Software piracy drops in India, losses still above $2 bn
By IANS,
Mumbai : Software piracy levels in India dropped by three percent in 2009, but these still remained high at 65 percent of the total software programmes installed on computers in the country, causing losses of around $2 billion to the industry, says a study.
Bacterial innards glimpsed for first time in 3-D
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists glimpsed a detailed version of a bacterial cell wall, how it is made up of thin layer of carbohydrate chains, linked by peptides, wrapped around the microbe like a belt.
This first-ever glimpse of the structure in 3-D, was made possible by new high-tech microscopy techniques that enabled the scientists to visualise these biological structures at nanometre scales.
Kwt leadership places emphasis on scientific research — professor
By KUNA
Kuwait : The Kuwaiti leadership places much emphasis on scientific research and provides all means to enrich this important area, said Kuwait University's Deputy Rector for Scientific Affairs Dr. Nouriya Al-Awadhi on Saturday.
In a press release, she said that holding the fifth Euro-Asian conference on heterogeneous ring chemistry under the auspices of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and with the attendance of His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was proof of this support.
US scientists create HIV-resistant cells
By IANS,
Los Angeles: American scientists have created HIV-resistant cells that could one day pave the way for controlling the virus without using harsh anti-retroviral drugs.
Scientists at the Keck School of Medicine, at the University of Southern California, used mice to test the cells that target one of the two "gateway" molecules that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) uses to enter human cells, Meghan Lewit, spokeswoman for the team of researchers, said.
Nano materials likely to impact environment negatively
By IANS,
Washington : Eco-friendly gains derived from the use of nano materials may be offset partly by their manufacturing process, according to research.
Hatice Sengül and colleagues of Illinois University, Chicago, said strict material purity requirements and lower yields may lead to greater ecological burdens than those associated with conventional manufacturing.
In a separate study, Ohio State University researchers found, for example, that the life-cycle environmental impacts may be as much as 100 times greater per unit of weight than those of traditional materials.
Martian orbit on Indian spacecraft’s radar Wednesday
Bangalore : India's tryst with Mars begins early Wednesday when its inter-planetary spacecraft readies to enter the Martian orbit in a maiden attempt to...
Risk of autism linked with mercury emission: study
By IANS,
Washington : There is a significant link between mercury emissions and increased incidence of autism, according to latest research.
Researchers Raymond F. Palmer of the University of Texas, Stephen Blanchard of Our Lady of the Lake University and Robert Wood found that community autism prevalence is reduced by one to two percent with every 10 miles of distance from the pollution source.
"This is not a definitive study, but just one more that furthers the association between environmental mercury and autism," said Palmer.
Scientists tackling Internet’s ‘black holes’
By IANS
Washington : You might have heard of distant black holes swallowing up light or crunching ship-sized objects into tiny teaspoon replicas. But what about black holes in cyberspace, here on earth every day?
At any given moment, a portion of the vast computer traffic disappears into these vast sinks, out of reach or trace. Try logging into the web. It could be a very frustrating experience.
Space shuttle Endeavour to launch on March 11
By Xinhua
Beijing : NASA confirmed the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour will launch on March 11 for a 16-day mission, according to media reports Sunday.
The NASA mission management on Friday confirmed the official launch time of the Endeavour. On March 11 at 2:28 a.m. EDT, the space shuttle will be launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
It will be the first of three flights to deliver a huge Japanese research complex to the International Space Station.
Beijing : NASA confirmed the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour will launch on March 11 for a 16-day mission, according to media reports Sunday.
The NASA mission management on Friday confirmed the official launch time of the Endeavour. On March 11 at 2:28 a.m. EDT, the space shuttle will be launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
It will be the first of three flights to deliver a huge Japanese research complex to the International Space Station.
Scientists isolate genes that imbue us with uniquely human traits
By IANS,
Washington : Humans and chimpanzees are genetically very similar yet clearly distinct in many ways. Scientists have isolated genes that evolved in humans after branching off from other primates, making us uniquely human.
The prevailing wisdom in molecular evolution was that new genes could only evolve from duplicated or rearranged versions of pre-existing genes. It seemed highly unlikely that evolution could produce a functional protein-coding gene from what was once inactive DNA.
Can we get oil from space?
By Andrei Kislyakov, RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Scientists from the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh have said that judging by the chemical composition of stars in the Milky Way, our galaxy could contain anywhere between 300 and 38,000 highly developed extraterrestrial civilizations potentially capable of contacting planet Earth.
Although current generations are unlikely to shake hands with little green men from Mars, humankind has already discovered sizeable mineral deposits on other planets. But should we pin any hopes on them?
1,000-feet wide ‘beast’ near earth Sunday
California : It is time to thank your stars. A 1,000-feet wide "beast" at a speed of 50,400 km per hour - that could...
Brazil, Argentina successfully complete joint space launch
By IANS
Rio de Janeiro : Brazil and Argentina have "successfully" launched a rocket carrying scientific experiments, the first joint space mission ever undertaken by the two countries, authorities said.
The launch was conducted at 6.15 a.m. (0915 GMT) Sunday from the Boca do Inferno Launch Centre in the northeastern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte, Andreia Araujo, spokesperson of Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), told the Spanish news agency EFE.
US, Russian satellites collide in space
By Xinhua,
Washington : A privately owned US communication satellite collided with a defunct Russian satellite in orbit posing a risk to the international space station, which a NASA official said was the first such incident in space.
It was the first such collision in space, NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said Wednesday, adding that the magnitude of the accident was still unknown.
India launches Israeli ‘spy satellite’
By IANS
Sriharikota/Bangalore/Chennai : India's space agency ISRO Monday successfully placed an Israeli "spy satellite" in the polar orbit after a textbook launch and reaffirmed its position among the elite group of nations capable of commercial launches - with three more orders in the queue.
The 300-kg Israeli satellite, Tecsar, was launched as scheduled at 0915 IST (Indian Standard Time) using the `core alone' configuration of the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C10), that is, the rocket without its usual six strap-on booster motors.
Nano coating ensures near perfect absorption of sunlight
By IANS,
Washington : A nanoengineered reflective coating on silicon solar cell, which otherwise absorbs only two-thirds of the sunlight, boosts it by another third to tap the valuable energy.
This huge gain was consistent across the entire spectrum of sunlight, from ultraviolet to visible light and infrared, and moves solar power a significant step forward towards economic viability.
The new antireflective coating developed by Rensselaer Institute researchers thus helps overcome two major hurdles blocking the progress and wider use of solar power.
Billions of life bearing planets float in the milky way
By IANS,
London : A few hundred thousand billion free-floating life-bearing earth-sized planets may exist in the space between stars in the Milky Way, says a study.
China to mass produce Shenzhou spaceship
By XINHUA,
Beijing : China will soon begin mass production of its Shenzhou (Divine Vessel) spacecraft, the chief designer of the spacecraft system of China's manned space programme said Friday.
Zhang Bainan said the mass-produced model will serve as a shuttle between China's space station and the ground, and may also transport astronauts and cargo for other countries.
The Shenzhou 7 spacecraft is currently in orbit with three astronauts one of who, Zhai Zhigang, will undertake a space walk later Friday.
Sify is now Sify Technologies Ltd
By IANS
Chennai : Sify Ltd, Chennai-based leader in consumer Internet and enterprise services, Wednesday changed its name from Sify Ltd to Sify Technologies Ltd, after approval from the ministry of corporate affairs.
"Sify is rapidly growing. In our remote infrastructure management services overseas, we are recognised as a specialist based on our expertise and experience," Raju Vegesna, CEO of Sify Ltd, said here.
‘Caterpillar fungus’ could be India’s answer to Viagra
By Asit Srivastava, IANS,
Lucknow : Foreign drugs like Viagra and Cialis used for treating erectile dysfunction may soon get their Indian counterparts from a `caterpillar fungus' found in the high altitudes of Uttarakhand.
The caterpillar fungus locally called as `Keera ghas' or 'Yarchagumba' is said to have aphrodisiac properties, which will be used to manufacture drugs in a project undertaken by the Uttarakhand government, say the officials of the Herbal Research and Development Institute (HRDI) in Gopeshwar district.
Six selected for Mars flight simulation experiment
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Six people, who will take part in a 105-day experiment to simulate a flight to Mars, have been selected by scientists at the Moscow-based Russian Institute of Medical and Biological Problems.
Four Russians - astronauts Oleg Artemyev, Sergei Ryazansky, Alexei Baranov, a doctor, and sports physiologist Alexei Shpakov - and two members of the European Space Agency, France's Cyrille Fournier, a civilian pilot, and Germany's Oliver Knickel, a mechanical engineer, will take part in the experiment.
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.
India acquires capability to fire missiles from under water
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the country's premier military research organisation, Monday said it had successfully acquired the technology to launch missiles from the ocean depths, becoming the world's fifth country to do so.
The acknowledgement came when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave away the performance excellence award 2007 to A.K Chakrabarti, under whose leadership a team of 86 scientists achieved the success under this project called K-15.
China to launch second Olympic weather forecasting satellite on May 27
By Xinhua,
Beijing : China will launch a second Olympic weather forecasting satellite, the Fengyun-3 (FY-3), on May 27, said the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) on Friday.
The new satellite will provide accurate and timely information about weather changes to facilitate more precise weather forecasts during the Beijing Olympic Games set to open on Aug. 8, said a CMA official.
The official added that the new satellite, with a bigger payload, would provide medium-range weather forecasts up to 10 to 15 days.
India, US to enhance cyber security cooperation
Washington : India and the US have committed to robust cooperation on cyber issues to increase global cyber security and promote the digital economy.
They...
Firefighting beetle robots may help humans fight forest fires
By Ernest Gill, DPA,
Hamburg (Germany) : Compact robots that scuttle across the landscape like enormous armour-plated beetles may one day help humans fight deadly forest fires in remote areas, according to a team of German scientists.
Looking for all the world like old-fashioned Volkswagen beetle cars - except with multiple legs where the wheels ought to be - a brigade of these robots could carry water or foam extinguishing agents to the most dangerous firefighting locations, places where humans would face certain peril.
Rocket scientist heads ISRO liquid propulsion systems centre
By IANS,
Bangalore : Noted rocket scientist S. Ramakrishnan is the new director of the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) liquid propulsion systems centre at Thiruvananthapuram.
The space agency Wednesday said Ramakrishnan, as director of projects at its Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram earlier, had played a key role in the development of polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) and its liquid propulsion stages.
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.
Man thinks moon is UFO, calls emergency
By IANS,
London : A Briton rang up emergency number 999 to report an UFO hovering above his house, but later said the "mysterious object" was only the moon.
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.
Partial solar eclipse in Delhi, but clouds play spoilsport
By IANS,
New Delhi : Delhi witnessed the year's first partial solar eclipse Tuesday but cloudy skies prevented many people from having a clear view of the celestial spectacle.
Villainous virus turns out to be quite a hero
By IANS
London : Viruses are not such villains after all. They may, in fact, be the reason we are alive, says a new study that contends that half the planet's oxygen is a by-product of bacteria suffering from viral infections.
"Instead of being viewed solely as evolutionary bad guys, causing diseases, viruses appear to be of central importance in the planetary process. In fact, they may be essential to our survival," said Nicholas Mann of the University of Warwick and author of the study.
Mars rover stuck for good but still working hard
By DPA,
Washington : The Spirit Mars rover has reached its final destination, NASA said after the failure of efforts to free the space probe from sandy soil where it had been trapped for months.
Spirit is stuck but remains functional and will live out its life as a stationary science platform, collecting data on the area where it ran into trouble in April.
NASA had been trying since November to free the rover in an effort to back it out of a patch of sandy soil where its wheels had become embedded.
Google says 300,000 Android devices activated daily
By DPA,
San Francisco : Google smartphone chief has said that carriers are activating over 300,000 Android devices every day.
NASA postpones spacewalk due to ‘health issues’
By DPA
Washington : A planned Sunday spacewalk to attach an expansion to the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed to Monday due to unspecified "health issues", officials at the US space agency NASA announced.
The spacewalk by astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis, docked late Saturday with the ISS, has been rescheduled.
A NASA spokesman refused to clarify the nature of the health issue or identify any astronaut suffering problems.
Dying star coughs out dust cloud`
By IANS,
London : Astronomers on the look out for black holes have stumbled on a star that was fading with a whimper rather than a bang.
Mars rover Opportunity takes dip into giant crater
By Xinhua
Washington : NASA's Mars rover Opportunity entered Victoria Crater for the first time to explore the richest science trove of its long mission.
On the rover's 1,291st Martian day, Opportunity radioed home information via a relay by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter, reporting its activities for the day, according to NASA mission updates Tuesday.
New technique lights up tumour cells during surgery
By IANS,
London : A technique which lights up tumour cells during surgery could help those who suffer from ovarian cancer.
Sign language over cell phones now possible in US
By IANS,
Washington : A Washington University team has developed a software that enables deaf or hard-of-hearing Americans to use sign language over a mobile phone video link.
The real-time video communication between cell phones, demonstrated for the first time in the country, has evoked tremendous response from the aurally challenged since its posting on YouTube.
"A lot of people are excited about this," said principal investigator Eve Riskin, a professor of electrical engineering at the Washington University (WU).
3 orbiters being moved into position to watch Mars mission
By Xinhua
Los Angeles : Three satellites from Earth orbiting Mars are getting moved into position to watch the mission of NASA's latest Mars lander which will descend on the red planet in May, local media reported Saturday.
The Phoenix lander, the first robotic spacecraft in the Mars Scout program, was launched on Aug. 4, 2007, and is scheduled to land in the icy northern polar region of Mars on May 25, 2008.
Bangalore’s battle between astronomy and astrology over eclipse
By IANS,
Bangalore : Even as the world looks forward to the rare celestial phenomenon of a total solar eclipse Wednesday, astrologers here say the event could be a bad omen. But brushing aside the fears as superstition, astronomers are urging people to look at it as a scientific phenomenon.
Astrologer Daivajna K.N. Somayaji says the war of Mahabharata, World War II and Indira Gandhi's assassination all followed solar eclipses.
Indian-American scientist helps uncover medicinal wonders of turmeric
By IANS,
Washington : The yellow spice turmeric, that evokes associations with weddings and other auspicious occasions in India, has potent medicinal properties as well, India-American scientist Krishnan Dhandapani and a colleague have found.
The active ingredient in turmeric not only cuts down one's chances of getting cancer and Alzheimer's disease, but may also reduce the size of a haemorrhagic stroke, said Medical College of Georgia (MCG) researchers.
Timing is critical for patients who often don't know they have had a stroke and may not be seen by a physician for several hours.
World misled over glacier meltdown: Report
By IRNA,
New Delhi : A warning that most of the Himalayan glaciers will melt by 2035 owing to climate change is likely to be retracted after the United Nations body that issued it admitted to a series of scientific blunders.
Two years ago, the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) headed by India's Rajendra Pachauri, issued a benchmark report that claimed to have incorporated the latest and most detailed research into the impact of global warming.
A central claim was that world's glaciers were melting so fast that those in the Himalayas could vanish by 2035.
Breakup of the $78.5 mn Chandrayaan bill
By IANS,
Chennai : Break-up of the Rs.3.86 billion ($78.5 million) bill for India's maiden moon mission:
Deep Space Network: Rs.1 billion ($20 million)
Rocket: Rs.1 billion ($20 million)
Payload development: Rs.530 million ($11 million)
Spacecraft bus: Rs.830 million ($17 million)
Scientific data centre, external network support and project management expenses: Rs.500 million ($10 million)
‘India’s space success underscores technological capability’
Chennai : The success of the Mars mission "underscores the country's technological capability in the space sector", said a senior nuclear scientist Wednesday.
India Wednesday...
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.
Nehru Planetarium to organise public skywatch
By IANS,
New Delhi : Ever look up and marvel at the beauty of the evening sky? Skygazers in the national capital now have the opportunity of studying celestial bodies as the Nehru Planetarium is organising round the year public skywatches, officials said Monday.
As part of International Year of Astronomy, the Nehru Planetarium will organise skywatching for the public besides series of lectures by noted astrophysicists and scholars in 2009.
Electronic ‘ears’ guide drills into mine shaft
By IANS,
Sydney : Australian scientists have successfully used an electronic 'ear' to track and control a drill operating 300 metres below the earth's surface.
The successful trial has demonstrated that use of 'microseismics' can potentially cut down costs and improve drilling process for exploration and mining.
The trial was carried out at a coalfield test site in Queensland as part of a programme to develop and exploit coal seam gas.
Now search for Internet images in 300 languages
New York, Sep 17 (IANS) Researchers in the US claim to have developed a search engine that enables people to search for images on the Internet in at least 300 languages.
The new service called 'PanImages' has been created by researchers at the Turing Institute at Washington University and details were presented at the recently held Machine Translation Summit held in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Human stem cells aid stroke recovery in rats
By IANS
New York : In what is billed as a first, researchers using human embryonic stem cells to generate neural cells in the lab have found that they helped repair stroke related damage to a rat's brain.
The study, by researchers at Stanford University, said it showed the potential for using stem cell therapies in treating strokes in humans.
Findings of the study have been published in the latest issue of PLoS ONE journal.
Russia fails to put U.S. satellite into target orbit
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia failed to put a U.S. AMC-14 telecommunication satellite into its target orbit after a booster rocket malfunctioned during the launch early on Saturday, Russia's Federal Space Agency said.
At 2:28 a.m. Moscow time (23:28 GMT Friday), a few minutes after the Proton-M carrier rocket's launch from the Baikonur Space Center which Russia rents from Kazakhstan, the Breeze-M orbit insertion booster failed during its upper stage, putting the satellite into orbit much lower than required.
Russian cockroach conceives, delivers babies in space
By RIA Novosti
Voronezh (Russia) : A cockroach called Nadezhda (Hope) has given birth to the first creatures ever conceived in space, Russian scientists said.
Nadezhda conceived during the Foton-M bio-satellite Sep 14-26 flight. "We recently received the first batch of 33 cockroaches conceived in micro-gravity," Dmitry Atyakshin said in Voronezh Tuesday.
Though the newborn creatures already eat and drink, micro-gravity conditions may have had an impact on the natural darkening of their chitinous carapace, a part of a cockroach's exoskeleton.
Government approves release of 3G spectrum for BSNL and MTNL
By IANS,
New Delhi : The government Thursday approved the release of airwaves for two state-run companies for the launch of third generation (3G) mobile services in the country.
The airwaves, also referred to as radio frequency or spectrum, have been released for Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) that offers telecom services in Mumbai and the national capital, and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), which operates in all other parts of the country.
"We have approved the release of one block to MTNL and another block to BSNL," Communications Minister A. Raja told reporters here.
Progress cargo spacecraft docks with ISS
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : A Progress space freighter has successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) four days behind schedule because of the evacuation of Nasa's space centre in Houston in the wake of Hurricane Ike, Russia's mission control said.
The Progress M-65, launched on board a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan on Sep 10, has delivered some 2.5 tonnes of fuel, oxygen, water, food and medical supplies, as well as the latest Russian-designed space suit for use during a space walk by Russian crewmembers on board the ISS.
Websites to ban Megan Fox for 24 hours
By IANS,
London : A couple of websites have decided to ban model-turned-actress Megan Fox for 24 hours to give fans a break from round-the-clock coverage on her.
The "Transformers" beauty will suffer a dip in online coverage Aug 4, with sites such as AskMen.com and Asylum.com joining forces to impose 'the Megan Fox blackout', reports thesun.co.uk.
"You can have too much of a good thing. We're giving our readers a one-day reprieve from the woman we've been drowning in all summer," James Bassil of AskMen.com.
What to look for in a photo printer
By DPA,
Washington : the best digital camera on the block, but that won't matter if your prints are no good. The fact is that to get the most out of digital photography, you need to devote as much time to learning about photo printers as you do about digital cameras.
Part of the challenge lies in knowing which photo printer will best suit your needs. Another part is understanding which features that are commonly touted by printer manufacturers really matter.
Rupert Murdoch brings MySpace to India
By NNN-PTI,
New Delhi : Rupert Murdoch-run Global media conglomerate News Corporation Thursday brought its social networking website MySpace to India -- a market already bustling with the presence of international giants like Google's Orkut and Indian billionaire Anil Ambani group's Bigadda.Com.
Like other players already present in the market, News Corp is also looking to attract the younger generation in India, which is home to world's youngest population with over half of its residents aged below 25 years, industry experts said.
Giant asteroid to pass between earth, moon
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : A 400-metre-wide asteroid will Tuesday fly past earth, closer to it than the moon's orbit.
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...
Light fuel cells will power unmanned choppers
By IANS,
London : Light fuel cells are likely to power tiny, unmanned choppers that will look for people trapped in debris or examine contaminated terrain.
Since large numbers of fuel cells are required to deliver enough power, manufacturers tend to stack them, making the chopper heavy.
But this problem has been overcome by researchers from Technical University of Berlin's Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM.
Bose – the Indian behind the Big Bang experiment
By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS,
London : Of the three main past and present physicists behind the landmark proton-smashing experiment in Geneva Wednesday, one has a Nobel Prize, the other is waiting to find out if he has one, and the third never got one.
The third man is the Bose of the Higgs-boson experiment - Satyendra Nath Bose.
It is Bose after whom the sub-atomic particle ‘boson’ is named - probably the only noun in the English language named after an Indian (and therefore never capitalised).
Social media to blame for spontaneous crimes: UP police chief
Ghaziabad : Social media was to blame for sensational spontaneous crimes in Uttar Pradesh, Director General of Police (DGP) Jagmohan Yadav said on...
Beware of e-mail scam offering to ‘rescue’ friends
By Frederick Noronha, IANS
Panaji : Goa-based Rudolf Ludwig's friends started getting frantic e-mail messages about the musician-turned-art gallery owner being stranded in Nigeria and badly in need of money.
His wife Yolanda fielded off telephone calls to their Goa home, explaining that nothing of this sort had happened.
When more friends started phoning in, Ludwig, who was very much in Goa, realised his e-mail account on the popular GMail network had been hacked into. His password had been changed and he couldn't enter his own account.
Russian spaceship delivers food, water to International Space Station
By Xinhua,
Moscow : A Russian cargo spaceship has docked with the International Space Station (ISS) to deliver food, water, fuel and equipment for the crew, the Mission Control said Saturday.
The Progress M-14 spaceship docked with the station at 1.39 a.m. Moscow time Saturday.
The spaceship delivered some 2.5 tons of cargo as well as gifts from the crews' families to Russian cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko and NASA astronaut Garrett E. Reisman.
Facebook overhauls privacy settings
By DPA,
San Francisco : Social networking site Facebook introduced a new set of privacy controls Wednesday in an attempt to quell criticism that it was lax about protecting users' personal information.
The new controls are featured in a streamlined privacy panel that allows users much easier management of who can access their information.
"We believe in privacy. We believe in giving people control," Facebook founder Marc Zuckerberg said at a press conference to announce the overhaul.
China installs largest optical telescope in Antarctica
By IANS,
Beijing : A Chinese expedition team to Antarctica has finished installing and testing the largest optical telescope in the snow-capped region, experts said.
One PSLV rocket Monday will carry 10 satellites
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : One of the three "core alone" Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) to blast off Monday from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh will carry the heaviest luggage - 824 kg - comprising the remote sensing Cartosat-2A satellite, the Indian Mini Satellite and eight nano
satellites.
According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), core alone configuration means the main/core PSLV rocket minus the hugging six strap-on booster motors that powers the first stage.
Microsoft announces Vista successor
By DPA,
Washington : The next version of the Windows operating system will likely arrive in early 2010, officials at Microsoft has said.
The most important change to the software, currently dubbed Windows 7, will be its multi-touch technology. Customers will be able to use their fingers to perform tasks such as moving documents or displaying photos right on the touch-ready display.
Windows 7 is based on Windows Vista, Microsoft's current operating system.
It should therefore run on the same hardware recommended for Vista.
Chandrayaan to look for water on the moon
By IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : Is there water on the moon? India's lunar explorer, Chandrayaan-1, will try to find out by peeking into the moon's dark corners and sending an American probe to dig there.
When Chandrayaan heads for the moon Oct 22, it will carry on board a 6.5-kg mini synthetic aperture radar (MiniSAR) developed by the Johns Hopkins University applied physics laboratory and the Naval Air Warfare Centre. It will look for water-ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar poles by digging a few metres into the surface.
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).
India launches satellite-based navigation system
By IANS,
New Delhi : India Tuesday launched a satellite-based navigation system to aid air traffic in the region and joined a select club of nations which have similar capabilities.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel launched the Global Position System Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) based on a constellation of 24 satellites positioned in six earth-centred orbital planes.
Trying to lose hair? Measure the loss with new software
By IANS,
Sydney : Researchers have developed maths-based imaging technology to measure hair on different parts of the human body.
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's (CSIRO) Biotech Imaging team, which specialises in developing software to analyse images automatically, worked with a British company to find a way to test how well their hair removal products work.
Sunita Williams, galaxy of scientists to attend space meet
By IANS
Hyderabad : Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams will be the star speaker at an international astronautical congress that begins here Monday to focus on the growing use of space technology to improve the quality of life.
Over 2,000 space scientists, heads of leading space agencies and astronauts will attend the five-day 58th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2007) which has as it theme 'Touching humanity: Space for improving quality of life'. It will be held at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) near Hitec City.
Saturn’s moon has many times more oil than Earth does
By Xinhua
Washington : Saturn's orange moon Titan has hundreds of times more liquid hydrocarbons than the known oil and natural gas reserves on Earth, according to new data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
The hydrocarbons rain from the sky, collect in vast deposits that form lakes and dunes. The new findings from the study led by Ralph Lorenz, a Cassini radar team member from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, are reported in the latest issue of the Geophysical Research Letters Wednesday.
Camera captures comet’s fiery end as it grazes sun
By IANS,
Washington: NASA's solar observatory caught for the very first time on camera a comet's fiery end as it flew too close to the sun's blazing surface.
China’s recoverable moon rover expected in 2017
By Xinhua
Beijing : China will have a recoverable moon rover, which will carry back lunar soil samples, by 2017 if technical research "progresses smoothly," said the chief designer of Chang'e-1, the country's first moon probe, here Tuesday.
China plans to land a probe on the moon in 2013, said Ye Peijian, chief commander and designer of probe's satellite system, and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The milestone Chang'e-1 blasted off last October, marking the first step in China's ambitious three-stage moon mission.
British scientist fathered 600 children?
By IANS,
London : A British scientist may have fathered up to 600 children at a controversial London fertility clinic which he set up in the 1940s with his wife.
Mercury is latest and deadlier threat to environment
By IANS,
Washington : As if global warming was not alarming in itself, add one more sinister threat to the list -- mercury pollution.
It has already spurred public health officials to advise eating less fish, but it could become a more pressing concern in a warmer world.
Sue Natali, postdoctoral associate in botany at the University of Florida in a paper she co-authored compared mercury levels in soils under trees growing in air enriched with carbon dioxide to soil beneath trees in ambient air.
New solar cell technology best suited for India: Inventor
By Rahul Dass, IANS,
Helsinki : India will stand to significantly gain from a new technology on solar power as it is cheap, green and efficient, says Michael Gratzel, winner of this year's Millennium Technology Prize that is often called the Nobel for innovation.
"I am particularly interested in India. Solar energy is a cheap, abundant resource that is importantly also non-toxic," said the Swiss professor who has developed a solar cell that mimics nature, just as plants produce their own food with photosynthesis.
Microbes from Earth likely to contaminate Mars
By IANS,
Washington : Bacteria common to spacecraft sent from the Earth may be able to survive the harsh environs of Mars, long enough to contaminate it with terrestrial life, research says.
The search for life on Mars remains a stated goal of NASA's Mars Exploration Program and Astrobiology Institutes.
To preserve the pristine environments, the bioloads on spacecraft headed to Mars are subject to sterilisation, designed to prevent the contamination of the Martian surface.
Hathway unplugs Internet services in Chennai
By IANS,
Chennai : The city's first broadband Internet service provider Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd has unplugged its services here and started refunding its subscribers their dues, officials said.
"We are forced to close down our business. We don't know why. This is the answer I give to all my subscribers," a company official, who did not want to be identified, told IANS.
Part of the Mumbai-based Rajan Raheja group, Hathway Cable has around 50,000 subscribers in the city.
UAE to launch remote-sensing satellite with GCC countries
By Xinhua,
Abu Dhabi : The United Arab Emirates (UAE) plans to launch a joint remote-sensing satellite with other member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Gulf News reported Tuesday.
The plan was revealed by Brigadier Khalifa Mohammad Al Rumaithi, chief of military works of the UAE armed forces, during an interaction at the Defence Geospatial Intelligence Middle East (DGIME) here.
The forum, aimed at promoting inter-operability and integration to support national security objectives and operational requirements, opened Monday in Dubai.
He’s built an aircraft, now wants full-time job!
By Sanu George
Thiruvananthapuram : Saji Thomas is 45 years old from Kerala and, while God did not give him the faculties of...
2013 will be challenging, uncertain for Indian IT industry
By IANS,
Hyderabad: The information technology industry in India has a challenging and an uncertain year ahead, feel the business leaders in the sector in this technology hub.
Yahoo! lays off 45 people in India
By IANS,
Bangalore : Global search engine and web services provider Yahoo! laid off 45 people from its India operations as part of its worldwide firing policy due to global meltdown, a company spokesman confirmed here Thursday.
"Around three percent (45 people) of our India headcount, which is 1,500, has been asked to go Wednesday as per the directive from our headquarters at Sunnyvale in the US," a spokesman of Yahoo! India subsidiary told IANS here.
NASA extends Cassini’s probe of Saturn’s moons
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Finished with its four-year primary mission to Saturn, the Cassini orbiter has turned its cameras upon the ringed planet's mysterious moons as it kicks off a two-year extended mission.
White House cites India’s support to sell Iran nuclear deal
By Arun Kumar
Washington : The White House has again warned that if the Republican controlled Congress kills the historic nuclear deal with...
Sky gazers in for celestial treat Tuesday
By IANS,
New Delhi : Sky gazers can look forward to an exhibition of celestial fireworks as the night sky will be lit up by Geminid meteor showers that are expected to peak Tuesday.
Proposals sought for studying India-French satellite data
By IANS,
Chennai : The Indian and French space agencies have sought research proposals on data to be generated from a payload on a satellite to be launched next year.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency have called for research proposals on the data to be generated from AltiKA, a payload in Satellite with ARgos and AltiKa (SARAL).
The computer helper: What you need to know about Chrome
By DPA,
Washington : Google's new Chrome Web browser is being hailed as a game-changer. It is fast, has a clean interface and some snazzy features that other browsers do not have.
Does that mean you should download it right now and spend the time to learn it? If you like new technology, the answer is "sure".
But if you need to be assured of some payoff in new technology before you invest time in it, you might rightly want some questions answered before you switch. Here are a few.
We wrongly think world likes what we like: study
By IANS,
Washington : People have the tendency to presume the whole world likes what they like. But when it comes to things they dislike, they don't generalise the same way.
For example, people are shocked when a cherished product is discontinued for lack of sale or the favourite confectionary offered by them is not eaten, according to a study.
"The things we like are seen to contain primarily good characteristics, while things we dislike are seen to contain a mix of bad, neutral, or good characteristics," the study said.
Mind-boggling image of vast glittering sky captured
By IANS,
London : The GigaGalaxy Zoom project has captured a mind-boggling, magnificent, 800-million-pixel panoramic view of the vast glittering sky. This 360-degree starscape, covering the entire celestial sphere, reveals the cosmic landscape that surrounds our tiny blue planet.
This staggering panorama serves as the first of three extremely high-resolution images featured in the project, launched by European Organisation for Astronomical Research (ESO).
NASA mission: Mars soil may contain perchlorate
By Xinhua,
Washington : Analysis of recent soil samples taken by of Phoenix lander's from Mars has found possible traces of perchlorate, a highly oxidizing substance, NASA scientists reported Tuesday.
However, the mission team noted that further investigation is still needed to confirm the presence of perchlorate salts.
Google disregarding privacy, say officials from 10 nations
By IANS,
London : Google has violated the principle that "individuals should be able to control the use of their personal information", say officials from 10 major nations. They have demanded to know how the internet giant will meet concerns about its use of public data in future.
Britain's Information Commissioner Christopher Graham along with officials from Canada, France and Germany have signed a letter addressed to Google's chief exeutive, condemning the manner in which the firm has delivered its Streetview mapping service and its Buzz product, The Telegraph reported Thursday.
Scientists breed ‘mighty mice’ with super stamina
By IANS
New York : They can run non-stop for up to six hours at 20 metres per minute and are said to be metabolically similar to Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong. Meet the 'mighty mice' bred by researchers at Case Western Reserve University.
This special breed eats 60 percent more than normal mice, remains fitter, trimmer and lives longer than wild mice, according to an article in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Some female mighty mice have also had offspring at 2.5 years of age, an amazing feat because most mice do not reproduce after they are a year old.
China’s first lunar probe completes long journey to moon successfully
By Xinhua
Beijing : China's first lunar probe, Chang'e-1, completed its nearly two-million-km journey to the moon successfully Wednesday and entered its working orbit.
The probe, following instructions of the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre (BACC), started its third braking at 8.24 a.m. and entered a 127-minute round polar circular orbit at 8.34 a.m.
"It marks success of the probe's long flight to the moon," said Luan Enjie, chief commander of China's lunar probe project.
U.S. probe produces three major findings about universe
By Xinhua
Washington : NASA, the U.S. space agency, released on Friday five years of data collected by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), which include three major findings about the universe.
The probe got the new evidence that a sea of cosmic neutrinos permeates the early universe. According to the scientists' analysis, universe is awash in "a sea of cosmic neutrinos". Neutrinos made up a much larger part of the early universe than they do today.
Why WhatsApp is so big in India
By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS,
While much of India slept Thursday morning, one news of a big-time sale spread in minutes through the country, on...
Yahoo! to develop nest-generation products from India lab
By IANS
Bangalore : Leading search engine and news and entertainment portal Yahoo! has set up a laboratory here to develop next-generation products for its global customers and users, a company official said Tuesday.
"As an extension of our research and development (R&D) operations here, Yahoo! India Lab will initially have 100-member team of scientists and engineers. They will work on multiple projects to make the Web more relevant and simple for users and advertisers worldwide," Yahoo! India Research head Prabhakar Raghavan told reporters here.
Solar activity could spell more trouble for Earth
By Andrei Kislyakov, RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The Sun is beginning another 11-year cycle of activity and considering that the fiery star is to blame for some unfavourable climate changes on the Earth, the coming decade could spell more trouble for our planet.
The first measuring instruments of the Sun's activity made their appearance 440 years ago. They showed that our nearest star treats the Earth to more than just solar eclipses.
US regulations restrict space industry growth
Hyderabad, Sep 28 (IANS) International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) of the US are a major hurdle in the growth of new space industry actors in the global market, said speakers from emerging space nations at the 58th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2007) here.
They also made a strong case for change in the rules to facilitate cooperation and healthy competition in the global space industry.
The speakers were unanimous that both cooperation and competition were necessary to ensure growth of the space industry, especially among emerging nations and new players.
70 scientists focussing on Bigfoot research
San Francisco : Seventy scientists from around the world, defying widespread scepticism, have been involved for the past four decades in the search for...
Madhya Pradesh to have its own science policy
By IANS
Bhopal : In a move aimed at increasing science awareness among common people, especially children, youth, farmers and artisans, Madhya Pradesh will soon have its own comprehensive science policy.
Minister for Science & Information Technology Kailash Vijaywargiya told IANS Friday document would be prepared keeping in view the SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities and threats) of the state and will help make science popular, meaningful and useful to the common people.
Mystery of self-destructing rockets solved
By IANS
Washington : The racket that rockets make may be causing them to self-destruct, according to a new study that seeks to explain a phenomenon that has puzzled engineers and scientists for years.
One reason the inexplicable destruction of rocket engines remained a mystery was because scientists were unable to replicate or investigate the problem under controlled lab conditions.
They, however, believed that powerful and unstable sound waves, created by the combustion process, caused failures in several US and Russian rockets.
Laptop fashion: Mobile computer makers discover colour
By DPA
Frankfurt : Black, grey or silver: laptop buyers have generally had to accept one of those three options. But colourful times lie ahead. The latest models from laptop makers now feature casings in blue, green, pink and yellow. After all, having increasingly impinged on the domain of the desktop PC, the laptop has now become a lifestyle accessory.
Century’s longest “Annular Solar Eclipse” on January 15: Report
By IRNA,
New Delhi : A rare celestial treat, the century’s longest “Annular Solar Eclipse” will occur Friday.
The 21st century’s longest annular solar eclipse occurs on January 15, apart from India, will be visible across Africa, the Indian Ocean, Maldives, Sri Lanka and south-east Asia.
Scientists puzzled over intense swarm of earthquakes
By Xinhua,
Los Angeles : An unusually intense swarm of earthquakes has struck beneath a small suburb of Reno in Nevada, leaving residents shaken and scientists puzzling over the cause, the Los Angeles Time said on Thursday.
Totaling more than 1,000 over the last two months, more than 20quakes of magnitude 2 or higher have hit on some days, and the intensity and frequency of the quakes have been increasing rather than following the normal pattern of tailing off, according to the paper.
Facebook raises row over revealing user’s location
By IANS,
London : Controversy shrouds Facebook over revealing user's location in a new feature that it has launched.
Called Facebook Places, the application uses satellite tracking technology to permit people to ‘check in’ their current location and share it with friends.
But critics voiced concern that the facility exposes users to the risk of burglary, stalking and harassment, reports the Daily Mail.
They also asserted that many users did not fully understand the site’s privacy options and were clueless about potential dangers.
Indian-American devises nano-springs to protect mobile phones
By IANS,
Washington : An Indian-American scientist has devised tiny, shock-absorbing carbon nano springs to protect delicate electronic devices like mobile phones from damage.
Apparao Rao, physicist at Clemson University, who led the researchers, working with California University collaborators, showed that layers of these tiny coiled carbon nanotubes, a thousand times smaller than a human hair, can act as resilient shock absorbers.
Hyderabad to host VLSI conference next month
By IANS
Hyderabad : The 21st international conference on very large scale integration (VLSI) design and the 7th international conference on embedded systems will be held here next week to highlight the next generation challenges and opportunities in multicore processor design.
The five-day conference will start Jan 4 and will be held at Hyderabad International Convention Center (HICC). It will be attended by leading VLSI and embedded systems architects and technology experts.
Reducing household carbon footprint helps fight climate change
By IANS,
Washington : Like charity, the battle against global warming should also begin at home, according to a new study.
The study set out to establish that going green, recycling items of daily use and reducing your carbon footprint would be easier if a household's environmental impact is monitored.
The study, which enlisted 20 families to assess how well sustainable behaviour might be inculcated among householders, compared fuel, electricity, water costs and waste generation and recommended cost-effective steps to reduce consumption.
Space network, a ‘hotline’ from Bangalore to moon
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Bangalore : When India's first lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 lifts off from Sriharikota Wednesday, the telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) of the space agency in Bangalore will guide the mission on its 18-day voyage to the moon's polar orbit.
Soon after reaching the lunar orbit, the Deep Space Network (DSN) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at Byalalu, about 40 km from this tech hub, will take charge of the spacecraft and become a 'hotline' between its payloads and space scientists over the next two years.
Now disabled could operate wheelchairs, computers with tongue
By IANS,
Washington : People with severe disabilities will soon be able to operate a computer or control a powered wheelchair simply by moving their tongues, thanks to a new magnetic device.
This device could help individuals "with high-level spinal cord injuries, return to rich, active, independent and productive lives", said Maysam Ghovanloo of Georgia Tech School who developed the new system with graduate student Xueliang Huo.
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.
India sets up Rs.10 bn nano-technology mission
By IANS,
New Delhi : India has set up a Rs.10 billion mission to help scientists do research in nano-technology and innovate new products in fields like healthcare, textiles and drug development, an official said Friday.
“We have set up a mission to boost nano-technology in the country. The fund will be utilised over a period of five years,” Science Secretary T. Ramasami said Friday on the sidelines of an event on nano-technology at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Soya shake may help reduce fat in postmenopausal women
By IANS
New York : A study by US scientists suggests that a soya based drink a day may help postmenopausal women to reduce fat, particularly the fat that accumulates on the stomach.
Abdominal fat is particularly bad for health. It raises the risk of heart attacks and diabetes. Soya may also help women cut risk of cardiovascular disease or diabetes, the study suggests.
India to launch three satellites next month
By IANS,
Chennai : India will launch three satellites next month and two more by the end of this year, said a senior official here.
China launches solar power project
By Xinhua,
Wuhan (China) : China has begun construction of a 500-megawatt solar power plant in the country's central Hubei province, officials said.
The plant is being built in the provincial capital of Wuhan at a cost of $450 million.
The project is a joint venture between Greenway Solar-Tech Co. Ltd. Of China and the Evergreen Solar Inc. of the US, said Ding Kongxian, chief executive officer of the US firm, Saturday. The construction of the plant will be completed in the next three years.
Chandrayaan-I shows India means business in space: ISRO chief
By NNN-PTI,
Bangalore : The successful landing of the Moon Impact Probe on the lunar surface has not only boosted the confidence of ISRO to undertake inter-planetary travel in future, but also conveyed a firm message to the world that India means business in the field of space, ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair said here Saturday.
Soon, automatic baggage checking at Delhi airport
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Indian capital's Indira Gandhi International Airport has begun trial runs for an 'inline baggage system' that would not only enable baggage to get checked and assigned automatically while passengers wait for their boarding passes but also do away with x-rays.
The airport will install the system for all its eight baggage rows at the international terminal, a senior airport official said.
Pune to host national robotics contest
By IANS
Pune : Thirty-eight teams from engineering colleges around India are to participate in a contest here March 8-9 where the robots made by them will compete to steal pots of 'butter'.
Aptly called 'Mission Govinda', inspired by Hindu Lord Krishna's childhood stories of stealing butter, the national robotic contest will have teams from all the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and region engineering colleges competing at the event being held at Maharashra Institute of Technology (MIT).
Saeedi hopes Iran, IAEA will finalise issue of centrifuges
By NNN-IRNA
Tehran : Deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation for International Affairs Mohammad Saeedi has expressed hope that Iran and the IAEA would finalise the issue of P1 and P2 centrifuges in this round of negotiations.
Saeedi was speaking to reporters at the Mehrabad International Airport here Monday following the arrival of Deputy Chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for Safeguards Olli Heinonen.
Heinonen is to hold a fresh round of talks with Iranian officials within the framework of Iran-IAEA Aug 21 agreement.
The computer helper: mastering My Documents
By DPA
Washington : Odd as it may seem, one of the biggest problems many computer users face is knowing where their documents are - and how to move or save them.
Without this fundamental knowledge, it can be tough to locate important documents when you need them - or to feel like you're in control of your own computer.
The good news is that becoming a master of the My Documents folder is not as tough as it seems.
China for ‘constructive role’ in Iranian nuclear talks
By Xinhua,
Sanya (China) : China has expressed its willingness to play a "constructive role" in the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear crisis.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said his country respects Iran's nuclear programme meant for peaceful purposes and is willing to play a mediator's role in the talks to resolve the standoff.
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.
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.
Indian scientists look to stars to cure heart patients
By P. Vijian, NNN-Bernama,
New Delhi : Indian astro scientists have become starry-eyed. They are looking to the stars to heal heart patients.
While it may sound out of this world (pardon the pun), scientists at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi have resorted to doing exatly that.
They are boldly taking the science of astrology to a new dimension.
The scientists are busying calculating the movements of stars and planets of patients to understand how they can reduce or avert the increasing heart-related diseases -- merely using their horoscopes.
India to log 236 mn mobile internet users by 2016: Report
New Delhi: India is projected to have 236 million mobile internet users by 2016, with the figure reaching 314 million by 2017, a report...
Using AI to track visual bugs in 3-D games
By IANS,
Sydney : Artificial intelligence will soon replace the tedious and time-consuming -- but highly complex -- process of testing how good or bad 3-D computer games are.
Alfredo Nantes of Queensland University of Technology is building intelligent tools that will detect “visual anomalies” in a 3-D computer game.
“Visual anomalies are things like incorrect shadowing or lighting, texturing problems and all artefacts that corrupt the realism of the game scene,” Nantes said.
Iran pledges support for Iraq in fight against terrorism
Tehran: Tehran will continue supporting Baghdad in its fight against terrorism as Iraq's security was intertwined with that of Iran, President Hassan Rouhani has...
US launches spy satellite
By IANS,
Washington : The US Wednesday launched a spy satellite into space.
NASA set to conduct largest airborne polar ice survey
By IANS,
Washington : NASA will conduct a massive polar survey from Oct 15 to examine changes to Antarctica's sea ice and glaciers.
The flights are part of Operation Ice Bridge, a six-year campaign that is the largest airborne survey ever made of ice at the polar regions.
Researchers will work from NASA's DC-8, an airborne lab equipped with laser mapping instruments, ice-penetrating radar and gravity instruments.
Indian space programmes on demand worldwide: ISRO
By Fakir Balaji, IANS
Hyderabad : Indian space programmes for education, healthcare, management of natural resources and weather forecast and disaster management are in great demand the world over due to their domino effect on living standards, a top Indian space agency official said here Thursday.
"Nations across Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific are making a beeline to seek our expertise and resources for replicating the success of our space programmes and applications.
Midas touch: scientists discover gold nanoparticles
By IANS,
Sydney : Scientists have for the first time discovered gold nanoparticles, setting to rest speculation about whether they existed at all.
Scientists of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) said they discovered these particles in western Australia.
“In the southern areas of the state, groundwater is very salty and acidic. This water dissolves primary gold and re-deposits it as pure gold crystals on fracture surfaces and in open pore spaces,” said Rob Hough, who led the search for the nanoparticles.
Journey to NASA owes to AMU: Hashima Hasan
TCN News
Aligarh: For Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) alumna, Dr Hashima Hasan, Program/Discipline Scientist at the NASA, USA, the fascination with space science began when she...
New global map most comprehensive ever
By IANS
New York : A new global map that details the planet's land cover with a resolution 10 times sharper than any of its predecessors is also the most comprehensive ever.
The map is based on 20 terabytes of imagery - the equivalent of data in 20 million books - acquired from May 2005 to April 2006 by Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument.
There are 22 different land cover types shown in the map, including croplands, wetlands, forests, artificial surfaces, water bodies and permanent snow and ice.
Accompanying satellite begins orbiting Shenzhou-7 spaceship on Sunday
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Chinese scientists on Sunday successfully directed the accompanying satellite BX-1 to begin circling the Shenzhou-7 spaceship, on an elliptical track of 4 kilometers multiplying 8 kilometers.
It is the first time that China has succeeded in maneuvering this kind of space orbiting, official sources say.
The accompanying satellite began orbiting the orbital capsule of the Shenzhou-7 at 18:14 pm, under the close monitoring and precise control of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.
Space taxis: Bold new era or death of manned exploration?
By Anne K. Walters, DPA,
Cape Canaveral (Florida) : The massive cement expanses that dot the flat Florida landscape have been launching pads for history: the first US astronauts blasted into orbit, the Apollo missions to the moon and nearly 30 years of space shuttle flights. But human space travel from Kennedy Space Centre will soon come to a halt.
After nearly three decades, the space shuttle programme is set to come to a close in September.
Bt Brinjal safe for humans, says science ministry
By IANS,
New Delhi : While the government is conducting nationwide public consultations on whether genetically modified brinjal should be commercially released, the science ministry Tuesday endorsed the product, calling it "safe for all".
"As science and technology ministry, we support the clearance of the expert group. It is safe for all," Science and Technology Minister P. Chavan said at the social editors' conference here.
Google comes to the aid of Yahoo!
By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : Google Inc has joined the Internet war by offering its help in any effort to thwart its chief rival Microsoft Corp.'s unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo!, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.
Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt called Yahoo! Inc. CEO Jerry Yang to offer his company's help as Yahoo! assessed its options for responding to Microsoft's aggressive "bear hug" bid, which has sent aftershocks through the media and technology industries.
Argentine scientists discover ‘master gene’ linked to cancer
By IANS
Buenos Aires : A group of Argentine scientists has discovered a "master gene" that determines why carcinogenic tumours survive.
Scientists of the Exact and Natural Sciences Faculty at the University of Buenos Aires and the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research of Argentina carried out the research, reported Spanish news agency EFE.
For four years, the team studied tumours of the pituitary gland located at the base of the skull.
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".
Key to prevention of morphine tolerance found
By IANS
New York : Morphine tolerance - or patients getting used to the pain-relieving effects of the drug, leading to escalating dosage - could soon be a thing of the past.
Researchers at the Saint Louis University of Medicine have found a way of blocking a key substance that causes tolerance levels to rise.
The study could lead to new therapies that allow morphine to be administered without patients developing tolerance or experiencing a host of severe side effects that accompany increasing dosage.
Iran begins project for manned space flight by 2021
By Xinhua,
Tehran : Iran has kicked off a 12-year project to send an astronaut into space, just days after putting its first home-built satellite into orbit, Press TV reported Thursday.
"The programme's preliminary needs, assessments and feasibility studies have been carried out," said Reza Taqipour, the head of the Iranian Aerospace Organization.
The organisation had drawn up a comprehensive plan for the project and various academic and research institutions must play to carry out a successful space mission by 2021, he said.