Meteorite hit caused unusual rock formations in Britain
By IANS
London : Unusual rock formations, long suspected to be an outcome of volcanic activity in the British Isles, were caused by a massive meteorite hit 1.2 billion years ago, spewing debris over a 50 square km area near Scottish town of Ullapool.
A research team from the universities of Oxford and Aberdeen found the evidence buried in a layer of rock they now believe is the material thrown out during the formation of a meteorite crater.
Spacewalk to mark giant step for China
By DPA,
Beijing : When Zhai Zhigang floats out of a space capsule wearing his 120-kg, $30-million pressurized suit, he is to set another landmark for China's ambitious space programme as it moves toward assembling a permanent space station by 2020.
Nearly three years after China's last manned space mission, Zhai should make his spacewalk Friday, if all goes well.
"The spacewalk is risky," Australian space analyst Morris Jones said. "The Chinese spacesuit has not been tested in space before."
"The Shenzhou's orbital module has never been depressurized before either."
Can tropical forests save the world?
By Nalin Srivastava, IANS,
Expectations about a new global climate deal have reached a fever pitch with only a few weeks to go before the start of the 15th annual United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen to finalise a global climate pact beyond 2012, when the first term of the Kyoto Protocol will expire.
IIT alumnus takes software to battlefront and beyond
By Frederick Noronha, Indo-Asian News Service
Bangalore, May 13 (IANS) An Indian expatriate trained at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kharagpur is playing a crucial role in taking software to the battlefront.
San Jose-based LynuxWorks is chaired by Inder Singh, the IIT alumnus, and produces embedded operating systems and tools for industrial, networking and military and aerospace uses.
Scientists mine Twitter to discover drug side-effects
Washington: Using Twitter data, scientists have invented a new technique for discovering potentially dangerous drug interactions and unknown side-effects.
The results can help build a...
NASA satellite pins down timer in ‘stellar bomb’
By IANS,
Washington : A NASA satellite helped astronomers pin down the timing mechanism in a ticking “stellar bomb” some 20,000 light years away.
The twin-neutron star, designated as 4U 1636-53, produces between seven and 10 bursts daily, releasing more energy in 10 to 100 seconds than the sun radiates in an entire week.
The astronomers said they were equivalent to 100 hydrogen bombs detonating simultaneously on a city-sized surface.
White stuff on Mars is ice: NASA
By DPA,
Washington : The white material on Mars uncovered by the robotic arm of the Phoenix probe is ice, scientists at the US space agency NASA have said.
"We have found proof that this hard bright material is really water ice and not some other substance," Peter Smith of the University of Arizona said in a transcript of a press briefing released late Friday.
US astronauts to vote from space
By Xinhua,
Washington : Americans from all over the world will vote for the next US president Nov 4 but some ballots will come from the space also.
Commander Edward Michael Fincke and flight engineer Gregory Chamitoff are living and working onboard the International Space Station.
Although they are 350 km above the earth, orbiting at 28,000 km per hour, they will still be able to participate in the upcoming election, Nasa said Monday.
A 1997 bill passed by Texas legislators has set up a technical procedure for astronauts - nearly all of whom live in Houston - to vote from space.
Now enjoy uploading videos on Wikipedia
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: Wikipedia, the world's largest online encyclopedia, has launched a new project enabling registered users to post videos, according to the portal's press service.
‘Consciousness is brain’s Wi-Fi network’
By IANS,
Washington : Your fingers start to burn after picking up a hot plate; should you drop the plate or save your meal? New research suggests it is your consciousness that resolves these dilemmas by serving as the brain's Wi-Fi network.
"If the brain is like a set of computers that control different tasks, consciousness is the Wi-Fi network that allows different parts of the brain to talk to each other and decide which action 'wins' and is carried out," said Ezequiel Morsella.
Morsella, who led the study, is professor of psychology at San Francisco State University (SFSU).
Move over Orkut, here comes India’s BigAdda
By Azera Rahman, IANS
New Delhi : Check the scribbles in your phone scrapbook, send friend requests on the wireless, have discussions in as many as eight different languages...all on India's social networking site, BigAdda, which could give Orkut and Facebook a run for its money.
With an estimated 1.24 million users so far, this five-month old networking site is fast catching up among Indian youth, especially in tier 2 cities like Guwahati, Nashik, Surat, Tuticorin, Bhilai and Amritsar.
Endeavour blasts off for mission to space station
By DPA,
Washington : Space shuttle Endeavour lit up the Florida coast before dawn Monday as it blasted off for a mission to the International Space Station.
The start, at 10.14 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time was the final night-time launch for the ageing shuttle fleet, which is to be mothballed later this year.
Endeavour is carrying a six-window viewing area that will give astronauts a panoramic look at earth, the station and visiting spacecraft.
A planned Sunday launch for the shuttle had to be postponed due to low cloud cover at the launch site.
Crude prices fall further with Iran n-deal
New Delhi: As Iran and the six world powers reached a nuclear agreement by their deadline, crude oil prices fell further on Tuesday, pulled...
China launches satellites to monitor environment
By Xinhua,
Taiyuan (China) : China Saturday launched two satellites into orbit for monitoring the environment and forecasting natural disasters.
The two satellites, launched from the Taiyuan satellite launch centre in the northern province of Shanxi and carried by a Long March 2C rocket, were expected to enhance the country's ability to forecast natural disasters, according to Bai Zhaoguang, designer of the satellites.
The satellites, called "Environment-1", are China's first ecology monitors in space.
Computer virus in space – NASA astronauts get hit
By DPA,
San Francisco : Scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) were busy fighting a computer virus that managed to infect one of the laptop computers used by astronauts on the space station, a spokesman for the US space agency said.
Citing security concerns, NASA Wednesday declined to identify the virus, or how it made its way to the space station.
Behind India’s rise as IT power lies 25 years of C-DOT
By Sam Pitroda, IANS,
This month marks the 25th anniversary of what is now widely acknowledged to be India's first defining steps towards an information and communications revolution. It was in August 1984 that the Centre for Development of Telematics or C-DOT was set up with the specific intention of indigenising digital switching technology to meet India's unique requirements.
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.
375 million-year-old fossil of ‘mother fish’ discovered
By IANS,
Sydney : A Museum Victoria team announced its latest and the most remarkable find Thursday -- a 375 million-year-old fossil of placoderm fish with intact embryo and mineralised umbilical cord.
The fossil, one of the most significant discoveries ever made by scientists, also happens to be that of the world's oldest known vertebrate mother.
It provides the earliest evidence of vertebrate sexual reproduction, wherein the males (possessing clasping organs similar to modern sharks and rays) internally fertilised females.
Google unveils social search function
By DPA,
Hamburg : Google is testing a new social search function to make it easier for people find their friends' blogs and twitter feeds.
The only catch is that users of the service need to have an open profile with Google that includes personal contact data.
Once those conditions are met, the user can access the service at the Google Labs. Typing in "New York" will yield a list of friends in the user's social network who have posted items from the Big Apple. Settings can be altered so that only postings from close friends and acquaintances are included in the "social graph."
Avnet Electronics eyes acquisitions in India to spur growth
By Fakir Balaji
Bangalore, Sep 17 (IANS) Avnet Inc., the $16 billion global electronics marketing and technology major, is scouting for design and product firms in India for strategic acquisitions and expanding its presence in the subcontinent.
"With India emerging as the fastest growing market in Asia for us, we are on the lookout for small and medium design and product firms that would complement our components and add value to our customers' requirements," Avent's electronics marketing president Harley Feldberg told IANS in an interview here.
Moon has more water than Great Lakes, Chandrayaan data shows
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Scientists have found Moon's minerals may have at least 100 times more water than previously indicated by remote sensing data from the Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 and other lunar sample analysis.
In March 2010, a US space agency NASA radar experiment aboard Chandrayaan-1, India's first lunar spacecraft launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in October 2008, found thick deposits of water-ice near the Moon's north pole.
Russian Soyuz spacecraft docks with ISS
By Xinhua
Moscow : The Soyuz TMA-12 spaceship docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, according to Mission Control located outside Moscow.
The spaceship docked with the ISS at 16:55 Moscow time (1255 GMT), Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin said.
The spaceship brought to the station the crew of the 17th main expedition, Russian cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko, who will work in orbit for over six months.
New goggles take hassles out of eye test
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have developed a device that can be worn like goggles, which practically takes the hassles out of existing eye tests and gives much better results.
The new Tel Aviv University-developed device - the VIP Virtual Perimetry - removes the physical limitations of the traditional bulky machine used today.
PM launches Rs.21,500 crore Bathinda refinery
By IANS,
Bathinda (Punjab): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday inaugurated the Rs.21,500 crore Guru Gobind Singh Refinery in Punjab's Bathinda district.
Battle with Microsoft heats up as Google creates own web browser
By DPA,
New York : Google Inc, creator of the world's most popular internet search engine, has developed its own web browser in a challenge to Microsoft Corp's dominant Internet Explorer.
A test version of new software, named Google Chrome, is to be available for download Tuesday in more than 100 countries, Google announced Monday on its corporate blog.
The company said its aim was to deliver a faster, more user-friendly and safer browser.
Spot five planets in night sky this week
By IANS,
New Delhi : Sky gazers are up for a treat this week as five planets of our solar system will be visible in the night sky for the next few days.
According to scientists, four planets - Venus, Mercury, Mars, Saturn - will be visible in the evenings while Jupiter can be seen in the morning.
"Mercury, which is always hidden in sun's glare would be visible up to April 10 whereas other four planets can be spotted for many months to come," said N. Sri Raghunandan Kumar, general secretary of Planetary Society of India.
Google and Microsoft innovations excite
By Andy Goldberg
DPA
San Diego : Some of the fanciest new technology in the world was unveiled this week at the high-powered All Things Digital conference in San Diego.
NASA again postpones Atlantis trip to Hubble
By RIA Novosti,
Washington : The launch date for space shuttle Atlantis to service the Hubble Space Telescope has been postponed from October 10 to 14, NASA said in a statement.
The 11-day mission, originally scheduled for launch on August 28, was previously postponed until October 10-11 to complete work on an external fuel tank. This time NASA said the final preparations for the mission were hampered by hurricane Ike.
Italian connection on the cards for Kerala’s Technopark
By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : A delegation from Novara, one of the most industrially advanced cities in Italy, held discussions here Thursday for possible cooperation in IT between Novara and Technopark.
The Italian delegation included the mayor of Novara, Massimo Giordano, and four lawyers.
In his speech, Giordano suggested companies here and Novara should collaborate and work for mutual benefit.
He invited officials here to visit Novara for further talks.
Manmohan Singh presented Chandrayaan-1, PSLV models
By IANS,
New Delhi : Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair Friday briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the success of India's maiden moon mission and presented him models of Chandrayaan-I and its launch vehiclE PSLV.
Nair briefed the prime minister about the launch sequence and subsequent maneuvering of the spacecraft to reach the final lunar orbit.
“The health of the spacecraft is good and all the operations so far have been implemented as planned,” the space department said in a statement quoting the conversation during the meeting.
Scientists discover why teeth form in a single row
By IANS,
Washington : A system of opposing genetic forces determines why mammals develop a single row of teeth, while sharks sport several, according to a study.
When completely understood, the genetic programme described in the study may help guide efforts to re-grow missing teeth and prevent cleft palate, one of the most common birth defects.
Gene expression is the process by which information stored in genes is converted into proteins that make up the body's structures and carry its messages.
Indian IT firms will consolidate, focus on Europe, Asia-Pacific
By Gyanendra Kumar Keshri, IANS,
Astronomers confirm lightning on Venus
By Xinhua
Washington : Astronomers working at the European Space Agency's Venus Express mission confirmed for the first time that the Venusian atmosphere generates its own lightning.
The discovery -- a part of the Venus Express science findings - appeared on the Nov 29 edition of the journal Nature.
Polaris Software to enter real estate business
By IANS,
Chennai : Banking software company Polaris Software Lab Ltd has decided to get into the real estate business, subject to regulatory approvals.
A decision to this effect was taken by the company's board here Thursday, Polaris said in a stock exchange filing.
While Polaris executives were not available to comment on the diversification, sources close to the development told IANS that the company has some surplus land in Gurgaon near the national capital after building its software development centre.
Space telescope launched to spy on black-holes
By DPA,
Washington : After several delays, the US space telescope GLAST Wednesday 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.
Watching eclipse from 41,000 ft – breathtaking!
By IANS,
New Delhi : "It was a breathtaking experience," said 70-year-old Deepak Bhimani, one of the 35 passengers onboard the special flight to watch the century's longest total solar eclipse from 41,000 feet above the ground.
"It was very exciting and I really have no words to describe it. It was like the Sun was so near to me and we had a very pristine image. We could even see Mercury and Venus as the sky darkened and the whole phenomenon was breathtaking," Bhimani, who was the oldest passenger on the flight, told IANS.
Agenda for India: Telecom
TwoCircles.net presents “Agenda for India”. Series editor is Charu Bahri.
Challenges & Solutions
“I would cite the issue of spectrum allocation and management as one of the foremost challenges of India’s telecom sector,” says Yusuf Motiwala, Founder & CEO, TringMe. “The government must wake up to the losses accumulating on account of under-utilization of spectrum and due to the delay in rolling out 3G services.”
Vietnam to launch first satellite next month
By Xinhua
Hanoi : Vietnam is scheduled to launch its first satellite on April 12, helping the country offer better domestic and international communication services at lower cost.
This launch will make Vietnam the sixth Southeast Asian nation to secure space sovereignty and interests, Nguyen Ba Thuoc, vice president of the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT),the satellite project's investor, said at a press conference on Wednesday.
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...
Chandigarh on track to become ‘solar city’
By IANS,
Chandigarh : The union territory of Chandigarh is all set to become a "solar city" and reduce its dependence on conventional and non-renewable energy resources, officials said here Wednesday.
The administration here has nearly finalised the draft plan for extensively utilising solar energy in collaboration with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
To finalise the modalities of this project, a meeting was held between officials of the union territory and TERI Tuesday evening.
Universal Cable, Furukawa Electric join hands
By IANS,
Kolkata, April 21 (IANS) Power cable manufacturer Universal, an M.P. Birla group company, has signed a pact with the Japan-based Furukawa Electric for manufacturing and marketing optical fibre in India.
"By combining the pre-eminent position of the M.P. Birla Group in optical fibre and cable business in India, with significant experience and technical expertise of Furukawa, we will bring our customers a strong product," D.R. Bansal, Chief Mentor and chief executive officer of UCL said in a statement here Tuesday.
Punjab to have police station to tackle cyber-crime
By IANS,
Chandigarh : The Punjab Police Monday announced that a state-of-the-art cyber crime police station and forensic science laboratory would be set up in the state.
Laying the foundation stone of the new project Monday, Director General of Police N.S. Aulakh said that the cyber crime police station was required to cater to technology related crimes committed in the state.
The cyber crime police station and the forensic lab to be set up in Mohali town, 10 km from here, will cost Rs.80 million, Aulakh said.
China to launch 100 satellites during 2011-15
By IANS,
Beijing : China has set a target of completing a space mission of "100 rockets, 100 satellites" between 2011 and 2015, according to a space official.
Iran parliament approves law to implement n-deal
Tehran: Iran's parliament on Tuesday approved a legislation which asks the government to implement the recent nuclear deal reached between Tehran and the...
Pune gears up for two-day international robotic competition
By IANS,
Mumbai/Pune : Pune gears up to see robots co-ordinate as a team as they form a pyramid to enact a high-tech 'dahi handi' (taking butter from a pot hanging high above) sequence at the two-day 7th ABU International Robocon Competition Saturday.
The event is the culmination of a yearlong competition among teams from over two dozen colleges spread across 17 countries of the Asia-Pacific region.
Nirma Institute of Technology, Ahmedabad and Maharashtra Institute of Technology, (MIT) Pune are representing India at the event.
Special goggles, telescopes – Lucknow set for solar eclipse
By IANS,
Lucknow : Scientific institutions and schools in Lucknow have made elaborate arrangements - from acquiring special goggles to installing telescopes - for people to watch the annular solar eclipse Friday.
The Indira Gandhi Planetarium has purchased as many as 6,500 special goggles and installed several telescopes so that people can view the eclipse.
"We have made enough arrangements to watch the solar eclipse. Only 51.12 percent of the eclipse will be visible in Lucknow," Anil Yadav, officer-in-charge of the planetarium, told IANS Friday.
Argentina aims at free wireless internet access
By IANS/EFE,
Buenos Aires : The Argentine government has said it is working to create areas of free public access to the internet across the country through wireless networks.
"We're going to have extensive areas with free internet," Planning Minister Julio de Vido said.
President Cristina Fernandez has given instructions to "work hard" in order to "install within the next 120 days a strong application of the WiFi system in public places", the minister said.
Installation of the service is quick and easy, De Vido told Radio Continental Monday.
Skies ready for triple eclipse
By IANS,
New Delhi : Commencing Tuesday, three eclipses - a lunar eclipse, a solar eclipse and another lunar - will take over the skies, a phenomenon which although experts say is not rare, will nevertheless be nature's grand spectacle.
On July 7, a penumbral lunar eclipse will occur as the moon rises over Australia and sets in western north and south America in the early pre-dawn hours, said C.B. Devgun, director of Science Popularization Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE).
The eclipse, however, will not be visible over India.
Chandrayaan-II to be launched by 2013
By IANS,
Kolkata : India's second lunar mission Chandrayaan-II is likely to be launched by 2013, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said Saturday.
"Chandrayaan-II should take place by 2013. Our first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-I, has given us a substantial understanding about entering the moon's orbit. But ensuring the safe landing of the rover on the lunar surface is still an obstacle," Nair told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony here.
Cuba overhauls communications, IT sectors
By IASN/EFE,
Havana: The government has launched an overhaul of Cuba's communications and information technology sectors, the Communist Party daily Granma said.
Other universes exist alongside our own
By IANS,
London : Scientists say they have found evidence that our universe was 'jostled' by other parallel universes in the distant past.
Police in Delhi to use GPS to track criminals
By Sahil Makkar, IANS
New Delhi : Police in Delhi will use GPS (Global Positioning System) technology to crack down on criminals in a bid to modernise crime detection ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games here.
"We are installing satellite-linked GPS in PCR vans, which will not only provide an option to keep track of our officials but will largely help us in combating crime in the capital," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (PCR) Ajay Kumar.
NASA clicks first 3D image of the sun
By IANS,
London : A NASA-led mission has provided the world's first ever 3D image of the sun's surface.
Chandrayaan may explain origins of Moon: British scientist
By IANS,
London : A British scientist who helped design a camera on board India's Chandrayaan-1 says he hopes images from it will help answer two tantalising questions about the Moon.
“Where did the Moon come from? And could it ever sustain human life?” Maneul Grande of Aberystwyth Universtiy told the Times newspaper.
“After the Apollo landings, people thought they knew a fair bit about the Moon - they'd seen people walking around up there,” said Grande, who helped to design the European Space Agency's camera that will take X-ray images of the Moon's surface.
‘Free software allows cheaper long distance phone calls’
By Frederick Noronha, IANS,
Panaji : Free software and open source solutions offer a huge potential to link your computer to the mobile phone and the inexpensive Skype networks -- that allows you to make international calls over the internet -- and for sending out SMSes too.
This could help significantly narrow the digital divide "at the social level between rich and poor and geographical levels, between city and village", says Giovanni Maruzzelli, an Italian expert in the field currently touring India.
Percept Talent to promote CWG winners, non-cricket events
By IANS,
New Delhi: Percept Talent Management (PTM) has decided to promote non-cricket disciplines and medal winning athletes of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010.
Scientist Jagadish Bose inducted into Pioneers Hall at US museum
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : With India and the United States recognising a strategic partnership as "indispensable and inevitable", Indian Ambassador to the US Ronen foresees the two nations working more closely in harnessing space and nuclear energy.
"India and the United States recognise that a strategic partnership between the two countries is both indispensable and inevitable in 21st century," he said in an address to the Historical Electronics Museum in Baltimore.
India to launch maiden mission to moon on April 9 next year
By NNN-APP
New Delhi : India has planned to launch its maiden mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-I on April nine next year.
Media reports said the mission planned by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Hyderabad.
Quoting Mylswamy Annadurai, Project Director of Chandrayaan-I, the reports said “a launch windows are available for the next two days in case the launch does not happen on that day.”
Sixty years of world’s first modern computer
By IANS,
London : Do you know that Saturday is the 60th birthday of the world's first modern computer? Manchester Baby, a computer that could store a programme, was built in Britain's University of Manchester June 21, 1948.
It was the first machine - invented by Frederick Williams and Tom Kilburn - that had all the components now regarded as the characteristics of a basic computer. Most importantly, it was the first computer that could store not only data but also a short user programme in electronic memory and process it at electronic speed.
Google, Microsoft ‘most discussed tech brands’ in India
By NNN-PTI,
New Delhi : Internet search giant Google and software major Microsoft are among the most discussed technology brands in India, dominating most of the online conversations, says a survey.
Topped by Google, the list of top 10 technology brands compiled by research firm Edelman, features Microsoft at the second spot while Yahoo! has cornered the third position.
Google and Microsoft secured about 20 per cent and 12 per cent of all monitored conversations respectively, according to Digital Brand Index (DBI) for India compiled by Edelman in collaboration with Brandtology.
Pakistan to introduce biometric machines to detect fake passports
Islamabad : Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has decided to introduce machines at the Islamabad airport to detect fake passports, a media report said...
NASA reschedules shuttle launch for Sunday night
By DPA,
Washington : The US space agency NASA was confident that the repeatedly delayed launch of the space shuttle Discovery would lift off Sunday night for a mission to the International Space Station.
The launch was scheduled for 7.43 p.m. (2343 GMT) Sunday from the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Discovery will have seven astronauts on board, including Japanese crew member Koichi Wakata, who is slated to join the permanent crew on the orbiting space station.
China launches two satellites
By IANS,
Beijing : China Wednesday launched two satellites to carry out experiments in space, Xinhua reported.
Device turns heat into sound, then electricity
By IANS
Washington : Physicists in US have developed a small device that they claim can turn heat into sound and then into electricity.
Russia to launch US satellite
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : A Russian rocket is set for a seaborne launch Sunday to put a US telecom satellite into orbit, a spokesman for the Sea Launch company said.
Mission Ulysses to study sun nearing its end
By IANS
New York : The long-running Ulysses mission, which was launched to study the sun's poles and its influence on surrounding space, is coming to an end.
After more than 17 years in space - almost four times its expected lifetime - the mission is finally running out of power and is likely to finish sometime in the next month or two, a release by the European Space Agency (ESA) said.
A joint mission by ESA and NASA, Ulysses was launched in 1990 from a space shuttle. The data it sent has forever changed the way scientists view the sun and its effect on the space surrounding it.
Telenor acquires 49 percent stake in Unitech Wireless
By IANS,
Mumbai : Norway's Telenor has acquired another 15.5 percent stake in Unitech Wireless, the telecom arm of realty major Unitech, for Rs.1,130 crore (Rs.11.3 billion/$237 million), taking its shareholding in the Indian company to 49 percent, it was announced Wednesday.
"Unitech Wireless on May 19, 2009, received an amount of Rs.1,130 crore in aggregate from Telenor Asia Pte Ltd for acquisition of further 15.5 percent stake in Unitech Wireless by way of issuance of fresh shares," the Indian telecom operator said in a regulatory statement.
Australians now the fattest on earth
By IANS,
Sydney : Australia has acquired the dubious distinction of being the fattest on earth - with four million people classified as obese and another 5.4 million as overweight.
New research by Victoria University's Erin Pearson shows that when it comes to changing people's exercise behaviour, having the right messenger is as important as having the right message.
"What we have found is that the person delivering the message needs to be someone the audience identifies with and respects in order to bring about a desired change in behaviour," Pearson said.
Russian ‘internet blacklist’ site faces attack
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: A Russian website with a special register of "blacklisted" sites came under attack shortly after it went online Thursday, said the federal agency which runs it.
Remains of 10,000-year-old giant sloth found
By IANS/EFE,
Brasilia : Scientists have found bones in Brazil that belonged to a 20-foot-tall sloth that lived some 10,000 years ago.
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.
India plans to launch reusable rocket by 2010
By NNN-PTI
Banglore : India plans to launch a reusable rocket for the first time by 2010, says its space agency chief.
"Our target (for the first launch) is before 2010," Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), G Madhavan Nair, told PTI.
The space scientists have already designed a "demonstrator" to measure parameters of the vehicle and further work is in progress, Nair, also Secretary in the Department of Space and Chairman of Space Commission, said.
European Space Agency plans space junk detection system
By DPA,
Darmstadt (Germany) : The European Space Agency (ESA) said Monday it hoped to set up its own detection system for space junk instead of relying on US radar to track the chunks of shattered satellites and spent rockets in earth orbit.
Last week a US satellite accidentally hit an out-of-commission Russian satellite, scattering a trail of debris in space.
Ashok Leyland to hive off design engineering unit
By IANS,
Chennai : India's second largest commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland is looking to spin off its design engineering unit Defiance Technologies into a group company, Defiance Tech Ltd, an official has said.
Defiance Technologies offers virtual engineering services, ranging from basic design to high-end predictive analysis for auto makers.
Can a Machine Heal a Heart? Why New Age Youth Are Turning to AI...
Samah Qundeel, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: We once believed that technology would bring people closer. But somewhere along the way, it did the opposite. Today, it...
Shuttle Atlantis closes in on international space station
By SPA
Houston : Atlantis maneuvered toward a rendezvous with the international space station on Saturday, bringing a new US$2 billion (¤1.4 billion) lab that European scientists can't wait to see installed, reported ap.
The shuttle had been on a two-day, high-speed chase to catch up with the station.
The meeting will give NASA engineers another chance to search for launch damage to the shuttle's thermal shielding, the problem that doomed Columbia in 2003.
Understanding IP addresses in computers
By DPA,
Washington : Internet Protocol or IP addresses are common in today's world of networked computers. That's because every computer connected to a single network has an IP.
An IP address is a number that uniquely identifies a computer on a network. Every computer that's connected to a network, whether that network is the Internet or a private home or office network, has a unique IP address.
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.
Risk of autism linked with mercury emission: study
By IANS,
Washington : There is a significant link between mercury emissions and increased incidence of autism, according to latest research.
Researchers Raymond F. Palmer of the University of Texas, Stephen Blanchard of Our Lady of the Lake University and Robert Wood found that community autism prevalence is reduced by one to two percent with every 10 miles of distance from the pollution source.
"This is not a definitive study, but just one more that furthers the association between environmental mercury and autism," said Palmer.
NASA says space shuttle repairs not needed
By RIA Novosti
Washington : There is no need to conduct repair work on the space shuttle Endeavour heat shield during the fourth spacewalk, scheduled for Aug 18, a NASA has said.
The damage to the heat shield occurred during Endeavour's launch Aug 8 when a small piece of insulating foam or ice from the shuttle fuel tank struck the spacecraft's underside shortly after lift off.
Yahoo profit plunges, layoffs announced
By DPA,
San Francisco : Troubled internet giant Yahoo saw quarterly profits plunge 64 percent and announced Tuesday that it would cut 10 percent of its estimated 14,300 staff to help control costs.
The internet pioneer reported net income of $54 million, or 4 cents a share, compared to $151 million, or 11 cents a share, in the same period last year.
The company said revenue rose slightly to $1.78 billion compared to $1.76 billion in the year-ago quarter. The results were in line with analysts' expectations, while the layoffs had also been widely reported in recent days.
Model predicts global warming will speed up after 2009
By Xinhua
Washington : Global warming will speed up in the next decade and at least half of the years after 2009 will be warmer than 1998, the warmest year on record, reported a UK team of scientists in their climate predictions.
The next-decade prediction results by scientists at Hadley Center for Climate Prediction and Research in the UK is published Thursday in the U.S. academic journal Science.
Copenhagen aims to be first carbon neutral capital
By IANS,
Copenhagen : The capital of Denmark has set itself the ambitious target of becoming the world's first carbon-neutral capital by 2025 by bringing its net carbon dioxide emissions down to zero.
The target was announced by the seven mayors of Copenhagen here Tuesday, while they launched the city's new climate plan. The plan has 50 specific initiatives to achieve the city's target of a 20 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2015.
NASA develops mirror to look into galactic past
By IANS,
Washington : Once upon a time, shiny surfaces and mirrors were credited with magical powers that could look into the future. Now two centuries later, NASA is relying on them to look into the past.
The agency is developing a primary mirror 21.3 feet across, for use on the James Webb Space Telescope, to tell us about our beginning in the universe.
The primary mirror will serve as the telescope's eye and peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems, connecting the Milky Way to our own solar system.
70-mn-year-old footprints shed new light on dinosaurs
By IANS,
Sydney : Scientists have stumbled on the first ever dinosaur footprints in New Zealand, going back some 70 million years.
Geologist Greg Browne of GNS Science said the footprints shed considerable light on how fast dinos moved, how big they were as well as how soft the sediment was when they moved through the area.
Browne made the discovery while investigating the properties of the rock and sediment formations in the northwest Nelson region of the country.
US launches spy satellite
By IANS,
Washington : The US Wednesday launched a spy satellite into space.
US scientists create cancer-detecting nanoparticles
By Xinhua,
Washington : US scientists have created the smallest iron oxide nanoparticles to date for cancer detection by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
The research team from Brown University created peptide-coated iron oxide nanoparticles, about 8.4 nanometers in overall diameter. They then injected the particles into mice and successfully tested their ability to locate a brain tumour cell called U87MG, the university announced Tuesday.
Atlantis shuttle mission extended until Feb. 20
By RIA Novosti
Washington : The Atlantis space shuttle will return to Earth on February 20 after its mission to the International Space Station (ISS) was extended, NASA said on Thursday.
"The space shuttle Mission Management Team, at the request of the International Space Station Program, has extended the STS-122 mission to 13 days. Atlantis will undock from the space station on Monday, Feb. 18, and land at 9:06 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, Kennedy Space Center, Fla," the NASA website said.
Argentina, Italy launch new satellite
By NNN-Prensa Latina
Buenos Aires : Argentina and Italy have launched the second of a group of six satellites for scientific use for monitoring natural disasters and agriculture, Telam official agency informed Friday.
Argentina is a pioneer in the use of satellites, allowing advanced scientific achievements in areas like health, particularly the detection of epidemiological diseases, affirmed Conrado Varotto, executive director of CONAE (National Space Activities Commission).
O, Texas clock boy’s family ! Stay put in U.S., use the moment as...
By Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood
The 13 year American Ahmad Mohamed, inventor of home-made clock with digital display, was expecting a pat on the back...
World’s smallest silicon sensor to monitor environs
By IANS,
London : Researchers are fabricating the world's smallest silicon sensor that will be extremely powerful and yet consume very little power.
The sensor, with applications in bio-sensing and ecological monitoring, is being developed by researchers at the University of Southampton.
“Power consumption is a big issue at the moment as devices use current whether they are switched off and on,” said Hiroshi Mizuta, project head.
Amphibian 70 mn years older than dinosaurs found
By IANS,
London : A 300-million-year-old fossil of an amphibian that roamed the planet 70 million years before the dinosaurs has been found, a media report said.
Daily Express reported Tuesday that scientists have found the well preserved five-inch long skull of an invertebrate named Fedexia striegeli, which is one of the earliest amphibian fossil discoveries.
Researchers said that the creature lived more than 70 million years before the first dinosaurs.
Chandrayaan-I a 110 percent success, asserts ISRO chief
By IANS,
Bangalore : By finding water on the lunar surface, India's maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 has completed "110 percent of the objectives", Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said here Friday.
Disagreeing with a section of the media, which dubbed the moon mission a 'failure' when it was abruptly aborted Aug 30 after Chandrayaan lost radio contact with the earth, Nair maintained that it was a wonderful mission.
Bajaj Auto, TVS feud over patent violation
By IANS
New Delhi : Two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto Saturday said that it would sue its rival TVS Motors for allegedly violating its patented digital twin spark ignition (DTSi) technology, even as the latter denied any such alleged infringement.
The charges by Bajaj, two days after TVS launched its 125 cc bike 'Flame' with controlled combustion variable timing intelligent (CCVTi) technology, said its intellectual property right (IPR) on a digital twin spark ignition technology had been infringed.
Google prevails in legal battle in Australia
By IANS/EFE,
Sydney: Australia's High Court ruled in favour of Google Inc Wednesday in a case over the search-engine giant's responsibility for deceptive advertising in sponsored links.
Scientists sound alarm bells over impending global catastrophe
By IANS,
Sydney : Scientists have sounded the alarm bells over impending global catastrophe as existing governments and institutions are too powerless to head it off.
The world faces a compounding series of crises - from energy, food shortages, to climate change, to new diseases and increasing anti-biotic resistance - all driven by human activity, which is beyond the capacity of existing institutions to cope with, warns a group of eminent environmental scientists and economists.
Integrated web-based system being developed to ensure population data update
By NNN-APP
Islamabad : Ministry of Information Technology (MOIT) is in process of providing e-services for Ministry of Population Welfare to eliminate the redundant steps of collecting the information from the districts and provincial offices of the Ministry.
Under the project which is expected to be completed by October this year, an online integrated web-based MIS is being developed, sources at Electronic Government Directorate, MoIT said here Saturday.
Islamabad : Ministry of Information Technology (MOIT) is in process of providing e-services for Ministry of Population Welfare to eliminate the redundant steps of collecting the information from the districts and provincial offices of the Ministry.
Under the project which is expected to be completed by October this year, an online integrated web-based MIS is being developed, sources at Electronic Government Directorate, MoIT said here Saturday.
Bill Gates says he seldom feels drained
By IANS,
New Delhi : Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates Friday said he is a 24-hour technology person and rarely feels drained.
"I am a 24-hour technology person. I am not that big text messaging and I am impressed with the young people doing that," said Gates, on visit here for overseeing the philanthropic activities of the foundation he has formed with his wife Melinda.
However, Gates said, he reads random articles in silence whenever he feels drained.
Calling social networking sites "irritating", Gates said he is flooded by "friend requests" everyday on Facebook.
Russia to launch its first weather satellite
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia is set to launch its first weather satellite, Meteor-M1, in the fourth quarter of 2008, the satellite's manufacturer said Wednesday.
Russia currently has no weather satellites and gets its information from foreign sources.
The Russian state research and development company VNIIEM said its specialists had assembled the satellite and launched "the final stage of complex tests".
The 2.7-tonne Meteor-M1 will be put into a 830-km orbit by a Soyuz-2 launch vehicle and a Frigate upper stage.
Its service life will be five to seven years.
Microsoft wants to be part of unique identity project: Gates
By IANS,
New Delhi : Terming the unique identity project as a "great initiative", Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates Friday said the software giant wanted to partner with India in the ambitious project that will give a unique identity number to each of its citizens.
"Microsoft wants to be a part of the unique identification project," Gates told a conference organised by the IT industry lobby, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom).
Agenda for India: Information Technology
TwoCircles.net presents “Agenda for India”. Series editor is Charu Bahri.
Challenges & Solutions
Information technology professionals Amin Ismaili and his wife Shahin Ismaili, both of whom work as Assistant Systems Engineers with TATA Consultancy Services Ltd., identify India’s heavy dependence on markets in the USA as the greatest challenge presently facing the Information Technology (IT) and IT enabled services (ITES, more commonly spoken of as outsourcing) industries.
Software to stop you writing e-mails when drunk
By IANS,
London : A new software can now stop you writing e-mails or posting messages when you are drunk.
Space Shuttle Discovery lands in Florida
By DPA
Washington : The Space Shuttle Discovery touched down at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida after a 15-day mission that focussed on construction of the International Space Station.
Discovery, with a seven-member crew led by Pamela Melroy, the second woman to command a shuttle, landed at 18:01 GMT Wednesday.
"Well hello there, it's nice to be back in Florida," Melroy, who steered the craft to the runway, said over the radio after the safe landing.
Guidelines for solar plants released
By IANS,
New Delhi : The government Wednesday announced guidelines for off-grid solar applications, as well as roof top and other small solar plants.
"The guidelines that we have released today are meant to tap into the diverse and enormous potential of solar energy in all applications - rural, industrial as well as urban. The guidelines are flexible, simple and market friendly," union Minister of New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah said here Wednesday.
Parrot fossil found in Scandinavia
By IANS,
Washington : The discovery of a parrot fossil in Scandinavia dating back some 55 million years, indicates that they were once common in colder climes like Norway and Denmark.
Parrots today live only in the tropics and the southern hemisphere, but this new research suggests that they first evolved in the north, much earlier than had been suspected.
Facebook in trouble again over privacy issues
By IANS,
Toronto : Facebook, which agreed last August to implement new privacy safeguards ordered by Canada's privacy commission, is again under investigation over its handling of users' data.
The world's biggest social networking site, which claims to have 350 million users worldwide, was hauled up before Canada's Privacy Commission by Canadian law students in 2008 for violating the country's privacy laws.
Indicting the networking site last August, the privacy commission had ordered Facebook to comply with its recommendations within a month.
British gangs duping people to buy malicious software
By IANS,
London : Britons are being duped to buy malicious software in the guise of anti-virus protection by criminals posing as legitimate IT experts, officials warned Monday.
Reseachers working to make skies safer for flying
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers are developing an air traffic decision-making system that is not dependent on human controllers, but will act autonomously to optimise flight operations.
The computer model that Constantine Caramanis, professor at Texas University, lead researcher Cynthia Barnhart and other colleagues from MIT are developing, will monitor weather conditions as well as current airplane locations and probable routes.
Google Voice: The next killer app?
By Jay Dougherty, DPA,
Washington : Google releases so many products - most of them free - that it's easy to overlook one that's really special. Google Voice qualifies.
U.S. pledges to compensate countries hit by satellite debris
By Xinhua
Geneva : The United States said on Friday that it would compensate countries whose territory might be hit by debris of an inoperable U.S. spy satellite that the Pentagon plans to shoot down.
Christina Rocca, U.S. ambassador for disarmament affairs, said the United States had recently modified three SM-3 missiles and three U.S. Navy ships to try to shoot down the satellite, which is currently in a decaying orbit.
Geneva : The United States said on Friday that it would compensate countries whose territory might be hit by debris of an inoperable U.S. spy satellite that the Pentagon plans to shoot down.
Christina Rocca, U.S. ambassador for disarmament affairs, said the United States had recently modified three SM-3 missiles and three U.S. Navy ships to try to shoot down the satellite, which is currently in a decaying orbit.
Scientists explain obscene growth of black holes
By IANS,
Washington : A new theory about why black holes become so hugely massive has been put forth by astronomers from University of Leicester, UK and Monash University, Australia.
NASA to launch Mars rover in November
By IANS,
Washington : NASA will launch its car-sized Mars rover named Curiosity later this month.
‘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.
NASA probe flies by Mercury in 1st visit since 1975
By Xinhua
Beijing : NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft on Monday flew within 200 kilometers above the surface of Mercury, making the first pass of the planet since 1975, media reported.
The car-sized probe traveled at about 25,800 kilometers miles per hour as it passed over Mercury on a mission designed to resolve some of the mysteries about the solar system's innermost planet, officials said.
Beijing : NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft on Monday flew within 200 kilometers above the surface of Mercury, making the first pass of the planet since 1975, media reported.
The car-sized probe traveled at about 25,800 kilometers miles per hour as it passed over Mercury on a mission designed to resolve some of the mysteries about the solar system's innermost planet, officials said.
Indian-American programmes robots to follow the leader better
By IANS,
Washington : An Indian-American professor of engineering has programmed a robot that can sense your head turning left a fraction of a second before your body makes that left turn. That turn of the head is the cue it will pick up to keep following.
While negotiating a highway or sauntering down the street, people pick up cues about what other people are going to do and act accordingly.
Yahoo to take time evaluating Microsoft offer
By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : Yahoo Inc says it's "going to take time" to thoroughly evaluate Microsoft Corp's unsolicited $45 billion offer keeping in mind its strategic options, including keeping the company independent.
It was undertaking a deliberate review of Microsoft's offer to pay Yahoo shareholders either $31 in cash, or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock, Yahoo said in a media release posted on the company Web site.
Researchers deluged with online information, but seldom use it
By IANS,
Washington : Although the Internet provides scientists an instant access to thousands of academic journals and research papers, they are citing fewer papers and that too from more recent publications.
This trend may be limiting the creation of new ideas and theories, said James Evans, a sociologist at the University of Chicago, who, focussing on the nature of research, analysed a database of over 34 million articles.
He compared their online availability between 1998 and 2005 to the number of times they were cited from 1945 to 2005.
World misled over glacier meltdown: Report
By IRNA,
New Delhi : A warning that most of the Himalayan glaciers will melt by 2035 owing to climate change is likely to be retracted after the United Nations body that issued it admitted to a series of scientific blunders.
Two years ago, the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) headed by India's Rajendra Pachauri, issued a benchmark report that claimed to have incorporated the latest and most detailed research into the impact of global warming.
A central claim was that world's glaciers were melting so fast that those in the Himalayas could vanish by 2035.
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.
ISRO developing cheaper satellite phone link
By Fakir Balaji, IANS
Hyderabad : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working on a new device to drastically reduce the cost of satellite phone usage and enable access to remote areas of the country, a top space agency official said here Monday.
BMW developing cars that ‘sense’ danger to pedestrians
By DPA,
Munich : BMW is refining a car-to-car communication system that offers more pedestrian protection by "sensing" situations and persons that cannot normally be seen by motorists, according to the car maker.
In a typical situation a child could suddenly jump onto the road from between two parked vehicles. In such a case the moving vehicle would communicate with an electronic transponder carried by the child or cyclist for protection.
Net savvy 96-year-old blogs to share ideas in online world
By Shubha Singh, IANS,
At an age when people begin to lose interest in many aspects of the world around them, 96-year-old Randall Butisingh not only mastered the intricacies of the internet but also began his own blog, which describes him as one of the world's oldest bloggers and shows him as a man with a remarkable catholicity of interests.
The grandson of indentured workers who were taken to Guyana to work on sugar plantations, Butisingh has watched the world transform many times over in the past nine decades and has adjusted himself to the changes.
Virtual crash dummy to make driving much safer
By IANS,
Washington : Automakers have been crashing test dummies to gain insight into how safety systems protect or fail to protect people during car accidents.
But these dummies made out of plastic and steel, not tissue and bone, have their limitations. Now a virtual dummy being developed by two engineering teams with University of Virginia (UVa) Centre for Biomechanics, will make driving much safer.
Indian scientists look to stars to cure heart patients
By P. Vijian, NNN-Bernama,
New Delhi : Indian astro scientists have become starry-eyed. They are looking to the stars to heal heart patients.
While it may sound out of this world (pardon the pun), scientists at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi have resorted to doing exatly that.
They are boldly taking the science of astrology to a new dimension.
The scientists are busying calculating the movements of stars and planets of patients to understand how they can reduce or avert the increasing heart-related diseases -- merely using their horoscopes.
Scientists develop wonder glass that regenerates bones
By IANS,
London : A new kind of glass will enable patients to re-grow bones by dissolving and releasing calcium into the body, possibly making bone transplants redundant.
The porous glass, developed by scientists at Imperial College here, dissolves in the body and stimulates bone growth, without leaving any toxic residue.
Specific concentrations of soluble silica and calcium ions in the glass activate genes that encode proteins controlling the bone cell cycle and differentiation of the cell to form bone matrix and rapid mineralisation of bone nodules.
First synthetic tree may facilitate heat transfer, soil technologies
By IANS,
Washington : The world's first 'synthetic tree,' created by Abraham Stroock's lab, mimics the process of transpiration that helps move moisture to the highest branches.
The researchers' work bolsters the long-standing theory that transpiration in trees and plants through capilliary action, is a purely physical process, requiring no biological energy.
It also may lead to new passive heat transfer technologies for cars or buildings, better methods for remediating soil and more effective ways to draw water out of partially dry ground.
NASA’s new satellite to search for undiscovered objects
By DPA,
Washington : NASA's newest "eye" to be launched Wednesday is a satellite equipped with unprecedented infrared sensitivity to scope out cosmic objects unseen by other cameras.
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is to be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Over the next nine months in orbit around the north and south poles, the satellite is to scan the entire sky one and a half times seeking out the "coolest stars, dark asteroids and the most luminous galaxies," NASA said.
Indo-US Air Force conference in Kerala Monday
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram: The 15th Indo-US Air Force Executive Steering Group (ESG) conference will begin Monday at the Southern Air Command Headquarters here.
The three-day conference allows the delegations of the two countries to discuss policies and mutual exchange programmes for bilateral defence cooperation, a defence spokesperson said Sunday.
The annual conference is held alternatively in the two countries and this year the Southern Air Command has been chosen as the venue.
BlackBerry use can make or break business, says study
By IANS,
Sydney : The use of palm-sized wireless e-mail devices like BlackBerry can make or break a business, according to an Australian study.
The research explores how BlackBerry use can help businesses achieve the newest Holy Grail - organisational ambidexterity (OA). OA is a company's ability to balance conflicting internal and external demands at the same time as balancing the need for flexibility and control, reports Scinecealert.
US astronauts vote from space
By DPA,
Washington : Two NASA astronauts did not let their distance from Earth deter them from voting in the US presidential election Tuesday.
Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff voted from their current home in the International Space Station - 322 km above Earth and orbiting at 28,200 km per hour - and beamed back a message urging others to exercise their franchise.
Maveric Systems develops automated software test tool
By IANS
Chennai : Targeting a higher share in the $8 billion Indian offshore testing opportunity, Chennai-based independent software testing company Maveric Systems Limited has come out with an automated software testing tool.
Developed at an investment of around $1 million, the proprietary software tool called Testac promises to reduce software testing time by 30 percent, CEO Ranga Reddy told reporters.
According to him, Maveric Systems is the only Indian software testing company to have such a proprietary tool.
Supercomputer helps design drugs faster
By IANS
Sydney : A supercomputer is helping speed up the design of new drugs manifold, doing away with cumbersome, time-consuming procedures.
The results are as accurate as those obtained from the lab, saving time and resources, besides calculating the desired 'redox' potential of drugs much faster than existing methods.
The 'redox' potential is the ability of drug molecules to exchange electrons, which determine how powerfully they can act on the body, said researcher Mansoor Namazian of Australian National University (ANU).
Shuttle Endeavour blasts off from Cape Canaveral
By SPA
Cape Canaveral, Florida : Shuttle Endeavour and a crew of seven are on their way to the international space station, AP reported.
The space shuttle blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, early Tuesday morning to begin what is expected to be the longest space station mission ever. It is a 16-day voyage to build a two-armed robot and add a float-in closet for a future lab. Five spacewalks are planned.
Liftoff came in the middle of the night, and it was the first shuttle launch in darkness since 2006.
Google unveils $4.4 trillion “Clean Power by 2030” plan
Washington, Oct 2 (IANS) Search engine giant Google has unveiled a $4.4 trillion plan dubbed Clean Power by 2030 that calls for all energy in the US to come from renewable sources.
The web giant in a release posted on its site said: "While this plan will cost $4.4 trillion (in undiscounted 2008 dollars), it will ultimately save $5.4 trillion, delivering a net savings of $1 trillion over the life of the plan".
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.
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.
India’s probe first to sniff water on moon
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's Moon Impact Probe (MIP) was the first instrument to detect water on the moon - way back in November last year when the spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 entered lunar orbit, space agency chief G. Madhavan Nair said here Friday.
"I am happy to share for the first time with all of you that the MIP, while it was descending from Chandrayaan to the moon Nov 14, 2008, picked up strong signals of water particles on the lunar surface," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman told reporters here.
Dancing electrons could open way to new devices
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have discovered a new way that electrons behave in materials, which could spur the development of futuristic electronic devices.
A team led by N. Phuan Ong, professor of physics at Princeton University, has shown that electrons in an element like bismuth display a highly unusual pattern - a dance of sorts - when subjected to a powerful magnetic field at ultra-low temperatures.
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.
NASA gives “go” for space shuttle launch on May 31
By Xinhua,
Washington : U.S. space shuttle Discovery's STS-124 mission to the International Space Station is officially scheduled for launch on May 31, NASA announced Monday after the final Flight Readiness Review.
"Preparations are going really well," Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach said, pointing out that Discovery's remarkably smooth processing flow will allow shuttle work crews to take off the Memorial Day holiday.
UAE’s first artificial battery-powered heart transplant
Dubai: A 21-year-old student in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) city of Sharjah, has received the country's first artificial heart transplant, a media report...


