Searching for life, NASA finds salt on Mars
By Xinhua
Washington : The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said that its Mars Odyssey Orbiter found evidence of salt deposits on Mars, giving hope the environment could have supported primitive life.
These deposits point to places where water was once abundant and where evidence might exist of possible Martian life from the red planet's past, said NASA on its website Thursday.
Russia’s Progress cargo spacecraft ‘buried’ in Pacific
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The Progress M-65 cargo spacecraft, which undocked from the International Space Station on September 17 and served as a temporary space lab, has been "buried" in the Pacific Ocean, Russia's Mission Control said Sunday.
"The cargo spacecraft's remaining fragments fell into the ocean after re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere is 11:49 a.m. Moscow time [8:49 GMT] on Sunday," Mission Control said.
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).
New brick-laying machine makes building roads easier
By IANS,
London: A Dutchman has designed a machine that takes the sweat out of bricklaying and also does it in a jiffy, especially in road building.
Broccoli sprouts may help prevent skin cancer
By IANS
Washington : Broccoli sprouts contain antioxidant properties and may prevent skin cancer when applied directly to the skin, scientists in the US have suggested.
Broccoli, which closely resembles cauliflower, is a plant of the cabbage family. It has been cultivated for over 2,000 years and was a favourite food of the ancient Romans.
MIT edges closer to making fusion power real
By IANS,
Washington : The prospect of fusion as a future power source is still decades away, but MIT scientists have edged closer to making it a reality.
Fusion has enormous potential because it produces no emissions, fuel sources are abundant and it produces relatively little (and short-lived) radioactive waste. But it still faces great hurdles.
"There's been a lot of progress," said physicist Earl Marmar, division head of the Alcator Project at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Centre (PSFC). "We're learning a lot more about the details of how these things work."
ITC plans greenfield paper plant, major hotel expansion
By IANS,
Kolkata: Tobacco-to-hotels major ITC Ltd is planning to set up a $1-billion greenfield paper plant and expand its hotel business, a top company official said here Friday.
"We are looking at an investment of Rs.4,000-5,000 crore for paper plant. The paper plant is likely to require 1,500-2,000 acres," ITC chairman Y.C. Deveshwar said.
The company is scouting for land in three states - Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh - but has not been successful in bagging any plot yet.
Scientists use bacteria to find oil, natural gas
By IANS,
Bangalore : Vengannapalli, a nondescript village in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, may be sitting on a reservoir of gas or oil, say scientists who have been able to make the discovery with the help of soil bacteria that live exclusively on a diet of hydrocarbons like methane, ethane and propane.
A high concentration of these bacteria is an indication that gaseous hydrocarbons are seeping out to the surface from oil or gas reservoirs below the ground, says Anurodh Dayal, a scientist at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) in Hyderabad.
Earth’s ‘missing’ heat impacting climate change
By IANS,
Washington : Current observational tools like satellite sensors and ocean floats are inadequate to track roughly half of the heat believed to have built up on the earth in recent years, a new research says.
Scientists at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) warn that such instruments are inadequate to track this "missing" heat, which may be building up in the deep oceans or elsewhere in the climate system.
"The heat will come back to haunt us sooner or later," says NCAR scientist Kevin Trenberth, lead study author.
India to have 3rd largest number of internet users by 2013
By NNN-PTI,
New Delhi : The number of internet users worldwide is expected to touch 2.2 billion by 2013 and India is projected to have the third largest online population during the same time, says a report.
"The number of people online around the world will grow more than 45 per cent to 2.2 billion users by 2013 and Asia will continue to be the biggest Internet growth engine.
"... India will be the third largest internet user base by 2013 with China and the US taking the first two spots, respectively," technology and market research firm Forrester Research said in a report.
Don’t fear, watch solar eclipse with proper gadgets
By IANS,
New Delhi : It is an excitement coupled with fear and superstition for many in India prior to the solar eclipse Aug 1.
Despite a well known scientific phenomenon behind the solar eclipse, people have not been able to do away with the superstitious beliefs related to the celestial activity.
"There are several false beliefs prevalent in our society regarding solar eclipse. Some people even lock themselves in their homes to avoid 'the bad rays' from the eclipse," Nehru Planetarium Director N. Rathnashree said.
Videocon launches nine more mobile handsets
By IANS,
New Delhi: Electronics major Videocon Wednesday launched nine more handsets, including a triple SIM CDMA phone, thus enhancing its current offering from 12 handsets to 21.
Other key highlights of the new range are a QWERTY keypad dual SIM with optical track pad, attractive touch screen devices and dual SIM multimedia, camera and music phones, a company statement said.
Toonz, Marvel tie up for second part of X-Men series
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Singapore-based animation major Toonz Entertainment Pte Ltd has tied up with Marvel Animation to produce the second part of the popular animated television series "Wolverine and the X-Men", a top official said here Tuesday.
Toonz Group chief executive P. Jayakumar said the company was thrilled to join hands with Marvel, a global leader in animated entertainment industry, to showcase "one of the most sought-after, iconic characters of all time".
Internet shapes global Tibet protests
By IANS,
New Delhi : The emergence of social networking sites has come as a boon for cyber-dissidents who use these internet tools not just to create a buzz on the web but also as a platform to organise protests and flash strikes.
On Facebook, there are nearly 15 groups that come up on a word search for 'tibet'. But, the largest by far is that of "Free Tibet", which had a membership count of 88,460. When accessed on Thursday afternoon, it had over 8,700 posts, 1,727 photos, 360 discussions topics and 51 videos.
Photonic crystals will make web surfing super smooth
By IANS
New York : Glitches in web surfing and connectivity may soon be a thing of the past, with researchers working on a potentially perfect way of sorting and distributing voluminous data over fibre-optics worldwide, according to Rana Biswas of the Iowa State University.
The new technology is based on a 3D photonic crystal 'add-drop' filter, which promises vastly enhanced transmission of multiple wavelengths along the same cable.
Probe Phoenix lifts robotic arm on Mars
By Xinhua,
Beijing : NASA's Phoenix Mars lander has successfully flexed its robotic arm on Mars, media reported on Friday.
"All of the joints are healthy, and we're raring to go," Matthew L. Robinson, the lead engineer for the mission’s robotic arm flight software, said at a news conference Thursday.
’60 percent of country’s CO2 emissions are from power sector’
By IANS,
New Delhi : The power sector accounts for around 60 percent of the conuntry's carbon dioxide emissions, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said Wednesday.
"The power sector approximately accounts for 60 percent of the total carbon dioxide emissions generated in the country," Ramesh told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
He said thermal power generation accounts for around 64 percent of the total power generation in the country.
Coal, gas and diesel-based power generation contribute approximately 82 percent, 17 percent and one percent of the thermal power generation.
Global warming and the ‘thaw and freeze’ syndrome
By IANS
Washington : It's been happening a lot in recent times: a warming which suggests an end to winter that even fools spring flowers and birds, followed by a sudden freeze.
Some scientists say this unusual weather pattern is a fallout of global warming - and, worryingly, a new study says the 'thaw and freeze' syndrome is causing widespread damage to plants.
In a report in the latest issue of the journal Bio-Science, researchers from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory studied plants after a similar 'thaw and freeze' in eastern US last winter.
Mozilla leads push to reimagine Web browsers
By Xinhua,
Los Angeles : Mozilla, the group that oversees scores of volunteer programmers collaborating on the free Firefox Web browser, hopes to attract more visionaries to help change the way people surf the Internet, a newspaper report said on Tuesday.
Microsoft set to unveil Internet Explorer 8
By IANS,
Redmond : After two beta tests and a soft release, Microsoft Corp is all set to officially launch its latest internet browser Thursday night.
The company will launch Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) at 9:30 p.m. Indian time, an official statement said.
Microsoft, whose share in the browser market took a beating with the emergence of rivals like Mozilla's Firefox, Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari, is aiming to regain its lost ground with the new browser.
Microsoft's market share dropped to about 67 percent last month as compared to over 90 percent three years ago.
UAE company to invest $2 bn in solar energy technology
By IANS,
Abu Dhabi : The United Arab Emirates (UAE) based energy company Masdar has announced that it would invest $2 billion in solar energy technology, WAM news agency reported Thursday.
Masdar, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi government, plans to set up two plants for manufacturing solar panels.
The first plant would be based in Germany and would become operational in 2009 while the second one would be set up in Abu Dhabi and would become operational in 2010.
Endeavour astronauts begin final spacewalk
By DPA
Washington : Astronauts Robert Behnken and Mike Foreman began the Endeavour's fifth and final spacewalk Saturday to stow a boom outside the space station that the shuttle will leave behind when it returns to Earth next week.
The 17-metre-long boom was designed as a safety backstop to help the ageing shuttles perform post-launch self examinations for tile damage. Tears in the outer thermal skin that occurred on liftoff were blamed for the 2003 Colombia disaster that killed its seven astronauts as they tried to return to Earth.
System to detect terrorists before strike
By IANS
New York : Scientists in US are developing an automated system that will help to detect terrorists before they strike.
When a person is interrogated, the system will start tracking his or her behaviours and create a baseline data of the individual.
The system tracks individual characteristics of a person like face, voice, and physiology among other things, to help confirm personal identity of a person against scientifically tested behavioural indicators, scientists at the University of Buffalo said in a press release.
Climate change killed mammoths, suggest their DNA
By IANS
Sydney : Global warming might have wiped out ancient species like mammoths and bison, warning us about the potential impact of climate change.
Study of ancient DNA indicates that extinction of such species from the northern hemisphere 11,000 years ago was largely due to climate change. Human impact through hunting and overkill were only incidental, said lead researcher Alan Cooper.
He retrieved remains of genetic material from a variety of sources, including bones and teeth, preserved seeds and sediments, to examine evolution and environmental change, reports Sciencedaily.
Precursors of miniaturised machines developed
By IANS
London : The precursors of miniaturised machines are here. Packed with instrumentation, these marble sized probes float freely under water, measure local temperatures to a millionth of a degree, and send the data back wirelessly.
Developed by researchers at the Université de Lyon in France, these mini machines will be released in large numbers to collect data on ocean currents and atmospheric winds, sciencedaily.com reported.
Poorest Americans’ carbon emissions double global average
By IANS,
Washington : People consuming the least energy in the US are still producing more than double the global per-capita average of carbon emissions, reveals a new study.
Carbon emissions in the US are similar whether you live in a hovel or a mansion, subsist on home grown vegetables or wolf down imported steaks, and whether you're a jet-setter or a sedentary retiree.
Hanover Fair highlights Japanese robots and sumo
By Yuriko Wahl, DPA,
Hanover (Germany) : Innovations from Japan, including robots and a virtual power station, are to have pride of place at the Hanover Fair in Germany next week alongside sumo wrestlers and traditional taiko drummers.
The April 21-25 fair has appointed high-tech Japan this year as partner nation. The annual fair, with 5,100 companies from 62 nations exhibiting, is a major venue for showing heavy industrial equipment.
Scientists find strange ring circling dead star
By Xinhua,
Washington : Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, scientists have found a bizarre ring of material around the magnetic remains of a star that blasted to smithereens, NASA reported Wednesday.
The stellar corpse, called SGR 1900+14, belongs to a class of objects known as magnetars. These are the cores of massive stars that blew up in supernova explosions, but unlike other dead stars, they slowly pulsate with X-rays and have tremendously strong magnetic fields.
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.
Russia, France to jointly build armoured vehicle
By IANS,
Moscow: Russia and France will jointly build a new armoured infantry vehicle, Russian arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport said.
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.
Facebook hits one billion mark!
By IANS,
London : Popular social networking site Facebook has broken the record for one billion active users, according to its founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Two more carriers offer pan-India number portability
New Delhi: Two more service providers will provide pan-India mobile number portability from Friday, enabling customers to retain their mobile phone number while relocating...
China issues warning on Valentine’s Day computer viruses
By IANS,
Beijing : Technology experts in China have warned internet users to be alert against computer viruses based on the Valentine's Day theme.
Global cyber security experts meet in Kuala Lumpur
By DPA,
Kuala Lumpur : More than 100 government officials and cyber security experts from around the world gathered Tuesday in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur for a summit aimed at discussing policies to ensure tighter security on the internet.
"Just as there are malicious individuals bent on causing harm to societies and nations in the real world, governments around the world must prepare to deal with similar threats in cyberspace," Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.
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.
Steroids help in quicker recovery from pneumonia
By IANS,
Washington : Steroids often used in treating inflammation caused by bacterial meningitis also speed up recovery from pneumonia, according to a new study.
University of Texas (UT) Southwestern researchers have showed that mice infected with a type of severe bacterial pneumonia and subsequently treated with steroids and antibiotics recovered faster, with far less inflammation in their lungs than mice treated with antibiotics alone.
Apple’s iPhone 3G – what’s different
By Saurabh Yadav, IANS,
New Delhi : After the much-awaited launch of Apple's 3G iPhone Friday and announcements by Vodafone and Airtel regarding its introduction in India in September, the Indian customer is waiting eagerly for what is currently the world's most wanted gizmo. So what does Apple's new baby have that its peers don't?
An important thing about the iPhone is that it stands out in comparison with other smartphones not for what it does, but how it does it.
China calls for technology transfer, fund to address climate change
By Xinhua,
Beijing : A senior Chinese official Thursday called on the international community to evolve a mechanism for technology development and transfer to address climate change problems.
Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said, "the core of the mechanism is technology transfer, including sufficient funds to support the transfer".
Promising carbon material can act as power reservoir
By IANS,
Washington : A breakthrough in use of 'grahpene', a single-atom thick, carbon-based material, will make massive storage of wind power and solar energies possible.
Texan University researchers believe the breakthrough could double the capacity of existing ultracapacitors (which store electric energy) made out of a different form of carbon.
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.
Cheap solar power now within reach, says study
By IANS,
Sydney : It has been called the holy grail of the modern era - cheap solar energy. And scientists say it may be within our grasp soon.
A Queensland University team has grown the world's first titanium oxide nano crystals that are likely to revolutionise the way solar energy is harvested and used.
Creating these highly efficient miniature crystals with large reactive surfaces was thought of as impossible by most scientists.
Max Lu, who led the study, sounded upbeat that they were a step closer to the holy grail of cost-effective solar energy with their discovery.
Astronauts end spacewalk early
By DPA
Washington : NASA ended a spacewalk earlier than planned as a precaution after an astronaut's glove was damaged.
US astronaut Rick Mastracchio noticed damage to the outer layer of his spacesuit's glove during a routine equipment check and NASA rules required him to return to the International Space Station around 19.00 GMT Wednesday.
Despite the interruption, Mastracchio and Clay Anderson were able to complete most of the spacewalk's planned tasks.
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.
IT investment region to come up around Hyderabad
By IANS,
Hyderabad: This information technology hub is expected to witness rapid growth in the IT sector with the setting up of investment region around the city.
Campaign to beam first advertisement into space
By IANS
London : A campaign to broadcast the first advertisement into space has just got underway with the University of Leicester (U-L) space scientists playing a key part in the process.
The best 30-second advertisement about how life on earth is perceived, out of the many to be created by the public as part of national competition, will be beamed into the outermost reaches of space, a university release said.
Indian nuclear scientists to benefit from end of British ban
By IANS,
London : The end of a British ban on exporting sensitive nuclear technology to India will facilitate greater exchanges between nuclear scientists from the two countries, a British minister said.
After a six-year-freeze, Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell said Britain will “encourage contacts between UK nuclear scientists, academics and those working in or with the UK nuclear industry with their Indian counterparts, except where we consider that such contacts might be of assistance to the weapons-related aspects of its nuclear programme."
China makes world’s biggest, most powerful smartphones
By IANS,
Washington: Chinese phone-maker Huawei Technologies havs unveiled two phones, terming them the world's "biggest" and the "most powerful" smartphones.
Airport scanner can damage diabetes device
By IANS,,
Washington : Full-body scanners used at airports can damage the insulin pump or continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device used by diabetics, caution experts.
New, potent anti-microbial wash developed
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have developed a new anti-microbial wash that kills Salmonella and E. coli more effectively and speedily in vegetables, fruits, poultry products and meats.
Made from inexpensive and readily available ingredients that are recognised as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the new wash is expected to replace chlorine.
At present, a chlorine wash is most widely used to reduce harmful bacteria levels in food products, but it has its limitations. For one, it does not kill all microbes.
CSIR turns 65, Sibal asks it to be competitive
By IANS
New Delhi : Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal Wednesday praised the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for building scientific capabilities in the country and asked it to be competitive and alert to contemporary requirements.
Speaking at the 65th foundation day function of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Sibal said the organisation had done well to "build up the scientific and technological capability in the country and support industry in the past when the endeavour was for technological self-reliance".
Plants can sense, formulate reaction to temperature change
By IANS,
London : Plants are highly sensitive to changing temperatures and can coordinate an appropriate response for variations as little as one degree Celsius, according to a new finding that can help explain how plants will respond in the face of climate change.
The report shows how plants not only 'feel' the temperature rise, but also coordinate an appropriate response by activating hundreds of genes and deactivating others.
The findings will offer scientists new leads in the quest to create crop plants better able to withstand high temperature stress, the researchers say.
Thinnest nanowire will make computing super fast
By IANS,
Sydney : World's thinnest nanowires will drive computers super fast in the near future using light, a new research claims.
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.
Scientists discover frog that breathes through skin
By DPA
Singapore : Scientists, in a find making evolutionary history, have discovered a frog without lungs that breathes through its skin, a report said Thursday.
The aquatic frog was found in August in two mountain rivers in Indonesia's Kalimantan, The Straits Times said. The frog is called "Barbie", short for its scientific name, Barbourula kalimantanensis.
The frog absorbs dissolved oxygen from the water through its skin, said evolutionary biologist David Bickford of the National University of Singapore, who found the frog with eight other researchers.
Scientists create tough ceramic that mimics mother of pearl
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists in the US have used biomimicry, a technological innovation inspired by nature, to replicate the structure of mother of pearl and create what may well be the toughest ceramic ever produced.
Through the controlled freezing of suspensions in water of aluminium oxide (alumina) and the addition of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), a well known polymer, researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Labs) produced ceramic material that is 300 times tougher than their constituents.
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.
Space shuttle Endeavour lands safely after successful mission
By RIA Novosti,
Washington : The US space shuttle Endeavour has made a successful landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California after being forced to abandon plans to land in Florida, US space agency Nasa said.
The shuttle touched down at 4.25 p.m. (2125 GMT) Sunday.
The crew was unable to return to Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the initial landing site, due to weather concerns, Nasa said.
Endeavour will now travel some 2,500 miles from California to Florida on the back of a modified 747 jumbo jet within the next seven to 10 days.
Researchers replicate ‘all seeing eye’ of insects
By IANS,
Sydney : Inspired by the 'all seeing eyes' of insects, scientists have built an artificial one with an unobstructed all-round view.
It has potential uses for guiding robot vehicles and aircraft, providing low-cost panoramic security surveillance and novel lighting systems.
The 'eye', designed by a team from The Vision Centre (TVC), is a tool to emulate exactly what insects see as they zip around the landscape, as part of a larger project to understand how they navigate, find food, escape predators and especially, how insects like bees find their way home.
Space telescope launched to spy on black-holes
By DPA,
Washington : After several delays, the US space telescope GLAST was heading for a mission expected to shed light on black holes and the gravitational forces causing the universe to expand.
GLAST was launched on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 1600 GMT.
GLAST's five-year, $700 million agenda includes up-close spying on the violent explosions and other cosmic catastrophes that astronomers have been observing through the Hubble space telescope and sophisticated observations from Earth.
Google to sell e-books to challenge Amazon.com
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Seeking to find common ground with authors, who have complained about copyright violations through search services, Google plans later this year to begin distributing and selling e-books on behalf of its publishing partners.
"We've consistently maintained that we're committed to helping our partners find more ways to make their books accessible and available for purchase," Google spokesman Gabriel Stricker said Monday confirming the move first reported by the New York Times.
12 mn telecom subscribers added in June
BY IANS,
New Delhi: India recorded a 2.63 percent growth in the number of new telecom subscribers, adding 12.03 million new connections in June, official data released Thursday said.
With this, the total tally has reached 464.82 million, compared to 452.91 million a month before.
The overall tele-density has reached 39.86 percent, said sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a statement.
Chip to make instant home test for illness possible
By IANS,
Washington : A new tool "lab-on-a-chip" would make a new generation of instant home tests possible for illnesses, food contaminants and toxic gases in the near future.
These portable, efficient tools are at the lab stage, where researchers alone know how to fabricate them from scratch.
Michigan University (M-U) engineers are now working on a 16-piece lab-on-a-chip kit that brings micro-fluidic devices to the masses.
The kit cuts costs and the time it takes to make such a device from days to minutes, said M-U's Mark Burns, who developed it with graduate Minsoung Rhee.
Previously unknown species of dinosaur discovered in Mexico
By RIA Novosti
Mexico City : Scientists in northern Mexico have unearthed evidence of a previously unknown species of plant-eating dinosaur that inhabited the Coahuila desert more than 72 million years ago, national media said.
The creature had three giant horns, which are thought to have helped it attract females and fight predators.
Eurofighter Typhoon targets 300 additional orders in next 20 years
By IANS,
New Delhi: The four-nation Eurofighter consortium foresees substantial growth opportunities on the world market, with India playing a crucial role, it said Friday.
"We evaluate the global demand for combat aircraft in the next 20 years at around 800 units. For Eurofighter Typhoon, we target 300 additional export contracts, with Asia representing a substantial part of these orders," Enzo Casolini, CEO of Eurofighter GmbH, said.
Solar, wind energy to provide villagers with hot water
By IRNA-AzerTAj
Baku : The Institute of Radiation Problems of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences has prepared the rural hot water supply system by the use of the solar and wind alternative energy.
By utilizing wind and solar energy in March-October, it is possible to ensure normal temperature conditions of the device and improve environmental sanitation and hygiene for villagers.
Logica’s Indian subsidiary helps reduce carbon emission
By IANS,
Bangalore : The Indian subsidiary of the London-based Logica plc helped the leading IT services firm reduce carbon emission by 11.3 percent in 18 months, the company said Monday.
"We have achieved 11.3 percent reduction in our carbon footprint in the last 18 months and set a target of reducing it by another 10 percent next year," Logica India chief executive Abhya Gupte said in a statement here.
The reduction enabled the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) to rank the British firm top of the FTSE 350 for IT services in its global 500 report.
Smelling carbon-dioxide can impact ageing
By IANS,
Washington : Specific odours that represent food are capable of altering an animal's lifespan and physiological profile by activating a small number of highly specialised sensory neurons, says a new study.
Nematode worms and fruit flies that were robbed of their ability to smell or taste, for example, lived substantially longer. However, the specific odours and sensory receptors that control this effect on ageing were unknown.
Intel founder gives $200mn to build world’s largest telescope
By Xinhua
Los Angeles : Intel Corp founder Gordon Moore and his wife Betty have donated $200 million to build the world's largest optical telescope, according to media reports.
The telescope will have a mirror nearly 100 feet across and three times the size of the current record holder. The donation went to Caltech (California Institute of Technology) and the University of California, said the Los Angeles Times.
Caltech officials said matching gifts from two other institutions are expected to bring the total to $300 million.
India plans to launch 10 satellites every year
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Bangalore : Indian space scientists and engineers are bracing up to launch an average of 10 satellites per year to meet the rising demand for various space applications, including communications and remote sensing, a top space scientist said.
"We are planning to launch 10 satellites per year, beginning fiscal 2010-11. We have a series of satellites and launch vehicles at various stages of preparation," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan told IANS.
Rocket scientist heads ISRO liquid propulsion systems centre
By IANS,
Bangalore : Noted rocket scientist S. Ramakrishnan is the new director of the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) liquid propulsion systems centre at Thiruvananthapuram.
The space agency Wednesday said Ramakrishnan, as director of projects at its Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram earlier, had played a key role in the development of polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) and its liquid propulsion stages.
Nano-catalysts to help produce cheap ethanol
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers are combining traditional gassification with high-tech nano-catalysts to extract ethanol from a range of biomass, which includes wood pulp, animal waste and residual distillers' grain.
Gasification is a process that converts carbon-based feedstocks under high temperature and pressure in an oxygen-controlled atmosphere into synthesis gas, or 'syngas'.
Syngas is made up of carbon monoxide and hydrogen (85 percent by volume) and smaller quantities of carbon dioxide and methane.
Microsoft warns of Excel security flaw
By Xinhua
Beijing : Microsoft Corp. has issued a security advisory warning of a vulnerability that lies within older versions of the Excel spreadsheet program, media reports said Thursday.
The affected versions include Microsoft Office Excel 2003 Service Pack 2, Microsoft Office Excel Viewer 2003, Microsoft Office Excel 2002, Microsoft Office Excel 2000, and Microsoft Excel 2004 for Mac.
Microsoft said Tuesday that it is investigating reports of such attacks, but has not yet determined whether it will patch the hole, or when.
Don’t have a laptop? Try the virtual computer!
By Jeevan Mathew Kurian, IANS,
Kozhikode : You have heard of desktops and laptops, but now two engineering students in Kerala have come up with a virtual computer that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. All it needs is an internet connection.
K. Ansar and P.P. Ismail, final year computer science students at an engineering college in Vatakara, about 45 km from here, have set up www.bloxtr.com, the prototype of a virtual computer in which you can store all your important documents, favourite music, colourful pictures and even videos.
Researchers calculate how much carbon can be stored underground
By IANS,
Washington : Trapping carbon dioxide at the source like coal burning power plants and then injecting them underground could be one of the options to cut emissions levels. MIT engineers have come up with a new software tool to determine how much can be sequestered safely in a geological formation.
Bangaloreans upset as clouds play spoilsport during eclipse
By IANS,
Bangalore : Compromising on their daily dose of sleep, hundreds of Bangaloreans woke up early morning to witness the century's longest solar eclipse Wednesday, but clouds played spoilsport during their much awaited adventure.
Around 200 scientists, research scholars and other people gathered at the Lalbagh Botanical Garden at 5.30 a.m. here but thick clouds unfortunately came in their way to witnessing the celestial spectacle.
Microsoft offers free trial of Windows 8
By IANS,
London : Microsoft gave reviewers and the public their first taste of its revolutionary new operating system Windows 8, the Daily Mail reported Thursday.
Synopsys buys out ArchPro Design
By IANS
Bangalore : Synopsys Inc., a leading US-based semiconductor design software firm, Wednesday announced acquisition of ArchPro Design Automation Ltd, a Bangalore-based power management start-up, to enhance its low-power design and verification solution.
Protection does help endangered species: study
By IANS,
Sydney : Researchers have come by evidence that protected fish species can bounce back rapidly from the brink, even after heavy fishing has taken its toll.
A strict no-fishing policy in 2004 across a third of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), the largest and most complex of marine ecosystems, has ensured spectacular recovery in coral trout numbers by a whopping 31 to 75 percent.
These results have major ramifications in a world in which most major fisheries are in decline, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Galaxy may host 17 bn Earth-size planets
By IANS,
Washington : At least 17 billion Earth-size planets may inhabit the Milky Way galaxy, RIA Novosti reported citing a new study by US astronomers.
ISRO readies for manned mission by 2014
By IANS
Bangalore : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has finalised its project report for a manned mission by 2014-15, a top space official said here Friday.
"The report is being submitted to the government for approval and budgetary allocation. The Space Commission, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will meet next week or so to review the report and take a decision. We plan to launch a manned mission in the next seven-eight years," ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair told reporters here.
Microscope for objects 20,000 times thinner than hair on anvil
By IANS,
Washington : A physicist is all set to design an ultra powerful microscope that can look at molecules and objects 20,000 times thinner than a human hair.
The new microscope, to be built within the next year, will allow much greater precision in identifying objects, such as certain cellular proteins, by letting scientists see them individually and watch their movement in real time.
Reliance launches 3G services in Punjab
By IANS,
Chandigarh: Leading telecom service provider Reliance Communications (RCOM) Thursday launched its 3G services in Punjab.
India: Deccan plateau may hold answer to reduce carbon emissions
By NNN-PTI
Visakhapatnam (India) : The vast tracts of India's Deccan volcanic plateau may hold the answer to reduce carbon emissions responsible for global warming that has posed a threat to the earth.
Indian geologists have discovered that the sprawling basalt rocks in the Deccan plateau had turned carbon dioxide trapped in them during their formation into carbonates or varieties of salts over the years.
AOL to shutter support for Netscape
By Xinhua
Beijing : AOL announced in its blog post to shutter support for Netscape Navigator from Feb. 1 and recommended the Netscape users to make the move to Firefox, media reported Saturday.
Netscape would still be available for download from the Netscape Archive after Feb. 1, but no "active product support" will be offered.
The decision came after Netscape Navigator, once the dominant Web browser, failed in the battle against Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
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.
Scientists spot largest molecules in space
By IANS,
London : Scientists in Canada have spotted the largest molecules existing in space called buckyballs.
The roughly spherical molecules consist of a "third type of carbon", after graphite and diamond, which occur widely on earth.
Buckyballs, on the other hand, have only been created in labs and have never before been proven to exist elsewhere, reports The Telegraph.
The BBC reported that a research group used an infrared telescope owned by Nasa to spot the buckyballs in "a cloud of cosmic dust surrounding a distant star".
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.
Google acquires Nik Software
By IANS,
San Francisco: Google has announced that it has acquired Nik Software, a German software company behind the popular photo application Snapseed on Apple's iOS platform.
Over satellite, women farmers demand policy changes
By IANS
Thiruvaiyaru (Tamil Nadu) : The power of technology was on display at the 95th National Science Congress in Vishakhapatnam Saturday when satellite links helped women from across India voice their demand for new policies to promote women farmers.
New telecom network guidelines next month: minister
By IANS,
New Delhi : The government is expected to issue guidelines for third generation (3G) and wireless broadband (WiMax) networks by June, Minister for Communications and Information Technology A. Raja said here Friday.
"By June the guidelines will be issued for 3G and WiMax," Raja said at an industry conference, adding that these networks would be rolled out by January 2009.
Using AI to track visual bugs in 3-D games
By IANS,
Sydney : Artificial intelligence will soon replace the tedious and time-consuming -- but highly complex -- process of testing how good or bad 3-D computer games are.
Alfredo Nantes of Queensland University of Technology is building intelligent tools that will detect “visual anomalies” in a 3-D computer game.
“Visual anomalies are things like incorrect shadowing or lighting, texturing problems and all artefacts that corrupt the realism of the game scene,” Nantes said.
Astronomers discover two extrasolar planets
By Xinhua
Washington : Researchers from 11 countries have discovered two extrasolar planets, each with a mass less than that of Jupiter, orbiting a star about half the size of our Sun.
The new discovery was reported on Thursday and will be published on the Feb. 15 issue of journal Science.
Although there has been a flurry of extrasolar planet discoveries in recent years, most of the planets have been massive bodies much larger than the giants of our own solar system.
Technopark bags national award for best technology incubator
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : The Technology Business Incubator (TBI) at Technopark here has bagged the prestigious national award for the best technology business incubator in the country for 2007.
Technopark Tuesday said the award, instituted by the department of science and technology of the central government, was for encouraging and recognising the business incubation activity, which plays a key role in promoting the entrepreneurial culture in the country.
Google launches Web browser to compete with Microsoft
By Xinhua,
Los Angeles : Google launched on Tuesday a beta version of its browser for Windows, called Google Chrome, in more than 100 countries.
With the Web browser, Google wants to be in a better position to compete with the likes of Internet Explorer and Firefox.
This was seen as yet another salvo in Google's intensifying battle with Microsoft to dominate not only what people do on the Web but also how they get there.
With the Web browser, Google wants to be in a better position to compete with the likes of Internet Explorer and Firefox.
This was seen as yet another salvo in Google's intensifying battle with Microsoft to dominate not only what people do on the Web but also how they get there.
Three rules ‘must’ for optimising technology use for progress
By IANS,
Washington : Use of technology can be optimised for ensuring social progress if policy makers are clear about how to apply it and know what to expect from their efforts.
Daniel Sarewitz of Arizona State University (ASU) and Richard Nelson of Columbia University described three rules that can help technology and science policy makers become smarter about where to apply technological fixes and what to expect as a result.
World’s fastest supercomputer does in minutes what it took months to calculate
By IANS,
Washington : The world's fastest supercomputer called Jaguar, capable of quadrillion floating operations per second, has been housed at the Oak Ridge National Lab.
The blinding speed of Jaguar can be gauged by the fact that it just takes mere minutes to calculate what once took several months. Quadrillion is a figure in which one is followed by 15 zeroes or a million times billion).
Tiny device can help build more powerful computers
By IANS,
Washington : Engineers have fabricated a tiny positioning device that will help build more compact, powerful computer hard drives and practically double the effectiveness of biological sensors.
Called monolithic comb drive (MCD), it can be potentially used as a "nanoscale manipulator" for use in watery environments to probe biological molecules, said Jason Vaughn Clark, an assistant professor of electrical, computer and mechanical engineering at Purdue University, who created the design.
IPCC chief goes mum on Himalayan glacier blunder
By IANS,
New Delhi : An embattled R.K. Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Thursday refused to answer any question on the goof-up by the global scientists' group which made it carry in its 2007 report an unsubstantiated claim that Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035.
Pachauri convened a press conference here to unveil a roadmap for India's energy security, prepared by the other organisation he heads, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
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.
NASA delays Discovery launch
By DPA,
Washington : NASA has delayed the launch of the space shuttle Discovery by 24 hours to allow more time to review data about a suspect valve in the liquid hydrogen fuel tank, officials said Thursday.
NASA earlier this week postponed a Tuesday launch to the early hours of Friday morning after detecting a problem with the fill and drain valve. The latest plan is to proceed with the launch about midnight Friday (0400 GMT Saturday).
Clouds block view of total solar eclipse in Gujarat
By IANS,
Surat : Scientists, tourists and school children in Gujarat were left disappointed Wednesday as heavy clouds blocked the view of the total solar eclipse.
"Some darkness was felt in Surat around 6.25 a.m. to 6.27 a.m. but the eclipse was not visible due to heavy clouds," said a senior official of the Gujarat Science City, who had arrived here from Ahmedabad to watch the event.
The official said that the total solar eclipse could not be seen even in Vadodara and Ahmedabad due to cloudy skies.
Indian-American a step closer to next generation computers
By IANS
Washington : Quantum computers, currently the stuff of science fiction, will make their existing counterparts seem like obsolete and bumbling relics of a bygone era.
Last year's Hollywood blockbuster "Transformers" showcased how the bad guys, relying on quantum computing, broke into highly classified Pentagon files in just 10 seconds flat.
Now Indian American Prem Kumar of the Centre for Photonic Communication and Computing and his research group are a step closer to realising the dream machine.
Google threatens to leave China over ‘phishing”
By IANS,
Los Angeles : Google has threatened to close its operations and offices in China after hacking of email accounts of many human rights activists.
In a statement on its blog Tuesday, the world's second biggest corporate said it has detected in December "a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google.''
Online learning helps schoolchildren fare better: study
By IANS,
Sydney : Educationists have developed a new web-based tool that helps primary schoolchildren to concentrate better and develop literacy skills.
The interactive educational software called 'Abracadabra' is designed to help struggling school students aged five to eight years learn basic literacy skills to equip them for the future.
The tool has just undergone a 10-week trial that has been described as a success.
Just ten minutes of talking may improve memory
By IANS
New York : Talking to each other for just 10 minutes may boost intellectual performance and improve memory, a new study had found.
The study found that short-term social interaction boosted intellectual performance of people as much as engaging in so-called intellectual activities for the same length of time, reported science portal ScienceDaily.
"Socialising is just as effective as more traditional kinds of mental exercise in boosting memory and intellectual performance," Oscar Ybarra, a psychologist at the University of Michigan said.
IIT alumni’s party wants to be agent of change
By Richa Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : They gave up plush jobs to jump into politics two years ago - something not too many Indian professionals do. The party that 20 alumni of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) floated has now fielded two candidates in the Nov 29 Delhi assembly polls.
After all, both techies and politicians are harbingers of change, say the founder members of Bharat Punarnirman Dal, or India Rejuvenation Force.
Scientists develop tiny sensor to sniff out toxins
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have developed a stamp-sized sensor that can sniff out some poisonous gases and toxins and can show results simply by changing colour.
The sensor could be useful in detecting high exposures to toxic industrial chemicals that pose serious health risks at the workplace.
While physicists have radiation badges to protect them in the workplace, chemists and workers who handle chemicals do not have equivalent devices to monitor their exposure to potentially toxic chemicals.
India can send crew to space in seven years
By IANS
Washington : India will be able to send manned space flights in seven to eight years, G. Madhavan Nair, head of India's space programme, said here.
"We have sensitised the government on manned space flights. In seven to eight years, we will be able to carry crew to orbit and back," Nair, chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Space Commission, said Wednesday.
He said India believes that space is the next frontier and international cooperation rather than competition in this field will be the future.
Scientists have better insight into how we see
By IANS,
Sydney : Scientists now have a better insight into how the mammalian brain transfers, processes and stores visual information.
The study, led by Mark Williams, senior lecturer at the Macquarie University, said: "The inner workings of the mammalian brain are incredibly complex and our understanding of the processes at work is still rudimentary."
"If we think of the visual system as a complicated web of connections at the rear of the brain, these findings allow us to make better sense of this web by more effectively mapping the way information is transferred and processed."
Microsoft unveils voice activated Xbox Kinect
By IANS,
London : If you are always searching for your remote or running out of batteries, Kinect is just the thing for you as it allows you to play computer games without the handset.
Failure of imported components behind loss of satellites?
By V. Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : The recurring loss of Indian satellites because of power supply glitches may be due to the failure of imported components, according to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists.
ISRO has lost two of its satellites earlier -- Chandrayaan in 2009 and INSAT-2D in 1997 -- and INSAT-4B partially now.
Scientists of the Indian space agency are working to fix the power snag that switched off 12 transponders of the INSAT-4B communications satellite Wednesday night.
Scientists detect Martian meteor showers
By IANS
London : Scientists have for the first time detected a storm of shooting stars on Mars. And they are now confident of predicting meteor showers on the planet - just as they do on earth.
The Martian meteor shower was detected, indeed predicted, by scientists at the Armagh Observatory when they calculated when the orbit of Mars would intersect with debris from the comet 79P/du Toit-Hartley.
Delhi Wakf Board unable to keep its website up
By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: A world of information might be available on internet but Delhi Wakf Board (DWB) is not. Delhi Wakf Board has a website but due to their cheaper plan it is inaccessible to everyone.
Chandrayaan enters deep space; on way to moon
Bangalore/Chennai, Oct 26 (IANS) India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 Sunday entered deep space after crossing 150,000 km from the earth on way to the moon, a space agency official said.
"Chandrayaan entered deep space after its third orbit-raising manoeuvre was completed earlier in the day. The exercise involved firing its 440 Newton liquid engine, lasting 9.5 minutes," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S. Satish told IANS in Bangalore.
Round-the-world solar plane suspends flight
Geneva : The world's largest solar-powered aircraft, Solar Impulse 2, was forced to push back the second half of it's round-the-world flight to...
Software to prevent car collisions under development
By IANS,
London : A pedestrian chasing a pet dog suddenly steps in the path of your speeding car 15 metres away. There is no way you can avoid hitting him. The string of cars following you crash behind one another. In future, a new software programme will mitigate or even eliminate such an eventuality.
Nobel laureate ignites youth with insights into biology
By Fakir Balaji, IANS
Visakhapatnam : Nobel laureate and Rockefeller University president Sir Paul M. Nurse went down memory lane at the Indian Science Congress here to kindle young Indians with insights into the fascinating world of biology and living forms.
"Biology is not a mere academic stuff to cram at school or college and be done with. It is a life-long passionate subject that unfolds secrets of nature, creation, evolution and dissolution.
China Announces 186-mph Bullet Train
Beijing, Dec 22 (Prensa Latina) China announced on Saturday its first 186-mph bullet train, wholly designed and built in this Asian country.
China thus joins Japan, France and Germany as the fourth country worldwide in position to build state-of-the-art high-speed trains, a spokesman for the Railway Ministry said.
Indian science conquers new frontiers
By IANS
New Delhi : Sixty years after independence, Indian science has taken giant strides in virtually every arena - from space vehicles to vaccines. Starting out 60 years ago as a poor country with a history of famines and underdevelopment, India today stands poised as the surprise powerhouse of cutting-edge science and technology.
Science and technology (S and T) has been key to India's development strategy right from the time of independence in 1947.
Using laptops on lap could cause injuries
London/New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS) A survey in Britain has shown that people who use their laptops on the floor, in bed or on their laps are likely to develop injuries in their neck, shoulders and wrists. The survey says regular breaks are necessary to prevent damage.
The survey by University College London found 57 percent of those surveyed had experienced aches and pains due to laptop use.
One in five had neck and shoulder pains, while 16 percent said they suffered wrist ache and 15 percent said their back hurt, reported the online edition of Daily Mail.
India needs strong cyber infrastructure: Rajnath
New Delhi: Pitching for a strong cyber infrastructure in the country, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday stressed that India should work towards developing...
Kerala-based SunTec ties up with eServGlobal
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Communication and payment service major eServGlobal has signed a partnership agreement with the city-based billing solutions provider SunTec, the latter announced here Tuesday.
SunTec said in a statement that the global WiMax market is rapidly evolving and more than 200 networks were now being deployed and over 100 other trials were in progress.
eServGlobal will use SunTec's TBMS-T product suite, which is designed to help service providers of the communications, media and entertainment industry launch new services quickly and achieve customer growth.
Get ready to view a total solar eclipse July 22
By IANS,
Mumbai : A rare celestial treat - a total solar eclipse - will be seen in India in the early hours of July 22. And those planning to give it a miss will have to wait for 78 long years to catch the rare glimpse again!
It will be the third total solar eclipse to be visible in India in the past 15 years, a senior scientist said here. The next total solar eclipse will occur in 2087.
NASA camera yields most accurate Mars map
By IANS,
Washington : A camera on board NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has helped develop the most accurate global Martian map ever.
Researchers and the public can access the map via several websites and explore and survey the entire surface of the Red Planet.
The map was constructed using nearly 21,000 images from the Thermal Emission Imaging System, or THEMIS, a multi-band infrared camera on Odyssey, says a NASA release.
‘Jaws of steel’ helped primitive man crack hard nuts, seeds
By IANS,
Washington : Our ancestors, going back 2.5 million years, had jaws of steel with which they cracked open hard nuts and objects, unlike human species today with much more delicate and smaller teeth, a research study has shown.
Mark Spencer, Arizona State University (ASU) assistant professor and evolutionary scientist, and doctoral student Caitlin Schrein used futuristic computer modelling and simulation technology to build a virtual model of the A. africanus skull to see how the jaw operated.
Planetary collision created Earth and Moon
By IANS,
London : The Earth and Moon were created as the result of a giant collision between two planets the size of Mars and Venus, research says.
The research from the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, shows that the Earth and Moon must have formed much later - perhaps up to 150 million years after the formation of the solar system, 4,567 million years ago.
Chinese astronauts for Shenzhou-7 mission arrive at launch center
By Xinhua,
Jiuquan, Gansu : A panel of six Chinese astronauts arrived at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu Province on Sunday, making the last-minute preparations for the country's third manned space mission.
Taking a special flight to the remote center, three qualified spacemen and three substitutes said they had "full confidence to successfully accomplish the mission" after various trainings and tests.
The astronauts will pilot spacecraft Shenzhou-7 to carry out the mission during which one of them will spacewalk outside the capsule.
Japan sends out high-speed Internet satellite
By Xinhua
Tokyo : The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launched Saturday afternoon a rocket carrying a high-speed Internet communications satellite, which will cover the general Asia-Pacific region.
The satellite, capable of transmitting data at 1.2 gigabit per second, is designed to conduct experiments on wireless high-capacity and high-speed data communications in areas where ground Internet infrastructure is difficult to be built, the agency said.
Astronomers discover largest dark matter in space
By IANS
Toronto : An international team of astronomers have detected the largest-ever dark matter structure ever seen, stretching an awesome 270 million light-years across the night sky.
The team, comprising French and Canadian scientists, "X-rayed" the dark matter, or an invisible web that makes up more than 80 percent of the mass of the universe.
They used a technique called weak gravitational lensing, similar to an X-ray of the body, to reveal the underlying skeleton of the dark matter.
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.
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.
Two more satellite launches this year: ISRO chief
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : Two more navigational satellites will be launched this year, said ISRO chairman K.Radhakrishnan Friday after an Indian rocket successfully placed...
Electronic ‘ears’ guide drills into mine shaft
By IANS,
Sydney : Australian scientists have successfully used an electronic 'ear' to track and control a drill operating 300 metres below the earth's surface.
The successful trial has demonstrated that use of 'microseismics' can potentially cut down costs and improve drilling process for exploration and mining.
The trial was carried out at a coalfield test site in Queensland as part of a programme to develop and exploit coal seam gas.
Karnataka to pitch Bangalore as nanotechnology hub
By IANS,
Bangalore : Tech-savvy Karnataka is set to promote Bangalore as a nanotechnology hub to replicate its success in information technology (IT) and biotechnology (BT) sectors, with novel initiatives to attract investors, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, a top official said here.
90 percent digitisation achieved in Kolkata: Siticable
By IANS,
Kolkata: The percentage of digitisation of cable televisions in Kolkata has currently reached 90 percent, leading multi-service operator (MSO) Siticable said Tuesday.
Zenit rocket to orbit Israeli satellite in late April
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : The launch of a modified Zenit rocket to put an Israeli communications satellite into orbit has been scheduled for April 24, Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said on Monday.
Russia started preparations for the launch of a Zenit-3SLB rocket with a DM-SLB booster and Israeli AMOS-3 satellite on board from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan in October last year.
"This weekend, the booster was delivered to site 31 [at Baikonur] for fuelling and fitting with the AMOS-3 satellite," Roscosmos said in a statement.
India announces largest ever auction of hydrocarbon assets
By IANS,
New Delhi : India Thursday announced the auctions for 80 more hydrocarbon assets in the country, including 10 for coal-bed methane, in the largest such exercise under its new policy on oil and gas exploration.
The 70 oil and gas blocks under round number eight of the new policy include 24 in deep waters, 28 in shallow waters and 18 on-land blocks, Petroleum Secretary R.S. Pandey told reporters here. For coal-bed methane, this is the fourth round of auctions.
The bids from both domestic companies and multinational corporations will be accepted till Aug 10.
Briton joins gym after his ‘shocking’ image on Google
By IANS,
London : A Briton was so horrified after seeing his massive belly on the Google Street View that he decided to join a weight loss regime, a media report said Monday.
Kerala students to compete in designing a Mars rover
Kochi: Students of an engineering college in Kerala have been selected to compete in a challenge to design a rover for the US Mars...
Meteor showers to make sky sparkle Aug 12
By Richa Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : The night sky will be streaked with light in a celestial spectacle put up by the Perseids meteor showers Aug 12.
Sky gazers can look out for it before dawn when over 100 meteors will sparkle in the night sky.
"Perseids are the most famous and beautiful of all meteor showers that approach from the horizon. They are long, slow and colourful," Nehru Planetaruim director N. Rathnashree told IANS.
Ice Age park? Scientists sequence mammoth genome
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have sequenced the genome of the woolly mammoth of the Ice Age, bringing to reality the possibility of an Ice Age park in the lines of the fictional Jurassic Park of Michael Crichton.
With four billlion DNA bases, the sequencing has been done for the first time, using new generation tools and a novel technique that reads the DNA bases far more efficiently.
Mammoths roamed the northern hemisphere during the last Ice Age.
Study: Jupiter’s faint rings are dust and shadow
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Magicians use smoke and mirrors to create mystery, whereas Jupiter uses dust and shadow to conceal the mystery of its faint rings.
Jupiter's rings are now known to be made mostly of dark dust. They were discovered in 1979 by Voyager 1. Not until the Galileo spacecraft, orbiting Jupiter from 1995 to 2003, did scientists realize the rings were made of dust dispersed by meteoroids slamming into Jupiter's inner moons.