Zenit rocket to orbit Israeli satellite in late April
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : The launch of a modified Zenit rocket to put an Israeli communications satellite into orbit has been scheduled for April 24, Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said on Monday.
Russia started preparations for the launch of a Zenit-3SLB rocket with a DM-SLB booster and Israeli AMOS-3 satellite on board from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan in October last year.
"This weekend, the booster was delivered to site 31 [at Baikonur] for fuelling and fitting with the AMOS-3 satellite," Roscosmos said in a statement.
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.
Russian astronauts to Moon by 2025: official
By Xinhua
Moscow : Russia will send astronauts to the Moon by 2025 and establish a permanent station there between 2028 and 2032, a senior official said here Friday.
Russia, which sent the first cosmonaut to the space in 1961, has forged a long-range blueprint for its space industry up to 2040, said Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos).
Four solar, two lunar eclipses in 2011
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Four solar and two total moon eclipses will be observed in different parts of the world, including in India, in 2011.
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.
Researchers develop membrane to filter natural gas impurities
By DPA
Singapore : Researchers have developed a membrane that filters impurities such as carbon dioxide from natural gas, the National University of Singapore said Wednesday.
The result is a cleaner and more efficient source of energy, said Raj Rajagopalan. Up to 98 percent of impurities can be filtered out through the pores of the membrane.
"The idea of membrane separation is to use molecularly engineered materials and make thin films to the structure that we want," Rajagopalan said.
ISRO land deal rocks Kerala assembly
By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : The opposition Congress Tuesday walked out of the Kerala assembly over the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) purchasing 82 acres of forest land to set up a space education institute.
The trouble began when senior Congress legislator Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan sought leave for an adjournment motion and sought a discussion into the deal - ISRO purchased the land in Ponmudi, 75 km from here, from high profile businessman Savy Mano Mathew.
The Congress alleges that the land belongs to the forest department of the government.
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.
Chinese scientists solving mystery of acupuncture through light beams
By IANS,
Beijing : Scientists in China claimed to have found a breakthrough in acupuncture therapy which would help detect cancer and brain tumours in patients at an early stage through a super powerful X-ray beam.
The researchers working on synchrotron have detected evidence that acupuncture points differ from other parts of the body.
India to launch two satellites to study climate change
By IANS,
Bangalore : India will soon join a select space club by launching two dedicated satellites in polar orbit to study climate change through atmospheric research and detection of greenhouse gases, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said Sunday.
"The satellites will be launched in 2010 and 2011. The first will be a 50 kg micro-satellite to conduct atmospheric research. The second will be a remote sensing satellite to monitor emission of greenhouses gases like methane and carbon dioxide," Nair told reporters here.
Saeedi hopes Iran, IAEA will finalise issue of centrifuges
By NNN-IRNA
Tehran : Deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation for International Affairs Mohammad Saeedi has expressed hope that Iran and the IAEA would finalise the issue of P1 and P2 centrifuges in this round of negotiations.
Saeedi was speaking to reporters at the Mehrabad International Airport here Monday following the arrival of Deputy Chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for Safeguards Olli Heinonen.
Heinonen is to hold a fresh round of talks with Iranian officials within the framework of Iran-IAEA Aug 21 agreement.
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.
Brazil to deepen space cooperation with China
By Xinhua
Brasilia : The newly sworn-in head of the Brazilian Space Agency (BSA) Carlos Ganem said Tuesday that Brazil cherishes the ties with China and will deepen cooperation with China in the field of space technology.
Ganem made the remarks during his inauguration ceremony. A technical expert who engaged in the first negotiations on the China-Brazil satellite cooperation program, he said the project is an excellent example of bilateral cooperation.
Murthy bids adieu to Infosys, once again
Bangalore: For the second time in three years, Infosys chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy will Saturday bid adieu to the iconic company he co-founded with...
Giant observatory comes up 8,000 feet beneath Antarctic
By IANS,
London : The world's strangest observatory, as big as a cubic kilometre, has come up 8,000 feet beneath the Antarctic ice at the South Pole.
High tension in NASA before Sunday’s Mars landing
By DPA,
Washington : For nearly 10 months, the US space probe Phoenix has been travelling the 195 million km from Earth to Mars.
On Sunday comes the tense moment of truth. That's when NASA's planetary probe is to land on the north pole of Mars. Phoenix's mission is to look for signs of life in a region of the red planet where earlier missions showed evidence of ice.
But before it gets that far, it must land successfully, and nerves were strained in the run-up to touch down.
Endeavour docks with International Space Station
By DPA,
Washington : The space shuttle Endeavour successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) Sunday evening.
The shuttle reached the ISS a few minutes earlier than planned at 22:02 GMT and NASA ground control said the docking high above northern India took place without problems.
The seven-member crew received a warm welcome from the three-member ISS crew as the hatch between the two crafts was opened.
"Welcome Endeavour," said ISS commander Michael Fincke. "We understand that this house is in need of an extreme makeover and you're the crew to do it."
Will Poznan climate conference save the Earth?
By Andrei Fedyashin, RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The UN conference on climate change has been in session in Poznan, Poland, where delegates from 192 countries will prepare the draft of a document intended to replace the 1997 Kyoto protocol on reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG).
The 1997 protocol, known as Kyoto-One, must be replaced with Kyoto-Two in Copenhagen in December 2009. Time must be left for its ratification before it enters into force Jan 1, 2013, as its predecessor expires Dec 31, 2012.
Microbes from Earth likely to contaminate Mars
By IANS,
Washington : Bacteria common to spacecraft sent from the Earth may be able to survive the harsh environs of Mars, long enough to contaminate it with terrestrial life, research says.
The search for life on Mars remains a stated goal of NASA's Mars Exploration Program and Astrobiology Institutes.
To preserve the pristine environments, the bioloads on spacecraft headed to Mars are subject to sterilisation, designed to prevent the contamination of the Martian surface.
Apple, Intel join Google in bidding for Nortel patents
By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : Auction for thousands of wireless technology patents belonging to failed telecom giant Nortel began Monday.
Gmail outage challenges Google engineers
By DPA,
San Francisco : A disruption to Google's Gmail service frustrated users throughout the world Tuesday and flummoxed engineers at the giant internet company.
Google said the problems started early in the morning and were not resolved until approximately 2330 GMT.
The problem prevented users from accessing Google email and stymied customers who use the popular software to sync their information with the Microsoft Outlook email programme.
India’s tryst with Mars begins in November 2013
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's tryst with Mars will begin in November 2013 to explore the red planet's atmosphere and search for life-sustaining elements, a top space official said late Monday.
Indian-built European satellite put into earth orbit
By IANS,
Bangalore : The Indian-built European satellite W2M was successfully placed early Sunday into geosynchronous transfer orbit, about 36,000 km above earth, 32 minutes after its lift-off on board Ariane-5 from Kourou in French Guiana at 4.05 a.m. IST.
"Radio signals from the commercial satellite were received by the master control facility of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) at Hassan. The spacecraft's health is normal," the space agency said in a statement here. Hassan is located about 200 km from Bangalore.
Nanofibres make clothes that cannot get wet
By DPA,
Geneva : Polyester fibres covered by tiny silicone filaments can create clothing that when dunked in water will still remain completely dry, a Swiss scientist discovered.
The nanotechnology structure allows the surface to be covered in chemicals which make the clothing hydrophobic to the point that water simply bounces or slides off.
Stefan Seeger, a lead researcher on the project at the University of Zurich, said the technology could have many purposes, including producing improved swimsuits, making industrial clothing and even for protecting outdoor furniture.
Researchers convert carbon into green energy
By IANS,
Singapore : Scientists here have succeeded in converting a greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide into a green energy source.
Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) researchers said they used organocatalysts to help carbon dioxide (CO2) produce methanol, a widely used industrial feedstock and clean-burning biofuel.
Organocatalysts are catalysts that comprise non-metallic elements found in organic compounds. They can be produced easily at low cost.
China to launch second Olympic weather forecasting satellite on May 27
By Xinhua,
Beijing : China will launch a second Olympic weather forecasting satellite, the Fengyun-3 (FY-3), on May 27, said the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) on Friday.
The new satellite will provide accurate and timely information about weather changes to facilitate more precise weather forecasts during the Beijing Olympic Games set to open on Aug. 8, said a CMA official.
The official added that the new satellite, with a bigger payload, would provide medium-range weather forecasts up to 10 to 15 days.
Chinese satellite fails to enter orbit
By IANS,
Beijing : A Chinese satellite failed to enter its designated orbit due to a rocket malfunction, a media report said Friday.
Abu Dhabi hosts information technology summit
By IANS,
By WAM,
Abu Dhabi: The 6th information and communication technology summit of the Middle East's oil and gas sector opened in Abu Dhabi Tuesday.
Where ‘original Indian animation’ is name of game
By V. Vijayalakshmi, IANS,
Pune : One tour of Pune's Big Animation studio makes you realise that the Indian animation industry has come of age. And the man behind this set-up is Ashish Kulkarni, a pioneer in the field.
Kulkarni has created this massive studio with a built-up area of 60,000 sq ft, which will focus on original Indian content in animation.
"It was in 1995 that animation channels were first seen in India and there were no Indian stories. When our kids go to foreign universities they should have some knowledge of Indian epics," Kulkarni told IANS.
Mission moon: the young are gung ho
By Maitreyee Boruah, IANS,
Bangalore : The student community in India's tech capital is quite busy these days, not just with preparations for the mid-term exams but with newfound interest to know more about the moon.
The credit for generating interest about the moon among the school and college-goers goes to India's lunar explorer, Chandrayaan-1 which is all set to be launched Oct 22 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
Space shuttle Discovery blasts off
By DPA,
Washington : Space shuttle Discovery blasted off in a midnight launch on a mission taking it to the International Space Station (ISS).
Discovery lifted off the launching pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida at 11.59 p.m. Friday (0359 GMT Saturday) after days of postponements due to a questionable valve on the shuttle's external fuel tank and poor weather.
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...
Microsoft Sharing Secrets to Increase Interoperability
By SPA
Washington : Microsoft Corporation said Thursday it would share more information about key technology elements of some of its best-selling software products to increase interoperability of its software with that of competitors and customers.
The world’s biggest software maker said it will publish on its website key software blueprints, known as application program interfaces, to make it easier for its high-volume products to be used with third-party software.
Day and night to be equally long Saturday
By IANS,
New Delhi : Sky gazers in the capital are looking forward to watch the spring equinox Saturday - when the sun shines directly overhead as viewed from the earth, making the night and day equally long.
According to scientists, equinox marks the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere and the word 'equinox' is derived from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night). Around the equinox, the night and day are approximately equally long.
States to have scientific innovation councils: Sibal
By IANS,
New Delhi : Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal Monday asked state governments to set up scientific innovation councils within a month and promised to set up seven top-class research institutes in states that did not have them.
“The states should take the initiative in promoting science, and we appeal to all states to set up scientific innovation councils modelled after the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),” Sibal said after a science minister's conference here.
Interstellar dust darkens the universe
By Xinhua,
Beijing : The universe is dustier than previously thought, which is why astronomers now suggest it is twice as bright as it appears.
Astronomers have known about interstellar dust for a while, but they haven't been able to quantify just how much light it blocks. Now a team of researchers has studied a catalogue of galaxies and found that dust shields roughly 50 percent of their light.
Zip, zap…IIT Delhi’s F1 car for Silverstone circuit
By Prashant K. Nanda, IANS
New Delhi : A Formula 1 car designed by students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi will zip zap zoom on the famous Silverstone circuit - which hosts the British Grand Prix - in July.
IIT Delhi's next generation F1 car will race in the Formula Student category at the circuit. The event will take place between July 10 and 13. It will be among 103 institutes from all over the world that will take part.
ISRO aircraft takes satellite images to trace YSR
By IANS,
Hyderabad : A low-flying aircraft of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) late Wednesday took pictures of Nallamalla forest area where the helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was last seen before it went missing.
Finance Minister K. Rosaiah told reporters that the low-flying aircraft belonging to ISRO had taken 41 satellite imagery pictures. Authorities hope to get some clues about the missing chopper from there images.
SAARC nations urged to join hands for disaster management
By IANS
New Delhi : Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil Monday called upon the SAARC nations to use their strength in science and technology to build a robust system of prevention, mitigation and preparedness to reduce the risks of natural and manmade disasters.
Monitoring your child’s PC use
By DPA
Washington : For kids these days, schools mean computer use. Increasingly, schools expect - and in some cases require - projects and homework to be completed using a computer, and most kids are only too happy to comply, since computers are also an endless source of entertainment.
For parents, though, the challenge becomes determining how much computer time is appropriate for kids - and then figuring out how to administer the rules effectively. Read on for some ideas.
ISS astronauts’ return delayed after Russian craft failure
Washington : The return of three International Space Station (ISS) astronauts, originally scheduled for later this week, has been delayed due to the failure...
Empowering Rural Women: India’s Drone Pilots Pioneering Agricultural Innovation
Suhail Bhat, TwoCircles.net
Gurugram (Haryana): On a Monday morning in Manesar, a village in Gurugram district, Haryana, a group of four women attentively follows instructions from...
Your card details could be ‘robbed by radiowave’
By IANS,
London: Millions of credit and debit card users could be "robbed by radiowave" because of a new contactless technology, the Daily Mail reported.
‘Black gold’ may revolutionise farming, curb global warming
By IANS
Washington : Scientists have discovered an extraordinary source of some of the richest, most fertile soil in the world, often called 'black gold'. They simply have to mix charcoal in the soil.
And it can battle global warming as well by holding the carbon in the soil instead of letting it escape into the atmosphere, according to a new study.
The discovery goes back 1,500 years to the central Amazon basin where tribal people mixed their soil with charcoal derived from animal bone and tree bark.
U.S. Space Shuttle Atlantis blasts off
By Xinhua
Washington : After a two-month delay, U.S. space shuttle Atlantis finally blasted off on Thursday from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on a mission to deliver the European Space Agency's Columbus Laboratory to the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA plans Mars landing in August
By IANS,
London : NASA will attempt to lower a probe onto the surface of Mars for the first time as it continues its search for signs of life on the red planet, The Telegraph reported Tuesday.
Camera with ability to “see” under clothes
By Xinhua
Beijing : A British company has developed a camera that can detect weapons, drugs or explosives hidden under people's clothes from up to 25 meters away, according to British media reports Monday.
The T5000 camera, created by a company called ThruVision, uses what it calls "passive imaging technology" to identify objects by the natural electromagnetic rays -- known as Terahertz or T-rays -- that they emit.
Google’s exit a plot, says China Daily
By IANS,
Beijing : Google's exit from China is a "deliberate plot", a Chinese daily said Thursday, adding that Google's services in India and some other countries were also "under scrutiny".
An article in China Daily stressed that the US company's withdrawal "from the Chinese mainland is a deliberate plot".
"Google's withdrawal is not a purely commercial act. The incident has from the beginning been implicated in Washington's political games with China."
Google Maps to appear in petrol pumps
By DPA
San Francisco : Google Maps are moving from the computer to a place where lost drivers might find them more useful - petrol pumps.
The maps, complete with driving directions and information about local facilities, will start appearing on thousands of specially designed petrol pumps across the US beginning early next month, the company announced Wednesday.
Tsunami early warning system by month end
By IANS
New Delhi : Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said Friday that a national tsunami warning system would be operational by September end.
"The government is setting up a National Early Warning System for Tsunami and Storm Surges in the Indian Ocean and the system is scheduled to be operational by the end of September 2007," Sibal said.
"An interim warning centre is already working at Indian National Centre for Ocean information Services, Hyderabad, on a 24x7 basis," the minister informed the Lok Sabha.
Indian blogs live from Antarctica for the first time
By Devirupa Mitra, IANS
New Delhi : On the icy barrenness of Antarctica, the Indian research station of Maitri has a new voice - the first ever blog by an Indian from the seventh continent.
A member of the 27th Indian Scientific Antarctica Expedition, 56-year-old Sudhir Khandelwal, has typed, so far, 39 posts and nearly 15,000 words, with another one and a half months of his stay to go.
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.
Giving thought for food on space mission
By IANS,
Washington : Most people are familiar with the awe-inspiring images of space shuttle launches or images of the earth from the International Space Station. But how many people have paused for even a second to think about what those astronauts eat when they're on a two-week space shuttle mission or are living for months on the International Space Station?
The Astronaut's Cookbook - Tales, Recipes, and More - written by NASA veterans Charles T. Bourland and Gregory L. Vogt gives a first look at what astronauts eat while being in space.
Indian space programmes on demand worldwide: ISRO
By Fakir Balaji, IANS
Hyderabad : Indian space programmes for education, healthcare, management of natural resources and weather forecast and disaster management are in great demand the world over due to their domino effect on living standards, a top Indian space agency official said here Thursday.
"Nations across Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific are making a beeline to seek our expertise and resources for replicating the success of our space programmes and applications.
PSLV launch put off due to technical glitch
By IANS,
Bangalore : India has put off the launch of an advanced remote sensing satellite, fixed for May 9, after a technical glitch in its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle was detected, the space agency said here Thursday.
"A marginal drop in the pressure in second stage of the vehicle was noticed during the mandatory checks carried out on the PSLV-C15 vehicle," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement.
Experimental flight of GSLV Mark 3 in December: ISRO chief
New Delhi : India will conduct an experimental test of its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark 3 in mid-December, Indian Space Research Organisation...
Wipro projects $905 million from IT services in Q3
By IANS
Bangalore : Wipro Ltd has projected $905 million (Rs.39.97 billion) from its global IT services and products business for the third quarter (Oct-Dec) of this fiscal (FY 2008).
In a notification to the stock exchanges here Friday, the IT bellwether said the robust guidance was based on the flagship IT division's performance in the second quarter (July-Sept) of this fiscal, which at $797 million was $20 million more than the projected $777 million.
France, EU laud India on successful moon landing
By IANS,
New Delhi : France, chair of the 27-nation European Union, Saturday lauded India on the successful lunar exploration mission, which, it stressed, confirmed “India's eminent position among the world-class scientific and technological powers”.
“France, on behalf of the European Union, warmly congratulates India for the successful landing of the Moon Impact Probe and the launch of the lunar exploration programme,” the French embassy said in a statement here.
Apple’s iPhone 3G – what’s different
By Saurabh Yadav, IANS,
New Delhi : After the much-awaited launch of Apple's 3G iPhone Friday and announcements by Vodafone and Airtel regarding its introduction in India in September, the Indian customer is waiting eagerly for what is currently the world's most wanted gizmo. So what does Apple's new baby have that its peers don't?
An important thing about the iPhone is that it stands out in comparison with other smartphones not for what it does, but how it does it.
Apple to allow outside programmes on iPhone
By DPA
San Francisco : Bending to the will of its legendary enthusiasts, Apple has announced that it will allow outside programmers to write applications for the company's iPhone.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs Wednesday said in a posting on the company's website that a kit for developers will not be available until February, as the company works out how to open up the phone without exposing it to malicious programmes.
Russian cargo spacecraft will fly to space station
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : The Russian Progress M-62 cargo spacecraft will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur launch centre in Kazakhstan Dec 23, Russia's space agency said.
"The spacecraft will deliver food and water for the crew, as well as fuel to maintain the ISS's orbit and other cargo and research equipment," the Federal Space Agency said Monday.
NASA delays next space shuttle launch to May 31
By Xinhua
Washington : NASA's next space shuttle launch, Discovery's STS-124 mission, has been delayed until May 31 due to late fuel tank delivery, NASA announced here on Monday.
"NASA is targeting May 31 as the launch date for shuttle Discovery's STS-124 mission to deliver the large Japanese Kibo Pressurized Module to the International Space Station," NASA said in a statement. And the liftoff time is approximately 5:01 p.m. EDT (2101 GMT) on May 31.
Russia puts US satellite in orbit
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia's Proton-M carrier rocket successfully put a US telecom satellite into orbit Monday, space officials said.
Google upgrades search technology
By DPA,
San Francisco : Google unveiled new features for its signature search tools Monday, including an ability to search by sight, a mobile translator and a real-time search of more than 1 billion new social media pages created every day.
Google executives showed off the upgrades at an annual company event called Searchology.
Korean Astronaut To Dock At Space Station Thursday
By Bernama
Seoul : A Russian spacecraft carrying South Korea's first astronaut will dock Thursday at the International Space Station (ISS) as scheduled after a three-day voyage in space, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency quoted officials as saying Wednesday.
Yi So-yeon, a 29-year-old female biosystems engineer who blasted off from the Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan on Tuesday with two cosmonauts, "spent her first night in space safely," the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said in a statement.
Calling family commonest use of mobile phone
By IANS
Sydney : As a gadget, it has been around only a decade or so, but mobile phones have become seamlessly integrated with family life, confirms a new survey.
Of all the calls monitored during the three-year survey by Australian researchers, an overwhelming number were for contacting family (49 percent) and friends (26 percent).
Only about 12 percent of the calls were work-related.
The remainder of the calls were to service providers or to pick up messages from voice mail (less than 15 percent).
South Korea develops core technology for stealth fighter
By IANS,
Seoul : South Korea has developed the core technology for radar-evading stealth fighters and is preparing for a test flight of a fighter equipped with the technology, WAM news agency reported Monday.
It has been nine years since the Agency for Defence Development (ADD) and other South Korean defence research institutes began developing stealth fighter technology in 1999, the report quoted Yonhap News as saying.
Total solar eclipse begins in India
By IANS,
New Delhi : As dawn broke Wednesday, the century's longest total solar eclipse began with thousands of sky gazers craning their neck skywards to catch the glimpse of the rare celestial spectacle.
The sun rose eclipsed Wednesday morning at 5:28 a.m. at a local sunrise point in the Arabian Sea close to the western coast of India near Surat in Gujarat.
Thousands of people, children and adults, thronged the sky watching sites across the country with their solar goggles to watch the eclipse.
Advantage India after Israeli satellite launch
By Fakir Balaji, IANS
Bangalore : India has a cost advantage among the five nations that can make commercial launches of satellites in polar orbit, a top Indian space agency official said after the successful launch of an Israeli "spy satellite" Monday.
"India is now one among the five countries in the world to commercially launch any kind of satellite into polar orbit at around two-thirds of the international cost," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair told IANS on phone from Sriharikota.
‘Chandrayaan orbit to be raised to 267,000 km Wednesday’
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : The earth orbit of India's first lunar spacecraft will be raised to 267,000 km Wednesday, an official here said.
"The Chandrayaan spacecraft, orbiting at a distance of around 165,000 km apogee (farthest point from earth) will be raised Wednesday to around 267,000 km. As of now, everything is normal and as per our expectations," Chandrayaan-1 project director M. Annadurai told IANS.
Australian-Indian behind computers that can read human emotion
By Neena Bhandari, IANS,
Sydney : An Australian-Indian is part of a consortium of scientists who are developing and licensing information and communication technologies (ICTs) that can interact with humans in an emotionally intelligent manner.
Some of the top minds working in corporate and university research laboratories in Australia, India, Japan and Singapore have developed emotionally intelligent computers - which their new company, Human Mind Innovations (HMI) Pty Ltd, will license and put to commercial use.
Phoenix Mars lander examines new soil sample
By DPA,
Washington : The Phoenix Mars lander is examining a sample of soil from an "intermediate depth" of the Martian earth to determine if it is different from dirt at the planet's surface and from a lower icy layer, NASA said Friday.
The lander's robotic arm dug up the sample, called Burning Coals, from a trench dubbed Burn Alive 3 and delivered it to one of the craft's many small ovens early Thursday.
Phoenix had earlier confirmed the existence of ice about four centimetres below the surface and is now looking at a layer about one centimetre above the ice.
Intel’s offer to lower operational costs
By IANS
Jaipur : Intel Corp has launched a new processor technology to help small and medium businesses to reduce their operational costs.
The company's Indian subsidiary has developed a new processor - vPRO - and an upgraded version of Centrino pro-processor for managing the services of small and mid-size businesses.
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.
Chandra observatory detects new space X-ray source
By IANS
New York : Astronomers studying a nearby galaxy with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have detected a rare type of star system with a black hole that has begun glowing with a new X-ray source.
Usually, when astronomers study the galaxy, called Centaurus A, it's the giant X-ray jets emanating from its heart that steal the show, according to Gregory Sivakoff of Ohio State University.
Google co-founder books space flight in 2011
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Google co-founder Sergey Brin has put down a 5 million U.S. dollar deposit to book a flight into space with the space tourism company Space Adventures.
The company announced Wednesday that Brin will be the founding member of its Orbital Mission Explorers Circle, a group of six individuals who will each make a 5 million dollar down payment to book a seat on a future orbital space flight.
"We believe 99 percent of people want to experience space," Eric Anderson, the head of the Virginia-based company, told a press conference in New York.
Russian Proton-M rocket to launch Japanese satellite
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : A Russian Proton-M carrier rocket will put a Japanese telecommunications satellite into orbit in September, a leading Russian space company said Tuesday.
JCSAT-11, an A2100 satellite built by US-based Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, will join a cluster of nine satellites operated by Japan's JSAT Corporation.
The new satellite will provide broadcast and transponder capacity for a number of telecom companies, including SKY Perfect TV, a leading digital broadcasting service provider in Japan.
Scientists make windpipe from stem cells, usher in new era of surgery
By IANS,
London : British scientists were hailed Wednesday after the first tissue-engineered windpipe, built from the patient's own stem cells, was successfully transplanted into a young woman with a failing airway.
Scientists at Bristol University were in a European team that conducted the operation on a young woman from Colombia living in Spain, they announced Wednesday. The operation was performed in June at the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona.
Pakistani Scientist invents world’s lowest profile antenna
By SPA
Islamabad : A Pakistani scientist working at the Institute of Space Technology has invented the world's lowest profile omni-directional antenna with dual polarization that does not require a ground plane.
Dr. Muhammad Amin listed in biographical directory published by Marquis "Who's Who in the World" of the year 2008 has invented the antenna that has adequate signal strength.
The antenna can generate equal vertical and horizontal electric field components and has a helical shape with feed at the centre of the helical section of one side.
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.
NASA launches spacecraft to study solar wind
By DPA,
Washington : NASA has launched its Interstellar Boundary Explorer (Ibex) to examine the weakening solar wind, which shields planets in the solar system from dangerous cosmic rays.
Over the next two years, the Ibex spacecraft will conduct extremely high-altitude orbits above Earth to investigate and capture first images of processes taking place at the interstellar boundary - the farthest reaches of the solar system.
Monday night, hide Moon, Jupiter, Venus behind your thumb!
By IANS,
New Delhi : When the Sun goes down Monday evening, step outside to watch the best sky show of the year. Jupiter, Venus and Moon - three of the brightest objects up there at night - will be closest to each other then.
Jupiter and Venus have been rapidly coming towards each other for the last few days, a phenomenon that will not be visible against till 2012. And soon they will have the Moon for company.
Indian rocket blasts into space
By Xinhua,
New Delhi : An Indian rocket blasted into space on Monday, carrying a cluster of 10 satellites, according to local media reports.
The PSLV-C9 rocket lifted off at 09:20 a.m. local time (0350 GMT) from the Sriharikota space station in Andhra Pradesh in southern India.
The rocket is carrying an unprecedented payload including an Indian remote-sensing satellite, a mini satellite and eight so-called nanosatellites developed by German and Canadian research institutions.
New, potent anti-microbial wash developed
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have developed a new anti-microbial wash that kills Salmonella and E. coli more effectively and speedily in vegetables, fruits, poultry products and meats.
Made from inexpensive and readily available ingredients that are recognised as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the new wash is expected to replace chlorine.
At present, a chlorine wash is most widely used to reduce harmful bacteria levels in food products, but it has its limitations. For one, it does not kill all microbes.
Google Street View also copied people’s emails, passwords
By IANS,
London : In a major privacy breach, internet search giant Google copied computer passwords and entire emails from households across Britain.
Scientists have better insight into how we see
By IANS,
Sydney : Scientists now have a better insight into how the mammalian brain transfers, processes and stores visual information.
The study, led by Mark Williams, senior lecturer at the Macquarie University, said: "The inner workings of the mammalian brain are incredibly complex and our understanding of the processes at work is still rudimentary."
"If we think of the visual system as a complicated web of connections at the rear of the brain, these findings allow us to make better sense of this web by more effectively mapping the way information is transferred and processed."
NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander commanded to unstow arm
By Xinhua,
Washington : U.S. Mars lander Phoenix, which touched down on Sunday at northern polar plains on Mars, successfully unstowed its robotic arm on Wednesday, according to NASA mission updates.
Early Wednesday, scientists leading Phoenix mission from the University of Arizona sent commands to move the lander's robotic arm for the first time after its touchdown.
India to launch six more satellites in 2015-16
Chennai : India will launch six more satellites during 2015-16 of which two would be communication satellites, three navigation satellites and one space science...
Scientists observe major climate changes in Arctic
By RIA Novosti
St. Petersburg : Scientists have reported substantial changes in the climate of the Arctic Region, a senior official at the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) said Thursday.
"We have observed global climate changes in the Polar Ocean," said Igor Ashik, acting head of the AARI ocean science department.
He said the ocean was clearing itself of drifting ice "for the first time in decades of Polar research".
Despite risks, Discovery to launch Tuesday
By DPA
Washington : Experts know that there's no space travel without risk, but in the days leading up to Tuesday's launch of the shuttle Discovery on its next construction mission, the discussion has been unusually overt.
Wayne Hale, the manager of the shuttle programme, conceded last week that the shuttle "is not a safe vehicle by any normal standard", but defended the decision that launching the Discovery involved "acceptable risk".
No threat to pacemakers from iPods: Study
By IANS
New York : Here is relief for gizmo-lovers with a heart condition - no, "electronic noise" from iPods does not cause cardiac pacemakers to trip, a new study says.
Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston were intrigued by a widely reported study last May that concluded errant electronic noise from iPods could cause implantable cardiac pacemakers to malfunction.
This just did not sound right to the hospital's cardiac electro-physiologists who have seen hundreds of children, teens and young adults with heart conditions requiring pacemakers, ScienceDaily reported.
Solar-powered plants promise water for world’s poorest
By Ernest Gill, DPA
Hamburg (Germany) : A team of German scientists has come up with a revolutionary design for a small solar-powered mobile water treatment plant which could bring hope to drought-affected areas of the world.
The researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Freiburg said they have been carrying out tests on their small, decentralised water treatment plants with an autonomous power supply in recent weeks and that they hope they will move into production in the coming months.
North Korea a nuclear power state, says IAEA chief
By DPA,
Beijing : North Korea must be regarded as a nuclear power, the head of the UN's international nuclear watchdog said Monday.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also said in Beijing, four days after North Korea forced the agency's inspectors out of the country, that North Korea could restart its main nuclear facility within months.
Therefore, North Korea must be persuaded to return to the negotiating table as quickly as possible, he said.
U.S. probe produces three major findings about universe
By Xinhua
Washington : NASA, the U.S. space agency, released on Friday five years of data collected by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), which include three major findings about the universe.
The probe got the new evidence that a sea of cosmic neutrinos permeates the early universe. According to the scientists' analysis, universe is awash in "a sea of cosmic neutrinos". Neutrinos made up a much larger part of the early universe than they do today.
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.
Indian IT firms will consolidate, focus on Europe, Asia-Pacific
By Gyanendra Kumar Keshri, IANS,
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.
Water on moon: new evidence an impetus to Chandrayaan
By Aroonim Bhuyan, IANS,
Dubai : New research findings about evidence of water on the moon give fresh impetus to Chandrayaan, India's maiden moon mission.
According to K. Kasturirangan, the man responsible for putting together the team for Indian space science's most ambitious project, if the mission manages to find evidence of water on the moon, that would count among its biggest achievements.
Houses with green roofs and walls cool cities
By IANS
London : Scientists in Britain say roofs and walls green with vegetation can reduce the temperature of cities as they reduce the need for air-conditioning on hot days.
Green surfaces absorb less heat from the sun. Green roofs and walls can lower temperatures by 3.6 to 11.3 degrees Celsius depending on the city, a new study has found.
Scientists compared the effects of green surfaces in nine cities around the world, including sub-arctic Montreal in Canada, temperate London in Britain, humid Mumbai in India, and tropical Brasília in Brazil.
Iran builds new space centre
By IANS,
Tehran : Iran is building a new space centre to launch satellites, Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Sunday.
Low carbon electricity to power hybrid cars
By IANS,
Washington : Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions that fuel global warming, but the benefits are highly dependent on how the power system changes in future.
"Plug-in hybrids represent an opportunity to reduce oil consumption, leverage next-generation bio-fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
Israel successfully launches communications satellite
By SPA,
Tel Aviv : Israel says it has launched a new communications satellite, the Associated Press reported.
According to the satellite's operator, Spacecom, the AMOS-3 lifted off Monday from Russia's main space facility, the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. Later in the day, it is to enter orbit at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers (22,500 miles).
The $170 million (¤109 million) satellite is designed to offer increased capacity, expanded coverage and improved links between the Mideast and Europe and the eastern U.S.
New long-life battery laptops from Dell
By DPA,
Frankfurt : Dell has released two new laptops from the nascent ULV class. The 13z and 15z are members of the Inspiron series and cost $550 and $580 respectively. ULV stands for Ultra Low Voltage and refers to processors designed to work at lower voltages and use less power.
In the case of the new Dell laptops, that translates into respective battery lives of 11 hours (13z with a 13.3 inch monitor) and 10 hours (15z with 15.6 inch monitor).
‘Chandrayaan brings science, faith together in India’
By IANS,
New York : Chandrayaan is on its way to the moon, regarded by many Indians as a god, but "devout Hindus - many of them, no doubt, rocket scientists - see no disharmony between ancient Vedic beliefs and contemporary scientific practice", according to a New York Times opinion article.
A week before India's moon mission was launched Oct 22, millions of Hindu women embarked on a customary daylong fast of Karva Chauth, meant to ensure a husband's welfare, broken at night on the first sighting of the moon's reflection in a bowl of oil, Tunku Varadarajan wrote in the NYT Wednesday.
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.
Hypersonic jets that fly at five times the speed of sound
By IANS,
London : NASA is planning to build hypersonic jets that would travel at five times the speed of sound and bring in a new age of aircraft.
Plants can effectively tackle global warming
By IANS,
London : Plants remain an effective way of tackling global warming, despite emitting small amounts of methane, an important greenhouse gas, says a new study.
Research led by the University of Edinburgh (UE) in Scotland suggests that plant leaves account for less than one percent of methane emissions - which is considered to be about 25 times more effective than carbon dioxide.
New digital map reveals more secrets about Antarctica
By IANS,
Sydney: A new digital map configured by British and Australian scientists has revealed astonishing new geological facts about Antarctica, not known till now.
Scientists develop mother of all laser beams
By IANS
New York : Scientists have developed the mother of all laser beams - one that has focussed power equal to all the sunlight heading earth's way.
Researchers at the University of Michigan recently created the record-setting beam, which measures 20 billion trillion watts per square centimetre, Sciencedaily reported.
"I don't know of another place in the universe that would have this intensity of light. We believe this is a record," said Karl Krushelnick, who was part of the team that created the laser.
No sex for 100 million years – micro organisms baffle scientists
By DPA
Hamburg : Asexual micro organisms continue to display an amazingly diverse ability to adapt to their ever-changing environment as they have over the past 100 million years, according to scientists who are baffled by these creatures' non-sexual evolutionary change.
New research by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Botanical Physiology in Potsdam, Germany, say they have discovered startling new evidence of adaptation to external environmental stimuli by asexual micro organisms.
India calls off Chandrayaan moon mission
By IANS,
Panaji : India Sunday decided to terminate its first unmanned moon mission as contact could not be re-established with the spacecraft Chandrayaan, a top space official said here.
"We are disappointed with what has happened, but we have managed to salvage a large volume of data," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair told reporters here.
"We are content with the result," he said.
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.
NASA scientists find smallest, lightest black hole
By Xinhua
Beijing : NASA scientists have identified the smallest, lightest black hole yet found.
The new lightweight record-holder weighs in at about 3.8 times the mass of our sun and is only 15 miles (24 kilometers) in diameter.
Beijing : NASA scientists have identified the smallest, lightest black hole yet found.
The new lightweight record-holder weighs in at about 3.8 times the mass of our sun and is only 15 miles (24 kilometers) in diameter.
Goojje not to change logo despite Google objection
By IANS,
Beijing : Chinese web portal Goojje has said it "will not change" its logo despite US search giant Google's threat to sue it over copyright infringement, according to a media report Wednesday.
Goojje's logo resembles the logo of Google Inc and also bears a paw print sign like that of Baidu Inc, the biggest Internet search engine in China and Google Inc's arch rival in the country.
Astronauts finish complicated solar truss instalment
By DPA
Washington : Space Shuttle Discovery astronauts successfully completed a mammoth operation to reposition a 17.5-tonne solar array and truss during a more than seven-hour-long spacewalk Tuesday aboard the orbiting International Space Station.
US astronauts Scott Parazynski and Douglas Wheelock conducted the operation outside in a teamwork operation with other crew members inside the station.
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.
Largest ice-shelf fractures into three
By IANS,
Toronto : The largest ice-shelf in the northern hemisphere has fractured into three pieces, the first intimation of which has come from images clicked by the Radarsat satellite.
A team of scientists patrolling the area inspected an 18-km long network of cracks running from the southern edge of the Ward Hunt Ice-Shelf to the Arctic Ocean.
A similar large fracture was detected in 2002, prompting concerns that the remaining ice-shelf too would disintegrate within a few years.
China launches new search engine
Beijing: A new Chinese-language online search engine --Chinaso.com -- was launched Friday, marking China's first search service set up by the country's major news...
HD DVD may give up stage to Blu-ray format
By Xinhua
Beijing : HD DVD may disapear from our lives while Toshiba Corp is planning to give up on its HD DVD format for high definition DVDs, conceding defeat to the competing Blu-Ray technology backed by Sony Corp, media reported Monday.
The move will likely put an end to a battle that has gone on for several years between consortiums led by Toshiba and Sony vying to set the standard for the next-generation DVD and compatible video equipment.
Commercial ships spew half as much pollution as world’s cars
By IANS,
Washington : Commercial ships account for almost half as much particulate pollution as the total amount released by cars, according to a new study.
The study estimate that worldwide, ships emit about a million kilos of particulate pollution each year. Shipping also contributes almost 30 percent of smog-forming nitrogen oxide gases.
Yahoo’s search migrates to Microsoft
By DPA,
San Francisco : Yahoo has completed the migration of its web and mobile search functions to Microsoft's Bing search engine as the two companies hope that their combined market power may prove a more significant threat to the dominance of Google.
The integration comes more than a year after Yahoo and Microsoft announced their 10-year search deal under which Microsoft will power Yahoo's search site, while Yahoo manages sales for both companies' premium search advertisers.
Why child-bearing women ‘loathe’ beautiful women?
By IANS,
London : We appreciate beautiful women, but they tend to trigger envy and dislike in other women of childbearing age.
A survey of 97 middle-aged women rated such beauties way below their menopausal counterparts, looks-wise, which Aberdeen University psychologist Benedict Jones said was like putting them down.
Researchers turned their attention to examining how fertility triggered competition within sexes for potential partners, informed Jones, who led the study.
Indian IT industry bucks global recession to sustain growth
By IANS,
New Delhi: The Indian IT industry managed to limit the impact of global recession last fiscal and maintain the growth momentum, albeit lower than that in the boom times, says tech publisher Dataquest.
"Export firms did better in recession-hit developed markets than those whose business is limited to the Indian market," Dataquest editor Prasanto K. Roy said.
Though the business of top 20 firms led by Indian IT bellwethers TCS, Infosys and Wipro, and multinationals such as HP and IBM, grew by an average 19 percent, seven of these posted single-digit revenue growth.
Arabian Sea humpback isolated for 70,000 years
New York : In the Arabian Sea, the usually migratory humpback whale has stayed isolated for approximately 70,000 years, says a study.
The findings provide...
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.
Large companies snooping on employees’ e-mails
By IANS,
New York : If you are an employee in a large company and are thinking of using your work e-mail for job hunting or online dating, watch out.
A new survey finds that 41 percent of large companies (those with 20,000 or more employees) are employing staffers to read or otherwise analyse the contents of employees' outbound e-mail, technology website cnet.com reports.
Indian scientists devise new technique to hasten rescue of air-crash victims
By K.S.Jayaraman, Gandhinagar: In a technique that could be of immense global interest, Indian scientists have devised a method to not only predict the...
Russian deputy PM backs hypersonic bomber
By IANS,
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin Monday reiterated his appeal for developing a hypersonic aircraft for its PAK-DA long-range bomber requirements.
China to launch Chang’e-2 lunar probe around 2009
By Xinhua
Beijing : China plans to launch its second lunar probe, Chang'e-2, around 2009, according to a top satellite scientist.
Ye Peijian, chief commander and designer of China's first moon probe satellite system, revealed the plan during an interview program on CCTV, China Central Television.
However, Ye did not elaborate on the plan with more details.
He said Chang'e-1, the country's first lunar probe, had resumed contact with the control center after it moved out of the shadow area caused by an eclipse of the sun at about 14:10 on Thursday.
How to avoid computer-induced arm pain
By Aliki Nassoufis, DPA,
Cologne (Germany) : Repetitive strain is a creeping threat for any 21st century computer user. Steady mouse clicking may seem innocent, but many computer users find that pain starts in their arm and eventually spreads to their wrist and shoulder.
In the days of the good old typewriter, people suffered from so-called writer's cramp. Although the phrase has since been shelved, the problem still applies to anyone who spends hours at a desk.
Indian IT solutions firm forays into Egypt
By IANS,
Bangalore : Leading IT solutions provider IDS Softwares Ltd has forayed into Egypt to automate the hospitality industry and extend its footprint in North African countries, a top company official said.
“We have already bagged a deal from Egypt’s leading hotel chain Pyramisa Hotels to deploy our suite of products developed at our global R&D facility in Bangalore to automate its operations,” IDS general manager Rajesh P. Yadav said in a statement here late Thursday.
Nano coating ensures near perfect absorption of sunlight
By IANS,
Washington : A nanoengineered reflective coating on silicon solar cell, which otherwise absorbs only two-thirds of the sunlight, boosts it by another third to tap the valuable energy.
This huge gain was consistent across the entire spectrum of sunlight, from ultraviolet to visible light and infrared, and moves solar power a significant step forward towards economic viability.
The new antireflective coating developed by Rensselaer Institute researchers thus helps overcome two major hurdles blocking the progress and wider use of solar power.
Meteor showers to make sky sparkle Aug 12
By Richa Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : The night sky will be streaked with light in a celestial spectacle put up by the Perseids meteor showers Aug 12.
Sky gazers can look out for it before dawn when over 100 meteors will sparkle in the night sky.
"Perseids are the most famous and beautiful of all meteor showers that approach from the horizon. They are long, slow and colourful," Nehru Planetaruim director N. Rathnashree told IANS.
New software to demystify planning process
By IANS,
New Delhi: A new software has been developed to "demystify and strengthen" the planning process at the panchayat level.
The Panchayati Raj ministry Tuesday said the software has been developed in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
In a statement here, the ministry said the software known as 'Plan Plus' is generic and open to customisation by states, line department and local governance agencies.
Research to create bees without stings in Tamil Nadu
By IANS
Coimbatore : The Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) here will be researching on a project to create bees without stings.
The National Resource Development Board of the Department of Biotechnology has sanctioned the project "Morphometry and phylo-geography of honey bees and stingless bees", a press release here said.
Two universities will be involved in the project.
The TNAU will work on bio-ecology of stingless bees and evolve improved bee management techniques.
‘ICT the DNA of modern warfare’
By IANS,
New Delhi : Information and communications technology has become the DNA of modern day warfare, making the development of appropriate technology to ensure information dominance over the adversary a very pertinent issue for India's armed forces, Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju said here Tuesday.
New Indian research chair at UCLA to study consciousness
By IANS
Los Angeles : The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) here will soon have another Indian chair.
The chair - to be named Dr Mani Bhaumik Chair of Consciousness Study - will be set up at the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology of the UCLA.
The university already has the Navin and Pratima Doshi Chair in Indian History, set up by Los Angeles-based millionaire Navin Doshi in 1999.
Beverly Hills-based physicist Mani Bhaumik, who co-invented the laser technology that made LASIK surgery possible, will fund the new chair, named after him.
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.
Wikipedia tightens editing policy to prevent online vandalism
By DPA,
San Francisco : Online collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia announced a tightening of its editing rules Wednesday aimed at preventing vandalism, as it becomes an increasingly important source of information.
The new guidelines will require that all edits to articles about living people be approved by authorised editors. The rules represent the most far-reaching changes ever undertaken by the user-written encyclopedia, which had previously allowed anyone to contribute articles or revise information on existing articles.
Former African-American astronaut to head NASA
By DPA,
Washington : US President Barack Obama Saturday named Charles Bolden, a black ex-astronaut, to lead the US space agency into its next chapter that could take it back to the moon.
The retired Marine Corps general, 62, flew four times in the space shuttle in the '80s and '90s - two times as mission commander. His nomination must be approved by the Senate.
Former NASA head Michael Griffin stepped down in January as Obama was entering office.
Eurofighter Typhoon targets 300 additional orders in next 20 years
By IANS,
New Delhi: The four-nation Eurofighter consortium foresees substantial growth opportunities on the world market, with India playing a crucial role, it said Friday.
"We evaluate the global demand for combat aircraft in the next 20 years at around 800 units. For Eurofighter Typhoon, we target 300 additional export contracts, with Asia representing a substantial part of these orders," Enzo Casolini, CEO of Eurofighter GmbH, said.
Google threatens to leave China over ‘phishing”
By IANS,
Los Angeles : Google has threatened to close its operations and offices in China after hacking of email accounts of many human rights activists.
In a statement on its blog Tuesday, the world's second biggest corporate said it has detected in December "a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google.''