India poised to be major player in global satellite manufacturing
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : India can become a major player in the emerging small satellite manufacturing industry. The country's space agency has estimated a market potential of 50 satellites over the next decade, worth around $1.5 billion, says a space official.
Keeping this in mind, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has already formed a special team to manufacture small satellites.
ISRO will launch two such satellites in 2009 and 2010, both having overseas payloads.
RCom launches new search engine on mobile
By IANS,
New Delhi : Leading telecom service provider Reliance Communications (RCom) Thursday launched an information service called 'Quick Search'.
Powered by OnYoMo.com on Reliance Mobile World (R-World), the service includes information on banks, automated teller machines (ATMs), shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, cinema theatres, educational institutions, hospitals, blood banks, chemists and airline offices.
Toonz, Marvel tie up for second part of X-Men series
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Singapore-based animation major Toonz Entertainment Pte Ltd has tied up with Marvel Animation to produce the second part of the popular animated television series "Wolverine and the X-Men", a top official said here Tuesday.
Toonz Group chief executive P. Jayakumar said the company was thrilled to join hands with Marvel, a global leader in animated entertainment industry, to showcase "one of the most sought-after, iconic characters of all time".
China to launch 15 to 16 satellites in 2009: Official
By Xinhua,
Beijing : China plans to launch 15 to 16 satellites this year, an official said here Monday.
"Though the global financial crisis is taking a toll on the world economy, it has no impact on China's space programmes," said Zhang Jianqi, deputy chief commander of the manned space project.
Zhang said China is at present "batch-producing" three spacecraft - Shenzhou-8, Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10.
Scientists create metal that pumps liquid uphill like a tree
By IANS,
Washington : Trees draw vast amounts of water from their roots up to their leaves hundreds of feet above the ground through capillary action. But now University of Rochester scientists have created a simple slab of metal that lifts liquid using the same principle, but at a much faster speed.
The metal may prove invaluable in pumping microscopic amounts of liquid around a medical diagnostic chip, cooling a computer's processor, or turning almost any simple metal into an anti-bacterial surface.
Skies ready for triple eclipse
By IANS,
New Delhi : Commencing Tuesday, three eclipses - a lunar eclipse, a solar eclipse and another lunar - will take over the skies, a phenomenon which although experts say is not rare, will nevertheless be nature's grand spectacle.
On July 7, a penumbral lunar eclipse will occur as the moon rises over Australia and sets in western north and south America in the early pre-dawn hours, said C.B. Devgun, director of Science Popularization Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE).
The eclipse, however, will not be visible over India.
Indian device for cancer treatment gets EU certification
By IANS,
Bangalore : Cytotron, a device developed by the city-based medical technology firm Scalene Cybernetics for treatment of cancer and osteoarthritis, has received the European Union (EU) certification from Underwriters Laboratories, a worldwide independent product safety certification organisation.
The Conformity Europa (CE) certificate, a regulatory requirement for compliance, will enable Scalene to sell the 2,400 kilogram medical device to hospitals and institutes in European and other international markets.
Google, Microsoft ‘most discussed tech brands’ in India
By NNN-PTI,
New Delhi : Internet search giant Google and software major Microsoft are among the most discussed technology brands in India, dominating most of the online conversations, says a survey.
Topped by Google, the list of top 10 technology brands compiled by research firm Edelman, features Microsoft at the second spot while Yahoo! has cornered the third position.
Google and Microsoft secured about 20 per cent and 12 per cent of all monitored conversations respectively, according to Digital Brand Index (DBI) for India compiled by Edelman in collaboration with Brandtology.
Galileo’s fingers, tooth to be on display
By IANS/AKI,
Rome : Two of Galileo Galilei's fingers and a tooth will be among the objects on display at the opening of a museum in Florence named after the 17th century Italian mathematician and astronomer.
Closed for two years, the Museum of the History of Science will reopen Friday as the Galileo Museum.
People will be able to see the thumb and middle finger removed from Galileo's right hand in 1737, almost a century after his death as the corpse was being transferred to the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, where it remains today.
230-year-old champagne found off Finnish coast
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Bottles of world's oldest champagne, believed to have been made in 1780s, have been found in a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea off Finland's Aland archipelago.
"Approximately 70 bottles of exclusive champagne will be lifted from a 200-year-old shipwreck near (the island of) Foglo in the south of the Aland archipelago. The well-preserved bottles, which lie on the seabed at the depth of about 50 meters, are now being lifted to surface," Aland authorities said in a statement.
Iran eyes another satellite in space
By IANS,
Tehran : Iran plans to launch another satellite dubbed Sharif, designed by the students of one of its leading scientific institutions, an official said.
China to launch satellite for Pakistan
By IANS,
Beijing : China will launch a communications satellite for Pakistan at an "appropriate time", an official said Wednesday.
Facebook stops 600,000 hacking attempts daily
By IANS,
London : Social networking website Facebook has said it prevents at least 600,000 attempts every day by hackers trying to break into user accounts, using stolen usernames and passwords.
A mobile phone with a battery life of 15 years!
By IANS,
London: SpareOne's mobile phone comes with a battery life of 15 years, whether you charge it or not and is designed for emergencies.
Samsung unveils Galaxy S3 mini
By IANS,
Seoul: Samsung Electronics said Friday that it unveiled a new version of Galaxy S3 smartphone to better compete with Apple's newest smartphone iPhone5.
Obama win keeps NASA’s space plans on course
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Washington : The re-election of US president Barack Obama could mean one small step back to the moon and a giant leap to landing astronauts on Mars and asteroids.
Murthy kicks off Indo-US hackathon at Google
Bangalore: India's IT guru N.R. Narayanan Murthy Friday launched the first Indo-US hackathon, being held simultaneously at the campuses of global search engine Google...
Earth hit by 556 fiery asteroids in last 20 years: NASA
Washington : A new NASA map has revealed that over 556 asteroids smashed into the atmosphere over a 20-year period between 1994 and 2013,...
Google’s black ribbon tribute to Kalam
New Delhi : Google on Thursday paid tribute to former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, with a black ribbon on its homepage.
Kalam died...
Andhra signs MoU with TISS to improve students’ employability
Hyderabad: The government of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday signed an MoU with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to increase employability of students...
Iran ready to implement n-deal: Rouhani
Tehran: Iran is ready to start implementing the nuclear deal reached with the world powers in July, President Hassan Rouhani has said following its...
NASA says space shuttle repairs not needed
By RIA Novosti
Washington : There is no need to conduct repair work on the space shuttle Endeavour heat shield during the fourth spacewalk, scheduled for Aug 18, a NASA has said.
The damage to the heat shield occurred during Endeavour's launch Aug 8 when a small piece of insulating foam or ice from the shuttle fuel tank struck the spacecraft's underside shortly after lift off.
In 2007, CSIR has a vision for 2001!
By Prashant K. Nanda, IANS
New Delhi : The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India's oldest and largest scientific institution, has not just been headless for nine long months, but in 2007, to go by its website, it has a vision for 2001!
The vision document flashing on its website, the institute's global interface, says: "CSIR in 2001 would be a model organisation for scientific industrial research and path setter in the shifting paradigms of self financing research and development (R&D).
Russia claims 1.2 million km of Arctic
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russian scientists have claimed 1.2 million km of potentially energy-rich Arctic territory following preliminary research results released here Thursday.
"Preliminary results of an analysis of the Earth's crust show that the structure of the underwater Lomonosov mountain chain is similar to the world's other continental shelves, and the ridge is, therefore, part of Russia's landmass," the Russian Natural Resources Ministry said.
New Satellite to Save $500 Million for Africa
By Prensa Latina
Luanda : The launching of the first pan-African telecommunications satellite system into orbit next week will allow Africa to annually save $500 million.
The director of the Regional African Satellite Communication Organization (RascomStar), Fraj Lamari, told an Angolan radio station that the African continent's first pan-African telecommunications satellite system is similar to the US Intelsat and the European Eutelsat.
Astronauts make risky spacewalk to repair broken solar wing
By KUNA
Washington : US Astronauts made risky spacewalk outside the international space station on Wednesday to replace a broken motor needed to tilt a solar wing, clearing a major obstacle to the new module outpost.
During their seven-hour spacewalk Wednesday, Commander Peggy Whitson and fellow NASA astronaut Daniel Tani successfully replaced the broken motor at the base of one of the station's solar wings, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said on its website. It's unclear why the first motor failed.
ISRO’S Madhavan Nair awarded Chugani Memorial Award
By IANS
Mumbai : Eminent space scientist G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has been honoured with the M.M. Chugani Memorial Award of the Indian Physics Association for the year 2006.
Nair, secretary with department of space, will be presented the award March 18 by Ashok Misra, director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, the association said in a statement here Friday.
The award is given for excellence in applied physics and carries a citation, gold medal and cash prize of Rs.100,000.
First South Korean astronaut returns to earth
By Xinhua,
Moscow : The Russian Soyuz spacecraft with South Korea's first female astronaut Yi So-yeon aboard landed safely in the Kazakh steppe on Saturday, according to the Mission Control Center.
The spacecraft carrying Yi, U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko undocked with the International Space Station (ISS) and started trip home earlier Saturday.
The Soyuz capsule landed in the Kazakh steppe at 12:51 Moscow time (0851GMT), 20 minutes later than the planned time and 420 km from the planned landing site, the Misson Control said.
Parrot fossil found in Scandinavia
By IANS,
Washington : The discovery of a parrot fossil in Scandinavia dating back some 55 million years, indicates that they were once common in colder climes like Norway and Denmark.
Parrots today live only in the tropics and the southern hemisphere, but this new research suggests that they first evolved in the north, much earlier than had been suspected.
Living amid greens doesn’t make you exercise more
By IANS,
London : That nice neighbourhood park is apparently not all that inviting. A new study, in fact, contends that people with more greens around them walk and cycle less often and for shorter periods.
The Dutch study involved 5,000 people and sought answers to questions on physical activity and self-perceived health.
“In this study we investigated whether a green living environment encourages people to undertake physical activity,” said Jolanda Maas, who led the study.
Arabsat launches its BADR-6
By NNN-KUNA,
Riyadh : The Arab Satellite Communications Organisation (Arabsat) has announced that it will launch its BADR-6 satellite on July 4.
The BADR-6, manufactured by Astrium of France, will be launched by an Ariane 5 Rocket. It will take place in French Cayanne in South America.
Khalid Balkhyour, Arabsat president and CEO, disclosed Monday that the BADR-6 satellite is an Astrium Eurostar E2000 model and is a multipurpose communications satellite designed to serve the Arab world and neighbouring regions and countries.
Tourist spaceship prototype unveiled in Britain
By IANS,
London : The London Eye gives you a bird's eye-view of the city at 440 feet. How would you like to go higher, say, 440,000 feet?
A prototype of the craft you would ride for such a space venture was unveiled in Salford Tuesday. The rocket maker, Steve Bennett, says it is possible in the very near future for tourists to take a ride in outer space.
‘Photonic’ switching system to boost broadband speeds 100-fold
By IANS,
Sydney : Scientists have developed a new 'photonic' switching system that will boost broadband speeds up to a 100-fold.
The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) will ensure almost instantaneous, error-free and unlimited access to the Internet anywhere in the world, according to the Centre for Ultra-high Bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS).
Microsoft buys European shopping site for $486 mn
By DPA,
San Francisco : Hoping to boost its Internet power, Microsoft has bought Greenfield Online Inc, the owner of European price comparison site Ciao GmbH, for about $486 million, the company said in a statement.
The price of $17.50 a share represented a 1.4 percent premium over the previous closing price, but was 32 percent more than Greenfield was worth when it withdrew from a deal with Quadrangle Group LLC for $15.50 a share two weeks ago.
Stellar blast gamma ray was aimed at earth: NASA
By Xinhua,
Washington : Data from satellites and observatories around the globe show a jet from a powerful stellar explosion witnessed March 19 was aimed almost directly at the Earth, the US space agency NASA has reported.
NASA's Swift satellite detected the explosion - formally named GRB 080319B - and pinpointed its position in the constellation Bootes. The event, called a gamma-ray burst, became bright enough for human eyes to see.
Observations of the event are giving astronomers the most detailed portrait of a burst ever recorded.
Chandrayaan to orbit moon for two years
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : India's maiden lunar mission, the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft that launches Oct 22, will orbit about 100 km from the lunar surface for two years, performing remote sensing of the dark side or hidden portion of the moon to unravel its mysteries, scientists working on the project said.
About 500 space scientists are working round-the-clock to launch India's maiden lunar mission next week.
Finally, a microscope that can see an atom
By IANS,
Toronto : The planet's most advanced and powerful electron microscope, capable of looking at atoms, the tiniest object in the universe, has been installed at the new Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy at McMaster University.
"We are the first university in the world with a microscope of such a high calibre," said Gianluigi Botton, director of the Centre, professor of materials science and engineering and project leader.
Indian scientists learn from failed attempt to fertilise ocean
By K.S. Jayaraman, IANS,
Bangalore : Indian scientists recently carried out a controversial experiment in the ocean near Antarctica to get carbon dioxide captured from the air and stored in the sea. The experiment, meant to combat climate change, was a failure, but the scientists now say they learnt some valuable lessons.
The 75-day Indo-German experiment carried out amidst opposition from environmental groups has shown that dumping iron in the Southern Ocean does not help in capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) that is responsible for much of global warming.
Space shuttle Atlantis docks at ISS
By IANS,
Washington : US space shuttle Atlantis has docked at the International Space Station (ISS) Wednesday after nearly two days of journey.
Commander Charles Hobaugh steered the shuttle to a docking with the station at 1651 GMT, Xinhua reported quoting US space agency NASA.
Before the docking, Hobaugh maneuvered Atlantis through a backflip rotation to expose the heat shield to station flight engineers and photographers Jeffrey Williams and Nicole Stott.
India schedules auction of third generation telecom spectrum
By IANS,
New Delhi : India Wednesday announced the schedule for auctioning radio frequency spectrum to private players for third generation (3G) telephony, with the process due to begin Thursday by issuing a general notice to interested players.
The schedule calls for the process to end April 10. The government also said auction for spectrum for broadband services will also be held two days after the process concludes for 3G spectrum.
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.
Indian teen in Finland, bringing Facebook, Twitter closer
By Rahul Dass, IANS,
Helsinki : Want to know from your mobile phone where to hangout in Delhi or eat out in Beijing? Three teens in Finland, including one from India, are giving final touches to a system that integrates social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.
They are part of a team of 30 brainy teens who have come to Finland from 16 countries to take part in the week-long Millennium Youth Camp being held in a forested area, abutting a lake, about an hour's drive from capital Helsinki.
A cactus took 52 years to bloom
By IANS,
London : A British couple are elated after their cactus began to bloom - a good 52 years after it was planted.
John, 90, and his wife Barbara Long, 85, patiently waited all these years for the cactus to bloom. They had bought the plant in 1958.
The cactus is outside their home in Hitchin, and has reached a height of 10 feet. "I can't describe the excitement," The Sun quoted Barbara as saying.
Data from Chandrayaan moon mission to go public
By Bhargavi Kerur, IANS,
Bangalore : Voluminous scientific data, including rare images of the moon, from India's maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 will be made public by the year-end.
"People will have free access to the huge data obtained from our first moon mission on a web portal that will be launched by this year-end," a senior scientist of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS here.
Google 3D medical browser maps human body
By IANS,
London : Google has developed a new browser that maps the human body in detail.
NASA spacecraft becomes first to enter Mercury orbit
By IANS,
Washington : A NASA spacecraft, after over six years of space travel, has become the first to enter the orbit of Mercury, the agency said Friday.
Mini black holes could be passing through Earth
By IANS,
London : Space is littered with black holes that collapsing giant stars leave in their wake, but a miniature version could be passing through the Earth daily.
Russia launches military satellite
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia Monday launched a Soyuz-U carrier rocket with a Cosmos class military satellite on board, an official said.
Recreating planetary sounds from Mars, Venus
By IANS,
London : Scientists have for the first time recreated the sound of lightning and whirlwinds from Mars and Venus and also how we would hear human voices on their surface.
10 Russians found guilty of terrorism
By IANS,
Moscow : A group of 10 Russian teenagers were Thursday found guilty of terrorism, illegally making bombs, damaging property and humiliating people on the basis of race or nationality.
Cuba uses biotechnology to revive coffee industry
By IANS,
Havana: Cuban researchers are trying to revive the nation's wilting coffee production by using bio-technology, an expert said.
Indian scientists help save 131 trees in Cambodian temple
By Richa Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : Indian scientists have been successful in conserving 131 trees at the 800-year-old Ta Prohm temple in Cambodia, better known as 'Temple Tree'.
In Shanghai, call taxis through phone app
By IANS,
Shanghai: Taxis can now be called in China's business capital by just uploading the passenger's location on a smartphone app.
India successfully test fires exo-atmospheric missile interceptor
Bhubaneswar: India successfully test-fired for the first time an exo-atmospheric missile interceptor at a defence base in Odisha Sunday.
The missile operates outside the atmosphere...
India joins 5-nation project to build world’s biggest telescope
By Arun Kumar,
Washington : As a follow up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit, India has joined the US and three other countries...
Chandrayaan-2 to take off in 2017
New Delhi : India's second lunar probe, Chandrayaan-2, is planned to be launched in 2017, the parliament was told on Thursday.
"The Chandrayaan-2, India's second...
US not fixated on Iran answering queries on nuclear projects
Tehran: US Secretary of State John Kerry has acknowledged for the first time that a final nuclear deal would not require Iran to detail...
Round-the-world solar plane suspends flight
Geneva : The world's largest solar-powered aircraft, Solar Impulse 2, was forced to push back the second half of it's round-the-world flight to...
O, Texas clock boy’s family ! Stay put in U.S., use the moment as...
By Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood
The 13 year American Ahmad Mohamed, inventor of home-made clock with digital display, was expecting a pat on the back...
New WLAN technology still a work in progress
By DPA
Berlin : It once was a privilege only large companies could afford but now is part of even the most humble student accommodations: Wireless Local Area Networks, better known as WLAN.
Dogs to receive chip implant in Singapore
By DPA
Singapore : All dogs in Singapore will have to be implanted with a microchip enabling them to be traced back to their owners starting next month as part of a crackdown on irresponsible pet ownership.
Under measures unveiled by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), allowing man's best friend to run free without a licence will incur a fine of up to 5,000 Singapore dollars (about $330), a 10-fold hike from the current maximum.
Model predicts global warming will speed up after 2009
By Xinhua
Washington : Global warming will speed up in the next decade and at least half of the years after 2009 will be warmer than 1998, the warmest year on record, reported a UK team of scientists in their climate predictions.
The next-decade prediction results by scientists at Hadley Center for Climate Prediction and Research in the UK is published Thursday in the U.S. academic journal Science.
Russian astronauts to Moon by 2025: official
By Xinhua
Moscow : Russia will send astronauts to the Moon by 2025 and establish a permanent station there between 2028 and 2032, a senior official said here Friday.
Russia, which sent the first cosmonaut to the space in 1961, has forged a long-range blueprint for its space industry up to 2040, said Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos).
Making IT play knight in shining armour
By IANS
New Delhi : Can the computer enter the home and the street in a way that helps minimise violence against women? An initiative from Sri Lanka believes that information and communication technology (ICT) can do just that.
The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) has awarded a grant to the Centre for Women and Development for a project to use technology to document violence against women in the north of the country via a database.
Clouds, fog hide meteor shower view in Delhi
By IANS
New Delhi : A rare celestial event, the Geminid meteor shower, was visible across most of India Friday night, but sadly the grand annual celestial spectacle could not be seen in Delhi due to a cloudy and foggy sky.
"Not only Delhi, but places like Mumbai and other northern Indian cities will not view this development properly. Sky watchers in the capital will miss out the event due mainly to fog, clouds and light pollution (excessive city lights)," Nehru Planetarium director R. Rathnasree told IANS.
Beetle ancestors 70 mln years older than dinosaurs
By Xinhua
Beijing : Researchers have discovered that when it comes to longevity dinosaurs can't hold a candle when compared to beetles.
Prior to the latest study, beetle species were thought to have begun scurrying around some 140 millions years ago, about the same time as the rise of flowering plants.
Prior to the latest study, beetle species were thought to have begun scurrying around some 140 millions years ago, about the same time as the rise of flowering plants.
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.
Russia delays Norwegian telecoms satellite launch till Feb. 11
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : The launch of a Russian carrier rocket with a Norwegian telecoms satellite has been delayed until February 11, Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said in Sunday.
The launch of a Proton-M rocket with a Thor-5 satellite from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan was originally planned for February 10 but subsequently delayed until 2:34 p.m. Moscow time (11:34 a.m. GMT) February 11 due to technical problems, Roscosmos said.
Soviet space shuttle Buran cruises Rhine for final home
By Xinhua
Beijing : Former Soviet space shuttle Buran is now on its last mission. But different from its U.S. equivalents soaring into the sky, the retired aircraft is gliding up the Rhine river on three barges at bicycle speed.
The bizarre sight of the 36 meter-long, black and white shuttle, which weighs nearly 100 tonnes, attracted sightseers in Germany Monday and gained publicity for at the museum which is to be its final home.
U.S. space shuttle Discovery moved to launch pad
By Xinhua,
Washington : The U.S. space shuttle Discovery rolled out to its Florida launch pad early Saturday, awaiting for the upcoming flight late May, according to NASA.
"The launch of Discovery on the STS-124 mission is targeted for May 31," NASA announced after the shuttle moved to its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.
Online applications can lead to first job
By Rebecca Mueller, DPA,
Stuttgart : Applying for a job used to be expensive what with the costs of printing CVs, buying special binders and then the costs of posting it. The first step into professional life quickly proved expensive and time-consuming.
Nowadays, the Internet has the process simpler. Job applicants can scan job openings quickly and efficiently online and contact potential employers by e-mail. Nonetheless, online applications have their own risks for people just starting their career.
Robot goalkeeper better than the Bundesliga’s human goalies
By DPA,
Stuttgart (Germany) : A robotic goalkeeper is better than human keepers in Germany's football Bundesliga, its inventors boasted Monday as they demonstrated the computer-controlled device, Goalias, to the media.
Players from first-division side VfB Stuttgart, including Germany team player Mario Gomez, tried last week to outwit Goalias, shooting indoors at a full-size goal mouth from 11 metres out. Scientists have since fine-tuned Goalias.
Interstellar dust darkens the universe
By Xinhua,
Beijing : The universe is dustier than previously thought, which is why astronomers now suggest it is twice as bright as it appears.
Astronomers have known about interstellar dust for a while, but they haven't been able to quantify just how much light it blocks. Now a team of researchers has studied a catalogue of galaxies and found that dust shields roughly 50 percent of their light.
NASA Destroys Rocket after Launch Failure
By SPA,
Washington : The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said it destroyed an unmanned suborbital rocket shortly after a launch failure early Friday from an island off the Virginia coast.
There were no injuries or property damage, NASA said in a statement, but the agency warned that debris from the explosion could be dangerous. NASA believes most of the wreckage fell into the Atlantic Ocean off the Virginia coast.
The rocket, made by Alliant Tech Systems, was carrying two experiments. NASA said it is investigating why the rocket failed.
Indian spacecraft will try to unravel moon’s origins
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : India's lunar explorer, Chandrayaan-1, will try to unravel the moon's origins as it scouts for minerals and water there, according to project director M. Annadurai.
When Chandrayaan is launched Oct 22 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, about 80 km from Chennai, it will boost international space cooperation by carrying 11 scientific devices, six of them from European and American organisations, to study the earth's nearest celestial neighbour while it orbits 100 km above the moon.
Moon mission, a great event for India: Abdul Kalam
By IANS,
Hyderabad : Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Tuesday said the launch of India's maiden unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-1 was a great event for the country.
"What I am looking for is a great event. It is a very important day. India lacks payload and it is going to land its payload on the moon," he said during a brief chat with reporters on the sidelines of the first world congress on disaster management here.
"It will take eight to 10 days (for landing of payload on moon)," he added.
Single solar flare releases destructive equivalent of 100 mn H-bombs
By DPA,
Washington : A solar flare can release the destructive equivalent of a 100 million hydrogen bombs, obliterating everything in its neighbourhood, including every single atom, according to scientists.
"We've detected a stream of perfectly intact hydrogen atoms shooting out of an X-class solar flare," said Richard Mewaldt of the California Institute of Technology.
"If we can understand how these atoms were produced, we'll be that much closer to understanding solar flares," he added.
Chandrayaan II design complete
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Wednesday said the design for Chandrayaan II has been completed and it will be launched by 2012.
"The designs for Chandrayaan II have been completed and we hope to launch it by 2012," ISRO chairperson G. Madhavan Nair told reporters here on the sidelines of a function organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to felicitate the Chandrayaan I team.
The Chandrayaan II project is slated to land a small rover on the moon's surface and collect and analyse samples, he said.
How does news ebb and flow globally?
By IANS,
Washington : As more and more news appears on the internet as well as in print, it becomes possible to map the global flow of news by observing it online. Using this strategy, computer scientists have managed to track and analyze the "news cycle" -- the way stories rise and fall in popularity.
Jon Kleinberg, professor of computer science at Cornell University, Jure Leskovec and Lars Backstrom tracked 1.6 million online news sites, including 20,000 mainstream media sites and a vast array of blogs.
IT connect to help police speed up probe
By IANS,
New Delhi: The government has cleared a project to interconnect 14,000 police stations and 6,000 police officers across the county for speedy investigation of crime and detection of criminals in real time, parliament was informed Wednesday.
British eclipse chaser robbed, still leaves Taregna smiling
By IANS,
Patna : Peter Toby, who had come to Bihar's Taregna village from Britain to watch the century's longest solar eclipse, lost his passport, money and all other valuables but still left with a smile after getting unexpected help from a priest who had given him shelter in his school.
The London-based computer programmer was unhappy Wednesday morning as thick clouds hid the celestial spectacle that he had come so far to see. He was in for further disappointment when he returned to his room at the St. Mary School.
ISRO aircraft takes satellite images to trace YSR
By IANS,
Hyderabad : A low-flying aircraft of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) late Wednesday took pictures of Nallamalla forest area where the helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was last seen before it went missing.
Finance Minister K. Rosaiah told reporters that the low-flying aircraft belonging to ISRO had taken 41 satellite imagery pictures. Authorities hope to get some clues about the missing chopper from there images.
Tiny dinosaur tailor-made for running discovered
By IANS,
London : Scientists have discovered a tiny dinosaur tailor-made for running, according to a new Chinese-Canadian-British study.
The fossil skeleton of the tiny animal, named Xixianykus Zhangi, is incomplete but would probably have been half-a-metre long. The specimen comes from Xixia County in Henan province, China.
NASA extends Discovery mission
By DPA,
Washington : The US space agency NASA Saturday extended by one day space shuttle Discovery's mission at the International Space Station.
The move was made to allow an inspection of Discovery's heat shield while the craft is still docked at the International Space Station.
Discovery is now slated to land at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida April 19 at 8:54 am (1824 IST).
The inspection has been standard procedure since the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated on reentry into the Earth's atmosphere in 2003 after its heat shield was damaged.
Scientists design chip 20 times faster than current PCs
By IANS,
London : Scientists have created an ultra-fast computer chip which is 20 times faster than current desktop computers.
Scientists trigger 52 downpours in Abu Dhabi desert
By IANS,
London : Scientists triggered 52 downpours last year in Abu Dhabi's eastern Al Ain region using technology designed to control weather.
Earth is twice as dusty as in 19th century
By IANS,
Washington : If your house seems dustier than usual, it may have nothing to do with your housekeeping skills.
UFO seen at China airport
By IANS,
Beijing : Air traffic at an airport in China was restricted for about an hour after a UFO was spotted over it, media reports said Thursday.
Earth-sized planets found beyond solar system
By IANS,
Washington : NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-sized planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system, the US space agency has announced.
New earthquake model reveals full fault segment
Washington : Researchers from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed the first computer model of an earthquake-producing fault segment that reproduces the available...
PM greets citizens on National Technology Day
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday greeted the people on National Technology Day and said the use of technology should be...
A device to ‘hear’ what they can’t see
By IANS
Agra : A group of IT students here have developed a device that can enable the blind to hear what they cannot see or read.
Called 'E-Netra', it costs Rs.2,000-3,000 and it reads texts through an embedded system and converts them into voice that can be heard through earphones.
Right now it can only read text, but later it is likely to pick up prints in Braille script.
The Agra College team that took six months to develop the device and the software to go with it was led by R.K. Sharma and included his assistants Karan, Mayank, Akshat, Khalid and Jitendra.
Sony presents new Vaio notebooks
By DPA
Berlin : Sony will present its new FZ series of Vaio notebooks which includes four machines for home use as well as a model designed for business use in the next weeks, the company said.
Big and thin: PC monitors better than ever
By DPA
Berlin : Chunky, heavy tube monitors appear to have reached the end of their long run as the king of the computer workspace. A hefty competition is under way among flat monitors. The goal: bigger, broader and more handsome.
"Seventeen-inch monitors are already becoming extinct, and 19 inch has become the standard," says Dirk Lorenz from the German consumer-testing organisation Stiftung Warentest in Berlin.
As monitors get bigger, more of them come in wide screen format. That means a 16:10 size ratio instead of the old fashioned 4:3 ratio.
Simplicity will drive IT growth: Michael Dell
By IANS
New Delhi : Simplicity will drive the growth of global industry by enabling cost reductions and creation of new systems, Dell chairman and CEO Michael Dell maintained Tuesday.
Infosys chief S. Gopalakrishnan couldn't agree with him more while participating in a session on "Innovation and Disruption: The CEO View" at the Fortune Global Forum here Tuesday.
Dell said: "With legacy costs and inflexibility built into the system, we now need to simplify to reduce costs and to create new systems.
It takes peanuts to clean water
By IANS
London : Peanut husk, one of the largest waste products of the food industry, may be of some use after all -- it can help improve water quality, says a new study.
According to researchers at Turkey's Mersin University, peanut husk can be used to extract toxic copper ions from wastewater, offering a useful alternative to simple disposal of this food industry by-product.
Findings of the study have been published in the latest edition of the International Journal of Environment and Pollution.
Nuclear power answer to fresh water shortage
By IANS
Mumbai : By 2025, an estimated 3.5 billion people will live in areas facing severe water shortages -- and providing them potable water would be a challenge that may be best met by nuclear-powered desalination.
This was one of the solutions presented at the recent Trombay Symposium on Desalination and Water Reuse here.
This and other solutions discussed at the symposium have been published in a special issue of the International Journal of Nuclear Desalination.
Giant sea scorpion fossil found
By IANS
London : A giant fossilised claw of an ancient sea scorpion has been found in Germany, and scientists believe the scorpion itself was some 2.5 metres long -- much taller than the average man.
The find, from rocks 390 million years old, suggests that spiders, insects, crabs and similar creatures were much larger in the past than previously thought.
World’s first cloned, glowing rabbit to reproduce soon
By Xinhua
Shanghai(China) : Chinese scientists are expecting the world's first cloned rabbit will be able to reproduce in three months.
The genetically-modified cloned rabbit, born in a hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University's medical school Sep 14, glows green under a fluoroscope, a result of being injected with special genes. Scientists hope this special trait will be transferred to the rabbit's offspring.
NASA probe flies by Mercury in 1st visit since 1975
By Xinhua
Beijing : NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft on Monday flew within 200 kilometers above the surface of Mercury, making the first pass of the planet since 1975, media reported.
The car-sized probe traveled at about 25,800 kilometers miles per hour as it passed over Mercury on a mission designed to resolve some of the mysteries about the solar system's innermost planet, officials said.
Beijing : NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft on Monday flew within 200 kilometers above the surface of Mercury, making the first pass of the planet since 1975, media reported.
The car-sized probe traveled at about 25,800 kilometers miles per hour as it passed over Mercury on a mission designed to resolve some of the mysteries about the solar system's innermost planet, officials said.
Robot scribe copies the Bible as a performance art event
By DPA
Karlsruhe (Germany) : After seven months of writing day and night, a robot in Germany clutching a fountain pen has completed a "manuscript" Bible in cursive handwriting.
The exercise was a piece of performance art by the Centre for Art and Media in the German city of Karlsruhe, which uses state funds to explore new art ideas.
The machine, dubbed "Bios (Bible)", began copying the Bible in June onto a 900-metre-long roll of paper, with its arm forming each letter with the pen after all 66 books of scripture had been loaded into its memory.
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.
Vietnam’s first satellite successfully launched after 13-year preparation
By Thai Thanhvan, Xinhua,
Hanoi : After 13 years of unceasing efforts, Vietnam's first satellite was successfully launched Saturday, ushering a new era for the local information communication technology industry.
The 2.6-ton medium-sized satellite, Vinasat-1, was successfully launched to its geostationary orbit position using rocket Ariane-5in Kourou site in French Guiana at 5:16 a.m. Saturday (2016 GMT Friday).
E-mail etiquette: A matter of survival
By Jay Dougherty, DPA,
Washington : Business people send out some six trillion e-mail messages each year, according to US-based Ferris Research. That's probably not much of a surprise to most office workers today, who have seen e-mail usurp meetings and face-to-face conversations as a primary form of communication.
Scientist cautions against genetic testing
By IANS,
Washington : A scientist has warned compatriots against rushing into genetic testing in the hope of making revolutionary improvements.
"Advances being made in genomics are important discoveries, but it's unrealistic for individuals to believe those advances can yield meaningful information that will improve their health," said James P. Evans, of University of North Carolina.
Discovery astronauts begin spacewalk for ISS work
By DPA,
Washington : Two astronauts from the Discovery space shuttle began a spacewalk Sunday to carry out further work on the International Space Station (ISS).
Discovery astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan were set to spend more than six hours installing a new nitrogen tank on the ISS and to carry out further work installing a robot arm on the Japanese module Kibo.
It is the third and final spacewalk scheduled during the current 14-day Discovery mission.
Exciton-based circuits to enable faster computing
By IANS,
Washington : Particles called excitons that emit a strong pulse of energy as they decay could soon enable a new and faster mode of computing, according to a study.
Transistors - the building blocks for all electronic devices - use electrons to ferry signals needed for computation. But almost all computation devices use light, or photons, to send signals.
The need to convert the signalling language from electrons to photons limits the speed of electronic devices.
Study finds cockroaches not so resilient after all
By IANS,
Washington : A single dose of an insecticide can kill three generations of cockroaches for good as they feed off one another and transfer poison, according to a study.
A pest control bait will remain effective when it's transferred twice after the first killing dose, said Grzegorz Buczkowski of Purdue University, who led the study.
"Our findings are exciting because cockroaches are difficult to control since they multiply so rapidly," Buczkowski said. "They are especially bad in urban housing, and they can cause health problems."
Phoenix lander finds water on Mars
By DPA,
Washington : The Phoenix Mars mission has found water in a soil sample after spending the last two months examining the red planet for evidence that it could support life, NASA scientists said Thursday.
The spacecraft's robotic arm has dug several trenches in the Martian soil near the planet's north pole and been heating soil samples in a series of small "ovens."
It had earlier spotted chunks outside the rover that scientists had identified as ice, but data sent back by the most recent soil sample for the first time showed water inside Mars' dirt, researchers said.
US space shuttle Endeavour lands in California
By Xinhua,
Los Angeles : US space shuttle Endeavour landed in California Sunday afternoon after a 16-day trip, as unfavourable weather conditions in Florida prevented the shuttle from landing in its home base in Cape Canaveral.
Residents across Southern California heard the twin booms around 1.25 p.m. (2125 GMT), when Endeavour broke the sound barrier under the sunny sky as it was gliding into local airspace en route to Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles.
To understand dolphins, scientists turn their language into pictures
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have turned into images the sounds that dolphins make in water, bringing humans closer to deciphering their language.
The key to this technique is the CymaScope, a new instrument that reveals detailed structures within sounds, allowing their architecture to be studied pictorially.
Using high definition audio recordings of dolphins, the research team, headed by British acoustics engineer John Stuart Reid and Florida-based dolphin researcher Jack Kassewitz, has been able to image, for the first time, the imprint that a dolphin sound makes in water.
Marine algae most promising bet for green fuel
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists see marine algae as the most promising bet for a green fuel that would help ease the dependence on fossil fuel and power vehicles of the future.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of Californa San Diego (UCSD), scientists along with their counterparts from its division of biological sciences are part of an emerging algal biofuel consortium that includes academic collaborators, CleanTECH, public and private partners.
NASA reschedules shuttle launch for Sunday night
By DPA,
Washington : The US space agency NASA was confident that the repeatedly delayed launch of the space shuttle Discovery would lift off Sunday night for a mission to the International Space Station.
The launch was scheduled for 7.43 p.m. (2343 GMT) Sunday from the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Discovery will have seven astronauts on board, including Japanese crew member Koichi Wakata, who is slated to join the permanent crew on the orbiting space station.
Why fundamental scientific research has not caught on in India
By Narayanan Suresh, IANS,
This can happen only in India! Even as the nation continues to celebrate the success of Chandrayaan, the country's first space mission to moon, this is not something one of the seniormost scientists in India, Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao, is particularly thrilled about.
NASA’s Mars rover Spirit begins new chapter
By IANS,
Washington : After six years of unprecedented exploration, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit will no longer be a fully mobile robot.
NASA has designated the once-roving scientific explorer a stationary science platform after efforts during the past several months to free it from a sand trap were unsuccessful.
The venerable robot's primary task in the next few weeks will be to position itself to combat the severe Martian winter.
Microsoft issues emergency flaw fix
By DPA,
San Francisco : Microsoft issued an emergency patch Monday to correct a critical Windows bug that had allowed attackers to gain control of infected machines via program shortcuts.
Microsoft usually issues patches to fix software flaws just once a month. But the seriousness of the bug forced the software giant to issue an emergency patch outside the normal schedule.
Widely publicized last month, the flaw was used to attack industrial control systems in manufacturing and utility control systems via the so-called Stuxnet worm.
Vast solar system detected 127 light years away
By IANS,
London : A vast solar system orbiting a sun-like star has been detected 127 light years from the earth.
The planetary system is believed to be the largest ever found beyond the sun.
Astronomers have confirmed the presence of five planets and have tantalising evidence of two more, reports the Telegraph.
The distance of the planets from their parent star follows a regular pattern, similar to that seen in our own solar system. The study is scheduled for publication in the journal Astronomy And Astrophysics.
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.
Microsoft unveils voice activated Xbox Kinect
By IANS,
London : If you are always searching for your remote or running out of batteries, Kinect is just the thing for you as it allows you to play computer games without the handset.
Software to give 3d image of looks post-plastic surgery
By IANS,
Washington : A new software, based on real clinical data, will give patients a more accurate 3D before-and-after picture, before the scalpel comes down in a cosmetic surgery.
AMU may get Indo-US energy centre
By IANS,
Aligarh: The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) may soon host the Indo-US energy centre.
ISRO short of 230 scientists
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is short of 230 scientists and engineers, the Lok Sabha was told Wednesday.
US launches spy satellite
By IANS,
Washington : The US Wednesday launched a spy satellite into space.
Apple share tops $700 on iPhone 5 success
By IANS,
New York: Apple's stocks closed higher than $700 per share for the first time after Tuesday's trading, as orders for its new iPhone 5 hit a new record.
Asteroid 2012 DA14 passes by Earth
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The massive 2012 DA14 asteroid came closest to the Earth late Friday and is now heading away from the planet, Russian astronomers said.
Cyber attack targeted Chinese citizens with US links: Report
Washington: The massive cyber attack, which was revealed last week and which compromised information on up to four million US federal employees, sought data...
India to have 1.4 bn mobile subscribers by 2020: Report
New Delhi: India will have at least 1.4 billion mobile subscribers by 2020, resulting in a population penetration of 100 percent, says a report...
Strong demand for IT services, says Wipro’s Premji
Bengaluru: There was a strong demand for IT services in Europe and the US where the economy gained a lot of strength, Wipro chairman...
US pulls Patriot missile systems from Turkey
Ankara : The US has decided to withdraw its border protection mission in Turkey which was deployed against possible threats from Syria, a...
Outpacing India, Pakistan may get 3rd largest nuclear arsenal: Report
By Arun Kumar
Washington : Far outpacing India in the development of nuclear warheads, Pakistan could have at least 350 nuclear weapons within a...
Intoto releases security software for SME market
By IANS
Hyderabad : US-based Intoto, a leading provider of security software, Tuesday announced the beta release of IntruPro IPS, an enterprise-class intrusion prevention system.
Himachal roadways starts 3D online booking
By IANS
Shimla : The Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) has become the first state roadways in the country to provide three dimensional (3D) secure online booking and cancellation facilities, transport officials said Saturday.
Supercomputer cracks Rubik’s Cube in 26 moves
By IANS
New York : A month after checkers was solved by a supercomputer, the machines have an answer to the Rubik's Cube too. A high-speed machine at Northeastern University, Boston, has proved that any of the cubes - no matter how intangible they look - can be properly aligned within just 26 moves.
Till now, the best way to crack the Rubik's Cube was in 27 moves. But Dan Kunkle and Prof Gene Cooperman at Northeastern University believe that with more work they could push the count even lower.
India’s first high-security lab on infectious organisms coming up
By K.S. Jayaraman, IANS
Bangalore : After debating for over two years, the Indian government has approved construction of the country's first high-security facility for handling and doing research with highly infectious organisms causing diseases in humans.
"The government has sanctioned Rs.1 billion ($25.4 million) for establishing the Biosafety Level-4 (BSL-4) facility," Lalji Singh, director of Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), told IANS. Singh had mooted the proposal in 2005.
Biogas – from your kitchen, in your backyard
By V. Vijayalakshmi, IANS
Pune : Think twice before you dump that banana peel or spinach stem into the bin. That and more waste from your kitchen can be converted into biogas to supplement your energy needs -- that too in your own backyard.
Anand Karve, director of the Pune-based Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI), tells you how.
Zenit rocket to orbit Israeli satellite in March
By RIA Novasti
Moscow : The launch of a modified Zenit rocket to put an Israeli communications satellite into orbit has been scheduled for March 2008, a Baikonur space center official said on Friday.
Russia started preparations for the launch of a Zenith-3SLB rocket with an Israeli AMOS-3 satellite on board from the space center in Kazakhstan in October last year.
"For the first time, a three-stage Zenit rocket will be launched from this [Baikonur] space center," Oleg Urusov said.
ISRO launches Israeli satellite
By IANS
Sriharikota : Israeli satellite Polaris was successfully launched by India's space agency ISRO from this launch centre in southern Andhra Pradesh Monday morning.
"The Israeli satellite was launched at 0915 hours using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)," a top official of the Indian Space Research Organisation told IANS over phone from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, about 80 km north of the Tamil Nadu capital Chennai.
"It was a perfect launch in fine weather," the official added.
The satellite has a payload of 340 kg.
Pakistani Scientist invents world’s lowest profile antenna
By SPA
Islamabad : A Pakistani scientist working at the Institute of Space Technology has invented the world's lowest profile omni-directional antenna with dual polarization that does not require a ground plane.
Dr. Muhammad Amin listed in biographical directory published by Marquis "Who's Who in the World" of the year 2008 has invented the antenna that has adequate signal strength.
The antenna can generate equal vertical and horizontal electric field components and has a helical shape with feed at the centre of the helical section of one side.
Frog fossil in Madagascar big as bowling ball
By Xinhua
Beijing : U.S. scientists' finding of a frog fossil with the size of a bowling ball in Madagascar provides evidence for competing theories that some bridge still connected South America with Africa about 70 million years ago, perhaps via an Antarctica that was much warmer than today, media reported Tuesday.
Beijing : U.S. scientists' finding of a frog fossil with the size of a bowling ball in Madagascar provides evidence for competing theories that some bridge still connected South America with Africa about 70 million years ago, perhaps via an Antarctica that was much warmer than today, media reported Tuesday.
Meteor to strike Earth likely disintegrates in sky
By Xinhua
Beijing : U.S. scientists said a meteor expected to strike the Earth likely disintegrated in the sky, media reported Friday.
Some witnesses account a meteor that streaked across the Pacific Northwest skies hit the ground southwest of Ritzville in central Washington, sending local officials on a fruitless hunt for the crater.