U.S. astronauts complete first spacewalk
By Xinhua,
Washington : Two U.S. astronauts of space shuttle Discovery's crew completed their first spacewalk on Tuesday, attaching Japan's Kibo science module to the International Space Station, according to NASA TV.
With the help of other astronauts inside the station, spacewalkers Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan successfully moved the huge pressurized module of Kibo (which means "hope" in Japanese) from shuttle's payload bay to the port side of the Harmony connecting node at the station.
NASA’s Mars lander delivers 1st soil sample to microscope
By Xinhua,
Washington : NASA said images received on Thursday confirmed that its Phoenix Mars lander has sprinkled a spoonful of Martian soil onto the sample wheel of the spacecraft's robotic microscope station.
Global space congress begins amid tight security
By IANS
Hyderabad : The 58th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) began Monday amid tight security at the international convention centre in this hi-tech city, with about 2,000 delegates, including heads of global space agencies.
The five-day event, being held for the first time here, was inaugurated by Prithviraj Chavan, minister of state in the prime minister's office (PMO), in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair and a host of dignitaries from 45 countries.
Solar eclipse begins at India’s southernmost tip
By IANS,
Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu) : The longest annular solar eclipse of the millennium began at 11.06 a.m. Friday in this Tamil Nadu city as thousands of people converged here to watch the celestial spectacle.
Annular solar eclipse occurs when the Sun and the Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon's shadow is smaller than the visible disc of the sun, making it appear like a ring of fire. The eclipse is expected to peak to annular eclipse at 1.15 p.m.
Facebook grows, makes a profit
By DPA,
San Francisco : Facebook, the world's largest social network on the internet, is finally turning a profit, the privately held company said.
The Silicon Valley, California, company, which was started six years ago by a student at Harvard University, said late Tuesday that it had reached a positive cash flow for the first time and also passed the 300-million user mark.
The stratospheric growth in the site's user base from 150 million at the start of the year, allowed the company to turn a profit earlier than the 2010 date it had previously predicted.
Symantec to unveil new security solutions
By IANS
Bangalore : Symantec Corp, the $5.2-billion leading security and information management solutions provider, will showcase its latest Norton anti-virus software products to technology stakeholders at a vision summit in Mumbai Thursday.
The US-based firm's experts will demonstrate benefits of security infrastructure in enterprises and organisations using IT tools in their operations on local, national and global scales.
India’s science body signs deal with MeadWestvaco
By IANS
Mumbai : India's leading scientific research organisation Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has inked an agreement with global packaging solutions major MeadWestvaco Corp (MWV) for developing and packaging applications in consumer, agriculture and transportation sectors.
After signing the umbrella agreement for research and development collaboration, S.K. Brahmachari, director general of CSIR, said research partnership would address critical areas in the sponsored research projects in the applications of packaging.
Weather a concern as Atlantis countdown continues
By DPA
Washington : The weather is a concern for the US space agency NASA as the countdown for the delayed launch of the Atlantis space shuttle for an 11-day mission continues.
Weather forecasts gave a 30 percent chance of "acceptable conditions" at the scheduled 2.45 p.m. (1945 GMT) Thursday launch time from Cape Canaveral, Florida with the possibility of storms and clouds, NASA said.
The launch could also take place Friday, when there is a 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions, or Saturday, with a 70 percent chance of good weather.
10 Russians found guilty of terrorism
By IANS,
Moscow : A group of 10 Russian teenagers were Thursday found guilty of terrorism, illegally making bombs, damaging property and humiliating people on the basis of race or nationality.
China publishes first picture from lunar probe project
By Xinhua
Beijing : China published the first picture of the moon captured by Chang'e-1 Monday morning, marking the success of the country's first lunar probe project.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao unveiled the framed black-and-white photo at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC). The image showed a rough moon surface with scattered round craters both big and small.
The area covered by the picture, about 460 km in length and 280 km in width, is located within a 54 to 70 degrees south latitude and 57 to 83 degrees east longitude, according to BACC sources.
Eclipse gazing a big hit with students, say schools
By IANS,
New Delhi : The excitement over the century's longest solar eclipse was not confined to science centres and planetariums. Schools that had organised sun gazing exercises in their premises Wednesday said that it was a big hit with students who made a beeline to watch the phenomenon.
Bringing alive all the science lessons that they have been studying in classrooms, the eclipse gazing events drew a lot of enthusiasm - not just from the students but from the teachers as well.
Scientists rely on maths model to outwit terrorists
By IANS,
Washington : A maths model developed by researchers can outwit terrorists by predicting the likelihood of attacks, their timing and strength.
The model was developed by researchers at the University of Miami (UM). Their finding supports the belief that insurgent wars represent "fourth generation warfare" with different dynamics from conventional wars.
UM researchers and collaborators analysed the size and timing of 54,679 violent events reported in Afghanistan, Colombia, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Northern Ireland, Peru, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
U.S. Space Shuttle Atlantis blasts off
By Xinhua
Washington : After a two-month delay, U.S. space shuttle Atlantis finally blasted off on Thursday from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on a mission to deliver the European Space Agency's Columbus Laboratory to the International Space Station (ISS).
U.S. shuttle Endeavour docks with space station
By Xinhua
Washington : After a nearly-two-day pursuit, the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour arrived at the International Space Station and linked up with it at 11:49 p.m. EDT on Wednesday (0349 GMT on Thursday), NASA TV reported.
After Endeavour docks, the shuttle crew and the Expedition 16 crew at the station will conduct pressure and leak checks before the hatches between the two spacecraft open a little after 1:00 a.m. Thursday (0500 GMT). They will greet each other and combine forces for 12 days of joint operations.
Kerala’s first Active Web GIS Service launched
By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : The state-run Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) Saturday launched Kerala's first Active Web Geographical Information System (GIS) service in public domain.
The GIS has been developed using Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) technology.
"The main objective of Active Web GIS is to make the dynamic geographical information available in a simplified, open Web interface," said IIITM-K Director K.R. Srivathsan, announcing the launch at the concluding session of three-day Free Map Workshop here.
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.
Egypt discovers 2,000-year-old bronze coins
By IANS,
Cairo : Archaeologists have discovered bronze coins dating back to the era of King Ptolemy III Euergetes who ruled Egypt in the 3rd century B.C., a media report said.
An Egyptian archaeological team has found 383 bronze coins in northern Qaroun Lake in Fayoum, 80 km southwest of Cairo, Xinhua reported Thursday citing Egypt's state-run MENA news agency.
Egyptian Culture Minister Farouq Hosni said the bronze coins are in good condition and were unearthed by a team of the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities.
TiEcon 2014 in Santa Clara ends with Shahid Khan keynote
By Ras H. Siddiqui, TwoCircles.net,
San Francisco: The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) held its annual conference known as TiEcon in Silicon Valley, the technology world way beyond just the South-Asian Diaspora noticed. Over 4000 people attended TiEcon 2014 at the Santa Clara Convention Center with many of the heavyweights in the technology arena present. Those who presented Grand Keynotes included Steve Mollenkopf (CEO Qualcomm), Michael Rhodin and Manoj Saxena (IBM), Steve Lucas (President SAP), Romesh Wadhawani (Chairman & CEO Symphony Technology Group), Sanjay Poonen (EVP and GM of VMware) and Shahid KhanPresident of Flex-N-Gate and owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL football team.
1969 moon landing remastered video shown for first time
By IANS,
London : After six years of searching and digital restoration, scientists have finally completed remastering footage of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
University students win robotic car race
New York, Nov 5 (IANS) A robotic car built by university students won a $2 million US military-sponsored race in California, it was announced Sunday.
Backed by General Motors (GM), a team called Tartan Racing -- formed by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- built the robotic car nicknamed 'Boss'. It won Saturday by covering a distance of about 85 km in less then six hours on a simulated town created on a disused US Air Force base in Victorville, California.
China develops fastest super computer
By IANS,
Beijing : China has developed a super computer that runs at more than one quadrillion (one thousand million million) calculations per second, making it the fastest one in the country, experts have said.
The super computer named "Xingyun", has been developed in Tianjin, and works at double the speed of "Tianhe-1", the previous fastest machine in China.
The Tianhe-1 was developed by the National University of Defence Technology in October 2009, Li Jun, president of the Dawning Information Industry Co. Ltd., was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
Coral reefs growing in cold, deep ocean
By IANS,
London : In the icy, inky depths of the Atlantic ocean, 800 metres below the surface, lie a range of hills covered with large coral reefs.
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) researcher Furu Mienis studied the formation of these unknown cold-water kins of the better-known tropical corals.
These reefs can be found along the eastern continental slope from Morocco to Norway, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and on the western continental slope along the east coast of Canada and the US. Mienis studied the area to the west of Ireland.
Moon mission is not expensive, says ISRO
By NNN-PTI,
Bangalore, India : Dismissing suggestions that Chandrayaan-1 was an expensive mission, ISRO today said the moon odyssey will enable India to upgrade technological expertise for exploration of outer space and ultimately help in setting up a base on the earth's natural satellite.
"Moon mission cost is less than Rs 400 crore, which is just ten per cent of annual budget of ISRO spread over many years," ISRO spokesperson S Satish said, countering critics who questioned the need for such a venture when other countries have already explored the moon.
Indian American’s Bloom Box churns out power from sand
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : An India-born rocket scientist has lifted the veil off Bloom Box fuel-cell, a revolutionary new technology that holds the promise to supply the world with abundant clean, cheap energy.
"The core of our technology is simply sand," said K.R. Sridhar, 49, founder of the Silicon Valley clean tech start-up Bloom Energy at Wednesday's unveiling of his invention in San Jose, California on the campus of eBay, one of Bloom's first customers.
Human activity did not wipe out megafauna: latest study
By IANS,
Sydney : A new study that said the first human settlers in Australia wiped out its megafauna has been contracted by a newer study. The latest study says there is no evidence to indicate that human activity wiped out more than 60 species of Australia's large prehistoric animals or megafauna, between 40,000 and 50,000 years ago.
A review of available evidence showed that only 13 species were still alive when humans first arrived in Australia. Those people did not focus on big-game hunting nor cause major habitat change by widespread use of fire.
Lunar eclipse fails to hamper New Year revelry plans
By Nabeel A. Khan and Ankur Tewari, IANS,
New Delhi : The lunar eclipse that will start within minutes of the ushering in of 2010 may matter a lot to astrologers but is unlikely to affect plans of revellers who have booked pubs, lounges and restaurants in advance to party through the night.
"There is no effect of lunar eclipse on this New Year celebrations. We have already booked 50 percent of our seats at our branches," Sanjeev Anand, general manager of the bar BUZZ, told IANS.
Powerful solar storm disrupts communications
By IANS,
Washington : A powerful solar flare has triggered the largest space weather storm in four years, disrupting some ground communications on earth.
Robots tread on thin ice when scientists fear
By IANS,
Washington : This is one machine that goes where humans fear to tread - on thin ice.
SnoMote - designed at Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT) and Pennsylvania State University - is a robot capable of negotiating volatile ice sheets as they crack, shift and fill with water.
The robot goes where it is impossible for scientists to walk and gets accurate measurement and inputs of ice sheets, something that lies beyond the ken of satellites.
Can the cow help solve the global oil crisis?
By IANS
Washington : What does the cow have to do with the global oil crisis? Well, it may help ease it!
An enzyme from a microbe that resides deep in a cow's gut holds the key to converting corn into a cheap biofuel like ethanol, a new study has found.
The enzyme, which allows a cow to digest grasses and other plants, can be used to turn other plant fibres into simple sugars. These simple sugars can be used to produce ethanol to power cars and trucks, said Michigan State University researchers, who conducted the study.
No threat from Antarctic ice shelf collapse: Experts
By RIA Novosti
St. Petersburg : The collapse of a part of the Wilkins ice shelf in the Antarctica will not cause sea levels to rise, Russian experts have said.
A 41-km iceberg split off from the Wilkins ice shelf in the southwestern part of the Antarctica late February, destroying a large part of the ice shelf's edge, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in Russia's second largest city said in a press release.
Mars comes close to Earth
By IANS
New Delhi : Sky-watchers had a good day out Wednesday as Mars came closest to Earth since 2003 and was visible to the naked eye from the eastern sky.
Astronomers said Mars' closeness to Earth would remain a record at least till 2016. Currently, Mars is some 87 million km away from Earth and experts say it is pretty close.
Nehru Planetarium director N. Rathnasree said Mars was closest to Earth at 5.30 in the morning and sky-gazers across the country also witnessed it in the evening.
Total lunar eclipse to occur Wednesday night
By Xinhua
Washington : Residents of the Americas, Europe and Africa will have the best view of a total lunar eclipse in the late night hours of Feb. 20, U.S. space agency NASA forecast Tuesday.
In the United States, the entire eclipse will be visible for the majority of the country. However, residents on the West Coast will miss out on watching the early stages of the eclipse, as it begins before moonrise.
This lunar eclipse may be worth staying up for, because it will be the last one until December 2010, said NASA.
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...
Big Bang machine carries out record collision
By DPA,
Geneva : The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), also known as the Big Bang machine, made history here Tuesday, as the machine smashed together particles at the highest energy reading ever recreated in a laboratory.
"Experiments are collecting their first physics data - historic moment here!" scientists at the lab wrote on their Twitter feed.
The excitement at finally being able to record data, after countless setbacks, was noted in previous messages, which included numerous exclamation points from the researchers in Geneva as each step of the process was completed.
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.
ISRO’S Madhavan Nair awarded Chugani Memorial Award
By IANS
Mumbai : Eminent space scientist G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has been honoured with the M.M. Chugani Memorial Award of the Indian Physics Association for the year 2006.
Nair, secretary with department of space, will be presented the award March 18 by Ashok Misra, director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, the association said in a statement here Friday.
The award is given for excellence in applied physics and carries a citation, gold medal and cash prize of Rs.100,000.
Scientists can now control most atoms
By IANS
Washington : University of Texas researchers have developed a twin-technique to control atoms, marking a major step forward in atomic physics with a variety of scientific and technological applications.
The technique can also be used to determine the mass of the neutrino, the primary candidate for dark matter.
The method, developed by Mark Raizen and his team, stopped atoms by passing a supersonic beam through an "atomic coil-gun" and cooled them using "single-photon cooling".
Delhi Police now just one touch away
New Delhi : Delhi Police chief B.S. Bassi on Friday launched a trial version of the much awaited mobile app "Delhi Police... One...
NASA begins launch countdown for Discovery
By Xinhua
Washington : The launch countdown for US space shuttle Discovery has begun, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said.
The countdown began officially at 2 p.m. local time (18.00 GMT) Saturday for a scheduled lift off on Oct 23.
NASA managers overseeing the launch preparations for the STS-120 mission said Saturday that space shuttle Discovery is ready for two weeks in space. "All of our systems are in good shape," NASA test director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said.
Clouds mar solar eclipse spectacle in Orissa
By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Those who had hoped to witness the century's longest solar eclipse in Orissa were disappointed Wednesday as the sky remained overcast in most parts of the state.
Thousands of people woke up early in the morning and were armed with special glasses to see the phenomenon. However, clouds spoiled the party although there was a partial eclipse in the state.
The solar eclipse was only visible for three minutes at the Pathani Samant Planetarium in Bhubaneswar, where thousands of people gathered to watch the rare sight.
Robot making competition for schoolchildren
By IANS
New Delhi : School kids can use all their imagination to create robots that obey their command at a competition here on Oct 15. The winners will go on to represent India at the World Robot Olympiad in Taipei in November.
World’s tiniest camera perches on your finger
By IANS,
London : The one-square-inch camera that sits snugly on your finger can click two megapixel images and even shoot video.
The world’s first robot with conscience
By IANS/EFE,
Madrid : Spain has designed the world's first robot with its own "conscience" and "life", which will "entertain, teach and be a companion" to humans who purchase it.
The AISoy 1, which will go on sale in August, is the first social android developed by Spanish firm AISoy Robotics, which is now bringing its creation out of the laboratory.
"It almost seems like science fiction, but it's a reality," said Diego Garcia, one of the "fathers" of the robot and head of AISoy's product engineering and development division.
New technique could protect water from arsenic poisoning
By IANS,
Sydney : An ultra sensitive technique for detecting toxic heavy metals in water has opened the way for safer use of groundwater and recycling water.
The breakthrough is significant given how arsenic poisoning in India and Bangladesh through polluted water supply potentially affects tens of millions of people.
The technology for detecting toxic metals like lead and cadmium in water was developed by Erica Ji and Zuliang Chen of the Collaborative Research Centre for Contamination Assesment and Remediation of Environment (CRC-CARE) and University of South Australia.
Two new frog species discovered in Panama
By DPA,
Panama City : Scientists have discovered two new frog species in Panama's rainforests at a time when many of the amphibians are threatened by a fungal disease driving them toward extinction.
Pristimantis educatoris was discovered in the Omar Torrijos nature reserve in Cocle province, scientists from the US Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute said Thursday.
The frog is two to four centimeters long, varies from dark purple to dark grey in its colouring, and has red or yellow eyes. Its fingers and toes also end in bulbous disks.
Political freedom, not poverty, leads to terrorism
By IANS
Washington : Terrorism is not rooted in poverty as popularly perceived but could be caused by political freedom and geographic factors, says a new study.
"There is no significant relationship between a country's wealth and level of terrorism once factors like political freedom are taken into account," according to Harvard University's Alberto Abadie, author of the study.
"Nations with very high or very low levels of political freedom tend to experience little terrorism," said Abadie in a press release.
DoT for subscriber-based spectrum allocation, operators clash
By IANS
New Delhi : Notwithstanding the strong protest of GSM operators, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has accepted its technical arm's proposal to allocate the scarce radio waves to all operators based on the number of subscribers.
The technical wing of DoT, Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC), in its report to DoT, has suggested that the subscriber-linked criteria for fresh spectrum allocation be raised by anywhere in between 2-15 times depending on the network.
Apple’s third generation iPhone launches in India
By IANS,
New Delhi/Gurgaon : Reminiscent of the craze that follows the release of Harry Potter books, crowds lined up outside a Gurgaon mall and a few shops in Delhi to pick up the latest Apple iPhone that went on sale at midnight Thursday in India. And no one was daunted by the Rs.30,000-plus price.
The Apple iPhone 3G (third generation) was launched across India by telecom majors Bharti Airtel and Vodafone.
Yahoo Unveils Voice Search Service For Mobile Device Users
By Bernama
Los Angeles : Yahoo has become the first major search engine to let people search the Internet by talking to a mobile device, China's XINHUA news agency quoted a newspaper, as saying on Thursday.
Through the technology from a Massachusetts start-up, Yahoo's mobile search engine, known as oneSearch, could allow users of popular PDAs like BlackBerry Curves, Pearls or the 8800 series to scour the Web with their voice, the San Jose Mercury News daily reported.
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.
Technology to help crops use saltwater being developed
By IANS,
Sydney : Technology being developed by the University of New South Wales could offer new hope to farmers in drought-hit areas by enabling them to grow crops by using salty groundwater.
Greg Leslie, of University's UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, is working with the University of Sydney on technology which uses reverse-osmosis membranes to turn previously useless, brackish groundwater into a valuable agricultural resource.
Insects use plants as ‘green telephone lines’
By IANS,
New York : Some insects that live above and below the ground communicate with each other by using plants as "green telephone lines", a new study has found.
Subterranean insects issue chemical warning signals via the leaves of the plant. This way, insects above the ground are alerted that the plant is already "occupied", according to the study by Dutch scientists.
This messaging enables spatially-separated insects to avoid each other, so that they do not unintentionally compete for the same plant, ScienceDaily reported.
Indian physicists trap light in ‘nano’ soup
By K.S. Jayaraman, IANS
Bangalore : Indian scientists have demonstrated how to trap and retrieve light using a soup of micro and nano sized magnetic spheres - a major milestone in the path toward developing optical computers.
The researchers claim that their unique mixture of tiny particles works at room temperature, holds photons - the particles of light - for far longer than other systems, and can also be tuned with a magnet to store any wavelength of visible light.
S Korea’s 1st astronaut leaves space station on return trip
By Xinhua,
Moscow : South Korea's first astronaut Yi So-yeon left the International Space Station (ISS) to return to earth on Saturday.
The Soyuz spaceship carrying Yi, U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko is expected to touch down at 12:31 Moscow time (0931 GMT).
The landing capsule of the Soyuz TMA-11 spaceship is to land inthe Kazakh steppe 80 km north of the Kazakh city of Arkalyk, Valery Lyndin, a spokesman for the Mission Control Centre based near Moscow, was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.
World’s smallest silicon sensor to monitor environs
By IANS,
London : Researchers are fabricating the world's smallest silicon sensor that will be extremely powerful and yet consume very little power.
The sensor, with applications in bio-sensing and ecological monitoring, is being developed by researchers at the University of Southampton.
“Power consumption is a big issue at the moment as devices use current whether they are switched off and on,” said Hiroshi Mizuta, project head.
Advanced Micro Devices sells off manufacturing units to UAE firm
By IANS,
Dubai : Leading American chip maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has spun off its manufacturing facilities to a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based company to create a new semiconductor manufacturing firm.
Advanced Technology Investment Co (ATIC) of Abu Dhabi and AMD Tuesday announced the creation of a new US-headquartered company, temporarily named The Foundry Co (TFC), to meet demand for independent and leading-edge foundry production capabilities.
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.
India’s Chandrayaan-1 successfully enters lunar orbit
By IRNA,
New Delhi : History was created on Saturday when India's first mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1, lifted off from Sriharikota on 22nd October and successfully entered the lunar orbit.
In one of the most crucial manoeuvres since the launch of India's maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, ISRO scientists injected the spacecraft into the lunar orbit today.
"The lunar orbit insertion (LOI) started around 5 p.m. and lasted around 800 second," Indian official media reported quoting Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spokesperson S Satish as said in Banglore.
Apple’s latest laptop: Small is in
By DPA
San Francisco : There's never been a laptop as skinny as the new MacBook Air from Apple. At its thinnest, it measures just about four millimetres.
"When you first see MacBook Air, it's hard to believe it's a high-performance notebook with a full-size keyboard and display," gushed Apple CEO Steve Jobs while presenting the new laptop at the keynote speech of the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco. "But it is."
Salt-tolerant gene may revolutionise farming
By IANS
New York : The secret of why a plant withers or thrives in salty condition has been found in the cellular mechanism of arabidopsis, a plant species, according to a study. The findings could have enormous implications for salt-affected croplands, which form half the world's
cultivated area.
Salty soil means plants don't grow as well and therefore yield less.
Researchers have discovered that a complex carbohydrate called N-glycan, which is linked to protein in the plant, may be responsible for its ability to contend with salt water.
ISRO seeks to be party in land scam case
Kochi, Sep 25 (IANS) Indian space agency ISRO Tuesday sought to be impleaded in a public interest litigation (PIL) - relating to its alleged purchase of forestland - that is to be taken up by the high court here Wednesday.
The PIL has been filed by D.B. Binu requesting the court to intervene and initiate a full-fledged inquiry into purchase of land by ISRO for a space education institute in Ponmudi near Thiruvananthapuram from high profile businessman Savy Mano Mathew.
Space qualified ‘moon’ trees thriving in US
By IANS,
Washington : Space travellers are living out their lives away from the limelight, after having orbited the moon 34 times on board Apollo 14.
iPhone debuts big in BlackBerry country
By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : Apple's iPhone 3G debuted in the country of BlackBerry Friday with an unprecedented response.
In cities across Canada, people started making lines at stores as early as 2 a.m. to lap up the magic wireless device. Rogers Communications, the exclusive carrier of iPhone in Canada, had a tough time controlling the crowds as supplies sold out quickly at its stores.
In fact, at its flagship store in downtown Toronto, the iPhone was sold out immediately after it opened at 8 a.m.
India may launch two more navigation satellites this year
Chennai : India is expected to launch at least two more navigation satellites this year and one more in 2016 to offer satellite navigation...
Chandrayaan enters lunar space for final journey
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first moon mission Chandrayaan-1 entered the lunar space early Tuesday for its final journey into the lunar orbit Saturday, an official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
"The operation to put Chandrayaan into lunar space went off very well. The complex manouvre was carried out around 5 a.m. by firing the liquid apogee motor (LAM) on board for about 150 seconds to place the unmanned spacecraft 380,000 km away from earth (apogee) and 1,000 km from the moon," ISRO director S. Satish told IANS.
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.
Chinese satellite fails to enter orbit
By IANS,
Beijing : A Chinese satellite failed to enter its designated orbit due to a rocket malfunction, a media report said Friday.
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.
Happy Birthday Google!
By IANS,
New Delhi: Google turned 14 Thursday and celebrated its birthday with a doodle of a rich chocolate cake.
Road status, weather update on your mobile
By IANS
Jammu : Before venturing out on a journey in this season of heavy snowfall and rain in Jammu and Kashmir, a peek into the SMS inbox of your mobile would be useful.
An SMS Thursday informed mobile subscribers here about the status of the Jammu- Srinagar national highway - the major road link between the Kashmir valley and the rest of India.
The message also informed about the depth of snow at various points on this 294-km land route that winds its way through the Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas.
Pakistan may purchase military equipment from Russia
Washington : Pakistan might purchase weapons and military equipment from Russia and counts on cooperation with Moscow in the energy sphere, a senior...
Greenhouse gases increased sharply in 2007
By IANS,
Washington : Global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the primary driver of climate change, increased by 0.6 percent or 19 billion tonnes last year.
Additionally methane rose by 27 million tonnes after nearly a decade with little or no increase. National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists released these and other preliminary findings as part of an annual update on agency's greenhouse gas index, which tracks data from 60 sites worldwide.
Microsoft and Ford team up on electric cars
By DPA,
New York: Microsoft and Ford are to collaborate on the development of an electric car that will use Microsoft technology to streamline the battery-charging process, the companies announced Wednesday at the opening of the New York International Auto Show.
Ford said it will use Microsoft's Hohm electric-car charging optimization service to help drivers determine the best time to charge their vehicles and how to best minimize impact on the grid.
Are animals stuck in time?
By IANS
Toronto : Dogs greet their masters with the same warmth after a five-minute absence - or five hours. Does this mean they do not possess a sense of time?
This question led William Roberts of the University of Western Ontario to experiment with rats. And he found that the rodents did keep track of time after discovering a piece of cheese, but without forming memories of its discovery.
These results suggest that episodic-like memory in rats is qualitatively different from human episodic memory, which involves retention of the point in past time when an event occurred.
Chandrayaan to orbit moon for two years
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : India's maiden lunar mission, the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft that launches Oct 22, will orbit about 100 km from the lunar surface for two years, performing remote sensing of the dark side or hidden portion of the moon to unravel its mysteries, scientists working on the project said.
About 500 space scientists are working round-the-clock to launch India's maiden lunar mission next week.
Gmail,Yahoo hit by phishing scheme
By DPA,
San Francisco : Users of Google's Gmail and Yahoo Mail were also targeted in the large-scale phishing attack that harvested at least 10,000 passwords from Microsoft's Live Hotmail, according to reports Tuesday.
Neither of the companies' US representatives responded to requests for information. But in Europe, where most of the Hotmail phishing victims appeared to be located, a spokesman for Google confirmed the targeting of Gmail users.
Global chipmaker opens second facility in Hyderabad
By IANS
Hyderabad : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), an US-based global supplier of integrated circuits and processing solutions for computing, strengthened its India operations by opening its second research and design (R&D) facility here.
AMD President and Chief Operating Officer Dirk Meyer launched the facility, which is the firm's fourth in India.
The new 30,000-sq ft centre will accommodate 450 R&D employees focusing on AMD's graphics and computing solutions.
NASA astronauts complete spacewalk, install Columbus lab
By RIA Novosti
Washington : Two U.S. astronauts completed an almost eight-hour spacewalk to install a European science laboratory on the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said on Tuesday.
The installation of the $2bln Columbus segment, the first to be controlled by the European Space Agency, on the station's Harmony module was carried out by ISS Expedition 16 crew members Rex Walheim and Stanley Love.
Washington : Two U.S. astronauts completed an almost eight-hour spacewalk to install a European science laboratory on the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said on Tuesday.
The installation of the $2bln Columbus segment, the first to be controlled by the European Space Agency, on the station's Harmony module was carried out by ISS Expedition 16 crew members Rex Walheim and Stanley Love.
New software to demystify planning process
By IANS,
New Delhi: A new software has been developed to "demystify and strengthen" the planning process at the panchayat level.
The Panchayati Raj ministry Tuesday said the software has been developed in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
In a statement here, the ministry said the software known as 'Plan Plus' is generic and open to customisation by states, line department and local governance agencies.
Tiny gold clusters can help clean car exhaust
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers are exploiting gold's exceptional ability to catalyse a wide variety of chemical reactions, including conversion of the poisonous pollutant carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide at room temperatures.
That process, in industrial terms, could potentially improve the effectiveness of catalytic converters that clean automobile exhaust and breathing devices, protecting miners and firefighters.
For this purpose, nanoclusters - gold atoms bound together in crystals smaller than a strand of DNA - are the size most treasured.
ISS crew lands safely in Kazakhstan
By DPA,
Moscow : Three crewmembers of the International Space Station (ISS) returned safely to earth Saturday, the Interfax agency reported.
South Korean scientist Yi So Yeon, US astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malentchenko landed in Kazakhstan at 0951 GMT in a Soyuz capsule, the mission control centre in Moscow said.
The capsule had undocked from the ISS at 0806 GMT for the return journey.
China likely to launch its first moon orbiter Wednesday
By Xinhua
Beijing : China is likely to launch its first moon orbiter Wednesday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province.
"The satellite will be launched between Oct 24 and 26," China National Space Administration (CNSA) said, adding that the launch time has been tentatively scheduled at 6 p.m. local time.
The circumlunar satellite, named Chang'e I after the Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, and the carrier Long March 3A have passed all pre-launch tests and have been transported to the launch site, CNSA said.
China to broadcast spacewalk live
By Xinhua,
Beijing : China will broadcast live the spacewalk by one of its astronauts aboard the Shenzhou spacecraft now in orbit, according to Wang Zhaoyao, spokesperson of the manned space programme.
The spacewalk, or extra-vehicular activity (EVA), slated for 4.30 p.m. Saturday will last about 30 minutes, he told a press conference here Friday.
One of the three astronauts aboard the Shenzhou 7 spacecraft, Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng, will undertake the spacewalk, Wang said.
Built-in ‘facial barcodes’ help us recognise people
By IANS,
London : Natural �barcodes' of information, built into human faces for recognition of other people, may also help improve face recognition software, according to a study.
Faces convey a vast range of information about people, including their gender, age and mood. For humans, the ability to locate a face is important as this is where we pick up many of our cues for social interactions.
With Indian-built satellite, Ariane set for lift-off from Kourou
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Bangalore : The countdown has begun for the launch of Ariane-5 rocket from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, South America, early Sunday, carrying the Indian-built European satellite W2M along with Eutelsat's Hot Bird 9 satellite for broadcasting services, a top space official said here Saturday.
The 3,462-kg W2M was designed and built at the satellite centre of the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bangalore at $80 million (Rs.4 billion) for the European satellite operator (Eutelsat) under the ISRO-EADS-Astrium alliance formed in 2006.
Thailand tree apes use song as warning
By DPA
Hamburg : Humans aren't the only "big apes" who use songs to impress one another. German researchers have found that gibbons in Thailand have developed an unusual way of scaring off predators - by singing to them.
Literally singing for survival, the gibbons appear to use the song not just to warn their own group members but those in neighbouring areas.
Hyderabad lab hopes Iran will help in cloning cheetah
By IANS
Hyderabad : Scientists at a Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONE) here are continuing their efforts to clone a rabbit and hope to get assistance from Iran to fulfil their ambitious goal - to clone a cheetah.
This is the country's first animal cloning bid, and the LaCONE scientists, of the prestigious Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), want to clone a laboratory animal before working on their dream project.
Iran presents first space research satellite
By IANS
Tehran : Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad Monday inaugurated the country's first space research satellite being designed and developed by its scientists, official IRNA news agency reported.
The Omid (Hope) satellite would be launched into orbit in near future, the president said and felicitated the scientists and the engineers for their efforts.
Ahmadinejad said the space research unit would take Iran into the select comity of nations having space expertise and would accelerate the country's progress.
US carbon-dioxide emissions dropped 7 percent in 2009
By DPA,
Washington : US emissions of carbon dioxide tumbled seven percent in 2009, government figures have showed, marking the largest one-year decline in the heat-trapping gas blamed for global warming since records began in 1949.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) Wednesday attributed the sharp fall to a drop in energy use as the United States battled through its worst recession in decades, coupled with a smaller 2.3-percent drop in the "carbon intensity" of energy sources.
India planning 60 space missions in five years: Chavan
By IANS
Hyderabad : India is planning to conduct 60 space missions over the next five years to achieve multiple objectives in navigation, positioning, advanced communications, space transportation, earth observation and space science, Minister of State in the prime minister's office (PMO) Prithviraj Chavan said here Monday.
Inaugurating the 58th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Chavan said the ambitious Indian space programme would unfold huge opportunities for commercial and scientific cooperation among the space-faring nations the world over.
Unusual corals likely to survive global warming
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have stumbled on a diversity of corals harbouring unusual species of symbiotic algae in the warm waters of the Andaman Sea.
"The existence of so many novel coral symbioses thriving in a place that is too warm for most corals gives us hope that coral reefs and the ecosystems they support may persist -- at least in some places -- in the face of global warming," said Todd LaJeunesse, who led the study.
Corals are colonies of tiny animals that derive nutrients and energy from golden-brown, photosynthetic algae that live inside the corals' cells.
Microsoft profits decline
By DPA,
New York : Software giant Microsoft Corp has reported sales of $13.1 billion for the latest quarter, well below Wall Street expectations of more than $14 billion.
The PC market has dwindled for three straight quarters.
The company, based in Redmond, Washington, saw profits for the fourth quarter of its budget year drop 29 percent amid falling demand for its Office software package and Windows operating system.
"The economy continues to be challenging, and we need to lift our game to another level," chief financial officer Chris Liddell said.
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.
Google teams with Intel, Sony on new TV platform
By DPA,
San Francisco : Tired of flipping through hundreds of cable channels to find something to watch? Google may be able to help you.
The web search giant has teamed up with Intel, Sony and Logitech to develop a new television platform that the company hopes will extend its dominance from computers and cellphones to televisions, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Phoenix Mars lander examines new soil sample
By DPA,
Washington : The Phoenix Mars lander is examining a sample of soil from an "intermediate depth" of the Martian earth to determine if it is different from dirt at the planet's surface and from a lower icy layer, NASA said Friday.
The lander's robotic arm dug up the sample, called Burning Coals, from a trench dubbed Burn Alive 3 and delivered it to one of the craft's many small ovens early Thursday.
Phoenix had earlier confirmed the existence of ice about four centimetres below the surface and is now looking at a layer about one centimetre above the ice.
NASA sets date for space shuttle’s final mission to Hubble
By Xinhua,
Washington : The U.S. space shuttle's final service call to the Hubble Space Telescope is now set for Oct. 8, NASA announced Thursday.
Shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to Hubble was moved from Aug.28 to Oct. 8, due to a delay in deliveries of shuttle components, including the external fuel tanks, said NASA in a statement.
NASA said it also need more time to prepare shuttle Endeavour for a possible rescue mission approximately two weeks after STS-125 launches.
China to launch 100 satellites during 2011-15
By IANS,
Beijing : China has set a target of completing a space mission of "100 rockets, 100 satellites" between 2011 and 2015, according to a space official.
Smart solar panels, energy tech to light up building
By IANS,
Toronto : The John Molson School of Business, Montreal, shows - for the first time - how solar heat panels integrated with power technology on its top two floors will help the building light up itself.
Spread over 300 square metres, the solar panels will generate power for the building and heat fresh air during the warm season.
This new approach is the first in the development of futuristic buildings that not only meet it own energy needs, but provide excess power to the power grid, transforming buildings from passive consumers to energy producers.
Microsoft Windows to come on low-cost laptops
By DPA,
San Francisco : The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project will install Windows XP on its low-cost laptops for students in developing countries, according to a joint announcement Friday.
The operating system will be offered as an alternative to the project's home-grown Linux-based operating system. Microsoft is charging the non-profit group just $3 per installation. But hardware changes including increased memory will add an extra $20 to the price of each machine ordered with Windows.
US and Russian satellites collide in space
By DPA,
Washington/Moscow : A US satellite was destroyed in an unprecedented collision with a spent Russian satellite, raising fears of danger to other satellites, a report said Thursday.
The collision between Iridium-33, a commercial US communications satellite and Russia's Cosmos 2251 satellite, which had been turned off for years, occurred Tuesday at 04:55 GMT above Siberia at a height of 790 km, the space.com site said, quoting a statement by US space agency NASA.
Faster, larger, quieter superplanes by 2025?
By IANS,
London : US space agency NASA has unveiled three concept designs for quieter and more energy efficient superplanes that could be ready by 2025.
India: with newer tech, language users log on to Internet
By NNN-PTI,
New Delhi : Not familiar with English but still keen to access the Internet and communicate through the medium?
Not a problem, thanks to localisation of the online medium one can access favourite content-related features in various regional languages.
Corporates are now bending over backward to tap the huge regional language section of the online medium with a host of keyboards and software applications designed to cater to the needs of regional language users.
India to have 1.4 bn mobile subscribers by 2020: Report
New Delhi: India will have at least 1.4 billion mobile subscribers by 2020, resulting in a population penetration of 100 percent, says a report...
Tarang Software forays into Saudi Arabia
By IANS,
Mumbai : Tarang Software Technologies, a leading provider of point of sale (PoS) and mobile payment solutions, Thursday announced that it has acquired Saudi Arabia-based software major Intersoft.
Headquartered in Riyadh, Intersoft is a specialised provider of PoS solutions, a fully integrated software package for retailers, and has branches spread all over the Middle East.
Earlier, Intersoft had partnered with Tarang to develop several mobile payment solutions in Saudi Arabia.
Climate politics eclipses climate science
By Joydeep Gupta, IANS,
For the last few weeks, leaders of industrialised countries have been busy reducing expectations from next month's critical Copenhagen climate summit, while their counterparts in the developing world declare ambitious plans to control emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHG) that are warming the world.
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.
‘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.
World’s first cloned, glowing rabbit to reproduce soon
By Xinhua
Shanghai(China) : Chinese scientists are expecting the world's first cloned rabbit will be able to reproduce in three months.
The genetically-modified cloned rabbit, born in a hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University's medical school Sep 14, glows green under a fluoroscope, a result of being injected with special genes. Scientists hope this special trait will be transferred to the rabbit's offspring.
NASA to beam Beatles’ song “Across the Universe” to Polaris
By Xinhua
Beijing : NASA will broadcast next Monday the Beatles' song "Across the Universe" across the galaxy to Polaris, the North Star, to celebrateds the 40th anniversary of the song and the 50th anniversary of NASA, according to media reports Saturday.
Beijing : NASA will broadcast next Monday the Beatles' song "Across the Universe" across the galaxy to Polaris, the North Star, to celebrateds the 40th anniversary of the song and the 50th anniversary of NASA, according to media reports Saturday.
Artificial intelligence now a step closer to reality
By Venkata Vemuri, IANS,
London : Will Pavia writes for The Times on many issues including computer technology. He had a fair idea of what artificial intelligence was all about. Or so he thought until he met Eugene Goostman and Elbot.
His new friends are not humans but among the world's most intelligent computer systems. If you were to carry on an online conversation with them, as Pavia did, you will find it a bit difficult to realise they are computers and not fellow humans.
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.
Male, female flies share unisex brain
By IANS,
Washington : Males and females, even among little flies, act as though they belong to different planets, but both come equipped with a unisex brain, says a study.
By triggering the neurons responsible for singing - normally a male activity - researchers made female flies play their first tune.
"You might expect that the brains of the two sexes would be built differently, but that does not seem to be the case," said Gero Miesenböck, formerly of Yale University and now with University of Oxford.
Phoenix spacecraft on track for Mars landing
By Xinhua,
Beijing : NASA's Phoenix lander closed in on Mars Saturday, healthy and on course for touchdown Sunday evening near the Red Panet's northern polar cap.
Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., decided to forego a course-correction rocket firing late Saturday but left open the option for a final trajectory tweak Sunday eight hours before atmospheric entry.
Cloudy skies mar solar eclipse
By IANS,
New Delhi : Cloudy skies in large parts of northern and western India Wednesday marred a clear view of the century's longest total solar eclipse but the celestial spectacle was clearly visible over Varanasi.
Tens of thousands of people across the country rose early to see the eclipse that was to begin at the earliest at 5:29 a.m. and end at 7:41 a.m. in India.
It was to have been clearly visible in places like Surat, Indore, Bhopal, Varanasi, Patna, Taregna near Patna, Daman, Darjeeling, Dibrugarh, Gangtok, Gaya, Itanagar, Ujjain and Vadodra.
A mobile-based security system for BPO employees
By Prashant K. Nanda, IANS
New Delhi : Even as the rape and murder of a Pune call centre employee by her cab driver is fresh on everyone's mind, a software analyst has developed a mobile phone-based system that may provide better protection to BPO staff in transit.
"After two cases of rape and murder of female call centre employees, BPO firms have an uphill task so far as security is concerned. And here comes our system - simple and effective," said Chennai-based V.M. Sankaran Nampoothiri.
Chinese to train Bolivians how to operate satellites
By IANS,
La Paz : Seventy-four Bolivians will get training from Chinese scientists on how to operate communication satellites, Bolivia's vice-minister for telecommunications Roy Mendez said.
The trainees will learn the techniques of construction, pre-launch testing and gathering data from the satellites from the space.
He said a newly formed Bolivian Space Agency will also give training to professionals, especially young Bolivians, on how to operate and administrate Tupac Katari satellites, Prensa Latina reported.
Martian surface hints at groundwater torrents
By Xinhua
Beijing : Scientists said surface features of the Red Planet hint at a watery past where torrents of groundwater carved out deep canyons, formed sweeping fans of sediment and cemented together huge fault lines, media reported Tuesday.
"Groundwater probably played a major role in shaping many of the things we see on the Martian surface," said George Postma, a sedimentologist at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Beijing : Scientists said surface features of the Red Planet hint at a watery past where torrents of groundwater carved out deep canyons, formed sweeping fans of sediment and cemented together huge fault lines, media reported Tuesday.
"Groundwater probably played a major role in shaping many of the things we see on the Martian surface," said George Postma, a sedimentologist at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Finally, images of another solar system captured
By IANS,
Toronto : In one of the biggest breakthroughs in astronomy, Canadian, American and British astronomers have captured the images of another solar system for the first time.
Though more than 200 planets in other solar systems have been detected so far through indirect studies of their gravitational pull on their parent star, astronomers have failed to capture their images till this discovery.
Using powerful telescopes at the Mauna Kea Observatories in Hawaii, the astronomers captured the images of three huge planets orbiting around a sun known as HR8799.
Apple share tops $700 on iPhone 5 success
By IANS,
New York: Apple's stocks closed higher than $700 per share for the first time after Tuesday's trading, as orders for its new iPhone 5 hit a new record.
NASA schedules final shuttle launches through 2010
By SPA,
Washington : The US space agency NASA issued a schedule Monday for the final 10 shuttle programme missions in 2009-10, DPA reported.
The list includes one launch to the Hubble Space Telescope, seven missions to continue construction on the orbiting International Space Station and two unspecified flights available for unspecified purposes.
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).
Future robots will perform surgery in remote locations
By IANS,
Washington : Robots may possibly play more complex roles in future such as performing surgeries in remote or dangerous locations like the battlefield or in space.
Duke University engineers have taken the first concrete step towards realising this space age future, based on feasibility studies conducted in their lab.
On a more immediate level, the technology that they have developed could make existing medical procedures safer and better for patients.
Can a Machine Heal a Heart? Why New Age Youth Are Turning to AI...
Samah Qundeel, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: We once believed that technology would bring people closer. But somewhere along the way, it did the opposite. Today, it...
Researchers to explore ‘lost world’ beneath Caribbean
By IANS,
London : Scientists are set to explore the world's deepest undersea volcanoes and find out what lives in a 'lost world' five kilometres beneath the Caribbean.
The team of researchers led by Jon Copley of University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science, will explore the Cayman Trough, which lies between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.
This rift in the Caribbean seafloor plunges to a depth of more than 5,000 metres. It contains the world's deepest chain of undersea volcanoes, which have yet to be explored.
Scientists identify structure of key bacteria component
By IANS,
London : Scientists have identified the structure of a key component of the bacteria behind such diseases as whooping cough, peptic stomach ulcers and Legionnaires' disease.
The research sheds light on how antibiotic resistance genes spread from one bacterium to another. These findings may open the way for development of more effective treatments and curtail spread of antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotic resistance spreads when genetic material is exchanged between two bacteria, one of which has mutated to be resistant to the drugs.
Iran to launch three satellites
By IANS,
Moscow : Iran has plans to launch three satellites in the near future, according to the Iranian embassy in Moscow.
NASA concludes Mars lander programme
By RIA Novosti,
Washington : US space agency NASA said Tuesday its Phoenix Mars Lander had ceased communications after operating for more than five months on the red planet, and announced the termination of the successful space exploration project.
Launched Aug 4, 2007, Phoenix landed on the Martian surface May 25, 2008. The $420-million mission lasted much longer than the planned three months, and verified the presence of water-ice in the Martian subsurface, among other important scientific findings.
Discovery shuttle launched
By DPA,
Washington : NASA's Discovery space shuttle was launched Monday for a scheduled 13-day mission, one of the last remaining four flights for the ageing shuttle fleet.
Discovery took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 6.21 a.m. with seven astronauts on board. The shuttle will be bringing them to the International Space Station (ISS).
Apple, Intel join Google in bidding for Nortel patents
By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : Auction for thousands of wireless technology patents belonging to failed telecom giant Nortel began Monday.
China to launch satellite for Pakistan
By IANS,
Beijing : China will launch a communications satellite for Pakistan at an "appropriate time", an official said Wednesday.
Russian water detector to ride piggyback on US lunar orbiter
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : A Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) has had the final touches added at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and has been sent to the US to be installed on the American Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), scheduled to be launched in early 2009.
The aim of the mission is to map the Moon's surface. The task of the Russian device is to look for hydrogen and hydrogen-containing compounds, above all frozen water, in the lunar subsurface.
India’s lunar mission set for Oct 22 take-off
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 is likely to lift off in the early hours of Oct 22 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, about 90km from Chennai, a top space agency official said Monday.
"The tentative launch date is Oct 22 though the window will be kept open till Oct 26. Depending on the weather, we plan to launch the lunar spacecraft (Chandrayaan) around 6.30 a.m. IST," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S. Satish told IANS here.
This rare icy rock orbits the sun backwards
By IANS,
Toronto : In a discovery which may hold clues to the origin of comets, astronomers have found an object that orbits the sun backwards and tilts at an angle of 104 degrees - almost perpendicular to the orbits of the planets in our solar system.
They have named this unique object 2008KV42.
Canadian astronomer Brett Gladman, who is a part of the international team behind the discovery, said in a statement Friday that this unusual object with backward and tilted orbit around the sun may clarify the origins of certain comets.
What’s new in Internet Explorer 8?
By Jay Dougherty, DPA,
Washington : The challengers keep coming, but Microsoft's Internet Explorer still holds the lion's share of the Web browser market. Most estimates put Internet Explorer's market share at around 72 percent, which means that when a new version of the browser is released, a lot of people will likely be upgrading.
Internet Explorer 8 (IE 8), the long-awaited successor to IE 7, is about to turn a lot of heads, as Microsoft nears completion of a browser upgrade that does significantly more than tack on enhancements to existing features. Here's what's in store.
Scientists tune world’s brightest X-ray beam in Germany
By DPA,
Hamburg : The most intense X-ray beam of its type in the world has been generated inside a 2,300-metre circular tunnel under the German city of Hamburg, the Desy research institute said Monday.
The machine, which cost 225 million euros ($297 million), was switched on in April, but unlike a light bulb it takes weeks to tune up.
The X-ray light came Saturday. More months will now be spent adjusting measuring devices. Next year, scientists can begin actually using the machine to peer at atomic structures in proteins, cancer cells and the like.
ISS orbit adjustment complete – mission control
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The International Space Station's orbit has been adjusted to prepare for the docking of the Progress M-65 cargo module, due to be launched September 10, Russia's Mission Control Center said Wednesday.
Corrections to the space station's orbit are conducted periodically before launches of Russian cargo modules and U.S. shuttles to compensate for Earth's gravity and to ensure successful dockings.
Scientists advocate new method for better rice yields
By IANS
Agartala : India could meets its food grain demand of 220 million tonnes in the next five years if farmers adopt the Madagascar model of cultivation instead of the conventional method, scientists Thursday said.
Cell phone batteries that won’t overheat
By IANS
London : Remember the scare last year caused by some Nokia batteries that were found to be overheating while charging -- leading to their worldwide recall?
Such scares will soon be a thing of the past.
German researchers have developed a safer lithium-ion battery that is virtually non-inflammable, addressing concerns of mobile phones users worldwide.
The new prototype is based on a polymer electrolyte, which unlike liquid electrolyte in conventional cell phone batteries is not inflammable.
Japanese scientists plans to send paper airplane into space
By Xinhua
Beijing : Japanese scientists hope to send into space a craft made in the tradition of Japan's ancient art of paper folding and learn from its trip back to Earth, media reported Friday.
A successful flight from space by an origami plane could have far-reaching implications for the design of re-entry vehicles or space probes for upper atmospheric exploration, said project leader Shinji Suzuki, a professor at Tokyo University's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Indian American challenges gene cure based on Nobel winning work
By Parveen Chopra, IANS
New York : A research team led by an Indian American scientist has challenged the validity of a prototype gene treatment based on Nobel prize winning work that has attracted billions of dollars in investment for developing cures for cancer, diabetes and other diseases.
NASA’s Messenger fetches first orbital photo of Mercury
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : NASA's Messenger spacecraft, the first ever to enter the orbit of Mercury, has fetched its first photo, the project's website said.
Cockroach essential to earth’s delicate ccoystem
By IANS,
London : People need to stop stamping on cockroaches, as one of the most despised of all insects is essential to our planet for converting nitrogen into fertiliser, experts have said.
Partial solar eclipse in Taiwan
By DPA,
Taipei : Tens of thousands of people in Taiwan watched Wednesday's partial solar eclipse, but few said they still believe in superstitions that the eclipse could spell disaster.
In Taipei, clusters of people gathered in squares, parks and on rooftops to try to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon, which appeared as a total eclipse in parts of India, Nepal, China and Japan and a partial eclipse in other areas of Asia.
Super computer inaugurated in Meghalaya
By IANS,
Shillong : PARAM Sheersh, a supercomputing facility for bio-informatics and computational biology, was formally inaugurated at the North Eastern Hill University here Monday.
Inaugurating the facility, renowned scientist Prof M.G.K. Menon hoped that the new technology, specifically developed for the northeast, would usher in new benefits for the region.