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.
Giant ocean found on Saturn’s moon
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: Around 100 km beneath the rocky crust on Saturn's largest moon Titan is an ocean of water spanning the entirety of the celestial body, scientists said.
Now disabled could operate wheelchairs, computers with tongue
By IANS,
Washington : People with severe disabilities will soon be able to operate a computer or control a powered wheelchair simply by moving their tongues, thanks to a new magnetic device.
This device could help individuals "with high-level spinal cord injuries, return to rich, active, independent and productive lives", said Maysam Ghovanloo of Georgia Tech School who developed the new system with graduate student Xueliang Huo.
Chandrayaan’s journey to lunar orbit
By IANS,
Bangalore, Nov 8 (IANS) Chandrayaan-1, India's first unmanned mission to moon, has travelled more than 380,000 km in 12 days after its launch from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh Oct 22 to enter the lunar orbit Saturday.
Soon after the launch at 6.22 a.m. on Oct 22, the spacecraft carrying 11 scientific payloads was put in an orbit of 22,860 km apogee (farthest point to the earth) and 225 km perigee (nearest point to the earth).
This is how Chandrayaan reached the lunar orbit:
Astronauts end spacewalk early
By DPA
Washington : NASA ended a spacewalk earlier than planned as a precaution after an astronaut's glove was damaged.
US astronaut Rick Mastracchio noticed damage to the outer layer of his spacesuit's glove during a routine equipment check and NASA rules required him to return to the International Space Station around 19.00 GMT Wednesday.
Despite the interruption, Mastracchio and Clay Anderson were able to complete most of the spacewalk's planned tasks.
US spacecraft takes first image of Martian dust particle
By Xinhua,
Washington : NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has taken the first image of a particle of Mars' ubiquitous dust, using its atomic force microscope, mission scientists have reported.
The particle - shown at higher magnification than anything ever seen from another world - is a round particle about one micrometre, or one millionth of a metre across, the scientists at the US space agency said Thursday.
Scientists stumble on world’s first vegetarian spider
By IANS,
Washington : Some 40,000 existing spider species are thought to be strict predators that feed on insects or other animals. Now, scientists have stumbled on what may be the world's first vegetarian spider that feeds on plants.
The research, led by Christopher Meehan of Villanova University and Eric Olson of Brandeis University, has revealed the extraordinary ecology and behaviour in a small specimen known as Bagheera kiplingi, found throughout much of Central America and southern Mexico.
Revamp ‘white elephant’ CSIR, universities: Kasturirangan
By Prashant K. Nanda, IANS
New Delhi : The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Indian universities have become "white elephants" and need to be revamped to achieve successes in science, says eminent space scientist K. Kasturirangan.
Many of the laboratories in CSIR, the country's biggest scientific body, need a complete overhaul and their mission, organisational set-up and infrastructure need to change for the better, Kasturirangan said in an interview.
India’s maiden moon mission on track as rain stops
By Venkatachari Jagannathan and Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : India was Tuesday set to launch its historic unmanned flight to the moon, the sixth to do so after the US, former Soviet Union, European Space Agency, China and Japan. The skies cleared Tuesday evening after a heavy downpur, cheering scientists counting down to the early Wednesday morning launch.
Russian cockroach conceives, delivers babies in space
By RIA Novosti
Voronezh (Russia) : A cockroach called Nadezhda (Hope) has given birth to the first creatures ever conceived in space, Russian scientists said.
Nadezhda conceived during the Foton-M bio-satellite Sep 14-26 flight. "We recently received the first batch of 33 cockroaches conceived in micro-gravity," Dmitry Atyakshin said in Voronezh Tuesday.
Though the newborn creatures already eat and drink, micro-gravity conditions may have had an impact on the natural darkening of their chitinous carapace, a part of a cockroach's exoskeleton.
Spineless marine sponge built our nerves
By IANS,
Sydney : Queensland University researchers have traced the evolution of nerves to one of the unlikeliest objects in existence - the marine sponge.
"Sponges have one of the most ancient lineages and don't have nerve cells," informed Bernie Degnan of Queensland University School of Integrative Biology.
"So we are pretty confident it was after the sponges split from trunk of the tree of life and sponges went one way and animals developed from the other, that nerves started to form.
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.
Dogs to receive chip implant in Singapore
By DPA
Singapore : All dogs in Singapore will have to be implanted with a microchip enabling them to be traced back to their owners starting next month as part of a crackdown on irresponsible pet ownership.
Under measures unveiled by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), allowing man's best friend to run free without a licence will incur a fine of up to 5,000 Singapore dollars (about $330), a 10-fold hike from the current maximum.
China did have clearer skies during Olympics: Satellite imagery
By IANS,
Washington : China did have clearer skies and easier breathing when it shut down factories and banished many cars in a pre-Olympic sprint to clean up Beijing's air.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, researchers have since analysed data from NASA's Aura and Terra satellites that show how key pollutants responded to the Olympic restrictions.
U.S. company unveils two-seater rocketship for private space tourism
By Xinhua
Washington : A U.S. aerospace company based in California on Wednesday unveiled a new suborbital spaceship with two seats for private space tourists.
The company, XCOR Aerospace announced that its two-seat, rocket-powered Lynx spaceship, is capable of suborbital flights to altitudes of more than 37 miles (60 kilometers) above the Earth.
The spaceship, roughly the size of a small private airplane, will first take off in 2010 and is expected to be capable of making several flights a day, according to XCOR.
Power station successfully traps CO2 emission
By IANS,
Sydney : In a pilot project that has far-reaching implications, an Australian power station has used a “carbon capturing” plant to trap a bulk of its CO2 emissions.
The “post-combustion-capture (PCC) pilot plant” at the Loy Yang Power Station in Victoria's Latrobe Valley trapped up to 85 percent of its CO2 emissions.
The 10.5 metre-high pilot plant is designed to capture up to 1,000 tonnes of CO2 annually from the power station's exhaust-gas flues. Future trials will involve the use of a range of different CO2-capture liquids.
Melting sea ice spurs warming in Arctic
By IANS,
Sydney : Melting sea ice is a major cause of warming in the Arctic, says a new study.
The findings by the University of Melbourne (UM) team reveal that the rapid melting of sea ice has dramatically increased the levels of warming in the region in the last two decades.
Lead author James Screen of the School of Earth Sciences (UM) says the increased Arctic warming was due to a positive feedback between sea ice melting and atmospheric warming.
Computer glitch blamed for Russian nuclear sub accident
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The accident on the Russian nuclear submarine Nov 8 that killed 20 people could have been caused by a computer glitch, a Russian daily reported Wednesday.
The accident occurred when nuclear submarine Nerpa was undergoing sea trials in the Sea of Japan. Three submariners and 17 shipyard workers died in the accident. There were 208 people, 81 of them submariners, on board the vessel at the time.
Shuttle Discovery returns safely to Earth
By DPA,
Washington : The space shuttle Discovery landed safely at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida Saturday.
Commander Lee Archambault guided the shuttle to a picture-perfect landing at 1914 GMT, ending the shuttle's 13-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
"Welcome home after a mission to bring the ISS to full power," the NASA ground crew said, adding a special welcome to astronaut Sandra Magnus, who returned to Earth after spending 129 days living aboard the ISS.
"Thank you very much. It's good to be back home," Archambault replied.
‘Current tests for recycled water not adequate’
By IANS,
Sydney : Recycled water may not be safe for drinking, warn researchers who say such water is usually tested for only one kind of pathogen.
Flavia Huygens of the Queensland University of Technology in Australia is part of a team spear-heading a new and innovative water-testing technique that will check for all kinds of pathogens - in hours rather than days.
“Pathogens can be bacterial, viral or parasitic micro-organisms like cryptosporidium and giardia which can make people sick if enough is ingested,” Huygens said.
Magnetic field at Milky Way core 10 times stronger than rest of galaxy
By IANS,
Sydney : The magnetic field at the core of the Milky Way is at least 10 times stronger than the rest of our galaxy, according to a finding that can affect diverse fields from star formation theory to cosmology.
The evidence is significant because it gives astronomers a lower limit on the magnetic field, an important factor in calculating a whole range of astronomical data.
Don’t allow MP3 headphones to get too close to pacemakers
By IANS,
Washington : Don't allow MP3 headphones to get too close to pacemakers and implantable defibrillators; they could be potentially dangerous.
Researchers investigated the effects of MP3 headphones, most of which contain the magnetic substance neodymium, on the operation of implanted cardiac devices.
An MP3 player is a popular digital music player. Earlier this year a US government report concluded that interactions between MP3 players, such as the popular iPod, and implanted cardiac devices are unlikely to occur.
Oxygen content in Ladakh up 50 percent: Scientists
By Ritu Sharma, IANS,
Leh (Jammu and Kashmir) : Anyone visiting Ladakh for the first time can be left gasping for breath due to low oxygen levels in the high altitude region. But a successful plantation drive has brought about environmental changes - driving up oxygen content by 50 percent and, most unusually, making it rain, say Indian scientists.
New global map most comprehensive ever
By IANS
New York : A new global map that details the planet's land cover with a resolution 10 times sharper than any of its predecessors is also the most comprehensive ever.
The map is based on 20 terabytes of imagery - the equivalent of data in 20 million books - acquired from May 2005 to April 2006 by Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument.
There are 22 different land cover types shown in the map, including croplands, wetlands, forests, artificial surfaces, water bodies and permanent snow and ice.
NASA spacecraft flies by Mercury for second time
By Xinhua,
Washington : NASA spacecraft MESSENGER has successfully made the second of the three planned flybys of Mercury on Monday, taking pictures of most of its remaining unseen surface.
The spacecraft passed 125 miles (about 200 km) above the planet's cratered surface, capturing more than 1,200 pictures and collecting a variety of science data.
Mission scientists hope to begin receiving the new data from MESSENGER in the very early morning on Tuesday.
Researchers replicate ‘all seeing eye’ of insects
By IANS,
Sydney : Inspired by the 'all seeing eyes' of insects, scientists have built an artificial one with an unobstructed all-round view.
It has potential uses for guiding robot vehicles and aircraft, providing low-cost panoramic security surveillance and novel lighting systems.
The 'eye', designed by a team from The Vision Centre (TVC), is a tool to emulate exactly what insects see as they zip around the landscape, as part of a larger project to understand how they navigate, find food, escape predators and especially, how insects like bees find their way home.
India, France to launch tropical weather satellite in 2009
By IANS,
New Delhi : India and France will jointly launch a satellite next year to understand climate change and the tropical weather phenomena including monsoons.
The joint working group of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the French Space Agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) met in Goa Saturday and Sunday to review the progress made on this.
ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair and CNES president Yannick d'Escatha discussed the various modalities and technicalities involved with the launch of satellite Megha Topiques.
India set for Putin boost, to sign nuclear, Gorshkov pacts
By IANS,
New Delhi: India and Russia will Friday intensify their strategic and economic ties by signing over a dozen agreements, including an umbrella civil nuclear pact and another accord fixing the cost of the refurbished aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov at $2.35 billion.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will Friday evening holds talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who touches down in India close to midnight Thursday for a brief visit lasting less than 24 hours.
16th-century Mexican Indian map offers key to history
By EFE,
Denver : A map painted by Mexican Indians, or indigenous Indians, in the mid-16th century has become a key document for understanding the migration of Mesoamerican people from their land of origin in what is now the US Southwest, according to a scholar at Harvard University Divinity School.
"Five years of research and writing (2002-2007) by 15 scholars of Mesoamerican history show that this document, the Map of Cuauhtinchan 2, with more than 700 pictures in colour, is something like a Mesoamerican Iliad and Odyssey," David Carrasco told EFE in a telephone interview.
ISRO-built satellite fails after five weeks
By K.S. Jayaraman, IANS,
Bangalore : The very first communications satellite sold by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to the European operator Eutelsat has failed abruptly after five weeks in orbit, in a setback to ISRO which just celebrated the 100th day of its successful moon mission.
"Scientists at ISRO are analyzing the anomaly in the hope of reviving the satellite," ISRO spokesman S. Satish told IANS.
Moon’s crust may float on hidden sea
By Xinhua
Beijing : vast ocean of water and ammonia may lurk deep beneath the surface of Titan, the intriguing, orange moon of Saturn already known for its blanket of clouds and dense atmosphere, according to scientists.
Astronomers have not directly observed this ocean. However, they said on Thursday that observations made by the Cassini spacecraft of Titan's rotation and shifts in the location of surface features suggest an ocean exists perhaps 100 kilometers below the surface.
Feast organised during solar eclipse in Orissa
By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : The Pathani Samant Planetarium in Orissa has arranged a special feast at its campus during the solar eclipse Friday to dispel any superstition, said an official.
"There are superstitions prevalent among people that if you eat during a solar eclipse it will have a bad effect. But we want to dispel superstitions. We have arranged a special feast at the planetarium premises. It will be joined by officials and members of the public during the solar eclipse," said Subhendu Pattnaik, deputy director of the Pathani Samant Planetarium, in Bhubaneswar.
Cocoons to green energy: Indian scientists find the way
By Sahana Ghosh,
Kolkata : Centuries ago trade in Chinese silk spawned the mighty transcontinental network of passages dubbed the Silk Route. Now, Indian scientists...
Artificial reefs to support corals in Persian Gulf
By IANS
Abu Dhabi : Dolphin Energy Limited, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) based natural gas company, is conducting the first artificial coral reef growth study in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Qatar, WAM news agency reported Friday.
The project is being implemented by the Continental Shelf Associates International (CSA) of the US.
The CSA will use 'EcoReef' technology in the project that includes construction of complex reef habitats using ceramic modules that mimic natural branching corals. The ceramic is non-toxic, pH neutral, food-grade stoneware.
India to build world’s largest solar telescope
By IANS,
Bangalore : India is inching closer towards building the world's largest solar telescope in Ladakh on the foothills of the Himalayas that aims to study the sun's microscopic structure.
The National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) project has gathered momentum with a global tender floated for technical and financial bidding by the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA).
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.
China to launch space laboratory
By IANS,
Beijing : China will launch its first space laboratory module Thursday, a step which will pave the way for its own space station, China Daily reported.
UN to turn off lights for Earth Hour Saturday
By IANS,
New York: The UN will observe Earth Hour Saturday in its facilities across the world to show its commitment to action on climate change, WAM news agency reported.
Earth Hour, promoted by WWF (World Wide Fund For Nature), the global conservation organisation, has asked people and organisations to turn off the lights for one hour Saturday night (March 27) between 8.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. in whatever time zone they may be located.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called Earth Hour "both a warning and a beacon of hope".
Smartphone games a hit in Tokyo
By IANS,
Tokyo: Social networking games installed on smartphones are the rage at a game show in Tokyo.
Intel apologises over ‘racist’ ad
By IANS
New York : Intel, the world's largest semiconductor company, was forced to apologise after a print ad circulated by the company around blog-land invited wrath from around the world over its racist connotation.
The ad shows six black sprinters crouched in the start position in front of a white man wearing a shirt and chinos (khaki pants) in an office.
In a statement on its website Friday, Intel said: "We made a bad mistake. I know why and how, but that simply doesn't make it better."
Bangalore goes hi-tech to tackle traffic snarls
By IANS
Bangalore : Electronic billboards, SMSs and handheld devices are among the new technologies that will now be used to check traffic jams on the narrow and potholed roads of India's IT capital.
Russia to set world record with 39 space launches in 2009
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia is planning to set a world record by conducting a total of 39 space launches in 2009 despite the current global financial crisis, the head of the Russian Space Agency said on Monday.
"We have scheduled a record number of launches for next year. We are planning to carry out 39 launches, half of them commercial and civilian satellites," Anatoly Perminov said.
Russia conducted 27 space launches in 2008 and 26 launches in 2007, becoming the world's leader in this sphere.
Scientists identify structure of key bacteria component
By IANS,
London : Scientists have identified the structure of a key component of the bacteria behind such diseases as whooping cough, peptic stomach ulcers and Legionnaires' disease.
The research sheds light on how antibiotic resistance genes spread from one bacterium to another. These findings may open the way for development of more effective treatments and curtail spread of antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotic resistance spreads when genetic material is exchanged between two bacteria, one of which has mutated to be resistant to the drugs.
Some squirrels luckier than others
By IANS
Toronto : New research has uncovered how some squirrels, like their human counterparts, can be born with silver spoons in their mouths.
Using 15 years of data from a North American red squirrel population, researchers discovered that female babies born into fortunate circumstances with more food, warmer spring weather and a lower population, experienced long-lasting positive effects on reproductive success, producing more offspring over the remainder of their lives.
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.
A device to ‘hear’ what they can’t see
By IANS
Agra : A group of IT students here have developed a device that can enable the blind to hear what they cannot see or read.
Called 'E-Netra', it costs Rs.2,000-3,000 and it reads texts through an embedded system and converts them into voice that can be heard through earphones.
Right now it can only read text, but later it is likely to pick up prints in Braille script.
The Agra College team that took six months to develop the device and the software to go with it was led by R.K. Sharma and included his assistants Karan, Mayank, Akshat, Khalid and Jitendra.
Reading devices for digital storage media
By Vivien Leue, DPA,
Frankfurt : You can find them in cell phones, digital cameras and navigation systems. They are digital storage cards, and they can be enormous - at least in a digital sense - holding hundreds of photos or a plethora of large documents.
To transfer their data onto a computer, you can either connect the mobile device to a computer using a USB cable or you can stick the memory card into a card reader. That is a simpler, and in many cases quicker, solution.
New headphones for deep, refreshing sleep
By IANS,
London: A headband with built-in earphones could lull you to deep sleep, without even waking a partner sleeping by your side.
Karnataka to promote nano-technology in a big way
By IANS
Bangalore : After pioneering IT and biotechnology in the country, the Karnataka government is embarking on an ambitious programme to promote nano-technology and nano-science in a big way in the state.
To unleash the nano revolution, the state department of IT, biotechnology and science and technology is organising a two-day 'Bangalore Nano 2007' convention Dec 6-7.
NASA’s Mars-bound Phoenix adjusts course successfully
By Xinhua
Washington : The Phoenix Mars Lander has completed the first and largest of the six course corrections planned during its flight from earth to Mars, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said.
Phoenix left earth Aug 4, bound for a challenging May 25, 2008 touchdown at a site farther north than any previous Mars landing.
It will robotically dig to underground ice and run laboratory tests assessing whether the site could ever have been hospitable to microbial life.
Huge river discovered flowing on Black Sea bed
By IANS,
London : A massive underwater river flowing along the bottom of the Black Sea has been found by scientists - a discovery that could help explain how life manages to survive in the deep oceans away from the nutrient-rich waters found close to land.
It is estimated that if on land, the undersea river would be the world's sixth largest in terms of the volume of water flowing through it.
Our moon uncommon, say astronomers
By IANS
New York : Though moons are common enough in the universe, ours is rather uncommon, according to a new study by US astronomers.
The Earth's moon, the subject of much art, myth and poetry, was formed out of a tremendous collision, a rare event seen in less than 10 percent of moon formations, Sciencedaily.com reported.
The study, based on new observations by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, was undertaken by researchers at the University of Florida and appears in the latest edition of the Astrophysical Journal.
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.
Watch out for brightest Jupiter on July 9
By IANS,
New Delhi : Keep your telescopes handy for a wonderful celestial activity - Jupiter will shine at its brightest when it aligns directly with the Sun and Earth Wednesday.
“It is an interesting phenomenon as Jupiter and Earth would be in a straight line. Both the planets come closest at this time of the year and Jupiter, in turn, shines at its brightest,” said Nehru Planetarium director N. Ratnashree.
Ratnashree said if we could see Earth from Jupiter then it would be passing in front of the Sun.
Stabilising current CO2 emission levels not enough to save coral reefs
By IANS,
Washington : Even if greenhouse gas emission is stabilised at current levels, it would still be enough to cause acidification of oceans and sound the death knell of coral reefs.
Ocean acidification could devastate coral reefs and other marine ecosystems even if atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) stabilizes at 450 parts per million (PPM), a level well below that of many climate change forecasts.
NASA mission: Mars soil may contain perchlorate
By Xinhua,
Washington : Analysis of recent soil samples taken by of Phoenix lander's from Mars has found possible traces of perchlorate, a highly oxidizing substance, NASA scientists reported Tuesday.
However, the mission team noted that further investigation is still needed to confirm the presence of perchlorate salts.
Rise of Google Chrome threatens Internet Explorer, Mozilla
By IANS,
London : Web browser Google Chrome, which emerged in mid-2008, has hit Internet Explorer hard and stalled the rise of Mozilla Firefox.
Lunar polar craters likely to be live with electricity
By IANS,
Washington : Polar lunar craters may be live with hundreds of volts of electrical energy, potentially triggered by solar winds blowing over natural obstructions.
Polar lunar craters are of interest because of resources, including water ice, which exist there.
The moon's orientation to the sun keeps the bottoms of polar craters in permanent shadow, allowing temperatures there to plunge below minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit, cold enough to store volatile material like water for billions of years.
A device that measures ultra-cold temperatures
By IANS,
Sydney : Physicists have devised a thermometre that can potentially gauge temperatures as ultracold as tens of trillionths of a degree above absolute zero.
Absolute zero is the lowest possible temperature, minus 273.15 degrees Celsius, in which all molecular activity ceases.
Scientists can currently cool atoms to a few billionths of a degree, but even this is too hot for certain applications.
For example, Richard Feynman of Harvard University dreamt of using ultracold atoms to simulate the complex quantum mechanical behaviour of electrons in certain materials.
Kazakh astronaut to fly to ISS, Russian hopeful grounded
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : A Kazakh national will fly to the International Space Station in October 2009, a spokesman for the Kazakh National Space Agency said on Thursday.
Talgat Musabayev said the Kazakh cosmonaut would fly to the "Russian segment" of the ISS, adding however, that "the financial components of the flight" had yet to be discussed at a meeting of a Russian-Kazakh commission.
He also expressed his gratitude to the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
India on the moon, with tricolour
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Bangalore : India Friday became the fourth country in the world to land a man-made object on the lunar surface when its moon impact probe (MIP), with the tricolour painted on it, landed on the earth's only natural satellite at 8.31 p.m. after ejecting from the Chandrayaan-I spacecraft.
The MIP impacted on the moon's surface 25 minutes after it was separated from Chandrayaan at 8.06 p.m., orbiting at 100 km above.
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.
Found: World’s oldest living tree, age 9,550
By IANS,
London : A 9,550-year-old spruce, the world's oldest living tree, has been found in Dalarna province of Sweden.
The tenacious specimen has survived by growing between erect trees and smaller bushes in pace with the dramatic climate changes over time.
For many years the spruce tree has been regarded as a relative newcomer in the Swedish mountain region.
"Our results have shown the complete opposite. The spruce is one of the oldest known trees in the mountain range," said Leif Kullman, of Umeå University.
Textile students devise anti-radiation shield for astronauts
By IANS,
Washington : Textile engineering students have thought up of an answer to one of the prime threats bedevilling NASA space missions: radiation.
The students of North Carolina State University (NCSU) have designed a 'blanket' that could shield lunar outposts and astronauts' living quarters from radiation, while generating and storing power.
The 'lunar texshield' is made from a lightweight polymer material that has a layer of radiation shielding that deflects or absorbs the radiation so astronauts are only exposed to a safe amount.
Nano water filter kills 98 pc bacteria within seconds
By IANS,
Washington : A new low cost filtering system kills up to 98 percent of deadly bacteria like E. coli in water within seconds.
Abu Dhabi to host international IT conference
By IANS/WAM,
Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi will host an international conference on information technology supported by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Five minor planets named after Chinese scientists
By IANS,
Beijing : Five minor planets have been named after top Chinese scientists with the approval of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
90 percent digitisation achieved in Kolkata: Siticable
By IANS,
Kolkata: The percentage of digitisation of cable televisions in Kolkata has currently reached 90 percent, leading multi-service operator (MSO) Siticable said Tuesday.
Iran begins project for manned space flight by 2021
By Xinhua,
Tehran : Iran has kicked off a 12-year project to send an astronaut into space, just days after putting its first home-built satellite into orbit, Press TV reported Thursday.
"The programme's preliminary needs, assessments and feasibility studies have been carried out," said Reza Taqipour, the head of the Iranian Aerospace Organization.
The organisation had drawn up a comprehensive plan for the project and various academic and research institutions must play to carry out a successful space mission by 2021, he said.
Three decades of circling the sky
By IANS,
New Delhi : Thirty-one years back India's first satellite Aryabhatta was launched via Russian space vehicle Intercosmos. Monday India's own rocket created history by placing 10 satellites including eight from other countries in orbit around the earth.
India's space odyssey started in April 1975 as an experiment. Today, it is a multipurpose commercial programme.
Here are the high points of India's space programme:
1975: First Indian satellite Aryabhatta launched on April 19, 1975. It provided technological experience in building and operating a satellite system.
New Year’s Eve revelers to be treated to rare ‘blue moon’
By DPA,
New York : Times Square revelers will be treated to a rare "blue moon" on New Year's Eve Thursday night.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to watch the ritual descent of the crystal ball in Times Square to usher in 2010 at midnight. But what many of them may not yet expect is a special full moon above their heads, the second this month.
System to detect terrorists before strike
By IANS
New York : Scientists in US are developing an automated system that will help to detect terrorists before they strike.
When a person is interrogated, the system will start tracking his or her behaviours and create a baseline data of the individual.
The system tracks individual characteristics of a person like face, voice, and physiology among other things, to help confirm personal identity of a person against scientifically tested behavioural indicators, scientists at the University of Buffalo said in a press release.
Scientists to discuss sex, love with robots
By DPA,
Amsterdam : Scientists plan to gather June 12 and 13 in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht to discuss the possibility of human beings increasingly engaging in personal and even romantic relationships with robots in the coming decades.
Academics from Austria, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, Singapore, the US and Britain are due to deliver some 20 presentations.
‘Caterpillar fungus’ could be India’s answer to Viagra
By Asit Srivastava, IANS,
Lucknow : Foreign drugs like Viagra and Cialis used for treating erectile dysfunction may soon get their Indian counterparts from a `caterpillar fungus' found in the high altitudes of Uttarakhand.
The caterpillar fungus locally called as `Keera ghas' or 'Yarchagumba' is said to have aphrodisiac properties, which will be used to manufacture drugs in a project undertaken by the Uttarakhand government, say the officials of the Herbal Research and Development Institute (HRDI) in Gopeshwar district.
Delhi Police now just one touch away
New Delhi : Delhi Police chief B.S. Bassi on Friday launched a trial version of the much awaited mobile app "Delhi Police... One...
India calls for transparency in internet surveillance
By Arul Louis
United Nations : India has called for transparency and accountability in internet security surveillance and for striking balance between human rights and...
Scientists create retina from human embryonic stem cells
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have created an eight-layer, early stage retina from human embryonic stem cells, the first three-dimensional tissue structure to be made from stem cells. The complex tissue structure offers hope to millions with degenerative eye disorders.
It also marks the first step toward the development of transplant-ready retinas to treat eye disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration that affect millions.
Less than 1 percent spent on R&D in science
By IANS
New Delhi : A mere 0.8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is spent on research and development in science and technology, the Lok Sabha was informed Tuesday.
Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said the government had taken several measures to increase spending on science and technology.
"These measures include higher allocation for scientific research for setting up new institutions for science, education and research," he said.
Japanese bullet train suicide by fire being probed
Tokyo: Japanese police launched an investigation on Wednesday to probe Tuesday's Shinkansen (bullet train) incident when a man set himself on fire, killing himself...
Now, an alarm clock that creates dawn
By IANS,
London: For people who experience "winter blues" when waking up early morning, a cure has been found. A British firm has invented an alarm clock that creates an artificial dawn.
LEDs set to revolutionise lighting
By IANS,
Washington : Energy efficient, ecologically sound light emitting diodes, or LEDs, are emerging as the hottest choice in illuminating homes and businesses.
"We are on the verge of a revolution," says E. Fred Schubert, professor of electrical engineering and physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute New York and co-author of a paper on the subject. "There are tremendous opportunities that open up with LED."
China lunar probe adjusts orbit to shun moon eclipse
By Xinhua
Beijing : China's first lunar probing satellite, Chang'e-1, adjusted its operating orbit on Sunday night to avoid a power shortage during an upcoming moon eclipse, Xinhua learned on Tuesday.
The satellite's engine was ignited at 11:50:48 p.m. on Sunday. It lifted Chang'e-1, at an altitude of 200 kilometers above the moon's surface, up to an orbit nearly 2 km higher in more than 60 seconds, the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) said.
Biometrics is no guarantee for secure data
By DPA
Darmstadt (Germany) : Police are not the only ones taking fingerprints these days. Starting on Nov 1, fingerprint data will even be stored in the passports issued by many countries.
As fingerprints are unique, they have also drawn attention from manufacturers of equipment designed to limit access to computers.
After all, pressing your fingertip against a reading device is simpler than learning and inputting a password. But are fingerprint sensors really more secure? The answer is both yes and no.
Researchers create software to counter network attacks
By IANS
Washington : An Indian American-led team has developed new software that can reduce the impact of cyber attacks on an organisation's networks.
Currently, network administrators rely on labour-intensive processes for tracking vulnerabilities in organisational networks - processes that not only require huge expertise but are also error prone, said software expert Sushil Jajodia, who led the team.
Clouds block view of total solar eclipse in Gujarat
By IANS,
Surat : Scientists, tourists and school children in Gujarat were left disappointed Wednesday as heavy clouds blocked the view of the total solar eclipse.
"Some darkness was felt in Surat around 6.25 a.m. to 6.27 a.m. but the eclipse was not visible due to heavy clouds," said a senior official of the Gujarat Science City, who had arrived here from Ahmedabad to watch the event.
The official said that the total solar eclipse could not be seen even in Vadodara and Ahmedabad due to cloudy skies.
Soap that cleans clothes with less water
By IANS
Melbourne : Wasting water to rinse that extra lather from your clothes may be a thing of the past now. Scientists in Australia have developed a detergent that cleans clothes with less water.
Normal detergents contain surfactant molecules, which are oil-friendly at one end to capture dirt and water-friendly at the other to pull it away. They also tend to form bubbles, which require extra water to rinse.
India launches its mission moon
By Venkatachari Jagannathan and Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : A rocket carrying India's first lunar spacecraft was launched from the country's spaceport here early Wednesday, catapulting the country into the select club that have sent missions to the moon, after the US, former Soviet Union, European Space Agency, China and Japan.
Carrying aloft the lunar orbiter Chandrayaan, the rocket, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV C11) lifted off from the second launchpad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here and broke through the scudding cloud cover at 6.22 a.m.
Newly discovered light sensors communicate directly with brain
By IANS,
Washington : Neuro-scientists have unravelled how newly discovered light sensors in the eye detect light and communicate with the brain.
These light sensors are a small number of nerve cells in the retina that contain melanopsin molecules.
Unlike conventional light-sensing cells in the retina-rods and cones, melanopsin-containing cells are not used for seeing images.
Instead, they monitor light levels to adjust the body's clock and control constriction of the pupils in the eye, among other functions.
US scientists find fresh evidence of life on Mars
By IANS,
Pasadena (California) : There is fresh evidence pointing to life on Mars in the distant past, US scientists claim.
In two new studies, the scientists report that Mars once hosted vast lakes, flowing rivers and a variety of other wet environments that had the "potential to support life".
They reached this conclusion on the basis of data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) and two other instruments on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
Apple releases new operating system for Mac computers
By DPA
Los Angeles : Apple has released a new operating system for its ever more popular Mac computers.
The upgraded OS 10.5, nicknamed Leopard, was released Friday and includes some 300 improvements including a 'time machine' that tracks and resurrects lost data, and improved video-conferencing abilities.
The eagerly awaited system was delayed by several months while the company's engineers worked on developing the iPhone.
Rival Microsoft, whose software powers 90 percent of the world's computers, released its newest operating system, Vista, in January.
Astronomers discover planet bigger than Jupiter
By IANS
New York : Astronomers in the US claim to have discovered a giant planet that is 20 times larger than the earth and 1.7 times the diameter of Jupiter - the biggest planet of our solar system.
The scientists also say they are working on the possibility of finding another bigger planet in the same constellation, said the online edition of Channel 4 television channel.
Vietnam’s first satellite successfully launched after 13-year preparation
By Thai Thanhvan, Xinhua,
Hanoi : After 13 years of unceasing efforts, Vietnam's first satellite was successfully launched Saturday, ushering a new era for the local information communication technology industry.
The 2.6-ton medium-sized satellite, Vinasat-1, was successfully launched to its geostationary orbit position using rocket Ariane-5in Kourou site in French Guiana at 5:16 a.m. Saturday (2016 GMT Friday).
Satellite collision reflects necessity for int’l laws: Russian expert
By Yu Maofeng, Nie Yunpeng, Xinhua,
Moscow : The collision between a Russian satellite and a U.S. satellite highlights the growing importance of making international laws to monitor human activities in space,a Russian military expert told Xinhua in an interview on Friday.
The root cause of the Russia-U.S. satellite collision is the lack of international rules on space activities, said Leonid Ivashov, the president of Russia's Academy on Geopolitical Affairs.
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."
Toronto firm celebrates ‘victory’ over Microsoft
By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : A tiny Canadian IT firm, which won a big patent-infringement victory against software giant Microsoft Tuesday, couldnt have wished for a better Christmas gift. They are hoping the global publicity will spell growth in its fortunes.
Toronto-based i4i Inc, which will also get $290 million in damages from Microsoft for stealing its software Word, says its victory is "a war cry for talented inventors whose patents are infringed" by corporate sharks. Tuesday's victory will serve as a springboard for growth, i4i executives told the media Wednesday.
eBay settles Skype software suit
By DPA,
San Francisco : E-commerce giant eBay has settled its long-running legal feud with the founders of Skype, clearing the way for a $2-billion sale of the internet telephony pioneer, the company announced Friday.
Under the terms of the settlement, Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis will get a 14 percent stake in the consortium buying Sykpe from eBay in return for an undisclosed cash investment and the withdrawal of their lawsuits.
How does brain zero in on single bit of information?
By IANS,
Washington : How does the brain zero in on a single bit of information, out of the tens of thousands that it is bombarded with daily? Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have discovered a mechanism that the brain uses to filter out distracting thoughts to focus on a single bit of information.
Think of your brain like a radio: You're turning the knob on to find your favourite station, but the knob jams, and you're stuck listening to something that's in between stations.
New ‘MeGa’ sensor to monitor carbon dioxide concentration
By IANS,
Washington : A novel tube-like sensor would now make monitoring gas concentrations possible over a large area, both cheaply and effectively, doing the work of a number of existing sensors.
Known as membrane-based gas sensors or 'MeGa', they are likely to be used in monitoring underground presence of carbon dioxide in gas pipelines or sewers.
The probe can also be useful in monitoring water bodies, for example, observation of hydrogen sulphide formation, including groundwater, and for monitoring boreholes.
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.
Dinosaur museum in China sets new world record
By IANS,
Beijing : Guinness World Records has confirmed that a dinosaur museum in China's Shandong province is the largest of its kind in the world.
The Shangdong Tianyu Museum of Nature, which opened in 2004 and is devoted to dinosaur and other prehistoric fauna, applied for a Guinness World Record entry in June and received the confirmation Monday, said Yin Shiyin, deputy curator of the museum.
Microsoft profits decline
By DPA,
New York : Software giant Microsoft Corp has reported sales of $13.1 billion for the latest quarter, well below Wall Street expectations of more than $14 billion.
The PC market has dwindled for three straight quarters.
The company, based in Redmond, Washington, saw profits for the fourth quarter of its budget year drop 29 percent amid falling demand for its Office software package and Windows operating system.
"The economy continues to be challenging, and we need to lift our game to another level," chief financial officer Chris Liddell said.
Narcissists use Facebook for self-promotion
By IANS,
Washington : People with excess of self-love might choose networking sites like Facebook for unabashed self-promotion and publicity.
They are more likely to choose glamorous pictures for their main profile photos, while others are more likely to use snapshots, according to a Georgia University study.
"We found that people who are narcissistic use Facebook in a self-promoting way that can be identified by others," said Laura Buffardi, a doctoral student in psychology who co-authored the study with associate professor W. Keith Campbell.
Indian IT industry on alert to prevent swine flu fallout
By Pupul Dutta and Fakir Balaji, IANS,
New Delhi/Bangalore: The $60-billion Indian IT industry is on an alert mode on account of the pandemic swine flu that has affected travel and led to postponement of events, according to a top industry official.
"Though we are taking preventive measures, we have postponed a few events, including one in Pune," said Som Mittal, president of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the industry's representative body.
Intel profits boom as PC sales surge worldwide
By DPA,
San Francisco : Intel reported net income of $2.3 billion Thursday for the fourth quarter, a staggering 875-percent rise over the same period a year ago.
The world's dominant maker of computer chips said it had sales of $10.6 billion, up $2.3 billion or 28 percent from the year-ago period. Intel forecast sales of about $9.7 billion for the current quarter, compared with the $9.3-billion average estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of Wall Street analysts.
iPhone set to surpass BlackBerry in mobile market
By IANS,
Toronto: Apple's iPhone is set to overtake Research In Motion's BlackBerry in the global smart phone market by next year, according to Forbes online.
Currently, BlackBerry enjoys about three percent of the world's mobile phone market, while Apple's has about two percent share of the market. But BlackBerry's lead over iPhone is shrinking and Apple will overtake RIM by early next year, Forbes said Friday.
World’s tiniest electric motor unveiled
By IANS,
Washington : Chemists have created the world's tiniest electric motor, which is no bigger than a molecule.
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.
Samsung launches Galaxy Note 800 in India
By IANS,
New Delhi: Samsung Electronics Friday launched a new tablet, Galaxy Note 800, in the Indian market expanding its product portfolio.
Firefighting beetle robots may help humans fight forest fires
By Ernest Gill, DPA,
Hamburg (Germany) : Compact robots that scuttle across the landscape like enormous armour-plated beetles may one day help humans fight deadly forest fires in remote areas, according to a team of German scientists.
Looking for all the world like old-fashioned Volkswagen beetle cars - except with multiple legs where the wheels ought to be - a brigade of these robots could carry water or foam extinguishing agents to the most dangerous firefighting locations, places where humans would face certain peril.
Water flowing into Arctic warmest in 2,000 years
By IANS,
London : Water flowing from the North Atlantic Ocean into the Arctic Ocean is at its warmest level for more than 2,000 years.
Making e-greetings on mobiles livelier
By Jatindra Dash, IANS
Bhubaneswar : Thanks to a young web developer in Orissa, one can now send and receive animated as well as customised e-greetings on GPRS-enabled mobile phones and PCs with Internet connections.
The software application MobileWish, developed by Samir K. Dash of Rourkela city, 450 km from here, has proved to be quite a hit, with its latest version launched just last month.
The software can be downloaded from the website www.mobilewish.com. Dash already claims to have over 2,000 users - most of them from Europe and the US.
New US Formula One circuit gets the nod
By IANS,
Austin: The new Formula one circuit being built here has got the FIA approval for the upcoming United States Grand Prix to be held Nov 18.
U.S., Japan to conduct joint research on sonic boom modeling
By Xinhua,
Washington : NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) intend to conduct joint research on sonic boom modeling, the U.S. federal space agency announced Thursday.
Sonic Boom is the shocks caused by the supersonic flight of an aircraft. Sonic booms can generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding a lot like an explosion.
Russian bio-satellite makes safe landing
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : The re-entry module of the Foton-M bio-satellite successfully landed at 11.58 a.m. Moscow time (7.58 a.m. GMT) Wednesday in northern Kazakhstan, RIA Novosti reported.
The satellite was launched Sep 14 on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan carrying gerbils, snails, cockroaches and many other creatures sealed in special containers and filmed by a video camera during the flight, as part of experiments carried out by the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP).
China to bring 3rd generation n-reactors to service in 2013
By IANS,
Beijing: China will bring third generation nuclear reactors to service in 2013, a top Chinese nuclear company official has said.
India test fires Akash missile
Bhubaneswar: India Wednesday test fired its Akash surface-to-air missile from a defence base in Odisha, an official said.
The indigenously developed missile, with a 27-km...
Facebook makes Timeline feature compulsory
By IANS,
London: Social network Facebook has made compulsory its Timeline feature through which all of a user's photographs and wall posts would be seen by friends on their homepage.
Underground barriers to stop toxic waste from contaminating water
By IANS,
Sydney : Thousands of garbage dumps are quietly leaking a toxic brew of old and sometimes deadly chemicals into the water consumed or used by millions of people.
Researchers are developing a solution to one of the most urgent problems faced worldwide -- the poisonous fluids which leach out of old rubbish dumps and enter the groundwater.
Plant steroids more complex than those inside people
By IANS,
Washington : Steroids boost plants just as they do humans, but the molecular signals that activate such genes in plant cells are a lot more complex than in human cells.
A new study by Carnegie Institution plant biologists used an emerging molecular approach called proteomics to identify key links in the steroid signalling chain.
Zhi-Yong Wang and Wenqinag Tang of the Carnegie Institution conducted the study with seven co-authors.
Plant steroids, called brassinosteroids, are key hormones throughout the plant kingdom. They regulate many aspects of growth and development.
Software piracy drops in India, losses still above $2 bn
By IANS,
Mumbai : Software piracy levels in India dropped by three percent in 2009, but these still remained high at 65 percent of the total software programmes installed on computers in the country, causing losses of around $2 billion to the industry, says a study.
India develops indigenous tsunami warning system
By NNN-KUNA
New Delhi : India has developed its own tsunami warning system, nearly three years after a tsunami caused havoc along its southern coastline claiming hundreds of lives.
The National Early Warning System for Tsunami and Storm Surges in the Indian Ocean, a project of the Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences, has been placed at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) at Southern Indian city of Hyderabad, Press Trust of India reported Saturday.
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.
Clue to why humans and chimps differ
By IANS
Toronto : Why do humans differ so much from chimpanzees despite having genes that are almost 99 percent identical?
The answer, according to researchers at the University of Toronto, lies in the different ways in which humans and chimpanzees splice genetic materials to create proteins.
Splicing is the process by which the coding regions of genes are joined to generate genetic messages that specify the production of proteins, the key element of cells.
Indian-origin scientist pioneers ‘green’ steel technology
By Neena Bhandari
Sydney(IANS) : Millions of tonnes of waste plastic will be recycled into steel. The breakthrough Australian 'green' steel technology, which cuts coke and coal demand and reduces emission, has been invented by a Mumbai-born University of New South Wales (UNSW) materials scientist, Veena Sahajwalla.
Sahajwalla, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Kanpur, told IANS: "Plastic is simply another form of carbon. In making steel there's essentially no difference between the polyethylene plastic in shopping bags and a natural resource like coal."
Technology Frontiers targets retail chains and malls
By IANS
Chennai : City-based Technology Frontiers (I) Pvt Ltd (TFPL) is targeting growing malls and retail chains for its digital kiosks, said a top official here.
"We have signed deals with Future Group to install our kiosks in their malls," M.S. Muralidharan, managing director of TFPL, told IANS on the sidelines of the press conference after launching a multi-broadcast digital kiosk TOUCHME Tuesday.
India, Russia in talks on moon exploration
By IANS,
New Delhi : India and Russia are cooperating vis-a-vis the Chandrayaan-2 satellite for joint moon cooperation.
Jupiter possibly hit by object, NASA says
By DPA,
Washington : Jupiter appears to have again been hit by a speeding celestial object that left a giant dark scar in the giant gaseous planet's atmosphere, NASA astronomers said.
The US space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory received a tip early Monday from Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley who had spied the spot near the planet's south pole. Scientists then pointed NASA's infrared telescope in Hawaii at the planet and detected signs - including particles in the upper atmosphere and a warming of the lower atmosphere - that it may have been struck by a comet.
Genetic materials of starry origin: study
By IANS,
London : In a first, scientists have confirmed that an important component of early genetic material is extraterrestrial in origin.
In a paper in the latest issue of the journal Planetary Science Letters,they have said that some of the raw materials that went into early genetic material have been found in meteorite fragments.
The materials include the molecules uracil and xanthine, precursors to the molecules that make up DNA and RNA, known as nucleobases.
Google disregarding privacy, say officials from 10 nations
By IANS,
London : Google has violated the principle that "individuals should be able to control the use of their personal information", say officials from 10 major nations. They have demanded to know how the internet giant will meet concerns about its use of public data in future.
Britain's Information Commissioner Christopher Graham along with officials from Canada, France and Germany have signed a letter addressed to Google's chief exeutive, condemning the manner in which the firm has delivered its Streetview mapping service and its Buzz product, The Telegraph reported Thursday.
CSIR turns 65, Sibal asks it to be competitive
By IANS
New Delhi : Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal Wednesday praised the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for building scientific capabilities in the country and asked it to be competitive and alert to contemporary requirements.
Speaking at the 65th foundation day function of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Sibal said the organisation had done well to "build up the scientific and technological capability in the country and support industry in the past when the endeavour was for technological self-reliance".
Space shuttle Endeavour lands safely after successful mission
By RIA Novosti,
Washington : The US space shuttle Endeavour has made a successful landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California after being forced to abandon plans to land in Florida, US space agency Nasa said.
The shuttle touched down at 4.25 p.m. (2125 GMT) Sunday.
The crew was unable to return to Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the initial landing site, due to weather concerns, Nasa said.
Endeavour will now travel some 2,500 miles from California to Florida on the back of a modified 747 jumbo jet within the next seven to 10 days.
He’s built an aircraft, now wants full-time job!
By Sanu George
Thiruvananthapuram : Saji Thomas is 45 years old from Kerala and, while God did not give him the faculties of...
Binary asteroid comes close to Earth this week
By Richa Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : In a month packed with celestial activity, sky gazers in India can watch out for a binary asteroid close to Earth this week - albeit with the help of a telescope.
Asteroid 2008 BT18 is gliding past Earth and astronomers have just discovered that it is a binary system.
"Radar images of the close-approaching space rock reveal two components, a primary and a secondary asteroid. Among all the near-Earth asteroids only a handful come this close," Nehru Planetarium director N. Rathnashree told IANS
Space shuttle undocks from station, heads home
By RIA Novosti
Washington : The US shuttle Endeavour has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) ending its 12-day mission, which saw a record breaking five space walks, a NASA spokesperson said.
Endeavour, which delivered the first part of the Kibo Japanese laboratory and the Dextre Canadian-made robot, is due to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Wednesday.
The second and main part of the Japanese laboratory is due to be delivered by space shuttle Discovery in late May.
Cloudy skies mar solar eclipse
By IANS,
New Delhi : Cloudy skies in large parts of northern and western India Wednesday marred a clear view of the century's longest total solar eclipse but the celestial spectacle was clearly visible over Varanasi.
Tens of thousands of people across the country rose early to see the eclipse that was to begin at the earliest at 5:29 a.m. and end at 7:41 a.m. in India.
It was to have been clearly visible in places like Surat, Indore, Bhopal, Varanasi, Patna, Taregna near Patna, Daman, Darjeeling, Dibrugarh, Gangtok, Gaya, Itanagar, Ujjain and Vadodra.
Will Indian students’ solar car make it to contest?
By Azera Rahman, IANS
New Delhi : A bright young student team is all set to take its creation, a solar car, to the World Solar Challenge in Australia Oct 18 - if lack of funds doesn't cut its journey short.
Standing next to the three-wheeled car, roughly the size of a Honda City, 10 students of the Delhi College of Engineering (DCE) couldn't help beaming with pride.
"It took us a year to complete this car. We started working on the car in November last year. Driven on three wheels, as solar cars generally are, the car has six panels on its body.
Iran building new submarine: Report
By Xinhua,
Tehran : Iran has started building a new submarine that is expected to give its navy larger capability, Press TV satellite channel has reported.
Iranian Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar Sunday inaugurated the production line of the new submarine Qaaem, which is capable of carrying and firing various torpedoes and subsurface missiles with a special operation crew onboard, according to the report.
"The Islamic republic has become self-sufficient in manufacturing all types of military vessels," Mohammad-Najjar was quoted as saying during the inauguration.
Power supply snag hits Indian communication satellite
By IANS,
Chennai : Scientists of the Indian space agency are working to fix a power snag that switched off 12 transponders of the INSAT-4B comunication satellite Wednesday night, affecting services of some television channels and telecom operators.
"An expert team is looking at the possibilities of partial utilisation of some of the transponders that were switched off. The team is working to restore the services at the earliest," S. Satish, director (Publications and Public Relations), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told IANS from Bangalore over phone.
Japanese astronaut to test underwear in outer space
By Xinhua
Beijing : A Japanese astronaut will don special boxer shorts and gym wear during his upcoming mission to see if the newly developed high-tech clothing can increase comfort levels on the International Space Station, Japan's space agency said Friday.
The seamless, stretchable boxer shorts, gym wear and socks are made of lightweight fabric woven from anti-bacterial and antistatic fibers to give "high levels of deodorant, antiseptic and antistatic effect" in space, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said.
Total solar eclipse in most of China
By Xinhua,
Chongqing (China) : A total solar eclipse was observed at many places in China Wednesday morning, officials said.
At 9.15 a.m., many places in the upper reaches of China's longest river, the Yangtze, were engulfed in total darkness.
The moon's shadow blocked the sun, leaving only the solar corona visible in China's Chongqing Municipality and Guang'an City in southwestern Sichuan province.
The cities in the region turned off the streetlights for better viewing of the total eclipse that lasted for about four minutes.