NASA plans to put man on Mars b 2037
By Fakir Balaji, IANS
Hyderabad : The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to put man on Mars by 2037, a top official of the US space agency said here Monday.
"We are planning many missions. Our long-term game-plan is to put man on Mars by 2037, so that by 2057, when the International Aeronautical Congress (IAC) holds its centenary, we should be celebrating the 20th year of putting man on the red planet," NASA administrator Michael Griffin told the delegates at the first plenary of the 58th IAC on the inaugural day.
Space station opens to Tranquility and its picture window
By DPA,
Washington: Astronauts Saturday opened the hatch to the space station's newest room - the Italian-built Tranquility node that will eventually offer a six-sided picture window on space.
NASA television showed the space station and Endeavour shuttle astronauts moving around the opened hatch, through which they installed an airflow system and exercise equipment into the new room. They were also taking dust samples from Tranquility.
PM gives excellence awards to scientists, technologists
By IANS,
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday gave away the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards to 21 scientists, institutions and to Mahindra and Mahindra for their flagship vehicle Scorpio.
The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards for 2007 went to 11 scientists, including Narayanaswamy Srinivasan of Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science for his contributions in the area of computational genomics.
Researchers locate ‘lost’ Greek town
By IANS
Washington : Along an isolated, rocky stretch of the Greek shoreline, researchers are unlocking the secrets of a partially submerged "lost" harbour town, possibly built by the ancient Mycenaeans nearly 3,500 years ago.
The settlement, referred to as Korphos-Kalamianos, rests on the shores of the Saronic Gulf in the western Aegean Sea about 60 miles to the southwest of the Greek capital, Athens, reports ScienceDaily.
Wireless spectrum assessment to be over by September
By IANS
Chennai : The assessment of the availability of the wireless spectrum for communication services is likely to be over by the first week of September, IT and Communications Minister A. Raja said here Thursday.
Raja was speaking on the sidelines of a function to inaugurate global computer giant IBM's sixth global delivery centre in India, to be housed in Chennai.
He said once the defence ministry freed some of the spectrum it held, his ministry would be able to provide more communication depth.
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.
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.
Endeavour returns to Earth after 17-day mission
By DPA,
Washington: The space shuttle Endeavour landed at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida Friday carrying a seven-member crew of US, Canadian and Japanese astronauts.
The landing at 1448 GMT marked the end of the 17-day mission that saw the completion of the Japanese laboratory on the International Space Station (ISS).
The Endeavour brought an external platform to the station that was installed on the Japanese Kibo laboratory during the first of the mission's five spacewalks. The porch will expose experiments to the extremities of space.
Supercomputer helps design drugs faster
By IANS
Sydney : A supercomputer is helping speed up the design of new drugs manifold, doing away with cumbersome, time-consuming procedures.
The results are as accurate as those obtained from the lab, saving time and resources, besides calculating the desired 'redox' potential of drugs much faster than existing methods.
The 'redox' potential is the ability of drug molecules to exchange electrons, which determine how powerfully they can act on the body, said researcher Mansoor Namazian of Australian National University (ANU).
New web resource aims to help Asia’s youth avoid internet dangers
By SPA
Singapore : The Business Software Alliance (BSA) launched an educational Web resource on Tuesday to help youths across Asia understand and avoid the many risks they face on the internet.
According to DPA "The internet has spawned a new generation of youths who spend significant amounts of time in cyberspace, where they are exposed to illegal or unwholesome content, or are lured into unlawful activities," said Jeffrey Hardee, BSA's Vice President for the Asia-Pacific region.
World’s largest particle collider suffers setback
By Xinhua,
Geneva : The world's most powerful particle collider built for the multi-billion dollar 'Big Bang' experiment to unearth the secrets of cosmos has suffered a new problem and will be out of action for at least two months, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has said.
CERN, the operator of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), said Saturday the incident occurred at mid-day Friday, resulting in a large helium leak into the tunnel containing the LHC, which was started with great fanfare earlier this month.
Facebook reunites Indonesian siblings after 35 years
By DPA,
Jakarta : An Indonesian woman found a brother who had been missing for more than three decades through the popular social networking site Facebook, a report said Tuesday.
Nurlianti Dehi was separated from her elder brother Anton in 1974 when he left their hometown in Central Sulawesi province for neighbouring North Sulawesi, according to the online edition of the Media Indonesia daily.
Anton maintained contact with his family for the first two years but later cut off communication completely, she told the newspaper.
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.
DRDO moves to stem exodus of scientists
By Ritu Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : Hit by an exodus of key scientists, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is moving to get its act together with the defence ministry permitting it to hire scientists on contract. The step may help in cutting short the gestation period of many of its projects.
DRDO has been hit by a talent crunch with a large number of scientists leaving for plum packages in the corporate world.
Microsoft rules out new takeover bid for Yahoo
By DPA,
San Francisco : Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Wednesday ruled out a new takeover bid for troubled web portal Yahoo, but stressed that the software giant was still interested in partnering with Yahoo on search-related products.
Iran tests sounding rocket, unveils first homemade satellite
By RIA Novosti
Tehran/Moscow : Iran successfully launched on Monday a sounding rocket as a preliminary step toward sending its first homemade research satellite into orbit, national media said.
Iran's state television earlier reported that Iranian scientists had built the Omid (Hope) research satellite under a project that took 10 years to complete. The satellite was unveiled on Monday during an official ceremony and may be launched by March 2009.
Astronauts remove faulty pump outside ISS
By DPA,
Washington : Two US astronauts successfully removed a stubborn cooling pump outside the International Space Station (ISS) Wednesday.
Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson returned to the station after their 7-hour-26-minute spacewalk, where they were confined a bit longer in a secure airlock to make sure no dangerous ammonia had clung to their spacesuits.
China criticised for serving dog meat to astronauts
By DPA,
Hong Kong : A Hong Kong-based animal welfare charity Thursday criticised China's space programme for serving dog meat to its astronauts.
Yang Liwei, China's first man in space, revealed in his recent autobiography that dog meat was included in the special diet for astronauts preparing for missions.
The Hong Kong-based charity Animals Asia Thursday hit out at the revelation by Yang, who made history when he orbited earth in the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft in October 2003.
U.S., Japan to conduct joint research on sonic boom modeling
By Xinhua,
Washington : NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) intend to conduct joint research on sonic boom modeling, the U.S. federal space agency announced Thursday.
Sonic Boom is the shocks caused by the supersonic flight of an aircraft. Sonic booms can generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding a lot like an explosion.
There is ‘contemporary’ life on Mars: leading space scientist
By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS,
London : A leading international space scientist says there is now clear evidence of life on Mars but that American authorities are hesitating from announcing it for political reasons.
"The discovery of liquid water on Mars combined with earlier discoveries of organic substances in a meteorite that came from Mars, and also of methane in the Martian atmosphere all point to the existence of life - contemporary life - on the Red Planet," said Chandra Wickramasinghe, a globally renowned astrobiologist.
New force-field to make Mars space trip possible
By IANS,
London : 'Space weather', comprising solar radiation and cosmic rays, poses the single biggest hurdle to man's trip to Mars.
However, latest research shows how advances in fusion research may reduce the threat to acceptable levels, making man's first Mars mission a much greater possibility.
Solar energetic particles, although part of 'cosmic rays' spectrum, are causing the greatest concern because they are the most likely to cause deadly radiation damage to astronauts.
China to launch 12 weather satellites by 2020
By IANS,
Beijing : China will launch 12 meteorological satellites before 2020 to boost the country's weather monitoring capabilities, an official said Saturday.
Nuclear energy the holy grail of lunar explorers
By DPA
Beijing : It may be decades into the future but lunar scientists from China and other nations are already eyeing the immense potential of nuclear fusion from a precious mineral found on the moon's surface, a top scientist said Wednesday.
"To explore the moon is to solve the resource issues of the Earth," Qiao Xiaolin, an adviser to China's lunar exploration programme, told DPA over telephone.
"Nuclear energy is the most hopeful form," said Qiao, a professor at the Harbin Institute of Technology in north-eastern China.
Apple launches world’s thinnest notebook in India
By IANS
Mumbai : Apple unveiled the world's thinnest notebook, MacBook Air, in India Wednesday.
Angeline Tan, product marketing manager of Apple, introduced the notebook here, which measures 4 mm at its thinnest point.
The MacBook Air was first launched at the MacWorld expo in San Francisco Jan 15.
In India, it will ship in two weeks through Apple authorized resellers and authorized dealers for a suggested retail price of Rs.96,100 ($2,421).
The features of the MacBook Air include a 13.3-inch liquid crystal display, a full-size backlit keyboard and a built-in video camera.
Recycling radioactive waste no longer a problem
By IANS,
Washington : A new plant will help recover uranium from the ashes of radioactive wastes, which can then be recycled with an efficient, eco-friendly technology inspired by decaffeinated coffee.
The technique's future may even hold the key to recycling the most dangerous forms of radioactive waste in the near future.
Microsoft’s Windows 7 to debut Oct 22
By DPA,
San Francisco : Microsoft said Tuesday that it will debut its new operating system Oct 22 as it seeks to block a growing challenge from Google, Apple, and the open-source Linux operating system.
The world's largest software company is releasing Windows 7 just 33 months after launching Windows Vista which has been widely panned for its demanding hardware requirements and slow response time.
‘Consciousness is brain’s Wi-Fi network’
By IANS,
Washington : Your fingers start to burn after picking up a hot plate; should you drop the plate or save your meal? New research suggests it is your consciousness that resolves these dilemmas by serving as the brain's Wi-Fi network.
"If the brain is like a set of computers that control different tasks, consciousness is the Wi-Fi network that allows different parts of the brain to talk to each other and decide which action 'wins' and is carried out," said Ezequiel Morsella.
Morsella, who led the study, is professor of psychology at San Francisco State University (SFSU).
Bio-nanotechnology will help India’s food security: Pawar
By IANS
New Delhi : Advances in the area of bio-nanotechnology would go a long way in helping India's food security, Minister for Food and Agriculture Sharad Pawar said here Wednesday.
"Bio-nanotechnology takes agriculture from the era of genetically modified (GM) crops to the brave new world of atomically modified organisms," Pawar said, speaking at the inaugural session of the three-day Fifth Knowledge Millennium Summit on "B2B Bio and Nanotechnology" organised by industry body Assocham.
Many Malaysian leaders turn bloggers
By IANS,
Kuala Lumpur : Blogging is the new buzzword in Malaysia with more and more politicians and others in public life taking to it.
The number is growing since the government last week announced that it would take on bloggers using cyberspace to vent their grievances.
The country's long-time Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad remains the most prominent blogger: his blog scored one million hits in May.
Mahathir raised a political storm earlier this month by resigning from the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) that he helped found in 1946.
India calls for transparency in internet surveillance
By Arul Louis
United Nations : India has called for transparency and accountability in internet security surveillance and for striking balance between human rights and...
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.
Taking hi-tech solutions to poor villages
By Frederick Noronha, IANS
Bangalore : Ekgaon, a technology and management services firm for independent rural communities, is run by young Indian techies spanning the globe, some of whom are expatriates keen to help their home country.
Astronomers stumble on massive black holes
By IANS,
Washington : Astronomers have stumbled on the most massive black holes, each as big as 10 billion suns, in two separate galaxies about 300 million light years away from earth.
Sony Computer to launch seven Indian games this year
By IANS,
Kolkata : London-based Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) would launch six to seven Indian games this year, a top official said here Monday.
"We will launch games based on Indian contexts, like traditional Indian outdoor and indoor games and another game based on the underworld activities in Mumbai," Atindriya Bose, country-manager - Playstation, part of Sony Computer Entertainment, told IANS.
Axis Bank deploys Polaris’ software solution
By IANS,
Chennai : Private lender Axis Bank has implemented Polaris Software's solution for trade finance, cards and cheque truncation processes, the city-based banking software company said Monday.
The solution, "Intellect Business Process Studio", will enable Axis Bank to eliminate the paper-based cheque clearing activity, Polaris said in a statement.
Partial solar eclipse observed in India
By IANS,
New Delhi : The first solar eclipse of the year was partially visible in some parts of India and observed by various people Monday afternoon.
The eclipse started at 2.15 p.m. and ended at 4.20 p.m.
“The eclipse was visible only from southern parts of India, eastern coast, most of northeast India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep,” Nehru Planetarium director N. Rathnasree told IANS here.
She said people in north and west India couldn't see the celestial activity.
Scientists develop mother of all laser beams
By IANS
New York : Scientists have developed the mother of all laser beams - one that has focussed power equal to all the sunlight heading earth's way.
Researchers at the University of Michigan recently created the record-setting beam, which measures 20 billion trillion watts per square centimetre, Sciencedaily reported.
"I don't know of another place in the universe that would have this intensity of light. We believe this is a record," said Karl Krushelnick, who was part of the team that created the laser.
Spanish company invents a way to walk on water
By RIA Novosti
Madrid : Two thousand years after a certain carpenter from Galilea pulled it off, a Spanish company has developed a somewhat less miraculous, if still impressive, way to walk on water.
As described in the web news journal Diariodeibiza, the company Vehiculos con Ingenio or Transportation with Imagination began selling its new contraption a month ago that allows people using it literally to walk on water.
How to keep your password safe from data hackers, cyber thieves
By IANS,
Washington : Last year, one out of 13 people lost money due to internet fraud and identity theft, says a recent report. However, you can insure your password and data by following these easy-to-follow tips.
Always keep the cyber thieves guessing. Never use personal information to create a username, login or password. It could be the name of your pets, relatives, nicknames, dates of birth, etc.
Identity theft experts have become savvy at ferreting out these details. Hence, it is crucial to choose usernames and passwords that have nothing to do with your personal history.
NASA to beam Beatles’ song “Across the Universe” to Polaris
By Xinhua
Beijing : NASA will broadcast next Monday the Beatles' song "Across the Universe" across the galaxy to Polaris, the North Star, to celebrateds the 40th anniversary of the song and the 50th anniversary of NASA, according to media reports Saturday.
Beijing : NASA will broadcast next Monday the Beatles' song "Across the Universe" across the galaxy to Polaris, the North Star, to celebrateds the 40th anniversary of the song and the 50th anniversary of NASA, according to media reports Saturday.
Gujarat launches website for solar eclipse
By IANS,
Surat : The Gujarat government Monday launched a website dedicated to the total solar eclipse of July 22, an official here said.
The state government launched the website solareclipsesurat.in jointly with the Surat Municipal Corporation and the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The website explains why the total solar eclipse should be viewed in Surat and the safety precautions that should be taken while viewing the solar eclipse. Also, it informs about the events on July 22 in Surat, the official added.
Plant hormone that controls shoot branching discovered
By IANS,
Sydney : The discovery of a new plant hormone that controls shoot branching is likely to impact forestry, plant science and agriculture industries.
A molecule with a specific four-ring structure in plant hormone strigolactone has been shown to inhibit shoot branching in plants.
"It could be used to increase yield in horticultural industries and manual pruning may be circumvented through the use of the natural strigolactones," said principal investigator Christine Beveridge of University of Queensland (UQ).
‘Chandrayaan launch historic for India, Andhra’
By IANS,
Hyderabad : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Wednesday congratulated Indian space scientists on the successful launch of the country's first unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-I.
The chief minister, in his congratulatory message to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief Madhavan Nair, said it was a truly historic moment for the entire country and "more so for Andhra Pradesh since it is from our soil that the Chandrayaan-I lifted off successfully".
Yahoo Unveils Voice Search Service For Mobile Device Users
By Bernama
Los Angeles : Yahoo has become the first major search engine to let people search the Internet by talking to a mobile device, China's XINHUA news agency quoted a newspaper, as saying on Thursday.
Through the technology from a Massachusetts start-up, Yahoo's mobile search engine, known as oneSearch, could allow users of popular PDAs like BlackBerry Curves, Pearls or the 8800 series to scour the Web with their voice, the San Jose Mercury News daily reported.
India may launch two more navigation satellites this year
Chennai : India is expected to launch at least two more navigation satellites this year and one more in 2016 to offer satellite navigation...
Greener computing – tips to save electricity costs
By DPA
Washington : These days, with energy costs skyrocketing, it pays to practise green computing. A typical computer uses anywhere from 65 to 400 watts of energy. While that may not put the computer in the same energy-sucking league as an air conditioner, the energy draw is not insignificant, especially when you consider that many computers are left on for a long time - if not all day and night - and that some households have multiple computers.
HCL Technologies net up 18.5 percent
By IANS,
Mumbai : Software services major HCL Technologies Wednesday said net profit for the quarter ended Sep 30 went up 18.5 percent to Rs.300.75 crore from the like quarter in the previous fiscal.
Total income for the company increased 5.67 percent to Rs.1,295 crore for the first quarter of the company's accounting calendar, up from Rs.1,225 crore it logged in the previous corresponding quarter, the company said in a regulatory statement.
HCL said it bore a forex loss of Rs.151 crore during the period under review compared to Rs.80 crore in the like quarter last year.
Do animals think like autistic savants?
By IANS
New York : Animal scientist Temple Grandin's argument that animals and autistic savants share cognitive similarities could spur a better understanding of autism.
Grandin had put forth the idea in her best-selling 2005 book "Animals in Translation", which provides an unprecedented look at the autistic mind, according to an essay in the latest edition of the journal PloS Biology.
Grandin said animals, like autistic humans, sense and respond to stimuli overlooked by 'normal' humans.
Scientists intensify anti-Sethu project stir
By IANS
Nagapattinam (Tamil Nadu): The protests against the Sethusamudram Canal Project (SSCP) intensified with a forum of technical experts, non-government organisations and fishermen's federation undertaking a day long relay fast here last weekend.
The Movement Against Sethusamudram Canal Project said it would begin another relay fast in Nagapattinam from next week that would culminate in a massive protest rally in Rameshwaram.
Fingerprint could identify smoker, drinker
By IANS
London : Fingerprint could help identify a smoker, drinker, an avid coffee drinker or even a drug addict, scientists say.
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.
Italian expert to spend months in cave
By DPA,
Cagliari (Sardinia) : An Italian speleologist or cave specialist plans to descend 50 metres below the ground in an effort to break the world record for time spent living in a cave which currently stands at 366 consecutive days.
Doctors will wire up the body of the 51-year-old Giancarlo Sulas with electrodes allowing them to constantly monitor his health during what was described Saturday as a scientific experiment.
Astronauts replace failed electric motor of space station
By Xinhua
Beijing : Two U.S. astronauts replaced a failed electric motor and gave the international space station a much-needed power boost, which added to the power margin at the orbiting outpost and cleared the way for deliveries of two science labs, media reports said Thursday.
Beijing : Two U.S. astronauts replaced a failed electric motor and gave the international space station a much-needed power boost, which added to the power margin at the orbiting outpost and cleared the way for deliveries of two science labs, media reports said Thursday.
NASA sets date for space shuttle’s final mission to Hubble
By Xinhua,
Washington : The U.S. space shuttle's final service call to the Hubble Space Telescope is now set for Oct. 8, NASA announced Thursday.
Shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to Hubble was moved from Aug.28 to Oct. 8, due to a delay in deliveries of shuttle components, including the external fuel tanks, said NASA in a statement.
NASA said it also need more time to prepare shuttle Endeavour for a possible rescue mission approximately two weeks after STS-125 launches.
NASA concludes Mars lander programme
By RIA Novosti,
Washington : US space agency NASA said Tuesday its Phoenix Mars Lander had ceased communications after operating for more than five months on the red planet, and announced the termination of the successful space exploration project.
Launched Aug 4, 2007, Phoenix landed on the Martian surface May 25, 2008. The $420-million mission lasted much longer than the planned three months, and verified the presence of water-ice in the Martian subsurface, among other important scientific findings.
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.
iPhone to help find your parked car
By IANS,
Daytona Beach (Florida) : A software developed by a US company enables the recently launched Apple iPhone 3G to give turn by turn directions, that help people find their parked vehicles.
The software called G-park utilises the new iPhone's in-built global positioning system (GPS) feature.
After parking a vehicle car, the user hits the "Park me!" button on the phone screen to drop a GPS flag on the parking location.
To find the parked car, the user hits the "Where Did I Park" button and the phone guides the user to the vehicle by giving directions.t
Airborne lasers sharpen mapping of streams, rivers 10-fold
By IANS,
Washington : Lasers beamed from airplanes are greatly sharpening images of streams and rivers and interpreting how well water bodies can help maintain or expand fish stocks, according to a new study.
"It's kind of like going from your backyard telescope to the Hubble telescope," says Boston College Geologist Noah P. Snyder. "Restoring fish habitat is just one example. For the fisherman, backpacker, forester, land-use planner or developer - anyone who uses map data - this new technology is the next revolution in mapping."
Monitoring your child’s PC use
By DPA
Washington : For kids these days, schools mean computer use. Increasingly, schools expect - and in some cases require - projects and homework to be completed using a computer, and most kids are only too happy to comply, since computers are also an endless source of entertainment.
For parents, though, the challenge becomes determining how much computer time is appropriate for kids - and then figuring out how to administer the rules effectively. Read on for some ideas.
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.
Computer programme to predict premature births under development
By IANS,
Sydney : Universities of Melbourne and Newcastle are jointly developing a computer programme to predict premature births.
About 17,000 premature births occur in Australia each year. It accounts for 70 percent of deaths among newborns and 50 percent cerebral palsy cases.
Roger Smith, professor, University of Newcastle, said identifying patterns in hormone levels could be the key to determining high risk pregnancies.
U.S. space shuttle Atlantis docks with ISS
By Xinhua
Washington : U.S. space shuttle Atlantis successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, kicking off a busy schedule of orbital work for the installation of the Columbus science laboratory.
Washington : U.S. space shuttle Atlantis successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, kicking off a busy schedule of orbital work for the installation of the Columbus science laboratory.
Indian IT industry on alert to prevent swine flu fallout
By Pupul Dutta and Fakir Balaji, IANS,
New Delhi/Bangalore: The $60-billion Indian IT industry is on an alert mode on account of the pandemic swine flu that has affected travel and led to postponement of events, according to a top industry official.
"Though we are taking preventive measures, we have postponed a few events, including one in Pune," said Som Mittal, president of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the industry's representative body.
Wikipedia tightens editing policy to prevent online vandalism
By DPA,
San Francisco : Online collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia announced a tightening of its editing rules Wednesday aimed at preventing vandalism, as it becomes an increasingly important source of information.
The new guidelines will require that all edits to articles about living people be approved by authorised editors. The rules represent the most far-reaching changes ever undertaken by the user-written encyclopedia, which had previously allowed anyone to contribute articles or revise information on existing articles.
Precursors of miniaturised machines developed
By IANS
London : The precursors of miniaturised machines are here. Packed with instrumentation, these marble sized probes float freely under water, measure local temperatures to a millionth of a degree, and send the data back wirelessly.
Developed by researchers at the Université de Lyon in France, these mini machines will be released in large numbers to collect data on ocean currents and atmospheric winds, sciencedaily.com reported.
Tech-savvy British students forgetting how to write
By Venkata Vemuri, IANS,
London : Writing in long-hand is becoming a vanishing art among British students, thanks to mobile texting and computer literacy.
So acute is the problem that thousands of them are asking for 'scribes' to write their examination papers for them.
Education groups are now asking for introduction of hand-writing classes to see that students do not altogether forget how to write, more so during examination time.
Kaiga poisoning: Thousands had access to radioactive chemical
By IANS,
Bangalore : Whoever caused the contamination of a drinking water dispenser at the state-run Kaiga atomic power plant in Karnataka could have been either a permanent or a contract worker, an official said Monday.
This would make it more difficult to nail the man who had added radioactive Tritium to the water, he added. Forty-five employees were affected and had to be hospitalised Nov 24 after drinking water from the dispenser, which was located inside a laboratory.
Astronomers discover earliest ever black holes
By IANS,
New Delhi : Scientists from prestigious Yale University of the US have discovered the earliest black holes ever detected, a statement from the university said Thursday.
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".
Britain introduces biometric data collection in India
By IANS
New Delhi : Indian applicants will now have to wait longer to obtain a visa for the United Kingdom, as Britain will start collecting fingerprints and digital photographs of all visa seekers at its application collection centres in the country from Wednesday.
While Britain already has biometric data centres in around 130 countries, it encountered a legal problem in India due to restrictions on the transmission of the data electronically.
India launches remote-sensing satellite Oceansat2
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : India successfully launched its 16th remote-sensing satellite Oceansat-2 and six small Europeans satellites on board a rocket that blasted off from here at 11.51 a.m. Wednesday.
The 44.4-metre tall, 230-tonne Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) freed itself from the launch pad at the spaceport and lifted itself up, lugging the 960-kg Oceansat-2 and the six nano satellites all together weighing 20 kg.
China to bring 3rd generation n-reactors to service in 2013
By IANS,
Beijing: China will bring third generation nuclear reactors to service in 2013, a top Chinese nuclear company official has said.
Technologies that don’t disappoint
By Jay Dougherty, DPA
Washington : Some technology products can really improve your life, allowing you to work more productively or accomplish tasks that you couldn't before. Others just promise to fall into that category but ultimately lead you to question why you bothered.
The challenge for buyers, of course, is discerning the must-haves from the rest. While all new technologies these days vie for your attention, there are a few out there now that truly deserves it. Here's a rundown.
Higher CO2 levels delaying autumn leaf colour change
By IANS
London : Scientists across Europe have been recording a strange phenomenon -- a progressive delay in leaves changing colour and falling in autumn, and an earlier re-greening in spring.
Till now, the phenomenon was ascribed to rising global temperatures or global warming.
But a new study by researchers at Southampton University says the increasing level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is to be blamed for the phenomena, sciencedaily.com reports.
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.
Puerto Rican to prepare menu for manned mission to Mars
By IANS/EFE,
Orlando (Florida) : A Puerto Rican scientist will be in charge of creating the menu for the first manned mission to Mars.
NASA green lights Discovery launch
By DPA,
Washington : NASA has given the green light to the launch of Discovery Nov 1 after resolving a problem associated with a small fuel leak.
China to launch third manned spacecraft Thursday
By Xinhua,
Jiuquan (China) : China will launch its third manned spacecraft Shenzhou-7 Thursday, a spokesperson of the space programme said Wednesday.
The Shenzhou-7, carrying three astronauts, will be launched on a Long March II-F carrier rocket from Jiuquan launch centre in the northwest province of Gansu and then moved into orbit at an altitude of 343 km, Wang Zhaoyao, who is also the deputy chief of the manned space programme, told reporters.
Two astronauts would enter the orbital module, where they would prepare for a spacewalk Friday.
Scientists develop tiny sensor to sniff out toxins
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have developed a stamp-sized sensor that can sniff out some poisonous gases and toxins and can show results simply by changing colour.
The sensor could be useful in detecting high exposures to toxic industrial chemicals that pose serious health risks at the workplace.
While physicists have radiation badges to protect them in the workplace, chemists and workers who handle chemicals do not have equivalent devices to monitor their exposure to potentially toxic chemicals.
With Indian-built satellite, Ariane set for lift-off from Kourou
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Bangalore : The countdown has begun for the launch of Ariane-5 rocket from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, South America, early Sunday, carrying the Indian-built European satellite W2M along with Eutelsat's Hot Bird 9 satellite for broadcasting services, a top space official said here Saturday.
The 3,462-kg W2M was designed and built at the satellite centre of the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bangalore at $80 million (Rs.4 billion) for the European satellite operator (Eutelsat) under the ISRO-EADS-Astrium alliance formed in 2006.
World’s smallest atomic clock in matchbox size
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have created an amazing, matchbook-sized atomic clock 100 times smaller than commercial versions with both military and commercial applications.
Lenovo launches online auction of Olympic theme PCs
By IANS,
Kolkata : Lenovo, Chinese manufacturer of PCs and partner of the Beijing Olympic torch relay, Saturday launched its second phase of three online auctions in India as part of the countdown to the games.
The auction features notebook PCs inspired by the Olympic torch and is signed by Saif Ali Khan.
Saif was one of the torchbearers who ran in the New Delhi leg of the relay April 17.
Google has designs on you
By DPA,
San Francisco : Not content with involvement in almost every facet of your online life, online search giant Google now wants to get into your wardrobe.
When the tricolour was still but hearts fluttered
By IANS,
Bangalore : Perhaps for the first time since India adopted the saffron-white-green tricolour as its flag, millions of hearts across the country fluttered but not the flag itself when it reached the lunar surface, around 384,000 km away, Friday night.
The heart beat was faster at Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO's deep space network (DSN) at Byalalu, about 40 kms from Bangalore city centre, and its telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac), much closer to the city.
Built-in ‘facial barcodes’ help us recognise people
By IANS,
London : Natural �barcodes' of information, built into human faces for recognition of other people, may also help improve face recognition software, according to a study.
Faces convey a vast range of information about people, including their gender, age and mood. For humans, the ability to locate a face is important as this is where we pick up many of our cues for social interactions.
Class 4 Gurgaon student’s doodle to feature on Google
By IANS,
New Delhi : A Class 4 student of Gurgaon will have his doodle featured on Google all day Nov 14. This is the first time that a 'made in India' doodle will be featured on the popular search engine.
Beating a good 4,000 other competitors, Puru Pratap Singh's doodle is based on the theme 'My India - Full of Life'.
A Google doodle is a creative Google logo that appears on some special days, to commemorate scientific and artistic achievements, historic or seasonal events, and other local occasions.
Online world part of our daily life
By IANS,
Washington : If you think Facebook, Twitter and other web sites that foster online communication and interaction are merely lifeless echo chambers of self-promotion, think again.
Caroline Haythornthwaite and Lori Kendall, professors at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois, claim online interactions have positive outcomes for real-life, place-based communities.
"Earlier, the online world was considered a separate realm, and it was not viewed as a serious venue for work or business," Haythornthwaite said.
Ashok Leyland to hive off design engineering unit
By IANS,
Chennai : India's second largest commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland is looking to spin off its design engineering unit Defiance Technologies into a group company, Defiance Tech Ltd, an official has said.
Defiance Technologies offers virtual engineering services, ranging from basic design to high-end predictive analysis for auto makers.
Russia to encourage patriotism through computer game
By IANS/RIZ Novosti,
Moscow : The Russian government is working on a project to produce computer games aimed at boosting patriotism among young people.
The communication ministry and a leading software firm 1C have presented a project concerning six flight simulator games that they say are helping to improve Russia's international hi-tech image and increase patriotism among teenagers.
Vedomosti, a business daily, quoted 1C CEO Boris Nuraliev as saying that he had already demonstrated a flight simulator game to President Dmitry Medvedev.
Scientists create tough ceramic that mimics mother of pearl
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists in the US have used biomimicry, a technological innovation inspired by nature, to replicate the structure of mother of pearl and create what may well be the toughest ceramic ever produced.
Through the controlled freezing of suspensions in water of aluminium oxide (alumina) and the addition of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), a well known polymer, researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Labs) produced ceramic material that is 300 times tougher than their constituents.
Delhi gets India’s first remote controlled street lights
By IANS,
New Delhi: In a bid to conserve energy, the capital's main civic agency Tuesday launched the country's first remote-controlled street lights that can be switched on and off using an internet-enabled main server located in the heart of the city.
The first phase of this street light upgradation project, under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), became operational Tuesday and covers a distance of 101 km on 52 city roads.
Lullabies and talk-back: modern baby monitors
By DPA
Hamburg : Small getaways can mean a lot to new parents, even if it's as simple as going next door for a glass of wine. But who's going to watch baby while you're taking a break?
Russia launches Proton-M carrier rocket with military satellite
By Ria Novosti
Moscow : A Russian Proton-M carrier rocket carrying a military satellite has been launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, Russia's space agency (Roskosmos) said on Sunday.
The Proton-M carrier rocket with a Kosmos satellite was launched at 3:16 a.m. Moscow time (00:16 a.m. GMT) on Sunday. The carrier rocket is expected to put the satellite into orbit at 12:17 p.m. Moscow time (09:17 a.m. GMT), Roskosmos said.
India to double allocation for science: PM
By IANS,
Bangalore : India proposes to double the fund allocation for science and technology, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Wednesday and asked academicians to prepare a blueprint to make basic sciences and mathematics the preferred subjects for children.
He was speaking after dedicating to the nation the International Centre for Materials Science (ICMS), established at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) at Jakkur on the outskirts of Bangalore. He also inaugurated the C.N.R. Rao Hall of Science at JNCASR.
Binocular telescope captures 3D celestial images
By IANS
Washington : A giant binocular telescope on Mount Graham in Arizona has taken celestial images in 3D for the first time, using its twin, 28-foot primary mirrors together.
The images are not only a milestone for the telescope, now the world's most powerful, but also for astronomy itself, said researchers, Sciencedaily reported.
US, Italy and Germany have partnered for the telescope, known as LBT. They are now releasing the images. University of Arizona owns part of its observing time.
Radhakrishnan to head Vikram Sarabhai space centre
Bangalore(IANS) : Senior space scientist K. Radhakrishnan has been appointed director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Thiruvananthapuram, the space agency announced here Saturday.
Radhakrishnan, who was till recently head of the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) in Hyderabad, will succeed B.N. Suresh.
Kerala elephants queue up for microchip injections
By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : From three-year-old Unnikuttan to 95-year-old Gangadharan, a dozen elephants queued up as the Kerala government Saturday launched its programme of implanting a microchip in them in place of registration papers.
The chip is placed under the skin of the elephant by way of an injection.
The initiative, the first for Kerala that has almost 1,000 captive elephants, was launched from the capital district.
Stop accusations over Internet freedom, China tells US
By IANS,
Beijing : China Friday asked the US to "respect facts and stop unreasonable accusations in the name of so-called Internet freedom".
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu made the remarks while responding to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comment in Washington.
"Countries or individuals that engage in cyber attacks should face consequences and international condemnation," DPA quoted Clinton as saying in a speech on internet freedom.
Iran not to retreat on nuke programme
By IANS,
Tehran: Iran will not retreat "an iota" from its right to develop nuclear energy despite Western-led sanctions, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said.
Making electronics with a twist
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have made electronics that can bend, stretch and now twist as well, considered the ultimate in the subject.
Yonggang Huang, professor of civil engineering at Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, and John Rogers, professor of materials science and Engineering at University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), have improved their "pop-up" technology to create circuits that can be twisted.
Such electronics could be used in places where flat, unbending electronics would fail, like on the human body.
Seminar on Scientific Arbitration in offing
By SPA
Riyadh : The Riyadh-based Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic university will organize on Zil-Hajjah 28-29, 1428 AH, a seminar on the scientific arbitration with the participation of a number of researchers and arbitrators from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and abroad in addition to a number of heads of the scientific councils at the academic and research institutions and editors-in-chief of scientific magazines in some Arab and foreign countries.
Bio-scientists, curators pool expertise to preserve world’s art, heritage
By IANS,
Washington : Biotech scientists have teamed up with curators to stem the decay of world's art and cultural heritage, hastened by the depredations of climate change.
Many of the world's cultural treasures are created out of organic materials like paper, canvas, wood and leather which, in prolonged warmth and dampness, attract mould, micro-organisms and insects, causing decay and disintegration.
Atlantis starts home journey
By DPA,
Washington : The US space shuttle Atlantis separated from the International Space Station (ISS) Sunday to prepare for its home journey on the shuttle's last-ever mission before being retired.
The Shuttle with its crew of six astronauts eased away from the ISS at 1522 GMT for the return flight and its scheduled landing in Cape Canaveral, Florida Wednesday.
The shuttle had brought new Russian research equipment and a docking module to the ISS in the ongoing construction of the international station.
Why ‘7’ could be Microsoft’s lucky number
By Hitesh Raj Bhagat,
Microsoft Thursday launched the next version of Windows, dubbed Windows 7. The problem is: a majority of current Windows users still use XP, which is getting to be nine years old now.
After the launch of Windows Vista, people had no option but to buy PCs pre-loaded with Vista. Some paid extra to "downgrade" to Windows XP.
The main issues with Vista? Widespread reports of sluggishness, frequent hangs and crashes, and incompatibility with certain software and hardware. Vista was basically a troublesome experience.
Can tropical forests save the world?
By Nalin Srivastava, IANS,
Expectations about a new global climate deal have reached a fever pitch with only a few weeks to go before the start of the 15th annual United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen to finalise a global climate pact beyond 2012, when the first term of the Kyoto Protocol will expire.
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.
BMW to unveil its hydrogen-fuelled car in Singapore
By DPA
Singapore : Automobile behemoth BMW is ready to introduce its hydrogen-fuelled 7 Series limousine in Singapore but it won't be for sale, the company said Wednesday.
The car, called Hydrogen 7, will be part of a BMW Clean Energy Exhibition to be held in the city-state next month.
Representing 20 years of research and development, the Munich-based carmaker has developed the first emission-free liquid hydrogen-powered luxury saloon suitable for everyday use, according to BMW.
Ancient ocean-floor sediment shows asteroid sizes
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Countless asteroids have struck Earth during its multi-billion-year history, leaving few clues to their size because they vaporize on impact and leave no crater or fall into the ocean.
However, a new study suggests the asteroids may have left behind certain chemical traces in ancient ocean-floor sediments that can act as a telltale sign of their impact and record what was floating around in the seawater in the distant geologic past.
ISRO eyes manned moon mission by 2015
By NNN-PTI,
Sriharikota, India : Buoyed by the successful launch of Chandrayaan-1, Indian Space Research Organisation today said it would gear up for the complex and challenging task of the proposed manned mission to the moon by 2015.
"Now we have a little bit of breathing time (after today's launch)... We are looking how we can design a capsule, which can carry two astronauts onboard a GSLV rocket," ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said at a post-launch press meet here.
Interpreter for the vest pocket: What translation computers can do
By DPA
Munich : They could be helpful when preparing for the next vocabulary test. Or perhaps they'll go to work in a little shop abroad. The aides in question are small translation computers for the road.
These handy little devices have moved far beyond just translating the right word, though. They can now even explain proper grammar and pronunciation.
Electronic translation computers fit into any pants pocket and may well represent a practical alternative to the traditional pocket dictionary.
Hundreds of new species discovered in the Himalayas
By IANS,
Washington : Over 350 new species, including the world's smallest deer, a "flying frog" and a 100 million-year-old gecko, have been discovered in the Eastern Himalayas, according to a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report.
A decade of research carried out by scientists in remote mountain areas endangered by rising global temperatures brought exciting discoveries such as a bright green frog that uses its red and long webbed feet to glide in the air.
Monkey uses its head – and a robotic arm!
By IANS,
Washington : Using signals from its brain and nothing else, a monkey has activated a human-like robotic arm to feed itself.
This advance is likely to spur development of prosthetics for those with spinal cord injuries and with “locked-in” conditions such as Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
“Our immediate goal is to make a prosthetic device for people with total paralysis,” said Andrew Schwartz of the University of Pittsburgh and co-author of the study involving the monkey.
India on the moon, with tricolour
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Bangalore : India Friday became the fourth country in the world to land a man-made object on the lunar surface when its moon impact probe (MIP), with the tricolour painted on it, landed on the earth's only natural satellite at 8.31 p.m. after ejecting from the Chandrayaan-I spacecraft.
The MIP impacted on the moon's surface 25 minutes after it was separated from Chandrayaan at 8.06 p.m., orbiting at 100 km above.
Chandrayaan fine, spinning in earth’s elliptical orbit
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 is doing fine and has completed four orbits around the earth, a top space official said Thursday, a day after it was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
"The health of the spacecraft is normal and (it is) doing fine. Spinning in elliptical orbit once in every six hours and 30 minutes, it has completed four orbits and is in the fifth orbit," the official told IANS.
New technique allows 3-D peek at neurons
By IANS,
Washington : A new technique combining a fast-moving laser beam with a special microscope to look at tissues in different optical planes will enable scientists to get a 3-D view of neurons or nerve cells as they interact,
"Most microscopes can only study cell function in two dimensions," said Gaddum Duemani Reddy, clinician at Rice University and co-author of the study. "To look at different planes, you have to move your preparation (of cells) or the objective lens. That takes time, and we are looking at processes that happen in milliseconds."
65-year-old bulb still shines, and outshines all
London, Dec 21 (IANS) It withstood German air raids on London in the second world war. It defied the British police opposed to its presence. And it continues to survive, about to outlive the store it was brought from. This is the story of a light bulb, aged 65.
The 40-watt bulb, which still works, now has the pride of place in a china cabinet at the home of Valerie Beaney, 68, whose late mother Rose Allen bought it from Woolworths in 1943.
CA develops enterprise smartphone management
By IANS
Hyderabad : The India Technology Centre (ITC) of Computer Associates (CA), one of the largest IT management software companies in the world, has developed a mobile device management (MDM) product, which can manage an entire corporate mobile infrastructure from a single consol.
MDM will provide large organisations with enterprise-level device management tools for the most popular smartphone platforms from companies such as Microsoft, RIM and Symbian.
Designed and developed entirely at ITC here, the product is scheduled for release next month.
Fist sized bats louder than loudest rock concerts
By IANS,
London : Fist sized bats emit much louder sounds than the noisiest rock concerts anywhere, according to a new study.
Using microphone arrays and photographic methods, researchers found that bats emit ear shattering sounds exceeding 140 deciBels (dB) at 10 cm from the source, far louder than the 115-120 dB produced by a rock concert, reports Sciencedaily.
This is the first comparative field study of bat echo-location sounds, illustrating the value of an interdisciplinary approach combining bat biology, ecology, behavioural biology and acoustics.
Power supply snag hits Indian communication satellite
By IANS,
Chennai : Scientists of the Indian space agency are working to fix a power snag that switched off 12 transponders of the INSAT-4B comunication satellite Wednesday night, affecting services of some television channels and telecom operators.
"An expert team is looking at the possibilities of partial utilisation of some of the transponders that were switched off. The team is working to restore the services at the earliest," S. Satish, director (Publications and Public Relations), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told IANS from Bangalore over phone.
Internet highly vulnerable to phishing attacks
By IANS,
London : You are browsing a particular website thinking that it is perfectly secure, but it may not be the case as experts have uncovered chinks in Internet security.
For instance, a weakness in the Internet digital certificate infrastructure allows attackers to forge certificates completely trusted by all commonly used web browsers.
Consequently, it is possible to impersonate secure websites and email servers and to perform virtually undetectable phishing attacks, implying that secure websites are porous and unsafe.
New way to inject oxygen excites medical science
By IANS,
London: A new way of administering oxygen into blood, that could allow people to stay alive without breathing, has been discovered.
Now throw your alarm clock when jolted awake!
By DPA
Tokyo : Who hasn't felt the urge, when jolted awake by a peace-shattering alarm clock, to hurl the thing against the nearest wall? For morning grumps in Japan, there is now an alarm that allows them to let off some steam: a clock that looks like a hand grenade.
As soon as the grenade look-alike with a built-in digital clock sounds off in the mornings, its user can feel free to fire it into a corner. A motion sensor 'disarms' it, and its soft shell minimizes damage to the alarm and the owner's belongings
Pakistan to introduce biometric machines to detect fake passports
Islamabad : Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has decided to introduce machines at the Islamabad airport to detect fake passports, a media report said...
Clouds mar solar eclipse spectacle in Orissa
By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Those who had hoped to witness the century's longest solar eclipse in Orissa were disappointed Wednesday as the sky remained overcast in most parts of the state.
Thousands of people woke up early in the morning and were armed with special glasses to see the phenomenon. However, clouds spoiled the party although there was a partial eclipse in the state.
The solar eclipse was only visible for three minutes at the Pathani Samant Planetarium in Bhubaneswar, where thousands of people gathered to watch the rare sight.
China launches new satellite
By IANS,
Beijing : China successfully launched a new satellite into space Sunday, which will improve television and radio broadcasting signals in the country.
The "SinoSat-6" was launched at 12:14 a.m. from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The Long March 3B rocket took SinoSat-6 into a geostationary transfer orbit 26 minutes after the launch, Xinhua reported.
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.
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).
Steve Jobs unveils ‘world’s thinnest’ laptop
By DPA
San Francisco : Apple chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled what he called "the world's thinnest notebook computer" in his annual Macworld address that also outlined upgrades to the iPhone, iTunes Movie Rentals and a wireless gadget that automatically backs up data from Mac computers and laptops.
Tuesday's address was seen by analysts as another step in Apple's ultimate goal to dominate the digital living room with an ecosystem of computers and devices that allow users to seamlessly stream movies music and other content from one screen to another.
Bt brinjal is safe, declare scientists
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : While the debate on Bt brinjal continues in the country, scientists who arrived here to take part in a two-day seminar Monday said the genetically modified vegetable was not only safe for consumption but also more profitable for the farmers.
Scientists from across the country are taking part in the seminar which has been jointly organised by the All India Crop Biotechnology Association (AICBA), Environment Resource Research Centre (ERRC) at Thiruvananthapuram, and Foundation for Biotechnology Awareness and Education (FBAE) at Bangalore.
Breakthrough makes cheaper images for 3D video games possible
By IANS,
Washington : Most of the images that serve as computer screen or 3D video games background are often hand painted and expensive.
But a breakthrough by a University of California graduate offers game developers the possibility of high quality yet lightweight images, free of stretch marks, flickering and other problems.
India develops gas turbines for ships
By IANS,
New Delhi : Catapulting India into the elite club of marine gas turbine producers, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has modified the Kaveri engine, meant for powering the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) enable it propel naval ships.
With this, India joins an exclusive club that includes the US, Russia, Britain and the Ukraine.
India successfully test fires Mars Orbiter engine
Bangalore : India Monday successfully test fired the liquid fuel engine of its Mars spacecraft (Orbiter) after it entered the sphere of Mars influence...
World leaders condemn North Korean rocket launch
By DPA,
Washington : The US Sunday led the international condemnation of North Korea's controversial rocket launch with President Barack Obama calling it a "provocative act".
"North Korea's development and proliferation of ballistic missile technology pose a threat to the north-east Asian region and to international peace and security," Obama said in a statement issued from Prague, where he is to attend a US-European Union Summit.
India needs strong cyber infrastructure: Rajnath
New Delhi: Pitching for a strong cyber infrastructure in the country, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday stressed that India should work towards developing...
Treatment for baldness: Australian scientists discover key gene
By IANS,
Melbourne : Australian scientists claim to have discovered a gene responsible for baldness in women which may lead to an effective treatment for hair loss.
Researchers at the University of Melbourne and St Vincent's Hospital studied the DNA of almost 500 women who had lost at least 50 percent of hair on their scalp. Aged between 18 and 65, all the women who participated in the study, suffered severe hair loss, a condition that will affect up to 55 percent of Australian women, including up to one in 10 teenagers.
Don’t panic when fuel warning lights up
Berlin, Sep 13 (DPA) Motorists should not immediately panic when the warning lamp lights up indicating that the fuel tank is empty because most cars have an adequate reserve to last for a stretch of 50 km, according to a test by the German magazine AUTO/Strassenverkehr.
The magazine tested 10 different car models with some vehicles even managing to drive a distance of 150 km before coming to a standstill after the warning lamp lit up.
Venezuela sends satellite to join space club nations
By Prensa Latina,
Caracas : Venezuela has joined the space club nations by launching its first satellite, built with Chinese technology, into orbit successfully earlier this week.
Named after Simon Bolivar, the hero of South American independence, the communications satellite Venesat-1 was launched from China Wednesday.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who monitored the launch along with his fellow leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales from the eastern town of Luepa, described it as a "construction of socialism" and a "symbol of Latin American integration".
Satellite to link computers in rural India soon
By IANS
Bangalore : The Indian space agency will launch a dedicated satellite mid-2008 that will connect computers in villages across the country for accessing Internet and transferring data, a top official said here Tuesday.
"We are going to launch an experimental satellite (Gsat-4) in June next year that will facilitate data transfer from computers located in remote and inaccessible villages," G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told reporters on the sidelines of a science event here.
China’s lunar probe to photograph Bay of Rainbows
By IANS,
Beijing : China's lunar probe Chang'e-2 was manoeuvered to an experimental orbit Tuesday evening for taking pictures of the moon's Sinus Iridium or Bay of Rainbows.
India to launch 10 satellites Monday
By SPA,
New Delhi : India's satellite launch vehicle PSLV-C9 is set to launch 10 satellites in one go on Monday, officials said.
The PSLV-C9 is scheduled to put in orbit the Cartosat-2A remote sensing satellite along with an Indian mini-satellite and eight foreign nano satellites, S Satish, spokesman for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), said.
Stressed seaweeds cause cloudy skies: Study
By IANS,
London : When under stress, the large brown seaweeds known as kelps are likely to contribute to dark and gloomy cloud formations over coastal regions.
Stressed kelps release a huge quantity of inorganic iodine into the coastal atmosphere, where it is likely to contribute to cloud formation, according to a study.
Orbiting ISS crew begins space walk mission
By DPA,
Washington : Two crew members aboard the International Space Station (ISS) began a space walk late Monday to collect science experiments attached to the outside of their orbiting home.
US Commander Mike Fincke and Russian flight engineer Yury Lonchakov used the Pirs airlock to leave the space station and begin a six-hour retrieval mission.
Probe Phoenix lifts robotic arm on Mars
By Xinhua,
Beijing : NASA's Phoenix Mars lander has successfully flexed its robotic arm on Mars, media reported on Friday.
"All of the joints are healthy, and we're raring to go," Matthew L. Robinson, the lead engineer for the mission’s robotic arm flight software, said at a news conference Thursday.
Smart clothes to power portable electronic devices
By IANS,
Washington: Engineers have created energy-scavenging nanofibres that could one day be woven into clothing and textiles.
The nanofibres can convert energy from mechanical stresses into electricity, and could one day be used to create clothing that can power small electronics, says a new study, conducted by University of California, Berkeley (UCB) researchers.
Destruction of wetlands will release massive greenhouse gases
By IANS,
Washington : Destruction of wetlands will release a staggering 771 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, with devastating consequences.
Meeting in Cuiaba at the edge of South America's Pantanal wetland on Monday, 700 experts from 28 nations at the 8th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference will prescribe measures urgently needed to manage these vibrant ecosystems.