21 of 23 major cyclones worldwide in Indian region
By Prashant K. Nanda, IANS,
New Delhi : Twenty-one of the 23 most devastating cyclones worldwide during the last 200 years occurred in the northern Indian Ocean zone popularly know as the Indian region.
"Though the Indian region faces only five to six percent of the total number of cyclones erupt every year, the magnitude of these cyclones is very high," said Akhilesh Gupta, scientific advisor to the science and technology ministry.
"We have found that 21 of the 23 devastating cyclones across the globe during the last two centuries occurred in the Indian region," Gupta told IANS.
Film downloads help buffs discover movies at home
By DPA,
Darmstadt (Germany) : A perfect couch potato set-up, with chips and the remote in easy reach, is pointless when there's nothing good on TV. But where a lack of good TV would have once meant running to the video store, nowadays home viewers can turn on their computer to download one of their favourite movies.
Mail movie rentals via online services have been around for a while. But now those services are diversifying into direct downloads onto personal computers.
Hybrid cars will spare petrol but guzzle water
By IANS
Washington : With crude oil at $110 a barrel, hybrid and electric cars may well seem the need of the hour. But they too will come at a cost - they will severely strain scarce water resources, warns a new study.
Each mile driven with electricity consumes about three times more water than each mile driven with petrol, the study found, reports Sciencedaily.
Carey W. King and Michael E. Webber calculated water usage, consumption and withdrawal during petroleum refining and power generation in the US.
No spaceship, yet NASA wants more astronauts
By IANS,
Washington : America's space organisation NASA has launched a massive recruitment drive to find new astronauts, despite not having its own spaceship for them to fly.
New technique to compress light opens doors to optical computing
By IANS,
Mountain View (California) : Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have devised a way to squeeze light into tighter spaces than ever thought possible, potentially opening doors to new technology in the fields of optical communications, miniature lasers and optical computers.
Google admits it scanned books under Chinese copyright protection
By IANS,
Beijing : Google has admitted to having scanned more than 20,000 books under Chinese copyright protection, a media report said Tuesday.
The world's largest internet search engine has been in negotiations with China's copyright watchdog for scanning works for its online library without permission, the China Daily reported.
The US company emphasised the Chinese books they scanned were from US libraries and some of them were available for public use.
The perils of social networking
By Mohammed Abdul Jawad,
O, what a blessed month is this! Yea, of course, I mean ‘Ramadan’—the month of sublime patience, repentance, forgiveness and generous spending. It carries its unique beauty, virtues and rewards. We ought to know the reality of fasting, the acts of worship, the manners of supplications, the essence of piety, the ways to achieve steadfastness and protection from deviations, the etiquettes of night prayer, the virtues of Laylatul Qadr (Night of Revelation) and the significance of charity.
Soon, solar-powered camera straps to charge batteries
By IANS,
London: Photographers will soon be able to charge their camera batteries with the rays of the sun.
A team of Chinese researchers are developing solar panels to straps that would make the charging easy. Inventor Weng Jie’s idea, of which a prototype may be ready in months, could spell the end of wall-socket charging, reports dailymail.co.uk.
But there is a downside: In case there is not enough sunlight, regular batteries can not be used as a substitute.
Indonesia to develop 2nd generation version of satellite
By Xinhua
Jakarta : After successfully launching its LAPAN-TUBSAT satellite last year, the Indonesian National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Lapan) is preparing to construct a second generation version of the earth surveillance satellite for orbit in 2010.
While the construction of the first satellite took place in Germany, the construction of the next, named LAPAN-A2, will take place in Indonesia entirely under Indonesian engineers, the Jakarta Post daily on Friday quoted Lapan's head Adi Sadewo Salatun as saying.
Insat-4CR launch delayed by 50 minutes
By IANS
Sriharikota : The launch of India's latest communication satellite Insat-4CR was put on hold for 50 minutes Sunday evening due to a technical hitch 15 seconds before the scheduled blast-off time.
The satellite was to be launched at 4.21 p.m by the geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-F04).
Some of the parameters pertaining to the launch vehicle were reportedly not on the expected lines.
‘Get your software from a cloud, save money’
By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS,
New Delhi : As small and medium businesses in India struggle to stay afloat during the global economic slowdown, they are opting for cheaper computing services, and a Boston-based entrepreneur is here to promote his solution, cloud computing, in which software is shared over a wide network of computers.
Cuban scientists develop cancer drug from scorpion venom
By IANS
Cienfuegos (Cuba) : Cuban scientists have developed a drug from scorpion venom, which they say could go a long way in fighting cancer, Spanish news agency Prensa Latina reported Thursday.
"The researchers have been studying the breeding, handling and use of scorpion venom in their Cienfuegos breeding centre, which has 400 scorpions at present but would increase to 5,000 next year," team leader Fabio Linares of the Pharmaceutical Biological Laboratories in Havana said Wednesday.
The drug can be used to treat brain tumours, pancreas and prostate cancer.
Arctic region needs major cleaning, says Putin
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The Arctic region, a strategic area for Russia, is heavily polluted and needs "major cleaning", Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
Putin visited Alexandra Land, one of the islands in Russia's far north, and found that over 40,000-60,000 tonnes of used lubricants in thousands of barrels as well as plane, car and other wreckage had been piled up in the Arctic for years.
"The reduction of military cooperation after the collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in this scrap heap," the premier said.
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.
Requiem for Earth, Red Alarm is On
By Prensa Latina,
Washington : No scientific obituary has been published, but according to a recent report resumed by Mike Davis of alternative media Tomdispatch.com, humanity is entering the “Anthropocene”, epoch defined by the emergence of urban-industrial society as a geological force.
The Geological Society of London defines that the new age shows a heating trend and a radical instability expected of future environments.
Mobility and green technology will rule the next decade
By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS,
Technology in the second decade of this millennium will build on the foundation laid in the first 10 years for mobility, cloud computing and green technology that saw the birth of the iconic iPhone, third generation telephony, notebooks, netbooks and the iPod with a camera.
Here's a peek into what's in store:
Robot pinpoints best locations for seafloor lab
By IANS,
Washington : Sentry, an unmanned submersible, operating on its own in harsh environments, has helped scientists pinpoint and finalise the best locations for two sites of a proposed pioneering seafloor lab.
Successful site selection is a vital step in developing an extensive sensor network above and below the seafloor on the Juan de Fuca Plate, according to John Delaney, University of Washington oceanographer and chief scientist for a two-week mapping expedition.
Russian astronomer discovers new comet
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russian amateur astronomer Artyom Novichonok, a student of Petrozavodsk university, has discovered a new comet, website Astronet said.
Software tweaks to make undersea robots smarter
By IANS,
Washington : A cutting edge software, developed and tested by naval scientists, can help undersea robots become smarter at surveying large swathes of the ocean.
Mercury is latest and deadlier threat to environment
By IANS,
Washington : As if global warming was not alarming in itself, add one more sinister threat to the list -- mercury pollution.
It has already spurred public health officials to advise eating less fish, but it could become a more pressing concern in a warmer world.
Sue Natali, postdoctoral associate in botany at the University of Florida in a paper she co-authored compared mercury levels in soils under trees growing in air enriched with carbon dioxide to soil beneath trees in ambient air.
New technique developed to ‘milk’ ostrich semen
By IANS,
Sydney : Australian researchers have developed what is being touted as the first “animal- and human-friendly” technique of masturbating an ostrich.
The new technique being used by researchers tasked with collecting semen and artificially inseminating the large and rather fearsome birds - as well as their cousins, the emus - relies on the use of a dummy female.
Optical transmission key to secure, rapid indoor communications
By IANS,
Washington : Light is better than radio waves when it comes to some wireless communications, a new study has found.
Optical communications systems could provide faster, more secure communications with wider bandwidth and would be suitable for restricted areas like hospitals, aircraft and factories.
Sending information via light waves either in physical light guides or wirelessly is not new, but existing wireless systems either require direct line of sight or are diffused and have low signal strength.
TERI to set up 15 biotech labs in northeast India
By IANS
New Delhi : Environmental watchdog and research organisation The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) will set up 15 laboratories in northeastern India to help students with environmental and biotechnological experiments.
The 15 laboratories would be set up in the states of Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura with facilities to provide computer education, taxonomic studies, microbiological and biotechnological experiments among schoolchildren.
Simple device boosts vehicle mileage dramatically
By IANS,
Washington : Steeply rocketing fuel prices have prompted a physics professor to develop a simple device that boosted fuel efficiency by 20 percent in field tests - an electrically charged tube that can be attached to the fuel line of a car's engine near the fuel injector.
Powered by the vehicle's battery, the device creates an electric field that thins the fuel, so that smaller droplets are injected into the engine. That leads to more efficient and cleaner combustion than a standard fuel injector, said the developer, Rongjia Tao, professor of physics at Temple University.
New technology to help doctors image lungs
By IANS,
Sydney : New technology pioneered by Australian researchers will help doctors image a patient's lungs and respiratory diseases.
Scientists from the University of Queensland (UQ) have successfully developed the country's first hyperpolarised helium gas for use in human MRIs.
Marlies Friese said the UQ team recently produced sufficient gas for a human subject to inhale, and created an image of the person's airways.
Scientists discover 10 new planets outside solar system
By Xinhua
Washington : An international team of astronomers has found 10 new extra-solar planets, planets that orbit stars other than our sun, University of California, Santa Barbara, announced on Tuesday.
The new international collaboration is called "SuperWASP," for Wide Area Search for Planets. In the last six months the SuperWASP team has used two batteries of cameras, one in Spain's Canary Islands and one in South Africa, to discover the 10 new extra solar planets.
Beware of hacker attacks via Orkut, Facebook
Bangalore, April 22 (IANS) If you belong to the generation of net savvy Indians, beware of browsing social networking sites for long as your PC or laptop could easily fall prey to cyber attacks from hackers.
As per the 2007 Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR) compiled by anti-virus and security solutions major Symantec, social networking sites have become the latest target of hackers to attack home and enterprise computers.
NASA plans Mars landing in August
By IANS,
London : NASA will attempt to lower a probe onto the surface of Mars for the first time as it continues its search for signs of life on the red planet, The Telegraph reported Tuesday.
Of six GSLV launches, only two were successes
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : The GSLV rocket mission that failed Thursday was the sixth launched by India. Of the six, only two were successes and one a partial success. The rest could not accomplish their missions.
The two successful launches by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were in 2003 and 2004 - and put into space GSAT-2 and Edusat, an educational satellite.
‘Black gold’ may revolutionise farming, curb global warming
By IANS
Washington : Scientists have discovered an extraordinary source of some of the richest, most fertile soil in the world, often called 'black gold'. They simply have to mix charcoal in the soil.
And it can battle global warming as well by holding the carbon in the soil instead of letting it escape into the atmosphere, according to a new study.
The discovery goes back 1,500 years to the central Amazon basin where tribal people mixed their soil with charcoal derived from animal bone and tree bark.
Missing link between ancient, modern crocodiles found
By IANS
Rio de Janeiro : Brazilian paleontologists have found an 85-million-year-old fossil they say is of a creature that represents the evolutionary missing link between ancient crocodiles and the present species, Spain's news agency EFE reported.
The 80-percent-complete skeleton of the new species, dubbed Montealtosuchus arrudacamposi, was found at Monte Alto in Brazil's southeastern Sao Paulo state.
A team from the Museum of Paleontology and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro carried out an evaluation of the fossil.
IBM to set system to monitor Bangalore water supply
By IANS,
Bangalore: Global IT major IBM's big data and predictive analytics will create systems to monitor and manage water supply in Bangalore by the...
Global investors to invest Rs.4.11 bn in Moser Baer unit
By IANS,
New Delhi : Technology leader Moser Baer India Ltd Thursday said its wholly-owned photovoltaic (PV) subsidiary has entered into definitive agreement with a consortium of global investors to raise Rs.4.11 billion for its expansion.
The global investors include Nomura, CDC Group, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, IDFC Pe and IDFC.
"Moser Baer plans to use the funds to expand capacity of crystalline silicon and thin film solar vertical," Moser Baer group chief financial officer Yogesh B. Mathur told reporters.
Russia puts six US satellites into orbit
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia's Soyuz spacecraft put six US communications satellites into orbit Tuesday, an official said.
Be careful when accessing your computer from afar
By Nabeel A. Khan, IANS,
New Delhi : Be careful when you access your computer over the Internet. Here are some safety tips:
* Install file-sharing software carefully, so that you know what's being shared.
* Person to person (P2P) file-sharing applications will, by default, share downloads in your "save" or "download" folder - unless you set it not to.
* You should also restrict users' ability to write files to the file server.
* Limit guests or anonymous accounts sharing so none can upload files.
Fake ‘dislike’ button spreads across Facebook
By IANS,
Washington : Social networking website Facebook, which offers its subscribers only a "like" button for anyone's updates, is now faced with a fake "dislike" button, which is spreading like a virus across the site.
The fake dislike button is followed with a link that takes people to a fake application. Instead of installing a dislike button, the application uses the person's network to continue spreading the fake programme.
Graham Cluley of the British security firm Sophos wrote in a blog that the fake dislike buttons "are going viral" on Facebook.
Telescope captures galactic super volcanic explosion
By IANS,
London : A spectacular "super volcano" that erupted trillions of miles away from earth has been clicked by a NASA telescope.
The staggering eruption was filmed by NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array.
Astronomers said shock waves between a giant black hole and cooling gas, caused the mind boggling explosion, reports the Telegraph.
The explosion then blasted through the "massive" Messier 87 galaxy more than 50 million light years away. One light year is the equivalent of 5.9 trillion miles.
British lab growing human body parts
By IANS,
London: British experts are growing human body parts like nose and ears in laboratory, Daily Mail reported Sunday.
Andaman to get biomass power plant: Javadekar
New Delhi : Environment, Forests and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar announced on Wednesday that his ministry has allotted Rs. 5 crore for a...
IT tool helps satellites pinpoint ancient settlements
By IANS,
Washington : A new computer tool that extracts clues about ancient human settlements from satellite imagery has uncovered thousands of sites which might otherwise have been lost.
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.
Partial solar eclipse on Jan 26
By IANS,
New Delhi : Sky gazers in some parts of India will get an opportunity to observe a partial solar eclipse Jan 26.
The eclipse, first for the year, will start at 2.15 p.m. Monday and end by 4 p.m.
"The eclipse will be visible only from southern parts of India, eastern coast, most of northeast India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. People in north and west India will miss the celestial activity," N. Rathnasree, director Nehru Planetarium, told IANS.
India getting ready to watch an eclipsed sun
By IANS,
New Delhi/Taregna/Surat : The wait to witness a once-in-a-lifetime celestial phenomenon ends at dawn Wednesday when an eclipsed sun rises over the horizon. And tens of thousands of people all over India are getting ready to wake up to a shaded sunrise and gather at rooftops, planetariums and parks to watch the century's longest total solar eclipse.
The total eclipse, which starts at sunrise in Surat in Gujarat, is expected to last six minutes and 44 seconds, making it the longest till 2132.
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.
Delhi schoolchildren ‘journey into outer space’
By Richa Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : What makes the earth go around the sun, aeroplanes fly and volcanoes erupt? A group of 35 Delhi school students has been busy unravelling the mysteries of the universe and understanding basic science through a programme prepared by US space agency NASA.
The children - from at least eight schools in the capital - were part of a five-day summer camp 'Journey into Outer Space' being run by Mad Science, a global organisation working to spread science literacy among children in the age group of 7-12 years.
India cannot afford to be climate sceptic: official
By IANS,
New Delhi : India's poor will have enormous problem in arranging their livelihood due to climate change, and it will be better the country stops being a climate sceptic, a government official said Thursday.
"There is enough scientific evidence to corroborate the fact that climate change poses unprecedented risks to both human life and in fact, to human civilisation," New and Renewable Energy Secretary Deepak Gupta said at a conference on climate change.
He said the climate change will have catastrophic "effect on livelihood, particularly of the poor".
European science lab spacewalk delayed for one day – NASA
By RIA Novosti
Washington : U.S. space shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station Saturday but a spacewalk to install a European science laboratory was delayed for a day due an astronaut health problem, NASA said Sunday.
"With no impact to the overall mission objectives, the first spacewalk Monday will be conducted by Rex Walheim and Stan Love, who replaces Hans Schlegel," NASA said but did not specify the health problem.
Four solar, two lunar eclipses in 2011
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Four solar and two total moon eclipses will be observed in different parts of the world, including in India, in 2011.
Botanical institute setting up on-line herbarium
By IANS,
Lucknow : The National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) here is setting up a digital herbarium through which about 250,000 plant specimens would be made available on-line to scientists across the globe.
"In order to facilitate research work, we decided to set up the herbarium that will provide the desired plant specimen at the click of the mouse," Tariq Husain, a scientist in the taxonomy and biodiversity division of the institute, told IANS.
Water on moon raises new questions about its origin: NASA
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : The confirmation of elevated water molecules in the moon's polar regions by India's maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 raises new questions about its origin and effect on the mineralogy of the moon, US scientists say.
"Water ice on the moon has been something of a holy grail for lunar scientists for a very long time," said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Taking hi-tech solutions to poor villages
By Frederick Noronha, IANS
Bangalore : Ekgaon, a technology and management services firm for independent rural communities, is run by young Indian techies spanning the globe, some of whom are expatriates keen to help their home country.
China’s Internet users world’s largest
By IANS,
Beijing : China has overtaken the US and now has some 221 million web users - the world's largest Internet using population.
The number was 210 million by the end of last year, trailing the US by some five million, figures issued by the China Internet Network Information Centre showed.
Despite a rapidly increasing Internet population, China's ratio of Internet users to the total population is still lower than the global average, the ministry said.
India to miss total solar eclipse
By IANS,
New Delhi : This year's total solar eclipse on Sunday will be missed by sky gazers in India as the celestial phenomenon will not be visible in Asia.
The eclipse will be visible from parts of the South Pacific Ocean area and South American countries like Argentina and Chile. A total solar eclipse occurs every 18 months.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, and the moon fully or partially covers the sun as viewed from the earth.
Carbon time bomb ticking away, beneath the ocean
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have sounded a grim warning over how global warming could destabilise vast carbon reserves beneath the ocean floor and unleash a catastrophic threat.
These carbon reserves exist as clathrates, ice lattices and continental permafrost and are found even under freshwater lakes like Lake Baikal in Siberia. These ice structures may hold trillions of tonnes of methane.
Microsoft to give upgraded Windows for free?
California: As Microsoft plans to wind up Windows 8.1 operating system next month, the firm plans to announce a free version of Windows in...
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...
Engineers complete world’s largest scientific instrument
By IANS
Geneva : Engineers have lowered a 9.3-metre wheel down a 100 metre shaft to complete what has been described a the world's largest scientific instrument - a nuclear particle accelerator that will run around a 27 km long tunnel deep under the Swiss-France border.
The accelerator has been built by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, popularly known by its French acronym CERN, as part of a 20-nation collaborative exercise and is expected to begin functioning this summer.
How to spray? Ask the bombardier beetle
By IANS
London : The bombardier beetle fires a powerful jet of hot, toxic fluid to fend off predators. This has now inspired designers to improve spray technologies, according to a study.
The new beetle-inspired technology will interest firms making drug-delivery systems such as inhalers, or engineers seeking a more energy-efficient mechanism for fuel injection in car engines.
While the chemical reaction behind the bombardier's venom has been long known, the power behind the squirt, up to eight inches, has remained a mystery.
Solar powered rickshaws? India and UK set up energy hub
By IANS,
London : Rickshaws powered by solar energy could be your next mode of transport, courtesy of a Commonwealth initiative.
The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) has set up an incubation hub in partnership with the Indian government to develop cutting edge energy-saving technologies, it announced Tuesday.
The hub, which also involves the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad, the UK Carbon Trust and British Petroleum's Alternative Energy Group, will work on technologies that will be designed for Indian city and rural living, as well as transport.
Year after launch, Google’s phone ambitions ring true
By Andy Goldberg, DPA,
San Francisco : Ever since its stunning success in revolutionising the internet search market eight years ago, Google has been searching for a second act that would help the company diversify.
After failed attempts at entering the newspaper, television and radio ad markets, the online-search behemoth finally seems to be gaining traction in what many regard as the most critical technology of all - the intersection of telephones and mobile computing.
Indian-American researchers develop system to ease e-mail overload
By IANS,
Washington : Indian-American researchers are taking the help of a computer model called SIMONE to ease e-mail overload in busy organisations and companies.
Ashish Gupta and Ramesh Sharda of Minnesota and Oklahoma State Universities, respectively, described how SIMONE (Simulator for Interruptions and Message Overload in Network Environments) can produce a model of how e-mail flows within a network of knowledge workers.
Scientists seek the fifth dimension
By IANS
Washington : The universe comprises three dimensions of space and one of time, but researchers are exploring the possibility of the fifth.
Sound like an episode from the "Twilight Zone"? Almost, but not quite, according to John Simonetti and Michael Kavic of the College of Science at Virginia Tech, reports Sciencedaily.
"The idea we're exploring is that the universe has an imperceptibly small dimension (about one billionth of a nanometer) in addition to the four that we know currently," Kavic said.
Strong demand for IT services, says Wipro’s Premji
Bengaluru: There was a strong demand for IT services in Europe and the US where the economy gained a lot of strength, Wipro chairman...
Microsoft Windows 7 Phone passes 1.5 mn mark
By DPA,
San Francisco : More than 1.5 million Windows Phone 7 devices have been sold in the six weeks since the smartphone went on the market, Microsoft announced Monday.
T-Mobile to launch Google phone in October
By DPA,
San Francisco : T-Mobile is to launch the first phone based on Google's Android design Sep 17, in hopes that the new device will compete with Apple's iPhone, Wired magazine reported Friday.
The smartphone will be manufactured by Taiwan-based High Tech Computer, and will have a large touch screen that slides out to reveal a five-row QWERTY keyboard. The device, which will be called the G1, will sell for $150 to T-Mobile customers in the first week of launch before it is offered to other customers at a higher price.
Indian-Australian AMU Alumnus Aamir Qutub launches his company’s sports technology wing in Delhi
By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: Indian-Australian Entrepreneur Aamir Qutub, an alumnus of AMU and founder of Entriprise Monkey,...
Sulphur dioxide level drops in Delhi
By IANS,
New Delhi : The level of sulphur dioxide (SO2), a major pollutant, has decreased in the national capital, data released by the environment ministry revealed Friday.
While the sulphur dioxide levels are within the norms, the nitrogen oxide (NO) and particulate matter 10 (PM10) levels exceed the prescribed norms.
"Decreasing trend of sulphur dioxide may be due to various interventions that have taken place in recent years such as reduction of sulphur in diesel and the use of cleaner fuel such as CNG," a ministry official said.
US-Indian team gets $1 mn for clean coal technology
By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : A university-industry team has been awarded more than $1 million to help India increase energy production and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by developing and testing advanced technologies for cleaning coal.
The grant from the US Department of State in support of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate has gone to a team led by the Centre for Advanced Separation Technologies at Virginia Tech.
Stretchable silicon camera a step closer to artificial retina
By IANS,
Washington : The human eye has inspired a new technology that is likely to push the limits of photography by producing vastly better images over a wider field of view.
The remarkable imaging device has been made possible by combining stretchable optoelectronics and biologically inspired design like the layout of the eye.
University of Illinois and Northwestern University researchers have developed a high-performance, hemispherical "eye" camera using an array of single-crystalline silicon detectors and electronics, configured in a stretchable, interconnected mesh.
Iran plans manned spaceflight by 2021
By RIA Novosti,
Tehran : Iran would send its first man into space on board its own spacecraft by 2021, the head of Iran's Aerospace Agency announced Thursday.
"Scientific research has already begun in Iran," Reza Tagipur was quoted by Iranian media as saying. "According to our plans, a successful Iranian manned spaceflight will be carried out before 2021."
"India and China were able to send their astronauts into space after 15 years of research and preparations. We will also go the same route, but believe we will achieve our goal in a shorter period," he said.
Info on Indian diaspora now just a click way
By IANS
New Delhi : The information on groups of professionals of Indian origin based in the US is now just a click away as Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal Wednesday launched a dynamic and interactive website on them.
Launching the portal, www.piousnetwork.com, Sibal said there was a crying need to systematise, diversify and scale up the information available on the diaspora based in the US and this initiative will address the need.
Scientists devise ‘pacemaker’ for brain
By IANS,
Washington : Disorders such as depression or Parkinson's may be helped by stimulating certain areas of the brain with controlled precision, says a study, encouraging scientists to create a pacemaker for the brain.
But because controlling that stimulation presently lacks precision, over-stimulation is a serious concern -- losing some of its therapeutic benefits for the patient over time.
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.
India tests two nuke capable missiles
By IANS,
Bhubaneswar: India Saturday successfully tested two indigenously developed nuclear capable missiles, Dhanush and Prithvi II, an official said.
"Both the missiles were successfully launched at the same time at about 5.30 a.m.," S.P. Dash, director of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Orissa's Balasore district, told IANS.
The Prithvi II surface-to-surface ballistic missile, with a range of 350 km, was launched from Chandipur, 230 km from Bhubaneswar.
NASA readies spacecraft for landing on Mars
By Xinhua
Washington : NASA said Thursday that its engineers have adjusted the flight path of the Phoenix Mars Lander, setting the spacecraft on course for its May 25th landing on the Red Planet.
"This is our first trajectory maneuver targeting a specific location in the northern polar region of Mars," said Brian Portock, chief of the Phoenix navigation team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The mission's two prior trajectory maneuvers, made last August and October, adjusted the flight path of Phoenix to intersect with Mars.
Chilling images of ice-shelf collapsing in the heat
By IANS
New York : A US satellite has captured chilling images of over 400 square kilometres of Antarctica's massive Wilkins Ice Shelf collapsing because of rapid climate changes.
The area is part of the much larger shelf of nearly 13,000 square kilometres that is now supported only by a narrow strip of ice between two islands.
"If there is a little bit more retreat, this last 'ice buttress' could collapse and we'd likely lose about half the total ice shelf area in the next few years," warned Ted Scambos of the University of Colorado at Boulder.
NASA’s MESSENGER to fly by Mercury
By Xinhua
Washington : NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft will make a flyby of Mercury on Jan. 14, which makes it the first to visit the planet in almost 33 years, NASA announced on Thursday.
MESSENGER will explore and snap close-up images of never-before-seen terrain of Mercury. These findings could open new theories and answer old questions in the study of the solar system, said NASA scientists.
Indian American scientist tracks turmeric’s curative element
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers led by an Indian American scientist have discovered how the main curative ingredient of turmeric - used for centuries to treat wounds, infections and other health problems - works to increase the human body's resistance to disease.
Lately, turmeric's astonishing array of antioxidant, anti-cancer, antibiotic, antiviral and other properties have spurred a flurry of research into curcumin, its main curative ingredient. Yet little was known about how exactly it works in the body.
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.
Andhra signs MoU with TISS to improve students’ employability
Hyderabad: The government of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday signed an MoU with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to increase employability of students...
US executive mission to sell green technologies to India
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Executives from leading US clean energy and environmental companies will visit India next month to identify commercial opportunities for clean and green US technologies in India.
The role of the upcoming mission and how the private sector can help India develop and deploy low-carbon technologies to combat climate change was discussed at a meeting with Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh.
Data from Chandrayaan moon mission to go public
By Bhargavi Kerur, IANS,
Bangalore : Voluminous scientific data, including rare images of the moon, from India's maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 will be made public by the year-end.
"People will have free access to the huge data obtained from our first moon mission on a web portal that will be launched by this year-end," a senior scientist of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS here.
Russian rocket fails to send US satellite into orbit
By Xinhua
Moscow : A Russian rocket failed to send into orbit a US communication satellite that was launched from Central Asia's Baikonur space centre early Saturday.
The AMC-14 satellite, atop of a Proton-M carrier rocket, was put into a orbit with the apogee altitude of 28,000 km instead of the planned 36,000 km, the Itar-Tass news agency said, citing Russian space agency Roskosmos.
The rocket blasted off at 02.18 Saturday from the Baikonur space centre.
India to launch dedicated satellite for youth
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Bangalore : India is launching a dedicated satellite for youth next year carrying scientific instruments developed by students from Indian and foreign universities, a top space agency official said Thursday.
"The mini-spacecraft will be launched in 2009 as a piggyback on board a polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV), carrying a remote sensing satellite, from the Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota (about 90 km from Chennai)," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair told IANS.
Kepler camera launched: Other “earths”, where are you?
By DPA,
Washington : NASA late Friday sent the Kepler satellite into Earth's orbit with instructions to search for extraterrestrial life on Earth-type planets orbiting other stars.
The launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida on board a Delta-II-rocket was reported on a live blog operated by the Kepler project on the internet.
The Kepler mission, named after the 17th century German astronomer, is targetting about 100,000 stars in the Milky Way galaxy that scientists believe could have planets orbiting in a "habitable" zone.
X-rays to bring nanoscale materials and bio specimens up close
By IANS
New York : X-rays have taken pictures of broken bones for decades, but scientists have now refined them to capture images of ultra-small particles in nano and bio-materials, including cellular nuclei.
This development will facilitate understanding of how materials behave electrically, magnetically and under thermal and mechanical stress. Besides, its applicability to biology and biomedicine will also contribute to our understanding of disease and its eradication, healing after injury, cancer and cell death.
Clouds, fog hide meteor shower view in Delhi
By IANS
New Delhi : A rare celestial event, the Geminid meteor shower, was visible across most of India Friday night, but sadly the grand annual celestial spectacle could not be seen in Delhi due to a cloudy and foggy sky.
"Not only Delhi, but places like Mumbai and other northern Indian cities will not view this development properly. Sky watchers in the capital will miss out the event due mainly to fog, clouds and light pollution (excessive city lights)," Nehru Planetarium director R. Rathnasree told IANS.
Indian-American devises nano-springs to protect mobile phones
By IANS,
Washington : An Indian-American scientist has devised tiny, shock-absorbing carbon nano springs to protect delicate electronic devices like mobile phones from damage.
Apparao Rao, physicist at Clemson University, who led the researchers, working with California University collaborators, showed that layers of these tiny coiled carbon nanotubes, a thousand times smaller than a human hair, can act as resilient shock absorbers.
Astronauts begin fourth spacewalk outside space station
By Xinhua
Washington : Two U.S. astronauts are conducting the fourth spacewalk of shuttle Endeavor's mission to test a heat shield repair method, NASA TV reported on Thursday.
Spacewalker Robert Behnken and Mike Foreman floated out of the Quest airlock and began their work outside the International Space Station at 6:04 p.m. local time (2204 GMT) on Thursday. Their excursion will last into midnight, said NASA.
All India Science Conf. begins in Bhopal with call to tap resources skillfully to...
By Pervez bari, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal: The three-day All India Science Conference got underway here on Friday with a call to tap resources skillfully to ensure their continuity and discourage its unwarranted use for the betterment of humanity at large.
Chandrayaan spacecraft moved further up in space
Chennai, Oct 26 (IANS) India's maiden moon probe spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 has reached nearly half the distance to the lunar orbit, crossing the 150,000-km mark from the earth Sunday morning.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) completed third orbit-raising manoeuvre initiated at 7.08 a.m. Sunday firing the liquid apogee motor for about nine and a half minutes.
With this, Chandrayaan spacecraft has entered a much higher elliptical orbit around the earth.
Microsoft to strip Internet Explorer browser from European Windows
By DPA,
San Francisco : Microsoft is to strip its Internet Explorer browser from the new version of its Windows 7 operating system that it sells in Europe, the company announced Thursday.
Microsoft said the move was designed to meet criticism from European Union (EU) regulators who have launched an investigation into whether bundling the browser with the operating system is in breach of European anti-trust rules.
Researchers find ways of making laser more efficient
By IANS,
Washington : A Princeton-led team of researchers has discovered an entirely new mechanism for making common electronic materials emit laser beams.
The finding could lead to lasers that operate more efficiently and at higher temperatures than existing devices, and find applications in environmental monitoring, homeland security, medical diagnostics and other areas that require extremely sensitive detection of different chemicals.
US congratulates India on Chandrayaan-I launch
By NNN-PTI,
New Delhi : The US congratulated India on the successful launch of the maiden moon mission Chandrayaan-I, describing it as demonstration of the country's technological prowess in its quest for peaceful exploration of space.
"The US congratulates India on the successful launch. This is a proud moment in India history and demonstrates India's technological prowess by joining the international community in the peaceful exploration of space," American Ambassador to India David C Mulford said on Wednesday.
Notebook and desktop upgrades that make sense
By DPA
Washington : With notebook and desktop computer prices at an all-time low, you have to think carefully about upgrading them.
That's because the cost of a few upgrades may come close to the price of an entirely new system.
In general, aside from adding memory or a new hard drive to your computer, you'll probably want to avoid upgrades designed to improve performance.
Launch of Discovery shuttle put off to Feb 27
By DPA,
Washington : NASA is eyeing Feb 27 as the earliest possible date for launch of the next shuttle mission Discovery, a postponement blamed on worries over the possibility that pieces of a faulty fuel valve could strike the shuttle on takeoff.
In a statement over the weekend, NASA said it would give an update on plans next Friday.
Discovery was originally aiming for a Feb 12 launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida, a date that had been put back to Feb 19.
Indian teen in Finland, bringing Facebook, Twitter closer
By Rahul Dass, IANS,
Helsinki : Want to know from your mobile phone where to hangout in Delhi or eat out in Beijing? Three teens in Finland, including one from India, are giving final touches to a system that integrates social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.
They are part of a team of 30 brainy teens who have come to Finland from 16 countries to take part in the week-long Millennium Youth Camp being held in a forested area, abutting a lake, about an hour's drive from capital Helsinki.
Scientists explain why love game is fraught with perils
By IANS,
London : A model developed by scientists delves into why courtship or the mating game is often protracted and fraught with perils.
The study, by researchers by University College London (UCL), University of Warwick (UW) and LSE (London School of Economics and Political Science), shows that extended courtship enables a male to signal his suitability to a female and enables the female to reject him if unsuitable.
Radioactive iodine found in Tokyo tap water
By DPA,
Tokyo : High levels of radioactive iodine were detected in tap water in Tokyo, authorities said Wednesday.
How does news ebb and flow globally?
By IANS,
Washington : As more and more news appears on the internet as well as in print, it becomes possible to map the global flow of news by observing it online. Using this strategy, computer scientists have managed to track and analyze the "news cycle" -- the way stories rise and fall in popularity.
Jon Kleinberg, professor of computer science at Cornell University, Jure Leskovec and Lars Backstrom tracked 1.6 million online news sites, including 20,000 mainstream media sites and a vast array of blogs.
India tests n-capable Agni-I missile
By IANS,
Bhubaneswar: India Friday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-I missile from a military base in Odisha, a defence official said.
New greenhouse gas 4,800 times worse than carbon dioxide
By IANS,
Washington : A gas used in fumigation can potentially contribute to future global warming, but because its production has not yet reached high levels there is still time to nip this potential contributor in the bud.
Scientists at MIT, Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego and others have measured the levels of sulphuryl fluoride in the air and determined its emissions and lifetime to help gauge its potential future effects on climate.
Endeavour shuttle roars back to Earth
By IANS
For minutes after the precisely timed landing, fire spewed from the spacecraft's engines - a standard phenomenon that often goes unremarked by ordinary viewers during the more common daylight landings.
The shuttle landed at 0039 GMT Thursday.
A crewmember called the mission "rewarding and exciting from start to ending", according to the audio transmission from the landing monitored in Washington.
Storms could postpone Atlantis mission — NASA
By KUNA
Washington : NASA could postpone the long-overdue launch of space shuttle Atlantis, set for Thursday, because of a deadly weather pattern that cut through the south, the space agency said late Wednesday.
Forecasters are saying the storms that have spawned tornadoes across the southern states -- that left 52 dead and injured hundreds across five states -- will hit Florida tomorrow, the day the Atlantis shuttle is finally supposed to take off.
Microsoft delays Windows Vista switch to June 2008
By Xinhua
Beijing : Computer manufacturer feedback saying customers still want to purchase Windows XP has prompted Microsoft Corp. to delay a scheduled transition to its newer Windows Vista software to the end of June 2008.
The world's largest software maker introduced Windows Vista in January with the plan to phase out sales of its predecessor, Windows XP, by Jan. 30, 2008.
Wi-Fi at three more rail stations launched
New Delhi : Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday launched free Wi-Fi service at three more railway stations across India via videoconferencing here.
These stations...
Data to go: Options for hauling lots of files
By DPA
Washington : These days, almost everything's digital - our photos, music collections, videos, documents, financial records, and more.
Most of us can get all of this data on a few hard drives. And so long as we're using the computer that houses those drives, everything's fine.
But what happens when we need or want to take large amounts of data with us? That's when portable storage becomes critical.
Intel unveils most powerful chip designed in India
By IANS,
Bangalore : The world's largest chip maker Intel Corp Tuesday unveiled its most powerful six core microprocessor designed and developed at its India development centre in this information technology (IT) hub.
The 45-nanometre chip boasts of a whopping 1.9 billion transistors, six processing cores and 16MB of shared cache memory in the Xeon family.
Report: global space economy revenues reach $251 bln in 2007
By Xinhua
Colorado Springs, The United States : In 2007, global space economy registered a record-setting 251 billion U.S. dollars in revenues, according to a report released here on Tuesday by U.S. National Space Foundation.
Total global space industry revenues reached 251.16 billion in 2007, 11 percent increase from 2006, said "The Space Report 2008."
Did dinos die because they failed to generate heat?
By IANS,
New York : A new study has found why birds lack a heat-generating tissue present in mammals - and concludes that the absence of this tissue may have led to the extinction of dinosaurs.
All mammals have two kinds of adipose tissue -- white and brown fat. White fat is used for storing energy-rich fuels, while brown fat generates heat.
For instance, hibernating bears and human infants have a lot of brown fat relative to their body size. This allows bears to sleep for six months and protects infants from hypothermia.
Chinese taikonaut begins spacewalk
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang slipped out of the orbital module of Shenzhou-VII spacecraft Saturday afternoon, starting China's first spacewalk or extravehicular activity (EVA) in outer space.
Donning a $4-million homemade Feitian space suit, Zhai waved to a camera mounted on the service module after pulling himself out of the capsule in a head-out-first position, the video monitor at the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre (BACC) showed.
"I here greet the Chinese people and people of the world," the 42-year-old taikonaut reported to ground control.
NASA technology detects ruins under rainforest
By IANS,
Washington : A flyover of Belize's thick jungles, employing NASA technology, has revolutionised archaeology by detecting ancient Mayan ruins through impenetrable jungles.
University of Central Florida (UCF) researchers led a NASA-funded research project in April 2009 that collected the equivalent of 25 years worth of data in four days.
From a Village in West Bengal to University College, London – Remarkable Journey of...
By Mirza Mosaraf Hossain, TwoCircles.net
Dr. Samima Khatun, the daughter of an imam from West Bengal’s East Burdwan district, has been awarded a travel grant...
Sun just another ‘ordinary’ star, finds study
By IANS,
Sydney : The most comprehensive comparison of the sun with other stars has established its ordinariness - and the possibility that life could be common in the universe.
Rather than guess what properties a star should have to enable life, the researchers decided to compare the sun - which already hosts a life-bearing planet - to other stars.
“The question 'how special is the sun' is easier to address because we do have observations of thousands of other sun-like stars,” noted Charley Lineweaver of Australian National University, co-author of the study.
Russia, France to develop armoured vehicle
By IANS,
Moscow: Russia and France will jointly develop a new armoured vehicle soon, Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said.
There are ways to recover damaged data
By Jay Dougherty, DPA,
Washington : Bad things can happen to good data. Hard drives can crash. Memory cards can be formatted accidentally. CDs or DVDs on which important files are stored can become scratched and unreadable. But there are steps you can take to try to retrieve damaged data.
The course you take will depend upon the type of media on which the data is stored as well as how severe the damage is.
NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander commanded to unstow arm
By Xinhua,
Washington : U.S. Mars lander Phoenix, which touched down on Sunday at northern polar plains on Mars, successfully unstowed its robotic arm on Wednesday, according to NASA mission updates.
Early Wednesday, scientists leading Phoenix mission from the University of Arizona sent commands to move the lander's robotic arm for the first time after its touchdown.
India’s moon mission countdown continues in heavy rain
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : It was raining heavily at India's spaceport Sriharikota Tuesday morning as scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) continued their countdown for the launch of the country's first mission to the moon.
Though the ISRO scientists have said only a cyclone would put off their scheduled launch, there were signs of anxiety about the weather, even as the countdown proceeded smoothly.
Climate change wreaks havoc on coral reefs worldwide
By IANS,
Sydney : Ocean warming is spurring the incidence of virulent coral diseases, already wreaking havoc on reefs worldwide.
David Bourne and colleagues at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) said global warming and increased sea surface temperatures presented a major challenge to the health of the world's coral reefs.
Warming has caused significant damage to reefs in recent hot years (particularly 1998 and 2002) by sparking coral bleaching, which is a breakdown in the symbiotic relationship between the coral and its bacterial partner (zooxanthellae).
A stick-on film that protects phone users from radiation
By IANS,
Jerusalem: An Israeli firm has invented a stick-on film that would protect cell phone users from the dangers of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the device, a media report said.
Now a computer that can sense and feel
By IANS
Washington : Computers may now enable people to experience the most realistic sense of touch, perceiving textures or feeling hard surfaces, with the help of a radical new touch-based interface.
The interface, called haptic interface, relies on magnetic levitation and uses a single, lightweight moving part, unlike most other existing ones based on motors and bulky mechanical linkages and cables.
Former African-American astronaut to head NASA
By DPA,
Washington : US President Barack Obama Saturday named Charles Bolden, a black ex-astronaut, to lead the US space agency into its next chapter that could take it back to the moon.
The retired Marine Corps general, 62, flew four times in the space shuttle in the '80s and '90s - two times as mission commander. His nomination must be approved by the Senate.
Former NASA head Michael Griffin stepped down in January as Obama was entering office.
GPS – a new tool to detect clandestine N-tests
By IANS,
Washington : US researchers are unveiling a new tool for detecting illegal nuclear explosions: the earth's global positioning system (GPS).
Ocean sank 1,100 km into earth, raising chain of volcanic islands
By IANS,
Sydney : Researchers have discovered how an entire ocean destroyed itself 50 to 20 million years ago when its floor sank 1,100 km into the earth between Australia and New Zealand.
Using new computer modelling programmes, Monash University geoscientist Wouter Schellart was able to reconstruct the resulting cataclysm when the ocean's tectonic plate sank into the earth's interior, forming a long chain of volcanic islands at the surface.
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.
Plant roots being modified to be better at finding water
By IANS,
London : Most of the water brought by irrigation to grow crops evaporates even before reaching plant roots, a huge waste of resources that contributes to the global food crisis. Scientists are now modifying roots to improve the plants' ability to find water.
Tel Aviv University researchers are genetically modifying plants' root systems to improve their ability to find the water essential to their survival.
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.
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.
Exposed to sunlight, cotton fabric cleans itself
By IANS,
Washington: Scientists from China are developing a cotton fabric that can clean itself of stains and bugs when exposed to ordinary sunlight.
AsusTek chairman to visit India for first time
New Delhi : AsusTek chairman Jonney Shih will be in India for the first time, according to a mail sent by the company.
The...
Indian rocket blasts into space
By Xinhua,
New Delhi : An Indian rocket blasted into space on Monday, carrying a cluster of 10 satellites, according to local media reports.
The PSLV-C9 rocket lifted off at 09:20 a.m. local time (0350 GMT) from the Sriharikota space station in Andhra Pradesh in southern India.
The rocket is carrying an unprecedented payload including an Indian remote-sensing satellite, a mini satellite and eight so-called nanosatellites developed by German and Canadian research institutions.
Device helps ICU patients get back on their feet
By IANS,
Washington : A device designed by John Hopkins undergraduates enables ICU patients to get back on their feet with minimum fuss while still being connected to life-support systems.
The invention will also help doctors figure out whether carefully supervised rehabilitation, as against continuous sedation and bed rest, can speed up their recovery.
Known as the “ICU Mover”, the device has been designed by bio-medical engineering students Swarnali Sengupta, Erica Jantho and Hanlin Wan.
Scientists tag sharks to gather more detailed data
By IANS,
Sydney : Scientists have tagged a nearly four-metre long white shark, nicknamed Thomas, to track its movements across the ocean and gather more detailed information.
The tag popped up at Swaub Reefs off Rockhampton and transmitted data late in August. Department of Conservation (DOC) Scientist Clinton Duffy had tagged Thomas off Ruapuke Island in Foveaux Strait in February.
"This is only 100 kilometres from where another tag popped up last year from a shark tagged at Stewart Island after having travelled over 3,000 km," said Duffy.
Microsoft slashes 7,800 jobs, mostly in phones unit
By Arun Kumar
Washington : Indian-American CEO Satya Nadella-led Microsoft on Wednesday announced it is laying off 7,800 people primarily in the phone business...
Government approves release of 3G spectrum for BSNL and MTNL
By IANS,
New Delhi : The government Thursday approved the release of airwaves for two state-run companies for the launch of third generation (3G) mobile services in the country.
The airwaves, also referred to as radio frequency or spectrum, have been released for Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) that offers telecom services in Mumbai and the national capital, and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), which operates in all other parts of the country.
"We have approved the release of one block to MTNL and another block to BSNL," Communications Minister A. Raja told reporters here.
India to launch three satellites next month
By IANS,
Chennai : India will launch three satellites next month and two more by the end of this year, said a senior official here.
Unmanned planes will be commonplace within a decade
By IANS,
Sydney : UAVs, or unmanned aerial vehicles, used with deadly precision in war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan, are likely to be adapted to civilian work within the next decade.
New research indicates that robotic, or pilot-less, planes will be commonplace within five to 10 years and make manned flights seem passe.
For example, Rod Walker of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) said recent trials have looked at using automated planes for fisheries and border protection in the Cape York area.
Facebook reaches 500 mn users
By DPA,
San Francisco : Social networking site Facebook officially has 500 million users, the company announced Wednesday.
The milestone means that the six-year old website now reaches eight percent of the planet's population, just 18 months after it passed the 150 million user mark.
Last month Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said there is a "good chance" that the social networking site could boast one billion users within three to five years.
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.
Planets forming in Pleiades star cluster: astronomers
By IANS
New York : Planets like Earth, Mars or Venus appear to be forming or to have recently formed around a star in the Pleiades star cluster, the result of "monster collisions" of planets or planetary embryos.
Astronomers using the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii and the Spitzer Space Telescope report these findings in an upcoming issue of the Astrophysical Journal.
ITC Infotech deploys customer software for Finnair
Bangalore, Dec 13 (IANS) ITC Infotech Ltd, a global IT services firm of ITC group, has successfully deployed a software solution to manage customer relationships for Finnair, Finland's largest airline, the company said here Thursday.
With Infotech's software tool, Finnair becomes the world's first airline to shift from a frequent flyer management system to an analytical CRM (customer relationship management) solution, the Bangalore-based company said in a statement.
India gets its first Hindi e-commerce site
By IANS,
New Delhi : The country got its first e-commerce site in Hindi Wednesday. Ezeego1.com, the country's first meta search travel site, launched its new Indian langauge window for the vast Hindi-speaking travel market so that customers in the tier II and tier III cities can book flight tickets on domestic circuits.
Unveiling the new vertical, hindi-ezeego1.com, here, the chief operating officer of Ezeego1.com, Neelu Singh, said there was a huge market in north India that was comfortable with both English and Hindi, but preferred transacting their business in Hindi.
Now recharge cellphones in seconds
By IANS,
Washington : An amazing 3-D nanostructure designed and developed by scientists may make it possible to recharge mobile phones in seconds or a laptop within minutes.
New technology makes diagnosis of abnormal pregnancy cheaper
By Prashant K. Nanda
IANSNew Delhi : Indian scientists have developed a new technology that will help diagnose at a very early stage and at affordable cost abnormal pregnancies that can lead to miscarriages and stillbirths.
Atlantis starts home journey
By DPA,
Washington : The US space shuttle Atlantis separated from the International Space Station (ISS) Sunday to prepare for its home journey on the shuttle's last-ever mission before being retired.
The Shuttle with its crew of six astronauts eased away from the ISS at 1522 GMT for the return flight and its scheduled landing in Cape Canaveral, Florida Wednesday.
The shuttle had brought new Russian research equipment and a docking module to the ISS in the ongoing construction of the international station.
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.
Patch-up telescope sees first detail of star beyond galaxy
By DPA,
Garching (Germany) : Scientists in Germany who devised a way to hook up two powerful telescopes in stereo have observed for the first time the details of a star outside our Milky Way galaxy.
They trained the two telescopes on a red supergiant named WOH G64 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighbouring galaxy. WOH is about 2,000 times larger than the sun and is 163,000 light years away.
Keiichi Ohnaka of the Max Planck Radio-Astronomy Institute in Bonn led the research, which is described in a new science article Tuesday.