate changes are set to redistribute the already shrinking ozone layer, exposing earth's southern parts up to 20 percent more ultraviolet radiation, warns a Canadian study.
Concentrated in the stratosphere from 10 km to 50 km above the earth, the ozone layer protects life on the planet by absorbing more than 90 percent of deadly ultraviolet rays coming from the sun. Ultraviolet rays cause genetic changes and trigger various cancers.
Obama hails Apollo 11 crew as ‘genuine American heroes’
By DPA,
Washington : US President Barack Obama welcomed the crew of Apollo 11 to the White House Monday to mark the 40th anniversary of their journey to the moon and called the three men "genuine American heroes."
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to set foot on the lunar surface, while fellow crew member Michael Collins circled the moon in the command vehicle.
China launches first e-tagged container vessel
By Xinhua
Shanghai : A Chinese vessel with e-tagged containers sailed Monday from Shanghai to Savannah port in the United States, marking the opening of the world's first international e-tagged container route.
The doorbell-sized e-tags installed on the 20-foot container equivalent units (TEU), will record information about every procedure in the TEU's whole transportation process, such as the delivery and off-loading time, the real-time TEU condition and the time and place of the legal or illegal opening.
HCL sets up development centre in Australia
By IANS,
New Delhi : Information technology services provider HCL Technologies Ltd (HCL) has set up a new global development centre in Sydney as a part of its expansion plan in Australia and New Zealand, the company announced Thursday.
With total staff strength of over 500, the Sydney centre is part of HCL's global delivery strategy to offer customers support from various locations across the globe.
At present, HCL has delivery centres in India, China, Poland, Singapore and Ireland and has recently announced plans to open another in North Carolina, US.
Breakup of the $78.5 mn Chandrayaan bill
By IANS,
Chennai : Break-up of the Rs.3.86 billion ($78.5 million) bill for India's maiden moon mission:
Deep Space Network: Rs.1 billion ($20 million)
Rocket: Rs.1 billion ($20 million)
Payload development: Rs.530 million ($11 million)
Spacecraft bus: Rs.830 million ($17 million)
Scientific data centre, external network support and project management expenses: Rs.500 million ($10 million)
A laptop that looks into your heart
By Prashant K. Nanda
New Delhi, March 25 (IANS) An Indian medical technology firm has configured a laptop that can do a heart scan, abdomen scan and even a pregnancy test while retaining its basic functions like writing a note, preparing presentations and sending an e-mail.
"Though portable ultrasound machines are not new in India, this machine doubles up as a laptop and a multi-utility ultrasound machine. It is easy to use, carry and send body images even to your e-mail," A.B. Sivasankar, director (imaging) of Trivitron Medical Systems, told IANS.
Reading devices for digital storage media
By Vivien Leue, DPA,
Frankfurt : You can find them in cell phones, digital cameras and navigation systems. They are digital storage cards, and they can be enormous - at least in a digital sense - holding hundreds of photos or a plethora of large documents.
To transfer their data onto a computer, you can either connect the mobile device to a computer using a USB cable or you can stick the memory card into a card reader. That is a simpler, and in many cases quicker, solution.
ISRO to send man into space in seven years
By IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : India will be in a position to carry out a manned space mission within seven years from now, said a top official of the Indian space agency here Monday.
Addressing the media after the successful launch of 10 satellites in one go, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said: "The government has given us pre-project funding of Rs.950 million (for the manned mission) and we have initiated necessary activities."
‘Current tests for recycled water not adequate’
By IANS,
Sydney : Recycled water may not be safe for drinking, warn researchers who say such water is usually tested for only one kind of pathogen.
Flavia Huygens of the Queensland University of Technology in Australia is part of a team spear-heading a new and innovative water-testing technique that will check for all kinds of pathogens - in hours rather than days.
“Pathogens can be bacterial, viral or parasitic micro-organisms like cryptosporidium and giardia which can make people sick if enough is ingested,” Huygens said.
US to give Iran ‘space’ to mull nuclear fuel deal
By DPA,
Vienna/Tehran, Nov 9 (DPA) The US is willing to give Iran time to come up with a response to a proposed multinational nuclear fuel deal, the US ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Glyn Davies, said Monday.
"We want to give some space to Iran to work through this. It's a tough issue for them, obviously," Davies told reporters in Vienna, adding, however, that Washington hopes for a response soon.
Global warming brings tropical birds to Hong Kong
By DPA,
Hong Kong : The sighting of two rarely seen tropical birds in Hong Kong could be due to climate change, bird experts here have said.
The birds - a great frigate and the white-tailed tropic-bird - were both spotted around Po Toi, Hong Kong's southern most island, over the last month.
It was the first time the white-tailed tropic has ever been spotted in Hong Kong and only the fourth sighting of the frigate.
Both birds are usually seen in more tropical climates such as the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
‘Primates fast disappearing off the face of earth’
By IANS,
London : Humankind's closest kin in the animal world - monkeys, apes and other primates - are disappearing from the face of the earth, warns a new report.
The first comprehensive review of 634 kinds of primates found almost 50 percent of them are in danger of extinction, according to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
Chief scientist: China’s lunar orbiter project costs only 1 bln yuan
By Xinhua
Xichang, Sichuan : China's milestone lunar orbiter project only costs 1 to 1.4 billion yuan (about 133 to 187 million U.S. dollars), the same amount as the money used to construct 2 km of subway in Beijing, said Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of the lunar exploration program.
Ouyang said the amount is not an astronomical number for China's economy and will boost the development of national science and technology instead.
Xichang, Sichuan : China's milestone lunar orbiter project only costs 1 to 1.4 billion yuan (about 133 to 187 million U.S. dollars), the same amount as the money used to construct 2 km of subway in Beijing, said Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of the lunar exploration program.
Ouyang said the amount is not an astronomical number for China's economy and will boost the development of national science and technology instead.
Endeavour heads for space station on home makeover mission
By Xinhua,
Washington : US space shuttle Endeavour carrying seven astronauts aboard headed Saturday for the international space station on a home makeover mission.
The shuttle with a beautiful orange full moon as backdrop blasted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida Friday night. According to NASA, the launch went smoothly without any technical issues popping up.
After successfully jettisoning its rocket boosters and external tank, Endeavour now is safely in orbit and all systems are running well, US space agency NASA's real-time launch blog reported.
Google launches India-specific search facility
By IANS
Bangalore : Google Inc, the world's largest search engine, Monday announced the launching of a local search tool to enable Indian users find information on local businesses like restaurants, shops and hotels on the web.
The India-specific search product - http://local.google.co.in - has also a facility to access information on local businesses. The Google local business centre will enable any business entity to load its information on the web. Local users can access the business information freely by logging into the search tool.
Scientists create billions of particles of anti-matter
By IANS,
Washington : When you shoot laser through a gold bit the size of a pinhead, suddenly more than 100 billion particles of anti-matter materialise.
The anti-matter, also known as positrons, shoots out of the target in a cone-shaped plasma "jet."
This new ability to create a large number of positrons in a small lab opens the door to several fresh avenues of anti-matter research, including an understanding of the physics underlying phenomena such as black holes and gamma ray bursts.
Space network, a ‘hotline’ from Bangalore to moon
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Bangalore : When India's first lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 lifts off from Sriharikota Wednesday, the telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) of the space agency in Bangalore will guide the mission on its 18-day voyage to the moon's polar orbit.
Soon after reaching the lunar orbit, the Deep Space Network (DSN) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at Byalalu, about 40 km from this tech hub, will take charge of the spacecraft and become a 'hotline' between its payloads and space scientists over the next two years.
Teenage suicides: Study advocates greater family support
By IANS,
London : Rising teen suicides have prompted demands for improved prevention strategies, in which the family physician or the general practitioner is expected to play a pivotal part.
Researchers from Umeå University have identified the phenomenon of cluster suicides where one suicide appears to trigger similar acts among other teenagers in a community.
Dutch robot wins international LEGO competition
By DPA,
Amsterdam : A robot built entirely from LEGO bricks by Dutch students has won the LEGO robot championship held in Tokyo, the Dutch newswire ANP reported Thursday.
The robot, built by three students aged 11, 12 and 15 from Eindhoven in the southern Netherlands, was the best of a total of 56 teams originating from 23 countries.
Initially, some 10,000 teams registered for the international competition. All participating robots had to perform certain assignments, including placing a wind turbine or a solar panel or recycling a car.
Scientists identify gene that influences alcohol consumption
By Xinhua
Washington : A variant of a gene involved in communication among brain cells has a direct influence on alcohol consumption in mice, according to a new study by US scientists.
If approved in human beings, the finding may lead to new opportunities for developing drugs to treat alcohol dependence.
Known as Grm7, the gene encodes a receptor subtype that inhibits the release of glutamate and other neurotransmitter molecules that brain cells use to communicate with one another.
India set for Putin boost, to sign nuclear, Gorshkov pacts
By IANS,
New Delhi: India and Russia will Friday intensify their strategic and economic ties by signing over a dozen agreements, including an umbrella civil nuclear pact and another accord fixing the cost of the refurbished aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov at $2.35 billion.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will Friday evening holds talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who touches down in India close to midnight Thursday for a brief visit lasting less than 24 hours.
Hoax, Wiki-style: Internet encyclopaedia spoofs mock reality
By DPA
Bad Salzuflen (Germany) : Most surfers get annoyed when they fall for fake or fictional news on the web. Some web users thrive on that kind of hoax, though: spoof encyclopaedias bring together all manner of nonsense and push rumour and innuendo to the limits.
Their makers parody the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia by turning the concept on its head.
The German website Kamelopedia.org, for example, has gathered around 10,000 joke articles explaining the world's doings from the point of view of camels.
First synthetic tree may facilitate heat transfer, soil technologies
By IANS,
Washington : The world's first 'synthetic tree,' created by Abraham Stroock's lab, mimics the process of transpiration that helps move moisture to the highest branches.
The researchers' work bolsters the long-standing theory that transpiration in trees and plants through capilliary action, is a purely physical process, requiring no biological energy.
It also may lead to new passive heat transfer technologies for cars or buildings, better methods for remediating soil and more effective ways to draw water out of partially dry ground.
Russian submersibles plumb record depths to explore Lake Baikal
By DPA,
Moscow : Two Russian submersibles plumbed the depths of Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia Tuesday, diving a record 1,680 metres in one of the world's largest lakes.
"It is a world record for deep-water submersion in fresh water," an organizer told Itar-Tass news agency on the barge fielding expedition that was to last another five hours.
The exploration mission is headed by pro-Kremlin lawmaker Artur Chilingarov, who led a mission with the same two mini-submarines to plant a Russian flag on the sea bed below the North Pole last August.
Russia puts new telecom satellite into orbit
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia successfully put a new Express-AM33 telecommunications satellite into orbit Monday, the Federal Space Agency said.
The satellite, designed by the Reshetnev Applied Mechanics Science and Production Association to provide TV and satellite communications all over Russia, was launched on board a Proton-M carrier rocket from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan.
Big Bang experiment to restart in September
By IANS,
London : The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is to begin firing its proton beams once again at the end of September after being shut down abruptly in the midst of recreating conditions in the moments after the Big Bang.
"The new schedule foresees first beams in the LHC at the end of September this year, with collisions following in late October. A short technical stop has also been foreseen over the Christmas period," the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) confirmed in a statement Monday.
Intel unveils new laptop chips
By DPA
Las Vegas : Intel Monday unveiled a new line of laptop chips that run at higher speeds and use less power.
The Penryn chips combine the company's Core 2 Duo processors with a 45-nanometer manufacturing process that provide laptops with better performance and improved battery life, said Mooly Eden, vice president and general manager of Intel Mobile Platforms Group.
Intel announced the new chips at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where 140,000 industry professionals are attending the world's biggest technology trade show.
NASA spacecraft spots new moonlet in Saturn’s rings
By Xinhua,
Washington : Scientists have found a new moonlet hidden in one of Saturn's dazzling outer rings, the Scientific American website has reported.
Saturn's G ring, a faint band of material near the outer bounds of the planet's famed ring system, hosts a bright arc about 150,000 km long.
The arc, or partial ring, which stretches through about a sixth of the G ring's length, is believed to provide the rest of the ring with dust and ice, but its evolution has remained a mystery.
India is top spam sender in Asia: study
By IANS,
New Delhi : India is the top spam sender in Asia and the seventh largest in the world, accounting for over four percent of the total global spam, says a study.
"India is the leader among Asian countries in spam, accounting for more than four percent of the total global spam and is ahead of other Asian countries such as China (3.39 percent), Republic of Korea (2.57 percent) and Thailand (2.04 percent)," says Trend Micro, a firm that provides Internet content security, focusing on securing the exchange of digital information for businesses and consumers.
Asteroid named after tennis star Nadal
By IANS,
Palma de Mallorca (Spain) : A recently discovered asteroid has been named after Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal, who won his first Wimbledon title earlier this month with a stirring victory in the final over five-time defending champion Roger Federer, EFE news agency reported Sunday.
The Rafael Nadal asteroid, previously known as 128036, is of four kilometers in diameter and travels through space at a speed of 20 km per second.
APJ Abdul Kalam to inaugurate ‘Aero Tech 2008’
By IANS,
Chandigarh : Enthused by the success of Chandrayaan-I mission, the aero scientists of India are all geared up to discuss advances in aerospace technologies at the two-day national level seminar, 'Aero Tech 2008' that will start here Friday. APJ Abdul Kalam, former president of India, will inaugurate the Aero Tech 2008 Nov 14.
Aim to create positive influence for women within the boundaries of Shari’ah: The Muslimah...
The Muslimah Network is a website dedicated to stories and commentary on Muslim women from an Islamic perspective. Started by the UAE-based writer/graphic designer...
Defence products major draw at science expo
By IANS
Visakhapatnam : New technologies and products displayed by various defence organisations in the science exposition here have been a major draw for delegates participating in the 95th Indian Science Congress.
Being held as part of the five-day annual event in the sprawling Andhra University campus in this scenic port city, the exhibition, christened Bharat Expo, showcases developments and achievements made by scientific institutions, state-run organisations and private enterprises, using science and technology.
Russia, France to jointly build armoured vehicle
By IANS,
Moscow: Russia and France will jointly build a new armoured infantry vehicle, Russian arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport said.
Google’s new OS could hit Microsoft where it hurts
By Andy Goldberg, DPA,
San Francisco : It's the ultimate showdown in the technology world, the clash of giants that has been eagerly awaited for years. Web giant Google is taking its clearest aim yet at Microsoft with its plan to produce its own operating system that would optimise the way computers work on the Internet.
India has just two unique IP addresses per 1,000 people
By IANS,
New Delhi : India has only two unique Internet Protocol (IP) addresses per 1,000 people. But a just-released study says the country's net penetration could "significantly increase in the coming years", with its economic boom and growing IT adoption.
Every machine that is permanently connected to the Internet has a unique identifying number, called an IP address. A typical IP address looks like this: 59.95.29.46.
Revamp ‘white elephant’ CSIR, universities: Kasturirangan
By Prashant K. Nanda, IANS
New Delhi : The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Indian universities have become "white elephants" and need to be revamped to achieve successes in science, says eminent space scientist K. Kasturirangan.
Many of the laboratories in CSIR, the country's biggest scientific body, need a complete overhaul and their mission, organisational set-up and infrastructure need to change for the better, Kasturirangan said in an interview.
Behind India’s rise as IT power lies 25 years of C-DOT
By Sam Pitroda, IANS,
This month marks the 25th anniversary of what is now widely acknowledged to be India's first defining steps towards an information and communications revolution. It was in August 1984 that the Centre for Development of Telematics or C-DOT was set up with the specific intention of indigenising digital switching technology to meet India's unique requirements.
US spacecraft finds Mars colder than expected
By Xinhua,
Washington : The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced that the crust and upper mantle of Mars are stiffer and colder than previously thought.
The new observations from its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter suggest any liquid water that might exist below the planet's surface and any possible organisms living in that water would be located deeper than scientists had suspected.
"This implies that the planet's interior is more rigid, and thus colder, than we thought before."
Symantec to launch next generation security software
By IANS
Chennai : IT security services major Symantec Corporation will release its next-generation enterprise security software, codenamed Hamlet, in September, a top company official said here Wednesday.
Scientific texts in 3D with interactive formats developed
By IANS,
Washington : Biologists and biochemists can access 3D images of biomacromolecules underlying biological functions and disease, thanks to a collaborative website called Proteopedia.
The web resource displays protein structures and other biomacromolecules in interactive format. These interactive images are surrounded by descriptive text containing hyperlinks that change the appearance (such as view, representations, colors or labels) of the adjacent 3D structure to reflect the concept explained in the text.
Chandrayaan-II to be launched by 2013
By IANS,
Kolkata : India's second lunar mission Chandrayaan-II is likely to be launched by 2013, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said Saturday.
"Chandrayaan-II should take place by 2013. Our first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-I, has given us a substantial understanding about entering the moon's orbit. But ensuring the safe landing of the rover on the lunar surface is still an obstacle," Nair told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony here.
NRI Muslims celebrate first Indian moon mission
By TwoCircles.net news desk,
New Delhi: The news of successful blast of India's first mission to moon was celebrated in India and overseas. Two Indian Muslim organizations based in US and UK have congratulated the Indian scientists who made this mission possible.
Scientists turn ancient cockroach fossil into 3-D model
By IANS,
London : An early cockroach ancestor that lived around 300 million years ago was unveiled in unprecedented detail here in a new 3-D 'virtual fossil' model.
Scientists at Imperial College London (ICL) made a comprehensive 3D model of a fossilised specimen called Archimylacris eggintoni, which is an ancient ancestor of modern cockroaches and termites.
This insect scuttled around on earth during the Carboniferous period 359-299 million years ago, which was a time when life had recently emerged from the oceans to live on land.
India’s space programmes based on its needs: Outgoing chief
By Venkatachari Jagannathan,
Chennai, Oct 31 (IANS) India does not look at other Asian countries like Japan and China as competitors in the space sector as its programmes are based on its needs, said Madhavan Nair, who retired Saturday as chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
"Our programmes are based on the practical needs of the people like remote sensing, health and education. India is not looking to compete with any other country in the space sector," Nair told IANS from Thiruvananthapuram on phone.
Electronic ‘ears’ guide drills into mine shaft
By IANS,
Sydney : Australian scientists have successfully used an electronic 'ear' to track and control a drill operating 300 metres below the earth's surface.
The successful trial has demonstrated that use of 'microseismics' can potentially cut down costs and improve drilling process for exploration and mining.
The trial was carried out at a coalfield test site in Queensland as part of a programme to develop and exploit coal seam gas.
Pentagon developing stealthy sensors for bat-inspired spy plane
By IANS
Washington : A tiny six-inch spy plane modelled on a bat would gather data from sights, sounds and smells in urban combat zones and transmit information back to soldiers in real time.
University of Michigan (U-M) Centre for Objective Microelectronics and Bio-mimetic Advanced Technology (COM-BAT) will develop sensors, communication tools and batteries for the US Army for this micro-aerial vehicle that's been dubbed "the bat".
NASA’s WISE Eye spots near-earth asteroid
By IANS,
Washington : NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has spotted its first never-before-seen near-Earth object (NEO), the first of hundreds it is expected to find during its mission to map the whole sky in infrared light.
NEOs are asteroids and comets with orbits that pass relatively close to Earth's path around the sun. In extremely rare cases of an impact, the objects may devastate the Earth's surface.
An asteroid, about 10 km wide, is thought to have plunged into our planet 65 million years ago, triggering a global disaster and obliterating dinosaurs.
Moon water: NASA thanks Indian space agency for partnership
By IANS,
Washington : India's maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan has been successful in finding traces of water on the lunar surface, the US space agency NASA said here Thursday, and thanked the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the partnership.
A National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) official said that traces of water and hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, was also found in the lunar soil.
NASA also thanked ISRO for the partnership.
Putin set for Gorshkov deal, n-pact with India
By IANS,
New Delhi: With a pact on Admiral Gorshkov likely during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's trip to India, Russian envoy Alexander Kadakin Wednesday urged India to look at the reconstruction of the aircraft carrier with "positive eyes" and pitched for setting more nuclear reactors.
The long-delayed pact on the delivery of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, previously marred by pricing disputes, will be among defence deals worth $4 billion that are expected to be finalized during Putin's two-day visit that begins Thursday.
AOL to shutter support for Netscape
By Xinhua
Beijing : AOL announced in its blog post to shutter support for Netscape Navigator from Feb. 1 and recommended the Netscape users to make the move to Firefox, media reported Saturday.
Netscape would still be available for download from the Netscape Archive after Feb. 1, but no "active product support" will be offered.
The decision came after Netscape Navigator, once the dominant Web browser, failed in the battle against Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
India successfully tests own cryogenic rocket engine
By IANS,
Bangalore : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted a test of its indigenous cryogenic (supercooled fuel) engine to be used in the next geosynchronous launch vehicle (GSLV-D3) mission, the space agency said here Saturday.
"The flight acceptance hot test of the Cryogenic engine was carried out at the liquid propulsion systems centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu Thursday. This engine will be used in the next GSLV launch in April 2009 for carrying the 2.3-tonne geo-stationary experimental satellite (GSAT)," ISRO said in a statement.
India plans major incentives for clean technology
By IANS
New Delhi : India's forthcoming action plan to address climate change will provide significant incentives for clean technologies, Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Kapil Sibal said here Tuesday.
Sibal, who headed the Indian government delegation at the Dec 3-14 UN conference on climate change in Bali, reiterated on his return that India was not going to take on any legal caps on emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) that are warming the atmosphere and leading to climate change.
PM lays foundation stone of ISRO campus in Delhi
By IANS,
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday laid the foundation stone of the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) first campus in the national capital and urged space scientists to continue their focus on need-based science for nation building.
"I am very happy to lay the foundation stone of ISRO's Space Complex in New Delhi. The complex will go a long way in fulfilling the needs for utilisation of space based services in this part of our country," Manmohan Singh said in his speech here.
Rocket completes mission, India’s first moon spacecraft now in orbit
By Venkatachari Jagannathan and Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : With a perfect liftoff, India's first spacecraft to the moon entered its scheduled orbit early Wednesday, placing the country in a select group of six. The US, former Soviet Union, European Space Agency, China and Japan have sent spacecrafts to the moon earlier.
Facebook unveils new tools
By DPA,
San Francisco : Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg Wednesday unveiled a box of new tools that he said will extend the social networking phenomenon to every corner of the internet.
The announcement came at a conference for Facebook developers called F8, in which Zuckerberg revealed that the world's largest social networking site has 400 million registered users. These include 100 million who use Facebook Connect, the company's online identity technology that allows users to use their profile on thousands of other websites.
Largest ice-shelf fractures into three
By IANS,
Toronto : The largest ice-shelf in the northern hemisphere has fractured into three pieces, the first intimation of which has come from images clicked by the Radarsat satellite.
A team of scientists patrolling the area inspected an 18-km long network of cracks running from the southern edge of the Ward Hunt Ice-Shelf to the Arctic Ocean.
A similar large fracture was detected in 2002, prompting concerns that the remaining ice-shelf too would disintegrate within a few years.
New, potent anti-microbial wash developed
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have developed a new anti-microbial wash that kills Salmonella and E. coli more effectively and speedily in vegetables, fruits, poultry products and meats.
Made from inexpensive and readily available ingredients that are recognised as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the new wash is expected to replace chlorine.
At present, a chlorine wash is most widely used to reduce harmful bacteria levels in food products, but it has its limitations. For one, it does not kill all microbes.
WHO: 700 deaths from swine flu recorded
By DPA,
Geneva : The World Health Organisation Tuesday said the death toll from swine flu had risen to 700 globally.
By comparison, seasonal flu, the common variety of influenza which normally hits during the winter months, kills about 500,000 people each year.
An official at the WHO headquarters in Geneva said the organisation did not have a death ratio for the virus and was still compiling data.
The disease was first reported to have broken out in mid-April in North America, which remains the hardest-hit region.
US creates multi-disciplinary centre to study human origins
By Xinhua
Los Angeles : US scientists have founded a multidisciplinary centre bringing together various sciences to explore the origins of humanity, the University of California (UC) has said.
The Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA), comprising experts from across the world, has been established by UC in San Diego and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla.
The initiative was the outcome of a 10-year independent study by scientists in the US.
Delhi Metro deploys ‘record’ 14 tunnel boring machines
By IANS
New Delhi : As many as 14 tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will be deployed simultaneously for laying out the Delhi Metro network in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said no country in Asia has so far put to work so many TBMs at the same time.
"For the first time in any Asian city, 14 TBMs will be used simultaneously for making metro tunnels," DMRC chief spokesman Anuj Dayal told IANS Tuesday.
375 million-year-old fossil of ‘mother fish’ discovered
By IANS,
Sydney : A Museum Victoria team announced its latest and the most remarkable find Thursday -- a 375 million-year-old fossil of placoderm fish with intact embryo and mineralised umbilical cord.
The fossil, one of the most significant discoveries ever made by scientists, also happens to be that of the world's oldest known vertebrate mother.
It provides the earliest evidence of vertebrate sexual reproduction, wherein the males (possessing clasping organs similar to modern sharks and rays) internally fertilised females.
Brazil to deepen space cooperation with China
By Xinhua
Brasilia : The newly sworn-in head of the Brazilian Space Agency (BSA) Carlos Ganem said Tuesday that Brazil cherishes the ties with China and will deepen cooperation with China in the field of space technology.
Ganem made the remarks during his inauguration ceremony. A technical expert who engaged in the first negotiations on the China-Brazil satellite cooperation program, he said the project is an excellent example of bilateral cooperation.
China, India set pace in South-South scientific cooperation
By Dinesh Abrol and Purnima Rupal, IANS,
New Delhi : Growing strategic science and technology cooperation between China and India promises a new outlook for the South.
China and India are two of the fastest-growing economies in the world; they face similar opportunities and challenges, and could maximise benefits by sharing research and development (R&D), according to Scidev.Net.
Scientists seek the fifth dimension
By IANS
Washington : The universe comprises three dimensions of space and one of time, but researchers are exploring the possibility of the fifth.
Sound like an episode from the "Twilight Zone"? Almost, but not quite, according to John Simonetti and Michael Kavic of the College of Science at Virginia Tech, reports Sciencedaily.
"The idea we're exploring is that the universe has an imperceptibly small dimension (about one billionth of a nanometer) in addition to the four that we know currently," Kavic said.
Device turns heat into sound, then electricity
By IANS
Washington : Physicists in US have developed a small device that they claim can turn heat into sound and then into electricity.
Dubai unveils new website for business community
By IANS,
Dubai: Dubai has unveiled a new advanced and user-friendly website for the emirate's business community to improve public access to business-related information and procedures, the WAM news agency has reported.
The new website, developed by the Department of Economic Development (DED), is the first of many steps planned for the near future to improve the business community's interaction with the department, officials said.
Russia to launch US satellite
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : A Russian rocket is set for a seaborne launch Sunday to put a US telecom satellite into orbit, a spokesman for the Sea Launch company said.
Earth-like planets found raising hopes of extraterrestial life
By Xinhua
Beijing : Scientists have found some earth-like panets that orbit many sun-like stars in our galaxy, increasing hopes of finding extraterrestial life on some of them, media reported Monday.
University of Arizona astronomer Michael Meyer, working with NASA's Spitzer space telescope, said his research shows that between 20 percent and 60 percent of stars similar to our sun have conditions favorable for forming rocky planets like Earth.
China Announces 186-mph Bullet Train
Beijing, Dec 22 (Prensa Latina) China announced on Saturday its first 186-mph bullet train, wholly designed and built in this Asian country.
China thus joins Japan, France and Germany as the fourth country worldwide in position to build state-of-the-art high-speed trains, a spokesman for the Railway Ministry said.
ABB wins orders for power transformers
By IANS,
Bangalore: Leading power and automation technology major ABB Ltd bagged orders valued at Rs.310 crore from the state-run Power Grid Corporation of India...
France to introduce `Google tax’ Jan 1
By DPA,
Paris : France will introduce its so-called "Google tax" on online advertisements Jan 1, parliament decided Tuesday.
China did have clearer skies during Olympics: Satellite imagery
By IANS,
Washington : China did have clearer skies and easier breathing when it shut down factories and banished many cars in a pre-Olympic sprint to clean up Beijing's air.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, researchers have since analysed data from NASA's Aura and Terra satellites that show how key pollutants responded to the Olympic restrictions.
Microsoft, Mammootty to launch Kerala e-literacy programme
By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : Software giant Microsoft and veteran Malayalam superstar Mammootty are planning to launch an e-literacy programme in Kerala.
Mammootty told IANS Tuesday that he is in discussions with Microsoft for the launch of the statewide education project.
He is also the brand ambassador of the state-sponsored Akshaya IT programme.
Mammootty said he wants to launch the project to help make all sections of the society IT literate.
Plant roots being modified to be better at finding water
By IANS,
London : Most of the water brought by irrigation to grow crops evaporates even before reaching plant roots, a huge waste of resources that contributes to the global food crisis. Scientists are now modifying roots to improve the plants' ability to find water.
Tel Aviv University researchers are genetically modifying plants' root systems to improve their ability to find the water essential to their survival.
Cheap laser technology to heal kidney stones
By IANS
Kolkata : Diagnosed with kidney stones, Indrajit Roy wanted to get the best cure at an affordable cost. When a hospital in Kolkata promised to remove the stone in a bloodless laser-aided operation at less than half the fee quoted by other hospitals, his prayers were answered.
Stars packed million times more densely in early universe
By IANS,
London : Stars in ultra compact dwarf (UCD) galaxies, discovered recently, may have been packed a million times more densely than in the solar neighbourhood, according to calculations made by a team of astronomers.
UCDs, discovered in 1999, are still enormous by our standards, about 60 light years across, yet they are less than 1,000th the size of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. A light year is about 10 million km.
Indian rocket puts 10 satellites in orbit at one go
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : India Monday significantly boosted its space capabilities with the copybook launch of a Rs.700 million ($17.4 million) rocket that simultaneously placed in orbit 10 satellites - two Indian and eight foreign.
The launch firmly established India as a major player in the $1 billion global satellite launch market, a significant milestone in the country's 45-year-old space programme.
Spineless marine sponge built our nerves
By IANS,
Sydney : Queensland University researchers have traced the evolution of nerves to one of the unlikeliest objects in existence - the marine sponge.
"Sponges have one of the most ancient lineages and don't have nerve cells," informed Bernie Degnan of Queensland University School of Integrative Biology.
"So we are pretty confident it was after the sponges split from trunk of the tree of life and sponges went one way and animals developed from the other, that nerves started to form.
Phoenix Mars lander examines new soil sample
By DPA,
Washington : The Phoenix Mars lander is examining a sample of soil from an "intermediate depth" of the Martian earth to determine if it is different from dirt at the planet's surface and from a lower icy layer, NASA said Friday.
The lander's robotic arm dug up the sample, called Burning Coals, from a trench dubbed Burn Alive 3 and delivered it to one of the craft's many small ovens early Thursday.
Phoenix had earlier confirmed the existence of ice about four centimetres below the surface and is now looking at a layer about one centimetre above the ice.
Days of silicon chip numbered, warns Indian American scientist
By IANS
Washington : Micro miniaturisation of computer circuitry will drive the silicon chip out of reckoning in just four years, Indian-American scientist Suman Datta has warned.
The silicon chip, which has propelled decades' of remarkable increases in computing power and speed, seems incapable of sustaining this pace for long, Datta said Thursday at a conference on 'Condensed Matter and Materials Physics' at the Royal Holloway College, London.
Microsoft: surf skies from desktop
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Microsoft unveiled a public beta of its WorldWide Telescope (WWT) web application that allows star gazers and astronomers deep into the universe Tuesday.
"The WorldWide Telescope is a powerful tool for science and education that makes it possible for everyone to explore the universe," said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. "Our hope is that it will inspire young people to explore astronomy and science, and help researchers in their quest to better understand the universe."
Mongolia seeks increased links with India in IT, mining
By IANS,
New Delhi: Mongolia Monday said it was looking for increased trade and commerce with India in the fields of mining and information technology.
Mongolian leaders, including Prime Minister Sukhbaataryn Batbold and chairman of the Mongolian State Great Hural (Parliament) D. Demberel made known their wish list during their meeting with visiting Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
A parliamentary delegation led by the speaker is on a five-day day visit to Mongolia.
‘Reverse engineering’ the brain to demystify it
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers led by an Indian American are "reverse engineering" the brain to design the first working model of the complex interplay between the mind and body.
For example, when you puick up an ice-cold drink out of the fridge this summer, how do your brain, eyes and hands interact?
"It is still a mystery, really," said University of British Columbia computer scientist Dinesh Pai. "No one has ever completely mapped out the processes at the level of specific neurons, muscles and tendons."
Black buck gives birth after artificial insemination
By IANS
Hyderabad : For the first time in the world, scientists here have succeeded in artificial insemination of a black buck by non-invasive method, leading to the birth of a live fawn.
Scientists at the Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) of the prestigious Centre for Cellular Molecular Biology (CCMB) here are excited about their success.
Bacterial innards glimpsed for first time in 3-D
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists glimpsed a detailed version of a bacterial cell wall, how it is made up of thin layer of carbohydrate chains, linked by peptides, wrapped around the microbe like a belt.
This first-ever glimpse of the structure in 3-D, was made possible by new high-tech microscopy techniques that enabled the scientists to visualise these biological structures at nanometre scales.
Solar plane takes off for Hawaii from Japan
Tokyo : The Swiss-made solar-powered plane, Solar Impulse 2, on Monday started its second bid at a record-breaking flight across the Pacific Ocean.
According to...
Yahoo! reports loss but beats expectations
By DPA
San Francisco : Troubled Internet pioneer Yahoo! swung to a quarterly loss Tuesday because of severance pay and write downs on its European properties.
Despite recording a $303 million loss in the fourth quarter, the company's results beat expectations as its revenues and operating profit held up well in the dire economic climate.
Yahoo! paints rosy picture, partner thinks Microsoft will prevail
By IANS
New York : Yahoo! Inc looked to a bright future over the next three years to bolster its argument that it is worth more than what Microsoft Corp offered, but the moves by its Chinese partner underscore investor doubts that the web portal can stay independent.
Yahoo! forecast released in a regulatory filing was intended to convince investors that it has a bright future as an independent company, despite a series of recent struggles.
Iranian Scientists produce mouse using stem cells
By NNN-IRNA
Scientists of Iran’s Royan Research Center have successfully produced a mouse using embryonic stem cells.
Director of the center's stem cells group, Hossein Baharvand, said that in the next phase, the experts are expected to produce mice with specific characteristics by genetically changing the mouse embryonic stem cells.
"The mechanism could be used in studying the performance of a specific gene in a living body," Baharvand said.
Chandrayaan-I enters lunar orbit
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-I was Saturday put into lunar orbit at around 5.15 p.m., scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said here.
The spacecraft was successfully put into an elliptical orbit after complex manoeuvres.
"The liquid apogee motor on board the spacecraft was fired for about 805 seconds to put Chandrayaan-1 into an elliptical orbit with 7,500 km aposelene (farthest from moon) and 500 km pericelene (nearest to moon)," ISRO director S. Satish told IANS.
Nuclear art sleuths analyse cultural heritage
By DPA
Vienna : Fake or real? This is one of the questions that has been bugging art experts all over the globe for centuries. Help for art detectives comes from an unexpected quarter: the UN nuclear watchdog, usually better known for investigating a country's nuclear programme or weapons aspirations.
Earth more sensitive to CO2 than estimated
By IANS,
London : The earth's temperature may be 30 to 50 percent more sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) than has previously been estimated, says a new study.
The results show that components of the earth's climate system that vary over long timescales - such as land-ice and vegetation - have an important effect on this temperature sensitivity, but these factors are often neglected in current climate models.
Digital cameras: dealing with dust in DSLRs
By Jay Dougherty, DPA
Washington : In digital photography, dust is the enemy. It's especially true for owners of interchangeable lens digital cameras (DSLRs), the sales of which are growing faster than for any other type.
When dust gets inside the camera, it ends up on the sensor - the camera's main light-gathering chip - and can show up on your digital photographs as spots. Some of these spots are large, some small, some faint and some dark.
Finally, images of another solar system captured
By IANS,
Toronto : In one of the biggest breakthroughs in astronomy, Canadian, American and British astronomers have captured the images of another solar system for the first time.
Though more than 200 planets in other solar systems have been detected so far through indirect studies of their gravitational pull on their parent star, astronomers have failed to capture their images till this discovery.
Using powerful telescopes at the Mauna Kea Observatories in Hawaii, the astronomers captured the images of three huge planets orbiting around a sun known as HR8799.
Humans responsible for third of nitrogen in oceans
By IANS,
London : Human activity is responsible for a lot of the nitrogen finding its way into the sea from the atmosphere and influencing the nitrogen cycle, according to the latest findings by an international team of scientists.
The presence of nitrogen in the sea influences global climate as it increases marine biological activity and carbon dioxide uptake, which in turn produces the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide.
New tool detects impending quake 10 hours earlier
By IANS,
Washington : Seismologists, using ultra sensitive instruments, have detected minute changes that preceded small quakes along California's famed San Andreas fault by as much as 10 hours.
If follow-up tests show that such signal is widespread, then it could be the basis of a robust early warning system for impending quakes, said researchers.
Two more carriers offer pan-India number portability
New Delhi: Two more service providers will provide pan-India mobile number portability from Friday, enabling customers to retain their mobile phone number while relocating...
Google to sell e-books to challenge Amazon.com
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Seeking to find common ground with authors, who have complained about copyright violations through search services, Google plans later this year to begin distributing and selling e-books on behalf of its publishing partners.
"We've consistently maintained that we're committed to helping our partners find more ways to make their books accessible and available for purchase," Google spokesman Gabriel Stricker said Monday confirming the move first reported by the New York Times.
Fuzzy fiber strings could be sign of life on Mars
By Xinhua
Beijing : For years physicists have used the string theory in an attempt to provide a complete, unified, and consistent description of the fundamental structure of our universe. Now scientists think any plant-like microbes that existed on Mars a few billion years ago would have left behind a stringy fuzz of fibers.
Why? Because here on Earth, researchers say they have found such ancient fuzz, called cellulose, preserved in chunks of salt deposited more than 250 million years ago — making it the oldest biological substance yet recovered.
Pakistan may purchase military equipment from Russia
Washington : Pakistan might purchase weapons and military equipment from Russia and counts on cooperation with Moscow in the energy sphere, a senior...
From launch to landing – Indian moon mission’s journey
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first probe into moon landed on the lunar surface Friday night after riding on Chandrayaan-1, the country's first unmanned spacecraft to the moon, after travelling around 384,000 km in 24 days days after blasting off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh Oct 22.
Soon after the launch at 6.22 a.m. the spacecraft carrying 11 scientific payloads was put in an orbit of 22,860 km apogee (farthest point to the earth) and 225 km perigee (nearest point to the earth).
Robot pinpoints best locations for seafloor lab
By IANS,
Washington : Sentry, an unmanned submersible, operating on its own in harsh environments, has helped scientists pinpoint and finalise the best locations for two sites of a proposed pioneering seafloor lab.
Successful site selection is a vital step in developing an extensive sensor network above and below the seafloor on the Juan de Fuca Plate, according to John Delaney, University of Washington oceanographer and chief scientist for a two-week mapping expedition.
Astronauts complete final spacewalk
By Xinhua,
Washington : Two astronauts have completed their fifth and final spacewalk installing two cameras on Japan's Kibo laboratory at the International Space Station (ISS), the US space agency NASA said.
The spacewalk, conducted by Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn, lasted four hours and 54 minutes.
The astronauts performed an electrical cable swap and adjustment of insulation blankets on the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator.
Google 3D medical browser maps human body
By IANS,
London : Google has developed a new browser that maps the human body in detail.
How old is your oldest bulb? This one’s 70
By Asit Srivastava, IANS,
Lucknow : Seventy years old and still glowing. It's a light bulb, which has recently become the most prized possession of Lucknow resident Girish Chandra Gupta, who now aims to enter the record books, claiming to have a "rare bulb".
"It was only last month that I came to know the importance of the bulb after coming across an article in a Hindi daily," says Gupta, who runs a grocery shop from his small house located in a congested lane in the Hussainganj locality of this Uttar Pradesh capital.
Risk of autism linked with mercury emission: study
By IANS,
Washington : There is a significant link between mercury emissions and increased incidence of autism, according to latest research.
Researchers Raymond F. Palmer of the University of Texas, Stephen Blanchard of Our Lady of the Lake University and Robert Wood found that community autism prevalence is reduced by one to two percent with every 10 miles of distance from the pollution source.
"This is not a definitive study, but just one more that furthers the association between environmental mercury and autism," said Palmer.
German firms to collaborate with Andhra Pradesh in biotechnology
By IANS
Hyderabad : A high-level German delegation Saturday signed three agreements with the University of Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) for collaboration in the field of biotechnology.
Three Letters of Intents (LoIs) were signed in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy at his office here.
The LoIs were signed by the University of Hyderabad and BioM Biotech Cluster Development, Technologiepark Heidelberg GmbH and BioTOP Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany.
India hopes to send spacecraft to moon: PM
By IANS,
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said that India hopes to send a spacecraft to the moon this year and called it "an important milestone".
"This year we hope to send an Indian spacecraft, Chandrayan, to the moon. It will be an important milestone in the development of our space programme," he said on the occasion of India's independence day.
"I want to see a modern India, imbued by a scientific temper, where the benefits of modern knowledge flow to all sections of society," he added.
Scientists create living heart for dead rat
By IANS
New York : Scientists in the US have created an artificial rat heart using the cells of baby rats.
The breakthrough by researchers at the University of Minnesota offers hope that the day is not far when scientists will be able to create human hearts for transplant.
The researchers removed all the cells from a dead rat heart, leaving the valves and outer structure as scaffolding for new heart cells injected from newborn rats.
Now use eye movement to play computer games
By IANS,
London : In an invention that could go a long way in helping the disabled, students have developed a computer game that can be operated by eye movement.
The students, from Imperial College London (ICL), have developed an open source game called 'Pong', where a player uses his eye to move a bat to hit
a ball as it bounces around the screen.
To play the game, the user wears special glasses containing an infrared light and a webcam that records the movement of one eye. The webcam is
linked to a laptop where a computer programme syncs the player's eye movements to the game.