Arctic boulders confirm that glaciers are thinning
By IANS
London : Huge boulders could enable scientists to predict the contribution of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) to sea level rise, according to the latest issue of Geology.
These boulders - deposited by three glaciers in the Amundsen Sea region - are currently being studied by scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Durham University and Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute.
Black buck gives birth after artificial insemination
By IANS
Hyderabad : For the first time in the world, scientists here have succeeded in artificial insemination of a black buck by non-invasive method, leading to the birth of a live fawn.
Scientists at the Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) of the prestigious Centre for Cellular Molecular Biology (CCMB) here are excited about their success.
Googlephone is coming next week for $530
By DPA,
San Francisco : A day after Google announced a media event for its Android mobile phone system next week, new details leaked out Wednesday about the first ever phone to be sold directly by the web search giant.
According to technology blog Gizmodo the Nexus One will be sold unlocked on a Google website for $530. The phone will work on GSM cellphone networks and will be offered at a subsidised price of $180 in the US by fourth-ranked carrier T-Mobile with a two-year talk and data contract costing $80 a month.
World’s smallest radio – here comes the nanopod
By IANS
New York : It's the world's smallest radio, run with a single carbon nanotube one ten-thousandth the diameter of a human hair, and radio buffs are already dubbing it the nanopod.
A single battery and earphones are all you need to tune in with the radio, built by physicists at the University of California in Berkeley, a paper published online Wednesday by the journal Nano Letters said.
Pakistani band paints the music scene red
By Zofeen T. Ebrahim, IANS,
Karachi : A new song, "Mein Ne Uss Se Yeh Kaha", which has taken the Pakistani music scene by storm, is neither the usual crooning for a lost love nor does it take the usual cynical view of society.
The song is a satirical poem by the late Habib Jalib, a poet with leftist leanings, written some time in the 1960s, when Pakistan was reeling under the rule of its first dictator, Ayub Khan. Jalib was incarcerated and put behind bars many times for his verses.
Mexico to build space port
By DPA,
Mexico City : Mexico plans to begin construction of a space port to send satellites in space this year, an official said Monday.
The facility will be located in the southern state of Quintana Roo on the border with Belize, said state planning minister Jose Alberto Alonso Ovando. The location was chosen after extensive studies in part because of its proximity to the Equator, he said in an
interview.
Russia launches defense satellite
By Xinhua,
Moscow : Russia launched on Friday a carrier rocket with three defense satellites atop, Itar-Tass reported.
The rocket, also carrying the scientific Yubileyny micro-satellite took off from the Plesetsk spaceport at 7:20 p.m. (1520 GMT), Russian Space Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Alexei Zolotukhin was cited as saying.
The launch was made successfully at the north Russia's launch pad, he said.
Mysterious object seen refuelling from sun
By IANS,
London : An orbiting NASA space telescope has captured the footage of a planet-sized object flying close to the sun, and extending a "refuelling tube" into the sun's surface.
Snappping of connectors caused launch failure: Scientist
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Google Play store hits 25 bn downloads
By IANS,
San Francisco: Google announced Wednesday that its online store for media and applications Google Play has hit 25 billion downloads.
New species discovered in Atlantic Ocean
By IANS,
London : In a major breakthrough, scientists have found over 10 new species under the Atlantic Ocean, including creatures close to the missing evolutionary link between backboned and invertebrate animals.
The bizarre creatures, oddly-shaped, brightly-coloured or even transparent, that scientists have uncovered during a new study has "revolutionised" thinking about deep-sea life.
Scientists believe they have discovered more than 10 new marine species by using the latest diving technology, Daily Mail reported.
Tech really goes mobile as carmakers look for edge
By DPA
Las Vegas : Advances in digital technology are set to transform the automotive world, making cars safer, more efficient and more fun to drive, GM chairman Rick Wagoner has said.
From voice activated control and entertainment systems, to new power systems and even cars that drive themselves, Wagoner's speech at the Consumer Electronics World, the world's largest technology fair, signified how fast cars are integrating electronic gadgets.
9,000-year-old rhino remains found in Russia
By RIA Novosti,
Yekaterinburg (Russia) : Archaeologists in the Sverdlovsk region in Russia's Urals have discovered 9,000-year-old bones of a rhinoceros, a local museum worker said Monday.
The excavations during which the bones were discovered were carried out at a site on the bank of the Lobva River, said Nikolai Yerokhin from the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology department.
It was generally assumed that rhinoceros last wandered the Urals some 15,000 to 20,000 years ago.
Car-sized rat fossile found in Uruguay
By Xinhua
Beijing : Scientists have unearthed the skull of a giant prehistoric rat -- a car-sized behemoth that roamed South America four million years ago, according to a study published in Wednesday's Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The newly-identified species, believed to be the largest rodent ever to have walked the Earth, was about three meters long and 1.5 meters tall, and weighed from 468 kilos to 2.5 tonnes, according to researchers.
Microsoft launches anti-piracy campaign in 49 countries
By IANS,
New Delhi : In its bid to clamp down on rampant software piracy, Microsoft Tuesday announced a global initiative under the banner of 'Global Anti-Piracy Awareness Day' that will include educating consumers as well as enforcing legal action.
Even though the initiative was rolled out in 49 countries, Microsoft's director of intellectual property in Australia told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper that the Redmond-based software giant would not be able to solve the problem fully ever.
Less than 1 percent spent on R&D in science
By IANS
New Delhi : A mere 0.8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is spent on research and development in science and technology, the Lok Sabha was informed Tuesday.
Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said the government had taken several measures to increase spending on science and technology.
"These measures include higher allocation for scientific research for setting up new institutions for science, education and research," he said.
Scientists discover new planet outside solar system
By DPA
Heidelberg : Scientists in Germany have discovered what is believed to be the youngest planet outside the solar system, the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics announced Wednesday.
The giant young planet, called TW Hydrae b, "is still linked to the dusty disk surrounding its parent star", the institute said ahead of publication of the discovery in the British science journal Nature.
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."
Indian group crowned world energy champion
By IANS,
London : An Indian technology and alternative energy group has been crowned 'Energy Champion' of the world by a prestigious British environmental organisation.
Bangalore-based Technology Informatics Design Endeavour, or Tide, was awarded the title along with a prize of 40,000 pounds by Nobel laureate and environmentalist Wangari Mathai at a ceremony in London.
190 mn-year-old dinosaur fossils found in Argentina
By IANS/EFE,
Buenos Aires : A species of dinosaur that lived 190 million years ago has been found in Argentina, a researcher said.
"No discoveries with these characteristics had ever been made in the region. It's an important discovery because it helps us understand the environmental diversity of the period," researcher Santiago Bessone of the Museum Egidio Feruglio, an institution based in the Argentine Patagonian city of Trelew that was responsible for the expedition, told EFE.
‘India poised to become major collaborative space power’
By IANS,
Chennai : India, already a leader in the remote sensing data domain, is poised to become a major collaborative space power, says an international space competitiveness index study.
According to the study, conducted by the US-based Futron Corp, the space race that has witnessed major developments like the Soviet Union's Sputnik launch, the first man-made satellite to orbit and the US' successful moon mission is now a $100 billion-plus industry.
Lots of watts don’t rev up vacuum cleaner
Berlin, May 18 (DPA) When buying a vacuum cleaner, consumers should not be led astray by high wattage.
The amount of electricity used has little to do with performance, according to a recent test of 17 vacuum cleaners by Stiftung Warentest, the Berlin-based independent German consumer-protection group reported in its April issue.
Suction power depended on the appropriate interplay of the basic device, nozzle construction, suction pipes and airflow, the group added.
Insect eye inspires ultra-thin image sensor
By IANS,
Washington : The amazing versatility of an insect's compound eye has inspired researchers worldwide into working on ultra-thin imaging systems.
Features of these compound eyes, optimised over millions of years of evolution, are being adapted for present-day imaging equipment.
Accordingly, scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering, are working on the development of an ultra-thin image sensor.
For example Andreas Brückner, working on his doctoral thesis, improved the imaging properties of these sensor applications.
Found: World’s oldest living tree, age 9,550
By IANS,
London : A 9,550-year-old spruce, the world's oldest living tree, has been found in Dalarna province of Sweden.
The tenacious specimen has survived by growing between erect trees and smaller bushes in pace with the dramatic climate changes over time.
For many years the spruce tree has been regarded as a relative newcomer in the Swedish mountain region.
"Our results have shown the complete opposite. The spruce is one of the oldest known trees in the mountain range," said Leif Kullman, of Umeå University.
Iran awaits lift of sanctions to resume crude exports
Tehran: Iran has signed a preliminary document with South Africa to resume its oil exports when the western sanctions against Tehran are lifted, a...
Five more exoplanets found in Milky Way
By DPA,
Washington : NASA scientists said Monday they have identified another five planets orbiting stars in the Milky Way Galaxy.
But none of them appears to be the long sought after Earth-twin that could support life the way the home planet does, Kepler telescope specialists said at a news conference in Washington.
Spacesuit trouble shortens spacewalk
By DPA,
Washington : Problems with a spacesuit has caused NASA to cut short a spacewalk outside the International Space Station.
Problems with a system that removes carbon dioxide from the air in astronaut Chris Cassidy's spacesuit caused mission control to end the spacewalk at 2031 GMT Wednesday after five hours and 59 minutes. Carbon dioxide levels were beginning to rise in his suit, but he was not in any imminent danger, NASA said. The spacewalk was to have lasted about six and a half hours.
‘Chandrayaan orbit to be raised to 267,000 km Wednesday’
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : The earth orbit of India's first lunar spacecraft will be raised to 267,000 km Wednesday, an official here said.
"The Chandrayaan spacecraft, orbiting at a distance of around 165,000 km apogee (farthest point from earth) will be raised Wednesday to around 267,000 km. As of now, everything is normal and as per our expectations," Chandrayaan-1 project director M. Annadurai told IANS.
Rat bones show first New Zealanders settled 700 years ago
By DPA,
Wellington : Humans first settled in New Zealand around the late 13th century and not more than 2,000 years ago as had been thought, according to research published Tuesday that used radiocarbon dating on rat bones.
The research in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences rejected earlier radiocarbon dating suggesting the first migrants arrived about 200 BC.
Even seaweeds are not protected from sunburn
By IANS,
London : Like most humans, many plants also react sensitively to an increased dose of ultraviolet radiation, even though they are dependent on sunlight.
With the help of pigments absorbing solar energy and light, plants produce their vitally important building blocks by means of photosynthesis.
However, this has its limits: too much sun means an over-abundance of energy and thus the destruction of the sensitive pigments. The result are black spots, pale leaves and rotten parts.
NIIT Technologies, British Airways ink three-year deal
By IANS,
New Delhi : Leading Indian global software major NIIT Technologies Ltd said Friday that it has signed a "multi-million pound" three-year deal with Britain's premier airline British Airways.
"The deal enables the support and testing of business critical applications across various business areas of the global airline," the regulatory statement said.
The contract is one of the largest ever deals to be signed by NIIT Technologies with a member of the British airlines industry and follows a 12-year relationship between the two companies, the statement said.
Partial solar eclipse in UAE
By NNN-WAM,
Abu Dhabi : The United Arab Emirates and other countries of the region, including Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, eastern parts of Saudi Arabia and northern parts of Palestine and Jordan, witnessed a partial solar eclipse today.
Emirates Astronomy Society deployed an observatory in the breakwaters area to monitor the different stages of eclipse. The eclipse lasted for about 95 minutes, reaching its peak at 3:29 p.m.
Mohammad Shawkat, Head of the Society said the eclipse occurred when the new moon moved directly between the sun and the earth.
NASA returns to the moon on India’s Chandrayaan-1
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : The American space agency NASA is sending two instruments to map the lunar surface on India's maiden moon voyage on its robotic Chandrayaan-1 mission Wednesday.
The Moon Mineralogy Mapper will assess mineral resources, and the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar, or Mini-SAR, will map the polar regions and look for ice deposits, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA.
New Satellite to Save $500 Million for Africa
By Prensa Latina
Luanda : The launching of the first pan-African telecommunications satellite system into orbit next week will allow Africa to annually save $500 million.
The director of the Regional African Satellite Communication Organization (RascomStar), Fraj Lamari, told an Angolan radio station that the African continent's first pan-African telecommunications satellite system is similar to the US Intelsat and the European Eutelsat.
Chinese software industry sees opportunity in Microsoft’s anti-piracy move
By Cheng Zhiliang and Quan Xiaoshu, Xinhua,
Beijing : When Microsoft noticed "misunderstandings" among the Chinese public over its "black screen" move to crack down on piracy, the country's domestic software industry saw opportunity and couldn't wait to embrace it.
A Kingsoft public relations manager said there were currently up to 120,000 daily Internet downloads of "WPS Office," the "Microsoft Office"-like software developed by Kingsoft Corporation Limited, compared with 50,000 to 60,000 downloads before the controversial Microsoft move.
Zuckerberg fuels Free Basics vs net neutrality debate in India
New Delhi : First splashy full page ads in major Indian newspapers and now a personal piece by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a...
NASA gives “go” for Atlantis’ Sunday launch
By Xinhua
Washington : NASA announced Saturday afternoon that it will try to launch the space shuttle Atlantis on Sunday.
The Mission Management Team concluded after a meeting on Saturday that "we are 'go' for a Sunday launch attempt," said a briefing posted by NASA at its official website. Sunday's launch attempt is set for 3:21 p.m. EST (2021 GMT).
Shuttle Discovery flight hits halfway mark
By SPA,
Cape Canaveral, Florida : As their flight hit the halfway mark, shuttle Discovery's astronauts faced more work with the space station's new science lab on Saturday.
All 10 occupants of the linked shuttle and station chipped in Friday to get Japan's billion-dollar Kibo lab up and running, and to expand its size by attaching an attic to it.
On Saturday _ one week into their mission _ the astronauts planned to test drive the lab's 33-foot (10-meter) robot arm, the Associated Press reported.
Disconnected in Hyperconnected World: How Work, Family Shifts Fuelling Loneliness Epidemic in Post-Pandemic Era
Devanshi Batra, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: Why does it feel like we are more alone than ever in a world where we are constantly plugged in? Despite...
Swiss solar plane makes first flight
By DPA,
Geneva : A solar-powered airplane took off on its first major test flight Wednesday morning, from an airfield in western Switzerland.
The flight of the plane, named Solar Impulse, comes ahead of plans to use a similar solar-powered plane to fly around the world in 2012.
"We want to demonstrate what can be achieved with renewable energy," Bertrand Piccard, the man behind the project, was quoted by the Swiss ATS news agency as saying.
The plane has the wing span of an Airbus A340, the weight of an average car, and is powered by some 12,000 solar cells.
Solar eclipse bodes ill for India, Nepal, China, says soothsayer
By IANS,
Kathmandu : One of Nepal's best-known astrologers, a globe-trotter who has attended astrological meets in Britain, Japan, France and Germany, warned that Wednesday's solar eclipse would cause further unrest in India, Nepal and China.
Bhoj Raj Upadhyay, who was asked to comment on the century's longest solar eclipse by Nepal's private television channels, predicted that in India, the eclipse would foment civil and financial crises as well as religious conflict.
Digital camera resolution reaches a new high
By IANS,
New York : The Swedish company Hasselblad's announcement of the launch of Hasselblad H3DII-50, featuring a new Kodak 50-megapixel sensor, has pushed the available resolution in digital cameras to a new high.
Such high resolution goes beyond the needs of most consumers but professional photographers would appreciate the unprecedented level of detail provided by it.
Roads are the biggest threat to tropical rainforests
By IANS,
Sydney : Roads, the most visible symbols of progress, are the biggest threat to the world's tropical rainforests, says a new study.
"Clearing wide paths in any forest has a strong effect on the ecosystem, but these impacts are particularly acute in tropical rainforests," said William Laurance, study co-author and biology professor at the Smithsonian's Tropical Research Institute in Panama.
Brazil frowns on US control over Internet
By Xinhua
Rio de Janeiro : Brazil expressed its opposition to the US control over the Internet, saying a new international agency composed of civil representatives should govern access.
The coordination, inspection and legislation of laws on access to the Internet is currently in the hands of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which is under the influence "of the US", said Brazil Minister of Strategic Affairs Roberto Mangabeira Unger Wednesday.
U.S. Mars rovers still on the job after five years
By Xinhua,
Washington : Five years ago, NASA's rover Spirit landed safely on Mars, followed by its twin, Opportunity, three weeks later. Though it was hoped the rovers would work for three months, the duo may still have big achievements ahead as they reach the fifth anniversary of their memorable landings.
Of the hundreds of engineers and scientists who cheered at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, on Jan. 3, 2004, none predicted the team would still be operating both rovers in 2009.
US pulls Patriot missile systems from Turkey
Ankara : The US has decided to withdraw its border protection mission in Turkey which was deployed against possible threats from Syria, a...
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.
Colliding galaxies send black holes packing
By Xinhua,
Beijing : A huge black hole has been seen leaving its home galaxy after a colossal cosmic merger occurred. The event, seen for the first time, was announced Tuesday.
When two colliding galaxies finally merge, it is thought the black holes at their cores may fuse together too. Astronomers have theorized that the resulting energy release could propel the new black hole from its parent galaxy out into space, but no one has found such an event.
Software to locate stolen laptops launched
By IANS
Mumbai : Mumbai based Micro technologies have launched India's first laptop tracking system to locate stolen laptops.
Micro Lost Notebook Tracking System (LNTS) is a software product that is embedded on notebook hard drives and is tracked as soon as they are connected to the Internet.
"The software was developed to deter, track and recover stolen laptops, notebooks and personal computers," said P. Shekar, Micro technologies chairperson.
Indian IT industry bucks global recession to sustain growth
By IANS,
New Delhi: The Indian IT industry managed to limit the impact of global recession last fiscal and maintain the growth momentum, albeit lower than that in the boom times, says tech publisher Dataquest.
"Export firms did better in recession-hit developed markets than those whose business is limited to the Indian market," Dataquest editor Prasanto K. Roy said.
Though the business of top 20 firms led by Indian IT bellwethers TCS, Infosys and Wipro, and multinationals such as HP and IBM, grew by an average 19 percent, seven of these posted single-digit revenue growth.
Plants can effectively tackle global warming
By IANS,
London : Plants remain an effective way of tackling global warming, despite emitting small amounts of methane, an important greenhouse gas, says a new study.
Research led by the University of Edinburgh (UE) in Scotland suggests that plant leaves account for less than one percent of methane emissions - which is considered to be about 25 times more effective than carbon dioxide.
Managing Internet Explorer plug-ins
By DPA
Washington : Everyone knows the story: When Internet Explorer (IE) is first installed, it flies. The browser itself opens quickly, and pages load without incident.
But after a while, things start to break down. The browser crashes, freezes, or loads slowly. Sometimes it won't load at all. Typically the blame falls on security holes in IE. But there can be other causes too - plug-ins.
You could ditch IE altogether and move to Mozilla's Firefox, but most Firefox users swear by plug-ins, so there's really no escape from plug-in issues there, either.
World’s biggest telescope to seek new galaxies
By Sinikka Tarvainen, DPA,
Madrid : Thousands of years ago, the original inhabitants of Spain's Canary Islands are thought to have worshipped the Roque de los Muchachos mountain as having magical powers. On Friday, the mountain will officially become home to a telescope billed as the world's biggest time machine.
The instrument will allow scientists to seek new answers to the origin of the universe.
The Grantecan or GTC, which are abbreviations for "large telescope of the Canary Islands", is the biggest among only about a dozen comparable telescopes in the world.
India to witness partial lunar eclipse June 26
By IANS,
New Delhi : Look towards the east after sunset Sunday and you will see upper part of moon's disk darkened as parts of India witness a partial lunar eclipse.
The lunar eclipse is visible in eastern Asia, Australia, Antarctica, parts of the Americas and the Pacific Ocean, a statement from Ministry of Earth Sciences said Wednesday. This eclipse would be the last one in 2010 for India.
"Visibility in India will be at the end of the eclipse. The ending of the eclipse is visible from the extreme northeastern states at the time of moonrise during the eclipse," it said.
India tests n-capable Agni-I missile
By IANS,
Bhubaneswar: India Friday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-I missile from a military base in Odisha, a defence official said.
Astronauts at space station kick off first of five spacewalks
By Xinhua
Washington : Two astronauts at the International Space Station kicked off the first of a series of spacewalks to assemble new components for the orbital outpost, NASA TV reported Thursday.
The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour's crew member Rick Linnehan and Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman stepped out of the station at 9:18 p.m. EDT on Thursday (0118 GMT on Friday). The excursion will last for about six hours and a half.
U.S. shuttle Endeavour safely lands after 16-day space trip
By Xinhua
Washington : The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour returned home on Wednesday night at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ending its record-long 16-day construction mission for the International Space Station, NASA TV broadcasted.
After a journey of 6.5 million miles (10.5 million km), Endeavour with seven astronauts aboard touched down at 8:39 p.m. EDT Wednesday (0039 GMT Thursday), just one hour after local sunset. The shuttle continued to come to a full stop on the runway shortly.
Indian American develops software to help motorists
By IANS
Los Angeles : A tech firm owned by an Indian American has developed a software that combines speech-recognition and text messaging to provide free directions to motorists.
Dial Directions, a California based firm, began its services early this week in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York with the promise of turning a cell phone into a global positioning system (GPS) and search-enabled device.
The software can work on any mobile phone, the online edition of San Francisco Chronicle reported.
GSM rural subscribers up 4.14 mn
By IANS,
New Delhi: All India rural GSM subscribers increased 4.14 million in January 2014, which was 1.5 percent up from previous month, according to...
Device tracks and delivers virus count in minutes
By IANS,
Sydney : You may be ingesting dangerous nano-particles emitted by a car and billions of viruses might be infesting your system especially if you have a virulent infection.
qViro is a revolutionary invention that offers the potential to quickly and cheaply answer these questions. The coffee grinder sized, portable desk top instrument can count the number of viruses in a sample in minutes, powered by a computer drive.
NASA delays Endeavour launch by 24 hours
By RIA Novosti,
Washington : The launch of space shuttle Endeavour has been delayed again by 24 hours to "allow technical teams additional time to evaluate lightning strikes at Launch Pad 39A that occurred during Friday's thunderstorm," NASA said Saturday.
The launch of Endeavour that was to have gone ahead Saturday will now take place Sunday.
Two previous launches were postponed after hydrogen gas was found to be leaking from a vent line connected to the external tanks. NASA technicians carried out repairs realigning a fuel plate and installing new seals to rectify the problem.
Solar plane takes off for Hawaii from Japan
Tokyo : The Swiss-made solar-powered plane, Solar Impulse 2, on Monday started its second bid at a record-breaking flight across the Pacific Ocean.
According to...
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.
SMS to know CAT answers within hours of exam
By IANS
Mumbai : Months of fretting after taking the Combined Admission Test (CAT) for admissions to top management institutes may become a thing of the past with the launch of an SMS service that will give the answers within hours of taking the exam.
Recession’s long reach – Moon and Mars missions of US
By Prashant K. Nanda, IANS,
New Delhi : The global financial crisis will severely affect the US manned mission to the Moon and then to the red plant Mars, says Jerry Linenger, a renowned astronaut of American space agency NASA, while lauding India's growing role in space.
"It will affect the space programmes. The economic recession will certainly affect the missions to Mars and the Moon," Jerry Linenger told IANS. Linenger was here to attend the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
Earth is twice as dusty as in 19th century
By IANS,
Washington : If your house seems dustier than usual, it may have nothing to do with your housekeeping skills.
ISRO planning 10 space missions in 2013
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to accomplish 10 space missions in the next one year, parliament was informed Wednesday.
Research centre chief bans organic farming talk
By IANS
Nagpur : Even as the central government is promoting organic farming in a big way, the head of a central research institute in the agriculture sector refused to allow a talk on the subject by an expert at a farmers' fair held at Nagpur in Maharashtra.
NASA’s Phoenix lifts first scoop of Martian soil
By Xinhua,
Washington : One week after landing on far-northern Mars, NASA Phoenix spacecraft lifted its first scoop of Martian soil as a test of the lander's Robotic Arm, NASA reported on Monday.
The practice scoop was emptied onto a designated dump area on the ground after the Robotic Arm Camera photographed the soil inside the scoop. The Phoenix team plans to have the arm deliver its next scoopful, later this week, to an instrument that heats and sniffs the sample to identify ingredients.
Indian rocket puts 10 satellites in orbit at one go
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : India Monday significantly boosted its space capabilities with the copybook launch of a Rs.700 million ($17.4 million) rocket that simultaneously placed in orbit 10 satellites - two Indian and eight foreign.
The launch firmly established India as a major player in the $1 billion global satellite launch market, a significant milestone in the country's 45-year-old space programme.
Man behind Bose audio systems in Inventors’ Hall of Fame
By Parveen Chopra, IANS
New York : Amar Bose, a pioneer in modern acoustics who is known for the high-end audio products bearing his name, has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in the US, which has previously honoured Thomas Edison, Graham Bell and the Wright Brothers.
Born in the US to a Bengali father and a German mother, Bose's name is in the 2008 list of 18 inventors to be honoured, 11 of them posthumously, by the Ohio-based Hall of Fame in May.
Aluminium-water propellant promising for future space missions
By IANS,
Washington : A new type of green rocket propellant, comprising frozen mixture of water and "nanoscale aluminium" powder, is being developed that could be manufactured on the moon, Mars and other water-bearing bodies, says a new study.
The aluminium-ice, or ALICE, propellant might be used to launch rockets into orbit and for long-distance space missions and also to generate hydrogen for fuel cells, said Steven Son, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University.
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.
Russia to create manned assembly complex in orbit
By Xinhua
Moscow : Russia is going to create a manned assembly complex in orbit, the chief of the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) Anatoly Perminov said here on Saturday.
"We shall create this complex in order to make dockings in orbit, build craft there and send them to the Moon, Mars and other planets," Perminov was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as telling a new briefing.
"This proposal was on the whole approved at the meeting of the Russian Security Council on Friday, but a specific time has not been determined," he said.
Will the Big Bang test end the world on Wednesday?
By Venkata Vemuri, IANS,
London : If critics are to be believed, the end of the universe will begin coming Wednesday when a Welsh miner's son launches the world's biggest scientific experiment to know how the universe was born.
The well-known Welshman physicist, Lyn Evans, dubbed Evans the Atom, will this week switch on a giant particle accelerator designed to unlock the secrets of the Big Bang.
On Wednesday, Evans will fire up the Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile-long doughnut-shaped tunnel that will smash sub-atomic particles together at nearly the speed of light.
New system to regulate shipping traffic in Gulf of Kutch
By IANS
New Delhi : The government has proposed to establish a Vessel Traffic System (VTS) in the Gulf of Kutch to regulate the shipping traffic, the Lok Sabha was informed Wednesday.
VTS is a marine traffic monitoring system established by harbour or port authorities, similar to air traffic control (ATC) for aircraft.
Making computers more user-friendly for disabled
By IANS,
Washington : Efforts are underway to come up with a more user-friendly computer that responds to physically challenged individuals.
Current designs are particularly frustrating for the disabled, the elderly and anybody who has trouble with a mouse.
A new approach developed by Washington University researchers would put each person through a brief skills test and generate a mathematically based version of the user interface optimised for his or her vision and motor abilities.
Manmohan watches as 100th Indian space mission blasts off
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
New navigation system to help motorists avoid jams
By IANS,
London : A new car navigation system is being developed to help motorists negotiate rush hour jams by advising them about the best possible routes.
The 'Congestion Avoidance Dynamic Routing Engine' (CADRE) uses “artificial intelligence”, or AI, to interpret live traffic information shared among vehicles fitted with a special GPS, or Global Positioning System.
Google’s help sought in Koda investigation
By IANS,
Ranchi : The Income Tax (IT) department has sought help from US-based Google and its gmail e-mail service to get details of messages relating to foreign investments as the investigation into charges of money laundering by former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda progresses, an official said Monday.
"We are taking help of different agencies in the investigation. This is part of it," said Ajit Srivastav, additional director, Investigations in the income tax (IT) department.
Researchers take a peep into bloggers’ world
By IANS
Washington : Researchers have turned the spotlight on a fascinating community of bloggers who exchanges ideas, information and knowledge on the web.
A University of California team examined the reading habits of 15 bloggers of various ages to determine how they consume content and interact with blogs and other blog writers.
Previous studies typically centred on blog writers, largely overlooking those who go online to read, comment and participate. Blog readers feel a responsibility to make insightful contributions.
Humans responsible for third of nitrogen in oceans
By IANS,
London : Human activity is responsible for a lot of the nitrogen finding its way into the sea from the atmosphere and influencing the nitrogen cycle, according to the latest findings by an international team of scientists.
The presence of nitrogen in the sea influences global climate as it increases marine biological activity and carbon dioxide uptake, which in turn produces the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide.
App for female commuters’ safety launched
Kolkata : Female train commuters in distress can now seek immediate police assistance at the touch of a button -- courtesy a mobile...
Scientists develop method to help regain hearing
By IANS,
Washington : Swiss and South African scientists have outlined a method to potentially overcome hearing defects, even remedying substantial hearing loss.
The method could help restore functional regions of the damaged ear to be able to recognise frequencies originally associated with them.
Existing hearing-aid and cochlear implant technology have only been partially successful in recreating the experience of the fully functioning ear.
New educational app rewards users with real cash
Seoul : South Korea-based educational startup BeNative has launched CashEnglish, an app that rewards users with real cash for playing educational games.
The app is...
Rare honour for Indian American scientist
By IANS,
New York : In a rare honour, Indian-American physicist Mani Bhaumik has been chosen as the sole patron for the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) 2009.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) are observing 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's astronomical telescope.
Announcing his appointment Wednesday, the IAU said ``it is proud to have Dr. Mani Bhaumik as dedicated supporter of IYA2009's global activities.''
Did you know you can access your computer from anywhere?
By Nabeel A. Khan, IANS,
New Delhi : Did you know that through the Internet you can access your computer from almost anywhere?
Relatively few of us have taken advantage of facilities like Google Document, Zoho Offline Office or Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia's Live Document.
These provide softwares like Word, Excel or Power Point. You can use them without having MS office installed in your PC.
HCL Infosystems posts robust profit
By IANS
Noida : India's leading IT hardware and systems integration firm HCL Infosystems Ltd Monday announced net profit of Rs.814.1 million ($20.69 million) for the quarter ending Dec 2007, an increase of seven percent from the same period last year.
The company reported consolidated revenues of Rs.33.06 billion ($840 million) during the period, an increase of 11 percent from Rs.29.68 billion in the third quarter of 2006-07.
Moser Baer to develop solar power project in Maharashtra
By IANS,
Mumbai : Moser Baer India, with business interest in optical storage media, is developing a 1 MW solar power project in Chandrapur in Maharashtra.
When completed, it will be one of the largest solar projects in the world using the latest thin film technology, the firm said. Thin films improve the efficiency with which solar cells convert sunlight to electricity.
The company won the contract from Mahagenco, a Maharashtra government-owned power utility, on the basis of a global tender that attracted 20 bids.
Percept Talent to promote CWG winners, non-cricket events
By IANS,
New Delhi: Percept Talent Management (PTM) has decided to promote non-cricket disciplines and medal winning athletes of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010.
Found: New fish that crawls
By IANS
Washington : A fish that crawls into crevices rather than swim may be able to see like humans, perhaps representing an entirely unknown family of fishes, according to a new study.
The fish, sighted in Indonesian waters off Ambon Island, has tan- and peach-coloured zebra-striping, and rippling folds of skin that obscure its fins, making it look like a glass sculpture.
Bummer: Wii no substitute for real exercise
By Xinhua
Beijing : What a bummer! A study by the British Medical Journal reveals that although the Wii game console offers more activity than passive videogames, Wii tennis is not an exercise substitute for real tennis.
A standard videogame only requires players ;move their thumbs and index fingers playing a standard video game, whereas the Wii actually requires players to move their hand or occasionally their entire arm to interact with the game, but that's not enough action to break a sweat for most couch potatoes.
Research to create bees without stings in Tamil Nadu
By IANS
Coimbatore : The Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) here will be researching on a project to create bees without stings.
The National Resource Development Board of the Department of Biotechnology has sanctioned the project "Morphometry and phylo-geography of honey bees and stingless bees", a press release here said.
Two universities will be involved in the project.
The TNAU will work on bio-ecology of stingless bees and evolve improved bee management techniques.
Saturn moon’s mysterious vapour plumes could be key to alien life
By DPA
Hamburg (Germany) : Scientists on NASA's Cassini mission are counting on the probe's next fly-by to provide them with possible clues to alien life following discovery of water vapour plumes on a moon of Saturn.
The spacecraft will zoom in on the moon Enceladus in March. Its closest approach will be at a mere 50 km from the surface and the altitude will increase to about 200 kilometres as the spacecraft passes through the plumes.
Cassini will sample the plumes directly and find out more about their composition, said German scientists who are monitoring the data.
Reksha in New Delhi combines old style and new tech
By Falah al-Fadhli, KUNA,
New Delhi : Over the past ten years, the Indian capital, New Delhi, has developed considerably in view of opening up to international markets and entry of foreign capital.
The active investment movement in New Delhi has stimulated and spurred migration from the countryside to the capital in pursuit of work, making it one of the most overpopulated and chaotic cities.
In spite of recent changes in the city, three-wheeled green-yellow Reksha hiring cars or Tok Tok are still favored by many commuters thanks to its old style, new technology and cheap fare.
Iran plans to send satellite in high Earth orbit
By IANS,
Tehran : Iran plans to send satellites in medium and high Earth orbits in two or three years, Iran's ISNA news agency reported quoting a senior official. On Feb 3, the country launched Omid light satellite in low Earth orbit, using the Safir 2 (messenger) rocket.
The chief of Organisation for Iranian Scientific and Industrial Research, Hossein Rahimi, said Sunday that Iran's next step in space technology was sending operational satellites in an orbit of 36,000 km.
Evolution pace differentiates climate on Venus, earth
By IANS
London : Venus, considered earth's 'prodigal twin', has a climate that is vastly different. And experts say it is because of the pace of evolution on the two planets.
According to Fred Taylor of Oxford University, Venus evolved very rapidly compared to the earth in the initial years - a crucial difference.
The new information is being beamed to us from the European Venus Express spacecraft now orbiting Venus.
Russia to launch space base for missions to Moon, Mars
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia plans to deploy an orbiting base for manned and unmanned missions to the Moon and Mars after 2020, the head of the space agency said Tuesday.
"After 2020, Russia plans to create and put into orbit a near-Earth experimental manned complex to ensure transport operations to the Moon and Mars," Anatoly Perminov said.
He also said Russia has tentative plans for manned missions to Mars, but since substantial technical and financial resources would be needed, a Mars expedition should be international.
Mini black holes could be passing through Earth
By IANS,
London : Space is littered with black holes that collapsing giant stars leave in their wake, but a miniature version could be passing through the Earth daily.
Ancient mineral provides clue to early climate
By IANS,
New York : A new analysis of ancient minerals called zircons suggests that earth's earliest continents were probably destroyed by an extremely harsh climate.
Zircons, the oldest known materials on earth, offer a window in time back as far as 4.4 billion years ago, when the planet was a mere 150 million years old.
As these crystals are exceptionally resistant to chemical changes, they have become the gold standard for determining the age of ancient rocks, ScienceDaily reported.
Google smart phone may be launched Tuesday
By IANS,
New York : Apple's iPhones will have a big competition on their hands as Google is set to launch its much discussed smart phone next week.
The new smart phone, Nexus One, may be unveiled Jan 5 when the internet search engine giant holds a media briefing about its smart phone business at its Mountainview headquarters in California. The Google-branded device will use its latest Android operating system called Anrdoid 2.1.
Android is already being used in more than a dozen smart phones by many vendors, including Motorola and Samsung.
Experimental flight of GSLV Mark 3 in December: ISRO chief
New Delhi : India will conduct an experimental test of its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark 3 in mid-December, Indian Space Research Organisation...
Russian-U.S. venture signs new Proton-M launch deal
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russian-American joint venture International Launch Services (ILS) has signed a contract to launch two U.S. commercial satellites, the Khrunichev State Research and Production Center said on Monday.
ILS, owned by the Khrunichev Center, RSC Energia, and U.S. firm Space Transport Inc. provides spacecraft launch services on board Proton-M carrier rockets. The company received $1.5 billion in new launch orders in 2007.
"The contract is for the launch of two satellites for the SIRIUS Satellite Radio constellation," a Khrunichev spokesman said.
Singhvi underlines India’s growth at Boston technology summit
By IANS,
Washington : Political and business leaders from three leading world markets - China, India and Russia - got an insight into India's growth plans from Abhishek Singhvi, spokesperson of the Congress Party leading the country's ruling coalition.
Participating in a conference on "China, India and Russia - Our Partners in the New Global Economy" in Boston, Massachusetts Thursday, he also dilated on India's infrastructure and its abundant labour supply.
European space truck docks at space station
By DPA
Bremen (Germany) : In a first docking by a European spacecraft in orbit, an expendable "space truck", named the "Jules Verne", nosed up to International Space Station (ISS) Thursday and attached itself automatically.
A live telecast, watched with bated breath by the craft's assemblers in Bremen, Germany, showed how computers guided the arriving craft smoothly throughout the slow manoeuvre, succeeding on its first attempt.
Messenger craft flies within 200 km of Mercury
By DPA,
Washington : NASA's Messenger spacecraft came within 200 km of Mercury Monday, taking pictures of the rocky planet nearest the sun.
It was the second of three planned flybys for the craft, which is due to settle into orbit around Mercury in 2011, providing what scientists hope will be the most complete picture yet of the solar system's smallest planet.
The 0840 GMT flyby was designed largely to pick up a gravitational boost of energy for the craft. It will begin beaming data back to Earth Wednesday, NASA and university researchers said.
India’s FlockPod stretches social networking horizon
By V. Vijayalakshmi, IANS
Pune : If you thought social networking sites like MySpace, Orkut and Facebook were the ultimate places to interact with people, think again. An Indian company has gone a step further with FlockPod, an innovative social networking application.
The Harbinger Group, which created the FlockPod, says it is the world's first social interaction pod - a small place on any web page where people get together and interact on the spot while staying on the page.
Living amid greens doesn’t make you exercise more
By IANS,
London : That nice neighbourhood park is apparently not all that inviting. A new study, in fact, contends that people with more greens around them walk and cycle less often and for shorter periods.
The Dutch study involved 5,000 people and sought answers to questions on physical activity and self-perceived health.
“In this study we investigated whether a green living environment encourages people to undertake physical activity,” said Jolanda Maas, who led the study.
EU to study Microsoft’s software compatibility announcement
By DPA,
Brussels : The European Commission said Thursday it had taken note of Microsoft's plans to improve the compatibility of its word processor with free-of-charge rival softwares.
In a statement, the European Union (EU) executive said it hoped that Microsoft's announcement that it would provide support for formats used by other open-source programmes would lead to "better interoperability and allow consumers to process and exchange their documents with the software product of their choice".
‘Big mistake’ if US blocks overseas skilled workers: Bill Gates
By IANS,
New Delhi : Microsoft founder Bill Gates Friday said it would be a "big mistake" if the US curbs the entry of skilled workers from abroad, rallying behind the "smart people" from countries like India that has a globally recognised outsourcing industry.
He also said Microsoft will like to partner the Indian government in its ambitious plan to give a unique identity number and a biometric card to each of its 1.17 billion people.
Satellite collision debris no threat to ISS: Russian space agency
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The debris from the collision Tuesday involving two communications satellites poses no threat to the International Space Station (ISS), a spokesman for Russia's space agency Roscosmos said Thursday.
Alexander Vorobyov said that while Roscosmos could not confirm the origin of the satellites, the risk to the ISS and its crew was minimal.
"There are no registered losses in the Roscosmos satellite grouping," Vorobyov added.
Russian regulator rejects Google’s purchase of Rambler ad system
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia's Anti-Monopoly Service has denied the international Internet search engine Google the purchase of a contextual advertising system from the Russian Rambler Web search company.
Rambler Media Ltd. signed in July an agreement with Google on selling its Begun (Runner) contextual advertising system to the U.S.-based Internet search company for $140 million.
The Anti-Monopoly Service said it had rejected the bid as Google had failed to provide all the information necessary to clarify the financial aspects of the deal.
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.
Special goggles, telescopes – Lucknow set for solar eclipse
By IANS,
Lucknow : Scientific institutions and schools in Lucknow have made elaborate arrangements - from acquiring special goggles to installing telescopes - for people to watch the annular solar eclipse Friday.
The Indira Gandhi Planetarium has purchased as many as 6,500 special goggles and installed several telescopes so that people can view the eclipse.
"We have made enough arrangements to watch the solar eclipse. Only 51.12 percent of the eclipse will be visible in Lucknow," Anil Yadav, officer-in-charge of the planetarium, told IANS Friday.
Software may help diagnose cardiac infections
By IANS,
Washington : New research suggests that "teachable software", designed to mimic the human brain, may help diagnose cardiac infections in a non-invasive manner.
Endocarditis -- an infection involving the valves and sometimes chambers of the heart -- can be a problem in patients with implants. It is a serious condition and can be deadly.
The mortality rate can be as high as one in five, even with aggressive treatment and removal of the device. With additional complications, the mortality can shoot up to over 60 percent -- or more than one in two.
Germany’s first driverless mass-transit train goes to work
By DPA,
Nuremberg (Germany) : Germany's first driverless mass-transit train went into operation Sunday without fanfare in the southern city of Nuremberg, with a computer in charge for the whole day.
Driverless trains are already in use in other nations, including the Singapore's North East Metro Line (NEL) operating since 2003, but Nuremberg says its system is unique because it mixes human-driven and computer-controlled trains on the same track.
Making IT play knight in shining armour
By IANS
New Delhi : Can the computer enter the home and the street in a way that helps minimise violence against women? An initiative from Sri Lanka believes that information and communication technology (ICT) can do just that.
The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) has awarded a grant to the Centre for Women and Development for a project to use technology to document violence against women in the north of the country via a database.
Scientists create billions of particles of anti-matter
By IANS,
Washington : When you shoot laser through a gold bit the size of a pinhead, suddenly more than 100 billion particles of anti-matter materialise.
The anti-matter, also known as positrons, shoots out of the target in a cone-shaped plasma "jet."
This new ability to create a large number of positrons in a small lab opens the door to several fresh avenues of anti-matter research, including an understanding of the physics underlying phenomena such as black holes and gamma ray bursts.
An eco-friendly toilet that does not smell either
By DPA
Tokyo : Tired of smelly public toilets? Check out a prototype Japanese bio-toilet that emits no foul smell and helps the environment at the same time.
A bio-toilet developed by a Japanese non-profit organisation is designed to activate microorganisms living in cider chips and decompose excrement.
In the decomposition process, only nitrogen gas and water are left. The water can be reused for toilet flushing.
New dinosaur species discovered
By IANS,
Washington : A team of paleontologists in the US has discovered a new dinosaur species they're calling Abydosaurus.
Abydosaurus belongs to the group of gigantic, long-necked, long-tailed, four-legged, plant-eating dinosaurs such as Brachiosaurus.
In a rare twist, they recovered four heads - two still fully intact - from a quarry in Dinosaur National Monument in eastern Utah in the US. Complete skulls have been recovered for only eight of more than 120 known varieties of Sauropod dinosaurs.
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.
Tarang Software expanding India operations
By IANS,
Bangalore : Leading e-payment solutions provider Tarang Software Technologies is expanding its operations in the country to serve its growing list of customers across verticals, the city-based company said Monday.
"We are setting up a 250-seater second development centre here to meet our growth requirements. Our new customer wins include Frese International, Global Refund, Hypercom, ING Vysya, Volvo and Teligence Communications," the company said in a statement.
WHO: 700 deaths from swine flu recorded
By DPA,
Geneva : The World Health Organisation Tuesday said the death toll from swine flu had risen to 700 globally.
By comparison, seasonal flu, the common variety of influenza which normally hits during the winter months, kills about 500,000 people each year.
An official at the WHO headquarters in Geneva said the organisation did not have a death ratio for the virus and was still compiling data.
The disease was first reported to have broken out in mid-April in North America, which remains the hardest-hit region.
Nokia touch screen phone by year end
By Himank Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : Setting at rest speculations, cell phone major Nokia has confirmed it will launch a full touch screen handset by the end of this year.
"We have been working on the Series 60 platform for touch screen user interface and a mobile device is expected to be launched by the year-end," Devinder Kishore, Nokia India's marketing director, told IANS.
U.S. space shuttle Endeavour lifts off
By Xinhua
Washington : The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour, with seven astronauts aboard, lifted off at 2:28 a.m. EDT (0628 GMT) on Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida,NASA TV live broadcasting showed.
The shuttle is delivering a two-armed robot made by Canada, the first part of Japan's space laboratory Kibo and a collection of experiments to the International Space Station.
Russian astronomer discovers new comet
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russian amateur astronomer Artyom Novichonok, a student of Petrozavodsk university, has discovered a new comet, website Astronet said.
Google 3D medical browser maps human body
By IANS,
London : Google has developed a new browser that maps the human body in detail.
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...
New device to help Parkinson’s disease patients
By DPA
Singapore : A portable, battery-powered device has been developed in Singapore to help people suffering from Parkinson's disease regain their walking rhythm, Ngee Ann Polytechnic said Saturday.
Physiotherapists from Singapore General Hospital worked with a team from the school's mechanical engineering department to develop the invention.
Parkinson's disease is a slow, degenerative disease that deprives sufferers of steady movement, leading to jerky small steps or freezing in narrow spaces, the team said. To take the next step, patients need a cue.
Maveric Systems develops automated software test tool
By IANS
Chennai : Targeting a higher share in the $8 billion Indian offshore testing opportunity, Chennai-based independent software testing company Maveric Systems Limited has come out with an automated software testing tool.
Developed at an investment of around $1 million, the proprietary software tool called Testac promises to reduce software testing time by 30 percent, CEO Ranga Reddy told reporters.
According to him, Maveric Systems is the only Indian software testing company to have such a proprietary tool.
Four solar, two lunar eclipses in 2011
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Four solar and two total moon eclipses will be observed in different parts of the world, including in India, in 2011.
India emerges third highest steel producer
Bengaluru : Union Minister of Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday said Indian steel production reached the third highest position in the...
Nuclear art sleuths analyse cultural heritage
By DPA
Vienna : Fake or real? This is one of the questions that has been bugging art experts all over the globe for centuries. Help for art detectives comes from an unexpected quarter: the UN nuclear watchdog, usually better known for investigating a country's nuclear programme or weapons aspirations.
Zen Mobile launches Sonic 1 exclusively on eBay India
New Delhi : Zen Mobiles on Wednesday launched a new smartphone named Sonic 1 at a price of Rs.5,999 exclusively on eBay India.
The new...
Tagging Kerala’s tame elephants
By IANS,
Kozhikode (Kerala) : All tame elephants in Kerala will soon come to be identified by a 10-digit number, thanks to an electronic tag that is expected to carry information on these gentle giants that also have their moments of fury.
The close surveillance of elephants is expected to bring down incidents of elephant fury in Kerala where the animals are often used for ritualistic splendour during festivals.
Gas turbine technology best for power generation in Gulf: expert
By IANS,
Dubai : Gas turbine technology is the best fossil fuel-based technology available for power generation in the Gulf, given the skyrocketing oil prices, according to a leading energy expert.
"Gas turbine technologies are the cleanest techniques within systems that use fossil fuels and are favoured in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries due to the low cost of available natural gas," Abdullah Al-Amiri, chairman of the Emirates Energy Award, which recognizes best practices in energy conservation and management, said in a statement here.
Now biogas from human waste may cook food, light homes!
By IANS
New Delhi : It may sound unpalatable, but it is true - a voluntary agency in Delhi has developed technology to produce biogas from human waste, which it says can help in cooking food and lighting up homes.
Sulabh International, an NGO working in the field of sanitation in India, Friday said that toilets in public places would be a good source to generate biogas.
World’s tiniest, lightest microscope designed
By IANS,
Washington : A miniature lensless microscope, the world's smallest and lightest - weighing only 46 grams - was created by an engineer for telemedicine applications.
The microscope builds on imaging technology known as LUCAS (Lensless Ultra-wide-field Cell monitoring Array platform based on Shadow imaging), which was developed by Aydogan Ozcan, assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Shuttle poised to deliver Japanese lab to space
By SPA,
Cape Canaveral, Fla. : Space shuttle Discovery is poised for launch on Saturday on a mission to add Japan to the growing number of countries operating full-time space research laboratories in orbit.
With clear skies and no technical problems, NASA managers gave the order for technicians to begin pumping more than 500,000 gallons of supercold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the shuttle's fuel tank for the 8 1/2-minute ride into orbit. Liftoff is scheduled for 5:02 p.m. EDT (2102 GMT).